https://youtu.be/Z2sAZce46_8 Anker are a popular brand that appear to be sold exclusively through Amazon. They are particularly well known for their power banks, chargers and cables. But they also sell some very … [Read More...]
Latest articles
LG 29WK600 21:9 ultrawide HDR monitor review. Best budget option?
https://youtu.be/OHIypw7XvTc There are two versions of this new ultrawide monitor from LG, the 29WK500 and the 29WK600 that I'm reviewing here. They are both 29" IPS displays with a resolution of 2560 by 1080 … [Read More...]
Amazfit Bip smart watch review. What do you get for £50 or $70? Quite a lot in fact …
The Amazfit Bip smart watch has a built in optical heart rate monitor and GPS receiver, a gorilla glass touch display and up to 45 days of battery life and it costs from only £45 or $65, depending on where you buy … [Read More...]
How to use Google Lens to identify anything. And without a Pixel phone …
https://youtu.be/e_2kNYjMqpk Google recently announced that even users without their premium Pixel phones could try Google Lens, that lets you learn more about real life objects. It's able to recognise landmarks, … [Read More...]
The iPhone X review. The best iPhone yet, but is it worth £1000?
https://youtu.be/YDlreZmGvCA I've had the latest iPhone from Apple for almost 3 months now, so plenty of time to determine whether its worth its £1000 or $1000 price tag, to me at least. The iPhone X has a … [Read More...]
Could this be the best budget drone? Hubsan H507A X4 Star Pro review.
https://youtu.be/kMJ5RfYtdyY Drones from big names like DJI start from around £450, or $450 for the Spark. This is a lot of money for something you may not end up using very much. At the other end of the market … [Read More...]
How to fast charge your new iPhone wirelessly or with a cable
https://youtu.be/2cJF6Ju3g5g The iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X all support fast charging both via a cable and wirelessly, which theoretically makes it possible to bring your empty phone up to 50% charge in as little as … [Read More...]
How to back up your iPhone photos and videos (with the new HEIF and HEVC file formats), and make more room on your device
iPhone (and iPad) storage is expensive. For example, Apple charge £150 to jump from a 64GB iPhone 8, 8 Plus or X, to the next model up with 256GB of storage. Uploading your files to the Cloud, not only keeps them … [Read More...]
Anker Astro E1 6700mAh review. Is this the best value portable charger?
https://youtu.be/0Yoh7C1CODk The Anker Astro E1 has a 6700mAh capacity, which is enough for at least one complete charge of any of the latest smartphones. It won't be enough to completely charge a tablet, but … [Read More...]
GoPro Hero 5 Black Review – the Goldilocks of the GoPro action camera range?
https://youtu.be/JafrgncQOl0 The GoPro Hero 5 Black action camera sits in the middle of GoPro's line up of its popular cameras and has a retail price of around £400 or $400. It's waterproof to 10m without any … [Read More...]
Amazon’s budget friendly Echo Dot – a review and introduction to Alexa
https://youtu.be/-aY1GqcmPE4 The Echo Dot is Amazon's cheapest smart device featuring the Alexa voice assistant. But what exactly is it? Basically it's a Bluetooth speaker which can respond to voice commands. … [Read More...]
Sonos adds Alexa voice support to its entire range of wireless speakers – how to get it working
Sonos has finally enabled voice control across its entire range of wireless speakers using Amazon Alexa. They announced their intention to do this over a year ago, and I wrote an article a couple of months ago with … [Read More...]
Google Gboard – the keyboard app you might not be able to live without
https://youtu.be/i-fLHA_3dqs If there's one app on my iPhone I can't live without, it's Gboard from Google. Gboard provides a new keyboard for your iPhone or iPad that enables typing via gliding your finger … [Read More...]
Apple’s latest iOS 11 for iPhones and iPads – top 5 new features
https://youtu.be/kgFiophu8L4 Apple's latest iOS 11 operating system for iPhones and iPads arrived this week, in time for its new iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X. But you can also install the update on on your old … [Read More...]
Canon TS8050 (TS8020) all-in-one printer review – a great all-rounder?
https://youtu.be/794oLmir_Yg The Canon TS8050 (TS8020 in the US) is one of a relatively new line of Canon all-in-one (print, scan and copy) printers, with a more compact design. The range consists of the TS5050, … [Read More...]
Apple’s next generation phones iPhone X, 8 and 8 Plus – the future is even more choice
Apple released its next generation of iPhones last night, skipping a 7s model, announcing an iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and introducing a new flagship iPhone X model to mark 10 years since the launch of the original … [Read More...]
Strava routes on your Garmin Edge – the easier way …
Up until a few days ago, transferring a route created in Strava to your Garmin Edge cycle computer was a painful task. This was disappointing since Strava is very good for creating interesting routes, exploiting its … [Read More...]
How to control any Sonos speaker using voice (Alexa)
**UPDATE 10/10/17: There is now a native Sonos Alexa skill - take a look at my more recent article.** Sonos announced some time ago a partnership with Amazon to enable Alexa support. This would allow voice … [Read More...]
Best budget travel laptop? Acer Aspire 14″ (E14 E5-475) review.
The Acer Aspire E14 E5-475 laptop is part of Acer's E Series of laptops. Acer describes this range as everyday laptops, and this specific model comes with a 14" HD screen, 8GB RAM, 128GB of fast SSD storage and … [Read More...]
