We tested the UK version. Be aware there may be minor differences between different countries' models.
Shark has become a popular choice in the home cleaning market in recent years, offering a range of vacuum form factors from uprights to cordless models, and the Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus (known as the Shark Classic Handheld Pet Vacuum in the UK) is one of its dedicated handheld models.
The Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus has a compact, lightweight form factor that makes it perfect for cleaning cars, as well as being on hand for quick clean-ups around the home, such as on worktops, tables and soft furnishings.
It comes with three accessories: a motorized brush aimed at collecting pet hair, a crevice tool and a dusting brush, which cover most use cases. It promises 10 minutes of battery (although actually performed better than that in our tests) and has a 15fl oz / 450ml bin, which is fairly generous in this market.
Considering its low price, the CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus offers tremendous value. Despite only having one power setting, it proves plenty powerful enough for the majority of tasks asked of it, and it has sufficient battery life to do a good clean of your whole car on a single charge. Its versatility with the included tools makes it flexible in use too, making it perfect for busy families, particularly those with pets.
(Image credit: Future)
Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro+ review: price & availability
List price: $99.99 / £59.99 / AU$149.99
The CH950UKT costs $99.99 / £59.99 / AU$149.99, and is available directly from Shark in the UK and US, as well as from Amazon and other online retailers, while Australian buyers will need to go to home retailers like Domayne or Harvey Norman.
Just be careful to search for the Pet Pro Plus model to ensure that you’re getting all the tools we talk about here if that’s important. There are a couple of cheaper models (CH900/CH901 – both without the “Plus” in the name) that are available from some retailers but come with fewer tools and in different colors.
That might be a great option if you’re on a really tight budget, but this is already a great-value handheld vacuum, made even better by the fact it’s also one of the best all-rounders we’ve tested. It could be even better value depending on the Shark promo codes currently available too.
(Image credit: Future)
Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro+ review: design
Cordless design
Comes with three attachments
15fl oz / 450ml bin
Measuring 20.5 x 3.7 x 4.3 inches / 52 x 9.5 x 11cm, the CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus is on the larger side of compact, and is probably better suited to being stored in a cupboard rather than on a countertop. It’s still an ergonomic design though, and feels good to hold, with the handle built into its main body.
The power button sits at perfect thumb height on the top of the vacuum and offers a single level of suction, while the yellow bin-release button (pictured above) sits towards the nozzle end and releases the bin downwards with a single firm press. The 12.8fl oz / 450ml bin feels plenty big enough for general car cleans, as well as cleanups around the house.
Considering that I have two dogs, two children under four, and very little time to keep my car in an acceptable state, I managed to get through testing without needing to empty the bin, which is pretty good going. The bin mechanism isn’t the smoothest when you do need to empty it though, and we often needed to use both hands to help the bin to open.
(Image credit: Future)
This style of handheld vacuum cleaner gives good control over your cleaning, while the three different attachments (motorized pet hair tool, crevice tool and dusting brush) provide versatility too, giving you all the tools you need to tackle tougher dirt and pet hair, as well as harder-to-reach areas. It’s a pretty comprehensive package considering the low price.
At 3lb / 1.39kg it’s lightweight enough for you to be able to perform a full car clean without tiring your arm, and as handheld vacs go it looks pretty sleek too. The model we’ve reviewed is available in black only, though in the US you’ll find some similar models from Shark in a wider range of colors, with fewer tools and for a little cheaper too.
(Image credit: Future)
Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro+ review: performance
Good pick up
Easy to use
Averagely noisy
The Shark CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus is one of the better handheld vacuums we’ve tested, so it’s easy to understand why it’s so popular. Its size, shape and weight make it perfect for cleaning your car, with its range of tools helping to ensure it’s always best suited for the task at hand.
We found the motorized pet hair tool and the crevice tool the most useful for car cleaning. The crevice tool was particularly helpful, as even though the CH950UKT is relatively compact, its all-in-one design still means getting into the harder-to-reach areas behind foot pedals or inside door bins would be tricky without it. It’s not the longest crevice tool we’ve used, but it’s helpful at getting into tight spots all the same.
The motorized tool is a great size for more widespread clear-ups on carpets and upholstery, and made quick work of both smaller and larger debris in our standard tests. It’s the perfect size for the job at hand too, collecting a wider surface area than the crevice tool without becoming unwieldy or imprecise. Its one power setting means that sometimes we needed to go over an area again to get the finer crumb or remnants of the debris, but overall the single power setting copes well with most tasks.
(Image credit: Future)
Outside of our standardized tests, a more generic clean around my car found the Shark CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus did best when clearing up more surface-level debris, and couldn’t entirely shift older dirt that had been more worked in, particularly in carpet. It also struggled with picking up the wiry hair from my Jack Russell in the boot carpet, but that’s a hard job even for more professional tools.
For what you can realistically expect from a vacuum of this size and power, the Shark CH950UKT performs admirably, and considering its handy form factor, it’s easy to have on hand to clear up any mess before it gets worked in.
In terms of noise, the CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus measured at 88dB, which is about average for this kind of vacuum, and suction power stayed pretty consistent until right at the end, when you could hear it start to waver as the battery depleted.
Do take the time to wash out the filter after any particularly heavy-duty clear ups though, and regularly otherwise, as this will help to ensure the vacuum’s suction stays as strong as possible. Simply remove the filter and run it under warm water, then allow it to dry completely before using it again.
(Image credit: Future)
Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro+ review: battery
Better than the quoted 10 minutes
Around three hours to recharge
Battery is non-swappable
The Shark CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus promises a 10-minute battery life, but we found the battery performed better than that, and we squeezed out almost 15 minutes from it on a single charge. You can expect that to drop a little with the motorized tool attached, but we had plenty of time to make our way around our car on a single charge, with even a little power to spare at the end.
Shark also seems to have been liberal with its quote of four hours for a full recharge, as in our tests we found it charged from flat to full in around three hours. You can’t swap out the battery though, so you will need to make sure you keep it charged so it’s ready when you need it.
This model has slightly different names and product codes in different territories:
US: KitchenAid 13 Cup Food ProcessorKFP1318 / KFP1319 UK: KitchenAid 1.7 L Food Processor 5KFP1318 / 5KFP1319 AU: KitchenAid13 Cup Food Processor KFP1319
The products with 319 in their codes have an extra dicing accessory and storage lid. For this review, we tested both of the UK models. There may be minor differences between different countries' models.
When it comes to countertop kitchen appliances, KitchenAid is a firm and trusted favorite, so it should come as no surprise that the KitchenAid 13 Cup / 3.1L food processor has left an impression on us.
This KitchenAid 13 Cup / 3.1L food processor is available in two different configurations – the standard 13 Cup / 3.1L food processor (KFP1318), and an identical version but with an extra dicing accessory and storage lid (KFP1319). In the US and the UK, you can buy both versions, whilst only the dicer iteration is available in Australia. The current price of the KFP1318 is $169.99 / £237.15, and the KFP1319 is $239.99 / £239 / AU$369.
With both models, you’ll get an adjustable slicing disc, a reversible shredding disc, a multipurpose stainless steel chopping blade, and a dough blade. These all slot into a plastic storage caddy that fits inside the main bowl, providing a neat and easy storage solution. The size of this food processor is in line with similar models, it’s not exactly compact but it doesn’t take up a ton of space either.
(Image credit: Future)
Removing and replacing the work bowl is delightfully easy, the one-click system means you can simply push it down to fix the bowl in place, which is more convenient than the conventional twist closures. Unlike most food processors, the main lid is hinged, but is also removable. In the case of the KFP1319, this can be replaced with the included refrigerator lid, to store food without tipping it into a separate container.
The 13 cup / 3.1L food processor offers two speeds and a pulse button, and the lid contains three removable pushers for inserting different-sized foods. As an added bonus, everything is top-rack dishwasher safe so cleaning is a doddle. The parts are easy to hand wash, too. However, it proved tricky to remove the dried pastry mixture from the little indents and crevices in the fitment ring of the chopping blade. We found that ingredients with smaller particles, like the almond dust, and ingredients from the pastry mixture liked to migrate inside the fitment ring of the chopping blade. This didn’t cause any issues, but we had to pay particular attention to this area when we hand-washed the chopping blade between tests.
(Image credit: Future)
On test, it coped well with most foods, slicing, shredding, and dicing with ease. The sharp stainless-steel blade and the dough blade work well, but there are limitations to the quantity of foods like dough and beef that can be processed, despite it being one of KitchenAid’s largest food processors. With this in mind, perhaps it’s best suited to smaller households or people who don’t want to process big batches of food if these are ingredients that are used often.
Overall, we were happy with the performance of the KitchenAid 13 Cup / 3.1L food processor. It breezed its way through most of what we threw in it, is not as loud as some other food processors we’ve tested, and has a well-considered and convenient design. It gets a thumbs-up from us.
The KitchenAid 13 cup / 3.1L Food Processor models available will vary depending on your location. Both models are available to purchase directly from KitchenAid in the US, and they can both be purchased in the UK too, but only KFP1318 can be bought from KitchenAid directly. Only KFP1319 is available in Australia. There are no optional accessories available to buy separately.
(Image credit: Future)
The current price of the KFP1318 is $169.99 / £237.15, and the KFP1319 is $239.99 / £239 / AU$369. Some of the KitchenAid products are on sale currently, and it's worth keeping an eye out for KitchenAid promo codes to help take the price down.
Small appliances like this often attract discounts during major shopping events like the Amazon Prime Day deals and Black Friday sales, so if you aren't looking to invest this much in a processor right now, it's worth coming back during those events to see what deals are available.
Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5
KitchenAid KFP1318 / KFP1319 specifications
KitchenAid KFP1318 / KFP1319 review: design & features
Two speeds and pulse
Easy to assemble
All attachments can be stored inside main bowl
The KitchenAid 13 cup / 3.1L Food Processor itself is no bigger or smaller than other similar capacity models, measuring 8.75 x 8.75 x 18 inch / 222 x 222 x 464mm. What makes it feel smaller and more compact is the clever storage solution that we mentioned earlier. All of the accessories slot into the caddy which goes inside the main bowl, except in the case of the KFP1319 as the refrigerator lid will need to be stored separately.
The main hinged lid has three different size removable food pushers, ideal for lots of different foods. The lid removes easily from the bowl and can be replaced with the refrigerator lid to allow you to store food without decanting it into a different container if you have the KFP1319.
(Image credit: Future)
As we’ve already noted, the accessories include a stainless steel blade and dough blade. The slicing disc is adjusted via a knob on the lid, making it very safe and simple to adjust, and there are six thickness options to choose from. The reversible shredding disc offers thick as well as thin shredding. And the dicing accessory cleverly cubes all manner of foods to about 0.4 inches / 1cm dice. Setup is simple and apart from the dicing accessory, we rarely had to consult the manual to work out how to put it together. All removable parts are dishwasher-safe on the top rack.
The round base looks nice on the counter and it’s not too imposing. The KFP1318 is available in White, Contour Silver, Empire Red, Black and Matte Black in the US, but is only available in White in the UK. For the KFP1319 the same range of colors are available in the US. The same colors are available in Australia too, but instead of the White option there is Almond Cream.
A few design features are immediately noticeable, including a hinged lid that clips shut with a latch. Additionally, the bowl sits directly onto the base thanks to the one-click system, no awkward twisting motion to get it into position like you’ll see on many other food processors. Our only complaint is that the handle can only be positioned to the right, making it less comfortable for left-handed cooks, and less accessible for some, as they may be unable to use it due to this limitation.
Design score: 4 out of 5
KitchenAid KFP1318 / KFP1319 review: performance
Not too loud
Excellent chopping, slicing and dicing
Can only process smaller batches of meat and dough
We used the large side of the shredding disc for carrot and cheese and it sped through both, producing even shreds fast. A small disc of carrot was left un-shredded and a piece of cheese which amounted to about 13% of the total, but otherwise we were happy with the results.
The slicing disc is really easy to use and we like that the adjustment knob is on the lid, making it super easy to adjust the size of the slices. It sliced through half a cucumber in seconds, producing pleasingly even slices.
(Image credit: Future / Cesci Angell)
To try out the dough blade, we made a bread dough, but the instruction manual advises against processing quantities of dough larger than 13.5 oz / 384g, which isn’t even enough for a standard size loaf. We adjusted our recipe down to the right quantity but the dough blade was quite slow to combine the ingredients into a dough and required an extra splash of water to help it come together. The food processor wobbled a little when mixing the dough, but it wasn’t unstable.
The stainless-steel blade aced almost every task we gave it, finely and evenly chopping onion and breadcrumbs as well as mixing a smooth cake batter. Hazelnuts were very finely chopped but with a little powder. Almonds on the other hand were chopped unevenly, with large and small pieces and a fair amount of powder.
