/lifestyle/technology/rss 九一星空无限 Wed, 15 Oct 2025 17:57:11 Z en /lifestyle/technology/dyson-airwrap-co-anda-2x-licensed-to-style/ /lifestyle/technology/dyson-airwrap-co-anda-2x-licensed-to-style/ Remember when Dyson launched the original Airwrap in 2018? Hot off the success of the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer, suddenly this was the must-have hairstyling accessory everyone was talking about. Well... everyone with hair, anyway. Even blokes who had no interest in - or indeed any use for - a tool that could produce salon-style curves and waves in just a few minutes, soon learned they'd be very popular with the long-haired ladies in their life if an Airwrap found its way under the Christmas tree that year. It turns out, moving streams of either fluid or air have a tendency to attach to curved surfaces, pulling other things into their slipstream with them. By harnessing the power of the Coandӑ effect, Dyson literally invented a whole new way to style hair and boy, was it popular.  But Dyson has never been a company to rest on its laurels. Over the proceeding years some minor updates have been made but now there's a whole new game in town. And it comes in a beautiful presentation box.  The latest Dyson Airwrap is called the Airwrap Co-anda 2x - and that box is just full of surprises. It's a large box, with a luxurious, soft-touch feel to it. Not only will it keep the new Airwrap and its associated accessories safe inside, the upturned lid becomes a velvet-covered beauty console, complete with a little stand for your smartphone. That's not so you can keep up-to-date with your social feeds. The idea is to pair with your new Airwrap Co-anda 2x via the MyDyson app. Not only will the app then serve you a selection of instructional videos on how to get the most out of your new styling toy, it will literally guide you, step by step, if that's what you need. I've unleashed a few willing volunteers on the Airwrap Co-anda 2x and they all assure me, without exception, you'll definitely need a few tips and pointers. After all, if you want your hair to look like it's been styled by a pro, you're going to have to learn one or two actual techniques. At least the Airwrap Co-anda 2x is light, well-balanced and its oval profile is extremely comfortable to hold, so you won't get a tired arm while you figure out how to use it. Especially since there are more attachments included than ever before - and these have been dramatically reimagined too. To begin with, there's not one but two curling barrels, a 30mm and a 40mm option. Improving on the original Airwrap, these barrels (like the more recently updated ones) are bi-directional; a simple twist at the top changes the direction of the air-flow so your curls don't end up going the same way on both sides. (This is a major fashion faux pas. Everyone knows that). The curling barrels are now straight cylinders, not cone-shaped as before. This means you can curl more hair at once, more evenly. And obviously, using the larger 40mm barrel means looser, more wave-like curls. There are two styling brushes; First, the round volumising brush 2x, to help you plump up your style without the frizz you'd encounter with old-fashioned teasing. Dyson has tapered the bristles so you can focus the brush's attention on one section of your hair at a time. Secondly, the anti-snag loop brush 2x let's you pull your style into shape without pulling uncomfortably on your scalp. It's all thanks to Dyson's clever little loop bristles. Because great hair shouldn't give you a headache. Before I started reviewing Dyson hair care products, I didn't know what a flyaway was. In fact, I'd never even heard of them. What an amateur! Now I'm experienced enough to know these are those rogue hairs that just won't fall in line with the rest, ruining your otherwise pristine do. Unless you use the Airsmooth2x attachment, of course. This is kind of like a set of mini-straighteners - except without the searing hot heat-plates - so no risk of scorching your lovely locks. Instead, a precisely controlled dual-flow of high-speed air forces those rogue flyaways back into line, resulting in a healthy, shiny and above all, smooth finish. But it's the new fast dryer 2x that's caused the most comment, because it's just so damn good. The Dyson Hyperdymium 2 motor provides twice the air pressure - thus the 2x on the end of everything. That means you can now dry your hair faster than ever, still at tightly regulated temperatures to prevent any damage. Each attachment is RFID chipped so the Airwrap can remember exactly which setting you used last time around. Still, it's curls you came for and it's curls you shall have. But as I mentioned earlier, it will take a bit of practice and perseverance.  As clever as the Airwrap Co-anda 2x is, it can't do everything for you. More attachments means more techniques to learn but don't worry, the MyDyson app has you covered. From what I've seen in my observation of my test subjects in action, it's a good idea to master as much of what the new Airwrap has to offer before you let your 20-something daughters have a go. Their youthful ability to pick up new technology and make it work perfectly on their first attempt is impressive - but also infuriating and annoying. From what I've seen, anyway. You may not be aware, but Dyson now also has a range of oils, creams, sprays and serums to help you achieve an even greater range of styles - the right combination of which will undoubtedly assist in solving the one general complaint my test subjects have had to offer; the curls don't stay in. I've tried giving advice. "Did you leave your hair slightly damp before styling?" I have asked, helpfully, "Are you sure you used a blast of cold air to set the curls in place?" "That happens automatically," I was told. In no uncertain terms. It seems I might be somewhat out of my depth here. All I know is, everyone now looks very beautiful and I think the Airwrap Co-anda 2x definitely had something to do with it.      Click here for more information and pricing on the Dyson Airwrap Co-anda 2x. Wed, 15 Oct 2025 00:02:46 Z /lifestyle/technology/apple-watch-series-11-no-major-shake-up-still-the-best/ /lifestyle/technology/apple-watch-series-11-no-major-shake-up-still-the-best/ There are many reasons why I consider Apple Watch to be the best smartwatch available. The interchangeable bands are genius. The rotating crown is useful. Even the simple fact it has a square display means information is shown in a more familiar and easier-to-consume way than on smartwatches that use a round face. Lastly, what many people consider to be Apple Watch's greatest downside, is actually the best thing about it... It still only works within the Apple ecosystem. You can't pair an Apple Watch with any phone that isn't an iPhone. So yes, of course, if you're not an iPhone user, that's a bummer. But if you are, then you know that like every other Apple product, the Watch will just work. Flawlessly. Notifications will appear reliably and in a timely fashion. You can reply to emails, texts and messages. Media controls won't just mysteriously stop working for no reason. And when it comes to interacting with other Apple gadgets, what a delight. Turn your lights on and off with your Watch. Start an Apple Fitness workout on your Apple TV with your Watch. Unlock your Mac with your Watch. Sync all your health, fitness and sleep data to your iPhone with your Watch. Apple's (essentially) closed system means a controlled system - if they can't make a feature work first time, every time, it stays in Beta. So when the Watch Series 11 launched last month and some critics claimed it hadn't changed much from last year's model, I said, "Good." Apple Watch Series 11 is available in four aluminium finishes and three polished titanium options, although you could definitely argue the seven colour choices are somewhat muted this year, most of them varying shades of silver or gold - with the exception of the Jet Black option. Although I don't mind a reasonably chunky bit of wrist-wear, a large, heavy timepiece isn't everyone's cup of tea, so it's great to see Apple has kept the design as slim and light as the Series 10 - so it's still the thinnest Apple Watch we've seen. This is made more impressive by the fact the Ion-X glass covering the display on the aluminium models is bonded with a new ceramic coating, making it twice as scratch resistant than the Series 10 faces were. With the introduction of "Liquid Glass" in iOS 26, making the icons on your iPhone's home screen look transparent and 3D, Apple has replicated those effects in WatchOS 26, and there are some rather beguiling new watch-faces that really take advantage of that eye-catching effect. If you had any doubts about how much more dazzling the display is on the Series 11 when compared to its much less expensive stablemate, the SE 3, let me lay those to rest. The useable part of the screen stretches right to where the edges curve away, so there are almost no visible bezels at all. In fact, the general curviness of the device makes it so comfortable to wear to bed for sleep tracking, I'm hardly aware I'm wearing it at all. Another important element of using your watch for sleep tracking is the battery. I used to just put whatever smartwatch I was using on to charge overnight. Now, with Apple claiming up to 24 hours "normal use" on a single charge, I typically just top it off just before bed and thanks to fast-charging, the Series 11 is usually close to 100% by the time I'm ready to put it on again and go to sleep. While you're sleeping is when a lot of the Series 11 health tracking kicks in too - not just detecting how long you spend in each sleep stage but also monitoring for sleep apnoea and unusual fluctuations in wrist temperature. You can check all these stats out on the Apple Health app in the morning. But this year's big Apple Watch breakthrough is Hypertension Notifications. Don't ask me how this works exactly, because you can't actually take a specific blood-pressure reading using the Series 11. However, after you've entered 14 days of BP information, compatible Apple Watches can then monitor for abnormally high blood pressure and notify you that you might be experiencing hypertension. That's great peace-of-mind for someone like me, with a family history. Apart from the Liquid Glass business, WatchOS 26 isn't a wild departure from the previous version, although I certainly appreciate the little tweaks Apple has made to the workout screens and you now have the option of rating how challenging you found your workout - more useful data that I assume contributes to the new "Vitals" section in Apple Health - an overall summary of your health and fitness trends that grows more accurate over time and can alert you if things start going off the rails. A lot of these new tricks and features are thanks in no small part to the latest S10 chip, which powers all three of the Apple Watch models launched in September. With its 64-bit dual-core processor, 4-core Neural Engine and 64GB of built-in storage, you could be forgiven for assuming I'd just listed the specs of a phone, not a watch. Of course, the cellular variants of Apple Watch Series 11 basically work like they're an independent phone anyway, especially with the improved, dual antenna design. More and more New Zealand carriers are introducing inexpensive addon-plans for cellular-enabled smartwatches, and from my experience, it's very freeing to be able to leave your phone behind when you're off exercising or walking the dog. As you can tell, I'm a fan. Even so, I'm not going to try and convince to upgrade if you only just bought a Series 10 Apple Watch from last year. The 2025 model is an upgrade - but I wouldn't have thought the tougher screen, new chip and improved battery life would compel many people to trade up. On the other hand, if you're still rocking something from 2023 or before, it might just be time to treat yourself to some new wrist candy.      Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple Watch Series 11. Sun, 12 Oct 2025 23:38:23 Z /lifestyle/technology/motorola-razr-60-come-for-the-bend-stay-for-the-ai/ /lifestyle/technology/motorola-razr-60-come-for-the-bend-stay-for-the-ai/ I know we should probably be taking them for granted by now, but I still find bendy phones a bit of a novelty. And that's coming from a guy who's reviewed a fair few of them. In many ways, I feel like 2025 is the year they really started to come of age, moving from the category of pricey gimmick, with limited real-world specs, into a more mainstream, well set up, productive tool. If you're considering a new phone, now's the time to consider a foldable - not just because it bends in the middle, but because it's just a good phone. A fine example is the motorola razr 60 - a handset I was determined to judge objectively as a phone first, then a clamshell foldable second. I need to start with the box. Have you ever heard the expression, "There's nothing like the smell of a brand new phone?" No, of course you haven't. Why would anyone say that? Well, it turns out, Motorola literally adds a "Signature Packaging Fragrance" to enhance the unboxing experience, so the razr 60 definitely makes an impression before you even start flipping and calling. It's available in Parfait Pink and Gibraltar Sea (dark blue) and you'll find a matching cover/bumper in the box. Initially I used this extra layer of protection but eventually I felt like it made the phone look and feel cheap and plasticky, so I took it off again. Although this means I run the risk of having to explain a damaged review unit when I send it back to Motorola, at least I feel cool when I slip it out my pocket to use it. Besides, the razr 60 is more durably constructed than ever before; a stronger, titanium-based hinge plate, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protecting the external display and an easy-grip, soft-touch faux-leather back panel, embossed with reflective Motorola and razr logos. I'm a fan of the Motorola UI, because it's about as close to the stock Android 15 OS as you can get. Very little bloat and the settings are comprehensive without being overwhelming. However, unlike some other brands, I always find setting up a new Motorola is a bit more of a mission. You can transfer some settings, files and apps from your previous device but I was frustrated to discover not all my apps installed automatically and very few were pre-logged in for me when I opened them. But if you're looking for AI options, you've definitely come to the right place. Motorola parks its own moto ai prompt on screen as a floating button (assuming you decide to use it). This means interactive AI is always just a tap away, no matter which app or browser window you have open.  As far as I'm concerned, right now there's two types of AI available to you on most premium smartphones; one is this kind - where you consciously have to summon it, like a genie from a bottle. On the razr 60, this option gets confusing quickly because depending on what's on your screen, you're met with several inquiry prompts including the option to use Co-pilot Vision or perhaps to "Ask Perplexity." To muddy things even more, as an Android device, you also have the option to use Google's AI, Gemini, as your virtual assistant and general font of all knowledge. So is moto ai it's own entity? Or just a portal to other AI services? Maybe both. You see, the second type of AI is much less in-your-face. It's the AI that works away in the background, assisting you with your photos and videos without you even realising it. Taking note of your interactions and notifications so when you ask it to, "Catch Me Up" it knows what you mean and is able to sift through the spam, advertising and other fluff to provide you with information you actually need. I'm sure, in time, I can keep fiddling with moto ai's settings to make it a little less intrusive and a lot more productive. Let's just say I can assure you the razr 60 has all the AI options you could currently ask for - an then some. None of that works without the right chip, of course. Although the MediaTek Dimensity 7400X chip is not the latest or greatest currently on the market, the "X" in its name means it's been specifically tweaked to run folding handsets like this one as efficiently and smoothly as possible - and that's certainly been my experience. Features like face unlock and the fingerprint reader work so fast, most times the phone has opened to the home screen before I've thought about unlocking it. That applies to both displays by the way, and here, I will have to wax lyrical for a bit about my favourite feature on the razr 60; the external display. While the pOLED outer screen is only 3.6-inches and some of it is obscured by the twin lenses of the primary camera array, you can still use it just like any other phone screen. For some reason, other clamshell folding phone producers insist on limiting the functionality of their external displays to showing the odd notification and giving you a limited choice of device-specific widgets to interact with.  