We recently reported about Expanscape, a startup developing battlestation laptops featuring up to seven displays and offering their prototypes to interested parties at undisclosed prices. Today we can share some more information about pricing, which tops out at an eye-popping $20,692 (after conversion) for the seven-screen model’s base configuration.
Expanscape’s Aurora laptops with five or seven screens are a work in progress, so every unit is unique to a large degree. The manufacturer says that it is getting closer to finalized pricing for its A7 prototype as it had standardized on specific hardware, but until now, the company hasn’t announced official prices of its multi-monitor laptops.
Expanscape currently has two types of laptop prototypes in three configurations. The ‘basic’ Aurora A5 notebook comes with five monitors: four 15.6-inch 4K displays and one 7-inch touchscreen integrated into its palm rest. This system packs an eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 4800U processor paired with 64GB of DDR4 memory, a 2TB PCIe/NVMe SSD, and a 2TB SATA SSD. This entry-level machine currently costs approximately £4,500, or $6,286 USD after conversion.
(Image credit: Expanscape)
The ‘full’ Aurora A7 laptops are equipped with seven displays and come in two configurations. One model features four 17.3-inch 4K monitors, two 9.7-inch 1536p monitors, and one 7-inch touchscreen. Another does not have the 7-inch touchscreen but comes with a 17.3-inch touch-enabled LCD in its base to replace the keyboard, which now extends from under the chassis.
Expanscape’s Aurora A7 notebooks with seven screens are naturally more expensive than their smaller A5 brethren. At present, these machines cost £15,000 ($20,952 USD after conversion) for a standard model, but the pricing goes up with all of the customizations required for the professional built-to-order systems.
All Aurora A7 machines come equipped with 128GB of DDR4 memory as well as 8TB of PCIe/NVMe and SATA storage.
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Notably, the current pricing of Expanscape’s Aurora machines is somewhat higher than several months ago because of component shortages and new policies at the UK border.
It is noteworthy that while Expanscape’s Aurora notebooks are still prototypes, they are rather clumsy and heavy. However, according to the manufacturer, demand for these systems is still fairly significant. Customers who bought the systems reportedly said that they needed them ‘yesterday.’
What remains to be seen is whether high demand for Expanscape’s Aurora A5 and Aurora A7 will enable the company to make them look and feel like commercial products and not just prototypes. Evidently, a more solid build will make these systems considerably more popular among interested customers.
(Pocket-lint) – The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 has been around long enough to be considered an evergreen laptop series. It’s an XPS 13 with a full fold-out hinge. You can prop it up in a “tent” position, set it up as an in-bed mini TV, or use it like a laptop.
Big real-world upgrades for 2021 are all about the progress Intel has made. The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 has one of Intel’s Xe graphics chipsets. It lets you play games that just weren’t in the conversation for integrated graphics a while back, like The Witcher 3.
There are a couple of problems though: the latest XPS 13 2-in-1 costs a small fortune. And it has an extremely shallow keyboard that we don’t find all that comfortable for typing. You’ll have to decide how much these points matter to you, because the XPS 13 2-in-1 is otherwise hard to criticise in other respects.
Design
Dimensions: 297 x 207 x 14.35mm
Weight: 1.32 kg (1.29kg measured)
CNC machined aluminium casing
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is like a regular XPS 13 subjected to several dozen yoga retreats. It has the familiar carbon fibre keyboard rest, an ultra-stiff aluminium lid, and a metal underside. But the hinge folds all the way around until the back of the lid meets the bottom.
These hybrid laptops were more popular years ago. Real hot stuff, y’know. But it’s a good idea to have a think about whether you’ll actually appreciate the flexibility on offer for the added price premium.
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That hinge obviously doesn’t come for free. But it is decent, avoiding much of the wobble often seen in less well-designed hybrid laptops. There’s also no glaring sign this 2-in-1 is actually a hybrid. The hinge isn’t big or built-up, there’s just a little more clearance around its main bits.
Real talk: we think the standard XPS 13’s minimalist keyboard plate is more attractive, but there’s not much in it.
Best laptop 2021: Top general and premium notebooks for working from home and more
By Dan Grabham
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You buy an XPS 13 series laptop for its distinctive carbon fibre style and excellent build, not for show-off weight and thickness stats. However, Dell has done its best to minimise the 2-in-1’s footprint. Screen borders on all sides are slim, if not class-leading, and the display has a 16:10 aspect ratio rather than the usual 16:9 – making a laptop that’s less wide per inch of display diagonal.
Screen
13.4-inch 1920 x 1200 IPS LCD screen
500-nit brightens (550 nits measured)
Flexi-hinge touchscreen
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 has a 13.4-inch IPS LCD touchscreen, which is available in two resolutions: more affordable versions have a Full HD+ (1920 x 1200 pixel) display; pricier ones have a UHD+ (3840 x 2400) one.
Ours has the lower resolution display. Your Windows 10 home screen icons and document fonts won’t look as sharp as they would on the 4K version, but the choice here isn’t simple as price versus quality.
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The high-res XPS 13 2-in-1 will last significantly less long between charges. And, resolution aside, the low-res display is a top performer anyway. It is searingly bright – 10 per cent brighter than Dell’s own claim, we found – and about 50 per cent brighter than the average laptop at this price point.
This is great news if you want to work outdoors. And while the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 has a glossy screen, it is much less affected by reflection than most as Dell uses a very good anti-reflective layer. This dulls the white block reflections so they are not so distracting.
Colour is excellent, fit for imaging work. Contrast is great – and once again around 10 per cent better than Dell’s own claim of 1500:1.
The XPS 13 2-in-1 may be Dell’s lower-end option with this FHD+ resolution, but this is no low-end screen. It’s a high-end one without the extra pixel density. This is a good excuse for the Dell’s high price.
There are just a couple of caveats to note. This is a 60Hz screen, not the high refresh-rate kind you see in gaming laptops. And despite Dell’s claim of HDR 400 support, Windows 10 recognises it as a standard dynamic range screen. HDR in laptops is only really worthwhile with OLED screens anyway.
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The XPS 13 2-in-1 also supports a Dell active pen stylus – one with a graphics tablet-like 4096 pressure sensitivity levels – but you don’t get one in the box. Companies like HP and Lenovo tend to bundle their stylii.
Keyboard & Touchpad
MagLev keyboard
Textured glass touchpad
Integrated fingerprint scanner
The keyboard is the part of the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 we like the least. It is very shallow and clicky, lacking the mellow “clonk” key actuation of the best laptop keyboards.
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There’s very little weight to the XPS 13 2-in-1’s keys, and we enjoy typing on almost all of the non-Dell alternatives more.
HP Envy and Spectre, Acer Swift, Lenovo Yoga and ThinkPad: all have meatier key setups. Apple started this trend for shallow, feather-light keyboards, even it has begun to step back by putting a chunkier mechanism in the MacBook Pro 16.
This isn’t a mistake, of course. Dell deliberately uses this keyboard. And just because it’s thin, high pitch and clicky, it doesn’t mean it’s low-quality hardware. We just don’t like its style much.
The XPS 13 2-in-1 does have a solid two-level key backlight, and a clever fingerprint scanner that’s built into the power button above the backspace key.
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Dell’s touchpad has little in common with the keyboard. Which is a good thing. Its clicker has a darker character with a nice amount of resistance, and the surface uses exemplary textured glass. The pad is large too, just not MacBook large. So no major complaints here.
Performance
Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU, Intel Xe graphics
16GB 4267MHz LPDDR4x RAM
New Dell XPS models tend to arrive at a rhythm set by Intel’s processor releases. Most of these are not that easy to get excited about. A 12 per cent performance increase year-on-year when the predecessor already had enough power isn’t going to change lives.
For 2021 it’s a bit different, because of two little letters: Xe. The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1’s Core i7i1167G7 has an Xe graphics chipset, which is Intel’s response to AMD having soundly beaten its integrated graphics performance for years.
Intel Xe is miles better than the UHD 620 and Iris Plus chipsets seen in older thin and light laptops. It genuinely changes how some might use this 2-in-1.
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For example, you can comfortably play Euro Truck Simulator 2 at High graphics, with frame rates of around 30-40fps. Skyrim runs fine at Ultra settings. You can even play The Witcher 3, at 1200p, using the Low preset (or head down to 720p resolution for acceptable results at High graphics). Yes, The Witcher 3 hasn’t been a benchmark for gaming performance for some time now. But for a laptop with no dedicated graphics hardware, we think that’s pretty good.
There’s less change in the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1’s 11th Gen CPU side in real terms. It’s not because there is no performance boost compared to the last 10th Gen computers – there is, and quite a big one – but it is not the sort of jump that should make you want to upgrade if you already own a 10th, 9th or 8th Gen Intel-powered laptop. More exciting things are happening over at AMD’s and Apple’s processor labs right now.
Much of the pleasant smoothness of the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is down to its very fast SSD storage, which helps minimise app load times.
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We’re also pleased by how little noise the laptop makes, even under strain. The XPS 13 2-in-1 has two fans, with a vapour chamber between. And while their tone is pretty high-pitch, which can be distracting, the noise never seems to get remotely loud in decibel terms.
