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Honor Magic 6 Pro review: bold, bright and beautiful

2:31 pm | May 1, 2024

Honor Magic 6 Pro review: Two-minute review

Honor was once a brand whose name adorned the shelves of the budget mobile aisle, but with the launch of the Honor Magic 5 Pro in 2023, the former Huawei subsidiary proved itself capable of competing with the likes of Apple and Samsung in the premium hardware department.

Honor has since rocked the boat with a truly unique foldable phone (see the Honor Magic V2), while maintaining a strong presence in the mid-range category (see the Honor 90), but it’s clear that the Chinese company has its sights set firmly on the luxury electronics market.

The Honor Magic 6 Pro is the latest feature-packed flagship to emerge from Honor’s R&D labs, and it marks another leap forward for this fast-growing mobile manufacturer. In essence, the Magic 6 Pro is the Magic 5 Pro with an even more adventurous rear design, a slightly better camera system and all-new AI smarts, which seems to be the usual upgrade recipe for today’s best phones.

That camera upgrade comes by way of an almighty 180MP periscope telephoto lens, which sits alongside a 50MP wide lens and a 50MP ultra-wide lens in Honor’s ‘Star Wheel’ camera notch. The internal hardware is powered by Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset.

Honor Magic 6 Pro review — (Image credit: Future / Axel Metz)

The Magic 6 Pro’s battery is a large 5,600mAh cell, which is necessary due to the increased processing power required by those aforementioned AI features. That said, the Magic 6 Pro still boasts endurance to match or exceed the latest handsets from Apple, Samsung and Google – it charges faster than all of them, too.

The Magic 6 Pro’s battery is 10% larger than that of its predecessor – 5,600mAh versus 5,100mAh – but the increased processing power required by those aforementioned AI features means that you won’t see much, if any, improvements in overall battery life. That said, the Magic 6 Pro still boasts endurance to match or exceed the latest handsets from Apple, Samsung and Google – it charges faster than all of them, too.

Honor’s Magic OS software still doesn’t hold a candle to Apple’s iOS software or Samsung’s One UI interface, and despite the seamless integration of Magic Portal and the future-facing potential of Magic Capsule (more on both of these features later), you don’t get any generative photo editing features with the Magic 6 Pro.

Its price isn’t exactly attractive, either – at £1,099.99, it's £150 more expensive than the Magic 5 Pro. However, accounting for the phone’s singular storage configuration (512GB with 12GB RAM), the Magic 6 Pro costs the same as the equivalent Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus model (£1,099), and it’s actually slightly cheaper than the iPhone 15 Plus (£1,199) and Google Pixel 8 Pro (£1,179) models with the same storage capacity. As with most Honor phones, the Magic 6 Pro isn’t available to buy in the US.

All told, then, the Honor Magic 6 Pro is indisputably one of the best Android phones of 2024, and the best Honor phone that the brand has released thus far. But if you’re already well-accustomed to the simplicity of rival operating systems, you should think carefully about forking out the £1,099.99 needed to buy one.

Honor Magic 6 Pro review: Price and availability

Costs £1,099.99 / €1299.90
Available in the UK and Europe, but not the US or Australia

Honor’s latest flagship was announced in China on February 25, 2024, and went on sale in the UK and Europe on March 8, 2024. In the latter two regions, the Magic 6 Pro is available in a single storage configuration – 512GB with 12GB RAM – for £1,099.99 / €1299.90.

For reference, the Honor Magic 5 Pro launched for £949.99 / €1,199 in 2023, so Honor has hiked the price of its successor by a not-insubstantial £150 in the UK, and €100 in Europe. However, as mentioned above, that £949.99 price puts the Magic 6 Pro on a par with the equivalent storage variant of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus – in the UK, at least – and also makes the phone slightly cheaper than equivalent variants of the iPhone 15 Plus (£1,199) and Google Pixel 8 Pro (£1,179).

At the time of writing, the Magic 6 Pro is not available to purchase in the US or Australia.

Value score: 3 / 5

Honor Magic 6 Pro review: Specs

Here's a look at the Honor Magic 6 Pro's key specs:

Honor Magic 6 Pro review: Design

Luxury watch-inspired camera module
IP68 water and dust resistance

The Magic 6 Pro measures 162.5 x 75.8 x 8.9mm and has a 6.8-inch display, so this isn’t a handset for those who prefer smaller phones. But despite its enormous screen – which is actually a touch bigger than the iPhone 15 Pro Max – Honor’s latest flagship isn’t especially heavy. In fact, at 221g, it’s a whole 11g lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (232g), which also has a 6.8-inch display.

From a design standpoint, the phone innovates upon the Magic 5 Pro, which introduced Honor’s ‘Star Wheel’ camera module. The design of the Magic 6 Pro’s Star Wheel is a nod to “cushion-shaped watches, jade congs, and baroque diamonds,” according to Honor, and given that the former were popularized by luxury watchmaker Panerai in the 1940s, it’s easy to see why the company has embraced this unique ‘squircle’ shape on the Magic 6 Pro

What’s more, this year’s Star Wheel module is more practical. I liked the look of the Magic 5 Pro’s rear camera module but didn’t love the way it felt in the hand (I found that my index finger rubbed against its edge). Due to its wider shape, the Magic 6 Pro’s Star Wheel is more comfortable to the touch, and even more eye-catching than its predecessor, so kudos to Honor’s design team for this small-but-important change.

There’s no titanium in sight on the Magic 6 Pro, but since this is a cheaper phone than the 512GB variants of the iPhone 15 Pro Max (£1,399) and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (£1,349) – two phones that do boast titanium designs – I think Honor was right to make the compromise. You still get IP68 water and dust resistance with the Magic 6 Pro, which brings Honor’s latest flagship in line with those competitors.

In the UK and Europe, the Magic 6 Pro is available in Black or Epi Green. The black features “velvet matte glass”, while the green features “ripple classic leather”, and both design touches make the Magic 6 Pro feel undeniably premium. The ripples on the Epi Green variant are pleasantly grippy, so I recommend that option.

Design score: 4 / 5

Honor Magic 6 Pro review: Display

6.8-inch OLED display
Eye-friendly screen technology
5,000-nit peak HDR brightness

The Magic 6 Pro has a 6.8-inch OLED display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. That’s the standard for the best Android phones these days (take note, Apple), but the screen on Honor’s latest flagship stands out from the crowd for two reasons.

First is how it sits on the phone itself. The Magic 6 Pro’s 6.8-inch display is curved – or rather, its edges ‘spill over’ the side of the device. Most of today’s best phones use flat-edged displays, and while I have no particular preference for one approach or the other, Honor’s decision to go with a curved display on the Magic 6 Pro will inevitably appeal to some, and deter others. It's unique, at least.

The second distinguishing feature of the Magic 6 Pro’s display is the technology behind it. As with the Magic 5 Pro (and indeed the Magic V2 and Honor 90), the Magic 6 Pro boasts Honor’s proprietary Circadian Night Display technology, which filters blue light to improve the quality of your sleep. This particular phone is also aided by an impressive 4,320Hz PWM dimming cycle rate that works to minimize strain on the eyes, so if you’re someone who regularly scrolls through social media in the small hours (and let’s face it, who isn’t these days?), the Magic 6 Pro will at least try to reduce the physical impact of that behavior.

The Magic 6 Pro boasts an almighty peak HDR brightness of 5,000 nits (in very specialized situations) though you’re likely to experience around 1,600 nits in day-to-day use (which is more than respectable).

On the durability front, the phone’s display is protected by Honor’s NanoCrystal Shield, which is supposedly 10 times stronger than regular glass. Naturally, I wasn’t able to put that claim to the test, but I can say that my Magic 6 Pro review unit regularly emerged from my key-filled pocket unscathed.

Display score: 5 / 5

Honor Magic 6 Pro review: Cameras

50MP wide lens (f/1.4-2.0)
50MP ultra-wide lens (f/2.0)
180MP periscope telephoto lens (f/2.6)

As with most premium Android phones, the Honor Magic 6 Pro goes big on mobile photography, but this particular device has a few distinguishing tricks up its sleeve.

For starters, the Magic 6 Pro’s 50MP wide lens uses an adjustable aperture (f/1.4-2.0), a feature we haven’t seen on a smartphone for years. When taking shots in normal lightning conditions, the phone uses a standard f/2.0 aperture, but it’ll automatically switch to the wider f/1.4 aperture when shooting in low-light environments. Neat!

Also unique is the Magic 6 Pro’s astounding 180MP periscope telephoto lens (f/2.6), which is the largest sensor on a zoom lens I’ve ever seen on a smartphone. This supersized lens is only capable of 2.5x optical zoom, mind – which is a downgrade from the 3.5x-capable Magic 5 Pro – but the phone can still achieve 5x lossless zoom by cropping shots from the 180MP lens.

An unchanged 50MP ultra-wide lens (f/2.0) rounds out the Magic 6 Pro’s rear camera array, and you get an impressively large 50MP front-facing camera, too.

Let’s start with the performance of the telephoto lens, which is the headline feature of the Magic 6 Pro. On a sunny day in London, shots taken with this lens were rich in detail and exceptionally vivid. At 1x, 2.5x and 5x magnification, colors were realistic and the subject(s) kept in focus, though I’d advise against zooming any further than 10x, where things take a turn for the Dali-esque (the Magic 6 Pro will technically let you zoom digitally up to 100x, but don’t bother).

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The performance of the variable wide lens was similarly consistent. Shots taken with this lens were crisp, and the depth of field impressive, with shadows appearing particularly life-like.

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My main gripe with Honor’s assistive camera software continues to be its overcompensation of certain colors – specifically lighter shades of green and blue. As with the Magic V2, the Magic 6 Pro occasionally over-eggs the appearance of the sky or the trees, while at night, artificial blue light presents a particular challenge.

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This isn’t a deal-breaker, by any means, but the Magic 6 Pro doesn’t balance colors perfectly every time. I suspect this has something to do with the way the phone uses AI to identify certain environmental features and adjust the composition of the shot accordingly (see the image in below).

I found the Magic 6 Pro’s portrait mode performance to be better than most, while the phone’s 50MP front-facing camera is also solid, if nothing groundbreaking. On the video front, you can record video in 4K at up to 60 frames per second with any of the three rear camera lenses, while the 4K-compatible selfie camera tops out at 30 fps.

All this adds up to an indisputably strong camera phone that ranks alongside best camera phones for versatility, but not necessarily consistency. There’s also no AI-powered photo editing, the likes of which you will find on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Google Pixel 8 Pro.

Cameras score: 4 / 5

Honor Magic 6 Pro review: Performance and software

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset
12GB RAM and 512GB storage
Neat Magic Capsule and Magic Portal features

Under the hood, the Magic 6 Pro is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset – that’s the same chipset you’ll find inside the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, OnePlus 12 and Xiaomi 14.

