Any business hankering after the best social media management tools should investigate Zoho Social, which offers the ability to co-ordinate all of your social campaigns from one place, lets any type of business to schedule posts, keeps track of the results, and compiles comprehensive reports.
Zoho Social's other benefit is working alongside other products in Zoho's portfolio, meaning a business should be able to exploit its power even more efficiently by integrating with Zoho Workspace, Campaigns, and CRM.
Being able to work in a one-stop environment will be ideally suite to many companies, especially those who are looking to make workflow activities more efficient. Add on great iOS and Android apps and Zoho is an attractive tool.
Of course, there is still competition in the social media management space from the likes of Hootsuite, Buffer, HubSpot, and Circleboom, but for companies that have already bought into the Zoho suite, or are considering doing so, Social is one of the strongest options.
Let's dive into our review of the Zoho Social social media manager.
Zoho always tends to offer an easy way into using its software and that is no less evident than this social media management package.
To start, there’s a free 15-day trial, which lets you explore the features and functions without committing to a contract, and then there’s the option to pay either monthly or yearly, so it’s pretty flexible.
Zoho's other great ideal is letting users switch plans at anytime, meaning it’s quick and easy to effectively upgrade if your business has outgrown its existing package, which is kind of the ideal mode for enterprise software.
(Image credit: Zoho)
Zoho Social offers three plans, with each one having appeal for businesses of different sizes. First off, the Standard edition is cheapest, staring out at $10 per month if billed annually, and offering 10 channels and one team member.
Next up, the Professional plan comes in at $30 per month, while the trio is rounded out by the Premium edition, which costs $40 per month. Both of these prices are billed annually, and monthly billing may cost more.
The latter two packages have add-ons that mean individual brands can be added on at $14.50 per month, and team members added at $10 per month on the Professional plan. Premium offers the same thing, but brands costs $19.50 per month per brand, with additional team members costing the same $10 per month.
Zoho Social also comes packaged for agencies too: the Agency edition costs $230 per month when billed annually, and starts off with an allowance of 10 brands/90 channels, five team members, and 24/5 email support.
The Agency Plus edition costs $330 per month, billed annually, and offers up 20 brands/180 channels, five team members, and the same 24/5 email support, making the tier a real heavyweight option.
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(Image credit: Zoho Social)
Zoho Social: Basic features
Even in its most basic incarnation, Zoho Social comes packed with a practical array of features and functions, and of course there is the 15-day free trial to get your head around what works for your business.
Standard works for one brand and 10 channels, one team member, and includes compatibility with Facebook Pages, Facebook Groups, Twitter Profiles, Instagram Business Profiles, LinkedIn Profiles, LinkedIn Company Pages, Google My Business listings, and more.
There’s a neat dashboard interface that helps to monitor posts, carry out multi-channel publishing, schedule your content, and compile a publishing calendar.
Power tools include a link shortener, activity logging, user tagging, and the production of summary reports. An image editor also proves mighty handy if you don't want to splurge on Adobe Photoshop or similar.
The Professional tier ramps things up a bit, offering one brand and 10 channels, and a one team member allowance. Users also get all of the Standard features plus a ream of others, including livestreaming, notifications, repeat posting, a media library, rescheduling of posts, RSS feeds, messages, the ability to pause and resume content, and the muting and blocking of accounts where needed.
Zoho has added a Premium edition to its portfolio, which is even better suited to larger businesses. You get all of the regular Professional features alongside a pile of extras, including the ability to export posts, collaborate between three team members, and use a dedicated reporting dashboard.
In fact, the reporting capabilities of this package are pretty formidable, and there’s the added advantage of being able to use Social in tandem with Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk. It can also handle lead generation, so there is plenty of opportunity to get a decent return on your investment.
Zoho says the Premium option is its most popular and it's easy to see why, there's a good mix of high-end enterprise features without a huge cost.
Zoho Social has been designed to offer a full suite of tools aimed at improving your social media management fortunes.
Zoho is certainly a comprehensive solution, no matter which of the three packages you decide to go for, and the core structure of Zoho Social focuses on the structuring of campaigns and the subsequent monitoring of your social activity.
Collaboration is a priority too, helping team members work together and make sense of analytics and the production of those all-important reports, which can then be fed higher up the chain.
Setting up and scheduling posts is quick and easy, and there’s the ability to collaborate using a publishing calendar, create content queues, and also curate content as and when it's needed.
(Image credit: Zoho Social)
In our testing, we found that Zoho Social has been nicely designed, meaning that it’s simple to monitor all of your social media activity, with a listening dashboard, live stream, and the ability to send direct messages.
The collaborational aspect of Zoho Social is particularly impressive, offering the ability to define workflows, have team discussions, and assign roles and permissions proving to be the most practical aspects. The same goes for the useability of the analytical tools: lookout for comprehensive stats, the ability to produce custom reports, and also the ability to receive scheduled reports for your regular meetings.
Capping things off, the iOS and Android apps are a pleasure to use, making on-the-go social media tasks that much easier.
All Zoho Social packages come with the same 24/5 email support, which should prove substantial enough for most needs. The Zoho website also comes with a very decent level of help files, tutorials, and supporting information designed to answer many common queries.
The social media management marketplace is a hive of activity, with plenty of options aimed at helping businesses get more from their campaigns, which is ultimately good news for your search.
Alongside Zoho Social you can take your pick from key players, including Buffer, Sendible, Loomly, Hootsuite, and Circleboom, all of which are very decent competitors worthy of consideration.
Zoho Social has managed to pack in a great deal of features and functions into each one of these three social media management packages, which will make the suite instantly attractive to businesses of all shapes and sizes, although you’ll really want to head in the direction of the Premium editions to get the best set of tools.
That’s especially so if you’re looking for detailed analytics and the ability to produce power-packed reports. Indeed, the Agency editions take that a step further and, while there is added cost involved, there’s no doubting the additional muscle these premium-priced products come with.
If you're already a Zoho customer across its CRM, Desk, Mail, Books, and Assist offerings, then tacking on Social is the best thing to do.
A big part of being successful in social media is by getting the best social media management tools, and Hubspot is a good choice for those looking to combine several business tasks in one package.
By signing up for the Marketing Hub area of the HubSpot suite, you’ll have quick and easy integration with other areas, such as HubSpot CRM features, as well as customer service, a website builder, help desk tools, and more.
While rival social media tools like Hootsuite, Circleboom, and Buffer offer complete packages, the fact that HubSpot offers so many different products could give them an edge, especially as the overall cost can decline when purchasing from its suite.
HubSpot markets its social media tools as, first and foremost, aiming to save you time by automating onerous parts of the process. Everything is collected together in one helpful dashboard, meaning your business will never miss a notification – good or bad – again, or that's the idea.
One thing we would note at the start is that, unlike some of its rivals, HubSpot is focused more on the enterprise market, rather than smaller outfits. Luckily, there are other great options for SMBs, and HubSpot does offer an affordable Starter account, but its larger business plans can be pricey.
Let's dive into our HubSpot social media manager review.
HubSpot has a plan to suit any kind of requirement and the company actually has many useful free tools available, too. However, to get the best from HubSpot, chances are that you’ll want to invest in one of three core plans, which includes Starter, Professional, and Enterprise options.
All of the social media features come as part of a Marketing Hub plan, while the CRM, Services, CMS, Operations, and Commerce suites of tools can be found elsewhere. HutSpot does do deals for companies signing up for a few, or all, of these services, and so if your business is in the market, it's worth a look.
With that out of the way, the social media plans are nicely tailored price-wise to suit all sort of budgets. HubSpot's other smart idea about the pricing page is that you can toggle the amount of marketing contacts you wish to add to your package and the prices adjust dynamically.
We’ll stick with the defaults for the purpose of simplicity here, but it's worth getting specific with the sliders on HubSpot's website to calculate the true cost.
Starter begins at $45 per month, or $540 per year, with marketing increments of 1,000 for an additional $45 per month.
Next up, there’s the Professional plan, which starts at $800 per month, or $9,600 per year, and includes 2,000 marketing contacts. Additional increments of 5,000 cost around $224 per month.
Rounding out the selection is the Enterprise edition, priced from $3,200 per month, or $38,400 per year, and offer with 10,000 marketing contacts, while additional increments cost $100 per month for 10,000.
As we mentioned above, HutSpot classifies its social media tools as being part of its Market Hub, which gives users access to an extensive range of tools, all designed to improve your lot when it comes to social media marketing.
A real bonus begins with several free features that come as part of the package, including email marketing and forms, contact management capabilities, and handy landing pages aimed at smoothing the task of boosting social media followers.
On top of that, there are live chat functions, Facebook, Instagram, Google, and LinkedIn ad functionality, which can be used very easily, alongside detailed traffic and conversion analytics that help to make sense your brand's online presence
However, in order to really get the best from HubSpot, your business would most likely benefit from the Premium tools found in the paid editions.
Signing up for a full version of Hubspot, showcased via a demo first, means your business will have access to a variety of power tools. The thinking here is that it can help form a stronger overall CRM platform for your business, helping you to exploit the power big social media platforms while also integrating with other facets of HubSpot in order to get better returns.
We'll now look at what Starter, Professional, and Enterprise offers.
(Image credit: HubSpot)
HubSpot: Starter features
Alongside the free tools, choosing the Starter package adds the ability to remove HubSpot branding from forms, email marketing, landing pages, and also the live chat feature. While this might seem simple, it's powerful for projecting your brand online.