Battery Life & Ports
51Wh battery capacity, 45W charger
2x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 has a 51Wh battery, a mid-size power source used to balance the size of the laptop with stamina. And it seems to have worked pretty well.
Setting the laptop to stream at YouTube video at 1080p resolution the XPS 13 2-in-1 lasts 12 hours 15 minutes. This is the longest you can reasonably expect it to last in any realistic use scenario, but means there’s plenty of headroom to stay above eight hours of all-day use.
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However, we can’t ignore that we’ve seen much better results recently from some AMD CPU-powered laptops like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7. That lasted almost 17 hours in the same test, while Apple’s MacBook Air and MacBook Pro last substantially longer, particularly under strain.
Still, if we’re at the point we can half-complain about 12-hour battery life, that’s a good place to be.
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 uses a USB-C socket to charge, and the adapter is tiny. That’s a bonus for travel use.
A complete lack of traditional USB ports is not, though, so you may need to pack an adapter. A simple USB-C (the ‘small port) to USB-A (the ‘big’ port) comes in the box. Actual on-board connections are minimal: there’s get a headphone jack, a microSD slot, and two USB-C ports – one of which will be used during charging.
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However, both of these USB ports are Thunderbolt 4, meaning they are very, very quick. Top specs aren’t too different from the older Thunderbolt 3, but you’re guaranteed to be able to plug in two 4K monitors. Handy for home use.
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 also has reasonably good speakers. Their tone is relatively even and they have a small serving of bass, essential for games and movies. We’re not at MacBook level, as the max volume isn’t that great and higher volumes can cause ugly-sounding vibrations inside the chassis, but they do their job well enough.
Verdict
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is a top-quality laptop that makes you ask the question “do you need this upgrade?” in a couple of ways.
First, do you need the high-res UHD+ version? Probably not. The FHD+ resolution – as tested here – has excellent colour, brightness and contrast, and most likely significantly better battery life.
Do you need the flexible hinge? Consider that carefully, because you do pay a bit for it here. If not, the ‘standard’ Dell XPS 13 will suit your needs wonderfully.
Our favourite upgrade for the 2021 Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is Intel’s Xe graphic chipset. It makes this laptop more ready for fun than any XPS convertible to date.
However, we do wish the XPS 13 2-in-1 had a deeper keyboard. This flat and clicky one is no friend to those who spend much of the day typing.
All in all, the XPS 2-in-1 is a well-rounded convertible with some serious plus points.
Also consider
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Dell XPS 13
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How about the downgrade to the non 360-degree hinge XPS 13? The main differences are that it’s a bit cheaper and the footprint is less deep – the latter thanks to its use of a standard hinge. It also has deeper key travel, one of the best reasons to choose the non-convertible if you do a lot of typing.
Read our review
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HP Spectre x360 13
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HP’s latest convertible is the 13-inch Spectre x360 (ok, so there’s a newer 14-inch model too). Benefits include a larger battery capacity and a lower starting price. It also includes a smart stylus. However, it is a little thicker and doesn’t have the Dell’s supremo display brightness.
Read our review
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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga (Gen 5)
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Head to Lenovo’s answer to the XPS 13 2-in-1 if you want a convertible with a deeper-dish keyboard. It also comes with a stylus that slots into the laptop body. However, at the time of review you can only get the X1 Yoga Gen 5 with 10th generation processors. And that means worse gaming performance.
(Pocket-lint) – If you’re looking for a new television and want one of the finest pictures on the market, then Samsung’s range is sure to be on your list.
There are QLED TVs from the past few years, and in 2021, Samsung introduced the next-gen Neo QLED, powered by Mini LED tech, as well as MicroLED, albeit limited to 110 inch size only.
The latest range of QLED models all offer connectivity through common voice assistants, the latest streaming services from Apple and Disney – including AirPlay 2 – as well as a lot of technology to boost the picture performance.
Understanding Samsung TV names
If you’re wondering about model codes in Samsung designations: ‘R’ is 2019, ‘T’ is 2020 – but Samsung seems to have moved back to ‘A’ for 2021, with a reshuffling of the technologies on offer.
You’ll also notice that triple digits is 8K – QN900A – and double digits is 4K – QN90A, for example, which helps you see what you’re getting at a glance.
Worth noting is that QN (QLED Neo) seems to be the designation for the new display tech; Q is the incumbent QLED tech; and U is LCD – or Crystal UHD as Samsung calls it.
There are also named TVs: Serif, Sero, Frame and Terrace, all with specific design features. We’re not covering those in this list.
Samsung 2021 TV choices
Here’s the latest Samsung 4K and 8K QLED TV line-up and how each model differs from the next, covering the last couple of years. This isn’t an exhaustive list of all Samsung models in all regions, but is designed to give you an idea of where your choices lie when it comes to buying a new Samsung TV.
Note that not all 2021 models have been announced, but we’ll update when as they appear.
The 2021 Samsung flagship comes in popular sizes from 65-85 inches and features an Infinity Screen, offering edge-to-edge viewing with a practically invisible bezel. It’s a more advanced panel than previous QLED models, using the new Mini LED backlighting system, promising less bleed, more precise blacks and greater brightness for an even better HDR10+ Adaptive experience. The HDR will adapt to the room to give the best performance, while the panel supports 120Hz and is an 8K model.
There’s a slim One Connect box which can be attached to the TV stand to hide it out of the way, while sound is boosted by Object Tracking Sound Pro, designed to more accurately match the sound location to the action on the screen.
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QN800A
Screen sizes: 65in, 75in, 85in
Neo QLED, 8K resolution, Quantum HDR 32X, Infinity One Design, One Connect
The step-down model from the 2021 flagship is the QN800A. This again comes in popular sizes and retains the 8K screen with 120Hz and all the upscaling technology, but there’s a slight step down in HDR performance, saying that this features Quantum HDR 32X rather than the 48X on the QN900A.
There’s object tracking sound again, but there’s a simpler arrangement of speakers, with a lower overall output – while the design of the TV sticks to Infinity One Design, rather than the full Infinity Screen of the model above – so there’s a little more bezel here. Otherwise, these models are pretty similar.
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Q950TS
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Screen sizes: 65in, 75in, 85in
QLED, 8K resolution, Quantum HDR 4000, One Connect
The 2020 QLED 8K flagship, this TV offers near-complete edge-to-edge viewing and a smart, premium design. We think it’s a sophisticated package that’s sure to appeal to many after a premium set but who have so far resisted the leap to 8K.
The enhanced image processing borders on magic, too, while the beefed-up audio system benefits from additional processing and object tracking sound.
Samsung’s smart TV platform is superb here and we think it’s one of the best TVs currently on the market for HDR, too. Of course, it’s just about to be replaced with the updated QN900A.
Samsung’s flagship 4K TV for 2021 is the QN90A. It offers many of the same benefits as the top 8K televisions, in that it still supports HDR10+ Adaptive and 120Hz, but here with a 4K resolution instead. It also comes in a smaller size, starting at 55-inches, adding appeal for those with smaller rooms.
There’s a slight step down in audio output compared to the QN800N, but it offers a similar speaker setup with object tracking. The connections for the TV don’t have a separate box, they are all on the rear of the TV itself – but all that comes with a more more approachable price.
The 2021 QN85A steps down from the QN90A, again making a couple of changes to present a TV that hits many of the same spec points on the panel, but makes a few cuts elsewhere to make it more affordable. It keeps the 4K resolution, but here offers Quantum HDR 24X, so this is a couple of steps down in HDR performance from the top models. Importantly it still offers 120Hz, however.
It also continues to reduce the audio performace. While it has a 2.2.2 configuration, the output for this model is 60W with a less sophisticated object tracking arrangement than the models above it in the range. Again, the connections are all on the TV itself, but there’a also a design change, with a less premium stand than the QN90A.
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Q95T
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Screen sizes: 55in, 65in, 75in, 85in
QLED, 4K resolution, Quantum HDR 2000, Direct back-light, One Connect
Samsung’s flagship 4K QLED TV for 2020 is a cracker, offering a wide range of premium features, such as the One Connect box for easy cable connectivity. It offers great pictures quality, as well as the latest gaming features, like 120Hz for those next-gen consoles.
This is a different display technology to the Neo QLED, however, here using direct illumination rather than the new Mini LED, so it’s likely that it will be out performed by some of the newer models in the line-up. With that said, this is still an impressive TV, with plenty to offer.
Read our full Samsung Q95T review
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Q80T
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Screen sizes: 49in, 55in, 65in, 75in, 85in
QLED, 4K resolution, Quantum HDR 1500, Direct back-light
The 2020 Q80T is a mid-range QLED model, sitting under the likes of the Q95T. The design is less sophisticated and all connections go into the back of the TV rather than offering a One Connect box, so it’s a little less fancy overall. But you still get a great panel, with a 4K resolution and introducing a smaller size at 49 inches, making it even more appealing. Remember that this is a generation older than the 2021 QN85A, so although it has full array direct illumination, it’s not the Mini LED system of the latest models.
HDR steps down a little, but you still get 120Hz to support the latest gaming features. There’s object tracking audio from a similar speaker setup to the QN85A, aloing with all the normal Samsung functions.