Working in tandem with the Magic 6 Pro’s 12GB RAM and 512GB storage, Qualcomm’s latest chipset delivers consistently brilliant performance, regardless of the task. Web browsing, messaging, mobile gaming and high-quality video streaming are child’s play for this phone, and while we’ve come to expect as much from devices in this price range – you’d be hard-pressed to find a flagship phone in 2024 that isn’t lightning fast – you needn’t worry about the Magic 6 Pro’s heavy lifting ability.

The phone sets itself apart, for better or worse, through its software. The Magic 6 Pro runs Honor’s Magic OS 8 skin atop Android 14, which differs from the stock version of Android in several interesting – if not always successful – ways.

The first distinguishing feature is Magic Capsule, which is an unashamed copy of Apple’s Dynamic Island in both functionality and appearance.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with the similarity – both Magic Capsule and the Dynamic Island are useful tools for quickly controlling music, timers, notifications and incoming calls – but it’s hard to give kudos to Honor for adding this feature given the obvious lack of originality.

One interesting – and undeniably unique – feature of Magic Capsule is its ability to let you control parts of the Magic 6 Pro’s UI using nothing but your eyes. Or rather, this feature would be interesting if it was actually available to use. At the time of writing, Honor’s eye-tracking tech – which is currently compatible with Magic Capsule apps like Timer, Alarm and Call – is limited to the Chinese market, though the company has assured TechRadar that the feature will be added to international versions of the device in the near future.

The headline feature of the Magic 6 Pro’s AI offering is Magic Portal, which forms a key part of what Honor describes as the “world’s first intent-based UI.” What does that mean, exactly? Well, instead of acting upon request, Magic OS 8 uses Magic Portal to render services according to user intentions.

In essence, it’s a shortcut feature that lets you switch between apps and services with a single swipe. For instance, if you’re sent some location information by a friend and want to get to that location in a hurry, Magic Portal will let you drag those details – in one fell swoop – from the messages app across into a compatible ride-hailing or navigation app, saving you clicks in the process.

In my experience, Magic Portal delivered accurate results and worked pretty seamlessly. I particularly like the way text lifts off the page without creating another white box behind it. I also liked the strong haptic feedback when tapping images, and the way the page 'tilts' in order to share the screen with other apps.

One big miss with the Magic 6 Pro is its lack of generative AI tools. I’m no particular fan of artificially recomposing images, but given that the latest flagships from Samsung and Google boast a veritable smorgasbord of AI-powered editing features, it’s an omission that I suspect will become more noticeable as the quality and quantity of AI features becomes the standard by which new flagship phones are measured.

On the longevity front, Honor is committing to four years of Android updates and five years of security updates for the Magic 6 Pro. That’s less than the seven-year commitments made by Samsung and Google, but equal to OnePlus’ commitment to the OnePlus 12.

Performance score: 5 / 5

Software score: 3 / 5

Honor Magic 6 Pro review: Battery

4,900mAh battery is a slight upgrade
45W wired charging, 15W wireless charging

The Magic 6 Pro boasts a rival-beating 5,600mAh silicon-carbon battery, which should give you around a day and a half of charge when using the phone casually. For reference, we managed to squeeze two days of charge out of the iPhone 15 Plus, but if we’re talking about the most expensive flagships exclusively, the Magic 6 Pro is the best of the current bunch in the endurance department.

Honor’s latest flagship supports up to 80W wired and 66W wireless charging, but annoyingly, you won’t get any type of charger in the box. The brand claims that a full charge takes 40 minutes, and that turned out to be pretty accurate in a test I conducted using the 100W charger that is provided with the Porsche Design version of this phone (I guess that’s what an extra £1,000 buys you these days).

After 15 minutes from a completely dead state, my Magic 6 Pro device had reached 36% charge, and 70% after 30 minutes. A full charge took 46 minutes, which is faster than every iPhone 15 model and every Samsung Galaxy S24 model we’ve tested, but a tad slower than the Xiaomi 14 and OnePlus 12R. However, if you’re using a lower-wattage charger with the Magic 6 Pro, charging speeds will be slower.

Battery score: 4 / 5

Should you buy the Honor Magic 6 Pro?

Buy it if...

You want a best-in-class display
This phone's 6.8-inch curved OLED screen is big, bright and kind to your eyes. You won't find a better display anywhere elsewhere in 2024.

You're a fan of big phones
If you're after a big-screened Android phone that won't weigh down your pocket, the Magic 6 Pro s is as portable as 6.8-inch phones come.

You need long-lasting battery life
The Magic 6 Pro's supersized 5,600mAh silicon-carbon battery offers around a day and a half of charge, which is supremely impressive given the amount of power at your disposal.

Don't buy it if...

You're already embedded into a simpler OS
Honor's Magic OS is better than ever, but it's still not at the level of iOS or cleaner versions of Android. Think twice if you're not ready to jump into something new.

You want generative AI editing tools
If you're someone who's excited by the prospect of recomposing images after taking them, you may be dissapointed by the Magic 6 Pro's lack of generative AI editing tools.

Honor Magic 6 Pro review: Also consider

As you'll have read by now, the Honor Magic 6 Pro is a well-designed, highly capable and thoroughly unique device, but there are, of course, alternative phones to consider.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
If you're keen to stick with Android and have a little extra cash to spend, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is indisputably the best Android phone money can buy right now.

Apple iPhone 15 Plus
If you're not fussed about AI features and prefer Apple's more accessible iOS software, the iPhone 15 Plus is a great option. It's almost the same size as the Magic 6 Pro, just as powerful and offers even better battery life. The screen isn't anywhere near as good, mind.

How I tested the Honor Magic 6 Pro

Review test period: four weeks
Testing included: everyday use including web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback
Tools used: Geekbench 6, Geekbench ML, GFXBench, native Android stats, Honor 100W charger

I received – and subsequently lived for four weeks with – a review-ready version of the Honor Magic 6 Pro at MWC in March 2024, using it for productivity purposes during my working day and for social media browsing and gaming in the evenings.

I compared the experience of playing power-hungry games like EA Sports FC 24 and Asphalt 9: Legends on the Magic 6 Pro to the experience of playing the same games on the iPhone 15 Pro, which helped me to quantify just how well the device’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset stacks up against Apple's A17 Pro. I also used the phone to stream color-rich documentaries via YouTube, and also logged into Twitter and Instagram to assess the social media browsing experience.

I used Geekbench 6 for CPU testing and Geekbench ML for machine learning and AI benchmarking, while battery life was assessed based on real-world usage. I measured charge time in 15-minute intervals using 100W Honor SuperCharge charger.

Read more about how we test

First tested April 2024

LG Gram SuperSlim review: solid productivity and style, but falls short on a number of fronts

8:30 am | April 29, 2024

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

LG Gram SuperSlim: Two-minute review

LG launched a separate laptop in its Gram lineup called the LG Gram SuperSlim, which borrows heavily from the adjacent 2023 LG Gram Style model in terms of its looks. However, the latter was a disappointment in terms of performance, despite my loving the extremely thin and light chassis and aesthetically pleasing design.

So color me suspicious about the SuperSlim and whether it could impress me. What I’ve found is a mixed bag, with middling benchmark results and surprisingly solid productivity performance that could rival even the best laptops. However, some drawbacks still hold this laptop back.

At first glance, the SuperSlim is in a less impressive black color than its counterpart, but it makes up for that by its 15.6-inch weight and measurements beating out the 16-inch sizes of the Style and matching the 14-inch version. The result is an absolutely dreamy lightweight and razor-thin chassis and, unlike the Style, it doesn’t have that cheap plastic feel to it.

There’s still a slight wobble to the hinge but all around it feels far more stable and solid, with a superior build quality. I also enjoy the material of the chassis, which has a more textured feel to it.

Ventilation has much improved, with the laptop staying cool even during heavy workloads, which is another improvement over the Slim, which suffered from overheating issues. LG seems to have addressed many build issues between these two laptops.

An LG Gram Superslim on a desk — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

The keyboard still features snappy and responsive keys, which are nice and wide and perfect for a variety of finger sizes to type on with little chance for typos. Thankfully the touchpad has been restored to a much more standard one, and it’s perfectly responsive, unlike the haptic feedback nightmare on the Style.

The display’s resolution did take a hit compared to the Style’s 2.8 or 3K, as the SuperSlim is now FHD. It still thankfully retains the OLED screen and supports HDR, giving the display that sharp and bright look.

The webcam is pretty standard, which is to say not particularly great but is fine for conference calls. The sound quality is quite solid, able to differentiate between various instruments as well as reproduce a deep bass. Its volume is also a noticeable improvement from the Style, as it can get pretty loud without losing too much in quality.

LG Gram SuperSlim: Benchmarks

Here's how the LG Gram SuperSlim performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 16,447; Fire Strike: 4,842; Time Spy: 1,778
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 8,275 points
GeekBench 5: 1,842 (single-core); 9,783 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 5,495 points
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 14 hours, 55 minutes
Civilization VI (1080p, Ultra): 42 fps; (1080p, Low): 25 fps

Though on paper through benchmark tests its performance is about the same as the Gram Style, in practice it functions much better. Productivity-wise, it’s capable of having tons of tabs open for both work and play including video conference meetings, word-processing documents and spreadsheets, video streaming, and more. Unfortunately, that means its CPU benchmarks are still below that of other similar Ultrabooks.

The LG Gram SuperSlim is made for office work and casual use through and through with almost no heavy-duty gaming capabilities. It’s all thanks to the bog-standard mobile GPU, which is rather offensive considering the steep price of the machine.

Other laptops for a similar price are equipped with a proper gaming GPU, so why LG refuses to make the upgrade is mind-boggling. Even a laptop like the Dell XPS 17 (2024) has better specs for a similar price point, and the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (2023) doesn’t have a gaming GPU but the M3 chip is far superior to Intel’s silicon.

By far the biggest improvement over the Style is its extraordinary battery power, though, which gets close to rivaling even the best MacBook and best MacBook Pro models. During our battery tests, it was even able to last around 15 hours and that was under the stress of constant movie playing.

All in all, the LG Gram SuperSlim is something of a mixed bag, with some fantastic performance in terms of productivity and battery life, but don't expect much more from it than that.

LG Gram SuperSlim: Price & availability

How much does it cost? $1,649 / £1,299 (about AU$2,530)
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US and UK

The LG Gram SuperSlim is an Ultrabook is currently retailing at $1,649 / £1,299 (about AU$2,530), with availability in both the US and the UK. Unfortunately, this particular model has been discontinued in Australia, so buyers out there would have to import it, making it even more expensive.

As for pricing itself, while it’s overall a superior model to the Style with some much-needed changes and enhancements, it’s still a hard sell compared to other similarly priced products like the Dell XPS 17 (2024) and the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch with M3, which both boast more well-rounded usage and better specs.