(Image credit: Future / Cesci Angell)
Cubed beef was no match for this blade, it took just seconds to turn it into finely ground meat. But the instruction manual advises that only 0.5lb / 225g can be chopped in one go, which is half as much as we intended to chop and quite a small quantity given the food processor's overall capacity.
Finally, we tried out the dicing accessory and we were impressed with how fast it diced two potatoes. We had to chop the potatoes in half to fit in the feed chute, but the results were excellent nonetheless and it really does make short work of this labor-intensive task.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
It was loudest when shredding with our noise meter maxing out at 84dB, which is the equivalent to the noise experienced when a truck is traveling at 40mph, but during the other tasks, it averaged around 75dB, which is similar to sound level when a toilet is flushed.
Performance score: 4 out of 5
Should I buy the KitchenAid KFP1318 / KFP1319?
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
KitchenAid KFP1318 / KFP1319 review: also consider
How we tested the KitchenAid KFP1318 / KFP1319
We spent time assembling the KitchenAid 13 cup / 3.1L Food Processor, reading the instruction manual and assessing the design and accessories.
To put the food processor through its paces we used the chopping blade and different speed settings to chop carrot, cucumber, onion, and almonds. We also used it to process bread to make breadcrumbs and combine flour, margarine, and water to make pastry.
We tested how easy it was to clean the processor parts by hand-washing, and using the dishwasher to establish how well the parts cleaned with either method.
Note: Nectar sells in both the UK and the US. This guide focuses on the Nectar Memory Foam mattress in the US – for the UK review, toggle the flag drop-down menu in the main navigation bar.
The Nectar Mattress stands out among the more affordable options in the bed-in-a-box market, and thanks to its good support and reasonable prices (starting at $449) it occupies a prime spot in our best mattress guide. This medium-firm mattress – also known as the Nectar Memory Foam Mattress – is suitable for most body types and sleep styles, and it's an especially strong, affordable choice if you're in search of the best mattress for side sleepers. That said there are a few exceptions that we'll spell out in more detail later in this review.
With responsive top layers that contour to your shape and stable foam base giving it a sturdy foundation for better sleep, this is very much a mattress that you sink into (which may or may not appeal to you), and in our tests we found that it delivered a good balance of supportive pressure relief and contouring comfort.
(Image credit: Nectar Sleep)
You'll find the Nectar Mattress at the top of our best memory foam mattress ranking, and having subjected it to three weeks of rigorous testing we've concluded that it should suit most people who appreciate a medium-firm mattress with a little 'hug'. However, people with heavy bodies may find that they sink in just a bit too much (especially if two are sharing), while lighter-bodied people who like softer beds may well find the Nectar too firm.
For our review we tested a Nectar Memory Foam mattress in queen size, and we loved how the mattress felt firm yet cushioned, cradling pressure points (hips, knees and shoulders), while also feeling stable and supportive.
If you share a bed with a restless sleeper you'll be delighted to learn that we found the Nectar's motion transfer between co-sleepers to be good and low. We also found that it had good edge support, which isn't always the case with all-foam mattresses; they don't usually have as strong an edge support system as hybrid models.
Nectar Mattress specs
Best for: Most sleepers of light to average build; combination and side sleepers Type: Memory Foam Trial: 365 nights Guarantee: Lifetime Firmness: 6.5 (out of 10) Materials: Gel memory foam, CertiPUR-US foam, poly-blend Depth: 12" Sizes: Twin, twin XL, full, queen, king, split king, Cal king
While it isn't specifically a cooling mattress, the Nectar Mattress features cooling gel foam and a heat-wicking cover that can help keep temperatures down at night. However if you tend to sleep hot or suffer from night sweats, we'd instead direct you to the Nectar Premier Copper Mattress, available from $1,499 at Nectar Sleep, or instead take a look at our best cooling mattress guide for further recommendations.
There are five layers to the Nectar and a mix of premium materials such as contouring gel memory foam, soft and responsive transition foam, a supportive higher-density foam base, and a cool-touch top cover with temperature-regulating properties. You'll get all of that for a lower price compared to most competitor models too. A queen size Nectar Mattress, for example, costs $899 and you'll get up to $499 of free bedding with it.
On the brand's website, the Nectar Memory Foam has over 46,600 user reviewers, generating an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. Nectar also offers a 365-night risk-free trial, which isn't quite as rare as it used to be (the likes of Saatva, Avocado and DreamCloud also give you a full year), but it is surprisingly generous for a mattress in this price bracket. The big benefit is that you can try the mattress out in all seasons. You'll also get a Forever Warranty and free shipping and returns. Still undecided? Here's our full Nectar Mattress review...
See the Nectar Mattress at Nectar Sleep The Nectar is ranked second in our mattress guide. It's pretty much never sold at MSRP: there's an evergreen Nectar mattress sale that knocks $200 off all sizes and throws in a free bedding bundle. The value of this varies – best option gets you up to $499 off accessories, depending on the size of bed. However, you'll also find rare flash sales that knock 25% or possibly 33% off the price. That makes the mattress itself cheaper, but you will sacrifice the bedding bundle. You’ll have 365 nights to trial it, and it comes with a Lifetime Warranty.View Deal
Nectar Mattress review: materials
Gel-infused memory foam
Quilted, cooling polyblend cover
Made with toxin-free, Certi-PUR-US materials
The Nectar Memory Foam is made in the US using materials sourced from Malaysia, Vietnam, Mexico and America, and as mentioned earlier in our review, the Nectar is constructed across five individual layers. At the top you’ll find a quilted, cooling polyblend cover with heat-wicking properties, and there’s a nice, soft feel to the cover too.
Beneath the surface sits three inches of high-density, pressure-relieving gel memory foam. This delivers a comforting, body-hug feel that nicely cradles the shoulders, hips and knees during side sleeping, and minimizes pressure points during longer periods of back and stomach sleeping too.
(Image credit: Nectar)
Next up is two inches of dynamic adjusting foam, which provides a little sink to this Nectar Memory Foam. Finally, a seven-inch layer of sturdy foam makes up the mattress base and delivers support and stability throughout. The Nectar also features a shift-resistant lower cover to ensure it stays put as you sleep.
If you're looking to make your sleep set up as healthy as possible, the Nectar Mattress is a good choice because its made with CertiPUR-US standard foam. This gold-standard certification guarantees that any foams use to make the Nectar contain no harmful toxins.
Nectar Mattress review: prices and deals
Ignore MSRP – this mattress is always discounted
It comes with up to $499 of free bedding
A lifetime warranty increases your value for money
Price-wise, the Nectar Memory Foam sits squarely within the affordable mattress sector. That means you will find cheaper memory foam models, such as from Zinus, Linenspa, Brooklyn Bedding and Cocoon by Sealy, but also plenty of comparable models that charge a lot more for the same levels of build quality, comfort and support. In other words, the Nectar Mattress is good value for money.
As is the case with most bed brands, there are regular Nectar mattress sales to take advantage of. Nectar is pretty consistent with what it offers – you can basically ignore MSRP, it's pretty much always sold at the 'normal' prices in the list below, and you'll always get a bundle of bedding for free, too. Here is the official pricing for the Nectar Mattress:
MSRP Twin: $873 (normally priced $399)
MSRPTwin XL: $1,043 (normally priced $569)
MSRPFull: $1,298 (normally priced $699)
MSRPQueen: $1,398 (normally priced $799)
MSRPKing: $1,698 (normally priced $1,099)
MSRP Cal king: $1,698 (normally priced $1,099)
MSRPSplit king: $2,086 (normally priced $1,138)
Nectar also runs occasional flash sales, which typically knock 25% off the price of mattresses. Generally there's no bundle included in these offers though, so if you need the bedding you might be better off paying slightly more for the mattress in the evergreen deal, but getting those extras.
What about big mattress sales events such as the Black Friday mattress deals or Cyber Monday mattress deals, Labor Day, Memorial Day and the upcoming Presidents' Day mattress sales? Nectar is hit and miss with these kinds of events. In the past, it has just stuck to its evergreen offer and changed the branding, which is pretty underwhelming. There is often a Flash Sale in early November, though.
For Black Friday 2022, though, Nectar has knocked 33% off the range for the month of November, which is great way to snap up a much cheaper price on the mattress itself – although again, no bedding bundle, so you'll need to work out what's best value for you.
Competitors such as Purple also launch regular savings to lower the prices of its various memory foam and hybrids. The Purple Original is the closest rival to the Nectar and its normally on sale for $1,249 in a queen size at Purple, saving you $150. For a cheaper yet equally top-rated alternative to the Nectar, we'd recommend the Cocoon by Sealy Chill Memory Foam, priced just $799 for a queen plus you get up to $178 of free bedding too. That's excellent value for money and something not even Nectar can beat right now.
It's also worth remembering the generous extras you're getting with the Nectar Mattress: the 365-night trial and Forever Warranty. While a year's trial isn't as rare as it once was, it's still pretty unusual for a mattress at this price point.
Nectar Mattress review: firmness and comfort
Plenty of pressure-relieving support
Might have too much sink-in for heavy, side or back sleepers
Might not keep very hot sleepers cool enough
The Nectar Mattress has just one firmness option of medium firm, plus one height of 12 inches. We support the firmness rating of 6.5 that Nectar gives its Memory Foam mattress, and all members of our testing panel enjoyed this level of firmness too. It's also quite rare to find a true medium-firm memory foam model, but Nectar has achieved this.
This is the queen size Nectar Mattress we used for testing (Image credit: Future)
The quilted cooling cover feels soft and plush to the touch, but the layers of gel foam and dynamic foam creates a supportive yet still cozy surface that cocoons the sleeper and relieves pressure points. During our review period, the Nectar Mattress was comfortable when sleeping on our backs and sides. However, anyone who is heavier than 230lbs in weight or who sleeps particularly hot may not find it as comfortable as we did.
Firmness is very subjective too, and one person’s firm may be another person’s medium-firm, which is something to bear in mind, especially when it comes to reading customer user reviews of the Nectar Memory Foam. Compared to similar models we have tested, this mattress’s medium firmness feels just right, and stomach sleepers should also enjoy the combination of plushness plus support.
If you are unsure whether a medium-firm feel would suit your body and sleep needs, and you have a bigger budget, then we would recommend taking a look at our Saatva Classic mattress review too. This luxury innerspring hybrid and foam bed comes in three different firmness levels, including Plush Soft for side sleepers.
Nectar Mattress review: Performance
Cooling quilted cover
Adequate motion transfer
Medium edge support
Our main reviewers for the Nectar Mattress are both side and back sleepers, but we also had stomach and combi sleepers on our wider testing panel. One of our reviewers sleeps warm to hot, so testing the Nectar’s cooling and comfort was key. Over a period of several weeks testing, we looked at all aspects of comfort, support and performance, generating ratings for each of these features and design aspects.
We tested a queen size Nectar Memory Foam by sleeping on it for several weeks, and by inviting various members of our testing panel to try it too. Here's what we discovered during our review process...
Setup
(Image credit: Future)
Score: 4.8/5
The Nectar Memory Foam is shipped in a sturdy cardboard box, which allows you to easily remove the wrapped mattress. Nectar supplies a small plastic cutting tool to help open the vacuum-sealed, tough plastic.
The mattress is fairly heavy (the queen weighs 66lbs), so it might need an extra pair of hands to be unboxed and place on your bedframe for you to unroll. Once free of the plastic, the mattress soon springs to full form and within 30 minutes to an hour it's ready to sleep on, although Nectar advises leaving it for up to 72 hours to inflate fully.
Off-Gassing
Score: 4.8/5
New foam mattresses are often prone to off-gassing as a chemical or plastic smell is released when you unpack it – this is down to VOCs (volatile organic compounds) being let out. However, there was no noticeable off-gassing with the Nectar Memory Foam, despite it being a gel foam model.
As we unboxed the Nectar, we were unaware of any unpleasant or chemical odors. However, we made sure we still opened the windows to let plenty of air circulate around the room. We should also add that the bedroom where the unboxing took place was fairly large, so you may have a different experience of off-gassing when unboxing the Nectar in a smaller room.
Pressure relief
(Image credit: Nectar Sleep)
Score: 4.5/5
There's ample pressure relief with the Nectar Mattress, but it does depend on your sleeping position and your body type, as we'll now explain...
Even though it's made with foam, which typically has a different feel to innerspring or hybrids, the Nectar Memory Foam surprised us (in a good way) with its firmer feel. It's unusual to find an all-foam bed that is a true medium-firm, but of course this has its pros and cons for different types of sleepers and body weights.
Lighter side sleepers may find it too firm around the hips and shoulders, while heavier back and stomach sleepers may still sink in too much (and fall out of alignment) despite the firmer feel.
The quilted cover on our review sample felt soft and plush, yet underneath there was a sturdy, solid mattress, which only gave slightly under our pressure points. Saying that, we felt well supported and comfortable, which was great for us, but not ideal if you don’t like the feeling of being cradled during. Some may think this sink-in is too great, while others may enjoy the cocooned feeling.