I've never understood that. If I want to open my browser and scroll down a web page on my 3.6-inch screen, I should be allowed to. After all, it's my screen. If it's not a very satisfying experience, guess what? I probably won't do it again and I'll open the razr 60 up and use the 6.9-inch internal display instead. But I should at least have the choice. That's exactly what the razr 60 offers; the choice to use the small, outer screen however you want. Rotate it. Put widgets on it. Reply to emails with it. Whatever. Of course, the true advantage of this form factor is the ability to use that main camera to shoot selfie. The razr 60 has now added a fun "Photo Booth" option that fires off a series of four shots, one every three seconds, then compiles them in a snapshot-style collage. Motorola is also pretty proud of its gesture-based video controls; wave to start shooting, close your fist and hold to pause, or just show your fist to stop recording. You see? This is that behind-the-scenes AI at work. The razr 60 is a phone full of little tricks like that; give the phone a little double twist and the camera app opens. Double-tap the back of the phone to launch your choice of customisable shortcut. But back to the cameras. Those two outside lenses are a 50MP main shooter and a 13MP Ultra-Wide, giving you a selection of 24mm, 35mm or 50mm options for portraits, sharp macro shooting and decent optical zoom. Here are a couple of shots using different zooms and lenses... Interestingly, the razr 60 is very well equipped when it comes to the internal selfie-cam too. The 32MP sensor provides incredibly clear footage in all lighting conditions. Selfie videos can be taken at 30fps and 60fps in FHD, or 30fps in 4K.  There are also a few other interesting camera options like Dual Capture and Tilt Shift - the latter creating interesting effects with light and mixed focus. Or you can shoot video in handy-cam mode - with the phone open at right-angles. This is fun to do but despite the more robust redesign of the hinge, I would have preferred one that's a bit stiffer. I found it didn't really stay at the angle I wanted it to, especially if I was on the move. Battery life from the 4,500mAh battery is terrific. I guess that might be because a lot of time you're using the device, you're doing it on the smaller, external display. I also love that you can charge wirelessly at 15W. See? There's a lot more to this handset than just the fact it folds - although it does that very well too. If you thought foldables were just a fad, it's time to think again.      Click here for more information on the motorola razr 60. Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:15:18 Z /lifestyle/technology/apple-iphone-17-as-close-to-pro-as-you-can-go/ /lifestyle/technology/apple-iphone-17-as-close-to-pro-as-you-can-go/ In the wake of September's massive launch of Apple devices, I sense a trend. The base model devices and even the "entry-level" Apple Watch SE 3 are almost too good. Not too good for the consumer. Too good for Apple's more premium, Pro and Ultra offerings. What I mean by that is we now seem to be getting more high-end features than ever for a lot less cash. The iPhone 17 is a classic case in point. In fact, for a start, the base model even offers more colours. The iPhone Air comes in four colours, while the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max only come in three. With the iPhone 17, you get to choose between Lavender, Sage, Mist Blue, White and Black - that's five options, although as I pointed out in my iPhone Air review, the Black one is more of a reflective gun-metal than plain black. My review unit is Sage, and I've been reliably informed by my resident Gen-Z consultant that it looks very pretty. Certainly, the new green, purple and blue options lean towards the subtle, pastel end of the scale. The 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display is protected by Apple's latest Ceramic Shield 2, which bonds to the glass at an atomic level. That certainly sounds very impressive and allegedly makes the screen harder to scratch than ever before. It's brighter - so no problems using outside in the sunshine - especially when there's a new level of anti-reflection built into the screen as well. For the first time, the base model iPhone sports a 120Hz, ProMotion display, so you'll get the same, silky smooth response only Pro-users have enjoyed up until now. Not only does this make navigating the new iOS 26 user interface as fluid as its "Liquid Glass" moniker suggests, but mobile gamers will really notice the upgrade. That also means this is the first base-model iPhone to offer Always On Display - so you can keep an eye on incoming notifications while it's sitting on your desk. Another follow-on effect of the display upgrade is that the iPhone 17 will now display a bedside clock in StandBy mode if you're charging it in landscape. Surely all this extra screen-on time must seriously eat into your battery life? Remember when non-iPhone owners used to make fun of "Apple people" for their handsets' appalling battery life? These days, that issue has been well and truly put to bed. Not only will the iPhone 17 coast through a heavy day, with AOD activated - if you use the right charger it'll juice up super fast too. But perhaps the number one reason this year's base-model iPhone feels so Pro is the camera setup. You get not one but two 48MP Fusion cameras on the back, which means the option of incredible high-res images, not to mention crystal clear 2x telephoto zoom and fantastically well-balanced Ultra Wide shots. It's the selfie cam that could be the real star here though. This year, all the iPhones feature an 18MP Centre Stage front-facing camera which now houses a square sensor. The squareness gives you the ability to change the aspect-ratio of the shot in real time. This makes shooting a 16:9 landscape selfie video much easier because you no longer have to hold the handset sideways. Apple has now brought Dual Capture to iPhone too, utilising both front and rear cameras so you can record your reaction to your subject simultaneously. And as part of Apple Intelligence in iOS 26, the selfie camera will now automatically detect how many people are in shot and adjust the zoom accordingly, to fit you all in. I tested this out at the theatre the other night and it was so refreshing to be able to just line up the shot, point and shoot and end up with a perfectly framed, low-light pic. That seems to be the way Apple is going with its AI features. Rather than bash you over the head with them, they're just there, quietly working away in the background without you having to physically summon them with a particular button or dedicated app. That's what iOS 26 is all about; harnessing the sheer power and efficiency of the new A19 chip to run this phone in the way that suits you best. That starts with cosmetic things like the much-vaunted Liquid Glass makeover of the app icons and widgets - I have mine tinted red obviously - then leads to a host of AI tweaks that make your day more productive in countless ways. For example, take the way Apple Intelligence prioritises things for me. It started by separating my emails into different categories so I could focus on the important ones and leave the fluff till later. Now my messages and notifications are all prioritised, sorted and summarised too. Nothing makes you feel more productive than ignoring a bunch of advertising and subscription updates. If the base model is this good, I can only imagine what's in store for me with the iPhone 17 Pro Max. But that's another review for another day. In the meantime, I couldn't be happier with the plain old iPhone 17... because there really isn't anything plain about it. Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple iPhone 17. Wed, 08 Oct 2025 00:15:31 Z /lifestyle/technology/dyson-pencilvac-fluffycones-silly-name-serious-clean/ /lifestyle/technology/dyson-pencilvac-fluffycones-silly-name-serious-clean/ It's a problem as old as vacuum cleaners themselves. In fact, I assume it dates back to the manual floor-sweeping machines that came before them. Tangles. If you, or someone close to you has hair of any length, sooner or later some of it's going to end up on the floor. If you have some hairy breed of pet, they're also contributing to your vacuum cleaner's next tangly ambush. But it's just the physics of floor cleaning, right? If you have a rotating brush of any kind, tangles are just an inevitable part of it. Well, not according to Dyson. The PencilVac Fluffycones is a hard-floor cleaner like you've never seen before. How many times has Dyson caused us to say, "Like you've never seen before," over the years? As usual, the fabled Dyson engineering team has taken the tangle problem, and instead of adapting current technology to it, they've essentially built a solution starting from scratch. Well, not quite. We have seen a couple of recent Dyson products with tangle-free heads and they seem to work one of two different ways. Some heads are fitted with a special comb that pulls hair from the brush before it can get all wrapped up but then there's the second, even more elegant solution. Telling the hair to get screwed. Much like an Archimedes screw, the device he invented to get water to flow uphill, Dyson looked to a rotating cone to force long hair to one end of the brush head where it gets sucked away. But why have just one cone when you can have four? Now you begin to understand what makes the PencilVac Fluffycones so good at its job. The four cones have been mounted in pairs and the mechanical head rotates them towards each other, so there's no escape for any dust, dirt and yes, hair. Long hairs are simply "coned" out to the edges of the brush head where they can be sucked up by the startling power of Dyson's fastest motor yet. But why just solve one problem at a time? What about cleaning the edges of your floor? In my experience, the only way to vacuum along skirting boards is to use some kind of specific brush attachment and that's probably after you've already scratched the paintwork with years of vacuum heads running pointlessly along it. The Fluffycones are indeed fluffy - and they stick out slightly past the brush head housing so you CAN actually butt them up against the skirting, leaving no corner unvacuumed. Problem three? How about how heavy and bulky conventional stick vacuums are? Sure, they may come with attachments for brushing away cobwebs from walls, ceilings and light fittings, but have you ever tried waving one around over your head for any length of time? Which is why Dyson made this the world's thinnest vacuum. The handle, battery and dustbin is just 38mm in diameter - about the same as Dyson's Supersonic and Airwrap haircare devices. One reason hairdressers and consumers love using those tools so much is how light and comfortable they are to hold - even for long periods of time. So yet again, Dyson has completely reinvented the form-factor of a stick vacuum so it's essentially the size and shape of a broom handle. Unfortunately, that means the dustbin only has a 0.08 litre capacity, which would be an issue except thanks to that groundbreakingly fast hyperdymium motor, the bin fills from the top down, with the contents compacted by a continuous blast of compressed air. This not only means you can fit more icky stuff into less space, it also results in much less dust when you empty it out. Oh... about that; yet another problem solved. Bagless vacuums of the past always seem like a good idea right up until you open them over your bin, attempt to shake the contents out and end up having to dig half of the mess out with your fingers, while a helpful breeze blows all the dust back in your face. The PencilVac Fluffycones eliminates those hazards with its unique "syringe" emptying system. It literally squeezes the contents of the dustbin down into the tube when you slide it open - then it falls gracefully into the bin without ever touching my delicate digits. So it's tangle-free. It's slim. It's light. And there's absolutely no mess when it comes to emptying. What more can you ask for? Well... it's probably the most flexible head of any vacuum I've ever used. It rotates 360° and because the Fluffycones spin towards each other, it can be used in any direction.  The head is also equipped with green LED lights front and back (if there IS a front or a back) so you can detect every speck of dust, every crumb and every strand of hair. When it comes to hard floors, the Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones certainly cleans up. The funny thing is, because Dyson is essentially my personal benchmark for great design, there are a couple of things that have made me ask, "Why haven't they done this as well?" The first thing I'd like to see is even more ability to get under things. Dyson claims the Fluffycones head will reach under anything more than 95mm off the ground - which is crazy - but in fact, the head itself is even slimmer. If the handle joint - which, as we've established, is probably the most flexible I've ever seen - if it could somehow lie down flush with the head itself, there wouldn't be many pieces of furniture you couldn't vacuum under. The next thing I'd change if I could would be an extra set of controls on the other side of the handle. This is because the PencilVac is so manoeuvrable, you end up holding the handle "backwards" about half the time. That means I often reach for the power button, only to find it isn't there and I have to twist everything around again to get at it. By the same token, the magnetic charging stand also only works one way - and it never seems to be the way I first attempt to dock the PencilVac - so again, another twist is required. I'm sounding high-maintenance now, aren't I? So one more then; I would also like to be able to leave it standing upright in the middle of the floor, without having to lean it against anything. When you're moving mats and small pieces of furniture out of the way to clean under them, it's kind of annoying to have to lie the PencilVac down on the floor or lean it against a wall - especially because being so twisty and turny, it's actually quite difficult to lean it against the wall without the totally round handle sliding down and clattering to the floor anyway. Please, Dyson engineers - if you're reading this, don't take these comments as complaints, take them as suggestions for the next model. If your past performance is anything to go by, you've probably thought of all this stuff anyway and you're already working on the next prototype.           Click here for more information and pricing on the Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones cleaner. Tue, 07 Oct 2025 03:39:49 Z /lifestyle/technology/apple-watch-se-3-worthy-of-your-consideration/ /lifestyle/technology/apple-watch-se-3-worthy-of-your-consideration/ If you're reading this it's likely you... a) Have never owned a smartwatch before and you're wondering where to start. b) Are considering upgrading from an older Apple Watch and you're checking out all the options. Or... c) You're just an uber-fan of mine, you really dig my writing style and you'll read pretty much anything I publish. Okay, option c) isn't all that likely, so let's stick with the first two. As is often the case with Special Editions, or Fan Editions or whatever other name has been given to the more budget-friendly option, for the uninitiated it can be hard to see exactly where the cost savings have been made. So the question is, if it's that hard to tell the difference, does it even matter? The first compromise you'll have to make if you choose the Apple Watch SE 3 over the new Series 11 model is colour. You still get a choice; Midnight - which is kind of a bluey-black, or Starlight - which isn't really silver but isn't really gold either. Both versatile colours sure, but you get to choose from a range of seven with Watch Series 11. Then there's the screen size - it's a complicated calculation because the Series 11 is altogether slightly larger and has a new, wide-angle display - it has a much higher peak-brightness rating too. In saying that, I've had no issues reading my SE 3 inside or out, and the Retina display is now protected by a new grade of Ion-X glass which Apple claims is 4 times more crack-resistant than the face of the Watch SE 2.  