Unless the price drops down significantly, it would be difficult to make the SuperSlim more appealing to buyers. This is a shame since it does have a great niche as an incredibly portable laptop that works for offices and during commutes and events. If you can buy this laptop with a decent discount, then it's definitely worth considering.

LG Gram SuperSlim: Specs

As of now, the only model available in both the US and UK is this setup: Intel Core i7-1360P CPU, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD of storage. There's also no way to customize or upgrade the SuperSlim either.

Should you buy the LG Gram SuperSlim?

Buy the LG Gram SuperSlim if...

You want solid productivity performance
This laptop can handle plenty of productivity work including video calls, documents, web surfing, and more. It's the ultimate workhorse in a gorgeous chassis.

Don't buy it if...

You’re on a budget
This is an Ultrabook, meaning it has a premium price tag attached to it. Unless you have plenty of spare change, this is not the laptop for budget-minded buyers/

LG Gram SuperSlim: Also consider

If my LG Gram SuperSlim review has you considering other options, here are two more laptops to consider...

How I tested the LG Gram SuperSlim?

I tested the LG Gram SuperSlim for several weeks
I tested it using productivity and creative applications, as well as gaming
I stress-tested the battery using the TechRadar movie test

First, I tested the general weight and portability of the LG Gram SuperSlim by carrying it around in a laptop bag. After I set it up, I ran several benchmarks to thoroughly test out the processor and graphics card. Finally, I used a variety of programs and applications to test out both battery life and general performance during work-like conditions, as well as gaming benchmarks to test the RTX 4050 GPU.

The LG Gram SuperSlim is meant to be a portable laptop with a thin and light chassis. I had to spend a good amount of testing not only on performance issues but also looking for any ventilation issues. I also tested out battery life to see how long it could last off AC power.

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

Read more about how we test

First reviewed April 2024

Turtle Beach VelocityOne flightstick review – a compact, feature-packed flight sim controller, for less

7:30 pm | April 27, 2024

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

One-minute review

Flight sim peripherals are expensive. Thrustmaster’s Warthog HOTAS is the gold standard at north of $400 and Logitech’s cheaper X56 is still more than $200. Turtle Beach wants to undercut them both with this HOTAS-flightstick hybrid and, like a veteran Tom Cruise attempting some bit of cinematic aerial derring-do, it pulls it off in style.

There are 27 programmable buttons nestled around the joystick, laid out sensibly in an ambidextrous design that makes it easy to dial in useful mappings whichever hand you operate it with. The feel of those buttons isn’t uniformly ‘premium’, with some noticeably wobblier or flimsier than others, but something had to give if Turtle Beach was going to deliver all this for $120.

It’s not a traditional HOTAS, and purists might not get on with using the throttles and flightstick all on the device. For beginner virtual pilots and space-conscious aviators who don’t want to jam up all their USB slots with flight peripherals though, the VelocityOne absolutely sticks the landing and is a top PC controller or Xbox controller for flight enthusiasts

Price and availability

The Turtle Beach VelocityOne flightstick resting on a light surface — (Image credit: Future/Phil Iwaniuk)

$122.99 / £119.99 / AU$250
Significantly cheaper than Thrustmaster and Logitech HOTAS
Available in the US and UK

The Turtle Beach VelocityOne flightstick represents great value for money and that all begins with the design foundation Turtle Beach put in place to combine HOTAS inputs with a regular flightstick. Somebody in the headset-strewn corridors of Turtle Beach HQ can pat themselves on the back for that one.

Slapping all the combined inputs of both peripherals onto one unit obviously makes it easier to hit a lower price point than the big players in flight sim controllers.

There aren’t outright cut corners when it comes to build quality, but you can feel where some cost-saving switches and button caps have been drafted in to keep things affordable. That does mean that those after a no-compromise, truly premium control experience will find more to like in Thrustmaster’s incredibly weighty and well-constructed Warthog HOTAS. For everyone else, it’s a steal at this price point.

Turtle Beach VelocityOne flightstick: Specs

Turtle Beach VelocityOne flightstick: Design & features

There’s a striking but sensible design to this unit, which works like a hybrid of a HOTAS and a flightstick. It’s laid out symmetrically, with banks of input buttons in two neat rows on either side of the stick.

But there are inputs hidden all over this thing. You just keep finding them. The textured metal ring around the base of the flightstick? That’s a dial. You twist it to register an input. On the stick itself? Not only two hat switches, a trigger, buttons, and a scroller, but also an OLED display. Honestly, it’s like a 2000s rapper and a reality show production team got their hands on this thing. It’s just missing the aquarium.

At either side are the throttles, which give you a pleasing little click at 0% and 100% to give you some haptic feedback that you’re at either extreme. There’s even a trackpad, which defaults to a highlight cursor in Microsoft Flight Simulator so you can look around and select different cockpit controls that you don’t have mapped to an input - unlikely, given the plethora available here.

The joystick itself feels beautifully smooth across its axes, and it’s designed with a lot of stiffness. That’s great in some, but not all, scenarios. When you’re making big inputs – think dogfighting in a space combat sim – it’s great to have that resistance to keep your movements precise. But if you’re trying to get a commercial jet full of holidaygoers down onto the runway without evacuating their extortionately-priced egg and cress sandwiches all over the gangway, you don’t want to feel too much centering spring around the zero point as it tends to ‘snap’ you back to that center position.

This isn’t necessarily a flaw of the joystick, but a nuance that takes a bit of getting used to. You can counteract it with an increased deadzone.

The OLED display can be programmed to show you a selection of useful readouts, and although I tended to forget to look at it while I was in-game, I was captivated by it when I first plugged the unit in and saw it light up.

Speaking of lights, there’s backlighting under each of the two banks of buttons on the base, a ring at the base of the joystick, and some subtle backlighting around the thumb buttons on the top of the joystick. These are split down the middle into a turquoise and orange colour scheme which gives the VelocityOne a distinct look. A look that I’m onboard with, if you’ll excuse the fantastic aviation pun.

Turtle Beach VelocityOne flightstick: Performance

The make-or-break moment for a control device with this many inputs is what happens when you load up your game and head over to the controls menu, praying to every known deity that there’s a control scheme already established for it.

Thankfully to all those deities, Microsoft Flight Simulator on both PC and Xbox knows the VelocityOne well and has a sensible layout for it that maps most of the controls you’d want, where you’d want them.

I did a little bit of tweaking to the defaults, which is to be expected given the breadth of planes within that title. Everyone has slightly different needs depending on whether they specialize in haring about in prop planes or doing super-serious Airbus routes as realistically as possible. What matters is that there’s a decent starting point for everyone.

This is such a time saver. However, that’s (nearly) where the control profiles end. XPlane 11 and 12 recognize it right off the bat and offer a ready-made profile, but otherwise, it’s up to you to map your own inputs in games like Elite: Dangerous and War Thunder.

Not a huge deal, but it would be nice to see some more profiles added in the future.

PC and Xbox compatibility is handled pretty seamlessly, too. That flashy OLED display lets you know when you’re in compatibility mode for either platform, and I had precisely zero turbulence when plugging it into either device. It was recognized and functional without any hassle.

Should you buy the Turtle Beach VelocityOne flightstick?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

How I tested the Turtle Beach VelocityOne flightstick

Tested for several months
Tested with Microsoft Flight Simulator, Ace Combat 7, Elite: Dangerous
Compared with Thrustmaster and Logitech HOTAS

Thankfully the air miles involved in testing this one were virtual, otherwise I’d have a hell of a carbon footprint to offset. Microsoft’s serious Flight Sim drank up the testing hours, along with more fantastical experiences where fighting and loop-de-loops are a bit more commonplace.

T3 Featherweight StyleMax hair dryer review

6:10 pm | April 26, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Hair Care Home Small Appliances | Tags: UK, US | Comments: Off

T3 Featherweight StyleMax hair dryer: two-minute review

The T3 Featherweight StyleMax is a, tech-packed hair dryer from the innovative LA-based haircare brand. It comes with four nozzles included, and offers custom heat and speed automation. It's powered by T3's Digital IonAir technology, which combines an ion generator, smart chip and custom fan to deliver fast drying times and reduce frizz. This is meant to result in efficient and hair-friendly drying, with less heat damage. I tested one out to see how it compares to the rest of today's best hair dryers. Does it live up to the brand's promises?

Unfortunately, not quite. It dries hair relatively quickly, depending on the Style Mode and attachment, but these drying times aren't exceptional. The Styling Concentrator attachment delivered the best results on my fine hair, giving me a sleek and bouncy style without compromising too much on drying speed.

The Diffuser also performed well, enhancing my natural curls with volume and body. However, the Smoothing Comb didn't work as well as I'd expected and hoped, and I often burned my scalp while using it. A problem I experienced much more with the T3 Featherweight StyleMax that I have with any other dryer I've used in the past. Similarly, the attachments have a tendency to become excessively hot during use, making it difficult to change mid-style, or even rotate the best angle. Elsewhere, the Volume Boost made very little difference. More's the pity. And while the Style Modes are useful and versatile, they can be difficult to master and a little confusing.

Despite these issues, the T3 Featherweight StyleMax has several things going for it. The Cool Shot button is great for locking styles in place and you don't have to press and hold it like you do on so many of its rivals. The hair dryer's overall performance also led to softer, healthier-looking hair over time.

Overall, the T3 Featherweight StyleMax is a mixed bag. It offers a range of advanced features and attachments that make it versatile and appealing for various hair styling needs. Yet, its performance and design quirks put me off from using this as my everyday hair dryer. Instead, I'll likely reserve it for special occasions when I have extra time to complete my style.

T3 Featherweight StyleMax hair dryer review: price & availability

List price: $199 / £170 for Featherweight StyleMax + 4 attachments
Available in the US and UK

Price-wise, the Featherweight StyleMax is at the top end of T3's hair dyer range, sitting alongside the T3 Aireluxe with a list price of $199.99 / £170. That puts it in TechRadar's upper-mid price bracket.

There’s an impressive amount of tech built into the Featherweight and this, coupled with its wide range of features and attachments (it comes with four) goes some way towards justifying its cost. The performance falls a little short of what I’d expect for that amount of money, but you can’t really put a price on healthy hair so if you can afford it, it’s not a bad investment. In TechRadar's T3 AireLuxe review, that model gained 4.5*, and at the same price it's hard not to recommend that as a better place to put your money... although it's true that model doesn't come with so many functions and settings.

The Featherweight is significantly cheaper than high-end models like the Zuvi Halo and Dyson Supersonic, and on par with older premium dryers like GHD Air and the BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium range.

You can buy the Featherweight StyleMax in the US and UK directly from the T3 website. It's also available via Amazon and Ulta in the US, and Amazon and Beauty Bay in the UK.

Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

T3 Featherweight StyleMax hair dryer review: design

Five heat modes + Cool shot
Volume Boost button
Customizable presets for different hair types

The design of the T3 Featherweight StyleMax is a cross between the traditional, long-barrel hair dryers of old with the shorter, more compact shape of modern stylers, like the Dyson Supersonic and Zuvi Halo. It measures 7.6 x 2.9 x 11.2 in / 193 mm x 740 mm x 284 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 1.04lbs / 471g without any nozzles attached, and not including the chunky, 2.7m / 9ft cord.

If you're looking for something to travel with, this probably isn't it – it's a bit bulky for slinging into a suitcase. The brand does have a travel-sized option that might be better for frequent flyers – head to TechRadar's T3 Afar review for more on that one.

Included with the Featherweight are four attachments: a Drying Concentrator, for rough drying your hair; a Styling Concentrator that smoothes as it styles; the SoftTouch 3 Diffuser for adding volume and definition to curls and waves; and a Smoothing Comb designed to lift roots, or stretch and detangle curls and coils.

T3 Featherweight hair dryer with attachments — (Image credit: Future)

The design of the Featherweight StyleMax is a blend of traditional and modern, and looks like an elongated version of the T3 Fit hair dryer – the brand's compact option. There's a choice of three colors – white, graphite, and satin blush. I reviewed the white model, which has rose gold accents around both the grill at the front of the barrel, and the filter on the rear. The dryer is largely made from plastic with metal on the grill, and rubber at the bottom of the handle where it joins the cord. I'm not a fan of the bubble-like curved barrel. It doesn't look bad, but it does feel a bit cartoon-like, which is a bit at odds with the higher asking price.

Technology-wise, the Featherweight StyleMax uses the brand's Digital T3 IonAir Technology. This comprises an ion generator that 'saturates' a super-wide airstream, powered by a custom-designed fan. A smart chip then keeps the heat consistent. This ionic technology uses negative ions to break the water molecules on your hair into smaller particles that evaporate faster, and this is what helps to dry the hair quickly.

The majority of control buttons are then found on the rear of the handle, below the filter. These controls, in order from top to bottom, are as follows:

Hair input indicator icon
Hair Input and Style Mode selection button
Heat settings
Speed settings
Power button
Volume Booster

Close up of buttons on T3 Featherweight hair dryer — (Image credit: Future)

Starting at the top, the hair input indicator icon consists of three wavy lines of increasing thickness. These each represent a different hair type ranging from fine on the left, to medium in the middle, and coarse on the right. You input your hair type using the Hair Input button and the corresponding wavy line will be illuminated.

This Hair Input button then doubles up as the Style Mode selection button. Around the button are four icons which correspond to the four Style Modes. Moving clockwise from top left, these icons are:

Rough Dry: for use with the Drying Concentrator.
Smooth: for use with either the Styling Concentrator and a paddle brush, or the Smoothing comb.
Volume: for use with the Styling Concentrator and round brush.
Diffuse: for use with the diffuser.

The Drying Concentrator delivers a wide airflow to quickly, and roughly, dry your hair. The Styling Concentrator nozzle has a thinner outlet, compared to the Drying Concentrator, and this helps direct airflow onto individual sections. You can use this with a paddle brush to create smooth and sleek styles, or pair it with a round brush to create volume, body and bounce.

The SoftTouch 3 Diffuser diffuses air to add volume and definition to curls, waves, and layered styles, while the Smoothing Comb directs the airflow through vented teeth to lift roots, smooth strands, and stretch and detangle curls and coils. These attachments all twist and lock easily into place on the grill.

When you select a Style Mode, the Featherweight will automatically select the most appropriate heat and speed settings to suit both the attachment, as well as your hair type and styling needs. At any point you can up the heat or drop the speed etc. manually using the standalone heat and speed buttons.

T3 Featherweight hair dryer — (Image credit: Future)

These heat and speed buttons are each surrounded by indicator lights that correspond with the relevant settings. There are five thin light strips around the heat button, which correspond with the dryer's five heat settings. The speed button is encircled by three light strips which represent the Featherweight's low, medium and high speeds.

The last button on the rear of the handle is the Volume Boost button. Pressing this boosts the speed and strength of the air flow to help you add volume into the hair and at the roots.

And finally, the Cool Shot button is found under the grill on the front of the handle. The majority of the best hair dryers I've tested over the years require you to press and hold the Cool Shot button but once you've pressed the one on the T3 Featherweight it stays on until you turn it off. This is a small but hugely welcome addition.

Design score: 4.5 out of 5

T3 Featherweight StyleMax hair dryer review: performance

Switching modes can be confusing
Mixed styling results
Often burned my scalp or hand

To test the T3 Featherweight StyleMax, I trialled each mode and attachment in turn multiple times over the course of a month. I timed how long it took the hair dryer to dry my fine, long, naturally curly hair, and how well it created each of the promised styles. I also experimented with manually adjusting the settings to see how differences in temperature and speed impacted the results.

To get started with the dryer you need to input your hair type. Start by pressing the Power button. Then press and hold the Hair Input button and cycle through the three options until the correct hair type line is illuminated. Next, select your preferred Style Mode by pressing the selection button again until the corresponding icon is illuminated. It helps to have the relevant attachment connected before making this selection, but it's not necessary.

Two seconds later the dryer will start. There is always a two-second delay when switching settings, so don't be alarmed if the dryer seemingly turns itself off and doesn't come back on straight away. The lights surrounding the heat and temperature buttons show which settings have been automatically selected. If you don't feel like the heat or speed is adequate you can manually change the settings, but this will disable whichever Style Mode you've chosen.

It took an average of 4 minutes 58 seconds to dry my hair using the T3 Featherweight StyleMax without any nozzles connected. Despite being a rough dry, my hair was surprisingly soft and relatively frizz-free, compared to how it looks and feels when I rough-dry it with other hair dryers.

Next up, it took 6 minutes 12 seconds to dry my hair using the Drying Concentrator with the Rough drying mode selected. My hair was soft with a small amount of frizz but I got frustrated with how long it took to reach this result. Especially as there was little difference compared to drying my hair without an attachment. For me, the Drying Concentrator adds very little to the dryer and I regularly found the speed too low for my needs.

The Styling Concentrator produced the best results, without having to sacrifice too much on drying speed. It took 5 minutes 9 seconds to create a sleek style with my paddle brush, and 5 minutes 45 seconds to finish a bouncy blow dry with a large, round brush.

Concentrator nozzle on T3 Featherweight hair dryer — (Image credit: Future)

The diffuser works very well and my curls were soft and full of body and bounce, while the Smoothing Comb helped to add a small amount of volume when blow drying my hair straight, or when separating my curls. My biggest complaint about the Smoothing Comb is that I often burned my scalp while using it.

In fact, I burned my scalp more while using the T3 Featherweight than I ever have during all of my years writing hair dryer reviews. Just as I regularly had to turn up the speed to achieve the power I wanted, I often had to turn down the heat, or be much more careful about how close the hairdryer got to my head during styling.

Similarly, the attachments become too hot to touch during styling so you have to wait until they've cooled down to remove them. This makes it difficult to switch attachments mid-style. For example, if I want to create a blow dry with the Styling Concentrator and then add volume at the roots with the Smoothing Comb, I have to wrap a towel around my hand to remove the first nozzle before attaching the second. This isn't a major problem, but it is an inconvenience.

Speaking of volume, this button doesn't seem to make a huge difference. It increases the speed of the airflow to give your hair and roots extra lift but I noticed very little difference between when it was enabled and when it wasn't. And considering my fine hair needs all the volume it can get, this was disappointing.

Overall, none of the Style Modes or settings produced a ready-to-go finish. I still had to run straighteners over my hair to remove any of the remaining frizz. However my hair felt much softer than it does normally and by the end of the review period, it looked and felt healthier.

Performance score: 3.5 out of 5

Should I buy the T3 Featherweight StyleMax hair dryer?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

First reviewed: April 2024

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Oppo Reno 10 review: cheap with a catch

2:48 pm |

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

Oppo Reno 10 two-minute review

If there’s one phone brand with whom you never know what you’re getting, it’s Oppo, but with its latest mid-range mobile it’s managed to make a phone that’ll (mostly) wow you, especially if you’re looking for a great device without spending too much.

The Oppo Reno 10 is the latest of Oppo’s mid-tier mobiles to launch globally, after the Oppo Reno 8 in 2022 – the brand tends to alternate between global releases and China-only ones. And for the first time in many generations, this is a Reno phone that’s really worth checking out.

At its core, the Oppo Reno 10 is a premium phone with a price tag that’s a lot lower than one would expect. It's easily one of the best cheap phones on the market, embarrassing rival handsets from the likes of Samsung, Apple and Google by just how far ahead it is. It feels better in the hand, performs faster, offers a better display, lasts longer and looks more appealing, though it does have two major weaknesses that keep it away from a higher score.

The design is a large draw of this phone. Oppo has brought the curved-edge display design back to low-cost phones, yet has managed to avoid many of the issues common to this feature, like accidental side presses.

The Reno 10 may not have a top-end chipset but it works wonderfully for gaming, and streaming videos is just as much of a treat thanks to its top-spec screen. Its battery lasts a long time, and it charges quickly. What’s not to like?

Well, some things aren’t to like; one of them is the camera. Oppo has aped top-end mobiles by introducing a telephoto camera for zoom photography – this is such a rarity that I wish I could be singing from the rooftops about the Reno 10’s camera prowess, but it joins an utterly underwhelming camera line-up. Photos taken on the Reno 10 are dull, grainy and lifeless.

In its software, Oppo decided to copy not premium phones, but the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. ColorOS is absolutely littered with pre-installed bloatware apps – I counted 30 on my phone when I first booted it up! At its core, the software is great, with easy navigation and handy customization features, but it’s hard to sail through without getting yourself caught on all its trash.

If you scarcely use your phone camera, and don’t mind spending a good chunk of your phone set-up time wearing out your thumbs by deleting countless random games and shopping apps, then the Oppo Reno 10 will be an absolutely fantastic pick for you. Even those two major pitfalls are easy enough to forgive when you consider the phone’s competitive low price.

But don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Oppo Reno 10 review: price and availability

Released in August 2023
Costs £399 / AU$749 (around $500)
On sale in UK and Australia, not US

The Oppo Reno 10 was unveiled in August 2023, and like many of the brand’s phones, it’s available in the UK and Australia but not the US.

You can pick up the phone in its sole configuration for £399 / AU$749 (around $500), which is a small but welcome discount from the Oppo Reno 8’s £419 / AU$999 – that was the last Reno mobile that launched globally, as Oppo generally reserves odd-numbered entries for Chinese markets.

At that price, the Reno sits at the cheaper end of the vaguely defined ‘mid-range’ mobile market. In the UK it undercuts some big-name rivals like the Google Pixel 7a (starts at $499 / £449 / AU$749) or the most recent iPhone SE (starts at $429 / £419 / AU$719), though as you can see its Australian price is on par with its peers.