Our overnight guests had no complaints about the performance of the Nectar Mattress either, although one said they did sink in a little bit more than they would have liked, which made rolling over when changing sleep position a bit of an effort.
Motion transfer
(Image credit: Future)
Score: 4.5/5
Motion transfer is about whether you feel your co-sleeper (or pet) shifting around on the other side of the bed. Really well-designed foam mattresses will have good motion-transfer ratings as the foam will be solidly held in a surrounding core for stability. Flimsy foam models, however, tend to have more motion transfer because they aren’t as solid, thick, or deep.
Our reviewers gave the Nectar Mattress 4.5 out of 5 for motion transfer, which is on par with more expensive memory foam options. During testing, we dropped a 10lb weight from a height of eight inches and then four onto the mattress and near an empty wine glass. The aim? To assess how much movement occurred.
During the four-inch test the wine glass barely moved, which indicates the motion on the other side of the bed when someone tosses or turns. For the eight-inch drop, which simulates a person getting in or out of the bed, the wine glass shifted only slightly, meaning you may only feel slight movement when your co-sleeper gets up in the morning or comes to bed later.
Temperature regulation
(Image credit: Future)
Score: 4.3/5
Two members of our testing panel are warm sleepers and, during their weeks sleeping on the Nectar Mattress, they had no complaints about overheating. The Nectar Memory Foam isn't noticeably cooler than room temperature, but the cooling quilted polyblend cover does a good job of keeping the mattress at a neutral to slightly cool temperature.
If you’re a very hot sleeper, you may not find this mattress as cooling as some other options that are specifically designed for the job, such as Nectar's own Premier Copper mattress; see our article – Should I buy the Nectar Premier Copper Mattress? – for more details. But for most people, the Nectar Memory Foam will keep your temperature comfortable. In the interests of review fairness, we used cotton bed sheets that are breathable during sleep.
As for cooling, our hot sleeper found the bed cool enough considering the all-foam construction – something that can accumulate heat. Many mattresses have air channels and other innovative ways of dispersing heat, but the Nectar Memory Foam simply provides a quilted heat-wicking fabric cover and cooling gel foam. Our hot sleeper didn’t notice the Nectar feeling warm, and experienced no instances of waking in the night due to discomfort or overheating.
Edge support
(Image credit: Future)
Score: 4/5
How the edge of the bed acts under compression is a good indicator of a quality mattress, and weaker, sloping edges are a common problem among memory foam models. However, the Nectar Mattress has good edge support for an all-foam model, and we never felt as though we would tumble off if we slept too close to the edge.
Likewise, sitting on the edge of the Nectar was comfortable, with only a little give. During testing, we placed a 50lb weight near the edge of the mattress and noted how it only sank in about 2.5 inches or so, which was impressive. You can certainly sit on the edge of this one without discomfort or risk of slipping off.
Durability
Score: 4/5
We rated the Nectar Memory Foam high for durability even though we only slept on it for several weeks. We placed it in a guest bedroom and went through several members of our testing panel, including one person who slept on it constantly for a week while recovering from illness. Despite feeling sick, they were comfortable and reported that the Nectar felt comfortable and supportive night after night.
While it’s far too early to show any signs of wear or tear, Nectar Sleep makes this a non-issue anyway by offering a Forever Warranty. This means that if you ever notice sagging, fraying, or other problems with the construction of your mattress, you can contact Nectar to discuss your options for repair or replacement.
We would still recommend reading the terms and conditions of the warranty though so that you know exactly what will and won't be covered by Nectar.
Nectar Mattress: customer reviews
There are more than 46,600 customer reviews on the Nectar website, with an average star rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. The vast majority of reviews for the Nectar mattress are extremely positive, with customers saying it delivered great value for money, that the sink-in feel helped them sleep better, and even relieved their back or hip pain (here's what to look for in a mattress if you have back pain). One praises the prompt delivery and notes that it's a great mattress for the price, and concludes that it meets all expectations for a good night’s sleep.
While many people love the feeling of sinking into the Nectar Memory Foam, it's worth flagging that if you're used to innersprings, the feeling of memory foam can take a little getting used to. Amongst the negative comments, most focus around the mattress either feeling too soft or too firm. While some mattress brands offer different firmness choices, you only have one option here – we've addressed this in our 'Firmness and comfort' section to help you get a good idea on what to expect, but the mattress trial is there to take advantage of if it turns out you don't get on with the sleep feel.
Another comment that crops up a few times is that the Nectar is not supportive enough for heavier people (over 230lb). Some reviewers also noticed an off-gassing smell, which lasted for several hours to several days, and a few found that it slept a bit warm.
If you struggle to get comfortable on a new bed, consider investing in one of the best mattress toppers to boost its softness until you break in your new bed more.
Should you buy the Nectar Mattress?
(Image credit: Nectar)
The Nectar Memory Foam is an affordable, durable and reliable bed-in-a-box that we would recommend to most sleepers and budgets. If you like to feel supported by a medium-firm mattress while also feeling cushioned, then you will enjoy Nectar’s plush top layer and stable support.
Based on our extensive testing, we'd describe the Nectar Mattress as durable, with adequate edge support, limited motion transfer and a neutral temperature that works well for most sleepers. However, if you’re heavy (or very light) in body weight, you sleep very hot, or you prefer sleeping on your stomach, then this might not be the right fit for you. There is a slight cradling feeling here, which you'll either love or find a little too restrictive when changing positions during sleep or getting out of bed.
If you've now decided that you're after a completely different feel, and fancy some bounce rather than sink, then the innerspring hybrid Saatva Classic comes in three different firmnesses (and it needn’t be expensive either with frequent Saatva mattress sales). Elsewhere, the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid provides a firmer feel without the sink-in sensation; check our DreamCloud Mattress review for more details, or see how the two compare in our Nectar vs DreamCloud face-off).
Ultimately though, with its 365-night trial and Forever Warranty, we feel confident in saying that the Nectar Mattress is a reliable and affordable gel memory model that works well for most sleepers. And with its year-long trial, you’ll have plenty of time to know whether it’s the right choice for your body and sleep needs.
If we were to judge the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra on nothing but its cameras and, in particular, the optical and digitally-enhanced zoom capabilities, we might call it the best smartphone ever.
Of course, even before its successor landed, it wouldn't have been fair to judge the S22 Ultra as the best based on its cameras alone – every handset is the sum of its design, features, components, utility, and value – but taken as a whole, this Samsung Galaxy Series-Galaxy Note hybrid is an excellent, albeit massive Android handset that not only ticks all the important boxes, but delivers more features than you may ever want or use.
The design is an echo of, but also more forward-leaning than, Samsung’s last Note device. It really is a hybrid. There will be no complaints about the ultra-high-resolution, 6.8-inch screen, which offers brilliant colors and smooth motion at 120Hz, but is smart enough to stop down all the way to 1Hz, when that’s all you need, to save on battery life.
The camera array is strong. Sure, it’s not a complete overhaul of the Galaxy S21’s camera system, but that was already pretty darn good. This is arguably better – the Optical and Space Zooms are simply marvels of modern technology.
We also love the thin and light S Pen, and we’re thrilled that it’s finally integrated – literally – into the Galaxy line. It does so many things so well, and for productivity-focused mobile users it could be a godsend.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra's back is black, satin Gorilla Glass Victus+ (Image credit: Future)
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Specs
Display: 6.8-inch, Quad HD+ Dimensions: 77.9 x 163.3 x 8.9 mm Weight: 229G Screen refresh: 120Hz Screen brightness: 1750 nits Glass: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ Water resistance: IP68 Selfie camera: 40MP resolution Main camera: 108MP resolution Telephoto camera: 2 10MP resolution sensors Ultrawide: 12MP resolution Battery: 5000mAh Memory: 8GB or 12GB available Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB available
Samsung’s One UI 4.1 software is mostly good, even if it does create some duplication of browsers, photos, and messages apps. Other tools, like Expert Raw, a freely downloadable Samsung app that gives you full access to all the camera controls and lets you capture and save RAW format photos, and the video-conferencing app Google Duo, which both do an excellent job of showing off the phone’s power and versatility, are the real highlights here.
Performance-wise, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor acquits itself nicely (no, it doesn’t beat Apple’s A15 Bionic). The point is, we couldn't find a single app that was sluggish or disappointing on the mobile monolith.
Battery life was more of a mixed bag. We did get a full day of solid use (18 hours or so), but we thought we might get more out of the massive 5,000 mAh battery and high-performance, energy-efficient CPU.
Ultimately, though, this is the kind of device that can make you forget what’s come before it. If you were used to a smaller-screen device, you’ll feel cramped if you ever go back to it. If you struggled in the past to take photos of the moon, you’ll wonder why Apple hasn’t figured this out yet. If you wished that your device had just a little more power to complete those raw image-editing tasks, your wish has been granted.
Part of Samsung’s new S22 lineup, but looking nothing like its siblings, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is to the casual observer a Galaxy Note in a shiny, new coat. It does have a much bigger and bolder camera array (lifted pretty much intact from the S21 Ultra), but it’s otherwise a canny adjustment of the Note aesthetic or, as Samsung might call it, the “Note Experience.” Still, this adjustment leaves it as easily the best Samsung phone.
If you're looking for the perfect Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra audio partner, you may want to check out our Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro review.
Starts at $1,199.99 / £1,149 / AU$1,849 for 128GB storage and 8GB of RAM
Storage options up to 1TB, no microSD slot for expansion
A device that combines the best of Samsung’s S Series and the Note’s more industrial design and capabilities doesn't come cheap. The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra starts at $1,199.99 / £1,149 / AU$1,849 for 128GB storage and 8GB of RAM.
There are naturally bigger storage options (that also include more RAM), which can take you all the way to a 1TB model ($1,599.99 / £1,499 / AU$2,449 ). 256GB will run you $1,299,99 / £1,249 / AU$1,999, and 512GB is $1,399.99 / £1,329 / AU$2,149.
(Image credit: Future)
Choose your storage options wisely, because none of the Samsung Galaxy S22 phones come with a microSD card slot for upgrading your storage space.
The good news is, prices are often lower than that now that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is getting on a bit - and they're likely to drop further now that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has arrived.
An inarguably beautiful device, the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra – owing to its Note roots – doesn’t look much like the Galaxy S22 Plus. It starts from the original Galaxy Note 10 design but takes it forward with even more premium materials.
The frame is a solid Armor Aluminum that rigidly resists bends. Polished on the outside to a near-chrome finish, the metal is sandwiched between two Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ plates. The front glass is high-gloss, and the back is a warm satin finish; both do a decent job of repelling fingerprints. The phone’s IP68-rated body also handily resided the water we ran over it.
The above finishes come in seven color options: Phantom Black, Phantom White, Burgundy, Green, Graphite, Sky Blue and Red. The dark green is sexy, but we’ve fallen in love with the inky Phantom Black of our test device.
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Future)
Did we mention that this is a big phone? Its dimensions are 163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9mm, which is taller than a 6.7-inch Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, but, somewhat surprisingly, at 229g, lighter than Apple’s biggest handset. Small hands will struggle with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. The curved edges make the Galaxy S22 Ultra comfortable to hold, but the lack of edges also makes it feel slippery as a fish – albeit a fish made of hard glass and metal.
There are two flat surfaces, on the top and bottom of the device. The top plane is a mostly unbroken slab of metal, with one tiny drill-through hole for a microphone. The bottom surface houses the SIM slot, USB-C charging port (the phone ships with a USB-C cable but no charging brick- BYOB is a thing now), speaker grille, and the S Pen.
If you’re in any doubt that this is a Note in S Series clothing, you need only to press that slight bump on the base and pop out the familiar and light S Pen. It’s all the things a Samsung S Pen should be, giving up nothing for its new Galaxy S22 Ultra home. More on the stylus later.
The 6.8-inch AMOLED screen is another highlight. It supports up to 3088 x 1440 pixels (WQHD+) resolution, which works out to 500 ppi. The iPhone 13 Pro Max, by contrast, has 458ppi on its 6.7-inch 2778 x 1284 screen. It’s worth noting that the S22 Ultra’s default resolution is 2316 x 1080 (FHD+), which Samsung says uses somewhat less battery life – although halfway through our testing we switched to WQHD+ and didn’t notice much, if any, battery performance loss.
Everything from games and videos to apps looks fantastic on the display, which now has the ability to smoothly shift from a 1Hz refresh rate all the way up to a butter-smooth 120Hz. Such adaptive technology can be hard to notice because, for instance, 1Hz might be used for the home screen or a word processor, while 120Hz might be called on for gaming.
The point is, when the imagery should be clean and smooth, it is. The lower refresh rates primarily help to conserve battery – there’s no need to update the screen more than a hundred times per second if nothing is moving.