Starter users get up to 10 reporting dashboards, a product library of up to one million products, 50 active lists for segmentation, ad retargeting, basic SEO recommendations, up to 10 automated form actions, and much more.
As if that wasn't enough, Starter also offers US-only payments alongside email and in-app chat.
(Image credit: Hubspot)
HubSpot: Professional features
Moving on up to the Professional package finds all of the Starter features plus a whole lot more, like omni-channel marketing automation, ABM tools and automation, dynamic personalization, multi-language content, and social media tools, plus video hosting and management alongside contact and company scoring.
Power users will appreciate the likes of collaboration tools, campaign management functionality, and the ability to work in teams. Businesses also stand to benefit from the likes of custom reporting, and there’s advanced support from HutSpot at the end of a phone line for anyone who needs help. Integration with Salesforce is another attractive feature with this plan.
(Image credit: HubSpot)
HubSpot: Enterprise features
While you may find the pricing structure for the Enterprise edition a little eye-watering, it does come with all of the muscle you’d expect from a premium package.
Enterprise users will enjoy all of the features of the Professional bundle, but in addition there are more options for managing teams and brands. Single sign-on, partitioning, hierarchical teams, permission sets, field-level permissions, and an email send frequency cap adds more heft.
HubSpot also offers the capacity for extending this platform via custom objects, Salesforce custom object sync, adaptive testing, as well as sandboxes. The suite is much more adaptable as a result and will be better suited to larger concerns that need to get under the bonnet of their social media marketing campaigns.
Needless to say, there is also much improved reporting with this package, as well as a host of clever technical trickery aimed at boosting its potential even more.
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HubSpot: User Interface
Considering the power and potential that comes packed into Hubspot, the interface is very intuitive, making the service appealing to companies with staff that need to jump in and out of it on a regular basis, while the support featured in higher-end editions will help ease the initial learning curve.
The starting point is that HubSpot puts pretty much everything any business could need in one dashboard. Measuring and optimising a business's social media reach is right there, alongside detailed reporting and the ability to automate away tedious parts of the job.
Some of its rivals, like Circleboom and Loomly, might be a little more slick, but we never had a problem getting around HubSpot.
HubSpot is a strong contender for your business in the social media marketing stakes not least because of its powerful support structure.
Things kick off with a dedicated online help center, which contains useful information across many common themes that might come up on a daily or monthly basis. HutSpot has made neat guides and a searchable database to help, too.
From there, support options depend on your package or product plan, which from Free to Starter, Professional, and Enterprise. All plans get a lively community, while Starter, Professional, and Enterprise offer email support. Chat options come with Starter, Professional, and Enterprise plans, too, while phone support is limited to Professional and Enterprise plans only.
You’ll find the the likes of Buffer, Sendible, Loomly, Zoho Social, and, indeed, Hootsuite offer plenty of variations on the social media theme: they’re all sufficiently different to HubSpot, too, and, if CRM isn’t on your checklist of needs, might make better alternative choices to consider.
While HubSpot is essentially a complete solution for businesses that need a CRM on top, as opposed to just a social media management tool, the suite is ideal for those looking to integrate their workplace software.
However, the social media management software market is a diverse one, and make sure to check our social media management tool guide to find the best.
Hubspot is well known for its very capable CRM platform, but there is much more to its software offerings than that. Indeed, if you’re looking for a social media management suite that can also work alongside other everyday business tools then it may be worth talking to the HubSpot sales staff in order to see if they can formulate a personalised plan to match your needs.
In fact, that is one of the best things about HubSpot: it’s as much about the ability to customise as the extensive range of features on offer. Added together, the end product is a formidable one.
Buffer bills itself as a simple but effective, all-you-need social media toolkit for small businesses. It’s just one of many different social media management tools out there on the market, but the emphasis with Buffer is on affordability, which is always welcome given current trading challenges.
If you’re after a one-stop social media management solution then Buffer should do the trick, even within the confines of its free edition. To unleash its full potential though you’ll need to invest more time and money to access its full suite of tools.
Like its rivals in Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Circleboom, among many others, Buffer aims to make the world of a social media manager – or whoever has the keys to the social accounts – that much easier by automating scheduling, helping visualise content, and more.
If your company is based on the UK, Buffer is currently offering a free trial, so make sure to claim that, at least to try out its features.
Let's dive into our review of the Buffer social media management tool.
Buffer has kept a keen eye on simplicity with its pricing plans.
There’s something for most if not all types of business, and payment can be done on a monthly or annual basis. If you’re simply starting out and want to gain some experience using a social medial management tool, the Free package makes a lot of sense. Better still, this comes with a £0 (or $0) price tag, which is ideal if you’re running to a tight budget and helps you manage up to three channels.
Next up is the Essentials package, which costs $6 per month or $5 annually per social channel. It’s easy to add additional channels when and if you need them, and by paying annually you’ll shave $12 off the overall cost over a year. You can try this plan free for 14 days and it’s suited to professionals who have to call on publishing, analytics and engagement tools as part of their daily brief.
(Image credit: Buffer)
The beefier Team package is aimed squarely at any businesses that have more of a collaborative arrangement going on. This offers much more user flexibility and costs $12 monthly, or you can knock $24 off the price by paying $120 annually. Additional channels can be added as and when they’re required, meaning lots of freedom for your business.
Finally, Buffer also offers muscular Agency package, which is well suited to marketing agencies with 10 or more social channels. However, the pricing matches the potency at $120 per month for 10 social channels, though this drops from $1,440 to $1,200 per year if you choose to pay annually. You get all the features of the Team package, plus customs access and permissions and more besides.
As with any scalable social media management tool, Buffer can be used in its most basic incarnation, most suitable if you’re just starting out. Buffer users get an array of basic publishing tools and a handy landing page builder as standard, but if you’ve got a desire to really boost your potential, head for the Essentials or upwards.
The free tier comes with three channels, basic scheduling, a landing page, the ability to schedule 10 posts per channel at any one time (with no monthly limit), and a useful new AI assistant.
Meanwhile, the Essentials plan comes with everything in the free tier, plus as many channels as you can wish for, unlimited post scheduling, analytics, and engagement tracking. Those last two might prove the difference between paying nothing and going for the $5 per month per channel option.
All of the teams get iOS and Android apps, which make working on the go much easier, and support for 30+ app integrations, plus two-factor authentication.
(Image credit: Buffer )
Buffer: Advanced features
By upgrading to either Team or Agency, you business will instantly have the ability to do much more. For example, scheduled posts per channel are limited to just 10 per on the free tier, rising to up to 2,000 on the higher tiers. Of course, it’s easy to work with the obvious social outlets including Instagram, Facebook, X (or Twitter), LinkedIn, and Pinterest on any edition of Buffer.
Similarly, on the higher tiers, there are assorted scheduling options, a calendar view, plus handy day to day features such as a link shortener capability and one for tweaking custom links, too. The paid-for editions also deliver features such as custom video thumbnails, multi-channel campaign delivery, and lots of cool options for tweaking Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook posts.
To cut to the chase, the main features features that the non-free tier options get are analytics, insights, and reporting. Essentials, Team, and Agency all get a performance overview, data access, and much more, while Team and Agency gain branded reposts and a cover page.
If you feel like any features are missing, check out Buffer's product roadmap.
Vital ingredients for more efficient social media management are inside Buffer too, such as the power tools for checking audience demographics via machine learning insights, which is basically a smart way of tweaking and fine-tuning your results.
Buffer is also great for its tools that cover the array of analytics and reporting. The ability to get a performance overview is paramount, and that comes packed inside Essentials and upwards, along with more specific history details in individual posts, plus historical insights that help businesses build up a bigger picture scenario.
Users of non-free tiers can see insights into post performance, individual post analytics, data storage, tag analysis, hashtag performance, audience demos, Instagram Stories analytics, Shopify performance, custom and exportable reports, and more besides.
(Image credit: Buffer)
Adding to the appeal of Buffer is its extensive range of reporting tools. After all, if you have no data to present at meetings the validity of the purchase will soon come into question, no matter how nice the graphs look.
Buffer offers custom reporting tools, including exportable reports on the higher tiers. However, corporate users will find these options invaluable and presumably not mind the added expense of getting them.
The app also offers important comment detection, giving insights into potentially good or bad posts, alongside hotkey support.
One of the best things about Buffer has been the way the designers have made the interface a joy to use. Much of this is down to the simplicity of the layout, with little to get in the way of boosting your social medial management potential. This extends to the more complex and feature-heavy premium products, too, even those that pack in powerful reporting tools and comprehensive data analytics.
While some rival services can feel overburdened with features, Buffer manages to treat the line perfectly, and we never really encountered any issues getting around.
The addition of an AI assistant also helps with discovery of new features and creating ideas from scratch, which could be useful in smaller organisations with less people to bounce things off.
We're big fans, and for anyone who cares about UI and UX, Buffer has you covered.
We’ve been really impressed with the attention to detail displayed by Buffer support. Like everyone other social media rival, there’s a great starting point via an online help centre, which contains a searchable database of help topics, plus a whole host of tutorials and other insights into how to get the best from Buffer.
Anyone needing further help on a one-to-one basis can contact the Buffer Support team. The process is very straightforward: simply raise a ticket using one of the many different subject area options to trigger a response. The Buffer community is another aspect of the support options found inside this package that allows a wider range of contact options to users.