That's good news, because I actually own an SE 2, and as much as I love it, it is pretty scratched up. It'll be interesting to see how the new generation fares over time but I certainly haven't managed to knick it yet - and I've been wearing it everywhere; working out, sleeping, gardening - you name it. For the first time you also have the option of AOD - keeping the screen on even when your wrist is down. This gives you the opportunity to keep an eye on the time and your notifications without having to make a big song and dance about it. In terms of sensors and health tracking, the SE 3 is a giant step up from its predecessor, and although it can't run ECG scans and isn't capable of monitoring hypertension or blood oxygen like its Series 11 stablemates can, it does now have a temperature sensor which means it'll notify you of unusual skin-temp fluctuations and can provide retrospective ovulation estimates too. The SE 3's sleep tracking is also more advanced than ever. You'll be notified if any nocturnal breathing irregularities look like sleep apnea so you can go and get checked out right away. Another significant compromise between the Series 11 and the SE 3 is battery life, although this is probably only going to be an issue if you're a particularly demanding user. I have had no worries getting through my long, breakfast radio day on a single charge. The best thing is, that single charge happens faster than ever - with the right charger a 15-minute top-up should be good for about another eight hours use. Because I wear my watch for sleep tracking, I tend to stick it on to charge for half-an hour or so before I go to bed. That seems to be all I need to get it back to 100% or close to most nights. As well as taking phone calls, the SE 3 is now capable of playing audio from any installed apps through its speaker. I don't quite know why you'd choose this method over a good set of wireless earbuds (don't miss my AirPods Pro 3 review in the next couple of weeks) but I guess if you've left them behind somewhere, it's good to have a backup. What's impressed me most about the Watch SE 3 is how I've just never found myself frustrated by the lack of something it doesn't have. All my widgets, apps and shortcuts work, just the same way as any other Apple Watch I've ever used and when tracking my exercise, the display is bright, easy-to-read and shows all the metrics I want it to. If my workout is one of the many excellent classes available through Apple Fitness, the SE 3 pairs with the iPad or Apple TV I'm watching my instructor on and shows all my data on-screen, along with other useful info, like how much time is left in each exercise or set. As part of watchOS 26, my watch now asks me to rate how hard or easy my workout was, and this added into my other collated metrics in the health app, to give me a more accurate summary of exactly where I am on my health and fitness journey. watchOS 26 also means new faces and that "Liquid Glass" effect that has had Apple fans raving. Just like other late-model Apple Watches, you can also use Double-Tap and Wrist-Flick gestures to make using the SE 3 a one-handed operation. Double-Tap (a quick repeated pinch of thumb and forefinger) let's you do a variety of things, depending on what app you're using at the time. Maybe it plays or pauses your podcast, for example. Meanwhile, the Wrist-Flick helps you to toss away incoming notifications so you can deal with them later. Incredibly, the SE 3 has exactly the same S10 chip as the Series 11 and Ultra 3 models - that includes a 4-core neural engine that allows you to do things like chat with Siri "on device" - no data connection required. See? Talk about blurring the lines between the watch that starts from NZ$469.00 and the one that starts at NZ$749.00. With the latest chip, faster charging and a stronger build, the SE 3 isn't just a huge improvement on the SE 2, it out-performs many other, older Apple Watches too. That's why I recommend to give it a serious look if you've decided to upgrade, or you're starting out with a smartwatch for the very first time.      Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple Watch SE 3. Mon, 06 Oct 2025 01:15:19 Z /lifestyle/technology/logitech-mx-master-4-the-mouse-you-love-just-got-more-loveable/ /lifestyle/technology/logitech-mx-master-4-the-mouse-you-love-just-got-more-loveable/ I'm sure I'm not alone when I say the Logitech MX Master 3 is my favourite mouse. Here's a quick recap why... Long-lasting, rechargeable battery. Durable, super-ergonomic build. Fully programmable controls. Horizontal scroll wheel as well as a vertical one. Forward/back buttons. Extra thumb rest button. I use it every day, constantly, from about 3:45AM to 9:30 or 10:00. It's never let me down. I fire off music with it. I edit audio with it. It's essentially an extension of my hand. And now it's even better. The Logitech MX Master 4 looks similar - but not exactly the same - as its predecessor. On close inspection, the surface is slightly grippier. The whole thumb rest is now a button, instead of having a tiny one set into it, and there is now a new button entirely, just in front of the forward and back ones. Other than that, ergonomically it feels very much the same. That is to say, it feels sublimely natural in my relaxed hand. The "skates" - the smooth patches on the base that ensure the mouse slides around as frictionlessly as possible - are much larger on the new model. They also seem to be more protected around the edges which is helpful because that's one of the few places where my previous MX Master is showing signs of wear and tear. Like the MX Master 3, the new edition features an Easy Switch button that toggles the connection between up to three devices. This is really handy for me because I'm often reviewing several gadgets at once and it's so much more convenient to use the same mouse for all of them.  This time around there's a new Logi Bolt USB-C dongle for an even faster, lag-free wireless connection - not that I've ever experienced any noticeable lag with my old MX Master. It pays to plug this dongle into something though, because it's tiny, and if you're anything like me, if you don't use it, you'll literally lose it. There's another, even more seamless way to swap between devices, called Flow. All you have to do is install Logi Options+ on each device and assuming you're logged in with the same account and connected to the same Wi-Fi network, the MX Master 4 will now work across each screen, even allowing you to drag and drop items from one device to another. Oh, and there's another way to switch, but we'll get to that shortly. Battery life is pretty crazy - Logitech claims you'll get up to 70 days on a full charge. Obviously I haven't been able to prove or disprove that yet. Come back to me in two months. Logitech also claims left and right button clicks are now 90% quieter. Who knew loud clicking was an issue? Well... I guess now it isn't. What really unlocks the MX Master 4's productivity boosts is the Logi Options+ app. This is available for both Mac and PC and not only will this show the mouse's current charge level and give you access to any firmware updates Logitech pushes out, more importantly, it's how you customise any of the 8 different buttons. The list of operations you can assign to each control seems to have grown exponentially over the years. From things like play/pausing media, opening favourite apps or taking screenshots, to setting off a dialogue with your preferred AI, here's not much that can't be put on a button and yes, that includes changing devices. In fact, if you have a compatible Logi keyboard like I do, you can transfer it over to the other device, along with the mouse, in one single click. There's also a growing number of 3rd-party programs that are compatible with MX Master, meaning you can have a different set of controls depending what app you have open at the time - think zooming in and out in Adobe Photoshop, for example. And if the choice of eight buttons isn't enough, now Logitech has introduced Action Ring - an on-screen circle of eight more programmable options, another eight virtual buttons if you like. This is set to provide a haptic vibration when you hover over or select any option. That vibration is felt mostly through the new, much larger thumb-rest button and you can alter the intensity of the haptic feedback and even when it happens. One option is to get a little vibration when you move the cursor from one screen to another in a multi-display setup. Mystifyingly, Logitech claims all these enhancements, additions and updates can save up to 33% of your time. How that could possibly be measured, I have absolutely no idea. What I can tell you is I do a lot of copying and pasting from one folder to another. Now, not only can I open my most commonly used folders with the touch of a button, I can also copy or paste with single click. I don't know about making my workflow a third faster, but it's definitely more efficient. And that's before you get to the fact this is just a great mouse to use; it feels super comfy, it's beautifully crafted, has excellent precision and can work on practically any surface - including glass. And have you heard how quiet the clicks are? No? Exactly.      Click here for more information and pricing on the Logitech MX Master 4. Fri, 03 Oct 2025 00:02:23 Z /lifestyle/technology/apple-iphone-air-so-this-is-new/ /lifestyle/technology/apple-iphone-air-so-this-is-new/ What I've learned from watching the world of tech pretty closely for a number of years now; Things generally evolve steadily, bit by bit. Devices gradually improve - honing some features, adding new ones - and while the difference between one generation and the next may be slight, overall, when you compare most gadgets to their predecessors from four or five years ago, the improvements are thrown into stark relief. But every now and again, a device launches that's more out-of-the-blue - even revolutionary. Most of the time, that means a lot of excitement and hype - but also a lot of bugs and teething issues for early adopters to deal with. What's rare is for something genuinely new to come along and for it to just work, straight out of the box. The iPhone Air might just be the most significant iPhone since Steve Jobs showed off the first one back in 2007. The way Apple has pretty much started from scratch to come up with the world's thinnest phone is so much more groundbreaking than it seems to be getting credit for. Okay, at 5.6mm the iPhone Air is not actually thinner than a couple of folding phones out there (when they're unfolded) but for a conventional handset, this is definitely Apple's least conventional yet. It really is quite breathtaking when you see it and hold it for the first time - in fact, I've yet to meet anybody who wasn't impressed when I showed it to them. It's not just that it's noticeably thinner than other phones, at just 165 grams, it weighs almost nothing. It exudes sci-fi movie vibes - you know; when they pull out a wafer thin piece of glass and use it as a phone. There are four colours, Sky Blue, Light Gold, Cloud White and importantly, Space Black - making it the only black iPhone you can buy this year. (The "black" base model iPhone 17 isn't really black - looks more gunmetal to me) The grade 5 titanium frame helps keep things light - and flexible. And this is one of the first big surprises about this remarkable handset; its durability. I've seen footage of drop, water ingress and flex tests that just about made my eyes pop out. The front of the phone is protected by the new Ceramic Shield 2, which offers multiple times more scratch resistance than ever before. There's also a Ceramic Shield coating on the back panel to prevent cracks. This is good news because the iPhone Air is one phone I can't bring myself to hide away in a case. Which is not to say there aren't cases available, of course. Apple also offers a bumper which protects the Air's edges without obscuring any of its unique design. This can be paired with the new Crossbody strap so you can wear the phone like a tiny handbag. I usually just stuff it in my pocket - then have to keep checking if it's still there because it really is that slim. Except for the "camera plateau" of course. This is a new design feature Apple has carried across to the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max as well - a raised camera bump that stretches all the way across the upper section of the rear panel. Intriguingly, I understand this new plateau houses more than just the camera; the vast majority of the iPhone Air's components are squeezed in there, with the rest of what's left of the phone mostly filled with battery. Unfortunately, the camera is indeed one area where obvious compromises have been made to achieve the Air's final form. Although Apple claims the 48MP Fusion camera "puts the equivalent of four lenses in your pocket" in the end, there's only one physical sensor there and like the iPhone 16e camera before it, there are limitations. There's no Ultra-Wide functionality and no real macro shooting for extreme close-ups either. However, that's not to say it's a bad camera. With the option to shoot at full 48MP, you get exceptional low-light performance and you also get respectable 2X optical zoom. Action mode offers the stable video iPhone has become famous for and as part of the new iOS 26 upgrade, Apple now joins the Dual Capture club - so you can shoot from the selfie and primary cameras simultaneously. Speaking of the forward facing camera, there's absolutely no compromise there. Just like the 17 Pros, the iPhone Air boasts an 18MP Centre Stage camera that has a square sensor - a bit like what you find on some dedicated action cameras. This enables you to change aspect ratio from portrait to landscape without having to awkwardly hold your phone sideways - very handy for group selfies. In fact, the new Centre Stage camera automatically senses how many people are in the shot and zooms in and out automatically to compensate. This is a great demonstration of Apple's brand of AI (Apple Intelligence). Apple has been criticised for being slow off the mark when it comes to AI but I don't think that's the case at all. Instead, many AI features (like the auto-adjusting selfies) are so integrated, so baked-in that you won't specifically identify them as AI in itself. When you first set up the iPhone Air (or any new iPhone) you're asked if you want to opt in to certain AI options - like prioritised notifications, for example. From that point on, that's exactly what happens; the important stuff is brought to your attention first. It works so well, you might not even realise how many pointless taps and swipes it's saving you.  As the fourth member of the 2025 iPhone family, the iPhone Air has replaced the absent iPhone 17 Plus by default. It's not a like-for-like comparison of course; the Plus versions were only ever the base models with bigger screens and batteries. Other than the camera, in terms of functionality, the Air works much more like a Pro - it's fast and silky smooth to use. But yes, in yet another surprise, the 6.5-inch display is larger than the 6.3-inch screen on the iPhone 17. Better chip too - the all-new A19 Pro as opposed to the base A19 version. For me, the biggest surprise of all is battery life. As part of its new host of accessories, Apple included a MagSafe Battery customised specifically to fit the iPhone Air. Inevitably, most of us assumed this meant the Air's battery life would be terrible and we'd need to supplement it with this magnetised external power supply. Except, I haven't had to use it. Not once. Typically, I get up at 2:50Am and don't go to bed until around 8:30PM - that's a long day by smartphone standards but the lowest I've seen the Air's battery go is 48%. Apart from one morning when I left Apple Maps running in the background. Then it drained like bathwater down a plughole. For superusers, I guess that MagSafe Battery provides great piece of mind - especially given once its attached, the iPhone Air actually has the BEST battery life of ANY iPhone. Oh - cool hack BTW; if you plug the Air into a USB-C charger while the MagSafe Battery's attached, you'll charge extra fast, from both sources simultaneously. So battery just hasn't been an issue for me. Despite how slim the Air is, it still has all the cool buttons - including the Action button for programmable shortcuts and Camera Control for quick access to photo settings. The only thing that's missing completely is a physical SIM tray - eSIM-only here and as far as I'm concerned, that's a bonus, not a drawback. The sooner we all move to eSIM the better - it's more secure and easier to transfer from handset to handset. I love this phone. I didn't think I would. I loved the idea of it but when does a great, truly innovative idea like this ever work so well first time out of the gate? Kudos, Apple. You got me.      Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple iPhone Air. Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:35 Z /lifestyle/technology/chargecore-safecharge-max-10k-and-laser-dual-port-45w-usb-wall-charger-time-to-rethink-your-charging-habits/ /lifestyle/technology/chargecore-safecharge-max-10k-and-laser-dual-port-45w-usb-wall-charger-time-to-rethink-your-charging-habits/ We all have them. Most of us have far too many of them. In fact, some us have so many, we're not even sure what they're all for. So we stash them in a drawer or a cupboard thinking they'll probably come in handy one day. And maybe one or two did. But let's be honest; most of them are still in that drawer. Chargers and cables. Some of my drawers are so full I can't open them properly. Even when we throw away the thing the charger charges, we often still keep the charger and the cable. In fact, because we did that, for many products, the tech brands stopped including chargers in the box. So that equation will probably correct itself, right? Eventually we'll end up with the right amount of chargers per device and we're bound to have the exact cable required. Hmmm. I think you can see where I'm going with this. Looks like Laser has brought its range of high-quality - yet reasonably priced - charging accessories to New Zealand at just the right time. We'll get to one of the best power banks I've ever used shortly but first, it's time to have a serious talk about chargers and cables. For a long time there it was true; those little bricks you plugged into the wall, with a USB slot for your cable, were pretty much the same. They cranked out 5V at somewhere between 1A and 2A and it was pretty unusual to find anything different. Then, not only did the charging demands of the devices we were buying change, so did the cable standards. Goodbye, microUSB. Goodbye USB-A. And yes, after far too long, goodbye to Lightning cables too. If you don't know the difference between any of those, don't worry, you're not alone. Luckily, thanks to the EU's somewhat heavy-handed regulations, pretty much everything now charges via USB-C. So that means the same cable for everyone, doesn't it? Not by a long shot. If anything, things have become even more confusing because different cables now look essentially the same. What's worse is phones, laptops, tablets, watches, speakers and earbuds all charge at different speeds - many faster and faster every generation. But only if you have the right charger and the right cable. That's right, not all USB-C cables do the same things - some can carry large amounts of data at sizzling speeds while others are for power only - and possibly not even as much power as you would like. As for those old wall chargers, give them a good hard look - maybe under a magnifying glass. There'll be some tiny print on there - often not even in a contrasting colour - to tell you how many Volts and how many Amps you'll be getting. If you're charging a toothbrush, it probably won't matter much. If you want to charge your phone, your watch and your earbuds all at the same time... forget it. For about NZ$45.00, you can save yourself at least two headaches by snapping up the Laser Dual Port 45W USB Wall Charger. If you just use the USB-C port on its own, it'll charge at 45W - that's even enough for some laptops and means "fast charging" for any capable phone. USB-A ports are more limited but at least the one on this charger puts out a 20W charge with enough voltage to run the majority of those three-device wireless chargers many people have on their bedside table for buds, watch and handset. Even when both ports are in use, you'll get up to 25W from the USB-C and 18W from the USB-C - making this a very compact and convenient travel buddy, providing plenty of juice for at least two devices simultaneously. But what about when there's no wall to plug into? Nothing worse than being out and about watching your phone go flat. That's where Laser's ChargeCore SafeCharge Max comes in. Again, like wall-chargers, you might be thinking, "Why are you telling me about this? I already have a power bank."  Well, if it's anything like the majority of power banks I've tried over the years, your old one is next to useless - and possibly even dangerous. The ChargeCore SafeCharge Max is different in a number of ways - starting with how many devices it can charge at once. There are two USB-A slots, a USB-C and a three-way cable included in the box. That cable is USB-A at one end, then splits into two USB-C and a Lightning plug at the other. This makes it another handy travel tool. Not only does it come in a variety of colours and capacities, it also features a digital LED display so you can see exactly how much charge is left as a percentage. This is so much more useful than a set of three lights that could mean low, medium or high charge. Or even worse, a single LED that might change colour when charge is getting running out. But probably the most important thing to know about Laser's ChargeCore SafeCharge range is what they're made of; Lithium Iron Phosphate - known as LiFePO4. Not only will a LiFePO4 power bank charge up faster and charge other devices more efficiently, it'll last much longer - up to five times the lifespan of conventional lithium-ion products. LiFePO4 is safer too - the ChargeCore SafeCharge Max stays cool and won't swell. And the best feature of all? Once charged, it stays charged. How often have you reached for your power bank only to discover it's gone flat since you last charged it? Not helpful. For the last few days I haven't used my ChargeCore SafeCharge Max 10K but I've checked the battery level (by pushing the button on the side) regularly. It's still on 100%, ready to go. The point to all this is not all charging devices are created equal. Some are useless and others might be downright hazardous. My advice is to use the chargers and cables that came with your device wherever you can. But if you can't, always read that tiny fine print on the plug or better still, maybe just empty out that jammed drawer and treat yourself to some nice, new chargers and cables from Laser.         Click here for more information and pricing on the Laser ChargeCore SafeCharge Max. Click here for more information and pricing on the Laser Dual Port 45W USB Wall Charger. Mon, 29 Sept 2025 22:51:50 Z /lifestyle/technology/samsung-galaxy-a17-and-samsung-galaxy-buds3-fe-for-fans-on-a-budget/ /lifestyle/technology/samsung-galaxy-a17-and-samsung-galaxy-buds3-fe-for-fans-on-a-budget/ If you regularly read my reviews, you could be mistaken for thinking we all live in a high-end, premium, flagship world where we only have access to the latest developments in tech and only the most powerful, fastest and long lasting will do. That's not real for most people, of course. As a reviewer, I get to play with the coolest of the cool toys but if I was shelling out my own hard-earned coin, I'd certainly be prepared to compromise on all sorts of features and addons that aren't what you'd call, "Strictly necessary." So today, I'll try and go some way to answering the classic question; do you really get what you pay for? To do that, I paired the almost entry-level Samsung Galaxy A17 handset with the new Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE. At around NZ$229.00, the Buds3 FE are less entry-level than the NZ$399.00 A17 - but both devices are significantly cheaper than their sister flagships. Of course, in the case of the A17, you can pay THOUSANDS more for the highest of high-end Samsung devices and obviously this particular phone doesn't fold, or come with a stylus inserted into its chassis. However, it doesn't really look particularly cheap, with its modern, square edges and light-catching back panel. It feels light in the hand and the 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display is certainly a decent size. It'd be pretty unusual to find a Samsung device with a bad screen and this one certainly isn't. It's bright, it's colourful and it's protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus - not the toughest Gorilla available but still pretty tough. The A17 also carries an IP54 rating which means you'll get away with splashing it although perhaps not dunking it. The camera setup is a bit hotchpotch - a respectable 13MP selfie-cam paired with a triple-sensor primary shooter on the back; 50MP Wide, 5MP Ultra Wide and 2MP Macro. I guess a 5MP Ultra Wide is better than no Ultra Wide and to be honest, I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the pics and vids I've been shooting. Here's a demo... The camera also performs fairly well in low light... up to a point. And here's the main rub with this phone; it's weak. It's run by the same Exynos1330 chip found in last year's A16 and with just 4GB of RAM, the actual operation of taking a pic in low light is hit and miss because of the lag between button press and the shutter actually firing. In fact, I found this was the case when taking most kinds of photos. This is a frustration that followed through to anything that was even remotely resource-heavy. Apps seem to take an age to load, even native apps like Samsung Health. So this isn't the phone for me - especially given there's no wireless charging and there's not even a built-in screen recorder. However, for some users, they're not going to care about that stuff. They just want a durable, reliable phone with good battery life that will keep working after the 3G shutdown. The A17 probably isn't the worst option. My experience with the Fan Edition Galaxy Buds3 was infinitely more pleasurable. They're a very similar size and shape to the Buds3 Pro, but without the light-up LED strip along the stem. Samsung often changes up the form-factor for its earbuds but I'd suggest there was a lot of positive feedback to this hybrid sealed-fit/external stem design so they've kept it going here. As I suggested when I reviewed the Pros, the stem means an extra point of contact which not only leads to a more stable, snug fit but a more balanced, comfortable wear as well. Alas, unlike the Pro version, the Buds3 FE case only charges via USB-C - not wirelessly. That would usually be a dealbreaker for me except these guys sound rather good. While I'm not convinced these Buds have quite the dynamic range of the Pros, and I'm certain the ANC isn't quite as effective, there's a lot to love about what I'm hearing. I tested the Buds3 FE using the new lossless audio option on Spotify and it rocked. "Wish You Were Gay" by Billie Eilish is already a fantastic track but the production values shine through dramatically when listening on the Buds3 FE. The mix is so stripped back, yet has a lot of elements - from acoustic guitar to crowd sound effects. Each piece of this sonic puzzle has been meticulously placed in the recording and now those pieces are precisely re-placed in my ears. The gentle L.A.B. ballad, "Monica" also starts with a simple acoustic guitar, accompanied with a lonely cabasa to keep the beat. (Okay, it might be one of those egg-shaped shaker things, but in my mind it's a proper cabasa) Again, the baredboned-ness of this mix is transmitted so accurately by the Buds3 FE. Then, as the song builds and soaring lead guitar and crashing drums come to the party, I can still make out the original components with crystal clarity. You even get 360 Audio for fully immersive surround sound if you're listening to the right content on the right app. The pinch and swipe controls mimc those on the Buds3 Pro and the battery life is pretty good too. I love these and if I had to choose between the $229 FEs and the $399 Pros, I'd probably save my money. So I guess you could say there was a winner and a loser here - the cost-saving compromises were too many on the phone but with the Buds3 FE, the features that have been missed haven't been missed nearly so much.      Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy A17. Click here for more information on the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE. Wed, 24 Sept 2025 17:27:07 Z /lifestyle/technology/laser-smart-gaming-projector-recapturing-old-school-fun/ /lifestyle/technology/laser-smart-gaming-projector-recapturing-old-school-fun/ Right, this is going to age me. Dramatically. I still remember the first video gaming console my family ever owned. I can't tell you the year. I can't tell you how old I was. I can't even tell you what make it was - if indeed it had a brand. And yet I can still clearly remember the weird, boxy controllers with the chrome joysticks and the hours I spent playing the games that were hardwired in - all slightly different variations on the original "Pong". You could move a line around the screen to hit a "ball" over the net (a long line) to another line, who would try and hit it back. That was tennis, apparently. Or you could hit it against a wall. Squash, obviously. Anyway, you get the idea. I didn't just spend hours doing this. I spent days. Perhaps even months. You know; gaming. So what if you could recreate that experience for your kids?... I think that's kind of what the Laser Smart Gaming Projector is all about. To start with, I was very impressed with how much stuff was in the box. Not just the projector itself but a remote control, two wireless controllers and a large fabric screen, complete with stick-up hooks and a couple of lengths of rope to allow you to hang it up pretty much anywhere. All that for under NZ$400 - not bad. The second thing to impress me was how simple the plug-and-play setup was. All I had to do was insert batteries into the remote and controllers, plug the projector in and switch it on. I was surprised to see the projector find the screen and automatically adjust keystone perfectly with no input from me, other than to finetune the focus using the physical ring around the lens. Although the device does take a minute or two to boot up, once it does, you're presented with a simple - yet functional - home screen, similar to what you might find on any basic Android TV streaming device. Tiles for Netflix and YouTube take front and centre, although you can install any other streaming app from the Google Play Store, once you've connected to Wi-Fi via the settings menu. I really wasn't expecting this to be a fully functional streaming device and while the resolution is only 720p, it's definitely sufficient for a family movie night - the fabric screen is a lot larger than your average telly. Just like a movie theatre, you will need to turn the lights off though - this is not a high-end multimedia projector, capable of the extreme brightness and contrast required for acceptable daytime viewing.  There's a reasonably powerful built-in speaker, which won't set the world on fire in terms of audio quality - but there are both HDMI and AUX outputs, or the option of bluetooth, so you can easily attach an external sound system if you want. That might be a good idea because there's no escaping the fact that the fan on this thing is super loud, so whatever you're watching or playing will need to be super-er louder to drown it out. There are 80 "Classic Retro" games pre-installed on this device, taking up next to no space on the included 64GB microSD card. These are accessed via the GAME BOX app on the home screen and then the built-in emulator takes care of the rest. Laser claims you can download your own ROM games to add to this library, being careful to save them in the right format and folder as per the instruction guide included in the box. I haven't tried this as I've been entertained enough by the library of 80 pre-installs so far. It's honestly like being back in an amusement arcade in the 80s. Some games are two-player, some are not. Most of them look pretty pixelated - especially if you've zoomed the projection out past 100-inches. The pixelation and midi-based soundtracks are all part of the retro charm, of course - but if you want to, there is a way to smooth things out a little. The first time I fired the Gaming Projector up and started playing Street Racer, I was having a great time getting used to how touchy the controls were but wanted to try out a few other games before dinner. Trouble was, I couldn't figure out how to exit the game. I spent ages pushing buttons on both the controllers to no avail and ended up pressing the home button on the remote - only to discover when I selected GAME BOX again, Street Racer was still running! Eventually, I resorted to turning the whole projector off. When all else fails, read the instructions. The next day I found the crucial line, "To exit a game or the games app altogether, press the SELECT and START buttons at the same time." Sure enough, that paused the game and not only gave me the option to save it or exit it but to adjust the resolution too. On some games you can add 3x the pixels and there are others where you can improve it 4x. This makes a huge difference and changes things like cars from abstract blobs to blobs with wheels that might actually be cars. Just like the arcades of old, some games get repetitive as you go on, while others are a bit better thought out. The pre-installed selection covers a lot of bases though - from racing, to fighting, to sport and platform games. Needless to say, I've already wasted a lot of time carrying out the appropriate research to write this review. It's been a blast. If you've got a favourite Mega Drive, SEGA Genesis, N64, Game Boy or Atari game from decades ago, now's your chance to boot it up on a virtual screen as big as your wall. And retro gaming is definitely what this device is best at. Although you can watch Netflix or Disney+, it's worth remembering the whole operation is running on Android 13, which is getting on a bit now and I've noticed some compatibility issues with some of the more modern apps. Netflix plays fine - but good luck navigating the app when there's no way to scroll down the home screen. (NB: I got around this by simply searching for the show I wanted to continue watching) But quite honestly, if you're looking for hours and hours of simple fun in a box, this is a package that's hard to go past. There's virtually no setup required and everything you need is in the box, including two pre-paired, wireless controllers. I think this is fantastic value, especially given the inclusion of the large, cloth screen and I reckon it'd make the perfect family gift come Christmas time.      Click here for more information and pricing on the Laser Smart Gaming Projector. Tue, 23 Sept 2025 22:33:42 Z /lifestyle/technology/samsung-galaxy-tab-s11-ultra-the-overachiever/ /lifestyle/technology/samsung-galaxy-tab-s11-ultra-the-overachiever/ When it comes to tablets, I'm biased. Against them. Personally - and this really is just me - I struggle to come up with a genuine use case for a tablet that isn't something I could do just as well, if not better, on a laptop. Or even a phone. Often tablets end up the poor stepchildren in any given range of tech... under-powered, aesthetically anonymous and usually running an operating system that's been half-heartedly ported across from something that was initially designed for a handset. Well, it's safe to say, Samsung obviously doesn't feel the same way. The Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is definitely not just a giant phone with worse specs.  