With a peak brightness of 1750 nits and Samsung’s new Vision Booster technology, the screen does a decent job of maintaining visibility even in direct sunlight. Naturally, though, this means the brightness gets turned up to 100%, which will impact your daily battery life.
Hidden under the screen, roughly a third of the way up from the bottom edge, is the effective ultrasonic fingerprint reader. We found it easy to both register a finger and use it to unlock the phone. The other biometric security option is facial recognition, but Samsung warns that this isn’t as secure as other options, like a PIN or fingerprint.
There’s also a small drill hole through the screen for the 40MP front-facing camera.
Put simply, this is a lovely screen for viewing and writing.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Cameras
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra camera array (Image credit: Future)
Main camera is 108MP with f/1.8 aperture and an 85-defree FOV
Two telephoto lenses with 10MP sensors, one ultrawide 12MP sensor
Optical zoom up to 10x, Space Zoom enhanced up to 100x
When people say, “So, it’s basically a new Samsung Galaxy Note, right?” we have to flip over the phone to show them the camera array, which is a dead ringer for the one on the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Don’t worry, though – this is not some Frankenstein’s monster of smartphone design. Because Samsung has done away with the contour box that popped the whole thing up a millimeter or so above the back of the S21, the S22 Ultra’s array of five lenses looks perfectly at home.
The cameras don’t just look similar – they’re almost the same. There are two 10MP telephoto lenses: one is f/2.4 with a 36-degree field of view (FOV) and the other is f/4.9 with an 11-degree FOV. There’s also a 12MP ultrawide with a 120-degree FOV, and then there’s the 108MP main wide camera (f/1.8) with an 85-degree FOV.
However, the technology backing these lenses has gotten an upgrade. While the image sensors haven't changed since the S21 Ultra, Samsung has done some work on optical image stabilization, digital image stabilization (for a better Super Steady system), and image processing. The result is better performance from all the lenses, but especially in the zoom arena.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s zoom capabilities simply blow away anything we’ve ever seen before from a mobile phone camera. Obviously, the 3x and 10x optical zoom are not only solid but offer clear images of distant objects with enough clarity that you can crop in on details without seeing much pixelation.
The 30x and especially 100x Space Zoom is where, at least in previous iterations of Samsung’s technology, you’d see significant artifacts in your photos.
Now, however, these images are shockingly good, at least at first glance. Sure, you can’t crop in too much without the images breaking down into a Picasso-like mess, but untouched, these can be perfectly shareable images.
Part of this has to do with the stabilization, which at 100x, basically takes control of the lens and holds a subject (like the moon) in the frame. It can feel a little like you’re no longer in control of the lens, but it does do a good job of countering your shaky hands.
Wide and ultrawide images also benefit from some new pixel sorcery. With the Galaxy S22 Ultra, Samsung introduced Adaptive Pixel. This takes nona-binning (first introduced with the S21 Ultra), which takes nine pixels of information and combines them for better color and contrast, and combines it with the full resolution of the 108MP wide-angle original. That lens also gets an auto-focus assist from what looks like a fifth lens on the back of the phone - it's actually a Laser Auto Focus sensor. If you look closely, you can see the little red laser light peeking out from behind the glass.
Virtually every image we shot looked great, even if we did detect a hint of over-saturation (it wouldn’t be Samsung if they didn’t over-saturate the image).
The front-facing camera, meanwhile, uses tetra-binning to combine four pixels into one for a high-quality 10MP image.
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Future)
Samsung’s lenses, stabilization, image sensors, and algorithms also make what the company calls ‘Nightography’ possible. While we don’t like the marketing term, the phone’s night-time and low-light photographic skills are clear. It can brighten a night sky to near daytime, capture the moon or your face in poor lighting, and has some long-exposure skills too.
The front and rear cameras do a nice job with portrait photography, courtesy of a Portrait mode that’s getting good enough to separate stray hairs from a bokeh background. Samsung told us this is due, in part, to its new depth map technology. The presets, which include the ability to create a virtual backdrop (a chromakey color is used so that you can easily substitute some other background later) are pretty good, as well.
You can also shoot some high-quality 4K video at 60fps, and up to 8K at 24fps. We were pleased with the results.
We were less impressed with the phone’s Portrait Video capabilities, which come nowhere close to the magic of Apple’s iPhone 13 line’s Cinematic mode video (it needs a face in frame to work). The auto-framing capability, which literally zooms the camera in and out to keep people in frame, doesn’t seem all that useful – we suspect it needs more refinement.
One thing we do appreciate about Samsung’s video shooting capabilities is that, unlike an iPhone, it lets you shoot video, hit pause, and continue shooting while keeping the entire shoot in one video file. Apple should add this feature ASAP.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Camera samples
Image 1 of 10
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Space Zoom photo of almost full moon (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 10
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Space Zoom shot of the moon through trees (Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 10
(Image credit: Future)
Image 4 of 10
(Image credit: Future)
Image 5 of 10
(Image credit: Future)
Image 6 of 10
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra optical zoom test (Image credit: Future)
Image 7 of 10
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra front facing camera Portrait Mode test (Image credit: Future)
Image 8 of 10
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra portrait mode test (Image credit: Future)
Image 9 of 10
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Space Zoom photo Freedom Tower from 3 miles away (Image credit: Future)
Image 10 of 10
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Pro Camera test full control shutter speed ISO (Image credit: Future)
Aside from the awesome cameras, the main reason you’d spend all that extra dough on a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is for the integrated S Pen. The light and versatile stylus is hidden inside the phone’s body; it’s small, thin, and feels so easy to lose that you’ll wish there were magnets in the S Pen and on the body of the S22 Ultra to hold these companions together when you don’t slip the stylus inside the phone.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra S Pen (Image credit: Future)
With the S Pen, you can take notes on a lock screen (they’re white ink on a black background), or open the phone and access a slide-in menu of eight customizable options.
These include taking notes, viewing them, making smart selections of anything on the screen, drawing on a screen capture, live messages, doodling in augmented reality, translations, and PenUp, a community space where you can learn how to draw with the S Pen and share your creations with others.
All of these features work as advertised, and offer fast ways of grabbing content, marking it up, and sharing with friends and coworkers.
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Future)
In our estimation, the S Pen is a wildly useful implement and, despite its small size (small for this reviewer’s hands anyway), it’s an effective drawing implement. We opened Sketchbook and had a great time drawing, especially because the pen and screen recognize pressure and angle.
The S Pen is also a solid productivity tool. We scrawled some notes in Samsung Notes and then let the system convert the scribbles to real text. It didn’t miss a word.
Overall, there’s a lot you can do with the S Pen, but it also follows the 80/20 rule – most of us will use 20% of the features, 80% of the time.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Software
Android 12 with Samsung One UI 4.1
Some apps, like Messages, are duplicated with Samsung and Google versions
While the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is an Android 12 phone - and one of the best Android phones at that - it’s also running One UI 4.1, the latest version of Samsung’s Android interface software. Like most Android overlays, this one isn’t primarily there to enforce a bespoke design aesthetic on top of pure Android; rather, it duplicates some utilities, like the web browser and photos apps, and adds tons of smart software touches and useful tools, like Samsung’s new Wallet, that should enhance the Android experience
Samsung’s onboard photo and video-editing capabilities, for example, are strong. We especially like the ability to magically remove an object from a photo, which worked like a charm on a photo of a dozen donuts – instead of eating them, we just selected them one by one and removed them from the original image. The software did leave behind a few telltale artifacts, but you'd be hard-pressed to tell what was there before we digitally removed a donut.
There’s also a freely downloadable Expert Raw app, which gives you access to all the pro shooting tools (ISO, white balance, focus, shutter speed) and lets you shoot raw images, which we then edited on the phone in Adobe’s Lightroom app.
It’s not great, however, that there’s both a Messages app and a Samsung Messages app. The icons look similar, but they’re two distinct apps. It’s this kind of nonsense that will always keep the Android messaging system slightly behind iOS’s iMessage. We want one system – the new RCS (Rich Communication Services) is fine – and complete cross-app compatibility.
Samsung has made a lot of noise about Google’s updated Google Duo video conferencing utility, which makes its debut on the S22 Ultra, and it does work as advertised. We made a Duo call to a friend, which looked and sounded good on both sides, and then quite effortlessly shared views of our screen, apps like Twitter, and played a YouTube video that we were both able to enjoy.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra connecting phone to Windows 11 (Image credit: Future)
Samsung is also strengthening its partnership with Microsoft, and we had no trouble adding our Microsoft account, which includes OneDrive and the Office Suite. It was also easy to connect the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra to our Windows 11 PC.
We started the process on the phone, and then we had to visit a URL on the PC (it was supposed to pop up automatically, but didn’t) where we found a QR code. We pointed the S22 Ultra camera at the code, and the phone then guided us through the rest of the set-up process.
With the connection complete, we were able to control our phone through the desktop using our mouse; we even ran Asphalt 9 for a hot second before the connection crashed.
While, in our tests, it wasn’t immediately clear how having these platforms blended in this way benefits the user, we think the ability to quickly access on-phone data, messages, and calls is surely part of the attraction.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Specs and performance
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra with camera app open (Image credit: Future)
A 4nm processor, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in most of the world
UK and Australia get Samsung Exynos 2200 chipset
Over almost a week of intense testing, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra never let us down. It’s a fast and powerful phone. The 4nm processor (in our test phone it’s the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset – UK or Australia will get Samsung’s own Exynos 2200 chipset.) doesn’t outperform Apple’s A15 Bionic in Geekbench benchmarks, but raw numbers never tell the full story.
For what it’s worth, here are the numbers for our device, which shipped with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage).
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Geekbench benchmarks
CPU:
Single Core: 1236
Multi-Core: 3417
GPU
OpenCL Score: 5866
Apple’s numbers are better, but the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra didn’t feel any slower across all tasks. Perhaps the only situation where we detected a small stutter was on 8K video playback (that’s 8K video that we shot with the very same phone).
This is also a gorgeous and quite powerful gaming phone, and handled my Asphalt 9 race through Barcelona without a single hiccup.
Call quality was generally excellent. We could hear our caller clearly, and they told us we were coming through equally clear. The 5G performance (we were on T-Mobile in the US) was, by turns, excellent and average – it seemed to depend on how close we were to a decent 5G tower.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Battery life
Large 5,000 mAh battery and wireless charging
Could not meet our expectations for battery life
Like the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the S22 Ultra features a beefy 5,000mAh battery and wireless charging. In our tests, the battery was good for a full day of varied activity (roughly from 7am to 11pm) but not much more (this was the same for mid-range and high-resolution screen settings).
We were a little surprised that such a large battery didn’t provide a day and a half of battery life. Perhaps the new 4nm chip isn’t as efficient as Samsung had hoped.
(Image credit: Future)
The phone has a built-in vapor champer and heat-sync material. Even so, we detected some warmth on the back of the phone when performing a variety of tasks, including web browsing, photography, and gaming, for extended periods. We wonder if Samsung might be able to improve battery performance with some software tweaks.
As noted above, the phone doesn't ship with a charger, just the USB-C cable to connect to one – a potential shock for people upgrading from the previous Note. Also, the in-the-box package no longer includes a set of earbuds, and while this at least makes some sense, as the phone no longer has a 3.5mm headphone jack, you start to feel like Samsung is asking for more money while giving you less.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is probably not for everyone. It’s giant, expensive, and might be overkill for people who simply want a nice screen, decent photos, and a good on-screen social media experience. For those who want more, say a phone that is ready to run Raw photo editing apps, mark up screens and images, create detailed works of art and take zoom photos that will make you the envy of all your iPhone-carrying friends, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is worth every dime.
Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra?
Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra?
(Image credit: Future)
Buy it if...
Don't buy if...
Also consider...
If the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review has you curious about the fastest smartphones on the market, you can read our full roundup of the best phones you can buy.
• Original review date: August 2020
• Newer Sony WH-1000XM5 now out
• Launch price: $349 / £349 / AU$549
• Target price now: $249 / £199 / AU$399
Update: February 2024. The Sony WH-1000XM4 might be getting on these days, but because you can regularly find them for so much cheaper than their launch, we think these still rule the roost in terms of bang for your buck. The 'target' price above is what you should aim to pay for these headphones, and we've seen them for cheaper than those prices, so they're not unrealistic at all. The Sony WH-1000XM5 have now been launched, but with a much higher price than the XM4 and without feeling like a huge leap in terms of sound or noise cancellation. So the WH-1000XM4 really hit the sweet spot if you can get them for our recommended prices, which isn't hard. We still rate them as the best headphones for most people – they've been bettered in many ways, don't get us wrong… but not for this kind of price. Plus the new version doesn't have the handy folding design for traveling! The rest of this review remains as previously published.
Sony WH-1000XM5: One-minute review
The Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Headphones are a wonderful pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones in every way. That's why they're still up there among our pick of the best headphones of 2022, even though they were released in 2020 – and even though they've recently been superseded by the new WH-1000XM5.
