Beau HD will be using the BlackBerry Key2 as his daily driver for the next 30 days, sharing his experience with the handset along the way. Before we get started, there's a few things you should know. The Key2 is the successor to the KEYone, which debuted last year.
One of the recurring sentiments I've heard over the years is "Well, if [insert thing here] changes, I might switch." I remember a friend of mine telling me once that if Palm could make a Pre smartphone with a slightly larger display, he'd be "all over webOS." The features, or specs, or platforms, have changed over the years. But I still see it pretty frequently.
Windows seems to be the go-to option these days. I see plenty of tweets from people who, I would assume, are using macOS and talk about switching to Microsoft's competing desktop platform all the time. I can understand why, Windows 10 has a lot of features being added on a semi-regular basis -- twice a year, at least, if not more frequently. I don't know if macOS Mojave is what a lot of people were looking forward to (though, system-wide dark mode is a nice addition), or if it will keep those people on the fence from making the leap.
But it definitely got me thinking about iOS 12.
Earlier this month, Apple hosted its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, with the company using its keynote to talk about a ton of new features. As usual, the company had a lot to say. And while there were rumors before the event that Apple would unveil some new hardware (specifically, new iPad Pro models and refreshed MacBook units), it was an event all about software. The aforementioned desktop update got plenty of time on stage, but it was iOS 12 that got the lion's share of attention.
Apple talked about performance enhancements baked into the OS, especially for older smartphones -- a direct response to the battery throttling issue the company ran into before the end of last year, but which doggedly followed them into 2018. And while that's a huge addition, it's the new features that a lot of people were waiting to see.
There is the new Screen Time feature, which will let iOS keep tabs on how often they're using their devices, which apps are hogging their time, and even set limits. You can FaceTime with up to 32 people (!). There is the new Memoji feature, where you can turn yourself into an Animoji. Multiplayer functionality in augmented reality (AR) games thanks to advancements in ARKit. Siri Shortcuts, letting you pair third-party apps to get things done a lot faster. And, perhaps the best new addition: grouped notifications.
There is quite a bit there, plus a lot more. Those are just the major bullet points. I've seen people on Twitter say they might consider switching to iOS if Apple could take advantage of their Workflow acquisition, and with Siri Shortcuts it looks like they definitely are. I don't know if Memoji gets anyone to switch, though.
Grouped notifications might be able to get the job done. Notifications have been such a terrible firehose in iOS for so long, it's good to see Apple finally addressing the issue. And, based on what I've seen because there's no way I'm installing the beta on my daily driver (yet), the feature is pretty solid. It does exactly what it should: trim the fat and make notifications a bit easier to handle.
So, I'm curious: If you aren't already using an iOS device, and whether or not you'd categorize yourself as being on the fence with a potential switch, do the changes and additions in iOS 12 make the possibility of switching an option? Or do you need to see even more in iOS before you'd think about it? And if that is the case, what would you like to see Apple add? Let me know!
The Moto E5 Plus draws inspiration from costlier flagship phones with a large 18:9 screen and massive battery at an affordable price, but it also draws too much influence from Motorola’s other big budget challenger, the Moto G6.
It’s an Android Oreo phone with a hefty 5,000mAh battery, an expansive 6-inch display, and an upgraded octa-core processor that’s fast enough for most tasks. All that combined with a low price point makes it a fair option for almost anyone looking for a cheap phone.
Here’s the rub: right now, the Moto E5 Plus is available in the US through Sprint and Cricket Wireless. But, things immediately get complicated, as Sprint prices the phone at $288, while Cricket prices it at $179. In the UK, the Moto E5 Plus isn’t available yet, but will be coming with a chipset that’s slower than the the US model. Confusing? We think so, too.
So, for now, US consumers have the option of the Moto E5 Plus as a big, budget smartphone with credentials for TV and movie viewing. But, there are other more compelling Moto phones, leaving the Moto E5 Plus in an awkward place.
The Moto E5 Plus has hints of a premium, almost flagship smartphone. The display takes up a substantial portion of the phone, with thin, though still present, bezels on the sides.
At 161.9 x 75.3 x 9.35mm, it’s a large phone, but not overly so. However, at 200g, it has considerable heft. But, we think that’s likely because of the big battery it’s packing.
The Moto E5 Plus is built to have the look of a metal frame and glass back, but it instead uses plastics and polymers that don’t feel quite as premium. On the plus side, the plastic back panel is less likely to shatter than a real glass one. It also has Motorola’s water-repellent coating, for protection from splashes and light rain, and Gorilla Glass 3 guarding the front against scratches and cracking.
For all the flagship look, that appearance quickly vanishes. The rear of the phone is one of the strongest smudge magnets we’ve ever come across. We tried wiping it on our shirt to see if we could get it looking pretty again for a second, but that didn’t work, and would have been re-smudged in a matter of moments anyway. Dust seems attracted to it as well. The rear also houses a fingerprint scanner and what at first appears to be a dual-sensor camera, but is awkwardly just one camera and a laser auto-focus sensor.
The bottom of the phone houses only a micro-USB port and a microphone, while the top has a second microphone and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Wondering where the speakers are? The main earpiece speaker also serves as the primary loudspeaker for watching or listening to media, and it does a good job putting out sound while also being hard to accidentally cover up with your palm while listening.
The display is the main selling point for the Moto E5 Plus, because it packs a big one in for a low price. It has a 6-inch IPS LCD display with an HD+ (720p) resolution. For a second, we were almost fooled into thinking it had an AMOLED display, because at low brightness settings, it manages to stay fairly black when Motorola’s ambient display comes on. But, with the brightness set to a more reasonable level, it was clearly an LCD screen.
While the screen is plenty big for media viewing, it’s not perfect. For an IPS display, the viewing angles aren’t the best. In landscape, viewing from the sides quickly loses brightness. At HD+, it doesn’t always appear the sharpest either.
The display’s default color mode, “neutral,” also feels a bit cold and overly blue. Switching to the warm color mode felt like it dirtied the image, but eventually grew on us.
Motorola has a screen autowake function that’s equal parts useful and annoying. Useful, because it doesn’t take much effort to have the screen show you the time or date at a glance. Annoying, because it doesn’t take much to accidentally make the screen light up. Just leaving it sitting on a small table and bumping the table will bring it up. Thankfully, you can turn this off in the Moto features menu.
With a Snapdragon 435 octa-core chipset and 3GB of RAM running Android 8.0, the Moto E5 Plus isn’t challenging any high-end phones, and falls short of some mid-range phones. That said, it performs adequately enough for most people looking for a big budget phone.
From browsing to launching apps, it was quick and smooth. We didn’t notice many hiccups with simple tasks. We ran Geekbench 4, and it earned a multi-core score of 2,319, which puts it on par with last year’s Moto G5S, but it’s still well behind the new Moto G6 and Moto G5S Plus.