For starters, it'd be a particularly giant phone, with a display that measures in at an unbelievable 14.6-inches. That's huge. When I got married (a million billion years ago) someone gave us a 14-inch TV for the bedroom. The Tab S11 Ultra is wider than that - especially given its cinematic 16:10 aspect ratio. The display itself is a magnificent, 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X with an anti-reflective surface - just like you might find on the latest flagship Samsung TVs. The toned-down reflection paired with a searing peak brightness of 1600 nits makes for fantastic viewing, whatever the lighting conditions. There's a booming, yet accurate, quad speaker setup to match, which really does make this a genuine contender for a second TV in your house, be it in the kitchen, bedroom or study. The study might be the most useful option because Samsung has now tweaked DEX mode, which essentially transforms the user experience of the Tab S11 Ultra into a PC-like desktop, complete with multiple windows and a taskbar along the bottom. The latest version now allows you to share your DEX mode setup to other external compatible displays to create a genuine multi-screen environment. This means you now have the ultimate portability of this high-powered tablet complete with the option to display your big presentation in the office boardroom - no bulky laptop or messy cables required. And I do meant "ultimate" when it comes to portability. The Tab S11 Ultra is a mere 5.1mm thick (or thin). Think about that for a minute. That's a 14.6-inch display on a tablet slimmer than any non-folding phone on the market. Talk about jaw-dropping design. What's more, it feels perfectly rigid and robust in your hands - probably due to its enhanced Armor Aluminium chassis. It's even rated IP68 against water and dust. Only weighs in at 692grams, by the way. I've called it powerful, so let's talk a few geeky details. The chip is MediaTek's Dimensity 9400+ - a true flagship by anyone's standard, based on TSMC's 3nm process which is pretty much as nano as it gets. This also means high-end graphics for premium gaming performance and speedy rendering of video and 3D animations. Not to mention Samsung's latest neural processing power to bring you all the cutting-edge tools and tricks from Galaxy AI and Gemini. The Tab S11 Ultra ships with an S Pen stylus in the box but unfortunately, because I was reviewing a pre-release device, I wasn't sent an S Pen and couldn't fully test some of the cleverest AI features, like Drawing Assist, which literally cleans up your rough sketches and turns them into shareable works of art. The S Pen makes for a more accurate Circle to Search too - simply circle anything on screen and let Google Gemini find out all about it for you. In a short time, we've come to expect this kind of enhanced productivity from Samsung's flagship handsets, so it's only natural to find it all enlarged for our convenience on this device. Even the camera setup out-performs almost any other tablet. The rear shooter is a dual-lens affair comprising a 13MP main lens backed up with a 10MP ultra-wide. Need to capture some UHD 4K footage for your next project? No problem. I don't fully understand why the 12MP selfie-cam is also ultra-wide, although it does tend to mitigate the trap many users often fall into when joining online meetings via a portable device; exposing the other attendees to an extreme closeup of your nostrils. The ultra-wide selfie shot immediately drops you back into context. So, despite my protests in the introduction, it's starting to sound like the Tab S11 Ultra has won me over, right?  And here's what unexpectedly, really brought it home. Fitness. Or my lack of. I've recently been forced to acknowledge I'm overweight, out of shape and have lost almost all my flexibility. So I've been using the Samsung Health app as a catalyst to make some changes. Apart from all the other things it excels at, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is the most comprehensive health tracker I've used to date and I've already made improvements to my sleep routine and found a way to deal with my snoring (much to Domestic Manager's relief). So what's that got to do with the Tab S11 Ultra? Well, the Samsung Health app can link you to a comprehensive selection of guided workouts, specifically tailored to your unique fitness goals. I've never really paid much attention to this feature before because I've usually come across them on my watch or phone and couldn't quite see the point. But with the Tab S11 Ultra mounted in a stand, suddenly I was back at the gym, working out with a professional instructor. The 14.6-inch screen is plenty big enough for me to see exactly how to perform each exercise correctly and the quad-speaker sound system pumps out the beats plenty loud enough to push me through those last few sets. At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, I've already lost 2kg in two weeks. Still a way to go though. Wish me luck. So there you have it; the device that converted me from tablet agnostic to relying on one for my general health and wellbeing. It's flagship fast and the screen is huge while the rest of it is super slim. Even the battery life is great. There's simply no way to mark this tablet down.      Click here for more information on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra. Thu, 18 Sept 2025 00:17:46 Z /lifestyle/technology/hp-omnibook-x-flip-14-maximum-versatility-minimum-compromise/ /lifestyle/technology/hp-omnibook-x-flip-14-maximum-versatility-minimum-compromise/ People often ask me how much they should expect to pay for a decent laptop. Obviously, no two users are the same so there's no right or wrong answer. I usually get them to qualify what they'll be doing most often... Browsing, answering emails and creating presentations? That's a very different set of requirements to someone who likes to edit a lot of video and plays games all night long. Or maybe it's just another screen you're after? Albeit a portable one that connects to Wi-Fi so you can watch the latest episode of your favourite show. Generally, if you have between $2.5K and $3,000.00 to spend, you should end up with a decent machine that'll be relatively future-proof too - as much as any piece of tech ever can be. But right now there's an option in that price range worth considering that caters to almost every situation... The HP OmniBook X Flip 14" is at least three devices in one. Primarily, it's a 14-inch Copilot+ laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD storage. However, fold the very impressive touch display right over (or the keyboard right under) and you now have an extremely powerful - and quite large - tablet. Or that's the idea, anyway. I'd love to know how many X Flippers out there ever use the device in tablet mode. Technically, there's nothing but up sides - all that storage and processing power; you'd never get close to that kind of performance on a tablet-only device. In practice though, while 1.3kgs is light for a laptop, it's reasonably substantial for a tablet. Also, with the keyboard folded away, it's a pretty bulky tablet - feels weird to hold too, with all those keys underneath. I mean, I guess you could read your eBook this way but at 14-inches, that's a damn big book to take to bed. No, the other configuration I prefer is "Tent Mode" - where you perch the partially unfolded device on its edges, effectively using it as a standalone smart screen. This is the position most suited to watching YouTube recipes on the kitchen bench or a bit of late-night Prime Video from the bedside table. What they never tell you though, is there's a fourth way to use the OmniBook X Flip - very useful when standing at your desk or collaborating with others... Just lie it down flat. Or close to. For me, that's the true bonus of this form-factor; if you've ever wanted to open your laptop lid just that much further, with this one, you can. But it's not all about the 360° folding lid - the OmniBook Flip X 14" has got a lot else going for it too. Like all the HP laptops I've reviewed in the last year or so, the keyboard is excellent - nicely spaced out, clicky, decent travel and yes, it has a dedicated Copilot key so you can summon the ever-present AI from any window with a single click. Also, like other HP devices, there's a fair amount of pre-installed software - although I wouldn't go so far as to write it all off as "bloatware" because some of the utilities are pretty useful. The pick of these might be Poly Camera Pro - a genuine video editing suite that can even connect to external cameras so you create multi-view content, right from the laptop. Some things are less useful. A Windows search for "HP" under Apps brings up a choice of no fewer than nine different apps and tools, some of which do almost the same thing and one, mysteriously just called, "HP" doesn't seem to do anything at all, other than show you how much battery life you have left over the top of an animated background. Yes, I wasted about three minutes of my precious time logging into that one so you wouldn't have to. The the IPS touchscreen is bright, clear and although it's quite shiny, I haven't found it overly reflective in most situations. Battery life is sufficient without setting any records - although it's almost getting to the stage now where all-day battery life should just be a minimum expectation. I think I'm going to stop mentioning it unless it's exceptionally good or woefully disappointing. I'm not sure the OmniBook X Flip 14" is exactly a gamer's go-to. Generally, I've found using it to be a real pleasure - it's reliable, Windows 11 does all the things it's supposed to, Copilot seems to work quietly and efficiently - but when I tried streaming games from Xbox Cloud Gaming, things took a long time to load and I experienced a few freezes that required restarts. Hard to say if that's a connectivity issue, a processor issue or a graphics issue - but it was an issue that happened more than once. In fact, overall I've found many apps to be quite slow to launch - although most things seem to work fine once they're up and running - and changing aspects when using the screen in portrait as a tablet or even upside-down in tent-mode, all rotated into place slickly enough. The deep "Atmospheric Blue" casing looks classy and feels premium. In fact, given its literal flexibility, the device seems super solid and durable. I'm also impressed by the selection of ports; two USB-A slots, two USB-C and a full-sized HDMI connection which makes linking to an external display so easy. Unfortunately, the two USB-C ports are both on the left-hand side which can be a bit limiting when it comes to plugging in your power cable - but I'm quibbling here. Another wee feature I wanted to highlight isn't really specific to the OmniBook X Flip as such, although its Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity certainly helps. Microsoft Phone Link has suddenly got really good. This is the pre-installed app that essentially mirrors your connected phone with your laptop. I haven't seriously attempted to use it for a while because it always used to be so limited and unreliable but I've given it another go while testing this device and whaddya know? It started sending me notifications from all my apps in a timely fashion and in a way I could deal with usefully. Productivity upgrade? Tick. If the OmniBook X Flip 14" was just a "normal" laptop, I'd say its performance doesn't quite live up to its current NZ$2,848.00 asking price. But it isn't normal. It's so much more adaptable and although it may not be as lightning fast as some similarly-priced machines, those can't transform into a tablet or a free-standing smart screen. Besides which, I saw it on special much cheaper earlier in the week so keep your eyes peeled for a hot deal.      Click here for more information and pricing on the HP OmniBook X Flip 14". Tue, 16 Sept 2025 23:42:56 Z /lifestyle/technology/samsung-galaxy-s25-fe-yes-im-a-fan/ /lifestyle/technology/samsung-galaxy-s25-fe-yes-im-a-fan/ Sometimes I find myself thinking, "How much phone do I really need?" Because I review phones, I'm in the privileged position of being able to use most of the latest and greatest pretty much the moment they hit the shelves - sometimes even before. (Humble brag) But do I actually need a phone with a terabyte of storage? Probably not. Am I going to use that pop-out stylus on a daily basis? Unlikely. Am I making the most of that folding display or do I just like to casually flip it open and see if anyone notices? I think we know the real answer.  So once again, I'm trying out a mid-range handset and I'm thinking, "This would probably do the trick." The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE has fit directly into my daily life, pretty much seamlessly. Like I say, when I'm not actively reviewing a phone, it's a pretty safe bet I'll be rocking on of the best of the best in my pocket as my everyday device. What I can tell you straight off the bat is the S25 FE has slipped right into that same pocket and I've noticed zero compromises or shortfalls in my regular routine. Without currently having an S25+ to compare the FE directly with, I think I'd be hard-pressed to spot the difference. Both devices have a 6.7-inch AMOLED display (so larger than the base-model S25). Both feature Armor Aluminium frames and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus for durability, although admittedly the S25+ does go one generation stronger with its display glass and the screen is a higher resolution. However, the S25 FE still sports a 120Hz refresh rate for smooth on-screen response and also boasts a larger vapour chamber than last year's model to keep things running cool - especially when gaming. Both the FE and S25+ also have the same sized batteries, a generous 4900mAh - which will cruise through even the longest day on a single charge. And yes, the FE charges fast - at up to 45W - and it charges wirelessly too.  The FE comes in four colours; Icyblue, Jetblack, Navy and White and it's slim and light - just 190 grams. And here's the kicker; the S25 FE starts at just NZ$1199.00 - $400 cheaper than the least expensive S25+. To be fair, the S25+ has more RAM, a more powerful processor and the option of 512GB internal storage - but as I keep saying, those are differences I'm just not noticing. Oh, and just to really pull the rug out, I'm not usually using an S25+, typically its an S24 Ultra I'm pulling out of my pocket - surely one of last year's finest phones. Honestly, the S25 FE just keeps stacking up - okay, the camera module doesn't quite match that of this year's Ultra but again, it's not much different to what you get with the next model down, the S25+. The primary shooter is a 50MP Wide sensor, teamed with an 12MP Ultra Wide and an 8MP Telephoto, capable of 3x optical zoom and digital zoom up to 30x. The selfie cam is a very respectable 12MP lens and there are all the premium video settings you could wish for; 8K UHD recording, slow motion, great stabilisation - it's all there. The other thing that's all there is Galaxy AI. And Gemini AI. Well, both. I still can't really tell which is which but the important thing is all the clever tools like Circle to Search, the Now Bar, Audio Eraser and Instant Slow-mo can be found on this phone, just like any other late model Samsung flagship. The best thing is, the latest version of Samsung's operating system, One UI 8.0, integrates all these AI features seamlessly into various apps, settings, options and even the on-screen keyboard. This means when I was discussing when we should walk the dog with the Domestic Manager online yesterday, I was able to send her a picture of him being flown like a kite. (It was very windy and he has large ears) I don't know if it was Gemini, Galaxy AI or a combination of the two. But it was easy as. Which pretty much sums up my experience using the S25 FE; so easy. No problems. Well, one problem - but it's not my problem. Is the FE too good? If too many people buy one, are those the same people who might have considered upgrading to an S26 or S26 Ultra when they come along in just a few months time? Is Samsung running the risk of cannibalising its own market? Perhaps not. As much as we all love these Fan Editions and although they've been regular additions to Samsung's lineup in recent years, there's no guarantee Samsung will release a Galaxy S26 FE around this time next year - they've only been doing FE iterations since the S20 and there wasn't one at all in 2022. That's the cool thing about it; it really does feel a bit special when an FE release comes along - almost as though there's part of the market who would definitely consider a flagship handset if it was in their budget but usually have to compromise on the latest style, camera capabilities or AI features. This one's definitely for them. And for me, as it turns out.      