Value score: 4 / 5

Oppo Reno 10 review: specs

A budget phone with premium specs, here's how the Oppo Reno 10 looks on paper:

Oppo Reno 10 review: design

Curved-edge display adds premium feel
A touch on the big side
Camera bump protrudes quite far

Oppo is one of a small number of mobile phone companies offering curved-edge smartphones at low prices – that’s right, the Reno 10 has a display that tapers at the edge. This makes it more comfortable to hold in your hand than many other rival devices, and gives it a premium sheen – plus, in the Reno, it’s not so curvy that you’re at risk of accidentally pressing the sides. Not once in my testing period did I incur the ‘accidental side press’ that can plague so many curved-edge mobiles.

If anything, your issue here is going to be hand strain, because the Reno 10 is a pretty big device. It measures 162.4 x 74.2 x 8mm, and weighs 185g, so while it’s relatively thin and lightweight for a phone of its size, people with smaller hands may struggle to use its extensive display size.

Talking of big, the Reno 10’s rear camera bump is pretty huge. It’s a large lozenge-shaped protrusion that houses all three of the lenses and a flash, and it sticks out a fair way from the phone too. You won’t be putting this mobile down flat on a surface, unless it’s in a case.

Glass houses the back and front of the phone, making this mobile feel pretty premium compared to most same-price rivals. But it’ll be a little more fragile than a plastic device, so a case is advised. In the UK, it only comes in a pretty plain gray color too, imaginatively titled Silvery Gray, so a case will give it some life too – more vibrant alternatives are available in some countries though.

The volume rocker and power button are both housed on the right edge of the mobile – I could reach both at a stretch, though to unlock the phone you need to use the in-screen fingerprint scanner that felt too low-down on the display to use naturally.

The Oppo has a USB-C port on its button edge for charging and data transfer but no 3.5mm headphone jack in sight. You’ll have to use an adaptor if you want to use wired headphones or speakers.

Design score: 4 / 5

Oppo Reno 10 review: display

Chunky 6.7-inch screen
FHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate
Max brightness could be a little higher

The Oppo Reno 10’s size is partly because of its large display: at 6.7 inches diagonally, this is a big display, and you won’t find bigger on phones at this price.

It’s a good-looking screen, with a FHD+ resolution (1080 x 2412 pixels) making your games or videos look clear, and the 120Hz refresh rate makes motion appear smooth.

The HDR10+ certification is just a cherry on top – whether you’re binging a TV show, playing a game, checking out pictures you took or just scrolling through social media, this big and bold display is one of the best you’ll find on a phone at this price point.

If I have a gripe, it’s that the maximum brightness is a little low. At 950 nits, it’s fine for if you’re inside or out and about on an overcast day, but even in this latter circumstance I had to turn the brightness to max to see the screen easily. On a sunny day, you may find it a little hard to see.

Display score: 3.5 / 5

Oppo Reno 10 review: software

Horrendous bloatware issue
Quick to navigate and handily laid out
Lots of customization options

Three screenshots showing the user interface of the Oppo Reno 10 as soon as it was set up for the first time. Note how some of those icons are actually folders, hiding even more pre-installed apps. (Image credit: Future / Oppo)

The Oppo Reno 10 comes with the newest Android 13 software pre-loaded, with Oppo’s own ColorOS plastered over the top. This Android fork has a similar layout to stock Android, but with a distinctive design to give the software a more playful and energetic tone. Oh, and it has a few choice changes over the base Google-designed software.

I’m talking about bloatware – the Reno has loads. For those that don’t know, bloatware refers to pre-installed apps on the phone beyond the basics that you need for functionality (like a camera app, photo library, Play Store etc). Some companies choose to pack their phones with their own apps, or third-party licensed ones, and in this phone Oppo seems intent on taking that to the logical extreme.

When I first booted up the phone, it was already jam-packed with random games, shopping apps, entertainment platforms, and more – I counted over 30. Some of these are ones I’d choose to install, and it was useful not having to manually download Netflix, but the time I saved in having the streaming service pre-installed was more than made up for in all the unknown apps I had to delete.

Once you’ve worn out your thumbs deleting ‘June’s Journey’ and ‘Portal Parkour’, ColorOS is actually a pretty great operating system. Its buttons, both on the swipe-down quick settings and notifications panels, as well as on the home page, are bold and easy to understand at a scan. Navigation is easy thanks to a handily-accessible app drawer plus well-placed search options. And there’s lots of customization with bespoke widgets, plenty of built-in wallpaper options and ‘style’ options that let you change the always-on display, font, icon and fingerprint animations.

Thanks to the 120Hz display and powerful internals, navigating the phone’s software is a breeze. ColorOS is great to use for people who find stock Android a bit plain – it’s just a shame about the bloatware.

Software score: 2.5 / 5

Oppo Reno 10 review: cameras

64MP main, 32MP zoom and 8MP ultra-wide cameras
Pictures are unimpressive: lack color, detail, are blown out
32MP snapper on front which suffers from same traits

The Oppo Reno 10 makes a staggering leap in the area of budget camera phones: it’s the first low-cost mobile in roughly five years that comes with a telephoto lens, for optical zoom photography (usually when you zoom in on a phone camera it just zooms digitally, via cropping, which quickly loses detail).

This is a 32MP f/2.0 snapper with a lens for 2x optical zoom, and it joins the main 64MP f/1.7 and 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide cameras to round out the trio. It’s understandable to get excited about this lens tripartite – it’s the same combo that premium mobiles from Samsung and Apple use – but it sadly doesn’t save the Oppo from camera mundanity.

There’s nothing offensively bad with photos taken on the Reno 10, but they’re noticeably lacking. The colors look washed out, darker areas lack detail, and images could look surprisingly grainy – this is all with HDR turned on. You also have to hold the phone still for longer to capture a picture than you’d think, as my camera reel was full of blurry misfires.

Talking of misfires, there’s Night mode, which somehow makes night-time pictures look a lot worse. You’ll see two pictures taken at night below; the first is using the normal camera without tweaking settings. As you can see the water is sharp, the light reflecting in it is distinct and fades out, and the contrast between the darker and brighter areas brings your attention to the center. Then there’s the night mode image which turns it into an oil pastel painting.

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Oppo Reno 10 camera sample — The River Thames at night captured on the Oppo Reno 10's standard photo mode. (Image credit: Future)

Image 2 of 2

To give Oppo props for anything, it’s that there’s parity between lenses: you can zoom in to 2x and all the same issues from the main camera are present. Still, it’s nice to have this option for versatile photography. That’s not so true for the ultrawide lens which, with its 8MP sensor, loses too much information to be worth using.

The front of the phone wields a 32MP f/2.4 wide camera, and photos on this bore better fruit than on its rear siblings, but only slightly. Snaps are sharp and, in Portrait mode the digital bokeh is accurate to the body. However, brighter backgrounds in selfies were often blown out, and again colors weren’t rich enough. You’ll see two selfies in the camera gallery below – the shirt I’m wearing is meant to be forest green.

The Oppo Reno 10 records video at 4K/30fps or 1080p/60fps, and it also packs all the standard phone camera options: slow-mo (1080p/480fps or 720p/960fps), panoramic photography, time lapse and Pro mode. It also has an Extra HD mode so you can take pictures at 64MP instead of its default pixel-binned option.

Camera score: 2.5 / 5

Oppo Reno 10 camera samples

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Oppo Reno 10 review: performance and audio

Handy Dimensity 7050 chipset plus 8GB RAM
Handles games and other tasks well
Bluetooth 5.3, adequate speakers but no headphone jack

The Oppo Reno 10 performs just about as well as you could hope a low-cost smartphone to – unless you spend more time playing mobile games than you do outdoors, you’ll find this phone absolutely fit for purpose.

The phone packs a mid-range Dimensity 7050 chipset, paired with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. You can boost the RAM by an extra 8GB by using a RAM boost feature that temporarily converts your storage into extra mobile power, which will give you some extra oomph until you fill up your phone’s data.

In the Geekbench 6 benchmark test, the phone returned a middling multi-core score of 2,360, but in actual use, it worked perfectly well. In popular games like Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG Mobile, the device performed admirably, never overheating, lagging or stuttering. If you’re a mobile gamer, you won’t feel let down here.

Oppo has a games mode that lets you boost processing power, monitor your phone’s vital signs and block notifications, but even without enabling this, the device felt great to play games on.

As previously stated there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack. Instead for audio, you can use the handset’s Bluetooth 5.3 connection for phones or speakers, or rely on its in-built speakers. These latter are nothing to write home about but they’re fit for purpose for games, calls, voice notes or other tasks like that.

Performance score: 3.5 / 5

Oppo Reno 10 review: battery life

Big 5,000mAh battery
Up to two days of use
67W charging is lovely and fast

Like the vast majority of budget phones, the Oppo Reno 10 packs a 5,000mAh battery, which is about as big as you’ll get on a mainstream phone.

This is more than enough power to last the device through the day under normal use, and even heavy game-playing sessions won’t jeopardise its lasting power (well, to an extent). If you’re frugal, you’ll be able to see the phone through two days of use before a charge is required, but most people won’t last that long.

Thankfully, powering up the phone is swift, thanks to one of the fastest charging speeds you’ll see in a budget phone. That’s 67W, and your phone will power from empty to full in just over half an hour with it. An additional promise Oppo is throwing your way is that the phone should keep its battery capacity high for longer, which is often an issue with fast-charging phones; according to the company, the capacity will still be above 80% of its maximum after 1,600 charges and discharges, or about four years of use.

Battery score: 4 / 5

Should you buy the Oppo Reno 10?

Buy it if...

You wish you weren't on a budget
We all have a certain limit we'd spend on a phone, but if you wish yours was a lot higher, the Reno will let you pretend that it is.

You like streaming games and movies
Between its good-looking screen, powerful chipset, plentiful storage and big battery, the Reno 10 is great for streaming TV, movies, games and music.

You like easy software
ColorOS has a smart layout, easily-understood buttons and handy navigation tricks... once you've got rid of all the bloatware.

Don't buy it if...

You're a mobile photography fan
We've gone into lots of detail as to the Oppo Reno 10's camera issues. While the telephoto lens may be a big draw, it's not worth it!

You're not adept with user interface tweaks
Due to its bloatware, we'd only recommend the Reno 10 to people who are comfortable enough with phone software to quickly delete a huge number of apps.

You have smaller hands
Due to its size, you might have trouble operating the Oppo Reno 10 if you have smaller hands, as it'll be a stretch to reach the volume rocker or upper half of the display.

Oppo Reno 10 review: also consider

Considering other mobiles beyond the Oppo Reno 10? Here are some others you could look into, that all cost the same as, or a tiny amount more than, the Reno.

Google Pixel 7a
Google's pint-sized Pixel 7a has the clean stock Android software and a focus on camera chops, so it's basically the opposite of the Reno 10. In the UK it's a bit pricier though.