The Q65T is closer to the entry-level for 2020 Samsung TVs. While still offering 4K resolution, it comes in a range of sizes right down to 43-inches. Again this is the older QLED tech, not the fancy new New QLED system, and here is uses edge illumination rather than the direct illumination found on other models. The HDR punch isn’t as potent as a result.
The panel also leaves out another desirable feature – it doesn’t support 120Hz, so it’s less attractive to gamers wanting the latest support for the newer consoles.
On top of a couple of sacrifices on the image side, the audio is weak overall. That’s not a problem if you’re connecting to a more advanced sound system. There’s still some merits, however. You get a lot of visuals for your money and if you only want to stream movies and have a separate soundbar, it could be the bargain you’ve been looking for.
(Pocket-lint) – The Poco M3 is all about affordability. By dangling that low-price carrot, along with surprisingly well-specified features, a read-through of its spec rundown certainly sounds appealing.
But is it truly appealing in practice? With stiff competition from established players, such as the Moto G series, there’s plenty more to consider if you’re looking for an outright purchase on a budget. Here’s our verdict after living with the Poco M3 as our main device.
Design & Display
Display: 6.53-inch LCD, Full HD+ resolution (1080 x 2340), 19.5:9 aspect ratio
Dimensions: 162.3 x 77.3 x 9.6mm / Weight: 198g
Finishes: Cool Blue, Poco Yellow, Power Black
Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
Poco (or Pocophone as it once was) is an off-shoot of Xiaomi, targeting affordability as its primary focus. As such you’re not going to get ultra-luxe, well, anything. But the balance of build to price found here is fair – ignoring the vibration motor, which is the poorest implementation (complete with accompanying irksome noise) that we’ve seen/heard for some time.
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The M3 certainly wants you to know its a Poco, too. The massive logo emblazoned across the rear camera unit tells you that. We’re not a fan of that look, but each to their own. The rest of the rear is coated in a textured plastic, which looks rather more like a case than it belonging to the phone – sometimes just because of the way lint gets stuck between the camera unit and the main body.
As for the phone itself, it’s fairly large, in part down to the huge battery (it’s a 6,000mAh capacity) tucked away within, in part down to the large-scale display choice. A 6.53-inch panel might not read that massive these days, but it’s actually a smidge wider than you’ll find on many a flagship (the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra being one such example).
But it’s the screen specification where things get rather interesting. For it offers a Full HD+ resolution. And this is a phone that’s on sale for sub-£/€150. That’s rather unusual, because the Moto G9 Power, as one obvious competitive example, has nothing like that degree of resolution.
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Which sets the M3’s screen in pretty good stead. If the software wasn’t so keen to keep it dimmed so frequently then it’d be a solid panel on which to do your day-to-day tasks. The notch isn’t too distracting. Available brightness is more than good enough, once manually adjusted. And the degree of colour from an LCD panel does a fair job too.
Sadly, however, the touch-response of this panel is really poor. Especially towards the edges. It’s often failed to recognise very purposeful touches, which makes interacting and typing frequently just irritating.
Performance & Battery
Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor, 4GB RAM
64/128GB storage, microSD expansion, dual SIM
MIUI 12.0.5 software (over Google Android 10)
6,000mAh battery capacity, 18W charging
Even the specification, in context of this price point, reads pretty well. But, somehow, despite 4GB RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor, there’s just a certain lack of cohesion in use.
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Which, we suspect, is down to the MIUI software. We’ve already pointed out the excessive auto-dimming. The user interface is also sluggish to respond, hesitating sometimes to the point that we’ve tried hitting the same close button three times over. The poor screen touch-response could compound that, too, of course.
Check out these excellent cases for the Samsung Galaxy S21 series
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At this price point you really need to have a bar of expectation in what you’d like a phone to do. Because while the Poco M3 can certainly run games and apps without too much a bother, it can’t necessarily run them that well. Take our go-to favourtie, South Park: Phone Destroyer, and while it’ll load up fine, there are often stutters in animation and everything feels laggy and slow to the point that it’s taxing to play.
Sure, this is a budget phone, so it’s not going to be a gaming mecca. But with this kind of processor on board – which we’ve seen elsewhere, such as, again, in the Moto G9 Power – we’d actually expect better. Something just isn’t quite communicating quite correctly between hardware and software, delivering a user experience that’s below par.
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But without an ultra-powerful processor, the power drain is rather efficient – again, in part, down to software – and as there’s a massive 6,000mAh cell inside the M3 lasts and lasts. And then some.
If you’re looking for longevity then there’s no fear of this phone powering through a couple of days – we’d achieved over 24 hours with over 50 per cent battery remaining (partly due to being averse to wanting to game or use the device as much we might a more capable device).
As an “office in your pocket”, for calls and emails, then, the Poco M3 will last out for an age and is worthy of consideration on that front alone. So long as you can tinker with the software sufficiently – because there are various irks from the MIUI (v12.0.5) software that you’ll need to dig into various menus to tweak to your liking.
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It’s the software that’s holding things back in our view. There are battery saver per-app limitations, permissions limitations arranged in various parts of the settings that need attention, and so forth. It’s a maze to find and open things up, and even when you think you’ve got everything sussed there might be a delay in notifications from certain apps.
Just as we’ve said of so many MIUI devices in recent months, it’s the biggest hurdle that’s often holding back potential (especially in Xiaomi’s Mi 11 flagship). And with Poco Launcher here, there are additional bothers, such as the system-wide dark mode often making fields illegible by hiding them away.
Ignore the massive Poco emblazoned on the rear and your eyes will no doubt be drawn to the trio of lenses available. “Ohh, a triple camera,” we hear you say. Not so much, however, as the depth sensor and macro sensor are effectively pointless – the macro doesn’t have any way to activate it that we can see, while the depth sensor (utilised in Portrait mode) just isn’t necessary at all. It’s a classic case of overselling the cameras because “more equals better”.
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With that said, however, the main camera unit isn’t too shabby. So think of it as a budget phone with one simple camera – no ultra-wide, no optical zoom – and it does the job well enough.
That main sensor is 48-megapixels, but using a four-in-one processing methodology means the M3 produces 12-megapixel results by default. Such images are still large in scale, and as so much data has been drawn in to process there’s ample detail.
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However, the camera app is a little slow, navigating the features is over-complex, and the focus in shots wasn’t always on point in our testing – there’s no optical image stabilisation or other such fancy features here to help out.
Verdict
In terms of specification the Poco M3 seems unrivalled for a phone at this price point. Impressive features such as a Full HD+ screen and massive 6,000mAh battery lead its charge.
But somewhere along the line there’s a breakdown in communication. For the decent spec may read well, but it doesn’t function quite well enough. Software irks, poor touch-response from the screen, stutters in both interface and apps, mean it doesn’t add up to be the dream budget experience.
If all you want is an outright affordable purchase for calls and emails then the Poco M3 will last an age and could serve you well. But the quality of even lesser-specified devices out there for a similar price – which run even better – simply means it’s not one to recommend.
Also consider
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Moto G9 Power
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There’s less resolution, but a far more fluid user experience is what makes this Moto the obvious choice. It’s a little bit pricier as a result, but worth pulling together that little bit of extra cash for the sake of usability.
LG’s 2021 TV lineup is rolling out now, and you’ve got plenty to choose from if you’re in the market for a new 4K TV.
The range covers all manner of TV technologies, including OLED, LCD and, for the first time, Mini LED.
The new lines span all kinds of sizes too, ranging from 43 inches all the way up to 88. So, whether you’re looking for a statement set for the lounge, or just something for the bedroom, you should find something to suit your needs.
LG’s new OLED line-up comprises five series: Z1, G1, C1, B1, A1. Only those in the G1 series use LG’s top-of-the-range OLED evo panel. The C1 series – the firm’s most popular OLED range, and normally the sweet spot, has the most screen size options, starting with a 48in option. The B1 and A1 are more affordable OLED ranges, suited to those on a budget.
The QNED Mini LED TV line-up includes both 8K and 4K models. Both employ LG’s Quantum Dot NanoCell technology and Mini LED backlighting to create deeper blacks, more vibrant colours and better contrast levels than standard LCDs. They also promise excellent HDR.
LG’s NanoCell TVs also come in 8K and 4K flavours. Its NanoCell tech filters out colour impurities, giving more lifelike images.
All LG’s new TVs support Dolby Vision IQ, Dolby Atmos, HDR10 Pro and Filmmaker Mode. Game Optimiser automatically applies the best picture settings according to the type of game you’re playing, be it a first-person shooter, role-playing game or real-time strategy.
Every new TV also supports the advanced HDMI 2.1 feature, enhanced audio return channel (eARC). This makes it easier to connect the set to a sound system while also optimising the audio. Automatic low latency mode (ALLM) is also supported – this delivers seamless gaming and lag-free viewing. Perfect if you’ve been lucky enough to snag a PS5 or Xbox Series X.
Most of LG’s new sets also have a new processor. The Alpha 9 Gen 4 AI has better deep learning capabilities, better upscaling performance, and adjusts the picture quality depending on the amount of light in each scene, the genre of content what you’re watching and the ambient conditions in the viewing environment (i.e. your lounge).