One area the performance seems to really suffer those is in the speed of the storage. The model we tested came with 32GB of storage, expandable via microSD card up to 128GB. Loading up large games like PUBG Mobile or Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery was slow. And, the screen would annoyingly timeout while loading, which in turn cancelled the loading.
Opening up a large movie file is similarly slow. Fortunately, there isn’t too much else slow. Most of the gaming experience is even fairly smooth, though we have to keep PUBG on the lowest settings and aren’t very satisfied with the low resolution.
One thing that helps the Moto E5 Plus run as smoothly as it does on its limited hardware is the particularly clean version of Android it’s running. There’s very little software bloat, and no crazy UI changes.
The only serious extras thrown into the software are Motorola’s gestures, such as the chop to turn on the flashlight, or the wrist twist which activates the camera and switches between front and rear cameras. And, these fan-favorite gestures work smooth as well.
The fingerprint scanner is even snappy, though not as quick as higher-end device’s scanners, and a bit too easy to only partially touch on the first try.
The Moto E5 Plus has a 12MP rear camera with 1.25 micrometer pixels and an aperture of f/2.0, making it decent in dim scenery. The front camera has an 8MP sensor with 1.12 micrometer pixels and an aperture of f/2.2.
The cameras prove better than the first impression they gives. It seems like there is definitely processing going on after the photo is snapped, as we don’t feel like what the viewfinder shows what the captured photo will look like. This likely has to do with the Auto-HDR setting that just happens to do a good deal in improving the image.
The laser auto-focus isn’t much to get excited about. While it is quick, it didn’t perform faster than the OnePlus 5 we used for comparison. So, focusing quickly and snapping a photo of a fleeting subject won’t be likely here, even with the help of the camera quick-launch gesture.
All in all, the photos look quite good, though zooming in beyond 100% quickly shows a lack of detail. We can’t recommend using this to create big framed pictures, but it’ll do just fine for photos that go on social media.
The battery is where the Moto E5 Plus undeniably shines. It packs a massive 5,000mAh battery, which is lending a lot to the 200 grams of heft it has. For most people, this battery should be enough to easily get through one day with plenty of use, and even two days for moderate users. Light users shouldn’t be surprised to make it part way into a third day.
The Moto E5 Plus also supports 15W TurboPower charging which gets the battery filled up quick. From 0%, we were able to charge the battery up to 16% in 15 minutes. After an hour, it was at 51%, and it reached 99% after two-and-a-half hours.
For our battery drain test, we played a 90-minute Full HD video file from the internal storage, though the actual playback was limited to the screen’s resolution of 1,440 x 720. During the test, all the regular radios were on and the screen was set to maximum brightness. This test only drained the battery 10%, so feel confident in the ability to get through The Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended editions even) on one charge.
Everything adds up nicely for the Moto E5 Plus in a world where the Moto G6 doesn’t exist. It comes at a low price, has a big screen, great battery life, and smooth enough performance to function. But, Motorola’s positioning is where things get confused.
The model sold by Sprint is priced way too high. And, though Cricket’s version is priced more reasonably, it’s obscurely renamed the Moto E5 “Supra.” Cricket customers looking for a big phone with a big battery and smooth performance can take comfort in this pick, but anyone else may need to look elsewhere.
Where specifically? Well, that’s the curious bit, because Motorola’s phenomenal budget Moto G6 is priced competitively close to the E5 Plus, has higher performance hardware, and has an improved build. It sacrifices 0.3 inches of screen, but increases the resolution and fits a fast fingerprint scanner on the front of the phone and packs a dual-sensor camera on the back. Compared to the Sprint offering for the E5 Plus, the G6 is even more affordable.
Though the 5,000mAh of battery in the Moto E5 Plus is a strong selling point, it’s not enough to recommend it over the Moto G6. The Asus ZenFone Max Plus M1 is another close competitor with a little more carrier freedom, a more premium design, and a big enough battery at 4,130mAh.
The Moto E5 Plus has the budget phone look, feel, and performance down, but it has the Moto G6 stepping all over it. Motorola has a lot of smartphone options with all sorts of positioning up and down the price scale, so it’s not a surprise that the E5 Plus gets lost in the shadow of our top cheap phone pick, the Moto G6.
Today's a big day for T-Mobile because it's pushing out updates to five different phones, including Oreo updates for three of them.
T-Mobile is now updating the Samsung Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, and LG G6 to Android Oreo. These updates bring the usual Oreo goodies, like autofill, notification dots, and picture-in-picture, as well as some other new features. For example, the GS7 and GS7 edge are also getting Samsung features like Dual Messenger and high-contrast keyboard options.
Also of note is that T-Mobile is updating its Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge with support for Universal Profile 1.0. With this feature, users will get new messaging features like support for 100MB file transfers and 100-person chats in their native messaging app. So far, though, only the GS7 and GS7 edge are the only T-Mobile phones to support the RCS Universal Profile, and the only other carrier to support RCS Universal Profile in the U.S. is Sprint. T-Mo has said that it'll update more devices with the feature over time, but no other details on those plans have been announced.
Getting back to T-Mobile's software updates, the carrier is also pushing security updates to the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active and Galaxy Note 5. Both of these devices are now being updated with the June 2018 Android security patches.
If you've got a Galaxy S8 Active, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy Note 5, or LG G6 on T-Mobile, be sure to keep an eye out for your new update over the coming days!
A new stylus-equipped smartphone has made its way onto Cricket Wireless.
The LG Stylo 4 is now available from Cricket for $229.99. In exchange for your hard-earned dollars, you'll get an Android 8.1 Oreo smartphone with a 6.2-inch 2160x1080 display, 13MP rear camera with LED flash, and 5MP wide angle front-facing camera.
There's an octa-core Snapdragon 450 processor inside the Stylo 4 along with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage (19.4GB usable), and a microSD card slot. Other hardware features of the LG Stylo 4 include a rear fingerprint reader, a USB-C port, and a 3300mAh battery.
Perhaps the highlight feature of the LG Stylo 4 is its built-in stylus. LG has included several software features that utilize the stylus, like Screen-off Memo, which will let you write memos without having to turn on the phone's screen. You can also use Pop Menu to choose which app shortcuts you want to appear when you remove the stylus, GIF Capture to create a GIF, and Pen Keeper to give you an alert that'll prevent you from leaving your stylus behind.
There aren't many smartphones with physical keyboards on the market, but the new BlackBerry KEY2 is one of them. It's got a keyboard that's been improved from the KEYone with a 20 percent higher key height and a matte finish to improve the typing experience.
Verizon's got some hardware news to share today that involves one higher-end device and one more entry-level model.