Samsung Galaxy A54
Samsung has made a handy low-cost jack-of-all-trades device with the Galaxy A54. It falls a little short in the performance department but makes up for it with fun color options.

How I tested the Oppo Reno 10

Review test period = 2 week
Testing included = Everyday usage, including web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback
Tools used = Geekbench 6, Geekbench ML, GFXBench, native Android stats

The testing period for the Oppo Reno 10 was roughly two weeks, which doesn't time before the fortnight for setting up the device and getting it through a few battery cycles, and time spent using the phone while writing the review.

To test the phone, I used it as a normal owner would: I took it on walks to test the camera, watched TV shows using it, played games at home on it. I also put it through some limited benchmark and timing tests, though kept these to a minimum as they don't usually reflect actual use.

I've been writing about phones at TechRadar for over five years now, after joining in early 2019, and have used Oppo's Reno phones since the first-gen Reno 10x Zoom up until the present day, including the last Reno phone to release in the UK, the Reno 8. I've also used phones from every other mainstream company, which helps with comparisons and with understanding all the phones out there right now.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed January 2023

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE moniker confirmed by UK carrier

8:45 am |

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: UK | Comments: Off

We recently heard that Samsung is working on the Galaxy S24 FE, which will be launched in late 2024. While there's no word about the Galaxy S24 FE from Samsung, the phone's listing on UK carrier EE's database confirms its existence and moniker. The UK carrier also revealed the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE's model designation, which is SM-721U. However, it didn't divulge anything else about it. But if rumors are to be believed, the Galaxy S24 FE will come with a 6.1" AMOLED screen, 12GB RAM, and two storage options - 128GB (UFS 3.1) and 256GB (UFS 4.0). The smartphone will be fueled by a 4,500...

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE moniker confirmed by UK carrier

8:45 am |

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: UK | Comments: Off

Moto G34 review

2:58 pm | April 25, 2024

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

Moto G34 two-minute review

Motorola has decided to continue its long-held siege on our list of the best cheap phones with its new Moto G34 — this was designed to be one of the most affordable 5G phones out there, and it’s a pleasantly surprising success.

One of the first 2024 entries into Motorola’s low-cost line of Moto G handsets, you quickly come to know what to expect from these handsets. They won’t hurt your bank account but generally deliver unimpressive specs, a poor camera performance and lackluster displays. Given that the G34 is being marketed on its low price, you’d expect it to tick all these boxes, but it manages to punch above its weight in a few departments.

A question I asked myself when I begun testing the phone was: “given that budget mobiles have weak specs to keep the price low, is 5G even useful on a handset of this price?” The answer I came up with is “in some use cases yes”.

The camera is a good example, because it’s actually okay for a super-cheap phone like this. Admittedly ‘okay’ isn’t a glowing recommendation, but it’s one of the kindest words I’ve ever used to describe a Moto phone camera. And with 5G, you can easily post snaps on social media, save them to a cloud or download an editing app to tweak them.

The Moto G34's Your Space menu — (Image credit: Future)

One small camera feature does damage the experience though: every time you take a snap, the phone spends ages processing it before it’s added to the camera gallery. This means you can’t see the finished product for while, which can be annoying if you want to know whether you’ve got the shot or need to try again.

The chip is, again, ‘okay’, but that’s great for a budget phone – the G34 wasn’t as sluggish, slow or prone to stuttering as many other handsets you could buy for the same price. You’re not going to be demolishing opponents in Call of Duty: Mobile any time soon but it’ll hold its own. I could download games on my bus ride into work thanks to the connection speeds as long as they were low-intensity gentle ones.

Plus the phone boasts nice, clean Android 14 with all of its personalization features, a chunky battery and up to 1TB of expandable storage, which is all appreciated.

It’s not all amazing, though. The Moto G34 has a relatively low-res display, with its LCD tech leaving colors looking a little washed out. If you’re buying a 5G phone to stream Netflix from out and about, you’d do better to just buy a same-price 4G phone with a better screen, or splash out a little more.

Plus, it’s really slow to charge, which admittedly is impossible to tie into the handset’s 5G features so let’s just list it as a standalone ‘con’ for the phone.

So you’re getting what you pay for with the Moto G34 and a little bit more – not a lot more, but enough that the price tag is easy to palate.

Moto G34: price and availability

Released in January 2024
On sale in the UK, possibly AU in future, unlikely in US
Costs £149.99 (roughly $190, AU$290)

The Moto G34 camera app — (Image credit: Future)

The Moto G34 was unveiled to the world in December 2023, but it went on sale in the UK a month later in the new year.

The handset costs £149.99 for its sole 4GB RAM and 128GB model, though you can choose between black, green and blue versions. In some regions there are variants of the mobile with more RAM or various amounts of storage, but that’s not the case in the UK.

No US or Australian availability has been announced for the handset but the cost converts to around $190 or AU$290 – Moto typically sells different mobiles Stateside so the G34 likely won’t go on sale in America, but given precedent, it could reach the Australian shores.

That price puts the Moto G34 almost without equal in the realms of 5G phones, as most cost at least 25% more (well, until sales come). Instead, the handset is bumping elbows with some 4G competitors from Samsung, Xiaomi and even Motorola itself, with brands offering you slightly better features for the same price if you don’t need 5G.

Value score: 4 / 5

Moto G34 review: specs

The Moto G34 has specs that match its budget: low-end. Here's the skinny:

Moto G34 review: design

Average-sized Android that's not too heavy
Camera bump doesn't stick out much
USB-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack

The Moto G34 flat in a hand. — (Image credit: Future)

Like many phones from Motorola, the Moto G34 has a pretty utilitarian design: it’s another chocolate-bar phone.

The G34 measure 162.7 x 74.6 x 8mm and weighs 179g so it’s pretty lightweight as far as Android phones go, and not too big either.

On the bottom edge is a USB-C port and 3.5mm headphone jack — remember those?! — and the right edge holds an easily-reachable power button and a slightly-less-reachable volume rocker. As this phone is roughly averaged-sized, it should be usable one-handed for all but the smallest hands.

Like many budget phones, the G34 has a flat edge, but unlike many other mobiles that use this feature (including some Moto offenders) it’s not too angular — this wasn’t an uncomfortable phone to hold. While that’s not exactly a compliment, it’s definitely not an insult either.

On the back of the phone is a slight protrusion that houses the two camera lenses. This doesn’t stick out too far, so you can put the handset face-up on a table without turning it into a seesaw.

As mentioned, there are three color options for the phone, and we used the blue one. The green option uses faux leather which presumably gives it a much more premium feel, though I didn’t test this one so I can’t say for sure.

Design score: 3.5 / 5

Moto G34 review: display

A 6.5-inch display, big but not huge
Fairly low-res 720 x 1600 resolution
LCD leads to colors looking washed-out

The Moto G34 laying face up on a wooden surface — (Image credit: Future)

You probably shouldn’t be picking the Moto G34 as your chosen phone if it’s to stream high-quality movies over the web, because the Moto might struggle to show you that ‘quality’ part.

The phone has a 6.5-inch display, so it’s fairly big and will show you lots of WhatsApp messages, big Instagram posts or lots of your video game. However it only has a HD resolution of 720 x 1600, so videos don’t look as crisp as they do on most other mobiles.

Moto has also opted to put an LCD screen on the phone, despite other low-cost mobiles using OLED which has better contrast, colors and brightness. At least the 120Hz refresh rate makes motion look nice and smooth.

Display score: 2 / 5

Moto G34 review: software

Stock Android 14, but only one software update
Lots of customization options
Moto's Quick Actions make navigation easy

The Moto G34 app drawer — (Image credit: Future)

Not only is the Moto G34 one of the cheapest 5G phones, but it’s one of the most affordable ways you can get yourself a handset with stock Google-designed Android.

The Moto comes on Android 14, the newest version of the popular operating system. Moto has only promised one update though, with three years of security updates, which software aficionados might find lacking.

Stock Android is a nice clean operating system, mostly free from bloatware and with an easy-to-access swipe-up app drawer so that your home screen remains nice and clear until you customize it.

Android 14 in particular is great for customization options to help you design your interface, though some usual Moto additions are missing. You can change the font, color scheme, app icon shape and more though, so there’s still a lot you can do.

Moto does bring its stalwart quick actions, which let you bring up certain apps just with gestures: you can do a double karate chop to turn on the torch or a twist to open the camera app, for example. Once you get the knack of these, they become really convenient navigation options.

An addition which is relatively new to Moto phones is the Moto Unplugged app which lets you temporarily pare back your handset when you want to go distraction-free for a while. It was pretty handy for when I wanted to focus on writing this review — until I realized that I needed to use the phone for the review, that is!

Software score: 3.5 / 5

Moto G34 review: cameras

50MP main and 2MP macro cameras
16MP selfie camera for self portraits
Slow photo processing provides photography pain

The Moto G34's camera bump — (Image credit: Future)

As you can see from the images, the Moto G34 boasts two rear cameras, though only one is worth talking about. They’re a 50MP f/1.8 main and a 2MP f/2.4 macro snapper. They’re joined by a 16MP f/2.4 selfie camera on the front.

If your expectations for the camera prowess of a budget phone like this are very low, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the G34. That’s not to say it’s good, but it’s fine, and at this price that’s all you can ask for.

In decent lighting conditions, snaps have sufficient detail, though they can look a little washed-out in terms of color. In low-lighting conditions – I don’t mean night-time, and the cookie picture below shows that even household lighting doesn’t cut it – snaps lose a lot of detail and often seem a bit muddy. Plus, the phone didn’t handle contrast well, with darker areas during daylight shooting losing loads of detail.

That may sound overwhelmingly negative, but pictures taken on the Moto G34 did retain more quality, light and color that snaps taken on other similarly priced phones I’ve tested in the past, so I wasn’t disappointed by its performance.

Using digital zoom, you can close the distance up to 8x, but images get very grainy past 2x so I wouldn’t recommend it.

Selfies are a small cut above, and I found that the front camera would cope better if my face wasn’t beautifully lit up. Portrait mode was surprisingly good at working out what it shouldn’t and shouldn’t blur too, and even messy bed hair couldn’t fool it.

Macro mode is… well, pretty dreadful, actually – I found it impossible to take a close-up shot with sufficient lighting and detail to exceed the capabilities of the main camera. Most of the time, my macro shots were blurry out-of-focus messes. Avoid!

The usual crowd of extra modes are here: photographers can use portrait mode, Pro mode, spot color (which turns a photo monochrome except for one color), dual capture, night mode and ‘Photo Booth’ which takes four pictures a few seconds apart, like you’re in an old-school photo booth. Videographers can enjoy some of the same including dual capture and spot color as well as a slow-motion mode.

One annoying aspect of the G34 is that, when you take a photo, the device will spend a while processing it. This sometimes took over a minute and I couldn’t find a way to turn the processing off — this all just meant you can’t see the proper image for a while after taking it. Ironically, the processing barely made a difference to image quality, so this isn’t as big of an issue as it otherwise would be.