On top of support, Buffer offers some of the best transparency in the industry, regularly reporting everything via its transparency dashboard. For example, you can see that Buffer has over 154,000 MAUs, $1.5 million in MRR, and makes $27.17 per user on average.
Buffer also publishes its staff's salaries transparently, breaks down what each subscription supports (eg, hosting, retreats, or salaries), and so much more. The addition really serves to build trust in Buffer as a company.
While users with fairly basic needs will be able to make use of Buffer, this is a social media management package that will really come into its own for larger business concerns. So while the likes of Hootsuite, Sendible, Loomly, HubSpot, and Zoho Social are all competitor products worth looking at, Buffer's packages do have a great deal of scalability.
After spending many hours testing Buffer and its rivals, we can say that while some have more powerful features than Buffer at the absolute high-end, none of them manage to artfully combine so many features in a non-threatening and understandable way, which is a real plus.
Buffer is one of the best full-service social media management suites you can get and there’s a package to suit all kinds of user.
Naturally, the free edition lacks some of the muscle that comes with the premium editions, so it’s worth spending a little more if you want to boost your social media management potential. Along with its ease of use, there’s no doubting the potency of Buffer, while the capacity for expanding its capabilities is great, too.
For example, there are over 30 different third-party integration options, letting users harness the likes of Zapier and more. We’re also very keen on the ability to use Buffer quickly and easily on iOS and Android, creating room for more efficiency when you’re not able to carry out tasks at your desk.
Overall, it’s easy to see why Buffer continues to draw in plenty of new customers since its 2010 launch, and we can't recommend its software highly enough.
Adobe After Effects is the grade-A, pro-level, industry-standard for visual effects software. Used by countless professional editors, artists, and compositors to bring stellar VFX to the screen.
It's not hard to see why it's one of the best VFX software tools on the market: After Effects is a feature-rich, intuitive special effects powerhouse.
When we last reviewed Adobe’s video effects tool, the focus for improvement was on performance and time-saving features - something it delivered with aplomb.
A lot of new tools have been added over the last two years, and we’ll be taking a look at some of the ones that impressed us the most through the course of this review.
Mac users will be delighted to find that, just like Adobe’s Premiere Pro, After Effects 2022 (version 22.3), offers native support for Apple’s new M1 family of processors.
It’s extremely reassuring for those who prefer the Mac platform, that their software of choice is migrating to the new architecture. Users will experience shorter launch times, improved UI responsiveness, and faster rendering, thanks to this support.
Frame.io
Perhaps one of the biggest improvements to After Effects (and Premiere Pro), is the inclusion of Frame.io. You need to be logged into your Creative Cloud account in order to take advantage of these features, and Frame.io includes 100GB of storage in addition to your usual Creative Cloud allowance.
You’re able to share up to 5 projects with 2 users and an unlimited number of reviewers. It can be accessed from a web browser, or directly within After Effects.
There’s an enhanced version of this service (which you can try free for 30 days), called the Frame.io Team Plan, which includes additional storage, and the ability to share an unlimited number of projects with up to 15 users.
As you can tell by what’s on offer, this service allows you to share projects and get real-time timecode-accurate feedback on the work in progress. This is an ideal and extremely useful tool when discussing work with colleagues and clients, and controlling exactly what and where changes should be made on a collaborative project.
Need to review your work with colleagues or clients? Then the inclusion of Frame.io inside After Effects will be a boon for you (Image credit: Adobe)
Media swapping
Media replacement is another impressive new feature. The way it works is really simple: use After Effects to create a template, just as you would normally. Once done, drag various elements to the Essential Graphics panel, select their editable properties, export it, and you’re pretty much done.
Do note however, that not all properties of an item can be manipulated and altered from Premiere Pro, but the list is large enough to satisfy most, if not all, needs.
Objects such as text, images and video clips, can be made swappable turning your templates into highly useful and versatile tools, with as numerous editing options as are required. Creating various versions (depending on your needs) is also possible, further increasing your possibilities.
This is a great way to get a designer to create a template, while allowing a Premiere Pro editor the flexibility they need to make alterations without having to contact said designer for every needed change. It’s the sort of emphasis on efficient workflows that’s bound to increase post-production productivity.
Create templates and allow Premiere Pro editors to customise them with ease (Image credit: Adobe)
Working in 3D
Creating 3D modelling designs can be tricky, especially when it’s all done via a 2D interface, so Adobe’s designers have worked to help ease this process.
One of the recent improvements is the inclusion of an optional 3D Ground Plane. With it activated, you’ll get a horizontal plane vanishing to infinity which can be used as a frame of reference when creating your scene.
This is something that can be quickly toggled on or off so it never gets in the way, and is only there when you need it. The more complex a creation, the easier it is to get lost in it, so this is a most welcome addition to help you find your bearings.
Another great new feature is Draft Preview. Prior to it, you could access a ‘fast draft’ by drilling down a bunch of menus. Now, it’s a button located in the toolbar. Toggling it is highly useful if you have an older computer, or your project is getting very complex.
Depending on the prowess of your video editing computer, and intricacy of your work, when activated, the quality will likely be reduced. But you’ll be able to manipulate objects more quickly and easily, saving you a lot of time, and going back to full quality is but a click away.
The 3D workspace has been improved with the addition of a few highly useful new features (Image credit: Adobe)
Under the hood enhancements
But it’s not all big tentpole features. After Effects has seen a lot of subtle alterations designed to improve your workflow.
For instance, a lot of work has been done to optimise the visual effects software. After Effects now takes advantage of multiple cores in your computer or video editing laptop when previewing and rendering, taking over power at the expense of other processes and other running software.
This functionality may not be on by default, but you can find it After Effects’ Preferences. You’ll also notice that you can choose just how much of your computer’s CPUs are reserved for other apps (the default is 10%).
Also, if you work with the HEVC video format, new hardware-accelerated decoding is used to improve playback and editing, especially with 10-bit files, whether you’re working on a Mac or PC.
Want to control how much power to dedicate to After Effects (at the expense of other apps)? Well now you can (Image credit: Adobe)
Flexible languages
One of the great advantages of the Adobe suite is the cross pollination of features from one app to another, and this is perfectly showcased with their new Universal Text Engine.
We raved about this feature in our Premiere Pro review. It allows you to work with multiple languages much more easily, without having to constantly travel to the preferences to switch from one to another.
There’s support for multiple languages, the latest addition being Cantonese, with left-to-right and right-to-left settings being accessible directly from the Essential Graphics panel. You can even apply different scripts inside the same graphic element. How’s that for flexibility?
Final verdict
All this is actually just scratching the surface of what’s been improved since we last took a look at Adobe After Effects.
AE version 22.3 is highly impressive. It builds on strong foundations, offering a wealth of new features designed to make VFX quicker and easier. It’s no wonder After Effects is seen as the go-to video compositor.
And Adobe are far from resting on their laurels, offering new features on a regular basis, making their subscription model an attractive one indeed if you’re a professional designer and editor.
Adobe Premiere Pro vs Adobe After Effects: what’s the difference?
Premiere Pro and After Effects are Adobe’s flagship post-production tools for video editors, designers, and motion graphic artists.
When it comes to similarities and differences between Premiere Pro and After Effects, the biggest is this: Adobe Premiere Pro is video editing software and Adobe After Effects is VFX software.
You can still cut videos and add basic effects with either program. Both deliver the familiar, effortless Adobe user experience that makes their tools accessible to beginners and professionals alike. And we awarded both 5 stars in our reviews for each tool for setting the industry standard and offering genuine powerhouse tools for content creators and creatives in film & TV.
When you compare Premiere Pro and After Effects, it’s not quite accurate to think in terms of a face-off. It’s not really a case of Adobe Premiere Pro vs Adobe After Effects. The two tools are built for different parts of the process, seamlessly working together to deliver an efficient post-production workflow and professional results.
Sprout Social has been around for a while now and, as a result, has become one of the go-to software options for anyone needing the best social media management or SEO tools.
The package, spread across several paid tiers, comprises a heady blend of social tools and marries those to a potent analytics edge, which produces a great all-round package for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
Anyone looking to take on social media channels for the first time, or to beef up their levels of participation, will find Sprout Social offers plenty. There’s a neat dashboard-style management setup, allowing for easy co-ordination, while the ability to lets multiple users access it means there’s appeal for larger organisations too.
While Sprout Social comes with a potent yet user-friendly array of social media management tools, the company has worked to still offer an affordable and good value option. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Sprout therefore continues to be a hit with many business owners, who might not necessarily warm to a competitor like Hootsuite or Buffer.
Let's dive into our Sprout Social social media management review.
You can try Sprout Social for free using a 30-day trial, without the need for any credit card details, which is a great way to get to know the software.
Following on from that, Sprout Social comes in three different packages, starting with the Standard edition, which currently costs $249 per user/per month, and is billed annually. Alternatively, you can choose to pay for the Standard package on a $199 month-to-month basis.
Stepping up to the next package, the Professional edition is Sprout Social's most popular plan, currently available for $399 per user/per month and, again, billed annually. There is also the option to pay $299 month-to-month with this one, too.
Meanwhile, an Advanced edition costs $499 per user/per month, again, billed annually. This has the option to pay $399 on a month-to-month basis if preferred. If you’re concerned about whether or not there will be enough benefits from the higher-end packages, requesting a demo is also possible, where a member of the Sprout Social team can talk you through the various features and functions.