AI Sound Pro up-mixes two-channel audio to virtual 5.1.2 surround sound too, so you can get the full cinema experience without splashing out on separates. Sort of.
Also new is webOS 6.0, the latest version of LG’s TV operating system. This gives faster access to apps, improved content discovery and personal recommendations. And the new remote control has dedicated buttons for certain streaming services.
The bad news? Not all models are available to buy immediately. Rather, LG says that “select TV series, models and sizes” are rolling out to retailers now. Look out for local announcements for more specific info.
MORE:
Ready for a deep dive? LG 2021 TV lineup: everything you need to know
Compare that with the full Samsung 2021 TV line-up.
And take a look at what there is to offer in the Sony 2021 TV line-up too
Samsung has a pair of new laptops in development — the Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 — which include OLED displays and will be compatible with the company’s S Pen stylus, SamMobile reports. The Galaxy Book Pro 360 is said to also be available with 5G connectivity. The laptops were first revealed in a Bluetooth certification filing that surfaced last month.
SamMobile’s report doesn’t go into details about the specs of the OLED displays such as what their resolution or refresh rates might be. However, given the laptops will reportedly be available with 13.3-inch and 15.6-inch screens, it seems unlikely that they’ll use the 14-inch 90Hz OLED displays that Samsung Display said it would be mass manufacturing starting next month.
These wouldn’t be the first of Samsung’s laptops to support the S Pen (last year’s Galaxy Book Flex 5G, the company’s first 5G laptop, had one built in for example), but it comes after the company announced a new pair of S Pen styluses alongside the Galaxy S21 Ultra. There’s a standard S Pen that’s sold separately from the phone, and later this year it’ll be joined by the S Pen Pro, an upgraded version that adds Bluetooth and air gesture support. Earlier this year Samsung said it’s planning to bring S Pen support to “additional device categories.”
Beyond their screens and S Pen support, the new Windows laptops are rumored to be powered by Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs. The Galaxy Pro 360 is thought to be a convertible 2-in-1 laptop, with a 360-hinge to allow its screen to be flipped around and used like a tablet.
If the reports about the upcoming devices are accurate, they’d join a host of other laptops announced by Samsung recently. These include the Galaxy Chromebook 2, an Intel-powered Chromebook with a QLED display (essentially an LCD display that uses Samsung’s quantum-dot technology) and stylus support, announced earlier this year.
The ZH8 does a lot of things seriously well, but it makes less sense as a purchase than rival models from Samsung
For
Bright and punchy picture
Superb colours and motion
Impressive sound
Against
Blooming around bright highlights
Plays even less 8K than rivals
Missing some HDMI features
With the dearth of real 8K content likely to continue for a good while yet, manufacturers have an uphill battle to convince consumers that an 8K TV is a sensible purchase in the here and now.
With the ZH8, here reviewed as the 75-inch KD-75ZH8 model, Sony gets a huge amount right. This is one of the punchiest TVs we’ve tested, and one of the best-sounding too. It’s also aggressively priced for an 8K model, significantly undercutting our current Award-winner in the category.
That said, the ZH8 also lags a little behind its main rival in a couple of key areas, not least of which is its lack of support for the tiny amount of 8K footage that is actually already available.
Pricing
The Sony KD-75ZH8 (XBR-75Z8H in the US) was priced at £5999 ($7000) at launch, but you can now pick it up for £4999 ($4998).
Should you have the space and appetite for an even bigger 8K set, the 85in KD-85ZH8 (XBR-85Z8H) is currently available for £8499 ($9000).
Features
(Image credit: Future)
A 75in TV is always going to be a physically daunting proposition, but the Sony KD-75ZH8 is even more imposing than similarly sized rivals thanks to its chunky, industrial design. If you expect a high-end TV to be little more than a super-slim screen, you might be disappointed by the ZH8’s relatively thick bezels and 8.4cm depth – the Samsung QE75Q950TS is just 1.5cm deep. That said, there’s an undeniable stylishness to the Sony, its solidity, straight edges and pointy corners amounting to a seriously premium statement.
Sony KD-75ZH8 tech specs
(Image credit: Future / Greenland, Amazon Prime)
Screen type LCD w/ direct LED backlight
Resolution 8K
Operating system Android TV 9.0
HDR formats HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG
HDMI x4
USB x3
Optical 1
It’s hard to imagine a pedestal stand that wouldn’t buckle under the 48kg weight of the ZH8, so it’s little surprise that Sony has opted for sturdy, low-profile feet instead. These look best when positioned at the bottom corners of the set, but a narrower placement is also an option. With this arrangement, the huge TV will stand on any furniture that’s at least 62cm wide – assuming it’s strong enough to take the 50kg weight with feet attached.
In the box, there are a number of plastic panels that can be attached to the rear of the set, concealing connections and creating an appealing chequerboard pattern. Those connections include four HDMIs, one of which is HDMI 2.1 certified. You might assume that means it has the full suite of advanced HDMI features, but that’s not the case: while the ZH8 supports 8K@60Hz, 4K@120Hz (also known as HFR) and eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel), VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) are missing. The absence of those last two features will be disappointing to next-gen gamers: the Xbox Series X makes use of both and the PS5 is due a VRR update in the not too distant future.
As is the norm for all but the most budget-oriented of Sony’s TVs, the ZH8 uses Android TV as its operating system. Android TV gets better with each iteration, and version 9 is no different. As with all Android TVs, the Android portion is installed over a more functional, core operating system, and it makes for a slightly more disjointed user experience than you get from the likes of Samsung and LG. The smart platform feels more like using an external source than it does a core component, for example. That said, Android TV brings bonuses such as Chromecast and Google Assistant (the set is also ‘Works with Alexa’ certified).
Android TV is already pretty well appointed in terms of apps, but Sony has also worked hard to fill any gaps. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, Google Play Movies and Rakuten are all here, in at least HDR10 and most with Dolby Vision (the ZH8 doesn’t support HDR10+, as is the norm for Sony). For the UK, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4, My5, Now TV and BT Sport are all present, too. On the music front, Spotify, Tidal and Deezer are integrated, and while Apple Music and Amazon Music aren’t, you can use Chromecast to cast music to the TV from those apps on your phone.
In terms of core technology, the ZH8 is an LCD set with a direct LED backlight, and it uses the Picture Processor X1 Ultimate chip, which is Sony’s most powerful processor until the 2021 Cognitive Processor XR makes its debut with the company’s 2021 TVs in a few months’ time. The headline features here are Object Based Super Resolution, which is designed to intelligently analyse and enhance the definition of individual objects in an image, and an enhanced version of Object Based HDR Remaster, which applies a similar approach to contrast.
Picture
(Image credit: Future / Greenland, Amazon Prime)
Naturally, you’ll want to watch 8K content on your new 8K TV, but that’s even harder to do on the ZH8 than it is with Samsung’s 8K TVs. The only commercially available 8K content out there is streamed by YouTube in the AV1 format, which the ZH8 doesn’t support. You may only be missing out on aerial footage of lovely landscapes, but the fact that the tiny amount of 8K content out there is unplayable on your expensive 8K TV is hugely irritating. What’s more, it raises questions about the extent to which the ZH8 is future-proofed: it looks increasingly likely that the AV1 format is the one that will be utilised for 8K by other streaming services, including Netflix.
We are able to watch 8K content on the ZH8 for this review by using a Sony-supplied media player containing a handful of demo clips. With these clips, the ZH8 puts in a stunning performance that’s so crisp, dynamic and lifelike that you feel you could step right into each scene. However, that’s not an experience you’re going to be able to recreate at home.
Instead, what really matters is how the ZH8 performs with the content you do have access to right now, with the priority being 4K HDR. We insert Blade Runner 2049, one of our most demanding 4K Blu-rays, into our player, and are immediately impressed with the results. What strikes you first about the ZH8’s performance is how punchy and bright it is, particularly in very high-contrast scenarios. Most TVs shy away from fully illuminating the white text that appears from the black background at the beginning of the film, for example, but the ZH8 has no such reservations – this could well be the brightest rendition of this scene-setting copy we’ve seen.
This extreme contrast capability translates well to the film as a whole. As K travels around LA on foot and by flying car, the neon signs and holographic adverts jump out of the depressing dinginess of the rest of the city.
The effectiveness of that punch is further enhanced by the depth of the blacks. It’s not quite OLED levels of perfect blackness, but the ZH8 gets much closer than most LCD TVs, while also proving a dab hand at digging up dark details: on top of that striking contrast, you get superbly subtle shadows, with next to nothing being lost to the gloom.
However, there’s a problem here, and that’s backlight blooming. There are quite obvious halos of light around very bright objects on very dark backgrounds, and light frequently creeps into the black bars at the top and bottom when you’re watching an ultra-widescreen film. It is enough to be distracting at times, which is the last thing you want when you’re trying to sink right into a movie.
(Image credit: Future / Greenland, Amazon Prime)
The ZH8 is also a little soft and flat in its performance compared with the Samsung QE75Q950TS, which upscales 4K content in such a way that you could almost be fooled into thinking you were watching 8K. The Sony isn’t capable of pulling off the same trick, and the image doesn’t leap from the screen in quite the same way.