Moto G34 camera samples

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Camera score: 2.5 / 5

Moto G34: performance and audio

Snapdragon 695 is fit for purpose
128GB storage can be expanded up to 1TB, plus 4GB RAM
3.5mm headphone jack for wired audio

The Moto G34 has a surprising chipset for its price: the Snapdragon 695 it uses often shows up in pricier (though still low-end) mobiles, and Motorola could have got away with sticking a weaker processor in its mobile.

This is paired with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage, though both are expandable. You can increase your storage by 1TB thanks to the microSD card slot, and use RAM expansion to temporarily turn unused storage space into extra power.

The Moto G34's personalize menu — (Image credit: Future)

Using the Geekbench 6 benchmark test, the Moto returned a multi-core score of 2,035. That’s roughly around the score of 5-year-old flagships like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 (2,092) and Huawei Mate 20 (2,134). For recent handsets, some budget mobiles from the last few years have similar scores including OnePlus’ Nord N20 (1,962) and Nord CE 2 Lite (1,952), both of which also have the Snapdragon 695 chipset.

When it comes to gaming, I was pleasantly surprised by how the Moto could hold its own through intensive games of Call of Duty: Mobile and other titles. There were startlingly few stutters or lags during online play; if it weren’t for the display and speaker quality, I could just have well been playing on a mid-ranged gaming phone.

Audio fans will love to see the Moto G34 boasting a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you can use wired headphones, microphones and more using the port. It also has Bluetooth 5.1 for wireless headphones if you prefer.

The G34 also has stereo speakers for audio; they’re nothing to write home about and don’t compare with those on pricier mobiles, but are fine for if you misplaced your headphones.

Performance score: 3 / 5

Moto G34 review: battery life

Big 5,000mAh battery
Phone easily lasts a day of use, and almost two
Slow to charge at 18W

The Moto G34's USB-C port and headphone jack. — (Image credit: Future)

It wouldn’t be a Moto phone if it didn’t have a battery the size of a small baby, would it? The G34 boasts a 5,000mAh battery, just like the vast majority of other mobiles from the company, which is a big power pack for a phone.

A battery like this would keep even a juice-hungry mobile powered for a long time, but between its HD screen and mid-tier chipset, the Moto G34 really makes the most of this battery. It easily lasts a day on a full charge and, in our testing, often came close to hitting two days of stopping power on a single charge.

It’s good that you don’t have to power up the phone frequently, though, because it’s not fast to charge. At 18W powering, it takes a glacial hour or more to power from empty to full, which will certainly have you sitting by the charger and twiddling your fingers.

As with almost any phone at this price, there’s no wireless charging or reverse wireless powering in sight.

Battery score: 4 / 5

Should you buy the Moto G34?

Buy it if...

You want low-cost 5G
If you just need to connect to 5G networks by any means, then the Moto G34 is one of your cheapest options for doing so.

You need lots of storage space
It's not everyday that we see a budget phone that can reach up to 1TB expandable storage, so if you want a portable hard drive that can make calls, it's a good option.

You're a super-low-budget gamer
If you really can't afford a mid-ranged gaming phone, the Moto G34 is actually decent for playing mobile games, at least compared to its same-priced rivals.

Don't buy it if...

You stream movies and TV shows
With its 720p LCD display, the Moto G34 isn't exactly an entertainment fan's powerhouse. If you want to stream on the go, pick a device with a 1080p screen.

You need quick charging
Moto phones' big batteries makes charging less important, but if you're a fan of snappy powering, you really won't enjoy the G34.

You want several years of updates
With only one guaranteed software update, the G34 won't get new Android features for years to come. At least you're getting three years' security updates.

Moto G34 review: Also consider

If you want to make sure you're getting bang for your buck, here are three other smartphones you might want to consider instead of the Moto G34:

Moto G54
Only a small sum more upgrades your G34 to a G53 with a higher-res display, better speakers and more in-built storage. It's the same in most other ways, except is somehow even slower to charge, and comes on Android 13 instead of 14.

Samsung Galaxy A15
Samsung's ultra-low-price 5G Galaxy phone has a fantastic display, as well as decent cameras and pretty fast charging for the price. Just make sure you buy the 5G variant and not the 4G one.

How I tested the Moto G34

The Moto G34's rear, as it's held in a hand. — (Image credit: Future)

Review test period = 3 week
Testing included = Everyday usage, including web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback
Tools used = Geekbench 6, Geekbench ML, GFXBench, native Android stats

As you can tell, I tested the blue version of the Moto G34, in its sole 4GB and 128GB variant. I did not use the expandable storage in testing.

To write this review, I used the Moto G34 for roughly three weeks, not including the time I left the phone running prior to testing to normalize its battery. This testing involved lots of photography, a fair amount of gaming and a little bit of streaming movies and music too.

Please note that the product photography was undertaken prior to the testing period, hence why it looks like the phone has barely been used; it hadn't!

I've been reviewing smartphones for TechRadar for over five years now, starting with another budget Moto phone back in 2019. I've used countless handsets from the company and all its major competitors, as well as some of the other gadgets Moto has tried out (anyone remember the Moto 360?).

Read more about how we test

First reviewed March 2024

Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone technology review: competent, but not flawless

4:24 am | April 23, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Air Fryers Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances | Tags: UK | Comments: Off

Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology: One-minute review

Instant has long been a leader in the air fryer space and its latest model, the Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology (also called Vortex Plus VersaZone Air Fyer 8.5L in the UK and Vortex Plus Versazone XXL Air Fryer 8.5L in Australia) aims to make air frying even more versatile, thanks to a large capacity basket that can be divided into two separate sections.

A large 9-quart / 8.5L basket makes it an obvious choice for families, with plenty of capacity to comfortably feed four, but singles and couples will also appreciate the compartments – which are 4.5q / 4.25L each – to cook mains and sides in one go. Moreover, the intuitive cooking programs ensure everything finishes cooking at the same time.

I found Instant’s latest air fryer a joy to use and it made me fall in love with cooking again. It does most of the grunt work for you with consistently good results… just as long as you know how to use some of the dedicated programs. I had to go through a bit of trial and error with my first few cooking sessions, but once I learnt them, there was no stopping me.

The expansive cooking basket does mean it’s a physically imposing air fryer of course, so if you lack kitchen counter space or don’t have much in the way of storage, you may struggle to find a proper home for it. I do think it’s attractive though, as much as an air fryer can be, so I had no issue leaving it on my kitchen counter. If you do need to store it away, I found it to be relatively lightweight, so moving it in and out of cupboards shouldn’t prove too much of an issue.

Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology: Price & availability

List price: $199.95 / £199.99 / AU$399
Available directly from Instant Brands and third-party retailers
Regular sales and bundles

Considering its size and raft of features, the Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology is competitively priced in my opinion, especially when compared to its closest rival in the Ninja Foodi FlexBasket 11qt / 10.4L dual air fryer. It’s available directly from Instant in the UK and Australia along with a host of third-party retailers. While it is listed on the US website, you’re not able to buy it directly. Instead you can find it from retailers such as Walmart.

It was launched in July 2023 and, since then, has gotten some discounts – directly from Instant and at third-party retailers. The offers tend to change, but if this air fryer is of interest, I'd recommend waiting to pick it up during a big sale like Black Friday, which makes it even better value than it already is.

Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology: Design

One 9qt / 8.5L basket that can be divided into two zones
Large enough for a family of four
Simple touchscreen and manual controls

Instant Vortex VersaZone Air Fryer — (Image credit: Future)

The Instant Vortex VersaZone is a large machine, make no mistake, although with its dimensions coming in at 15.9 x 12.5 x 15.1in / 40.3 x 31.7 x 38.4cm, it is smaller than its Ninja competitor. However, the Ninja Foodi FlexBasket does have a larger capacity for the individual compartments to justify its size. The VersaZone is lighter too, tipping the scales at 7kg, meaning most people shouldn’t have too much of a problem manoeuvring it around their kitchen.

You do of course need to factor in extra space for airflow at the rear, as well as in the front so you can actually open the basket to get your food in for cooking. I was able to find a perfect permanent spot for it in my kitchen, but those with smaller counters and who are limited on space may have to carefully consider if this is the best air fryer for you.

I feel the Instant Vortex VersaZone to be quite an attractive air fryer – as attractive as air fryers can be anyway – employing just a single physical button in the form of a control dial on its front surface. All other controls are handled via a touch-sensitive panel on the front. When not in use, all you see is the shiny black top section, the basket handles and the silver control dial. This, coupled with the angled design of the top section, make it a slick-looking machine, and certainly helps to disguise its size compared to if it was a large black box.

Do note that the shiny nature of the top section does mean the Instant Vortex VersaZone is a serious fingerprint magnet. When you’ve been handling food before putting it into the cooking basket and using the touch control panel, you’ll soon find it builds up a large fingerprint collection, so you’ll be spending a lot of time keeping it clean.

The main basket has a removable tray and a divider, the latter fitting into the former to split the compartment into two equally sized cooking sections. There are some rubber grips on the cooking tray and divider that help them to stay in place during cooking, but they do provide a fair amount of friction, so be prepared to use a little more force than you may have initially assumed to get them into place.

The air frying basket, cooking tray and divider are all dishwasher safe, making clean-up relatively easy. However, if you don’t have a dishwasher, then you’ll need to factor in the sink space required to wash the whole basket.

Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology: Performance

Large basket makes cooking a meal a breeze
Good results achievable once you learn the functions
Pre-heating times can be annoying

The Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology can air fry (obviously), roast, bake, grill, dehydrate and reheat various foods. Each program has its own default settings, including the minimum and maximum temperatures they reach. The grill program reaches the highest maximum temperature of 450°F / 232°C for a maximum of one hour. Air fry, roast and bake can all reach a high of 401°F / 205°C for an hour also.

Anytime you wish to use the Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology, it needs to spend a few minutes preheating before it notifies you when to add food. While I can appreciate this is needed, it became increasingly annoying that the air fryer needed to preheat when I went to make a second dish immediately after a cooking program had finished. I found this a bit strange, since the cooking basket would surely have still been hot. I also noticed the preheating time for the second cooking session wasn’t that much quicker than the initial preheat from cold.

The Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology also has SyncCook and SyncFinish modes to help streamline your cooking and to ensure certain dishes don’t go cold while you wait for something else to cook. SyncCook allows you to use both cooking compartments and have them cook with the same time and temperature settings. SyncFinish is used when you have two separate dishes on either side of the divider that require different cooking times, but you want them to finish at the same time.

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I used the SyncFinish mode the most, as I would cook a chicken breast or a piece of salmon, for example, on one side and some green beans or asparagus on the other. Setting up SyncFinish is simple: a quick double press of the control dial puts it into dual cooking mode and from here you can adjust the time and temperature individually for both sides. Once you’ve made your adjustments, just press the SyncFinish button, followed by Start, and you’re away. The side with the shortest time will remain on hold while the other preheats and begins cooking. The Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology will then begin preheating the second cooking section so that it’s ready to begin cooking when the time remaining aligns on both sides.