We love that they deliver exactly what they promise and then some, thanks to their exceptional noise cancellation and cutting-edge codec support.
Granted, they haven’t seen a massive overhaul aesthetically from theSony WH-1000XM3 that were released back in 2018. However, the WH-1000XM4 headphones pack in a number of new improvements, including DSEE Extreme audio upscaling and multipoint pairing.
The Sony WH-1000XM4 support Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format, which enablesspatial audio on stereo headphones, plus the LDAC codec that can send a bitrate of up to 990 kbps. The unfortunate bit there, though, is that it no longer supports aptX or aptX HD, so your hi-res audio support mileage may vary.
Thanks to their extremely comfortable fit and great noise cancellation, we highly recommend the Sony WH-1000XM4 as the best headphones and the best over-ear headphones for most people, but particularly travelers or those with long commutes. However, they’re not great for workout enthusiasts who need a secure fit and water-resistance – or business people who require a best-in-class microphone for phone calls. For nearly everyone else, however, these are some of the best wireless headphones you can buy from a brand with an excellent track record in audio devices.
Since their release in August 2020, the Sony WH-1000XM4 have been given a few updates. For starters, Sony released a limited edition white colorway with a gold finish. The company also releases a firmware update to improve Bluetooth stability when the headphones are paired to multiple devices and to fix a bug which saw users struggle to connect the Sony WH-1000XM4 to Windows computers.
Read on for our full Sony WH-1000XM4 review, with everything you need to know about the best noise-cancelling headphones you can buy today.
Sony WH-1000XM5 review: Price & release date
Price: $349 in the US
Price: £349 in the UK
Price: AU$549 in Australia
Released in August 2020
The Sony WH-1000XM4 were announced on August 6, 2020 and while they come from Sony's flagship line, they are no longer Sony’s top-tier go to proposition simply because they've now got a younger XM5 sibling. These over-ear cans sit above the mid-range Sony WH-CH710N and true wireless Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds.
In terms of price, you’re looking at $350 / £349 / AU$549 or thereabouts – which is exactly what the Sony WH-1000XM3 launched in 2018 in the US, and £50 more expensive in the UK.
That puts the Sony WH-1000XM4 in the same price range as the Bose Noise-Cancelling 700 Headphones that come in at $339.99 / £349.95 / AU$599.95, and slightly less than the more upscale Bowers and Wilkins PX7 that cost $399.99 / £349 / AU$600 – but let's not forget, that model has now been superseded too, thanks to the arrival of the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2, which can be yours for a cool $399 / £379 / approx. AU$575.
They're also far cheaper than the Apple AirPods Max, which cost $549 / £549 / AU$899 – and since the Sony XM4s are now a slightly older model, we wouldn't be surprised if there are some tasty deals to be had soon…
(Image credit: Future)
Sony WH-1000XM5 review: Design
Imperceptible design changes since the 1000XM3
Sturdy build and comfortable padding
New SoC for improved noise cancellation
Lack any sort of water-resistance
Though the Sony WH-100XM4 have a slew of new components inside the headphones themselves, there’s not a major difference between them and their predecessors in terms of aesthetics. In fact, put them next to each other and you’d have a hard time telling the 1000XM3 apart from the 1000XM4.
That’s not the end of the world, though, as the design of the 1000XM3 is refined and subtle, allowing it to blend in on subway stations, planes and offices without drawing any attention.
In terms of materials, you’re mostly looking at a high-quality plastic build with supple pleather padding. The result is a product that feels mostly durable while remaining extremely comfortable to wear for an extended period of time.
Around the outside of the earcups you’ll find two physical control buttons for power/pairing and a button that cycles through noise-cancelling modes, as well as a 3.5mm aux. jack and a USB-C port for charging. The outer part of the earcups act as a touch-capacitive control panel that can be used to play, pause or skip music, and raise or lower the volume.
Inside the headphones is where the magic happens, though. Sony has swapped out the old system-on-a-chip (SoC) for a new one that promises better noise cancellation. Key to that, of course, is the Sony QNe1 Processor that constantly samples ambient audio to reactively adjust the level of noise cancellation. It’s an ingenious setup and design that separates it from the one-size-fits-all noise cancelling algorithm from other manufacturers.
The bad news here, however, is that the Sony WH-1000XM4 aren’t water-friendly - they’re not splash-proof, water-proof or even very water-resistant. Sony recommends keeping them dry and far away from any source of water that might damage them. That sounds like common sense - and fairly easy to achieve - but that does limit the places you can bring them: if you’re looking for a pair of running headphones, these aren’t them.
(Image credit: Future)
Sony WH-1000XM5 review: Features
Class-leading noise cancellation
Situational and conversational awareness
Multi-point pairing to connect to two devices
May pause the music if it hears you singing along
The Sony WH-1000XM3 were feature-rich upon release, full of inventive control schemes and intelligent applications of their noise cancellation technology. All that was great about the WH-1000XM3 headphones has carried over to the WH-1000XM4 successors, and with some all-new tricks, too. These aren’t just gimmicks either – they’re useful additions that actually work as advertised.
So let’s kick off with the brand-new stuff. First, and perhaps most importantly, Sony has refined its wireless noise-cancelling approach. Like all good design, it’s subtle to the point where you may not notice it at first (such was the strength of the previous system, anyway).
Key specs
Acoustic design: Closed
Weight: 253g
Frequency response: 4Hz to 40kHz
Drivers: 1.57-inch dome-type
Battery life: 30 hours
Active noise cancellation? Yes
Extra features: Speak to Chat, DSEE Extreme, 360 Reality Audio
But with the WH-1000XM4, you’re getting a much greater sense of noise cancellation in the mid-ranges – those sorts of areas where you get a low-level humming kind of sound that you could attribute to a fan, or air conditioning unit, or engine noise. It’s never fully silenced, but it’s remarkably quiet, and as soon as you have actual audio playing through the cans, you can’t hear the outside world at all.
Though high wind can still cause a bit of extraneous noise to come through, it’s otherwise among the best (if not, the best) noise-cancelling system we’ve heard from a pair of wireless headphones.
These noise-cancelling modes are intelligent, too – with your permission, the WH-1000XM4 headphones can learn where you are using geo-location access, and apply your preferred level of noise-cancellation or ambient sound passthrough depending on where you are. So, at home you may prefer a fully cancelled noise mode, while in the office you may want voices to come through.
With the feature activated, the Sony headphones play a small chiming tone when it’s reached one of your set locations, and dials the noise-cancellation up or back appropriately. Though GPS requirements mean it won’t be able to work during a subterranean commute, you can preset your station or travel hub in the accompanying Headphones Connect app, and have it activate your preferred noise cancelling settings whilst above ground before descending.
The best of the WH-1000XM4 features though are those that pander to convenience. They’re simple and effective additions. A sensor in the earcups will recognize when you take the headphones off, and pause music accordingly, resuming playback automatically when you replace them. If they’re paused for a few minutes (at a delay of your choosing), they’ll automatically switch off to save battery life. A new multipoint connection lets the headphones connect to two devices at once, intelligently switching between both as the requirement of each device dictates – say, to deliver a notification or answering a call.
Most impressive is a new Speak-to-Chat feature. With this option switched on, the headphones’ microphone will intelligently recognize when you’ve started talking, and pause your music while ramping up ambient noise being funneled into the cans. It’ll let you have a chat naturally without taking your headphones off, with a short pause occurring after you stop chatting before resuming music playback.
However, it’s a double edged sword, as it’s almost too effective – if you decide to break into song and sing along with your tunes with the feature activated, it’ll pause your track, ending your karaoke session. Convenient then – so long as you’re restrained with your vocal gymnastics.
(Image credit: Future)
Sony WH-1000XM5 review: Audio quality
Circumaural 40mm drivers
Warm and balanced, clear and powerful bass
Support for 360 Reality Audio for spatial audio
LDAC and AAC but not aptX or aptX HD
Sony’s using the same 40mm drivers in the WH-1000XM4 as it had in the WH-1000XM3, so tonally and in terms of mix, there’s not much to separate the WH-1000XM4 from the WH-1000XM3 headphones that preceded them. It’s a warm and balanced sound that does well to offer a wide soundstage when required and detail that can pierce through a powerful bass performance.
On the noise-cancelling front, Sony’s using its Dual Noise Sensor tech, making use of two mics in each earcup to suck in sound and analyse it with the QN1 noise cancelling processor. This allows the headphones to adjust its noise cancellation response imperceptibly quickly, at more than 700 times a second. It’s fantastically powerful, and never gets in the way of your tunes.
While aptX HD support would have been welcome, the Sony’s LDAC codec, present here, does a good job with devices that support it, pushing lots of detail through wirelessly. The introduction of DSEE Extreme, an AI-driven process that looks to restore detail from lossy compressed formats, does well to bring clarity to even the lower quality formats and files you may throw at the WH-1000XM4.
Sony’s still pushing its 360 Reality Audio offering too, which is its homegrown immersive audio format, putting you in the middle of a surround-sound mix, and it’s still impressive – even if actually accessing its library is limited to just a few streaming services, and the catalogue’s growth has been slow.
As ever, we put the headphones through their paces with a mixture of streaming services, file formats and spoken word clips, and the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones impressed across the board.
Jeff Buckley’s elegiac Last Goodbye shimmers into action, its slide guitar giving way to a warm bass groove and layers of acoustic guitars, jangling electrics and orchestral strings. It’s a complicated mix, but the WH-1000XM4 headphones do it justice, soaring with Buckley’s falsetto comfortably sitting at the fore.
Putting the bass to the test by jumping over to Bjork’s Army of Me, you can hear the can’s masterful management of bass frequencies, with the arpeggiated bass line walking through the song as the machine-like snare snaps through.
For something a little softer, Bright Eyes’ First Day of My Life has a great warmth – great vocal clarity is paired with sparkly finger picked guitars and a comforting, guiding double bass that never sounds flabby.
At the other end of the spectrum, Janelle Monae’s absolute banger Make Me Feel sounds supremely powerful on the WH-1000XM4 headphones. From the bop of the percussion to the wall of sound that accompanies the pre-chorus, it sees the Sony WH-1000XM4s firing on all cylinders, with expressive dynamics and clear and distinct separation between each instrument. It’s a pleasure at the best of times, and Sony’s cans bring out the best of the track.
From the perspective of a work-at-home, share-the-kitchen-table-with-a-flatmate user scenario, those around us did notice a substantial amount of noise leakage from the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones – enough to distract at even half their maximum volume level. You may not be able to hear the outside world, but it can hear what you’re listening to, so keep that in mind if you’re planning on taking these to a quiet office or library.
(Image credit: Future)
Sony WH-1000XM5 review: Battery life
No improvement on battery life compared to predecessors
30 hours with noise cancelling on / 38 hours with it off
Quick charging (five hours of charge after just 10 minutes)
Last just as long or longer than the competition
While the Sony WH-1000XM4 didn’t get a boost in battery life compared to their predecessors, you're getting a substantial 30 hours with noise cancelling turned on and around 38 hours with noise cancelling turned off.
At first, that number somewhat disappointed us – how could a product not improve battery life year-on-year? But then it dawned on us that now the headphones have speech detection, a new SoC and algorithm, plus new sensors, too. The fact that it remained the same in spite of adding a host of new features is actually kind of impressive.
Although the Sony WH-1000XM4 don't come with a battery life improvement compared to their predecessors, they do stretch their playback time as far as possible thanks to the new auto-on/off and play/pause sensor inside the earcup that can tell when you’ve taken the headphones off. It’s a huge boon to folks who might forget to turn off their headphones at the end of the day only to find that they’re dead 24 hours later.
The 30 hours should be enough to get you through multiple international flights or a few days to the office, but it’s also good to know that the headphones can be charged in a matter of minutes thanks to fast-charging. According to Sony, you can get about five hours of charge from 10 minutes of power and a full charge after about three hours.
So how do the Sony WH-1000XM4 compare to the competition? Quite favorably. The Bose Noise-Cancelling 700 only clocked in at around 20 hours of battery life with noise cancelling turned on, while the Bowers and Wilkins PX7 matches the Sony at 30.
Should I buy the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Headphones?
• Original review date: August 2019 • No refresh on the horizon
• Launch price: $249 / £229 / AU$399
• Now with limited availability
Updated: January 2024. One of the most expensive Kindle devices around, the Amazon Kindle Oasis remains one of the best premium ereaders around. It's a little long in the tooth now, having been released way back in 2019. But with no refresh on the horizon, likely due the the Kindle Paperwhite offering a great ereader experience, the Oasis is still relevant in 2024. It's availability appears to be limited however, so you may have to go hunting to find it in some regions. Nevertheless, the Kindle Oasis is still worth your consideration, though for most people the Paperwhite may be the better bet. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
Amazon Kindle Oasis: One-minute review
The Kindle Oasis devices are Amazon's top-of-the-line ereaders, and the most recent one is this 2019 model. If you want a luxury reading experience (and don’t want those large, expensive, lumps of dead tree known as a ‘book’), the Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019) is where you should look.