That said, there’s a naturalism to the ZH8’s performance that few can match. Its edges aren’t as sharp as those of the Samsung Q950TS, but there’s a smoothness and subtlety to the presentation that’s utterly convincing. It’s significantly better with motion, too, smoothing and sharpening everything without any shimmer or unpleasant artificiality. Its rivals are closing the gap in this regard, but Sony remains out in front.
Arguably the greatest contributor to the ZH8’s naturalism is its colour reproduction. It is capable of stunning vibrancy, but it’s also superbly subtle and nuanced, delivering every character’s unique skin tone, every building’s interior lighting, and every neon sign with unquestionable authenticity. Others might entice the eye a little more effectively, but this Sony (like many of its siblings) delivers on the creator’s intent in a way that few can match.
Dropping down to Looper in 1080p, that overall authenticity remains a strength, and it’s actually sharper and more detailed than the Samsung Q950TS. That said, it’s a fair bit noisier, too, exaggerating the intentional film grain to a degree that some will find distracting. It can be toned down by reducing sharpness and/or increasing noise reduction, but doing so softens the picture too much for our tastes. The perfect balance feels just out of reach, but this is an issue that you’ll encounter only occasionally as few films these days have this level of grain.
Those qualities with Full HD content roughly translate when you switch to standard-definition material. We play our trusty Dirty Harry DVD and the performance is sharp and detailed, which is impressive when you consider the amount of picture information that the TV is creating itself. Again, it’s effortlessly natural and convincing, particularly in terms of colours, although there’s still more picture noise than you’ll get from rival models.
Sound
(Image credit: Future)
Sony has been much more creative than its rivals in recent years in terms of TV sound, most notably by turning the entire panel of its OLED models into a speaker. That feature, called Acoustic Surface Technology, isn’t possible with an LCD model such as the ZH8, but Sony has sought to recreate the effect (which it calls ‘Sound from Picture’) by using a couple of tweeters to vibrate the frame of the TV. These work in conjunction with two forward-facing drivers mounted at the bottom to make it seem as if the sound is coming directly from the screen, while two rear-mounted woofers fill out the presentation.
All that effort has paid off handsomely. The ZH8 is clear and direct in its presentation, with the sound and picture linked in a way that’s supremely engaging. This is no one-trick performance, though – the sound is also detailed and dynamic by the standards of a TV sound system, making for an overall delivery that’s both engaging and exciting.
Dolby Atmos is supported and, in conjunction with the Acoustic Auto Calibration feature, which tailors the audio performance to your room, gives appropriate soundtracks plenty of scope and scale without sacrificing that directness. Few if any TV-integrated sound systems can fill a room quite as effectively, while also clearly projecting dialogue.
You can even use the ZH8 as the centre speaker of a surround sound package, should you wish, using the standard speaker terminals on the rear of the set. We wouldn’t recommend that, though – while the ZH8 sounds mighty impressive for a TV, even the best AV amplifier will struggle to tonally integrate it with a set of traditional speakers.
Verdict
There’s so much that the ZH8 gets right, most notably its supremely authentic picture performance and very impressive sound, but we can’t give it our wholehearted recommendation.
8K TVs are already a hard sell, and the fact that the ZH8 won’t play the tiny amount of 8K content that’s already available is a real issue, not least because it raises doubts about its ability to play other 8K content that might appear in the future. What’s more, it doesn’t make use its extra pixels with 4K content the way that the rival Samsung Q950TS does.
As such, the ZH8 may as well be a 4K TV. Even viewed on those terms it’s almost worth the full five stars, but the high price and backlight blooming hold it back to a four.
(Pocket-lint) – Welcome to our guide to the best 65-inch TVs. As manufacturers find new ways to harness their technology and take leaps forward technically, the sets that almost always get those innovations first are the bigger ones in their ranges.
Best 4K TV: Premium Ultra HD smart TVs to buy today
If you’re used to smaller TVs, the jump to a 65-inch television can feel like a really big one, but trust us that it’s worth it if you can fit one in. You’ll be transported into the content you’re watching or playing and will be able to plan movie nights that really are like going to the theatre. So, to that end, we’ve gathered some of the very best 65-inch TVs on the market right now for you to choose from.
Our pick of the best 65-inch 4K TVs to buy today
LG
LG OLED CX
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LG is sort of the kind of OLED TVs at the moment – it’s got the display tech down to a tee, and the CX is another in a long line of hits for the manufacturer.
It’s nicely designed with a stand that’s attractive without being too big, and bezels that are practically non-existant. On top of that you get stunning picture-quality on a really well-made OS, making it a joy to use. Of course, you’ll pay handsomely for the privilege.
LG OLED CX 4K TV review: Superb picture quality
Samsung
Samsung Q80T
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Samsung’s Q80T is a real stormer of a release – it’s still pretty pricey, but by Samsung’s standards brings the pricing down nicely, and has a range of sizes to pick from.
The 65-inch version, like the others, is a really superb display that uses Samsung’s trademark QLED technology to get deep blacks and impressive colour range without using OLED tech.
Samsung Q80T 4K QLED TV review: A 4K sensation
LG
LG NANO90 65-inch
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LG’s got another ace up its sleeve in the form of this NANO90 TV, which is perfect if you’re a big gamer and want to guarantee low lag to give you every possible advantage.
It might look like any old TV nowadays, but the picture quality is great and by cutting on the cost of OLED, using standard LED, LG’s been able to make sure the TV is super-fast, perfect for games.
LG NANO90 4K NanoCell TV review: Can it outshine OLED?
TCL
TCL 5-Series S535
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This is a high-quality 4K QLED TV but it isn’t outrageously expensive. TCL’s Natural Motion 240 tech is designed to reduce motion blur, especially when watching sports or other fast-moving scenes.
As you’d expect the TV is HDR compatible (HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision) while there are all the smart TV apps you’ll need, four HDMI ports and Google Assistant/Alexa integration.
TCL’s 5-Series is also available in 55, 75 and 50-inch sizes.
Samsung
Samsung Q65T
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If you like the look of Samsung’s televisions, but don’t want to fork out the money needed for the Q80T, the Q65T is a fabulous compromise.
You still get a brilliant QLED panel that’s gorgeous to watch 4K content on, and it’s a dab hand at upscaling, too. Sound quality could be better, we feel, but that’s not exactly the top concern when you buy a TV.
Samsung Q65T 4K QLED TV review: Punchy picture at an attractive price
Insignia
Insignia NS-65DF710NA21
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This is a stunningly good value 65-inch 4K Ultra HD TV that’s based around Amazon’s Fire TV interface. if you’ve used an Amazon Fire TV Stick or similar you’ll know that it’s easy to use.
Fire TVs have an Alexa remote, so there’s full voice control, too.
And you can be safe in the knowledge that your TV will support all the latest streaming apps and services, too.
There’s full HDR support, too.
This model is also available in 43, 50, 55 and 70-inch sizes.
Sony
Sony XH95
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Sony comes in swinging with this huge TV that specialises in colour – its HDR is as good as you’ll find out there, making for amazing contrast and depths.
This isn’t an OLED or QLED display, instead representing the best of what an LCD display can offer with a bunch of refinements and improvements, and we’re suitably impressed. At this price, though, we wonder if OLED would be a better investment.
Sony XH95 4K TV review: Punchy pictures
Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Dan Grabham.
(Pocket-lint) – Sony has grown a legion of fans for its growing number of Alpha system cameras. Whether it’s the ultra compact A6000 series or a full-frame A7 series, there’s something for everyone. But it’s videographers who’ve turned more towards Sony’s mirrorless full-frame bodies in recent years – and it’s easy to see why when looking at the Alpha A7S III.
Spec wise, this third-generation ‘S’ model offers some incredible capabilities, with particular focus for video and low-light performance. Rather than go all-out on the pixel count, the A7S III opts for bigger pixels on a quality sensor. But does that limit its appeal?
Design
Dimensions: 128.9mm x 96.9mm x 80.8mm / Weight: 699g (with battery)
3-inch, 1.44m-dot vari-angle LCD touchscreen
Moisture- and dust-resistant design
Sony was among the first manufacturers to put a full-frame sensor in a compact mirrorless body (the original A7, from back in 2013, was revolutionary for its size). And while many manufacturers have since followed suit and Sony – with its own A7C – has made an even smaller one, the size of the A7S III makes it hugely practical to carry around. It’ll fit into most camera carriers, even with a lens on it.
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The body weighs about 700g with a battery and memory card in it, but – of course – that weight goes up once you attach a lens. We were testing with the 12-24mm G Master lens, which is pretty bulky and weighty, but not so much that we got really tired from shooting with it handheld.
A lot of the A7S III’s buttons are well positioned, including the switch-ring around the shutter button at the top of the grip. There’s a dedicated red movie ring for shooting video, plus an exposure gain adjustment ring, a custom function button, and the shoot mode select dial.
The shoot mode dial has to be unlocked by pressing the button in the middle before turning, which adds a bit of security, but also frustration if you’re used to just turning the dial to quickly change between movie mode and one of the photo modes.
The other questionable decision is the position of the menu button. Most buttons on the back of the A7S III are within easy thumb reach. But not the menu button. That’s way off to the other side, on the left side of the viewfinder, meaning you have to use your other hand to dive into the menu system to adjust and change features and settings.