The aforementioned chicken breast came out juicy and tender, while the salmon was buttery soft and fell apart when I cut into it with a fork. I did have a few teething problems when cooking some hand-cut sweet potato wedges however. I hoped they would come out crispy but, upon my first try, they did seem a little raw still. I put this down to both shortening the cooking time I would normally use for an oven, and the wedges themselves being relatively thick in size.

Throwing some chicken tenders into the basket also proved successful. What was especially handy (and as I've been noticing more and more with food packets lately) is that they had specific air frying instructions on the pack. I followed these to a tee and the results were sublime. They were hot, the breadcrumbs had a great crisp to them and they were juicy inside.

It did take me a bit of time to adjust to cooking with an air fryer compared to a conventional oven or frying pan, predominantly with cooking times as opposed to temperatures. I had expected the Instant Vortex VersaZone to cook food slightly quicker than the old-school method but, in reality, it took the same amount of time or occasionally longer. I found this to be a fair compromise as the cooking results were superb.

I also tried out the bake function to make some chocolate chip cookies. I loved the fact the basket was big enough to cook what most people would call a batch, but what I would call a single serving. I've made these cookies before, using a fan-forced oven to bake. I followed the same recipe, cooking time and temperature using the bake function on the Instant Vortex VersaZone air fryer but found they came out slightly under baked. If I were to bake them again, I would keep the temperature the same but leave them in for a few minutes longer.

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Cookie dough before and after being baked in the Instant Vortex VersaZone Air Fryer — (Image credit: Future)

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The only niggle I found with the SyncFinish and SyncCook functions were that they won't allow you to change temperatures and cooking times midway through the program. During an instance when I was cooking a chicken breast on one side and broccoli in the other, I wanted to adjust the temperature of the meat, but with the SyncFinish function activated, this wasn’t possible. You first have to cancel the program, make your adjustments and then start it again – this also causes the air fryer to preheat again.

My advice here would be to make sure you know the exact temperature and time you want before pressing the all-important start button.

Should I buy the Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested the Instant Vortex 9-quart Air Fryer with VersaZone Technology

Used air fry, roast and bake presets
Cooked salmon, chicken, fries and vegetables
I used both the dual zone and the large single basket

I used the Instant Vortex VersaZone air fryer to cook a variety of food. I would most often cook some meat or fish in one side of the basket and some accompanying vegetables or potatoes in the other. I also attempted to bake some cookies. This allowed me to test the various synchronised cooking functions of the air fryer, as well as determining how well it actually cooked food.

I also used it for more basic cooking tasks, such as air frying hash browns or fries for a quick hot snack.

JBL Quantum 910X review: great gaming audio, but some rough edges

6:00 pm | April 20, 2024

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

One-minute review

A high-end wireless gaming headset designed for Xbox, the JBL Quantum 910X falls just short of earning a place among the best Xbox Series X headsets. That’s not to say that it isn't still a formidable option, however, as it offers an excellent level of comfort that’s backed up by rich audio; it’s absolutely perfect for many of the best Xbox Series X games. In addition to Xbox, it’s also fully compatible with PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC, making it a strong multi-platform choice.

Unfortunately, the flagship feature of the JBL Quantum 910X, its head-tracking 360 degree spatial audio, is a mixed bag. The head-tracking itself is exceptional, simulating your head motion perfectly, but the audio quality takes a substantial hit whenever the feature is enabled. The bass becomes almost non-existent, completely ruining the punchy action of first-person shooter (FPS) titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, while the high end frequencies sound sharp and unpleasant. If your number one concern is high-quality spatial sound, no shortage of cheaper headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7X, offer far superior spatial audio.

The microphone is the only other major area where the JBL Quantum 910X falls behind the competition. It lacks adjustability and leaves your voice sounding grainy and quiet. It’s by no means unusable, but this is nowhere near the level of performance that you would reasonably expect for this price. Whether this is the headset for you is therefore going to depend on whether these two shortcomings are a total deal breaker but, if they’re not, there’s still an awful lot to like here.

The JBL Quantum 910X resting on a wooden table. — (Image credit: Dashiell Wood / Future)

Price and availability

$299.95 / £219.99
Available in the US and UK
Better value in the UK

The JBL Quantum 910X costs $299.95 / £219.99 and is available in the US and UK directly from JBL or at retailers like Amazon. In the US, this comes in slightly cheaper than other high-end gaming headsets, such as the $329.99 / £279.99 Turtle Beach Stealth Pro, but is still firmly in premium territory. All things considered, it’s quite a reasonable price when you factor in the presence of high-end features such as active noise cancellation, not to mention customizable RGB lighting and the robust build quality.

Even so, UK price represents the best value of the two regions. At £219.99, the headset is a massive £60 less expensive than the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro, widening the gap between the two headsets and making the JBL Quantum 910X a much more tempting proposition.

Unfortunately, the JBL Quantum 910X is not currently available in Australia.

Specs

The left ear cup of the JBL Quantum 910X. — (Image credit: Dashiell Wood / Future)

Design and features

The exterior of the JBL Quantum 910X is primarily constructed from a smooth black plastic. Its ear cups are covered in bright RGB lighting, illuminating in a ring around each ear in addition to an area with a small grill-like pattern and a prominent embossed JBL logo. The lighting is set to green by default which is perfect if you intend to use the headset with an Xbox out of the box. This lighting can be fully customized through the compatible JBL Quantum Engine software on a PC.

Each ear cup is connected to the headband with a clear plastic strip and a short braided cable, which is black with subtle green stripes. The clear plastic portion can be extended or retracted in order to customize the fit, engraved with numbers that indicate different sizing settings. The ear cups themselves then use soft black pleather cushions, which are a generous size and pleasantly soft.

The same cushioning is also found on the underside of the headband itself, which is topped with black plastic covered in a tactile grooved design. Although the JBL Quantum 910X is notably heavier than many other gaming headsets, weighing a hefty 14.8oz / 420g, the comfortable cushions makes it surprisingly easy to wear for extended periods without discomfort.

Both ear cups of the JBL Quantum 910X wireless gaming headset. — (Image credit: Dashiell Wood / Future)

The microphone is attached to the left ear cup and can be raised or lowered. It’s muted by default in its raised position, indicated by a small red LED light near its tip. There’s also a separate dedicated microphone mute button on the back of the ear cup, which is handy if you want to quickly mute the microphone without having to raise it. This is positioned below a volume dial, a volume mixer dial (which changes the balance between in-game audio and audio from a connected mobile phone), and a switch which enables or disables the headset’s active noise cancellation. On the bottom of the left ear cup you will also find the USB Type-C port, which can be used for both charging and wired play. It’s next to a 3.5mm headphone jack and superb braided cables for both are included in the box.

Controls on the right ear cup are simpler, with a power slider that doubles as a switch to enable Bluetooth connectivity and a simple button that alternates between standard audio, spatial sound, and full head-tracking. Although it can be used out of the box, spatial sound can be further calibrated for enhanced precision in the JBL Quantum Engine software.

This is a simple process with clear on screen instructions, but does require an included detachable microphone to sit in your ear. Factor in the wireless dongle, which comes alongside a compact USB Type-A to USB Type-C converter and that’s a lot of separate accessories to keep track of. Luckily, the headset comes with an absolutely lovely plush gray bag which is perfect for keeping everything in one place.

The JBL Quantum 910X resting on top of its carrying bag. — (Image credit: Dashiell Wood / Future)

Performance

In its standard mode, the JBL Quantum 910X performs excellently on the whole. It offers punchy, rich bass, clear mids, and detailed high-end frequencies. While its overall audio profile might be a little too bass-heavy for audiophile music listening, it’s absolutely perfect for gaming and the range of titles I tested sounded superb. Shots in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 packed some serious punch on Xbox Series S, while the streets of Sotenbori in the PC version of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name felt impressively life-like.

The emphasis on bass is also an excellent fit for rhythm games and I enjoyed quite a bit of success challenging myself with “JITTERBUG” on Extreme difficulty in Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone on PS5. The JBL Quantum Engine software offers a range of useful equalizer modes and is, on the whole, some of the best companion software that I’ve ever tested. It offers an impressive number of functions, features an intuitive and attractive UI, and is lightning fast while taking up just 255MB of space. A mobile app or a native application for Xbox would enable those without access to a PC to benefit from its features, but otherwise there is nothing to complain about here.

The software of the JBL Quantum 910X. — (Image credit: JBL)

Returning to the headset, the on-board controls are well-spaced and responsive, while the active noise cancellation is a treat. It’s very effective and managed to block out almost everything that I could throw at it, ranging all the way from nearby conversations to loud passing vehicles. I also consistently managed to squeeze an impressive 32 hours of battery life out of the headset, which was more than enough for a full week of gaming sessions.

Unfortunately, the performance with the spatial audio mode enabled is a completely different story. The illusion of depth is there, but the bass instantly vanishes leading to an incredibly tinny sound that lacks any impact whatsoever. It’s like listening to a tiny pair of cheap speakers in a massive hall, an impression that is only further reinforced by the oddly echoey sound of any dialogue.

The optional head tracking, which sees the audio source shift as you look around, is incredibly accurate and well worth experimenting with for a few minutes, but the dramatic fall in audio quality means that it’s impossible to recommend using the spatial audio mode for any substantial length of time which is a huge shame.

The microphone performance is also disappointing. The physical microphone itself is unusually rigid and cannot be adjusted to be closer or further away from your mouth very easily. I found that this meant that my voice often sounded rather quiet and a little muddy. I was still easy to understand, once every participant of my calls had adjusted their volume accordingly, but this really shouldn't be necessary with such an expensive peripheral.

The JBL Quantum 910X on a wooden table placed next to a black Xbox controller. — (Image credit: Dashiell Wood / Future)

Should I buy the JBL Quantum 910X?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

If you’re not keen on the JBL Quantum 910X, you should consider these two compelling Xbox-compatible alternatives instead.

How I tested the JBL Quantum 910X

Used daily for over a month
Tested with a wide range of platforms
Compared to other premium gaming headsets

I tested the JBL Quantum 910X for over a month, using it as my main gaming headset. During that time, I tested the headset with Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Nintendo Switch playing a broad range of titles. In addition to my usual favorites, I tried to focus on some modern games that offer rich sound, including the likes of Counter-Strike 2, Need for Speed Unbound, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, and Fortnite. In order to test the microphone, I used the headset for multiple online gaming sessions and recorded a number of audio files with Audacity.

Throughout my time with the headset, I was careful to compare the experience with my hands-on time with other high-end gaming headsets such as the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7X, Astro A50 X, and Turtle Beach Stealth Pro .

Read more about how we test

First reviewed April 2024

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