First up, Verizon says that it has certified the Moto Z3 Play for use on its network. That means that you can buy the unlocked model from Amazon, Best Buy, or Motorola, pop your Verizon SIM card in, and be good to go.
Meanwhile, Verizon has officially added the Samsung Galaxy J3 V to its shelves. It's available to postpaid customers at a price of $7.00 per month for 24 months or $168.00 full retail, while prepaid subscribers can score one for $124.99.
The Galaxy J3 V features a 5-inch 1280x720 display, 8MP rear camera with flash, and 5MP front-facing camera. There's 2GB of RAM included as well as 16GB of built-in storage, and you can add a microSD card slot if you need additional storage. There's a 2600mAh battery powering the device, and it comes with Android 8.0 Oreo preloaded.
Philips is an audio brand going through something of a renaissance in the headphone market. We gave the Philips Fidelio X2 full marks a few years back, and while the Fidelio NC1 doesn't quite match the X2's eloquent sound performance, they are still a superb set of headphones for the money.
That being said, there are newer noise-cancelling headphones out that could be worth trialing for yourself. The Sony WH-1000XM2 is leading the industry with its variable noise-cancellation settings and Hi-Res Audio support, while the Bose QuietComfort 35 II packs Google Assistant into the headphones themselves.
All that said, if you have your eyes (and ears) set on the Philips Fidelio NC1, you'll still be buying one of the best noise-cancelling headphones on the market.
The Philips Fidelio NC1 are headphones that have been created for the frequent traveller. They come in a plush, hard case to stop them being ruined when thrown into a bag and also fold nicely into themselves, so they don't take up much room. Couple this with a noise cancellation switch and they are practically begging to become your travel buddy.
The Philips Fidelio NC1 headphones look great. The aluminium back has a slightly mottled design that looks and feels premium. I do think it is a little overkill to have High Definition Audio Philips NC1 written on both sides of the headphones but it does little to detract from the executive look.
Philips has opted to use memory foam for the earpads, which has been covered in soft leather. This foam is also used at the top of the headband, which ensures a snug fit. This makes them one of the most comfortable headphones I have used. Even after prolonged use, I never once felt the 'pinch' you get around the ear that on-ear headphones are famed for.
A slight drawback of this, however, is that the earpads sit on your ear rather than cup them. This does lead to slight noise leakage (as my workmates can attest to) and sometimes you have to readjust the headphones to position them perfectly on your ears. My ears were allowed to breath, though, making the NC1's an absolute joy to use.
Attached to the headphones is a replaceable cable. To make sure that it doesn't tangle, Philips has used a rope-like material for the cable which is flanked by a right-angled 3.5mm jack at both ends. These have been gold plated for better conductivity. There is also an in-line controller and mic on the cable that allows you to switch between your music and phone calls.
The only other thing of note on the design is an uncovered micro USB slot situated on the bottom of the right earpad and the all-important and rather unique ANC (active noise cancelling) switch on the left earpad, next to the 3.5mm jack port.
For some reason, when wearing the NC1s, I kept having to fumble around to find the ANC switch. This may well be down to my own motor response issues rather than design, however. When I did eventually switch it on, though, the results were superb.
This is because Philips has gone for a rather novel 'optional' noise cancelation option. This means that if the battery on these powered headphones does die, you can still use them but without the noise cancellation functionality. Give the headphones a charge, however, and they will offer up 30 hours' noise cancelling in return.
I tested the ANC function of the headphones on a two-hour flight and the results were great. There was a noticeable lack of background hiss when the ANC was switched on and the ambient noise of the plane was kept to a quiet minimum.
This is all thanks to Philips using an eight mic solution - four on the outside of the headphones to counteract mid and high frequencies and the other four on the inside to block lower sounds.
To make sure that you are completely covered on a plane, Philips has also added an airplane plug.
Even without the noise cancellation, the Philips Fidelio NC1 range offer up some stunning audio reproduction.
To test the headphones, I chose a number of tracks that would give 7-25,000Hz frequency response a decent workout. For the mid-range, Father John Misty's Bored In The USA was listened to on repeat. The timbre in J Tillman's voice sounded clear and the piano pin sharp. The NC1s offer a lovely balanced warm sound that proves Philips' engineers haven't tried to favour bass in their fine tuning.
To make sure that the bass wasn't being undervalued, though, I listened to the bass drum heavy Digital Witness by St Vincent and the low-end leanings of Get Up by Young Fathers. Both tracks were again cut with clarity but still had enough low-end rumbling to the 40mm neodymium drivers a decent workout.
I did get the feeling that the NC1 preferred pushing out music that was steeped in treble. Both TV On The Radio's hi-hat heavy Happy Idiot and Todd Terje's Delorean Dynamite challenged the NC1's high-range but the headphones passed with aplomb.
There is a lot to love about the Philips Fidelio NC1 headphones. They are a joy to wear and offer up great sound reproduction. They are also one of the lightest and most compact ANC headphones around.
To top all of this off, they look great. The styling is premium, for those not looking to make too much of a shouty statement with their headphones.
Sometimes you do forget to turn the ANC off when not using the headphones. This can be a problem if you forget to do this regularly, even though one charge should last 30 hours or so.
There was some noise leakage which could annoy work colleagues or those travelling in close proximity to your ears.
The Philips Fidelio NC1 headphones are a fine addition to Philips' headphone range. They are best suited for frequent travellers who don't want to lug massive cans around with them all of the time but also don't want to compromise on sound quality.
They offer superb sound that's balanced and warm and while I would love to see a wireless range, the cable offered in the mix is dextrous enough to not worry about it. A lightning cable version of the headphones was previewed at CES, so there is even more innovation to come from this range.
Philips has created a $260/£250 (around AU$350) pair of headphones that are more than worth their sticker price.
Editor's Note: What immediately follows is a rundown of the latest changes and additions since this review was last updated.
ZenMate is a straightforward VPN designed for non-technical users who want an easier way to protect their online privacy.
This simpler approach is obvious from the moment you look at the website. There's no jargon, no complicated feature lists, just a quick explanation of VPN technology and some example benefits.
One reason ZenMate doesn't spell out its features is probably that it doesn't have very many, and even the core technologies may not be what you expect. Just about every VPN provider supports the speedy and secure OpenVPN protocol, for instance, but ZenMate only uses the far less capable L2TP/IPSec.
Still, IPSec will do the job for many users, who are more likely to be interested in goodies like ZenMate's free Chrome and Firefox extensions. Both of these offer easy site unblocking and relatively anonymous browsing for no cost at all.
The commercial ZenMate Premium plans give you higher speeds and access to the full set of locations across 28 countries. ZenMate offers TechRadar Pro readers exclusive rates – £4.79 ($5.99) per month, £4.39 ($5.49) if billed 6-monthly and £3.33 ($4.16) if billed annually – and a 14-day ‘risk free’ refund policy should give you plenty of time to test the service's abilities.