Best mirrorless cameras 2021: The best interchangeable lens cameras available to buy today
By Mike Lowe
·
Pocket-lint
There are plenty of customisable function buttons. Four, in fact, which are super useful when you want quick access to essential functions like changing the autofocus area or changing the white balance. Having that autofocus selection mode is super useful, especially if you want to use the joystick to manually pick a small area to focus on. Just for those times when the super smart autofocus engine doesn’t quick pick the right area.
Like a number of Sony’s recent cameras, the A7S III has a proper flip-out touchscreen too. It makes that little monitor way more useful and versatile. It enables better framing at awkward angles and – as importantly – makes shooting to camera easier whether handheld vlogging or when shooting with the camera on the tripod. You can focus and frame without having to go behind the camera or having your view obstructed like on the older models.
Videographer’s multi-tool
Ports: HDMI, 3.5mm, USB-C
XLR adapter available – offers 4-channel 24-bit audio recording
16-bit Raw data output for external recorders
Proxy recording internally
Cards: Dual SD (UHS-II)
If you’re just starting out making video, it’s unlikely you’d look at the A7S III right away, especially as the price point is enough to make your eyes water (it’s several thousand at launch – and we doubt that’ll drop much). But for the seasoned pro or someone wanting to up their game, it’s easy to see the appeal.
It may not look like it from the outside, but there’s a tonne of flexibility here when it comes to connecting additional gear like microphones and monitors. Not only do you get a 3.5mm input for microphone, the hotshoe with the right adapter attached (note: sold separately) can be used to power an XLR adapter for plugging in ‘proper’ microphones too.
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Using the HDMI you can connect the A7S III’s output to an external recorder/monitor (with 16 bit Raw output), plus you have the ability to record proxy files simultaneously while capturing at your desired resolution and bitrate. That means your computer workflow load times should be faster, because you already have the proxies to hand, your desktop shouldn’t have to generate them for you.
That’s without listing all the bitrate, colour profile, resolution and frame-rate options available. And there are many (it’s worth having a look at Sony’s detailed breakdown in the A7S III’s full specifications). You can shoot in S-Log3, S-Gamut3 or Cine gamut profiles, so that your video matches the colour profile on your professional camera and allows you to colour grade it to your heart’s content, including the ability to shoot in HLG for HDR workflows.
Video and photo
12.1MP Exmor R CMOS sensor, Bionz XR processor
ISO sensitivity: 80-102,400 standard
4K video (4:2:2 up to 10bit)
Full-frame 4K at 120fps
S-Log2 and S-Log3
Sony has equipped the A7S III with a 12-megapixel sensor, which is in stark contrast to the much higher resolution 61-megapixel full frame sensor on the A7R IV. The reason: to feature enough pixels to effectively capture full 4K resolution video, but also to enable much better low-light performance. The bigger the sensor diodes (in effect the ‘pixels’), the more light it can draw in. And it works.
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Shooting in tricky situations with little light, using mostly street lights outside after sundown, still enabled us to take decent, sharp images completely handheld. Of course, part of this is down to the built in 5-axis stabilisation – which is great, but not infallible, so if we didn’t quite hold the camera steady enough then some images still came out with a little blur.
Switching the camera into auto mode, the default in our night time shoot was for the camera to select ISO 12,800 – which is rather high – but the sensor still managed to capture an impressive amount of range (at f/4 and a 2/5-second exposure), revealing the clouds in the sky and even silhouettes of hills miles in the distance. It’s not completely image-noise-free, but the results are more grain-like, at an acceptable level, and doesn’t result in the destruction of detail.
Testing with the 12-24mm G Master lens also meant we got to try one of Sony’s most recent wide-angle lenses. It’s not the most versatile lens in the world, but we found it more than usable for our regular close-up product shooting for our YouTube channel. It did struggle to focus when too close, but otherwise is a great tool to have in the studio.
Being able shoot practically unlimited 4K/50p footage meant we never had to worry that the camera would overheat. The redesigned heat dissipation inside the body means the A7S III never struggles – which is a step change from earlier Sony video-focused cameras. The result is smooth, sharp and detailed video with great colour. Rolling shutter seems to be a thing of the past too.
Further helped by that stabilisation – which introduces a 1.1x crop, but can be switched off for full-frame access – it’s easy enough to shoot handheld and keep things smooth and steady. For the times it gets a bit janky when our hands weren’t as steady as we’d like them to be, the resulting shakiness was minimal and easy to fix in post-production with Final Cut’s one-click stabilsation tool.
And for those times where we’d accidentally over-exposed and ended up with highlights that were overexposed, we were able to drop those brightness levels down for to retain detail and surface texture without any hassle. It’s a very forgiving camera.
For those of you who don’t shoot much beyond 60 frames per second, but need 4K for detail and 10 bit for colour grading and detail, the A7S III is more than capable, although the highest bitrate and frame-rate recording does require you to use Sony’s new CFExpress Type A card (also known as XQD). The rest can be recorded internally on UHS-II SD cards.
While it might not be the perfect camera for those looking to creat big, high-resolution images that are great for cropping into, the A7S III still takes great shots in daylight too. Colours are lovely, the depth of field on offer is sublime. Close-ish shots of plants revealed some stunning smooth bokeh.
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Battery performance is strong for a camera this powerful too. It uses one of Sony’s new FX100 batteries – which is good for about 510 shots or 80-95 minutes of video recording, depending on whether you use the viewfinder or LCD monitor. Plus, you can charge it via the USB-C port on the camera, so you could take a Type-C cable and a battery pack to refill while on the move.
Sony’s strength for the past couple of years has been autofocus and tracking and – until the recently announced A1 – the A7S III was the epitome of that effort. It has 759 phase-detection AF points, meaning almost the you can select to focus pretty much anywhere within the frame. What’s more, it combines with 425 contrast detection points, making focusing really quick and accurate.
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Whether we left it to automatically focus on people’s or pet’s eyes, or manually chose the spot we wanted to focus on, it was really quick and tracking was so smooth and responsive we rarely saw it hunting when we took video footage into the edit suite. It does it with such efficiency pretty much all the time.
Digging into the settings you can choose whether you want it tracking a human eye or an animal eye, or whether you want to prioritise a specific eye, or to let the camera decide (it’s actually pretty clever and will choose whichever is closest by default, and does so without fail).
There are a lot more options in the settings menu, and while colour coding and reorganising things has made Sony’s software easier than it used to be, it can still be a bit overwhelming at times. There’s just so much there to get a handle on. You could easily spend an hour just going through the various options and trying to remember where it all is.
Verdict
The Sony Alpha A7S III is the most impressive video-centric consumer camera to date. By using the right sensor, processing power and heat dissipation, Sony offers full-frame recording at staggering resolutions quality. The price might make you wince a bit though.
While the sensor and performance lends the camera to professional video work, it also makes it very good in low-light situations for both stills and video. With a good lens, you can forget the tripod and go shoot dimly lit scenes handheld.
However, those stills photographers looking to shoot ultra-resolute images ought to look elsewhere – but it’s not as if there’s a lack of choice in the Alpha range. But for those invested in Sony for video work, the A7S III will be the mirrorless camera of choice for years to come.
Alternatives to consider
Pocket-lint
Panasonic Lumix S5
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It’s less than half the price of the Sony, and while it doesn’t quite match its performance in terms of video capabilities or low-light capabilities, if you’re wanting a strong video-centric mirrorless with great performance that won’t cost you nearly four grand, the Panasonic is a very strong choice.
Read our review
Pocket-lint
Sony A7R IV
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Sony’s A7R IV has a much higher-resolution sensor, making it a more suitable choice for photographers chasing those super-sharp image files that hey can present in huge format or crop into heavily. It’s not as strong on the video side, though, but it can still shoot 4K.
One maker’s Pico is another maker’s exercise bike controller board! This project was made by a maker known on Reddit as Pubudeux. After spinning their wheels, Pubudeux decided to use a Raspberry Pi Pico to help monitor exercise bike sessions and provide audio output for cycling classes.
The project is designed to be housed inside a case with the various sensors necessary to accurately monitor things like speed and duration on the bike. It will also house the speakers.
(Image credit: Pubudeux)
The Raspberry Pi Pico is used in tandem with a Pam 8403 amplifier board. It’s also using a battery voltage sensor, an infrared sensor and is connected to an LCD screen via I2C.
These sensors are used to count how many pedal strokes are occurring per minute and at what resistance. Once the cadence is determined, the data can be parsed to read out information about the rider’s performance in real-time.
This project is still in progress. You can read more about how it works and what developments are underway in the full thread on Reddit. In the meantime, check out our list of Best Raspberry Pi Projects for more cool creations from the maker community.
Component shortages including display panels and circuits for LCD screens may extend the laptop shortage into the first quarter of 2021, according to a new report from Digitimes.
This runs counter to the publication’s previous research, which estimated that increased interest in remote work and study would cause laptop shipments for 2021’s first quarter to drop by less than 10% as opposed to the typical 15-25% of past years. Digitimes was even speculating that, due to the pandemic, global laptop shipments could “double on year due to lower comparison basis for first-quarter 2020.”