Finally, there's an Enterprise tier, which is available for large organisations upon request. Sprout Social will tailor the app to your needs, and there is 24/5 support, plus a range of other features we'll get into below.
As you’d expect from a Standard package, the entry-level edition is more of a slimline edition of the software. Nevertheless, it does come with a decent array of tools aimed at users with lesser social media management needs than bigger businesses.
Starting off, the Standard edition bundles in five social profiles, an all-in-one social inbox, the ability to publish, schedule, draft, and queue posts, and a social content calendar, to keep everyone on the same page.
Users can also carry out review management, monitor profiles, keywords, and locations, as well as deploying social CRM tools. Reporting offers up group, profile, and post-level options, plus there’s the ability to deliver paid promotion tools to boost Facebook posts.
Sprout also offers handy iOS and Android apps for working on the go.
Sprout Social: Professional features
You’ll really want to invest in Sprout Social's popular Professional edition to benefit from more power tools. While this does involve additional costs, the set of features covers an awful lot of bases. Look out for unlimited social profiles, plus everything that comes packed into Standard.
On top of that there is competitive reporting for Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, incoming and outgoing message content tagging, as well as custom workflows for multiple approvers. More advantageously, there’s scheduling for optimal send times and the benefit of response rate and time analysis reports.
Crucially, Pro users get trend analysis for Twitter keywords and hashtags, and the benefit of paid social reporting for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Also useful for larger concerns is the helpdesk, CRM, and Social Commerce integration capabilities.
For most companies, Professional offers the perfect blend of features and price, and compares favourably to its rivals across the market.
(Image credit: Sprout Social)
Sprout Social: Advanced features
Finally, larger business frequently have the need for even more power tools, which can often be a needless requirement for smaller companies.
Social Sprout’s Advanced package features add a lot more muscle to the software, especially for companies with a major push going on with their social media management needs. The Advanced package comes with everything in the Professional edition, and then adds on the likes of Message Spike Alerts for increased message activity email and push notification alerts when traffic is high.
There’s a digital asset and content library, and chatbots with automation tools. Advanced users can also work with saved and suggested replies, make use of an inbox rule builder for automated actions, and enjoy automated link tracking. Twitter surveys to define CSAT or NPS come bundled good measure.
By the same token, the reporting aspect of Sprout Social is as impressive as ever.
Users can create detailed insights into social media campaigns, get a handle on what works and what doesn’t, as well as producing shareable information that should work a treat in the board room. Naturally, it’s easy to export reports in popular file formats, including CSV and PDF.
Sprout Social has always been handy with its chunky analytics tools and this is an aspect that has become stronger in recent years. The higher-end bundles pack in lots of advanced features for helping combine analytics with lead generation and suchlike, adding value.
In fact, sales and marketing teams should find it invaluable, while a feature like the Chatbot tool should help improve efficiency too by allowing administrators to build an assistant to help customer needs.
Sprout Social has been in existence for quite a while now and has therefore evolved into a great on-the-go tool for anyone needing to manage their social media out in the field.
Sprout Social offers iOS and Android mobile apps, both of which have been nicely produced and include more than enough functionality for most needs, even on the Basic edition. Considering its impressive feature set, Sprout Social is still fairly straightforward to setup and configure.
Even in its desktop incarnation, you’ll find Sport Social to be fairly logical with its layout, especially considering all of the tools that come contained within. There are quick access menu options to commonly used tools like Messages, Tasks, Feeds, and Publishing, helping to improve the overall workflow.
Similarly, you can get to those vital reporting tools with relative ease too. There are practical considerations too, with a settings area that lets you configure language settings and suchlike for users in other geographical territories.
Anyone getting to grips with Sprout Social for the first time will find a whole host of great content at the online help center, including tips, tricks, and tutorials covering every aspect of the software, along with more advanced tools for helping to get the best from Sprout Social.
If you need to get in touch there is a phone support number, the option to submit a request online or you can simply reach out via social media. The enterprise tier also includes 24/5 dedicated support, for any enquiries or help.
While some rivals do go a little further when it comes to support, Sprout Social offers most of the things needed to make sense of the software and get the most out of your online social media presence.
Social media management tools are reasonably plentiful and, if you’re working to a tight or non-existent budget, some of them can be had for free.
Small business owners might struggle to justify the cost implications of the beefier editions of Sprout Social. With that in mind, heading for something like the basic edition of Hootsuite might make more sense, but there’s also the likes of Buffer, HubSpot, Zoho Social, and Circleboom to ponder over too.
All of the different services have their own pros and cons – especially depending on your specific social media needs – and checking out a variety of cheaper (or free) tiers, plus free trials, is likely the best way to definitively find the best.
If your organisation has advanced social media management needs then Sprout Social offers plenty of appeal, including the ability to ramp up your efforts even more than that with the additional premium solutions. However, all of those extra features and functions add to the price tag, which for smaller businesses can soon make a Professional package seem like a sizeable investment.
Nevertheless, if you’ve got any kind of serious inclination to boost your standing in social media circles, and enjoy the data produced by Sprout Social, you’ll find this is a package that rarely disappoints. Even the Standard edition offers up a surprisingly potent dashboard of delights, via an interface that’s a joy to use, especially if you’re making full use of the iOS and Android apps.
As we've said throughout the review, Sprout Social is far from an upstart in the space and so you can trust the company to maintain its product, offer quality support, and generally provide one of the best social media management tools in 2024.
Sprout Social has been around for a while now and, as a result, has become one of the go-to software options for anyone needing the best social media management or SEO tools.
The package, spread across several paid tiers, comprises a heady blend of social tools and marries those to a potent analytics edge, which produces a great all-round package for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
Anyone looking to take on social media channels for the first time, or to beef up their levels of participation, will find Sprout Social offers plenty. There’s a neat dashboard-style management setup, allowing for easy co-ordination, while the ability to lets multiple users access it means there’s appeal for larger organisations too.
While Sprout Social comes with a potent yet user-friendly array of social media management tools, the company has worked to still offer an affordable and good value option. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Sprout therefore continues to be a hit with many business owners, who might not necessarily warm to a competitor like Hootsuite or Buffer.
Let's dive into our Sprout Social social media management review.
You can try Sprout Social for free using a 30-day trial, without the need for any credit card details, which is a great way to get to know the software.
Following on from that, Sprout Social comes in three different packages, starting with the Standard edition, which currently costs $249 per user/per month, and is billed annually. Alternatively, you can choose to pay for the Standard package on a $199 month-to-month basis.
Stepping up to the next package, the Professional edition is Sprout Social's most popular plan, currently available for $399 per user/per month and, again, billed annually. There is also the option to pay $299 month-to-month with this one, too.
Meanwhile, an Advanced edition costs $499 per user/per month, again, billed annually. This has the option to pay $399 on a month-to-month basis if preferred. If you’re concerned about whether or not there will be enough benefits from the higher-end packages, requesting a demo is also possible, where a member of the Sprout Social team can talk you through the various features and functions.
Finally, there's an Enterprise tier, which is available for large organisations upon request. Sprout Social will tailor the app to your needs, and there is 24/5 support, plus a range of other features we'll get into below.
As you’d expect from a Standard package, the entry-level edition is more of a slimline edition of the software. Nevertheless, it does come with a decent array of tools aimed at users with lesser social media management needs than bigger businesses.
Starting off, the Standard edition bundles in five social profiles, an all-in-one social inbox, the ability to publish, schedule, draft, and queue posts, and a social content calendar, to keep everyone on the same page.
Users can also carry out review management, monitor profiles, keywords, and locations, as well as deploying social CRM tools. Reporting offers up group, profile, and post-level options, plus there’s the ability to deliver paid promotion tools to boost Facebook posts.
Sprout also offers handy iOS and Android apps for working on the go.
Sprout Social: Professional features
You’ll really want to invest in Sprout Social's popular Professional edition to benefit from more power tools. While this does involve additional costs, the set of features covers an awful lot of bases. Look out for unlimited social profiles, plus everything that comes packed into Standard.
On top of that there is competitive reporting for Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, incoming and outgoing message content tagging, as well as custom workflows for multiple approvers. More advantageously, there’s scheduling for optimal send times and the benefit of response rate and time analysis reports.
Crucially, Pro users get trend analysis for Twitter keywords and hashtags, and the benefit of paid social reporting for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Also useful for larger concerns is the helpdesk, CRM, and Social Commerce integration capabilities.
For most companies, Professional offers the perfect blend of features and price, and compares favourably to its rivals across the market.
(Image credit: Sprout Social)
Sprout Social: Advanced features
Finally, larger business frequently have the need for even more power tools, which can often be a needless requirement for smaller companies.
Social Sprout’s Advanced package features add a lot more muscle to the software, especially for companies with a major push going on with their social media management needs. The Advanced package comes with everything in the Professional edition, and then adds on the likes of Message Spike Alerts for increased message activity email and push notification alerts when traffic is high.
There’s a digital asset and content library, and chatbots with automation tools. Advanced users can also work with saved and suggested replies, make use of an inbox rule builder for automated actions, and enjoy automated link tracking. Twitter surveys to define CSAT or NPS come bundled good measure.
By the same token, the reporting aspect of Sprout Social is as impressive as ever.
Users can create detailed insights into social media campaigns, get a handle on what works and what doesn’t, as well as producing shareable information that should work a treat in the board room. Naturally, it’s easy to export reports in popular file formats, including CSV and PDF.