Click here for more information on the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE. Thu, 11 Sept 2025 00:29:45 Z /lifestyle/technology/trend-micro-security-suite-pro-plus-almost-too-secure/ /lifestyle/technology/trend-micro-security-suite-pro-plus-almost-too-secure/ If there's one thing I've learned the hard way, it's that you can't take cyber security for granted. As someone who's seen my entire PC encrypt itself and shut itself down before my very eyes, I can assure you, there's nothing more stressful than discovering all your data - from photos and documents right through to logins, passwords and financial information is now in the hands of someone else. Whether or not something like that has happened to you or a family member, if you've been putting off securing your devices, I'm imploring you to act immediately. Somebody once told me alarm systems and security cameras won't necessarily prevent your home being broken into, but if your house is more secure than the one next door, guess which one will be targeted first? At the very least, we should all be locking our front doors. Well, I think I've found a product that doesn't just secure the doors, it bars the windows and locks your place down under 24/7 surveillance as well. Security Suite Pro Plus is Trend Micro's top-of-the-line consumer product and as such, I don't think I've ever come across a set of cyber-safety features this comprehensive. Confusingly, Trend Micro's entry level package is called Maximum Security and while it certainly has a lot of the same tools included, it's nowhere near as "Maximum" as Security Suite Pro Plus. There are so many settings, tools and extensions I'm not going to do a deep dive on every single one - but rest assured, when it comes to the latest antivirus, malware, ransomware, spyware and any other-ware protection, Trend Micro has you well and truly covered. As you would expect. What I also need to point out straight off the bat is an old piece of advice but a good one; don't try and run two different security regimes on the same device simultaneously. Trend Micro does not seem to play well with others and I discovered one or two options wouldn't work at all until I'd fully uninstalled my previous security apps. This isn't surprising; for me, one of the most important things about running a cyber defence as all-encompassing as this one is how much processing power it's using up in the background. If you've got two opposing apps fighting against each other to carry out the same task, chances are things are going to crash (or at least slow down) pretty quickly. That bit of prep out of the way and I was able to carry on with my installation and setup - at this point I've installed Security Suite Pro Plus on an iPhone 16, a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and a Windows 11 PC. Although there are indeed too many features to list, setup is surprisingly user-friendly. The default settings for most options seemed to work for me without any tweaking at all. The Android and iOS user interfaces are pretty similar, while the desktop version is laid out slightly differently, dividing the many features into categories and hiding them behind the appropriate, clickable icons. However, all versions of the home screen present you with a big, friendly "Scan" button to press. Not only does a scan filter through all your files for anything suspicious, it also looks for any opportunities to optimise your device - perhaps listing obsolete or duplicate files that can be deleted, right through to OS updates you may have missed. At any time you can consult your latest security report which lists... well, everything really. Wanna know how many text messages and emails have been scanned for phishing attempts and other security risks? No problem. Security Suite Pro Plus even monitors notifications from your apps, before you actually open them. Shopping online? Trend Micro is keeping an eye on things to make sure you're paying someone real, not a scambot. You can set up browsing protection, although not for every browser - I use Arc on most of my devices and being a more minor player, it's not covered. You can also monitor the Wi-Fi network you're connected to in real time - you'll soon be notified if there are any security flaws, things like default passwords being used for example. And of course, you get access to Trend Micro's excellent VPN, which can be set to activate automatically if you join an unknown network - or perhaps even a regular one you're not feeling totally safe with. But here's where things get a bit clunky. Although the VPN is included as part of the Security Suite Pro Plus package, you have to download it as a separate app; it integrates with the main program but must be set up independently. This is different to other security suites I've used where the VPN is just another option to click on or off. I've also found it to be very bossy as VPNs go - especially the Windows version. The PC I've installed it on is the one I use for my Plex media server. This means I want other devices on the same network to be able to access it in order to play my stored files. I'm sure there must be a way to make this work but I haven't figured it out yet. Scam Check is another Trend Micro app that's included but must be installed separately. What a good app it is though. Like other, similar services, you can copy links, images and screenshots into the app to check if they're legit but (as with everything else) Trend Micro seems to go several steps further. You can set Scam Check as your default SMS app to filter out scam texts in real time. Perhaps most impressively, you can check video calls for deep fakes. Yup, what a sad indictment on society that technology has now progressed to the point the person we're talking to on a video chat might not be that person at all. Never mind, just let Trend Micro check that for you. This just goes to show Trend Micro is right on top of all the latest trends in cyber trickery. I'm definitely in favour of a belt-and-suspenders approach when it comes to cyber-security, and if you've ever been scammed, had your ID stolen or data compromised, I'm sure you feel the same way. With Security Suite Pro Plus, you're not just getting a belt and suspenders, Trend Micro throws in handcuffs, a straightjacket, a padded room and seals it all inside a Faraday cage for good measure. As stifling as that sounds - and yes, as my experience with the VPN goes, the combination of all these tools may be a little over-the-top - interestingly, I haven't found any significant drain on the resources of any of the devices I've been testing this suite with. In fact, thanks to the optimisation options available, one or two of them are now running even better. This is the kind of set-it-and-forget-it protection I feel like I can trust, absolutely. If you like the sound of it too, I'd act quickly. Trend Micro is now offering customers the opportunity to subscribe to Security Suite Pro Plus for two years for only NZ$238.00 - that works out at less than $10 a month. Not much to pay to keep yourself safe, no matter how sophisticated the scammers become.      Click here for more information and pricing on Trend Micro Security Suite Pro Plus. Tue, 09 Sept 2025 01:11:55 Z /lifestyle/technology/oppo-pad-se-matte-display-edition-easy-on-the-eye/ /lifestyle/technology/oppo-pad-se-matte-display-edition-easy-on-the-eye/ I've said it before; I've never been much of a tablet guy. It's not because I don't like them, it's more because I own other devices that do what a tablet does. Why would I read on a tablet when I have an eReader? Why would I stream my shows on a tablet when I have a 65" TV? Why would I answer my messages on a tablet when I have a smart phone? And why would I surf the web and game on a tablet when I have a laptop? But then, perhaps I'm asking the wrong questions. Perhaps I should be asking, what if one tablet could do all those things, almost as well? The OPPO Pad SE is a great looking piece of tech, straight out of the box. The two-tone Twilight Blue rear panel highlights the 5MP rear camera while there's another 5MP selfie-cam around the front. I'll talk about photo and video quality shortly but first I wanted to point out both these cameras are in the right place; in the middle of the top edge. And by "top" edge, I mean one of the long edges, not one of the short ones. For too long, too many tablets have been designed as though they were merely giant phones, tall and skinny - not wide like any normal person would use them for most tasks, in landscape. Which brings me to what I think is the OPPO Pad SE's finest feature; its screen. Now, this isn't some shiny, fancy-pancy 144Hz OLED display like you might find on some high-end gaming monitors but it's still got a lot going for it. For starters, it's not shiny at all. Quite the opposite. In fact, OPPO claims this extremely matte screen "cuts up to 97% of light interference" (whatever that could possibly mean) and I love it. If you've ever tried to use a laptop or tablet outdoors or under bright lights, you'll know the more shiny the screen, the harder it is to see. With the Pad SE, OPPO has done something remarkable and given us about the least-reflective display possible. This means it's actually pleasant to read my eBooks on. It's an interesting aspect ratio too - 19:10 - so not as stubby as a 3:2 screen but more versatile than 19:6. Actually, at over 11-inches, you get a lot of screen real estate in a fairly compact format. Combine all that with decent brightness and good, immersive sound from the quad-speaker array, and not only is this a great device for reading books, magazines and papers with, it's an excellent way to stream your favourite shows or to pass the time with a game or two. I was also impressed to discover the Pad SE is equipped with the latest Bluetooth 5.4 codec - that means excellent range and an almost lag-free connection with compatible earbuds or headphones - again, leading to a more immersive viewing experience. I can't stress enough how refreshing it is to be able to watch xenomorphs hunt down their human prey in the latest episode of Alien: Earth, even though the action happens in the dark while I'm sitting in glaring daylight. One of the Pad SE's weaker areas is sheer power. Although ColorOS is up there with my favourite Android-based user interfaces, my ability to use it to its full effect is hampered slightly with just 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. You're not likely to be editing any blockbuster 3D features with this device, although I found the MediaTek Helio G100 chip to be reliable enough, if a little sluggish when launching certain apps. You might think at just 5MP, neither camera is going to win any photography awards either. But over the years I've learned not to underestimate OPPO's ability to punch above its weight in the camera department. I found the forward-facing shooter to be more than adequate for online meetings and video uploads while pics from the rear sensor don't look half bad either. Like this one of my accomodating dog model... Battery life is another standout feature for the Pad SE. The 9,340mAh battery is a large cell by anyone's standard. I've found a full charge lasts all day easily, whatever I'm doing. What's more, you get 33W SuperVOOC fast charging for quick top-ups, although there's no brick in the box - only a cable. At just NZ$499.00, I think the Pad SE represents excellent value. It performs reliably, if not at breakneck speeds, it goes above and beyond with its battery life and the no-glare screen is one of my new favourite things in tech. If you're the kind of person who likes to curl up in a sunny spot with a book, now you can do that with a tablet too.      Click here for more information and pricing on the OPPO Pad SE Matte Display Edition. Thu, 04 Sept 2025 01:11:55 Z /lifestyle/technology/jbl-sense-lite-i-never-expected-to-love-these-like-i-do/ /lifestyle/technology/jbl-sense-lite-i-never-expected-to-love-these-like-i-do/ I'm an ANC guy. No noise for me, no how, no way. I want to listen to what I'm listening to and the rest of the world can just carry on without me. When it comes to earbuds, I need a nice tight seal for effective passive noise cancellation and then I need a chip with an algorithm that samples the background and kills it dead. Ironically, this obsession with noise reduction isn't even so I can get the most out my favourite playlists. Truth be told, I tend to listen to more podcasts than music. But when you only have two or three people talking, there's a lot of space for unwanted aural distractions to sneak in. So one thing's for sure, I've never been a fan of so-called "open-fit" earbuds. I get that they might be more comfortable - but at what price? Bad sound? What's the point? The moment I started listening with the JBL Sense Lite buds, everything I thought I knew about true-wireless headphones went out the window. Lets start with the comfort thing. These may well be the most comfortable earbuds I've ever worn. There's no twisting or bending required, no need to change out ear tips to find the right size. The cunningly crafted hook design is perfectly balanced so there's no way to not place them in exactly the right position. And that's right where they'll stay, with the speakers close to - but not inside - the ear canal, regardless of how rigorously you may be exercising, running, cycling, gardening... whatever. The Sense Lite buds are IP54-rated against water and dust - so not submergible but definitely impervious to rain and dirt. This kind of over-ear, hook form factor often means a large, thick, unwieldy charging case but again, here JBL has paid plenty of attention to designing something slim, light and pocketable. Unfortunately, the case doesn't charge wirelessly, which is usually a red-line requirement for me. The exception to that rule comes if the device in question offers enduring battery life. With JBL Sense Lite you get up to 8 hours continuous playback with another 24 in the case. That means I've been using them for a week and the LED indicator is still only down to two-thirds. I think I can live with plug-in charging for battery performance like that - especially when a mere ten minutes via USB-C will be good for another three hours listening. With no ANC to worry about, setup is simple. You'll get a Fast-Pair prompt on compatible phones and you can connect simultaneously to two devices at once. As you'd expect, EQ and control customisations can be made through the JBL Headphones app. Bluetooth 5.4 means exceptional range and reliability. It also means a very lag-free experience when using the Sense Lites to watch video or to game with. But enough of those boring details. Let me try and make it clear to you how unbelievably good these things sound. Because of the open-ear fit, yes, you'll hear most of what's going on around you; traffic, machinery, conversations etc. Despite that, those ambient noises don't intrude like they do when you choose Ambient Aware mode on other noise cancelling earbuds. Instead, the Sense Lites rely on something JBL calls "OpenSound Technology" to beam what you're listening to, directly into your ears with surprisingly little leakage to anyone around you. Peter Gabriel is one of those artists who's kind of next-level when it comes to production standards. "Digging In the Dirt" is one of my favourite tracks of his - a sleazy, grimy, maybe even psychotic journey through sound, featuring a raft of clever guitar effects, chunky synth and electronic drum riffs that layer up and down throughout the song. The Sense Lite buds absolutely do this track justice, precisely placing each element left, right, up or down just as Gabriel intended. "Send My Love" by Adele starts small, over a muted acoustic guitar, then swells for the chorus. But even from the first few lines, her uniquely powerful pipes resonate around my head, almost as though I'm listening to her sing from inside my own brain. Somehow, JBL achieves all this with a couple of 18x11mm drivers that aren't even really in my ears; merely suspended next to them. Whatever "JBL OpenSound Technology" is, it works. There are also two beamforming mics built into each bud tuned to capture your voice amazingly clearly for calls or video - as I demonstrate in the video below. Just as I thought wind noise would be a major issue when listening to the Sense Lites, I assumed the mics would catch plenty of wind when outside too. However, there's another algorithm to tackle wind noise and the whole physical design is about keeping the mic feed clean and clear. I've certainly had no complaints from anyone on the other end of the line. No complaints from me either. And I honestly can't believe it. These things are so comfortable, I forget I'm wearing them. I don't have to take them off to have a conversation, I just press pause and can hear the other person perfectly clearly. Battery life is exceptional and the sound quality is right up there. Who would have thought it?      