ZenMate's main website is straightforward, but poking around in the darker corners – in particular, the privacy policy and terms of service pages – revealed some of the most brain-numbingly over-complicated legalese we've ever seen.
Just about every element takes longer to describe than it should, and seems written for lawyers rather than regular users. We're told that descriptions on the website are a “mere 'invitation ad offerendum', i.e. a non-binding call to you to issue an offer”, for instance. Uh-huh.
The documents also make little effort to highlight details that might interest VPN users, such as clarifying what sort of logging takes place, or ZenMate's response to legal actions. You're forced to wade through every paragraph to find the information you need.
We went to work anyway, and from what we can tell, ZenMate seems to offer reasonable privacy. There's no routine logging or monitoring of traffic, and the service doesn't permanently log your connection IP address, or even the volume of data used.
The privacy policy does warn that individual servers might record some details depending on the data protection laws in that specific jurisdiction. This only mentions that the source IP address and site request might be "saved temporarily in order to establish a connection", though, and we suspect the clause is more about reporting a technical possibility than highlighting some major privacy flaw.
ZenMate's signup procedure is quick and easy: pick a plan, enter your email address, and choose to pay by card, PayPal, UnionPay or Qiwi Wallet.
We handed over our cash and the website displayed an invoice, explained what we'd bought and immediately pointed us to download links for the many clients: Windows, Mac, Android and iOS, along with Chrome, Firefox and Opera browser extensions.
It got even easier from that point. The entire Windows installation process looked like this: we clicked a Windows icon on the website, then clicked the download. There was no setup prompt, no folder selection or options to consider, the app set up everything on its own and minimized to our system tray. The only remaining step was to log in using a password sent in ZenMate's welcome email.
The client looks good and is clearly designed for beginners. We just clicked a button to connect or disconnect, selected a flag to choose a location, and clicked an icon to tweak a few settings. Even if you've never seen a VPN, you'll be ready to go in seconds.
The interface is a little basic and lacks some of the functionality you'll often see elsewhere. You can't select locations by city, for instance (it's country-only). There's no information on server load. As we mentioned earlier, you can't change your protocol because only L2TP is supported.
Even some fundamental tasks have their own usability issues. It's important with any VPN that you know when the service connects or disconnects, but the Windows client doesn't have desktop notifications to keep you informed. The only way to see your connection status is to check the system tray icon (if it’s bright that means you’re connected, and if it’s dark, you aren’t), something that might not be convenient or even possible if, say, you're running a full-screen app.
There are some useful features – a kill switch, DNS leak protection – but these have no configuration options. It's just a click to turn them on, another to turn them off.
ZenMate's browser add-ons offer some extra functions you won't see in the native clients. The Chrome extension can automatically set a new location when you access a particular site, which could be a real timesaver. There's also built-in blocking of trackers and known malicious sites, and the extension claims to block "code snippets before they can reach your browser."
We suspect ZenMate's target audience will be more interested in performance, but our tests* found this to be disappointing. UK to UK connections managed around 16-18Mbps, which is usable but around half the speed of the top competition. Reaching out to close European locations – France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden – saw performance fall to a lethargic 5-15Mbps.
Would switching to the US help? Our 8-10Mbps download speeds say not. The only bright spot was the performance of some Asian servers, such as Singapore's regular 10-12Mbps. That's well above average, but a similarly-priced competitor, Private Internet Access, gives you similar results in Asia and far better speeds everywhere else.
Our final privacy tests were a little better, with the client successfully blocking DNS and WebRTC leaks. Even here, there's a lack of advanced features – there’s no IPv6 leak protection, for instance – but most users should have enough to keep them safe.
Beginners will love ZenMate's easy setup, free browser extensions and the low yearly prices. Experienced users will be frustrated by the lack of features, though, and the below-par performance is going to be a problem for everyone. Check the service out, by all means, but try the free version first.
*Our testing included evaluating general performance (browsing, streaming video). We also used speedtest.net to measure latency, upload and download speeds, and then tested immediately again with the VPN turned off, to check for any difference (over several rounds of testing). We then compared these results to other VPN services we've reviewed. Of course, do note that VPN performance is difficult to measure as there are so many variables.
When it comes to headphones, the general consensus is that you very much get what you pay for. Opt for the cheap earbuds packed in with your phone and your music is going to sound tinny, flat, and lacking in any kind of musical excitement.
Move up to some high-end $1,000 cans such as the excellent Sennheiser HD800, meanwhile, and you music sounds almost unrecognisable. It's got dynamism, expression, and individual instruments that you can actually tell apart rather than having them all merge together into a mess of noise.
AKG meanwhile has always been a company willing to thumb its nose at the idea of 'getting what you pay for'. Its K451 headphones offer a level of sound quality that far outstrip their budget price tag, while its Y50 manage to offer a very stylish set of cans that feel far more premium than their price implies.
That said, at just $60 (£58.80) the K92's are a very reasonably priced set of headphones that in some ways match the features of cans double their price, but in other ways fall prey to many of the problems of a budget set of 'phones.
[Update: We've reviewed a number of headphones since the launch of the AKG K92 two years ago, and yet it remains one of our favorite pair of cheap over-ear headphones. With amazing sound and comfortable ear pads, the K92 has everything a headphone needs to compete - and win - in 2018.]
The K92's are a big pair of headphones. With their large flat design AKG appears to be making a pair of headphones that it wants people to use in the studio or at home rather than while out and about.
Their size means you're unlikely to want to wear these headphones while out and about. They're much better suited to being used at home, at a desk, or on a longer journey such as a plane ride.
In these instances their size is an asset rather than a drawback, since it means the headphones sit nicely over, rather than on, your ears.
This does have the downside of making the headphones almost impossible to wear around your neck, but this shouldn't be too much of a problem unless you're using them while on the go.
The flatness of the K92's does introduce the problem of the cloth inside the headphone cup touching your ears. This might not bother you, but it always felt a little bit weird to me, like my ears were touching a bit of the headphones that wasn't meant to be touched.
Outside of the cups themselves, the band that connects them both has a well-made support strap that means the weight of the headphones sits on the top of your head rather than on your ears themselves.
When combined with their size, this headband meant I was able to use the K92's for hours at a time without feeling any discomfort, which bodes well for using them for marathon music or gaming sessions.
In terms of overall build quality the K92's both look and feel like their price would suggest. Their entirely plastic construction isn't anything special, and I wasn't personally a fan of the gold accents. I would imagine they're meant to suggest a high-end audio experience, but I wasn't personally a fan.
At least the AKG branding on each earcup is pretty tasteful.
Cable-wise the AKG's opt to have a single cable connecting to the left earcup which I liked, since two cables often results in more tangling. Unfortunately this cable is non-detachable, although at this price point a detachable cable is much less common.