Laptop shipments normally take a hit in the early year thanks in part to Lunar New Year festivities in China, which leave fewer workers to help make components. However, Digitimes‘ sources are now saying to expect an even more drastic decrease in “driver ICs, display panels and passive components” that could make the publication’s predictions moot. Let’s not even get into the possibility that laptops are being used for mining.
The sources didn’t give many details to speak of in terms of numbers or root causes, but the sources did say that Chinese manufacturers are already planning to maintain a more standard workload during the Lunar New Year holidays to help counteract the supposed shortage. The sources also said ODMs are currently stocking up on supplier shipments to help offset shortage expectations that they’re predicting will last throughout the year’s first half.
This would also fall in line with Digitimes‘ data, which says that laptop keyboard, camera module and PSU suppliers saw their revenues hit record highs in 2021 and have clear order visibility through the second quarter.
Apple is working with TSMC to develop ultra-thin and energy-efficient micro OLED displays for its upcoming augmented reality devices, Nikkei Asia is reporting. The R&D project is said to be in a trial production stage, focusing on displays that are smaller than one inch in size and “several years” away from commercialization. Apple is also said to be developing MicroLED displays at the same Apple lab in Taiwan.
According to Nikkei, the micro OLED displays in development are able to be so thin and compact because they’re built directly onto chip wafers, rather than glass like traditional OLED or LCD screens. News of the project follows reports that Apple has both VR and AR headsets in development. It could release its first VR headset (codenamed N301) as early as next year, while a more lightweight pair of AR glasses (codenamed N421) could follow in 2023. N301 reportedly features two 8K displays and a fabric exterior to cut down on its weight, while future headsets could eventually use this new panel technology to become slimmer and lighter.
A mockup showing what Apple’s VR headset could look like.Image: The Information
As well as working on micro OLED, Nikkei reports that Apple is also working on MicroLED display technology at the same secretive lab in Taiwan. These self-emissive panels, which use miniature LEDs to remove the need for a traditional backlight, could eventually end up in devices like the Apple Watch, iPad, and MacBooks. Samsung already sells a MicroLED TV called The Wall, though the technology is a long way from being mainstream or affordable.
As a sidenote: micro OLED and MicroLED are distinct from Mini-LED, which uses an array of LEDs as a backlight behind a more traditional LCD display. Mini-LED technology is already available in TVs from the likes of TCL, and Apple is also reportedly working to bring it to devices like iPads and MacBooks in the not-too-distant future.
According to Nikkei, Apple’s R&D efforts are an attempt to reduce its reliance on other companies, like Samsung, to supply its displays. The iPhone 12’s OLED display is thought to be its second most expensive third-party component behind its Qualcomm 5G modem, for example. While Apple may end up using these technologies in its products, it could also just use its work to acquire technology patents, giving it more control over these next-gen technologies, Nikkei notes.
Apple isn’t the only company working to develop these display technologies. Sony Semiconductor Solutions has developed micro OLED displays for AR and VR headsets, while a partnership of BOE, Yunnan North OLiGHTEK Opto-Electronic Technology, and Kopin are also working together on the tech. Meanwhile, Samusung, BOE, and San’an Optoelectronics are also working to commercialize MicroLED displays.
Remember when EVGA first got into peripherals? The company made a big splash with their Torq X10 and X5 mice, which are still sold today, and complemented those with the launch of their first keyboard in the LCD display-integrated Z10. It must have sold enough to merit an RGB version, the Z10 RGB, which we took a look at last year. As of the time of this review, you can’t find either Z10 variants on the EVGA website, so LCD display experiment was short-lived. It’s a good thing then that EVGA did not give up and in fact has a whole new lineup of keyboards (and mice) launching today. Today, we take a look at their new flagship keyboard and thanks again to EVGA for sending the review samples to TechPowerUp!
The EVGA Z20 is a new ID from the company and a departure from the older Z10 RGB in nearly every way. We have a new case design, additional keys, no LCD display, a nice wrist rest, new switches, and a little something under the Left Alt key to detect user movement and wake up/put the keyboard to sleep. That’s right, we have a Time-of-Flight (TOF) sensor integrated here, so EVGA continues to be wacky, and willing to try out new things, which I am all for it. Let’s go through the EVGA Z20 in detail by examining all these features in this review beginning with a look at the specifications in the table below.
Specifications
EVGA Z20 Keyboard
Layout:
>104-key modified US ANSI layout, other language support depending on region
Material:
ABS plastic case and keycaps, steel plate
Macro Support:
Yes
Weight (total):
1.13 kg/2.49 lbs.
Wrist Rest:
Yes, removable
Anti-ghosting:
Full N-Key rollover USB
Media Keys:
Dedicated playback and volume control
Cable Length:
6 ft/1.8 m
Software:
Yes
Switch Type:
Choice of A4Tech Light Strike LK linear or tactile optical-mechanical RGB switch
When Sunny Bonnell and her team at branding agency Motto started working with Ninjas In Pyjamas (NIP), a 20-year-old esports team in search of a new look, they did a lot of research. The team had never worked in gaming or esports before, and they wanted to understand the space. They talked to fans and people on the team, and sketched out hundreds of possible logo ideas over the course of more than a year. When NIP revealed their new visual identity last month, the reaction was immediate — and much of it was negative. “I don’t think we really knew at the time that the fans would have such a hard time with it,” says Bonnell.
NIP was founded in 2000, and the Swedish organization currently operates teams in Valorant, FIFA, and Rainbow Six, though it’s most famous for its Counter-Strike squad. Its previous logo was a gold shuriken with lots of curves and sharp points. The new iteration maintains the same concept but streamlines it, with neon yellow set against a black backdrop, and an angular shuriken that features a stylized version of the kanji for “nin” inside. It’s brighter, simpler, and more easily recognizable.
Bonnell says that the new logo was necessary for a few reasons. These include the flexibility to scale across different platforms, as well as the lack of contrast between the black-and-brown color scheme. “There were just a lot of technical issues with the existing mark,” she says. The challenge, she adds, was making a logo that not only retained the classic iconography associated with the team but also felt fresh and worked across a variety of mediums. “That mark had to do a whole lot of lifting.”
When the team started working on the project, they really zoomed in on the ninja part of the NIP name. There’s the kanji, as well as a color scheme inspired by the streets of Tokyo, and even an audio element; the designers came up with a signature blade swooshing sound for the team to use in videos and on social media. “I felt that was something they could truly own,” Bonnell says of the ninja elements. “They were lacking something to say. They had cool apparel and great teams, but they didn’t really have anything else that was giving them a story to tell.”
One of the challenges of modern logo design is creating something that can work pretty much anywhere. It’s especially tricky in esports. The NIP logo is used as a Twitter icon, a badge on jerseys, and even a virtual sticker that players can put on in-game guns. When in-person tournaments return, the logo will be blown up on big LCD displays on stage. (Bonnell is particularly excited about the last one. “It’s going to be so cool.”) To make something that works in all of these contexts, designers often resort to something flat and simple. The result is logos that tend to look the same.
“It gets trickier over time,” Bonnell says of the process. “The more you add, the more complicated it becomes.” The new NIP logo attempts to get around this in a few ways. For one, the shuriken is set on its side to create a sense of motion, as if it was being thrown. And while the logo is relatively simple, it’s imbued with meaning, like the hidden word inside the weapon. Basically, every element is meant to scream “ninja!”
Photo: Motto
Giving an existing team a new identity is a tricky proposition. Just like in traditional sports, esports fans are attached to teams and their histories. In fact, when Dignitas and Evil Geniuses, two long-running organizations, introduced dramatic redesigns, the uproar was so intense they ended up reverting back to their original logos.
Despite all of the preparation, Bonnell says she wasn’t completely ready for the amount of blowback the NIP redesign received. “There’s a lot of hate in esports that I don’t know if I was prepared for,” she says. “I had to stop reading the comments, because I was like ‘Oh my god, I want to cry in my cornflakes.’ This is really bad.”
That has mellowed over time, she says. “The first day was rough,” she admits, but says that as time passed and the logo was displayed in more contexts — on jerseys, in actual games — she started to receive positive feedback from fans who changed their minds. While other organizations may have struggled with the initial blowback, Bonnell doesn’t think that will happen with NIP.
“First they’ll be ridiculed,” she says, “then they’ll be revered.”
Epson’s EH-LS300 UST projector is practical for everyday use, with some limitations, as well as for truly immersive bigscreen movie nights.
For
Powerful bright image
Free-to-air TV catch-up services
Convenient way to get a really large picture
Against
No Netflix or Prime support
No Ethernet
1080i/50 and 576i/50 issues
Sound+Image mag review
(Image credit: Future)
This review originally appeared in Sound+Image magazine, one of What Hi-Fi?’s Australian sister publications. Click here for more information on Sound+Image, including digital editions and details on how you can subscribe.
Ultra-short-throw projectors are going great guns. Even mainstream companies not previously or not recently involved in projection (LG, Samsung, Hisense) have realised that a projector sitting on a bench can deliver a large-screen ‘TV-like’ experience with a convenience that a conventional projector cannot when it has to be pushed back in the room or hung on a ceiling.