In Amazon's hierarchy, the base Amazon Kindle sits as the most affordable device, with its basic screen, limited storage space and few features, and the Kindle Paperwhite bumps up the screen resolution and storage space and adding a few tricks like waterproofing. This Oasis is technically the top Kindle, though the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition has lots of its features and is two years newer.
The Oasis has a range of features you won’t find in lesser ereaders, like its high-quality display and the range of customization options for screen color and brightness. The fact that you’re plugged into the Amazon Store doesn’t hurt either.
But how much value do you put on this experience? Are you willing to splash out on such an expensive device when you’re going to have to buy the books on top? We think for many people the Kindle Oasis is going to be prohibitively expensive.
Amazon Kindle Oasis review: Price and availability
(Image credit: Amazon)
Given the status of the Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019) as Amazon’s most premium ereader, you should be prepared to wince at its $249.99 / £229.99 / AU$399 / AED 999 price tag. That’s for 8GB onboard memory; if you want 32GB storage the price goes up to $279.99 / £259.99 / AU$449 / AED 1,099.
There’s also a version with 32GB memory and free 4G for downloading books on the go in limited markets, which will set you back $349.99 / £319.99 / AU$559.
In comparison, the base Kindle costs $89.99 / £69.99 / AU$139 / AED359 for 4GB storage, and the Kindle Paperwhite will set you back $129.99 / £119.99 / AU$199 / AED649 for 8GB memory, so even the cheapest Oasis is still a big step up from the Paperwhite.
DEAL: try Kindle Unlimited for FREE in USA | UK | Australia
Amazon Kindle Oasis review: Design
The Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019) doesn’t follow the mini-tablet design of most ereaders – one half of the device is noticeable thicker than the other, which gives you a ridge down the back so that it’s easier to hold (in theory).
In practice, we found the ridge wasn’t quite thick enough to offer a comfortable hold – at 8.4mm thick, it’s only 5mm thicker than the 3.4mm of the main body, which doesn’t provide a deep enough ridge to really get your fingers into. We found the Kindle Oasis a little hard to hold when only using this ridge, so we wouldn’t recommend it depending on what position you like to sit in to read.
The Kindle Oasis (2019)’s other dimensions are 159 x 141mm, so it wouldn’t be big compared to a tablet, but its display is bigger than those of the other Kindles – more on the display later.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
One of the more ‘premium’ features of the device is the metal build, which you won’t find in other Kindles. This makes it feel more hardy, which offsets the fact the 3.4mm part of the device, and its relatively lightweight of 188g, can make it feel a little delicate – the overall effect is a device the looks and feels sleek.
The device is also water resistant, with its IPX8 rating meaning that in theory it can survive being immersed in two metres of water for a whole hour. We can’t imagine that you’d want to take it underwater for that long, but it’ll certainly be fine if you accidentally drop it in the bath while reading, or get it splashed here and there.
Something a little less premium is the micro USB charging port, as most tablets and smartphones have done away with it in favor of USB-C, which is faster for charging. You’re not going to be using that much power with an ereader, so it’s not a huge issue, but we could do without the inconvenience of swapping out the charging cables we use for the rest of our devices.
There’s no 3.5mm headphone jack either, nor loudspeakers, so if you want to listen to audiobooks you’re going to need to use Bluetooth headphones or speakers.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
There are two buttons on the right of the Kindle Oasis, used for skipping forward or backwards through pages. It felt a lot more snappy using these to turn pages than touching the screen, due both to the fact they’re in positions that fall naturally under the fingers, and also because pages turned quicker when we pressed the buttons than when we touched the screen.
There were occasions, however, when the buttons didn’t register our touch, and other times they did but the device stuttered before the next page loaded, prompting us to press again then accidentally skip pages. This often happened when reading books that were complicated in terms of their layout and design, like comic books and our own PDFs, and we didn’t notice it as much for text-based books.
It’s worth noting that for the most part, the design is exactly the same as the previous generation of Kindle Oasis, and that ereader costs quite a bit less now.
Amazon Kindle Oasis review: Display
The display is where you’re seeing the main improvements on the Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019), as there are quite a few additions and changes that improve its quality, and the reading experience.
The display is 7 inches diagonally, which is bigger than the 6-inch screens in the Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite, so you can fit more words or comic book frames on the screen at once, and it’s also higher quality, with 300 pixels per inch, so content looks good too.
This screen is backlit by 25 LEDs, a big jump over the 12 LEDs in the 2017 Kindle Oasis, and you can see the different – max brightness is really high, so you can read in a variety of situations, and there’s better contrast between light and dark, which makes comic books in particular more vivid.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
The brightness can be changed through the easily-accessible settings menu, but there’s also the option to have it automatically change depending on your environment, as on many smartphones.
It’s in the settings menu that you’ll find another of the Kindle Oasis’ big new features, in the form of the ‘warmness’ light setting. This gives the display an orange hue, which makes it more comfortable to look at during night-time reading, and protects your eyes over long reading binges.
The feature is primarily designed to make it more comfortable to read at night, but we also found that when we used it on a low setting we could read more easily in daylight. There’s not a huge range when you change the warmth, but it’s an appreciated upgrade anyway.
The refresh rate of the screen is appropriate – being an ereader display, you’re not seeing as snappy a refresh as on a smartphone screen, but it was far from slow. When zooming into parts of a document we could see the zoom increments, and this made it easier to zoom to the right part of the file.
Amazon Kindle Oasis review: Battery life
Amazon estimates that the battery in the Kindle Oasis (2019) will last you for six weeks, but that’s with a few caveats: to achieve that figure you’ll need to limit your reading to half an hour a day, keep Bluetooth turned off, and the brightness setting on 13, which is roughly half brightness.
While that might sound slightly limiting, in practice, if you’re going to be reading for an hour or so daily, and with the display a little brighter than Amazon recommends, your ereader is still going to take a fair few weeks to run flat, and this is exactly what we found in our testing.
We read for a good two-three hours daily, and it took about a week for the battery to drop down to 50% – that’s roughly the rate of battery consumption quoted by Amazon. In short, the battery life is pretty impressive – this thing will last you for ages.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
This is one of the perks of E Ink, as the tech uses barely any battery power to show content on the screen, and it’s certainly an eco-friendly alternative to reading books on your smartphone.
Charging via the micro USB port isn’t exactly snappy though – we found it took a few hours to charge the Oasis up to full power, but this doesn’t really matter too much if you’re only going to be powering up once in a blue moon.
Amazon Kindle Oasis review: Software
The Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019) runs on software that’s very tightly integrated with the Amazon Store – so much so that it can be easy to get confused between which books you own as part of your library, and which are suggestions from Amazon.
Once you get the hang of the software, though, it’s easy to find your way between the home page, your library, the settings, the store, and everything else you’ll need.
As is the case with ereaders in general, it’s not the snappiest device in the world, and it can often take quite a while to navigate through menus. This sluggishness can be particularly annoying when you’re trying to type, but it’s a price you pay for using a device that’s optimized for reading books rather than for smooth navigation of the user interface.
(Image credit: Amazon)
As on other Kindles, you there are a few useful features you’ll find in the Oasis that make it a useful reading tool. One of these is the ability to change text fonts for ebooks, so if you absolutely must read your books in a sans serif font, you’re set. You can also change the page spacing, margins, and orientation, to fully customize your reading experience.
Amazon Kindle Oasis review: Features
The Amazon Store is the biggest collection of ebooks around, so you’re almost certainly going to find the fiction or non-fiction book, comic book or audiobook with relative ease.
If you’re a keen reader you may be interested in Amazon Kindle Unlimited, a subscription service available in some parts of the world that lets you ‘rent’ ebooks. It costs $9.99 / £7.99 / AU$13.99 per month, and you can download and store up to 10 books or comics at any one time, so it’s perfect for quick readers.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Kindle Unlimited is particularly good for fans of comic books and graphic novels, as those are typically quite quick to get through but the physical versions cost quite a bit; and the Kindle library has many of the classics, so you can use Kindle Unlimited to make your way through lots of titles quickly.
The selection of books on Kindle Unlimited is rather limited, certainly compared to the standard Kindle store, but it’s great for classic novels like War of the Worlds and 10,000 Leagues Under The Sea, as well as comic books, and a smattering of other titles you may not have heard of but might want to try.
Depending on your tastes and reading habits, Amazon Kindle Unlimited may or may not be worth the regular outlay for you, so do have a look at which titles are supported before you commit.
Alternatively, Amazon Prime members can use Prime Reading, which is like Prime Video in that it offers you free reading of certain ebooks as part of your Prime membership.
You can access both of these services from your Kindle or computer browser, as well as the standard library of books which you can buy, and overall we were able to find any book we wanted.
Should I buy the Amazon Kindle Oasis?
The Amazon Kindle Oasis is for people who value their reading experience above all else, and are willing to throw a good chunk of money at a device that will deliver that experience.
Should you buy it?
If you’re in the market for a premium ereader you could do worse than the Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019), but it’s not much of a jump in quality over the previous-gen Amazon Kindle Oasis, which has now had a price reduction thanks to there being an upgrade on the market.
If the upgraded screen quality appeals to you, and you’re willing to stump up the cash for it, buy the new Kindle Oasis – but if you can take or leave those features, the older version will serve you just as well.
First reviewed: August 2019
DEAL: try Kindle Unlimited for FREE in USA | UK | Australia
Competition
Kindle Paperwhite
(Image credit: Future)
If the high price tag of the Kindle Oasis puts you off somewhat, then you might want to take a step down in the Kindle range and look at the Paperwhite. It’s a simpler device in terms of build quality and screen customization options, but it has all the features and functions of the Kindle, so you’ll be able to read your books just as easily.
Kobo is one of the best-known competitors to Amazon, and the Forma is basically its equivalent of the Oasis. Kobo’s ebook store may not quite rival Amazon’s in terms of choice, but it’s a sturdy device with a very long battery life.
You don’t need to pay for an ereader at all if you have a smartphone, as the Google Play Books app, which is available on Android and iOS devices, is free, and gives you access to millions of cheap or affordable books. Of course, your smartphone doesn’t make for as great a reading experience as an ereader, but it’s certainly a more economical solution.
This model has different names and product codes in different territories:
US: Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight Cordless Stick Vacuum with DuoClean PowerFins IZ662H UK: Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Vacuum IZ300UK / IZ300UKT AU: Shark Cordless Apex Pro X2 Pet Stick Vacuum IZ320
For this review, I tested the UK version. There may be minor differences between different countries' models. See Specs section for more details.
Shark Vertex Pro (known as the Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless in the UK, and Shark Cordless Apex Pro X2 Pet Stick Vacuum in Australia) is a powerful cordless stick vacuum cleaner. I tested it out to see how it compares to the rest of today's best cordless vacuum cleaners, and the best vacuums in general.
The Shark IZ662H / IZ300UK's cleaner head has two brush rollers that spin at the same time. One roller is hard, with flexible silicon fins (known as PowerFins) to dig deep into carpets to dislodge dirt. The second roller is a soft, fluffy unit to tackle fine dust. Both benefit from Shark's handy anti-tangle feature, which stops human and pet hair from becoming wrapped around the brush roller; instead, it’s whipped straight into the dust canister. On test, I was impressed with how effective this design feature is.
There are a couple of features designed specifically to help you clean dark and difficult corners. The cleaner head features six LEDs that light a path and make it easy to clean in dark corners or beneath furniture. This model also has Shark's popular bendable wand, which enables the cleaner to reach under low-clearance furniture, while also making the unit more compact for easy storage. It can also be used as a handheld, although it's fairly heavy, so I don't think it's ideal for this.
There are three levels of suction, and I found this vacuum powerful and effective on both hard floor and carpets – although the heaviness means it can be a little sticky to use on deep pile carpet. Note, too, there's no auto-adjust suction, as you'll find on Shark's newest vacuums.
In a nod to rival, the Dyson V15 Detect, the cordless cleaner also has an LED display that can show the remaining battery level, as well the suction mode selected, and whether the hard floor or carpet setting has been activated.
Price-wise, it sits it TechRadar's mid-range price band. If you want a powerful cleaner, or have lots of nooks and crannies around your home, the flexibility this model would make it a good choice. You can see how it compares to other products from this brand in our best Shark vacuum cleaner guide.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Before I start the review properly, a note on naming conventions. You may have noticed, this product has different names. In the US, it's the Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight Cordless Stick Vacuum with DuoClean PowerFins (IZ662H). In the UK, it's the Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Vacuum (IZ300UK), and there's also the Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Pet Vacuum (IZ300UKT), which is the same base model with added Pet Tool. Be especially careful here because there's another product with the same name, but a different product code. In Australia, you're looking for the Shark Cordless Apex Pro X2 Pet Stick Vacuum (IZ320). I tested the UK version, and I'll flag any differences in specs throughout my review.