Then again AKG did feature a detachable cable on its K451, which is even cheaper than the K92s.
AKG giveth and AKG taketh away, I suppose.
Overall I was happy with the construction of the AKG K92s. The all-plastic body and non-detachable cable is completely appropriate given the price point, and ultimately forgivable given that these headphones are comfortable to wear.
If I had to guess, I'd say that the slightly cheaper plastic construction has been chosen by AKG in order to allow it to maximise the performance of the internals of the headphones, and it's hard not to agree with its decision.
The AKG K92's 40mm drivers offer a great frequency response of 16Hz-22kHz. For reference the standard for most headphones is 20Hz-20kHz, since this is generally accepted as the audible frequency range of the human ear.
An expanded frequency range does not automatically mean a pair of headphones will sound better, but the extra headroom is helpful all the same.
Listening to a Scar Tissue by the Red Hot Chili Peppers through Tidal's lossless streaming quality reveals the K92's to have a nicely balanced sound. Chad Smith's bass drum manages to have kick without overwhelming the rest of the track, and separation between the rest of the instruments is good, but not excellent.
The soundstage on these headphone is slightly squashed compared to more expensive models. When I listened to a recording of Mozart's Violin Concerto in D major it wasn't especially easy to get a sense of the physical space the recording took place in.
These aren't meant as outright criticisms. The AKG K92's perform excellently for a pair of 'phones at their price point, but we've been spoiled by AKG in the past with models that have managed to sound as good as headphones double their price.
The final track I tried was the sonically complex Shackler's Revenge by Guns N' Roses. There's a lot going on in the track, several layers of guitars, vocal and synths, and the K92's dealt with them all well without letting the track feel muddled.
The track managed to feel nicely separated and balanced, and was very enjoyable to listen to.
The AKG K92's are a good sounding pair of headphones that are exceptionally comfortable to wear for long listening periods. For this price the sound they offer is clear and crisp, and they're ultimately a very enjoyable pair of headphones to listen to.
Their plastic construction can't really be faulted at this price, but the K92's do feel like a budget pair of cans. The fact that the cloth inside of the earcups rested on my ears was a minor annoyance, but hardly a deal breaker.
At well under $100 the AKG K92's perform admirably for their price price point. They might not feel like a premium pair of headphones in the hand, but they make a good effort at sounding like it. Spending a little more may deliver incremental improvements in build and sound quality, but at this price point the K92's are a solid, if not revolutionary, purchase.
In-ear headphones are capable of awesome sound, but you might not be aware of that if you're used to hearing music through the cheap sets included with your smartphone. Even a slight step-up in headphone quality can nab you a set that can achieve ideal sound isolation from the outside world. Creating a tight seal can make even decent drivers sound pretty good, but you don't want decent. You want excellence.
Sennheiser's Momentum In-Ear earphones bring just that with versatile, tuned drivers. Additionally, the full feature set and spiffy design make the $99 (£89, about AU$125) price an easy pill to swallow.
[Update: Despite entering their third year of life, the Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear earphones remain one of the best in-ear headphones money can buy in 2018. If you're looking for something that sounds slightly better, we'd recommend also checking out the 1More Triple Driver In-Ear Headphones, but if you have your eyes (and ears) set on Sennheiser, you can't go wrong with these.]
Similar to the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless over-ear cans, these in-ear headphones live up to the name with an active design that's as sporty as it is sophisticated. Splashed in red and black, the matte and glossy textures help to accentuate the main features of the Momentum In-Ear.
The housing units that hold the drivers are slightly bulbous in shape and feature two pieces of dark, metallic red and glossy black plastic. They each come to a point on one end at the cylindrical stainless steel tubing where sound is delivered through. On the other end, Sennheiser embossed its logo onto a regal, spun metal cap.
Extending out from the earphones, the cables are guided through a loop at the site of connection, preventing them from getting twisted and frail over time. It's something that's not likely to happen anyway, as these cables are flat and are inherently less likely to get twisted. There's an adjustable stopper to further aid in keeping the cables tidy.
There's a set of inline controls on the cable that reaches upward into the right earphone that also has an integrated microphone on its backside. Functionality here is pretty run of the mill, but you'll need to make sure that you select the right model for your phone. We were sent a review sample that works only in full with Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
Being an iPhone user, the headphones still worked perfectly and the functions to play, pause and make calls worked just fine. That said, I couldn't utilize the volume increase and decrease buttons. Fortunately, there's a model out there for virtually every brand of smartphone.
It seems as if Sennheiser paid just as much attention to detail with the packaging as it did with the earphones themselves. Inside the box is a tough, square-shaped zip case coated with smooth fabric and red stitching. Opened up, the headphones and inline remote are neatly packaged inside. Fortunately, they are just as easy to put back in as they are to remove from the case. Lastly, there are four different sizes of eartips included – in case the defaults aren't a good fit.
Things really click when a product's performance mimics the best qualities about its design. In the case of Sennheiser's in-ear Momentum model, the sound quality achieves what its design does well, as in offer a little something for everyone. As I stated earlier, these earphones are sporty, yet sophisticated in appearance. Just the same, its fantastic sound performance blankets over a similarly wide swath of listeners.
If you're jumping up to these from a standard, cheap set of in-ear headphones, prepare for some impressively full sound. Once seated into your ears, the drivers inside these earphones are capable of providing booming, yet tight bass response to tracks of essentially any genre. The sound signature presented in this tiny package is warm and presented on a large soundstage wherein it's quite easy to pick apart instruments and layers of a song.
Most will heartily enjoy the sound presentation put forth by the Momentum In-Ear. But there will be a few who notice that, while the bass is punchy and the treble is pleasant, there isn't as much to enjoy in the mids. All said, these tweeters sound just about as good as $100 is going to get you.
Comfort can be an issue for some who use in-ear headphones, as the inside of everyone's ears are unique. The Momentum headphones avoid that problem primarily because the earphones themselves are quite light. What helps more is that the size variety of eartips included should accommodate to most inner-ear sizes.
Splitting up the models by smartphone brand is a confusing move on Sennheiser's part. But thankfully, the fragmentation doesn't drastically affect into the overall quality of the product, so long as you get the correct model for yourself.
If your budget allows for a $100 set of in-ear headphones, you'll be greatly rewarded by the value packed into Sennheiser's Momentum In-Ear. The stunning design, with tangle-free cables and inline controls, will get you in the door, but the sound quality will keep you in the Sennheiser house.
Fugoo is the Bluetooth speaker market's best kept secret. You probably haven't heard of it, but you'd be remiss not to consider this mini, but mighty, speaker as your next.