How to use your camera to create 360° panoramas for Google Street View using free software, and without a tripod
I'm going to describe from start to finish how to create this interactive 360° spherical image (click and drag around the image - use the scroll wheel to zoom): 360° panoramic photography is a unique way of … [Read More...]
Asus VivoBook Pro N552VX Laptop Review
https://youtu.be/ZNWptEABlX4 (Please take a look at my accompanying video review above) The Asus VivoBook Pro N552VX is a 15.6” high end general purpose laptop with a tempting spec. There are a few variants, … [Read More...]
The confusing range of Panasonic mirrorless cameras, and why I chose their Lumix G80/G85
I've owned all sorts of digital cameras over the years, my first decent one being the Olympus C2020z back in 1999. I looked through my Lightroom catalogue out of idle curiosity and counted that since then I've owned … [Read More...]
Bringing a vintage 25 year Nintendo Game Boy back to life
https://youtu.be/xfXGBvBlcIQ (Please see my video above for a detailed walk through of this repair) Cleaning out the attic I stumbled across my old Nintendo Game Boy with its 4MHz processor and 8kB of RAM - … [Read More...]
Dell Inspiron 24 7000-Series All-in-One Review
https://youtu.be/JAsrXu4aULg (Please see my video above for a short overview). First impressions of the Dell Inspiron 24 7000 are good. The design is fairly understated but stylish. Unlike most All-in-Ones, … [Read More...]
The best unlimited magazine service – Readly or Magzter?
Walking into WHSmiths to buy a magazine is so yesterday. Following in the footsteps of services like Spotify for music and Netflix for video, you can now pay a monthly fee to read as many magazines as you … [Read More...]
Apple iOS 10’s top five new features
The headline features relating to the Messages and Maps app didn't hold my interest for very long, but there are a few genuinely useful new features in iOS 10. Here are my top 5: No more swipe to unlock Since the … [Read More...]
Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1″ 2016 Review
I've added a short video below so you can see the tablet in action. But please read on for further details and conclusions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROnEsaR6JCU The Samsung Galaxy Tab sits in between … [Read More...]
Turn your ageing laptop into a speedy Chromebook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeqQxBlnYRQ Please take a look at my detailed video walk through above. A Chromebook is a basic laptop that runs the Google Chrome operating system (Chrome OS) - effectively … [Read More...]
Ricoh Theta S 360 Degree Camera – Review
https://youtu.be/dJM8RCkrcCE Please take a look at my detailed video review above. The Ricoh Theta S camera can capture complete 360° images and videos via its two fish eye lenses on the front and back of … [Read More...]
Charging on the move – the best power bank? Cygnett Chargeup Digital 10000 versus TP-Link 10400 review
https://youtu.be/0gqUz3MGwmw Power banks or portable chargers can charge up your smartphone or tablet when you're on the move. In fact, they'll charge any device that you usually plug into a USB wall charger, … [Read More...]
The Gadget Show 2016, Birmingham NEC – what’s hot?
It's always interesting to make my yearly visit to the Gadget Show, a large tech show by British standards, held at the NEC in Birmingham. There weren't many big names there this year: no Microsoft, Sony, Canon or … [Read More...]
Fenix RC40 2016 6000 lumens torch – review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZVeprBd78s&feature=youtu.be Fenix make some very bright torches, and their latest rechargeable RC40 2016, is their most powerful one to date. It can deliver up to 6000 lumens … [Read More...]
The gaming console your may already own. Using you PC for gaming. Part 2.
https://youtu.be/qWSusJg0ogg At the end of last year, I wrote an article on how you could turn your desktop computer into a gaming machine that will rival the very latest offering from Sony or Microsoft. So … [Read More...]
App of the week – Photoshop Mix
Adobe has released a lot of apps for smartphones and tablets recently, and they're mostly free. Adobe's intention is you purchase an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, so you can continue your creations in their … [Read More...]
AmazonBasics aluminium 62″ tripod with ball head – review
I've reviewed other items in the AmazonBasics range, and I've found them good value. Their 62" tripod is no exception, and is far better than any other tripod I've used at this price point. The tripod comes in … [Read More...]
Kindle Fire Kids Edition review – the perfect tablet for children?
I don't think it's completely clear from Amazon's description, that the Kindle Fire Kids Edition is no different to a standard Kindle Fire (at half the price). What you actually get is a bundle, which … [Read More...]
Garmin vivosmart HR review
https://youtu.be/ZpjGCfcrQ-g *UPDATE 27th January 2016. New firmware update - version 2.60 (in article) to 2.90. Notable additions: added a heart rate graph if you tap the heart rate display (nice); can now … [Read More...]
Apple TV vs Amazon Fire TV vs Roku vs Chromecast vs WD TV – choosing the perfect media streamer
In last weeks post I described how easy it is to setup a home media server to stream your DVD collection to your TV. I briefly discussed media streamers that make this possible, effectively turning your TV into a … [Read More...]
How to stream your entire DVD collection to your TV
Before the advent of services like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, I remember when you used to buy DVDs and sit through 5 minutes of warnings about severe fines for playing back on oil rigs and such like. But then … [Read More...]
The gaming console your may already own. Using you PC for gaming. Part 1.
PC gaming has had a massive resurgence in recent years. Mostly because of gaming distribution services like Steam. If you're not aware of Steam, it's a small application you download on your PC or Mac (even Linux), … [Read More...]