Click here for more information and pricing on the JBL Sense Lite. Wed, 27 Aug 2025 23:40:18 Z /lifestyle/technology/360pro-travel-water-flosser-boost-your-smile-power-on-the-go/ /lifestyle/technology/360pro-travel-water-flosser-boost-your-smile-power-on-the-go/ Don't forget to floss. The classic piece of advice. Well guess what? We're not forgetting, we're choosing not to. It's a hassle. And let's be honest, it's kind of gross. But you know what's more gross? Bad breath. Tooth decay. Gum disease. Enter the gadget; the water flosser. In much the same way that water blasting your driveway is more fun than scrubbing it by hand, turns out water blasting your teeth is a lot more exciting than running a bit of string between each one. What's more, unless I use the exact right kind of floss, I'm prone to having it fray between my chompers, meaning I then need to use another bit to get bits of the first bit out. Worse still - trying to get it to unstick from my fingers and into the rubbish bin. What is it with dental floss that you think you've shaken it off and then there it is, still stuck to your hand? Not for me. No wonder I became an instant convert, water flossing at least once a day, like a good boy. Trouble is, sometimes you want that fresh, food-scrap-free mouth feeling when you're out and about. Or at work. And especially when you're away. Well wouldn't you just know it? The same people who make my trusty plug-in water flosser have now got a new gadget for me. The 360PRO Travel Water Flosser takes everything I love about my 360PRO plug-in model and essentially manages to fit it all in my pocket - well... just about. It really is very compact - the main reason being 360PRO's ingenious extendable design. When not in use, the Travel Water Flosser simply slides down into its own water tank, which essentially means it's about half as long as it would be otherwise. There's a USB-C charging cable included in the box, with the charging port covered by a watertight cap when not plugged in. I'd like to be able to tell you how long a single charge lasts but it's been two weeks of using it at least once a day and I haven't had to recharge it yet. Another silicone lid covers the hole used for filling the flosser. The water tank only holds 150ml - as opposed to the 200ml tank on the bulkier 360PRO Cordless and the generous 600ml tank on the 360PRO Plug-In. I've found 150ml is about enough to clean either the inside or outside of my teeth but I need to refill to do the whole job - no biggie; you just flip that cap, fill and go again. For cleaning purposes, you can unclip the tank off the bottom altogether, giving you full access to inside of the tank and the intake tube. The controls are simple enough. Unlike the Plug-In, which has a knob for variable pressure selection, the Travel Water Flosser has two buttons - one to cycle between Pulse, Low and High pressure, the other for on and off. Easy. The whole device is IPX7 rated for use over the sink or in the shower, so you don't have to worry about the buttons getting wet or and its oval shape feels comfortable and secure in the hand. Wait -  did I mention it's black? That's what has always made 360PRO so cool - why does everything have to be white or brightly coloured just because it lives in the bathroom? Black? Obviously it's black. We're kiwis. We love black. It also ships with quite a selection of heads; two regular jet tips, one for tongue cleaning, a periodontal brush for problem teeth and an orthodontic head specifically for braces, bridges and other tricky add-ons that can be a real nightmare to keep clean. But my favourite head is the plaque removal tip, a stiff, four-pronged brush that really leaves you with that post-hygienist fresh feeling. Appropriate, given 360PRO worked in close consultation with real dentists when settling on a design. There's nothing like that just-been-flossed-and-brushed sensation and the Tavel Water Flosser is so compact, you can have that feeling whenever and wherever you like. There's even a simple, soft travel case to keep everything in. Pop it in your bag, purse, satchel or suitcase and you'll never be caught out, desperately hunting for a toothpick. Technically, the 360PRO Travel Water Flosser isn't capable of blasting between your teeth with quite as much pressure as the Plug-In can - but I've been using it exclusively for a while now and I haven't noticed any lack of cleaning power. If anything, I've probably ended up with a better result because I've been using it more often. Ideally, you'd have the Plug-In in your bathroom and the Travel version on the road with you - and to be honest, at just NZ$99.00, adding the Travel Water Flosser to your defence against tooth decay really isn't all that extravagant.      Click here for more information and pricing on the 360PRO Tavel Water Flosser. Tue, 26 Aug 2025 00:57:01 Z /lifestyle/technology/thermomix-tm7-a-smarter-way-to-cook/ /lifestyle/technology/thermomix-tm7-a-smarter-way-to-cook/ I hate, hate, HATE cooking. Which is unfortunate, because I'm in charge of making dinner weeknights. To be honest, the actual cooking part doesn't bother me too much - other than fiddly, time-consuming things like grating and standing there stirring - no, the worst part of being in charge of the evening meal is having to decide what that evening meal will be. As popular as they are, I can't make my famous fresh fish tacos every night, especially at this time of year when my barbecue is essentially underwater. So I call on you now, great technology gods! Please provide me with a week's worth of dinner inspiration! And if possible, could you prepare it and cook it for me as well? Turns out, all I needed was the TM7 (the latest Thermomix) and a subscription to Cookidoo. Now don't be embarrassed if you've never heard of Thermomix and have no idea what it is - I didn't either, until I was invited to celebrate the launch of the TM7 in New Zealand. Not only did I get to eat some Thermomixed creations for dinner, with zero training I was also able to create my own gourmet strawberry dessert in about five minutes flat. To break it down, the TM7 essentially looks like a big, black blender, sitting on base with a 10-inch touch screen on the front. It also comes with a Varoma - which looks a bit like a plastic roasting dish - a simmering basket, a butterfly whisk and the coolest spatula I've ever used. But first things first. Vorwerk, the German company that makes Thermomix, has been coming up with clever ways to cook for over 140 years. In 1971 it decided to try mixing, chopping and cooking in the same device and Thermomix was born. Today's TM7 is the ultimate refinement of that concept. If you want perfect mushroom risotto every time, this is the device that takes the guesswork out of the equation. When you first enquire about the TM7, you'll be matched with a personal consultant to talk you through the details. My consultant, Lauren, turned up with the TM7 and a recipe for that very risotto - but it wasn't in a book. You see, not only is Thermomix a shining example of German precision engineering, it's also teamed up with a guided cooking app called Cookidoo. I suppose Cookidoo is a kind of digital cookbook - one with over 100,000 recipes inside. The great thing about a digital cookbook is you can access it anywhere, anytime on your phone, tablet or PC. Cookidoo lets you search for recipes by ingredients, styles or courses and when you find something you like the look of, you can add it to your own collection of recipes for easy reference. Then you can plan your week's meals, even creating a shopping list of all ingredients required. All of this is mirrored on the screen of the TM7 of course - when you turn it on (once you've registered and logged in) you'll be met with today's recipe all cued up and ready to begin. From there you'll be guided through every step of the recipe - and I mean every step. Because not only does the TM7 mix, grate, chop, knead, stir, cook, boil and steam - it also acts as a set of scales, weighing every ingredient as you add it, be it solid or liquid. Now although I'm a fan of risotto, I've never even considered making it myself. Too many variables. Too many steps that have to be done "just right." Lauren the consultant soon showed me there's really no way to get it wrong with the TM7. Precisely measured ingredients mixed and cooked for exactly the right durations means success is virtually guaranteed every time. If you're anything like me, you really don't like potentially messy (and smelly) tasks like grating parmesan and chopping onions. The TM7 takes care of all this, once you've weighed in the exact amount - all of which is represented on screen with a "digital twin" showing you the current state of where you're at in the recipe. This makes every step so foolproof - right down to basic instructions like putting the lid on the mixing bowl or resting the Veroma (steaming dish) on top of that. The interactive recipe won't let you carry on until you complete each step - unless you manually decide to skip something, of course. Cooking times are equally precise - and the mixing bowl will light up red when the contents are hot, although you won't feel that from the outside; it's very well insulated. I then proceeded to impress my family with Stuffed Jacket Potatoes (two ways) and a delicious prawn curry. Although I expected every recipe to be a cook-in-the-TM7 only scenario, I was surprised to discover many Cookidoo creations utilise other cooking methods as well. Sometimes the TM7 is only used for the sauce or the dressing for something that can only really be cooked with the barbecue or on the stove. Or in the case of my Classic Meatloaf (another first for me and another hit with the fam) everything was chopped and mixed in the TM7 but obviously the loaf needed to be cooked in a tin in the oven. As I've become more confident with how the TM7 works, I've been able to customise recipes - perhaps adjusting the number of servings or swapping out certain ingredients. I've also learned to use the TM7 as an add-on sometimes, not always the main event. For example, last night I wanted to combine some steamed broccolini with my bowl of roast veggies and grilled haloumi. Much easier to steam using the TM7 than faff about boiling a pot of water and getting another steamer pot dirty too. Of course, there's a pre-clean function once you're finished with the TM7 mixing bowl and almost everything is dishwasher-safe, so cleanup is pretty straightforward. Let's focus on the Thermomix spatula for a moment, because like the TM7 itself, it's a miracle of ingenious design and is a joy to use. You're not that likely to stir what's in the mixing bowl with the spatula, there'll be specific speed setting for the precision steel blades to take care of that. Instead, the soft but durable edges of the spatula are ideal for scraping off the sides of the bowl and it also has a special hook on the back edge for lifting out the simmering basket. So clever. Even more clever; you can stand the spatula on its back or on its end to avoid getting a sticky mess all over your bench top. As idiot-proof as the TM7 appears, some idiots are capable of extreme uselessness and I have had the odd failure. My Chicken and Avocado Risoni salad was supposed to be my Thermomix masterpiece, utilising almost every aspect of the TM7's abilities to serve up a real crowdpleaser. I thought this recipe was particularly clever, creating a tasty broth in the mixing bowl to steam seasoned chicken pieces in the Varoma, then adding the risoni to the broth to cook at the same time. I was firing on all cylinders. I mean, just check out the result... Looks amazing, right? Unfortunately, I hadn't taken something very important into account - I'd added extra chicken... but hadn't extended the cooking time accordingly. Alas, this error wasn't discovered until Domestic Manager found an almost raw piece on the end of her fork. Whoops. I'm happy (and relieved) to report, no family members were harmed in the consumption of this meal. Luckily, I redeemed myself a few days later with the pumpkin and rosemary bread you can watch me make in the video below. And I'm quietly confident about tonight's Beef Rendang. Oh by the way, Cookidoo features plenty of desserts and cocktails as well. Who doesn't want the perfect frozen margarita every time? So that's my Thermomix-led culinary journey to date, more or less. It really is ingenious how it takes care of every step of your meal-prep, from cutting, grating, mixing or kneading through to cooking, steaming and boiling. But perhaps the most helpful aspect is the thousands of recipes at my fingertips courtesy of Cookidoo. It's now rare I get to the end of the day without some inspiration on what to cook. Admittedly, there are plenty of cooking apps out there and I could probably use the other appliances and cookware I already own to achieve similar results but the Thermomix method is so much more streamlined and integrated, from recipe selection to shopping list to cooking up the final product. It's a luxury though; the TM7 will set you back NZ$2,849.00 and the Cookidoo subscription is only free for the first three months. On the other hand, as I've explained, you are getting a hell of a lot of German precision technology and a Lauren of your own. She just texted me some more meal suggestions last night. I love Lauren. Everybody should have one.      Click here for more information and pricing on the Thermomix TM7. Wed, 20 Aug 2025 00:16:52 Z /lifestyle/technology/samsung-galaxy-watch-ultra-2025-minor-upgrade-great-watch/ /lifestyle/technology/samsung-galaxy-watch-ultra-2025-minor-upgrade-great-watch/ Despite the pressure for tech manufacturers to update their products at least once a year, it's not compulsory. In fact, when you think about it, it's not even realistic. Imagine coming up with something so ground-breaking, so innovative and so desirable it becomes one of the most coveted devices of 2024. Now imagine being told you need to do it again 12 months later. Why? Has the competition suddenly replicated every design element? Every feature? Every function of the software? Of course not. I assume that's what Samsung was thinking when it unveiled the 2025 Galaxy Watch Ultra. That's right. This year's Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra looks exactly the same as the 2024 version. Its the same size and weight. It has the same processor and even the same battery.  Bearing in mind it's a very powerful processor for a watch and that battery will last more than two days, even if you're using all the features - up to 100 hours in power saving mode. For once, Samsung has literally said, "If it ain't broke..." and you'd be hard-pushed to break this device of course. Titanium casing. Sapphire Crystal glass. Components cushioned against impact. This is the watch that meets so many military standards, it's not just water and dust-proof but also height, depth, heat, cold and pressure-proof.  I don't ever want to be anywhere where it's minus 20° - or positive 55° for that matter. I doubt that I'll ever find myself 9000 metres up or 100 metres underwater - but it's good to know if I ever do, I'll still be able to tell the time and measure my stress levels. I imagine they'll be pretty high. This is the watch that can track everything; your skin temperature, your blood pressure - even your heart-rate variation while you sleep. Not to mention dozens of sports and exercises, including full dual-frequency GPS for accurate navigation and the ability to retrace your steps. None of that is new. Doesn't mean it's not still pretty awesome. And it's not like there are no differences at all. The 2025 Galaxy Watch Ultra now comes in Titanium Blue, in addition to last year's choices of Titanium White, Titanium Grey and Titanium Silver. And the new model has twice the built-in storage - 64GB rather than 32GB. And that seems to literally be it. Not that it isn't great to have another colour to choose from and if you're going to have phone-sized storage on a smartwatch, this is the one to have it on. That's because the Galaxy Watch Ultra is probably the most suited of any watch to be worn out and about without its paired phone. The durability and good battery life are part of the reason but also the fact its large display makes tasks like replying to messages more practical. Most importantly, you can activate an eSIM on the Galaxy Watch Ultra so you can use it to its full functionality, even when you leave your phone at home. That means you can load your favourite playlist or podcasts onto that 64GB, pair directly with earbuds or headphones and take your phone out of the equation while you're out and about heli ski-ing, base jumping or setting land speed records in the desert. All that sort of thing. Obviously, all the sport and exercise tracking I've covered off numerous times before just keeps getting better and better - with significant improvements to the running coach options. But it's the enhancements and additions Samsung has made to health tracking that have really captured my attention. By calibrating with a third-party blood pressure cuff, the Galaxy Watch Ultra can then keep an eye on things for you. Combine that with skin temperature readings, Heart Rate Variability during sleep and now the ability to measure vascular load - you'll receive plenty of warning if there's an uncharacteristic change you might want to consult a doctor about. You can now even measure your antioxidant index based on the level of carotenoids in your skin. This is a somewhat cumbersome process though, as you have to take the watch off and press your thumb against the BioActive sensor, while following instructions from the Health app on your phone. 