This is a speaker that's hell-bent on surprising you at every turn. First, it gets you with its customizable look, then it hits you with its booming sound quality. Lastly, it delights with battery life that is unmatched, running for about 20 hours at a loud volume. It's advertised to run for 40, if you cut the volume in half.
The Fugoo Style speaker is priced to compete with the latest and greatest Bluetooth speakers, starting at $179 (£169, about AU$281). But, as you'll see, it has some awesome tricks up its sleeve that give it the edge.
[Update: While newer models of the Fugoo Style have released since the inception of the original back in 2015 - like the newer Fugoo Style-S - this remains our favorite and one of the best Bluetooth speakers on the market.]
Talking about the design of the Fugoo speaker requires talking first about what's inside of it. At the heart of each Fugoo is its core: a tough, IP67-protected center. The sturdy build is constructed with plastic and accents of rubber, coming together to offer shockproof, waterproof, and dustproof peace of mind.
The Fugoo's core might not look like much, but it offers the solid foundation from which its customizable skins build upon. You'll find a tweeter and passive radiator nestled into its long sides. And on each of its ends, there is a woofer capped by a protective layer that's decorated with a slick honeycomb effect. All in all, this makes for six speakers total inside the Fugoo Bluetooth speaker.
On one side of the speaker, there's a microUSB port and a 3.5mm port, each of which Fugoo has provided the appropriate cables for. Glancing over at its other side, there's a power button and Bluetooth connect button. Holding the power button for a few seconds prompts an audible queue, as well as a visual one via its LED indicator, that the speaker is, indeed, turned on. A vocal prompt will follow up with a warning about battery status, should it be low enough to warrant a charge.
The core of the Fugoo Bluetooth speaker plays an instrumental role in providing listeners with an experience that's suited to their own lifestyle and listening habits. But, to be honest, it won't win any awards on looks alone. Thankfully, Fugoo offers a few choices to make its Bluetooth speaker fit your sense of style: Style, Sport, or Tough jackets. Each of the options offer a unique look, but differ mostly in how they tip the balance between form versus function.
Fugoo supplied techradar with a core, along with a Style and Sport jacket for review. The Style jacket adds another layer of honeycomb-patterned plastic to the already-durable core, covered with mesh fabric and shiny plastic detailing. The Sport option offers up the same slick fabric to cover up the core, but comes stocked with a thicker plastic shell and more rubber to protect the Fugoo in case of a tumble.
Installing each of the jackets is a fairly simple process. There are a series of interlocking grooves on the bottom of the Fugoo's core that help each jacket stay snug. Putting the Style jacket on involves sliding the core into the jacket until you hear a snap, which indicates that it has locked into place. The Sport, being the more protective option of the two, requires a bit of disassembly before you can place the core inside.
The basic package is priced at $179 (£169, AU$281) and includes the core, a Style jacket in your choice of color, as well as a 3.5mm cable, a microUSB cable and an AC adapter. If you want more than one jacket, the price to add to your collection ranges from $29 (about £24, AU$65) for the Style, to $79 (about £68, AU$129) for the Tough jacket.
The Style jacket puts the focus on form, but the Sport jacket works to add more function to the Fugoo Bluetooth speaker. Once the Sport jacket is equipped, you can attach a host of optional accessories, like a strap mount, to strap the speaker around a tree or pole. It's also compatible with its bike mount, which secures the speaker to your bike handles. These make the Fugoo more versatile, but they are totally optional and don't add all that much to the experience.
Fugoo might allow listeners to hand-pick the looks of its speaker to match their tastes, but thankfully, the speaker provides stunning performance out-of-the-box that will impress across the board. Whether you primarily use the speaker inside or out, in inclement weather or on the sunny beachside, you'll be treated to a finely-tuned experience.
Connecting to the Fugoo Bluetooth speaker is simple as can be: just tap and hold the Bluetooth button and search for it on your device. Helpful voice prompts chime in along the way to help this process go even more smoothly. Usability is a cinch.
You can pause and then resume playback with a press of the circular, center button. If you want to adjust volume, give one of "+" or "-" buttons a tap. If you pay attention to the Bluetooth speaker space, you're probably aware that the buttons on many products have dual purposes.
You'll find that on the Fugoo, too. Its middle button can answer or hang up phone calls. You can also bring up Siri or Google Now, depending on the sort of device you're synced up with, by holding the same button for a few seconds. Lastly, changing songs is a breeze, just hold the middle button and tap either the "+" or "-" to skip or reverse tracks, respectively.
Sound performance is one of the Fugoo's best qualities. With its six speaker setup, it dishes out the most successful attempt at true 360 degree sound I've heard yet. The sound profile defies its size, pumping out balanced audio full of bass, layered with mids and highs that don't distort. Appropriate for mellow jazz mastercuts, hip-hop and rock alike, I am constantly impressed with the Fugoo.
Listening to music on most Bluetooth speakers is enjoyable. That is, until the battery dies. Most speakers of this size tend to have a six to 10-hour lifespan until they need to sip on a power source. That's not the case with the Fugoo Bluetooth speaker; it's advertised to last a whopping 40 hours at half volume.
Of course, I had to see for myself. I listened to it at what sounded like half volume for about four hours a day over the course of a week without charging. The total time listening doesn't quite meet the advertised 40 hours, but even so, the numbers it puts up are nevertheless impressive. As I prefer to listen to music a bit on the loud side, I am pleased to see the speaker delivering close to 18 hours at more intense volumes during my testing.
As explained earlier, The Fugoo Bluetooth speaker offers support for Siri, Google Now and phone calls. The internal microphone has no problem picking multiple voices in a room, and the speaker can play through phone calls without harsh distortion.
The Fugoo Bluetooth speaker might seem to have come from left field if your eyes are only set on the big brands. But, its offering is serious business, especially if your heart is set on killer sound performance, unmatched battery life and a durable build that's able to survive both a tumble and a swim.
This Bluetooth speaker is priced to take on the likes of the UE Boom, and gets the edge thanks to its true 360 degree sound, reasonable price and all-around solid performance. Hands down, this should be your next Bluetooth speaker.
There's no doubt about it, TCL’s P-Series was the best value TV of 2017.
It has its problems, especially when it comes to keeping local zones the evenly lit, but its clarity, color and ability to produce stunning HDR images were second to none in its class - and sometimes even against TVs that cost two to three times as much.
While we still love the P-Series, it's getting a lot harder to find in 2018. Some stores still carry it, but most have run out of stock. The good news here, however, is that since its release last year, TCL has released two newer models - the TCL 6-Series R617, R615 - that are even better than the P-Series. TCL has upped the number of contrast control zones from 72 to 96 on the 55-inch TCL 55R617, and it's improved video delay to only about 17.7ms, making the 6-Series a great TV for gaming.