In the US, the Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight Cordless Stick Vacuum with DuoClean PowerFins is $449.99 at MSRP. The UK's version – the Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Vacuum – is £349.99, or if you opt for the version with the extra Pet Tool, £379.99. That puts it in TechRadar's mid-range price bracket, and it's excellent value for that price.
Shoppers in Australia can pick up the Shark Cordless Apex Pro X2 Pet Stick Vacuum for AU$899.99. Based on rough exchange rates, that's a fair bit more expensive than the US and UK versions, but that's partly because the AU version comes with a lot more tools and accessories, as well as an extra battery. However, at time of update, it was out of stock at Shark.
Vacuum cleaners (and home appliances in general) often attract discounts during major shopping events, so it's worth keeping an eye out for an Amazon Prime Day deal or Black Friday deal if it suits when you want to buy. You might also get lucky and snag a Shark promo code.
Converts into a handheld cleaner, and tools vary by territory
Flexible stick and anti hair wrap floorhead
The Shark IZ662H / IZ300UK vacuum cleaner is one of the heavier cordless vacuums we've tested, weighing in at 8.82lbs / 4.58kg. The US version has a 1qt dust cup, while the UK and AU models are marginally smaller at 0.7L.
The design is fairly standard for a cordless vacuum cleaner, with the motor, filter and dust canister at the top. This is attached to the wand, with the floorhead at the bottom. On the main unit you'll find a 2.5 inch LCD screen that displays the remaining runtime, along with the power button, suction level control, and the carpet or hard floor selector. The swappable battery sits in this section, too, with three LEDs that indicate the remaining power.
There are three different suction modes, including a carpet setting that sees the brush roller rotate faster to help suck up ground-in dirt from carpet pile, and a slower setting that ensures hard floors aren't damaged when vacuuming. Note that this model doesn't come with Shark's Clean Sense IQ technology, where the vacuum can sense how dirty the floor is and adjust its suction automatically in response. (For a models that can do this, head to TechRadar's Shark Detect Pro Cordless review.)
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Rather than the wand being a single section, it has a flexible extension tube in the center. When you press the catch on the back of the wand, it can bend by up to 180 degrees, enabling the vacuum to be easily maneuvered under furniture or made more compact for storage.
The main floorhead features a hard brush roller with flexible silicon 'PowerFins', as well as a soft, fluffy roller; both rotate when the vacuum is switched on to improve pickup. Six LEDs at the front of the head light a path, and Shark's Anti Hair Wrap technology stops hair from becoming tangled around the brush roller, and instead removes it from the roller and directs it into the dust cup as you clean.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Detaching the wand and floor-cleaning head turns the cordless stick vacuum into a handheld cleaner, to which you can connect any of the included tools. These vary by territory. In the US, the standard model just comes with a Crevice Tool. In the UK, it's that plus a Multi Surface Tool, and if you opt for the Pet version, there's also a Pet Tool. In Australia, there's a wide selection of tools included.
Shark IZ662H / IZ300UK vacuum cleaner specs
Shark IZ662H / IZ300UK review: performance
Powerful and effective suction, but can flick about larger debris
Smooth to use on hard floors; could get stuck a bit on carpet
Flexible wand great for getting under furniture
Noisy in use
The Shark Shark Vertex Pro / Anti Hair Wrap Cordless is certainly a powerful cordless vacuum. During testing, it sucked up fine dust and larger debris on both carpet and hard floor with ease on all power settings. However, when it came to hard floors, I found the wheels on the back of the cleaner head flicked some of the oats around the floor, rather than collecting them. This meant I had to make several passes to ensure the mess was cleared.
The vacuum cleaner glided easily across hard floors, although there was some resistance on carpet since it's a heavy cordless cleaner. The flexible wand proved useful for reaching under furniture, as did the six LED headlights on the floor-cleaning head – they made it easier to see the area I was vacuuming.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
I was impressed with the Anti Hair Wrap technology, which ensures hair doesn’t become tangled around the brush roll. When vacuuming up a clump of hair I'd removed from a hair brush, it was whisked straight into the canister without becoming stuck.
I also found the Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner was easy to empty. Just disconnect the wand and use the button on the left-hand side of the canister to activate the mechanism that ejects the debris into the bin in one swift move. Some newer Shark vacuums come with an auto-empty base option, but that's currently not available with this model.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
What I wasn't so enamored by was the noise – it's one of the loudest vacuums I've tested, with my decibel meter registering 88db when using the vacuum on its most powerful setting on carpet. This is the same level of noise as when using a blender. The vacuum cleaner also proved cumbersome to use in handheld mode, as a result of its weight. It made my arms ache when I cleaned up high, so I wouldn’t recommend using it in this way for very long periods.
If you need something primarily for use as a handheld, head to our Shark WandVac System review – the suction is lower, but this model is far easier to wield.
Shark IZ662H / IZ300UK review: battery life
Ranges from 11 to 60 minutes, depending on the power setting
Battery takes up to four hours to fully recharge
Swappable battery reduces interruptions to cleaning
Shark claims the battery lasts up to 60 minutes between charges. As always, this is on the lowest powerful power setting, and you can expect it to drop considerably in higher suction modes – in my tests, when used on the most powerful setting, the cleaner managed only 11 minutes of vacuuming before the battery required recharging.
The battery took four hours to fully recharge. Handily, the unit is swappable, for minimal interruptions to your cleaning session. Some versions come with two batteries included, but if yours doesn't, they can be purchased separately.
Should you buy the Shark IZ662H / IZ300UK vacuum cleaner?
This is a review of Sage Business Cloud Accounting for North America. The product, and its features may vary depending on the country you're in. We will soon update this review to reflect the differences with the UK version which includes Payroll.
Sage is the British company that has been offering accountancy software solutions for many years. The business currently has its latest incarnation of Sage Business Cloud Accounting that, as the name suggests, offers the flexibility and dependable edge provided by a cloud-based solution.
The service was originally called Sage One but has morphed into a beefier package that differs from Sage’s 50cloud option. The most obvious benefit of Sage Business Cloud Accounting is that you gain the flexibility and scalability provided by having a cloud back-end.
Sage is constantly evolving too, with the UK market having its own products dedicated to small business including specific accounting, payroll and HR packages. Equally, Sage also covers the medium-sized business arena with Sage Intacct, Sage200cloud and the more specialised cloud-based ERP Sage X3. Professional accountants and bookkeepers are, of course, also catered for with partner accounting and payroll options with an increasing focus on automation.
Competitor software services worth considering include QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books, Kashflow and FreshBooks. All practical options in light of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Sage Business Cloud Accounting offers both a starter plan as well as a more advanced plan that includes invoicing and cash flow management (Image credit: Image Credit: Sage)
Sage: Pricing
If you like the look of the most recent edition of Sage Business Cloud Accounting then the good news is that there’s a free trial available. This is a great way of experiencing the cloud-based accountancy service head on, but if you want to get stuck into its products full-on then there are two options. Sage One Start is $10 per month, while Sage One Accounting is $25 per month. The Accounting package is the one to go for if you like the sound of access to over 100 connected apps that enable you to boost the potential of the Sage cloud-based service.
The other offering for small business accounting is the Sage 50cloud Accounting software. This combines “the convenience of cloud with the power of desktop accounting software.” This solution is able to integrate the Sage bookkeeping with Office 365 Business Premium and the Microsoft Small Business Productivity Suite. This enables key cloud based features, such as backing up to OneDrive, generating financial reports in Excel, and accessing Outlook contacts.
This starts at the Pro Accounting tier, via a monthly subscription of $46.83 per month, with the limitation that it only supports a single user at a single company, with the option to add Microsoft 365 for an annual subscription of $150 per year. It can also automate bank feeds, and can be remotely accessed by your accountant.
You can easily connect your bank accounts to Sage Business Cloud Accounting (Image credit: Image Credit: Sage)
Sage: Features
Sage Business Cloud Accounting gets regular updates and its latest version is perfect for small businesses that need a relatively straightforward solution. Once you’re signed up Sage Business Cloud Accounting lets you tackle accounting, but it’ll also simplify sales tracking, reporting and pull contact together. You’ll be able to accept and receive payments, create and send invoices as well as stay on top of bookkeeping chores all within the space of a cloud-based service.
The additional benefit of Sage Business Cloud Accounting is that it lets you enjoy the same powerful features on your computer, tablet or phone. That way you’re on top of your accounting no matter where you happen to be.
Users in the UK get a variation on the theme. Sage offers small businesses an Accounting package, which lets you handle invoicing, cash flow, tax, payments and more. It also has a Payroll option, which allows you to pay up to 50 employees and is fully HRMC-compliant. Sage even takes care of HR issues with its refreshed Sage HR package, which used to be called CakeHR. It is a constantly evolving picture to stay in line with new rules and regulations, along with the changing face of business.
Sage: Performance
Sage has been around long enough to realize the potential of offering a product that can be used by the many and varied users that need accountancy solutions. As a result, there are versions available for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad plus the web-based edition for anyone with access to a browser.
As you’d expect from a cloud-based solution, it depends on an internet connection but all data is stored in the cloud. Sage delivers a reliable service in that respect and the performance has been carefully honed over the years to help you enjoy a pretty decent experience.
Sage: Ease of use
Sage Business Cloud Accounting is quite a dry experience in that it’s less easy on the eyes, but certainly offers a comprehensive suite of features and functions. If you’re a newcomer to its functionality then you might find it a little hard going as there’s quite a lot to get through during initial setup. This is done via a Getting Started screen, which incidentally can be switched off if preferred.
You can, of course, import a lot of your data as well as connect to your financial institutions, which means that most of your accounting figures will self-populate the various categories. Nevertheless, there is still quite a lot to digest within the Sage Business Cloud Accounting interface, though once you’ve become familiar with it progress is much more streamlined.
Sage has done an impressive job at shoehorning the same experience into its mobile apps too, with iPhone and Android experiences surprisingly good. You can even get it for the Apple Watch.
The Sage Business Cloud Accounting layout is functional but lacks the flair of other cloud-based options (Image credit: Sage)
Sage: Support
You’ll find plenty of options available to you if you need to call upon some support. Sage has got this aspect of its business down to a fine art, with email, phone and also live support options all available.
For ongoing issues that can’t be resolved with a quick answer then there is also the provision for raising support tickets, whereby your query will be put into a queuing system and hopefully resolved as quickly as possible. You also get the benefit of a healthy community spirit within the world of Sage, while easily accessed and comprehensive FAQs also get to the bottom of many everyday questions and quandaries.
Support comes in a range of options including a powerful knowledge base for FAQs (Image credit: Sage)
Sage: Final verdict
Sage Cloud Business Accounting has been a reliable option for quite some time and proves consistently popular with many sole traders and smaller businesses. However, the interface can seem rather uninspiring even though it does offer an expansive range of features.
Some elements of the workflow seem unduly labored and with missing features such as time tracking and payroll options Sage Cloud Business Accounting is at risk from the competition. While everyone might instantly know the name of Sage this cloud-based accountancy solution doesn’t satisfy in quite the same way as something like QuickBooks Online.
We find the lowest Accounting Start tier, while well priced, somewhat limiting, and only useful for a true micro business. On the other hand, the upper Accounting tier is quite a bit more capable, and the 50cloud variant has deep integration with Microsoft365, although the cost rises considerably from the lowest plan. For a medium to larger small business, without dedicated accounting resources, these higher plans become an affordable solution.
• Original review date: July 2021
• No new model has been launched since
• Launch price: $299 / AU$399 (unavailable in the UK at launch)
• Now available in the UK as well for £269
Updated: March 2024. When Hydragun launched as a company, it was with just one product going by the same name – a premium massage gun that didn't come with the high-end price tag like a Theragun. While a smaller Hydragun Atom Mini is now available for $199 / £179 / AU$349, the original is still better value and we stand by our original review below.
Hydragun massage gun: One-minute review
Massage guns are all the rage now and Hydragun is claiming a piece of that pie. In the recent working-from-home culture, it doesn’t take very much for us to feel sore by the end of day, and taking on the muscle fatigue after a workout is additional stress on the body. While there’s nothing like a long massage by an actual person, we don’t usually have that luxury – and that’s where massage guns come in.
Hydragun is similar to most other massage guns on the market, shipping with six different attachments to target different muscle groups, with six different speeds to choose from. And it does exactly what it says on the tin – kneads muscles to try and get to deep tissue knots to relieve soreness and fatigue by stimulating blood supply to the inflamed areas.
While it works marvellously well on most large muscle groups, it can feel quite aggressive in some others. For example, if you use it along the curve of the neck and shoulder, it may feel like your brain is vibrating, even on the lowest setting, making it an uncomfortable experience. If you can bear it for a few minutes, though, there’s nothing like a little kneading with the Hydragun to remove the soreness you feel after an entire day in front of the computer or relax sore muscles after a particularly strenuous workout.
