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485 stories archived
Galaxy S26 review: Samsung’s still-compact flagship Android
Small top-tier Android is great to use, being fast, AI-loaded and with reasonable battery life, but falls short of rivals on camera Samsung’s compact flagship phone hasn’t changed much in a year, but the S26 is still one of the best smaller handsets available as rivals grow larger and larger. The S26 is the cheapest and smallest of this year’s top Samsungs, dwarfed by the top-of-the-line S26 Ultra in size and price. But like everything with a memory chip at the moment, the S26 has increased in price by £80 or the equivalent to £879 (€949/$899/A$1,349). At least it has double the starting storage. Continue reading...
MacBook Pro M5 review: serious power, still long battery life
Apple laptop sets new performance bar with more storage, new chips and plenty of options, but now has two-tier specs depending on processor Apple’s Macs have been on a roll this year with the brand new budget MacBook Neo and a faster MacBook Air M5 , but now it’s time for its workhorse MacBook Pro to be upgraded with the fastest, most powerful M-series chips. The latest MacBook Pro comes in two screen sizes and a large range of chip and configuration options. The 14in version starts with the M5 chip costing £1,699 (€1,899/$1,699/A$2,699) and then jumps to the more powerful M5 Pro from £2,199 (€2,499/$2,199/A$3,499) before climbing further for the 16in version or the top M5 Max chip. A pricey machine for professional workloads. Continue reading...
Sonos Play review: a great jack-of-all-trades portable speaker for home or away
Quality wifi bookshelf speaker can go mobile with Bluetooth, long battery life and water resistance, in return to form The Play is a new portable wifi and Bluetooth home speaker that packs the best of Sonos into a jack of all trades that is intended to be a reset point in the company’s recovery from its app debacle that lost it faith, favour and a chief executive. It is the first truly new music speaker since Sonos launched its new app in May 2024, which junked fan-favourite features while causing stability and usage problems for new and old customers alike. The company has spent the best part of two years fixing mistakes, bringing back core features and ensuring the system actually works. Continue reading...
iPhone 17e review: Apple upgrades its cheapest new smartphone
Mid-range handset gets chip, storage and MagSafe upgrades to offer more essential iOS features for less The cheapest new iPhone has been upgraded for this year with a faster chip, double the storage, automatic portraits and MagSafe, providing even more of the core Apple smartphone experience for less. The iPhone 17e is an upgraded version of the mid-range “e” line launched last year with the first iPhone 16e and is the latest member of the iPhone 17 family. It starts at £599 (€699/$599/A$999), undercutting the iPhone 17 and iPhone 16 by £200 and £100 respectively to be the cheapest new iPhone sold by Apple. Screen: 6.1in Super Retina XDR (OLED) (460ppi) Processor: Apple A19 (4-core GPU) RAM: 8GB Storage: 256 or 512GB Operating system: iOS 26 Camera: 48MP rear; 12MP front-facing Connectivity: 5G, wifi 6, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C, Satellite and GNSS Water resistance: IP68 (6 metres for 30 mins) Dimensions: 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8mm Weight: 170g Continue reading...
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review: its huge screen blocks shoulder surfers from spying on you
Latest Android superphone packs great cameras, fast chips, long battery, a stylus and first-of-its-kind privacy display Samsung’s latest Ultra superphone promises to keep shoulder surfers out of your business with a first-of-its-kind privacy display built into its huge 6.9in screen. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is Samsung’s top-of-the-line phone costing £1,279 (€1,449/$1,299/A$2,199) and is one of the most feature-packed handsets you can get, with four cameras on the back, an integrated stylus and AI assistance in every corner. Continue reading...