That said, however, if you can find a great deal on the P-Series somewhere out there on the internet, we recommend taking it - this is still a fantastic TV, one year later. That said, if you want to see what we thought about the P-Series last year, read on.
(Editor's note: TV names can be a bit confusing. The TCL P605 offers the same picture performance as the P607, the only difference between them being the remote that comes with the TV. Also, the P605 is available exclusively at Best Buy.)
If you’re unfamiliar with TCL’s gamut of televisions, the P-Series is approximately the middle-of-the-road model. It focuses on picture performance (that’s what the P stands for) but it neither holds rank at the top nor bottom of TCL’s TV echelon.
And that’s OK. As it turns out, the middle is a very good spot to be.
The C-Series, which stands just above the P-Series, offers a built-in soundbar and a contemporary design for an extra $50, while the S-Series drops Dolby Vision from the equation for around $100 less than the P-Series. The P-Series might not have a ‘contemporary’ design or a built-in soundbar, but it does support Dolby Vision, a crucial component of HDR performance. So far, it’s not so bad being the middle child.
The downside, however, is that for now, TCL’s P-Series only comes in one size: a formidable, but not overwhelming 55-inch model. There will be a 50-inch and a 65-inch version sometime down the road but, for the time being, all we have is the stalwart, budget-conscious 55-inch screen to sink our teeth into.
The P-Series stands on two metal u-shaped legs that have rubber padding on the bottom to prevent slippage. They can be fitted relatively quickly, and the TV should be up and running in a matter of minutes if you have all of your cables sorted and ready to be plugged in.
Speaking of plugs and ports, the 55P607 supports three HDMI 2.0 ports with HDCP 2.2, one with HDMI ARC, one USB 2.0 port, a 3.5mm Headphone Jack and Digital Optical-In, plus an AV In port that takes your standard composite (Red-White-Yellow RCA) input, great for classic gaming or older AV devices.
It’s all housed inside a slim(ish) black shell that’s somewhere in between the paper-thin OLED screens we’ve seen so much of this year and the older LED LCD screens of yesteryear. The bezel is apparent but not distracting, at least to us, but should you want something a bit sleeker there’s always the TCL C-Series to consider.
Design TL;DR: The P-Series is limited in its size (it’s only available in a 55-inch version at the moment), but otherwise it hits the nail on the head in the design department.
Starting back in 2014 with a 1080p model, TCL has adopted Roku as its primary smart TV provider – which was a great decision considering how easy Roku’s platform is to use.
The smart TV version of Roku both looks and acts like the platform used on streaming video devices like the Roku Ultra and Roku Premiere+: The Home section contains all the apps in your library, while My Feed tracks movies and TV shows you’re interested in and shows you where they can be found. We're also pretty big fans of Roku's universal search feature that rifles through 300+ apps to find movies and TV shows and displays them with the cheapest option first.
Overall, Roku TV is simple, efficient and straightforward enough for most people to pick up and use without a problem.
New for platform in 2017 is the ability to label inputs (labeling one input as Xbox or DVD Player instead of Input 1, etc…), some additional smartphone features and, for the first time, Dolby Vision support. Dolby Vision allows you to get the absolute most from the TV in terms of performance and while tracking down Dolby Vision content is a bit of a hassle, Roku does a good job highlighting all the available content in a new row in the 4K UHD Spotlight app.
Smart TV TL;DR: Versatile as ever and increasingly more efficient and easy-to-use with each passing day, Roku TV makes a great TV even better.
While 4K/HDR is the star of the show here, HD/SDR doesn’t look half bad either. Bright areas are brighter and dark parts darker thanks to TCL’s Contrast Control Zone technology that individually illuminates and dims 72 sections of the screen, and the same tech that makes HDR look so rich and vibrant also helps make HD/SDR images really shine.
If you’re looking for demo content to show off this new screen, your best bet is to stick to movies and shows that emphasize bright colors over darker, subtler tones. It’s not that the TCL 55P607 can’t handle night scenes chock full of inky blacks, it’s just significantly better at handling brighter kinds of content. Cartoon movies like Moana, The Life of Pets and more look luxurious on this screen and its performance rivals some of this year’s best and brightest panels like the Samsung Q7F QLED TV and Sony Bravia XBR-X900E.
It’s a slightly different story when we talk about what darker content looks like on TCL’s value performer – those nice inky blacks can turn to milky grey before your eyes – but largely we came away impressed with what it could do.
The most disappointing moment we had with the TV came during the Game of Thrones Season 7 opener when the ominous dark grey fog rolled in. What should’ve been an epic introduction to the season looked grainy and pixelated. Things cleared up by the next scene, but the slight faux-pas proved that TCL isn’t ready to take on OLED in black level performance anytime soon.
HD/SDR Performance TL;DR: TCL’s P-Series still has a bit to do in terms of upscaling and black level performance, but overall HD/SDR content (especially bright images) looks great.
The star of the show here is 4K/HDR. Hands down, the TCL 55P607 provides the best performance-per-dollar in this arena than nearly any TV on the market today. In terms of 4K/HDR performance specifically, and by that we mean the result of feeding the TV a native 4K signal, the 55P607 rivals and in some cases surpases screens that cost hundreds more.
Surprised what this TV is capable of? So are we. But there are some strong technological advantages that TCL has packed into the screen that make the most of its internal hardware. There is, of course, the Contrast Control Zone technology that we mentioned above that helps prevent areas of bright white from bleeding into darker areas, but there’s another technology called Wide Color Gamut that enhances visuals in an even more profound way.
Wide Color Gamut (or WCG) is the driving force behind the TV looking more saturated – blues being bluer, greens being greener and so on. TCL has a proprietary technology called NBP Photon that does this intelligently without risking oversaturation. In practice, the results are extraordinary and look above what a TV in this price range should produce.
Of course, the tradeoff here is that the 55P607 is still an LED LCD screen that has all the same problems that we’ve seen with the technology over the years: there’s a blooming effect where bright areas bleed into areas that should be pitch black, and black levels here just aren’t quite as good as they were back on plasma TVs or on newer OLED screens.
These complaints are ultimately minor, however, and unless you’re looking for them, they won’t distract you from the beautiful images this TV can produce.
4K/HDR Performance TL;DR: Loaded up with the latest in screen tech, TCL’s affordable 55-incher is quite the 4K performer.
The TCL 55P607 is equipped with everything it needs for decent-sounding audio right out of the box: It has two downward-firing 8-watt speakers that produce a sizeable amount of noise – it’s enough to fill a small room like a bedroom or cut through larger to midsize rooms without compromising too many of the details.
In terms of tonal balance, TCL has wisely placed an emphasis on the mids and highs rather than wall-shaking bass. That means the TV performs well in shows and movies where dialogue is the most important or prominent type of audio, but falls a bit short on music or games where explosions reign supreme.