Sprout Social has always been handy with its chunky analytics tools and this is an aspect that has become stronger in recent years. The higher-end bundles pack in lots of advanced features for helping combine analytics with lead generation and suchlike, adding value.
In fact, sales and marketing teams should find it invaluable, while a feature like the Chatbot tool should help improve efficiency too by allowing administrators to build an assistant to help customer needs.
Sprout Social has been in existence for quite a while now and has therefore evolved into a great on-the-go tool for anyone needing to manage their social media out in the field.
Sprout Social offers iOS and Android mobile apps, both of which have been nicely produced and include more than enough functionality for most needs, even on the Basic edition. Considering its impressive feature set, Sprout Social is still fairly straightforward to setup and configure.
Even in its desktop incarnation, you’ll find Sport Social to be fairly logical with its layout, especially considering all of the tools that come contained within. There are quick access menu options to commonly used tools like Messages, Tasks, Feeds, and Publishing, helping to improve the overall workflow.
Similarly, you can get to those vital reporting tools with relative ease too. There are practical considerations too, with a settings area that lets you configure language settings and suchlike for users in other geographical territories.
Anyone getting to grips with Sprout Social for the first time will find a whole host of great content at the online help center, including tips, tricks, and tutorials covering every aspect of the software, along with more advanced tools for helping to get the best from Sprout Social.
If you need to get in touch there is a phone support number, the option to submit a request online or you can simply reach out via social media. The enterprise tier also includes 24/5 dedicated support, for any enquiries or help.
While some rivals do go a little further when it comes to support, Sprout Social offers most of the things needed to make sense of the software and get the most out of your online social media presence.
Social media management tools are reasonably plentiful and, if you’re working to a tight or non-existent budget, some of them can be had for free.
Small business owners might struggle to justify the cost implications of the beefier editions of Sprout Social. With that in mind, heading for something like the basic edition of Hootsuite might make more sense, but there’s also the likes of Buffer, HubSpot, Zoho Social, and Circleboom to ponder over too.
All of the different services have their own pros and cons – especially depending on your specific social media needs – and checking out a variety of cheaper (or free) tiers, plus free trials, is likely the best way to definitively find the best.
If your organisation has advanced social media management needs then Sprout Social offers plenty of appeal, including the ability to ramp up your efforts even more than that with the additional premium solutions. However, all of those extra features and functions add to the price tag, which for smaller businesses can soon make a Professional package seem like a sizeable investment.
Nevertheless, if you’ve got any kind of serious inclination to boost your standing in social media circles, and enjoy the data produced by Sprout Social, you’ll find this is a package that rarely disappoints. Even the Standard edition offers up a surprisingly potent dashboard of delights, via an interface that’s a joy to use, especially if you’re making full use of the iOS and Android apps.
As we've said throughout the review, Sprout Social is far from an upstart in the space and so you can trust the company to maintain its product, offer quality support, and generally provide one of the best social media management tools in 2024.
Hootsuite is one of the best-known names in the world of social media, and one of the best social media management tools full stop. If you’ve got any kind need for tracking and analytics using SEO tools then Hootsuite is one of the best options, plus it’s been around since 2008, so has been nicely honed over the years.
The current incarnation lets you manage multiple social media accounts, all from within one interface that allows quick and easy administration. On top of that, Hootsuite can schedule content for the likes of Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, plus LinkedIn and YouTube, while lining up tweets on Twitter (sorry, X) is simple.
There’s a limited free plan that’ll help you get started and explore its potential, but the real power of Hootsuite lies in its paid-for plans, which are outlined in detail throughout this review.
As companies move into the social media era, getting the right tools makes all the difference. We've spent hours testing various social media managers like Circleboom, Buffer, and HubSpot to find the absolute best and take your online content to the next level.
Let's dive into our Hootsuite social media manager review.
Hootsuite has something to offer all sorts of social media managers and in any kind of business environment. There’s a free plan available for those with simple needs or anyone with little or no social media budget to play with.
However, if you’re looking to boost your social media activities you’ll be wise to head in the direction of a Professional plan, with prices that start from $49 per month.
(Image credit: Future)
Going deeper, a Team plan costs $129 per month, while the beefy Enterprise package costs $739 per month but delivers hefty performance. Those with more specific needs should also investigate the Enterprise custom edition of Hootsuite.
Meanwhile, get started with a 30-trial if you just want to see what’s on offer on any of the plans. (Interestingly, Hootsuite is currently running a promotion of 20% off for those that skip the trial completely.)
Compared to its rivals, these pricing plans are very competitive and the range of features on offer, as we'll get into over the next sections, makes Hootsuite hard to beat, especially for organisations at large scales.
As is the case with any software program, the free edition of Hootsuite will offer much less in the way of features and functions compared to the paid-for plans. So while you’ll get a limited array of social media management tools, you’ll really want to head in the direction of one of the paid-for plans outlined above to see what Hootsuite can really do for your business fortunes.
The Professional plan offers unlimited post scheduling, timing recommendations, Canva integrations, and a hashtag generator, plus a variety of other features. The limitations are that you can only have one user and 10 social accounts.
While many people enthuse about Hootsuite, a frequent bone of contention for some is the way the Hootsuite interface looks, feels, and behaves. It’s been improved over the years and the latest edition is perhaps the best to date, but it can be an acquired taste, especially compared to upstart rivals that focus on UI.
Nevertheless, setting up a Hootsuite account is easy using an email and password combination to get going. Once you're into the interface, adding social networks is a slick procedure and these can be managed via a central dashboard.
Hootsuite also offers up a full range of tools for monitoring and managing each social network. A real benefit is the ability to integrate any one of over 150 apps into your workspace, which further boosts the appeal.
(Image credit: Future)
Hoosuite: Professional features
We just spoke about the Professional plan, but a beefier option is the Team package, which offers three users, 20 social accounts, and the ability to schedule unlimited posts, along with the option to access message in one inbox.
Team is a really well-featured offering and will cater to most organisations. Hoosuite lists it as the Most Popular and for good reason, as it strikes a balance between letting you get on with work but not costing a ton.
Those with more muscular social media requirements will prefer the Business edition, which comes with a five user capacity, 35 social accounts, the same team options as above, plus extended functionality thanks to an array of premium apps.
Hoosuite also adds on extra "social listening" analytics, employee advocacy, an advanced inbox, and review management. Take a look at Hootsuite's plans website to check which plan has your must-have feature.
There’s a whole area within Hootsuite that will let you tackle analytics, especially if you’ve gone for a beefier package. Depending on your tier, Hootsuite offers options for taking a deep dive into your social media stats, all of which can subsequently be compiled and readied for detailed reporting.
Hootsuite helps "prove" a social media ROI, especially useful in e-commerce businesses or those that sell products online, which can be combined with its best timing tools to pick out the perfect moment to make a post. The service also offers ways to boost your engagement via its tools.
If you’re looking for data to report back to bosses with then Hootsuite is great, especially via its graphics. Pro users will really appreciate the quality and power of the reporting potential in the higher-end editions. You’ll struggle to get that same impressive reporting in the cheap and cheerful editions, though.
On top of these features, Hootsuite offers specific tools for monitoring social media, including getting customer feedback and protecting a brand from negative publicity. By putting all social media data in one place, keeping track becomes much easier.
There's a reason that brands as big as Ikea, Allianz, and Domino's use Hootsuite.
(Image credit: Hootsuite)
Hootsuite: User Interface
Having that central dashboard at your disposal makes Hootsuite a breeze to administer, even when working with multiple accounts. There are some quirks, which may not suite everyone’s taste, but the platform feels stable on the whole.
The Enterprise plan is a good one to chose if you have staff members who might feel the benefit of the 24/7 priority support that comes as part of the package. (Hootsuite also publishes online documentation and guides for many of its features.)
There's a lot more to the interface than initially meets the eye, too, including some great integrations with Dropbox, Google Drive, and others, which offer a more seamless experience for busy social media executives. The software can also be used in conjunction with many of the Microsoft business apps, adding additional appeal especially to corporate users.
While the UI might not be as flashy as some of its rivals, Hootsuite gets the job done and we had very few problems finding our way around the online website or apps.
As mentioned above, you'll really want to invest in the Team or Enterprise plans if you think either yourself or your staff using the system will need the benefit of 24/7 support. That may mean more of an outlay, but to keep staff going if they get stuck along the way is often worth a little more expenditure.
Hootsuite also has a dedicated help center that makes a good place to start if you’re looking for assistance with the package. Unsurprisingly, some of the best ways to contact support involve using social media companies like Facebook and Twitter.
Not everyone will want all of the extra functionality provided by a business-focused edition of Hootsuite. There are plenty of alternatives in the social media arena however, with the likes of Sprout Social, Buffer, Sendible, Loomly, and Zoho Social all being perfectly decent competitors worth considering.
There's not enough space to go into loads of detail about all of these offerings, so we recommend checking out Hootsuite's feature list, seeing if what you need is there, and then checking out its rivals should that feature be absent.
One thing we would say is that lots of Hootsuite's rivals don't offer the full range of services, especially in the Enterprise plan, and so it can be seen as something of a Swiss army knife.
(Image credit: Hootsuite)
Hootsuite: Final verdict
Hootsuite continues to have plenty of appeal to all levels of social media managers, though anyone at the lower end of the business spectrum will find it’s basic edition a little too spartan.