As a consequence the ultra-short-throw is rapidly evolving. Since it’s going to work like a TV, shouldn’t it have speakers? Shouldn’t it be smart, like a TV? Yes it should. So here comes Epson, a company which declares itself the world no.1 in projection (on the reasonable basis it has been declared so by Futuresource Consulting for the last 17 consecutive years), with models for just this space. The ‘4K Pro UHD’ EH-LS500 arrived first, and now this EH-LS300, which offers Full-HD resolution of 1920 x 1080. With such underlying expertise, but a lower resolution, does it deliver the promised new age of UST?
Build
Ultra-short-throw projectors use a combination of lenses and mirrors to cast the picture up onto a screen almost immediately above them. The Epson EpiqVision EH-LS300B is a fairly compact specimen at 467mm wide and 400mm deep. Inside there are three 15.5mm LCD projector panels using Epson’s C2 Fine technology, and a laser diode. That kind of light engine works by firing the laser into some phosphor, which then produces a bright white light.
The use of this kind of light engine means several good things. Firstly, long life. The projector is rated at 20,000 hours of lamp life. Secondly, the projector turns on fast – 5.5 seconds when in standby, according to our stopwatch, or 6.5 seconds if it has been disconnected from power. It goes off fast as well.
And the lamp can be controlled in level to help darken scenes. Epson says that the dynamic contrast ratio is as much as 2.5 million-to-1 (on the datasheet) or 1.5 million-to-1 (in the US manual we found online).
There are two HDMI inputs, a USB socket for playing back video content from a USB stick, and Wi-Fi for the smart TV stuff. Surprisingly, there’s no Ethernet connection – we’d prefer that option rather than having to rely on Wi-Fi in our somewhat RF-congested modern environments. But it is dual-band Wi-Fi – 2.4GHz and 5GHz – supporting the 801.11ac standard, so it may well outperform the usually-installed 100Mbps Ethernet of many devices. (Our 100Mbps test clip was pretty choppy… but we do have an extremely busy Wi-Fi environment.)
Best projectors 2021: Full HD, 4K, portable, short throw
(Image credit: Epson)
Sound
A nice touch: built-in sound that is quite good. As always, we believe that the sound of your system should match the scale of the video. Since the Epson EpiqVision EH-LS300B delivers big vision, a decent external sound system should be in order. But absent that, we were quite impressed with the audio built into the projector. Epson relied on the audio expertise of Yamaha for this: a 2.1-channel forwards-firing audio system with 20W of power, better than any actual TV that we’ve used – and we’ve used plenty. We also checked the Audio Return Channel capability via HDMI to a connected home theatre receiver, and it worked perfectly well.
Setting up
The projector is available on its own at £2500 ($2000, AU$4000). But in Australia you can also get it as a package with an ‘Ambient Light Rejection’ screen in 100 inches (AU$5099 package) or 120 inches (AU$5699). These employ a surface treatment which reduces the reflection of light coming from above or directly in front, increasing their contrast ratio when there’s light in the room. These screens weren’t available to us at the time of review, so we used our regular viewing screen.
Epson EH-LS300 tech specs
(Image credit: Epson)
Projection technology: 3 x 15.5mm C2 Fine LCD panels
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Lamp: Laser diode
Lamp life: 20,000 hours (Normal and Quiet modes)
Brightness: 3600 lumens (both white and colour); 1800 lumens (ECO mode)
Inputs: 2 x HDMI, 1 x USB, Wi-Fi
Outputs: Optical digital audio
Control/other: Mini-USB (Service)
Dimensions (whd): 467 x 133 x 400mm
Weight: 7.2kg
In a couple of ways an ultra-short-throw projector is a little trickier to set up than a regular projector. There is no zoom lens, for example, so the size of the picture is determined entirely by the distance between the projector and the screen – far less than a conventional projector, but still significant for the largest screen sizes. For a 100-inch screen, the distance from the wall to the back of the projector (the side facing the wall) should be 26.6cm. With the largest recommended screen size of 120 inches, the distance is just 38.6cm. The projector itself is getting on for 40cm deep, so its front will end up more than 75cm from the wall – which is a lot of bench depth.
The other slightly tricky thing is that the image is cast at such an extreme angle you have to adjust everything with better-than-millimetre precision. The slightest angle to one side and you have a marked trapezoid of a picture. You really don’t want to be nudging the projector when you’re dusting.
But there is a clever adjustment system for picture geometry. There’s even a dedicated button on the remote. With this you can drag the corners of a box to make sure everything’s square. It’s kind of like a supercharged keystone correction system. But like keystone correction, it’s done digitally, which means that Full-HD input signals are no longer directly mapped onto the display pixels, so detail is lost. So it’s best avoided if you can.Get the physical placement right instead.
Last thing on physical set-up: we found the focus adjust lever quite spongy, so a bit tricky to get the focus exactly right. With perseverance we did succeed. (One of the oddities about this kind of projector: focus adjustment has basically no effect at all at the bottom of the screen, which is always in focus, and a massive effect at the top.)
As for the smart set-up, Android TV has this well under control. You just use the Google Home app on your phone – it works on iPhones as well – which talks you through with very little fuss. We had the unit connected within a couple of minutes.
(Image credit: Epson)
Performance
It turns out that 3600 lumens allows a surprisingly viewable picture even under the full glare of our room’s fluorescent tubes! Not that we did any kind of critical viewing that way, we hasten to add. But we suspect that kids would be perfectly satisfied with afternoon cartoons served this way, especially onto an Epson directional screen. And it’s fine for the news and such. So consider this not just a home cinema device, but a (kind of) everyday TV.
Then, when night fell, we started to use it as a real home cinema projector. And we were impressed. What impressed us? The colour and the black levels. The subjective black levels were entirely satisfying. Which is to say that with all the material we viewed – including HDR content from 4K Blu-ray – the black elements of the picture seemed, well, entirely black. And yes, 4K Blu-ray, because even though the projector delivers 1080p output, it supports Ultra-HD inputs including HDR (and Dolby Vision, which it treats as HDR).
We jammed in as much night-time viewing as we could in the time available, and we must say that we found it entirely satisfying: bold, accurate colours; sharp, detailed image.
The EpiqVision quickly demonstrated that it’s not really one for interlaced video in Australia. With both 576i/50 and 1080i/50, it seemed simply to assume that all such signals were video-sourced. So it applied motion-adaptive deinterlacing, rather than checking to see if a simple weave might be better for any given bit of video. Most of the time you won’t notice this, but occasionally there’ll be some lines or grid in the picture which adversely interact with the processing and develop distracting moire patterns. The solution, as always: use a source with good quality deinterlacing.
Best portable projectors: the best mini projectors 2021
Network streaming
When you first set the Epson up, you’re offered a default bunch of apps, including (in Australia) TV station apps such as iView, SBS On Demand and so on. There’s YouTube, Google play Movies & TV, Disney+ and Stan, Vimeo, Spotify and Tidal and a whole lot more. Even after we’d finished the setting up, it took a little while to download and install them one by one. It was kind of fun watching them pop up in the list of apps as they were loaded. When it had finished, we went to fire up Netflix – one of the paid video services to which we subscribe. We couldn’t find it.
So we figured we’d try Google Assistant to help us find it. A press of the microphone button on the remote and the utterance of the word Netflix, and the projector announced in the familiar Google Assistant voice, ‘Here’s Netflix on the Google play Store’. And there was, indeed, the play Store entry for Netflix. Only problem was, at the bottom of the screen it said, ‘Your device isn’t compatible with this version.’ This was also the case for Amazon’s Prime Video.
We checked the projector’s website and, sure enough, there it was in the fine print: “Not all streaming apps are natively available on the EpiqVision EH-LS300B. An external streaming media device is required to stream some services, including Netflix. Netflix cannot be streamed using Chromecast from Android TV, iOS, Mac or Windows devices.” (We assume by that ‘Android TV’ that Epson actually means Android, as in an Android phone.)
In other words, not only does this projector not support Netflix, apparently you can’t stream Netflix from your phone to the projector via Chromecast. We tried. In fact, we could kind of stream Netflix from our phone, but only in the slowest, choppiest most broken-up way. To compare, we plugged an actual Chromecast with Google TV device into one of the EpiqVision’s HDMI inputs, and found that Netflix would stream fairly smoothly via that route.
YouTube, by contrast, streamed smoothly via either route, as did iView and SBS On Demand and Stan. We did find it quite puzzling why any version of Android TV would not support Netflix and Prime, the second and fourth most popular streaming services (that’s counting YouTube as being number one).
Apparently the projector is also able to support video calls using the Epson Online Meeting app – powered by Zoom. You’ll need to plug a camera and microphone into the USB socket for that.
(Image credit: Epson)
Verdict
Aside from the inability to play Netflix and Prime Video direct, we were impressed. The Epson EpiqVision EH-LS300B delivers a bright and impressive image to a large screen – and we would indeed recommend using a screen such as one of Epson’s, rather than a non-flat non-reflecting bit of wall, because we assure you, walls will never get the image truly flat. Plus the good quality sound and the extremely long-life light source makes this unit practical for everyday use, with some limitations, as well as for truly immersive bigscreen movie nights.
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