In short, it’s not a complete slouch here, but if you’re looking for wall-shaking bass or all-around better balance, you’ll need to invest in a soundbar.
That being said, if you’re used to using a traditional Roku device, one nice feature about the 55P607’s remote features a mute button next to volume up/down – a small feature, we know, but one that makes a world of difference.
Sound TL;DR: TCL’s 55P607 offers good, balanced sound for the price. Home cinema enthusiasts might want to invest in a soundbar, however.
If we were talking about a mid-range, $2,000 television, you’d be absolutely inundated with recommendations – the Sony Bravia X850E and Bravia X900E series are fantastic this year, and Samsung’s MU series looks to offer big-screen thrills at a more affordable price.
But TCL’s 55P607 stands in a class of its own.
It looks great, comes in a formidable screen size that should fit on top of most home entertainment centers and costs well under $1,000.
The only thing that we’ve found to be close to TCL’s P-Series would be the new-and-improved 2017 Vizio E-Series SmartCast XLED TVs. The 65-inch version, which supports 4K and HDR10, comes in at a still-affordable $899 – a mere $250 more than what you’d pay for the TCL 55P607 for an extra 10 inches of screen.
Ultimately, however, all else even, we’d still opt for TCL’s P-Series.
TV manufacturers have long sought the formula to a great performing TV at a bargain price and, speaking for the last seven years since LED LCD hit the mainstream, have never quite achieved that perfect balance. Until now. For us, TCL’s P-Series 55P607 does just that – it packs powerful technology under the hood, including support for WCG and Dolby Vision, in an affordable package that will only get cheaper once the seasonal sales start in November.
Editor's Note: What immediately follows is a rundown of the latest changes and additions since this review was last updated.
AnchorFree's Hotspot Shield is a very popular VPN service, best known for its free account.
Hotspot Shield Elite is the £18.95 ($25, AU$33) per year extended edition (£63.95 lifetime plan – that's $84, AU$112) which drops the ads, supports private browsing, virtual locations, allows "access all content", and supports up to five devices.
The service offers a choice of 20 locations including the US, UK, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Russia, Turkey and Mexico.
There are clients available for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and, unusually, Kindle.
The Elite account comes with a 7-day trial, but you must enter your credit card details when you sign up. You're charged once the trial is over – however, there's also a 30-day refund option.
The official product pages never tell you everything you need to know about a service, so we headed off to the Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions pages to uncover the real details. Hotpot Shield doesn't have the shortest of either of these that we've ever seen, but they still do a reasonable job of explaining how the system is run.
There's not just a blanket "no logging" claim, for instance. Instead it's explained that personal details such as email addresses and payment information are stored, but not related to your online activities, and any browsing or connection information which might be recorded is deleted when your VPN session closes.
One unusual clause says that "as part of the Service, AnchorFree may install its own certificate on your Device as a Trusted Publisher" – and "AnchorFree reserves the right to make future installs or updates to such certificates on your Device in connection with providing the Service at any time without any notice..."
That isn't necessarily a problem, but it's certainly more intrusive than most of the competition.
There's also an age clause, warning that you may not "use the Hotspot Shield Software or the Service if you are under the age of 18".
Hotpot Shield's colourful client is compact and straightforward to use. Just click a button to connect, optionally change your location as required, and the system clearly shows when you're protected.
There are an array of buttons for popular streaming and other sites, including Netflix, YouTube, HBO and Facebook. Clicking any of these immediately opens your default browser at that address.
Hotpot Shield Elite has a very small number of settings. The most important – automatically turning on the product for unsafe Wi-Fi hotspots, and preventing leaks – are turned on by default, so you're not left with much to do.
IPLeak.net showed that the service hid our IP address and avoided DNS leaks. The WebRTC test showed an IP address belonging to an AnchorFree anonymous proxy. This didn't expose our identity in any way, but it may have allowed other sites to detect that we were using a VPN and block us accordingly.
The results from our performance tests* were excellent, with latency showing only a marginal 11% increase compared to our normal connection, and both upload and download speeds were a little faster once connected to the VPN (30% and 4%, respectively).
We'd like more configurability and a wider range of locations, but Hotspot Shield Elite's high speeds and low price give it a lot of appeal, and the 7-day trial makes it easy to test the service for yourself.
30/03/2017: AnchorFree recently updated the Hotspot Shield VPN with its new CATAPULT Hydra technology, a proprietary VPN protocol. The technology development was underway for over two years and has been deployed it to all of its VPN users, across mobile and desktop applications. Additionally, CATAPULT Hydra proprietary data transport system is available to their partners licensing and deploying VPN solutions within their own security and privacy solutions.
*Our testing included evaluating general performance (browsing, streaming video). We also used speedtest.net to measure latency, upload and download speeds, and then tested immediately again with the VPN turned off, to check for any difference (over several rounds of testing). We then compared these results to other VPN services we've reviewed. Of course, do note that VPN performance is difficult to measure as there are so many variables.
Six years after Apple first introduced Apple Maps, it's been revealed that the app is getting a major refresh.
Apple is rebuilding Apple Maps "from the ground up," a report from TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino has revealed. Panzarino interviewed Apple executives and even rode along in Apple's mapping van to learn about this major Maps refresh and how Apple plans to improve its mapping solution.
With the new Apple Maps, Apple will build its maps from scratch rather than rely on data from third-parties. The basic design of the Maps app will be similar to the current app, but there will be additional detail in the forms of grass, trees, parking lots, sports areas, and pedestrian pathways.
To help build its new maps, Apple is driving around Apple Maps vans that include GPS, four LiDAR arrays, 8 cameras capturing high-resolution images, and a physical measuring tool to track distance.
Once the new Apple Maps is rolled out to users, Apple can continue to update and improve its maps by gathering probe data from iPhones that navigate using Apple Maps. This probe data will be anonymized and will never capture the beginning or end of a trip, so that only random segments of a trip will be gathered by Apple. Any personal info, like notifications that tell you when to leave for your commute, are all handled on your device and not on Apple's servers.
Users will be able to opt out of location services if they'd prefer not to send probe data to Apple.
The new Apple Maps will launch in San Francisco and the Bay Area starting with the next iOS 12 beta release. It'll cover Northern California this fall, and Apple says that it'll continue rolling out its updated maps over the next year, going section by section in the U.S.
While Apple Maps has definitely improved over the past six years of its existence, it still has its issues and many people would agree that it's not quite up to par with Google Maps. Apple seems to realize this, which is why it's ditching the third-party services that it's using for mapping and doing everything on its own. We'll have to wait for the actual rollout of the new Apple Maps before we know how much better it is than the current service, but judging by today's report, it looks and sounds like it'll be more detailed and will be an overall improvement.
For much more information about the new Apple Maps and what Apple is doing to improve its mapping service, hit the links below.