You’ll get more joy with the beefier plans though, with an Enterprise edition packing in everything needed to take care of social media requirements for companies of all shapes and sizes. There's a reason that Hootsuite has endured for so long, and it's definitely here to stay.
Hootsuite is one of the best-known names in the world of social media, and one of the best social media management tools full stop. If you’ve got any kind need for tracking and analytics using SEO tools then Hootsuite is one of the best options, plus it’s been around since 2008, so has been nicely honed over the years.
The current incarnation lets you manage multiple social media accounts, all from within one interface that allows quick and easy administration. On top of that, Hootsuite can schedule content for the likes of Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, plus LinkedIn and YouTube, while lining up tweets on Twitter (sorry, X) is simple.
There’s a limited free plan that’ll help you get started and explore its potential, but the real power of Hootsuite lies in its paid-for plans, which are outlined in detail throughout this review.
As companies move into the social media era, getting the right tools makes all the difference. We've spent hours testing various social media managers like Circleboom, Buffer, and HubSpot to find the absolute best and take your online content to the next level.
Let's dive into our Hootsuite social media manager review.
Hootsuite has something to offer all sorts of social media managers and in any kind of business environment. There’s a free plan available for those with simple needs or anyone with little or no social media budget to play with.
However, if you’re looking to boost your social media activities you’ll be wise to head in the direction of a Professional plan, with prices that start from $49 per month.
(Image credit: Future)
Going deeper, a Team plan costs $129 per month, while the beefy Enterprise package costs $739 per month but delivers hefty performance. Those with more specific needs should also investigate the Enterprise custom edition of Hootsuite.
Meanwhile, get started with a 30-trial if you just want to see what’s on offer on any of the plans. (Interestingly, Hootsuite is currently running a promotion of 20% off for those that skip the trial completely.)
Compared to its rivals, these pricing plans are very competitive and the range of features on offer, as we'll get into over the next sections, makes Hootsuite hard to beat, especially for organisations at large scales.
As is the case with any software program, the free edition of Hootsuite will offer much less in the way of features and functions compared to the paid-for plans. So while you’ll get a limited array of social media management tools, you’ll really want to head in the direction of one of the paid-for plans outlined above to see what Hootsuite can really do for your business fortunes.
The Professional plan offers unlimited post scheduling, timing recommendations, Canva integrations, and a hashtag generator, plus a variety of other features. The limitations are that you can only have one user and 10 social accounts.
While many people enthuse about Hootsuite, a frequent bone of contention for some is the way the Hootsuite interface looks, feels, and behaves. It’s been improved over the years and the latest edition is perhaps the best to date, but it can be an acquired taste, especially compared to upstart rivals that focus on UI.
Nevertheless, setting up a Hootsuite account is easy using an email and password combination to get going. Once you're into the interface, adding social networks is a slick procedure and these can be managed via a central dashboard.
Hootsuite also offers up a full range of tools for monitoring and managing each social network. A real benefit is the ability to integrate any one of over 150 apps into your workspace, which further boosts the appeal.
(Image credit: Future)
Hoosuite: Professional features
We just spoke about the Professional plan, but a beefier option is the Team package, which offers three users, 20 social accounts, and the ability to schedule unlimited posts, along with the option to access message in one inbox.
Team is a really well-featured offering and will cater to most organisations. Hoosuite lists it as the Most Popular and for good reason, as it strikes a balance between letting you get on with work but not costing a ton.
Those with more muscular social media requirements will prefer the Business edition, which comes with a five user capacity, 35 social accounts, the same team options as above, plus extended functionality thanks to an array of premium apps.
Hoosuite also adds on extra "social listening" analytics, employee advocacy, an advanced inbox, and review management. Take a look at Hootsuite's plans website to check which plan has your must-have feature.
There’s a whole area within Hootsuite that will let you tackle analytics, especially if you’ve gone for a beefier package. Depending on your tier, Hootsuite offers options for taking a deep dive into your social media stats, all of which can subsequently be compiled and readied for detailed reporting.
Hootsuite helps "prove" a social media ROI, especially useful in e-commerce businesses or those that sell products online, which can be combined with its best timing tools to pick out the perfect moment to make a post. The service also offers ways to boost your engagement via its tools.
If you’re looking for data to report back to bosses with then Hootsuite is great, especially via its graphics. Pro users will really appreciate the quality and power of the reporting potential in the higher-end editions. You’ll struggle to get that same impressive reporting in the cheap and cheerful editions, though.
On top of these features, Hootsuite offers specific tools for monitoring social media, including getting customer feedback and protecting a brand from negative publicity. By putting all social media data in one place, keeping track becomes much easier.
There's a reason that brands as big as Ikea, Allianz, and Domino's use Hootsuite.
(Image credit: Hootsuite)
Hootsuite: User Interface
Having that central dashboard at your disposal makes Hootsuite a breeze to administer, even when working with multiple accounts. There are some quirks, which may not suite everyone’s taste, but the platform feels stable on the whole.
The Enterprise plan is a good one to chose if you have staff members who might feel the benefit of the 24/7 priority support that comes as part of the package. (Hootsuite also publishes online documentation and guides for many of its features.)
There's a lot more to the interface than initially meets the eye, too, including some great integrations with Dropbox, Google Drive, and others, which offer a more seamless experience for busy social media executives. The software can also be used in conjunction with many of the Microsoft business apps, adding additional appeal especially to corporate users.
While the UI might not be as flashy as some of its rivals, Hootsuite gets the job done and we had very few problems finding our way around the online website or apps.
As mentioned above, you'll really want to invest in the Team or Enterprise plans if you think either yourself or your staff using the system will need the benefit of 24/7 support. That may mean more of an outlay, but to keep staff going if they get stuck along the way is often worth a little more expenditure.
Hootsuite also has a dedicated help center that makes a good place to start if you’re looking for assistance with the package. Unsurprisingly, some of the best ways to contact support involve using social media companies like Facebook and Twitter.
Not everyone will want all of the extra functionality provided by a business-focused edition of Hootsuite. There are plenty of alternatives in the social media arena however, with the likes of Sprout Social, Buffer, Sendible, Loomly, and Zoho Social all being perfectly decent competitors worth considering.
There's not enough space to go into loads of detail about all of these offerings, so we recommend checking out Hootsuite's feature list, seeing if what you need is there, and then checking out its rivals should that feature be absent.
One thing we would say is that lots of Hootsuite's rivals don't offer the full range of services, especially in the Enterprise plan, and so it can be seen as something of a Swiss army knife.
(Image credit: Hootsuite)
Hootsuite: Final verdict
Hootsuite continues to have plenty of appeal to all levels of social media managers, though anyone at the lower end of the business spectrum will find it’s basic edition a little too spartan.
You’ll get more joy with the beefier plans though, with an Enterprise edition packing in everything needed to take care of social media requirements for companies of all shapes and sizes. There's a reason that Hootsuite has endured for so long, and it's definitely here to stay.
• Original review date: May 2022
• No new version out
• Launch price: $79.99 / £79.99 / AU$119
• Official price now: $69.99 / £79.99 / AU$119
Updated: January 2024. The Corsair HS65 Surround may be almost two years old, but it remains one of the best PC gaming headsets in our opinion. Despite all the new rivals that came after its release, this wired headset remains the best value out of all, delivering that exceptional 7.1 surround sound you would not expect at its price point. It also ticks one of the most important factors when choosing a gaming headset - comfort. You can game with it for hours without needing a break. What's more, it's slightly cheaper now in the US at just $69.99. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
Corsair HS65 Surround: One-minute review
The Corsair HS65 Surround gaming headset is the company's new high-powered and cost-conscious gaming headset that delivers exceptional 7.1 surround sound performance for PC gamers.
The 50mm Neodymium audio drivers provide exceptionally clear stereo audio and 7.1 Surround sound virtualized audio, and with the audio in the best PC games becoming increasingly sophisticated, this headset will let you hear battlefield carnage exactly the way that the developers intended.
The headset microphone offers an incredibly crystal clear response with an omni-directional polar mic pattern. Anyone who knows microphone polar patterns might be worried that the omni-directional pattern (as opposed to a cardioid pattern) would pick up too much ambient noise while you’re using the mic. Thankfully this hasn’t been an issue during Counter Strike: Global Offensive sessions or chatting over Zoom.
The surround sound capability of the headset requires you to download Corsair's iCue software off the company's website. Once installed, simply plug your headset into the USB to 3.5 mm adapter and connect it to a USB port on your PC or Mac.
There are sure to be other 7.1 Surround Sound gaming headsets hitting the market over the next few months, but keep the Corsair HS65 Surround gaming headset at the top of your wishlist. It is a fantastic, versatile headset that will please any serious gamer on a budget and is easily one of the best PC gaming headsets around for 7.1 surround sound audio.
(Image credit: Future)
Corsair HS65 Surround: Price and availability
How much is it? MSRP is $79/£79/AU$119
When can you get it? The Corsair HS65 Surround is available now
Where can you buy it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia
The Corsair HS65 Surround gaming headset comes in at $79/£79/AU$119, and is available globally. This is a good bit cheaper than some competing gaming headsets like the Razer Kracken V3, which is about 20% more expensive, while still offering the same audio quality.
(Image credit: Future)
Corsair HS65 Surround: Design and features
Outstanding comfort
Adjustable mic
The Corsair HS65 Surround is exceptionally built, featuring an adjustable headband that fits comfortably on any gamer’s head.