What we like about the Hydragun is the ability to reach that annoying corner of the shoulder blade that gets sore after using a mouse at a desk. Used with the bullet attachment, it can dig into the muscle there to relieve pain, but if it’s a chronic issue, something like a specialist trigger point tool is far more effective.
That said, when it comes to combating the everyday aches and pains of working at a desk all day, or relaxing after a strenuous workout, the Hydragun is more than a match for those. It might be an expensive investment at full price, but a part of that cost is justified by the premium materials used to make the product and how well-balanced it feels when using. It’s also pretty quiet for a massage gun.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Hydragun massage gun review: price and availability
Available direct to consumer
List price: $299 / £269 /AU$399
The Hydragun isn’t available in retail stores. Instead, you get it online, directly from the company. Hydragun has online storefronts for the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States, the last one also catering to the rest of the world if the product needs to ship elsewhere.
At $299 / £269 / AU$399 a pop, it is expensive, but comes in cheaper than the likes of the Theragun Pro and the Theragun Elite, although these two premium models offer more features than the Hydragun.
Shipping is free in the countries with a local version of the online store (the product ships around the world from the US), plus there’s a 30-day risk-free return policy if you’re not happy with the product. Return shipping, however, is at your personal cost. If you’re worried about the longevity of the massage gun, there’s a 1.5-year warranty available as well.
Several other cheaper options are usually listed on sites like Amazon, but these brands may not have worldwide availability.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Hydragun massage gun review: design
Familiar gun-like design
Ergonomic grip
Several attachments
Like most massage guns currently available, the Hydragun ships in a semi-soft travel case that also encloses some extra freebies like a protein bar, eye gel, nasal spray and curated playlists to help you relax.
The massage gun itself is made from premium, futuristic materials like aerospace-grade aluminum and nano silica gel (used in the grip), which might explain why it costs as much as it does. The six attachments that come with the gun, however, don’t share the premium materials, but they look good and are pretty sturdy.
The attachments are two stainless steel flatheads, one plastic flathead, one soft ball head, a fork and a bullet – most target the larger muscle groups, but some can be used for deep-tissue massage and bony areas like ankles. Also in the case is a charging cable and, depending on where the product is being shipped to, a couple of adaptors so you can use the Hydragun anywhere in the world.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
The massage gun feels heavy – weighing 2.3lbs/1.04kg – but is very well balanced and you soon get used to the heft, with absolutely no strain on the wrist. The weight might be due to the battery (2,600mAh that lasts up to 6 hours) and motor, both of which are better performers than the Theragun options. For example, the Theragun Pro uses replaceable batteries that promise up to 150 minutes per battery, while the motor pumps at a top speed of 2,400rpm as compared to the Hydragun’s 3,600rpm.
The single control button for the Hydragun is on the back panel of the device, which is also made of the same silicone as the grip. The power button in the middle not only turns the gun on and off, but also cycles through the six speed settings. Arranged horizontally and vertically around the power button are the LED indicators for speed and battery level.
On the top edge of the circular rear panel is also a ‘stall’ indicator that detects torque pressure and lights up if you’re pressing too much. While it’s good to have that option, we didn't see it come on during out testing as we didn’t push hard enough to trigger a warning – it hurts plenty on sore muscles even when lightly held. That said, you’ll obviously never see the stall indicator come on if you happen to be using the Hydragun on your back or neck.
And that’s it – there’s no companion app, like the one for the Bluetooth-enabled Theragun Pro and Elite models that allow you customize precise speeds, or the OLED digital display on these premium models.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Hydragun massage gun review: performance
Up to 6 hours of battery life
Vibrations rather than pulsing movements
Quiet for a massage gun
The Hydragun can be used at any stage of your workout routine – you could do a quick massage before, during your exercise routine, or a more prolonged session after. It’s easy enough to fit a flathead or the soft ball head to the gun and carry in your gym bag. Being battery operated, with a pretty impressive battery life, means you can use it away from any mains.
The best part about using it anywhere is how quiet it actually is. If you’re in a locker room, it won’t be louder than someone talking. It registers at about 30dB on a decibel meter, which is about as much as an electric toothbrush. In contrast, some Theraguns are pretty loud, buzzing as loud as a vacuum cleaner.
The motor offers six different speeds ranging from 1,200rpm to 3,200rpm and even the lowest setting can provide relief, although it depends on the specific use case. After a particularly intense workout, we found the middle 2,000rpm or 2,400rpm setting to be the most effective on 2-minute sessions, but the lowest speed can also feel very intense on areas like the neck. When we used the bullet attachment on the low 1,200 rpm setting to knead out the effects of 8 hours spent at a computer, it was still vigorous enough to make it hard to breathe. That said, not everyone will be so sensitive to vibrations and the Hydragun will work on most muscle groups without any side effects.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
You’ll need to be careful when using the Hydragun on or near bony areas – like along the spine or near the ankle – as the gun tends to bounce off the harder surfaces. While it doesn’t hurt if you accidentally move over a bone, the thrust away from the body can be a hard jolt that may cause you to drop the pulsating device.
Speaking of pulsating, you can see this happen only at the lowest speed of 1,200rpm. Anything above that looks and feels more like vibrations which, if you really want to go deep tissue, doesn’t always provide relief, like the corner of the scapula where many of us suffer from muscle contraction caused by using a mouse for days together.
For the usual aches and pains, and sometimes for even more severe muscular injuries, the Hydragun does a brilliant job of reducing soreness and pain. Using the Hydragun for a few minutes each day helped reduce the pain of a particularly nasty calf muscle injury considerably during our testing, allowing the area to heal fully.
Note that the Hydragun switches off automatically after 15 minutes of constant use, which is an excellent failsafe because it’s very tempting to keep massaging a sore area for longer only because it feels so good.
• Original review date: July 2021
• No new model has been launched since
• Launch price: $299 / AU$399 (unavailable in the UK at launch)
• Now available in the UK as well for £269
Updated: March 2024. When Hydragun launched as a company, it was with just one product going by the same name – a premium massage gun that didn't come with the high-end price tag like a Theragun. While a smaller Hydragun Atom Mini is now available for $199 / £179 / AU$349, the original is still better value and we stand by our original review below.
Hydragun massage gun: One-minute review
Massage guns are all the rage now and Hydragun is claiming a piece of that pie. In the recent working-from-home culture, it doesn’t take very much for us to feel sore by the end of day, and taking on the muscle fatigue after a workout is additional stress on the body. While there’s nothing like a long massage by an actual person, we don’t usually have that luxury – and that’s where massage guns come in.
Hydragun is similar to most other massage guns on the market, shipping with six different attachments to target different muscle groups, with six different speeds to choose from. And it does exactly what it says on the tin – kneads muscles to try and get to deep tissue knots to relieve soreness and fatigue by stimulating blood supply to the inflamed areas.
While it works marvellously well on most large muscle groups, it can feel quite aggressive in some others. For example, if you use it along the curve of the neck and shoulder, it may feel like your brain is vibrating, even on the lowest setting, making it an uncomfortable experience. If you can bear it for a few minutes, though, there’s nothing like a little kneading with the Hydragun to remove the soreness you feel after an entire day in front of the computer or relax sore muscles after a particularly strenuous workout.
What we like about the Hydragun is the ability to reach that annoying corner of the shoulder blade that gets sore after using a mouse at a desk. Used with the bullet attachment, it can dig into the muscle there to relieve pain, but if it’s a chronic issue, something like a specialist trigger point tool is far more effective.
That said, when it comes to combating the everyday aches and pains of working at a desk all day, or relaxing after a strenuous workout, the Hydragun is more than a match for those. It might be an expensive investment at full price, but a part of that cost is justified by the premium materials used to make the product and how well-balanced it feels when using. It’s also pretty quiet for a massage gun.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Hydragun massage gun review: price and availability
Available direct to consumer
List price: $299 / £269 /AU$399
The Hydragun isn’t available in retail stores. Instead, you get it online, directly from the company. Hydragun has online storefronts for the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States, the last one also catering to the rest of the world if the product needs to ship elsewhere.
At $299 / £269 / AU$399 a pop, it is expensive, but comes in cheaper than the likes of the Theragun Pro and the Theragun Elite, although these two premium models offer more features than the Hydragun.
Shipping is free in the countries with a local version of the online store (the product ships around the world from the US), plus there’s a 30-day risk-free return policy if you’re not happy with the product. Return shipping, however, is at your personal cost. If you’re worried about the longevity of the massage gun, there’s a 1.5-year warranty available as well.
Several other cheaper options are usually listed on sites like Amazon, but these brands may not have worldwide availability.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Hydragun massage gun review: design
Familiar gun-like design
Ergonomic grip
Several attachments
Like most massage guns currently available, the Hydragun ships in a semi-soft travel case that also encloses some extra freebies like a protein bar, eye gel, nasal spray and curated playlists to help you relax.
The massage gun itself is made from premium, futuristic materials like aerospace-grade aluminum and nano silica gel (used in the grip), which might explain why it costs as much as it does. The six attachments that come with the gun, however, don’t share the premium materials, but they look good and are pretty sturdy.
The attachments are two stainless steel flatheads, one plastic flathead, one soft ball head, a fork and a bullet – most target the larger muscle groups, but some can be used for deep-tissue massage and bony areas like ankles. Also in the case is a charging cable and, depending on where the product is being shipped to, a couple of adaptors so you can use the Hydragun anywhere in the world.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
The massage gun feels heavy – weighing 2.3lbs/1.04kg – but is very well balanced and you soon get used to the heft, with absolutely no strain on the wrist. The weight might be due to the battery (2,600mAh that lasts up to 6 hours) and motor, both of which are better performers than the Theragun options. For example, the Theragun Pro uses replaceable batteries that promise up to 150 minutes per battery, while the motor pumps at a top speed of 2,400rpm as compared to the Hydragun’s 3,600rpm.
The single control button for the Hydragun is on the back panel of the device, which is also made of the same silicone as the grip. The power button in the middle not only turns the gun on and off, but also cycles through the six speed settings. Arranged horizontally and vertically around the power button are the LED indicators for speed and battery level.
On the top edge of the circular rear panel is also a ‘stall’ indicator that detects torque pressure and lights up if you’re pressing too much. While it’s good to have that option, we didn't see it come on during out testing as we didn’t push hard enough to trigger a warning – it hurts plenty on sore muscles even when lightly held. That said, you’ll obviously never see the stall indicator come on if you happen to be using the Hydragun on your back or neck.
And that’s it – there’s no companion app, like the one for the Bluetooth-enabled Theragun Pro and Elite models that allow you customize precise speeds, or the OLED digital display on these premium models.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Hydragun massage gun review: performance
Up to 6 hours of battery life
Vibrations rather than pulsing movements
Quiet for a massage gun
The Hydragun can be used at any stage of your workout routine – you could do a quick massage before, during your exercise routine, or a more prolonged session after. It’s easy enough to fit a flathead or the soft ball head to the gun and carry in your gym bag. Being battery operated, with a pretty impressive battery life, means you can use it away from any mains.
The best part about using it anywhere is how quiet it actually is. If you’re in a locker room, it won’t be louder than someone talking. It registers at about 30dB on a decibel meter, which is about as much as an electric toothbrush. In contrast, some Theraguns are pretty loud, buzzing as loud as a vacuum cleaner.
The motor offers six different speeds ranging from 1,200rpm to 3,200rpm and even the lowest setting can provide relief, although it depends on the specific use case. After a particularly intense workout, we found the middle 2,000rpm or 2,400rpm setting to be the most effective on 2-minute sessions, but the lowest speed can also feel very intense on areas like the neck. When we used the bullet attachment on the low 1,200 rpm setting to knead out the effects of 8 hours spent at a computer, it was still vigorous enough to make it hard to breathe. That said, not everyone will be so sensitive to vibrations and the Hydragun will work on most muscle groups without any side effects.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
You’ll need to be careful when using the Hydragun on or near bony areas – like along the spine or near the ankle – as the gun tends to bounce off the harder surfaces. While it doesn’t hurt if you accidentally move over a bone, the thrust away from the body can be a hard jolt that may cause you to drop the pulsating device.
Speaking of pulsating, you can see this happen only at the lowest speed of 1,200rpm. Anything above that looks and feels more like vibrations which, if you really want to go deep tissue, doesn’t always provide relief, like the corner of the scapula where many of us suffer from muscle contraction caused by using a mouse for days together.
For the usual aches and pains, and sometimes for even more severe muscular injuries, the Hydragun does a brilliant job of reducing soreness and pain. Using the Hydragun for a few minutes each day helped reduce the pain of a particularly nasty calf muscle injury considerably during our testing, allowing the area to heal fully.
Note that the Hydragun switches off automatically after 15 minutes of constant use, which is an excellent failsafe because it’s very tempting to keep massaging a sore area for longer only because it feels so good.