The ear pads and the head cushion both feature soft and comfortable memory foam underneath breathable leatherette material. Even after wearing this headset during ten hours of continuous game playing and then three more hours of intense FPS play after a break, the HS65 Surround stayed comfortable throughout.
The headset looks great, stays comfortable, and the closed ear headphones reject distracting noise. The frame is machined out of high quality aluminum and other materials to provide a strong and robust device that will last you for years. A volume control wheel is positioned on the left ear cup for quick volume level adjustments as well.
The microphone boom arm is adjustable and can bend to suit your face. It stays in place once you have set it to your liking. A quick flip up on the boom arm mutes the microphone and a quick flip down unmutes the mic, making muting and unmuting incredibly intuitive in the heat of the moment.
(Image credit: Future)
The iCue software itself has three functions to play around with: Equalizer, SoundID Personalization and Device Settings. The Equalizer function allows you to choose between five EQ presets as well as create your own. Unless you know what you’re looking for, set the EQ to “Pure Direct”, as this preset suits everything well.
If you are curious about the EQ presets, the presets are self-explanatory and very intuitive to work with. Presets such as “FPS Competition” will sound great for your competitive shooters like Counter Strike: Global Offensive or Valorant, while “Clear Chat” sounds exceptional during Zoom or Teams meetings.
Corsair HS65 Surround: Specs
The only real criticism here is that the SoundID function is underwhelming. The SoundID technology attempts to create a customized EQ setting for the user based on how the user rates their enjoyment of certain sound clips. Once you go through the SoundID setup process, you should have a customized EQ preset for your optimized listening preferences.
However, multiple attempts – including a full reinstall with the latest iCue software – resulted in EQ presets that often made the audio worse. Audio for games will usually be recorded and mixed by professional sound engineers anyway, so all the EQ and volume levels should already be optimized for the user’s experience. Fortunately, this isn't something you really need to dabble with. The safest bet is to just choose “Pure Direct” under the Equalizer function in the iCue software and jump right into the action, which otherwise sounds amazing.
The final function in the iCue software would be the Device settings. This is where you can enable Voice prompts, boost microphone response and change the Case color of your headphones within the iCue software. The only option that is useful here is “Mic Boost”, which gives your microphone some added sensitivity. Otherwise, this rounds out the features of the iCue software.
(Image credit: Future)
Corsair HS65 Surround: Performance
7.1 Surround Sound is outstanding
Great bass response
Great mic performance
These drivers on the Corsair HS65 Surround have no problem pushing sound through the 20hz-20khz audio range while its bass frequencies carry real weight. The mids and highs of dialogue and various sound effects come through incredibly clear.
The headset mic captures frequencies from 100Hz to 10 kHz, and while this seems like a limited range of frequency response, it is tailored specifically to capture the human voice really well.
The 7.1 Surround Sound capability is accessible through Corsair's iCue software with Windows Spatial Sound active, found under the properties menu of your output device in Windows' sound settings.
Any media that was recorded and mixed for 7.1 Surround will play exceptionally well over the HS6 Surround. Thankfully, most games and shows presently record for 7.1 Surround Sound, but keep in mind that not all games or media are or have. With these older games and media, the headphones themselves won’t turn a game recorded in 5.1 surround into 7.1 surround, but it will still sound stunning.
Since the iCue program itself is what creates the 7.1 Surround Sound virtualization for the headset, you can't access that feature on PC or Mac without it.
The Corsair HS65 Surround stands up well against competitors like the Razer Kraken V3 Hypersense and the HyperX Cloud Alpha. Many competing headsets offer options which you don’t really need, like detachable mics or the Kraken V3 Hypersense's haptic functionality. These options aren't high on the list of necessities with gamers, so why pay more for options you don’t need?
Older devices, monitors, and gaming consoles almost always have a 3.5mm input jack, but not every gaming headset does. With the HS Surround, you can plug in and at the very least get crystal clear stereo audio, even if you have to skip the surround sound feature.
There are exceptions, though, where you can get 7.1 Surround Sound with modern next-gen gaming consoles. The XBox Series X utilizes Dolby Atmos and the Sony PS5’s Tempest 3D Audio virtualizes the sound of 7.1 Surround Sound through the gaming console itself, and the Corsair HS65 Surround easily supports the audio capabilities of both of these consoles, making it a winner for PC gamers and beyond.
• Original review date: May 2022
• Still Sony's flagship headphones
• Launch price: $399 / £380 / AU$649
• Regular price now: $329 / £319 / AU$549
Update: February 2024. The Sony WH-1000XM5 remain as Sony's best-ever headphones in terms of what they can do: rich and detailed sound, superb active noise cancellation, great smart features and a comfortable fit. However, their competition has grown more fierce over time, and while they've had a general price cut that helps keep them competitive, they're no longer our absolute first choice among the best noise-cancelling headphones in their range. The Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless offer better sound quality, double the battery life, great noise cancellation, some some even smarter app-based features, usually for a cheaper price than the Sony. If noise cancellation is your priority, spend a little more on the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, which are the best in class for this, and also sound clearly better than the Sony. To be clear, we love the Sony WH-1000XM5, and if you like to stick with Sony cans, as many do, we recommend them – but they've been pipped in the headphones race. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
The Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones have one of the most revered family trees in modern audio history. Following two best-in-class over ear noise cancelling predecessors, the WH-1000XM5 land with a level of anticipation that is unusual in the world of personal audio.
TechRadar deservedly awarded the Sony WH-1000XM3 and Sony WH-1000XM4 top marks in their respective reviews, and so the expectation is that the WH-1000XM5 will follow in those perfect audio footsteps.
In terms of specs and performance, they mostly do follow in their predecessors' footsteps (a little too closely) but in terms of design, the Sony WH-1000XM5 cans represent the biggest departure that the line has seen since its conception. Still, we enjoyed reviewing them, which is why they're one of our top picks in our best wireless headphones guide.
So are the differences in design enough to raise the already-high bar Sony has set for itself? Read on for our full Sony WH-1000XM5 review.
Sony WH-1000XM5 review: Price and release date
Price: $399 in the US
Price: £380 in the UK
Price: AU$649 in Australia
Released in May 2022
On sale now, the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones will begin to ship from May 20, 2022, priced at £380 / $399 / AU$649 – a significant step up above the £350 / $349 / AU$549 asking price of the previous-generation Sony WH-1000XM4.
At launch, you’re looking at around a £30 / $50 savings by choosing the older – and still very good – Sony WH-1000XM4. It’s a sizable chunk of change and, more importantly, it’s a gap that could widen as the year goes on and we drift towards the big shopping holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. At some point in the future, we’re likely to see the Sony WH-1000XM4 dip below the $300 mark before plummeting to half-price – and, at that price, the Sony WH-1000XM4 is a no-brainer.
They're still a fair sight cheaper than Apple’s alternative though, with the AirPods Max still commanding a $549 / £549 / AU$899 price tag when bought direct from Apple.
(Image credit: Future)
Sony WH-1000XM5 review: Design
All-new design
Comfortable for long listening sessions
Design prevents wind distortion – but no longer folds into a compact shape
Still no water resistance
After two generations of largely-identical over-ear headphone designs, the WH-1000XM5 headphones are a significant departure from their predecessors.
The best way to quickly describe the WH-1000XM5 headphones is that they’re a bit curvier than their predecessors. It’s all a bit tidier, a bit sleeker – there are fewer visible points of articulation, more discreet noise-cancelling mic ports, and a slimmer headband with additional leather-look covering to hide away its joins and extension points. The cavity for your ears to sit in is a slightly different shape too – a more squat ovoid than the oval of the WH-1000XM3 and WH-1000XM4. Though we’ve not stress tested them to their absolute limits, the slide-out extension points feel sturdier than earlier designs too, with fewer pressure points that could snap away – a complaint of well-used previous models.
The XM5 headphones on the left, and the older XM3 headphones (which have a near-identical design to the XM4 headphones) on the right. (Image credit: Future)
But there are some changes that may not be so welcome. Frustratingly, there’s still no water resistance of any kind featured here. As the headphones can no longer fold in on themselves, they’re not quite as portable as they once were. And while the headband is better hidden and integrated into the overall design aesthetic, it feels as if it has less padding than previous Sony headphones in the line.
That may be a slightly moot point though – in our experience, they’re no less comfortable as a result, and will happily sit on your head for long listening sessions. There’s ample padding around the ears, and the cups twist and pivot to suit all sizes, with just the right amount of clamp pressure exerted from the band to keep them in place without squeezing your brain out through your ears. That headband now smoothly extends too, rather than using the stepped extension of earlier versions.
(Image credit: Future)
Controls are largely the same as the 1000XM4 headphones. Smart context-aware auto controls aside (which we’ll discuss in the ‘Features’ section of this review), there are two physical buttons on the left ear cup edge. The first cycles between noise cancelling and ambient awareness settings, and you can now use a couple or trio of taps of the ANC button to activate Spotify Tap, letting you fire up and play from the music streamer without getting your phone out of your pocket. The second is the power button, which you can keep held down to activate Bluetooth pairing mode. You’ll also find the exterior to the right ear cup is touch sensitive: swipe up and down on it to change the volume, double tap it to pause audio and answer calls, and cover it with your palm to instantly jump to an ambient awareness mode that funnels in exterior sound. There’s also still a USB-C charging port on the right cup, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the left cup.
(Image credit: Future)
So, of the obvious exterior changes and additions, what’s going on and why?
First up, that curvier design is intended to reduce wind-drag across the headphones, which can cause that annoying distortion in noise-cancelling performance when out and about on a windy day. A more aerodynamic design here should help reduce that effect, and while we’ve not run head on into the path of a hurricane, that claim held up on a breezy London day exploring Greenwich park.
The second obvious addition is a doubling of the amount of microphone points housed on the headphones. This provides the onboard noise cancelling processors (yes, there's two inside the headphones) more audio data to to anaylze and improve active noise cancelling performance with, as well as doubling the amount of beamforming mics near a user’s mouth for calls up from two on the WH-1000XM4s to four on the WH-1000XM5s. Call quality, according to our critical buddies, was crystal clear.
Despite these additions, the headphones are actually lighter than the previous model, weighing just 250g – 4 grams lighter than the last version. On top of this, they use ABS plastics in their construction (as does the packaging), made of recycled car parts to up their green credentials.
(Image credit: Future)
Again, there’s a much-welcome included carry case with these latest Sony over-ears. Made of a grey fabric, it’s somewhat collapsible, offering a little more bag space when you’re using your headphones. Just don’t expect it to flatten down to a paper-thin size, as an inner pocket for cable storage keeps it a little beefier. It’s not a like-for-like assessment, but the surface area of the new case is larger than that of the earlier models, even if you can squeeze its cubic area down.
Sony WH-1000XM5 review: Features
The best active noise-cancelling in the business
Smart ambient awareness options
Allows a connection to two devices at once
App has features to protect your hearing
Active noise-cancellation features have long been the hallmark of the Sony WH range, and the WH-1000XM5 headphones continue in that fine tradition. It must have been difficult to top the superb performance of previous generations and, admittedly, it’s not a world apart from the WH-1000XM4 model. But there is a definite, if slight, improvement.
The WH-1000XM4 already effectively wiped out low-frequency sounds (the din of public transport, or a plane’s rumbling engines), but the XM5s work harder at the higher frequency zone. That’s in part thanks to the new 30mm driver design that, while smaller than the 40mm design of old, makes use of a high rigidity dome and soft edge to take some of the bite off of higher-pitched sounds. Indeed, walking through London’s Paddington Station, a hive of scum and villainy (and sounds of all kinds), I could barely hear a thing, even with the volume of my music dialled back to a minimum. It was very impressive.
(Image credit: Future)
Active noise cancellation is the headline act among a whole bunch of smart features Sony includes with the WH-1000XM5 headphones, many of which automatically kick in without you needing to do anything, improving the overall listening experience without you having to lift a finger.
First up is location awareness. By pairing with your smartphone, the WH-1000XM5 headphones can learn your daily routine, and adjust Ambient Sound Control settings according to your location. If the headphones spot that you’re sat still at home, they might jump to a less intense level of noise cancellation compared to while you’re sat in the office, based on your preferences. And if you’re out for a walk, it may pipe in more exterior audio to keep you safe while crossing the street.
Speak-to-Chat is another handy feature. As its name suggests, if you begin talking while listening to the headphones, they’ll halt playback and pump in ambient sound so you can have a conversation without taking the cans off. But like the WH-1000XM4s before them, they come with an unfortunate side effect – it’ll stop playback if you begin singing when the feature is switched on. Thankfully, it’s an optional feature, so if you too are a wannabe Pavarotti, you’ll still be able to stretch those lungs when listening.
A more immediately useful and intuitive feature is the fact the WH-1000XM5s will automatically pause audio when removed from your head, thanks to a hidden sensor in the ear cup. Leave them off for a little longer, and they’ll automatically switch off completely, saving your battery life. You’ve also got the option of connecting to two devices at once, switching between the two depending on what’s happening on each, such as to prioritise a notification.
Finally, there’s better support for voice assistants and their wake words. Alexa and Google Assistant can be activated hands-free by their respective trigger commands, and can then be used to do everything from place and answer calls to reading incoming text messages and notifications, as well as controlling music.
(Image credit: Future)
Lots of these features can be tweaked an customised by the accompanying app, which is far more useful than similar supporting software of this ilk. There’s a responsive EQ, with a bass boosting function, that makes a genuine impact on the sound profile of the headphones (though we were very happy with the default tuning), an ear analyzer for optimising the effect of Sony’s proprietary 360 reality audio spatial sound format), and lots of options when it comes to customising noise cancelling levels and the location-aware settings that the app can be set to automatically configure based on your usage and surroundings.
A nice touch which I never realised I’d appreciate before having it presented to me was the “Safe Listening” section of the app. The headphones are constantly logging the decibel level and sound pressure of your listening sessions and lets you know how close you’re coming to the recommended weekly loud noises allowance as defined by WHO. For someone who regularly enjoys drowning out the world at ear-blistering levels, it was a wake up call to have the potential damage I was doing to my ears visualised. The app also tracks the amount of time you’ve spent listening to the headphones too, which is a nice touch for life-loggers, and awards gamified for badges for using the different features of the headphones over time. It’s a shame then that it seems only possible to log time used when connected to a device with the app running, rather than keeping this data onboard the headphones – you won’t get a log of time spent listening to a connected laptop, for instance.
Sony WH-1000XM5 review: Audio quality
Spacious soundstage
Spatial audio support
LDAC and DSEE Extreme perform well
Well balanced, with powerful bass and eye-opening detail
The jump from a 40mm driver in the WH-1000XM4 headphones to the new 30mm driver in the latest WH-1000XM5 headphones had us initially raise our eyebrows – would the signature dynamism and space of the WH line be lost with the smaller driver? Thankfully those fears were unfounded – they sound pretty much just as good as the exemplary XM4s, though we must admit they don’t sound dramatically better, either.
Sony’s again leaning on a one-two punch of both LDAC codec and DSEE Extreme support here to offer the best possible sound quality from your connected devices. LDAC is your hi-resolution audio option, compressing and decompressing tracks on the fly to deliver much greater wireless bandwidth than a standard Bluetooth connection could conjure. But even if you’re on a lowly standard-resolution streaming service over Bluetooth, DSEE Extreme ekes out a little more detail by using AI upscaling techniques to restore some of the audio data which would otherwise be lost. Both do a great job.
(Image credit: Future)
Even with the driver change, the soundstage remains spacious and capable of giving all elements of a mix room to breathe and shine. Take the mighty solo section of Metallica’s classic One, for instance – all thrash metal riffing and double bass drum madness, but Kirk Hammett’s blistering high-register finger tapping cuts through and shines. In a more sedate but layered tune like Jeff Buckley’s Grace, the acoustic strum percussively rattles below the harmonised vocals and chorus-pedal guitar line, but there’s room for a walking bassline to sit alongside soaring strings too. Everything finds its place with the Sony WH-1000XM5s, and the effect is a wonderful enveloping of sound, even outside of the 360 Reality Audio spatial settings.
If you’re looking for a test of the tightness of the bass, there’s little better than Rage Against the Machine’s Bullet in the Head, where the bass work of Tim Commerford runs like a… well a piston-powered machine through the track. The WH-1000XM5s let the bassline kick behind the trebley guitar riff with real power without flattening everything else. If you want to see how low the cans can go without losing definition, Massive Attack’s brooding Angel sees the WH-1000XM5s retain musicality and detail at even the lowest frequencies.
At the other end of the mood spectrum, jumping into Prince’s joyous Raspberry Beret revealed details previously missed. It’s Prince’s 80s “more-is-more” production at its pomp, with snapping snares and hand claps piercing the wizard-like mix of synths, strings and guitars. I may be mistaken, but is that a harpsichord sitting beneath it all? If it is, it’s the first time I’ve noticed it in my 35 years of listening to the song.
(Image credit: Future)
And, if you want to listen to the clarity of a wonderfully realised vocal performance while having a good cry, pop on the Prince-penned, Sinead O’Connor-performed Nothing Compares 2 U – she might as well be in the room with you, from forceful chorus to trembling bridge, O’Connor runs the gamut from anger to heartbreak, with the Sony cans picking up each inflection and sibilant cry with wondrous effect.
There’s very little sound leakage too. Sat in the office next to a colleague, they didn’t register any sound even with the volume ramped up to its highest setting, which is an improvement over last year’s version based on what those around me said at the time.
Sony WH-1000XM5 review: Battery life
There weren’t many areas that the Sony WH-1000XM5s could have improved over their 1000XM4 predecessors, so many had hoped that one area that could have seen a jump in performance was battery life. Sony is claiming a slight improvement here – while the 30 hours with noise cancelling activated matches the predecessor, 40 hours with noise cancelling switched off is a two hour improvement over the WH-1000XM4s. That may be a little disappointing for some readers, as competitors are beginning to squeeze out more battery life per charge. But the quality of the other features offset any loss to the competition here, particularly in terms of noise-cancelling abilities, and 30-40 hours of playback is more than respectable enough regardless.
Do Sony’s playback estimates hold true? From our experience, we’d say they’re broadly true – we appeared not to quite reach the advertised 30 hours with ANC switched on, but also tend to crank the volume up louder than the average person would (or the recommended safe level is, even), and thus would expect to see the battery drain faster in line with the high volume.
Sony’s definitely put effort into the charging experience generally though – using the USB-PD standard, you’ll get three hours of playback from just a three minute charge of the headphones, getting you out the door and into your tunes as quickly as possible.
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