九一星空无限flash; I'm not eating enough fruit and veggies. Perhaps the most depressing thing about reviewing a new Galaxy Watch is the results that appear in the Samsung Health app from my sleep tracking. The fast charging and good battery life of the Ultra make it a practical sleep tracker, although being such a large watch, some users may find it too bulky to wear comfortably all night. I've also had some negative feedback from the other person in the bed due to bright light leaking from the BioActive Sensor pressed against my wrist. Combine that with my horrendous snoring and it's a miracle she puts up with me. I can't argue about the snoring either - between the Galaxy Watch Ultra and the S24 Ultra phone I have it paired with, the evidence is there for everyone to see - and hear. Not only do I know I snored for 1h 22m last night, I can select from any of the ten recordings that were made to hear exactly how earsplitting it was. I also know I'm spending too much time awake during the night (probably because of someone snoring) and that I'm not getting enough deep sleep. On the bright side, my Sleep Latency is excellent. That's the length of time it takes me to fall asleep. I mean, I'm really tired. So I've been assigned a sleep animal. I'm a shark, apparently. Sounds pretty cool but it turns out sharks never stop moving and as a "Shark Sleeper" I'm not getting enough total sleep time, I tend to wake up at night and I have inconsistent sleep times from day to day. The frustrating thing about sleep tracking with the Galaxy Watch Ultra is I can take all the coaching advice it has to offer - the fact is, I do a job that requires me to get up at 2:50AM and I can't seem to get the Samsung Health app to take that into account. Essentially, Samsung keeps finding new ways to tell my how unhealthy my lifestyle choices are. It sums all this up in an Energy Score at the start of each day, with some advice on what I can do to improve the next day's score. For example, during the week when I get less sleep, my Energy Score tends to be fairly low and my watch tends to suggest I reduce my activity and up my rest. If only. No wonder my AGE index is so high. Not my age - my level of Advanced Glycation End products. I think this means my body is older than it should be. Unfortunately, I can't just press a button on the Galaxy Watch Ultra and magically fix all these worrying measurements - not even the "Quick" shortcut button can do that, although I do have it set to instantly commence my Outdoor Walk workout which happens to coincide with when the dog requires his daily constitutional. However, forewarned is forearmed and now it's my challenge to see if I can influence some of the stats my watch has presented me with - more useful information than any other smartwatch I've worn to date. Maybe one day I'll no longer be a shark and I'll have morphed into a hedgehog, or perhaps even a walrus instead.      Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy Watch (2025). Mon, 18 Aug 2025 00:29:59 Z /lifestyle/technology/hp-elitebook-ultra-g1i-ticking-all-the-boxes/ /lifestyle/technology/hp-elitebook-ultra-g1i-ticking-all-the-boxes/ I don't really know why it is but some devices just wow you from the moment you take them out of the box. In fact, in the case of the HP EliteBook Ultra G1i, I wasn't even sure it was IN the box to start with. It's actually not the lightest laptop in town - although at just 1.19kg, it's pretty light - especially for a device with a full 14-inch display. But when I picked up the box in the mail room, I wondered if they'd left something out. Like the 65W power adapter. Or the computer. However, once I got it home and pulled it out I saw what I had here was a very classy - yet quite understated - piece of tech. The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i has been manufactured in an "Atmospheric Blue" metal chassis and because of its spacious 14-inch, 16:10 display, there's plenty of room on the opposite half for a full-sized keyboard, including a complete set of function keys, and a touchpad that's about the size of a basketball court. Okay, slight exaggeration there - but it's pretty big, which means you can be very accurate with your cursor placement on screen. Given the fact that it's a touch screen too, you might not even feel the need to pair a mouse with this device. While we're talking accessories, I was most impressed to discover three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports at my disposal, all capable of 40Gbps transfer speeds, all DisplayPort 2.1 for connecting external displays and all able to be used for USB power delivery. The best thing about that is there are two on the right side and one on the left, which makes things far more convenient when it comes to plugging into different setups - be they at work, at home or on the road. There's also a USB-A slot - one of those sneaky pull-down ones that keeps the design as slim as possible. That's a lot. And I hadn't even turned it on yet. After setting the HP EliteBook Ultra G1i up, the first thing I was pleased to see is the 9MP camera set into the slim top bezel is Windows Hello enabled - so not only can you log in using the fingerprint sensor under the power key but you can do it very quickly and reliably via facial recognition too. This is a Copilot+ PC of course, so you can access all the AI options Microsoft has to offer but there's a lot of HP-specific software pre-installed too. Whether you consider this to be "bloatware" comes down to how useful you find utilities like HP Assistant and Wolf Security Suite. Some users are irritated by how many of these apps double-up on certain tasks Windows was already taking care of but I've always considered the HP tools to be the best way to keep your drivers up to date - relying solely on Microsoft to keep an eye on 3rd-party updates can be somewhat time-delayed. You'll certainly want to check out the pre-installed Poly Camera Pro to access enhanced video settings for the camera - there are a few extra tweaks available here on top of what Windows Studio Effects has to offer. You can virtually adjust lighting and skin tone and even take a screen grab of your usual office background to use if you're joining an online meeting from somewhere else but you don't want to let on where. Video quality is top rate as is mic quality - although you may want to tweak the settings here too to get the best out of the dual mic array. The 2.8K OLED display is simply sublime. Sure, this kind of panel is slightly more reflective than other IPS options might be but I'll take that in order to enjoy more vivid colours and popping contrast. This is also an HDR-capable display - just like a flash telly - and you can calibrate the HDR settings to your preference. The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i is one of the best laptops I've used for just plain old streaming - be it Netflix or Apple TV+, everything looks bright, clear and has genuine depth to it, enhanced even further by the quad stereo speaker system, tuned by Poly Audio Battery life is one area where I was somewhat underwhelmed. Until quite recently I'd grown to expect the worst from Windows laptops when it comes to battery life but that all started to change with the introduction of more efficient chips, especially from AMD and even more recently, Qualcomm. Suddenly, you could literally leave your charging brick at home, with enough charge to see you through a whole working day. The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i will probably get you through too - but only just. And it depends greatly on what you're doing. For instance, while playing the new release of Grounded 2, I watched the battery percentage gurgle down the plughole pretty quickly. But HP never suggested this was a gaming rig. It's a business rig and the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V chip was born to deliver where it matters; multiple windows running different apps simultaneously - including documents, presentations and browser windows. And because it's an Intel chip, I haven't experienced any of the compatibility issues that seem to pop up with other systems, especially Qualcomm-based ones. What we've got here is not a beast; it's a thoroughbred. 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage might seem like overkill but with a machine like this, it's more like future-proofing. And it means you can access all the AI tools you need (be they pre-installed or otherwise) without missing a beat. Physically, the HP EliteBook Ultra G1i looks exactly like the high-end business tool it's proven to be. Using the well-spaced and responsive keyboard and touchpad is a joy and the mic and camera setup brings an instant professional edge to your online meetings and videos. And as for the 14-inch touch display, I couldn't really ask for more. This laptop really does mean business.      Click here for more information and pricing on the HP EliteBook Ultra G1i. Tue, 12 Aug 2025 01:11:32 Z /lifestyle/technology/bissell-powerclean-furfinder-200w-the-stick-that-stands-up-for-itself/ /lifestyle/technology/bissell-powerclean-furfinder-200w-the-stick-that-stands-up-for-itself/ I never thought I'd end up being an expert on vacuum cleaners. Who knew when I started reviewing gadgets, vacuums would often be at the cutting edge of new technology? But just as I've found with so many tech devices, not all new features are worth having and sometimes, the less complicated a gadget is, the easier it is to use and the better it actually works. Which is why I've gone from never having heard of Bissell to being a Bissell fan, in just a matter of weeks. The PowerClean FurFinder 200W might be one of Bissell's latest floor cleaning devices but that doesn't mean Bissell is new at this - far from it. The company started in 1876 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and when Anna Bissell took over the reins in 1889, she became America's first female CEO. Although I'm late to the Bissell party, Queen Victoria certainly wasn't - in fact she insisted her staff use Bissells to keep the palace clean. Talk about pedigree. On the other hand, I've definitely reviewed my share of stick vacuums over the years and I've come to appreciate what makes a good one. A lot of it is about balance - and I don't just mean how balanced the vacuum feels when you're using it - although that's important too. I'm talking about the balance between suction power and battery life. Dustbin capacity versus sheer size. Technical features against ease of use. The PowerClean FurFinder 200W gets a lot of those equations exactly right. Compared to some stick vacuums I've trialled, the main body of the PowerClean FurFinder 200W seems quite long and I was worried that might make things a bit clumsy, especially when using it in close quarters - when cleaning my car, for example. That wasn't the case though and using the combination crevice tool I was able to get into most nooks and crannies easily - on both hard and soft surfaces. Although, that's not really what this particular vacuum was designed for. As the name suggests, this is supposed to be the go-to cleaner for pet owners and as such, it boasts a "tangle-free" main brush roll. While this is a claim I've seen from many others in the past, often the reality of cleaning up after my shaggy dog and hairy housemates results in a brush head disappointingly snarled up, even on the first clean. Not this time. I don't know how Bissell has done it - the brush roll doesn't look wildly different from any other I've come across but I can't argue with the results; it truly is tangle-free.  For anyone who's ever had to hack and pull away at a mess of hair and fur clogging up your vacuum, knowing that won't happen with this one might be a compelling reason to upgrade. However, that's not the only thing the main brush head has going for it. Despite the PowerClean FurFinder 200W's considerable suctionpower, there are two sturdy wheels to keep it rolling easily over any surface, and there's also the the built-in combination of warm and cool LED headlights so you won't miss a speck of dust or a single strand of hair - even in the darkest corners. But it's the self-standing abilities of this main brush head that have really won me over. Simply click the PowerClean FurFinder 200W into its vertical position and you can leave it standing there - no need to lean against a wall. What's more, there's also a convenient foot release so you can remove the head without bending over. Lazy? Maybe. Helpful? Definitely. Unfortunately, a lot of the convenience and ease-of-use presented by the no-bending-down design of the main brush head is somewhat undone by how difficult the other accessories are to swap out. In some ways, this is actually a positive. It means when you attach the combination crevice tool or the smaller FurFinder head, there's a satisfying "ker-chunk" when it clicks into place. This solidity is evident over every inch of the PowerClean FurFinder 200W and its tools - there's no snapping, bending or denting these. But that super-secure connection definitely comes at the cost of being able to easily slide the attachments on and off. There's a small locking rocker at each connection point that needs quite a bit of brute force to click in and out. Perhaps I just have a weak grip? Maybe things will loosen up a bit in time? Either way, let's turn our attention to the secondary brush head, the smaller FurFinder Upholstery Tool. This is a powered roller - just like the main one - but the brush cylinder is quite different, rows of longer, strong bristles alternating with solid silicon "de-furring" strips, rotating in a spiral. This means no particle of fur, dander or anything else is safe on your couches, armchairs or even your duvet cover. What impressed me even more was I could run this tool over my duvet without sucking up the fabric itself, thereby clogging up the works. Even better; The upholstery tool also has FurFinding headlights - just like the main brush head - making this so useful for darker areas like stairwells and car floors. As you would expect from any decent vacuum these days, there's a HEPA filtration system so you're not just recycling dust and other allergens back into the air around you. It's also worth noting the dust bin is very easy to remove for fuss-free emptying and like everything else on this vacuum, it snaps back into place with another one of those satisfying "ker-chunks." I just wish that dirt tank was a little more capacious. At just 400ml, I often find myself having to empty the PowerClean FurFinder 200W before I'm finished cleaning the whole house - a bit frustrating given the 40-minute battery life (in Eco Mode) is enough to get me through. (Even if it wasn't, you can buy a spare battery and leave it charging while you vacuum) At the end of the day, that small tank is only an issue because the PowerClean FurFinder 200W does such a great job of sucking everything up in the fist place. The powerful lighting on both powered heads means you won't miss a thing and there's no trigger so you won't end up with a tired index finger. Instead, just switch it on and choose Eco, Medium or Turbo. It's simple but strong and most importantly for me, it never tangles. It's a real stand-up kind of vacuum.      Click here for more information and pricing on the Bissell PowerClean FurFinder 200W. Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:30:47 Z /lifestyle/technology/eero-pro-7-next-generation-wi-fi-in-minutes/ /lifestyle/technology/eero-pro-7-next-generation-wi-fi-in-minutes/ Although it's tempting to resist it, technology is always changing, constantly evolving. A cynical consumer might suspect built-in or planned obsolescence - manufacturers deliberately designing their devices to work worse and worse over time to create demand for a new, updated version of the same product. The truth is, as human beings, we're never satisfied. We got the internet. But we wanted it to be wireless. We got Wi-Fi. But we wanted it to be powerful enough to stream music and movies. We got high-speed fibre connectivity. But then everyone in the house was using multiple devices to do all sorts of things all at once. Gaming. Streaming. Working. Chatting. Browsing. Running all manner of IoT devices. More. More. MORE. So in 2025, it's entirely possible your existing router just isn't cutting it. The eero Pro 7 tri-band mesh Wi-Fi system should sort it all out for you - and as home networks go, it's one of the easiest to set up I've ever trialled. Simply use your Amazon login details to sign into the eero app and you'll literally be up and running in under five minutes. Unlike so many other routers I've set up in the past, the eero Pro 7 devices take very little time to boot up and they appear on the app straight away. Assigning an SSID (Network Name) and a name for each router couldn't be easier. There's even an option during setup to simply replace an existing, older eero unit. Adding a second and third device to create your mesh network is just as straight-forward; turn it on, add it with the app, all done. And yes, each compact and subtle eero Pro 7 device has my favourite feature; the ability to deactivate its status LED once it's all up and running. Have I mentioned how much I hate silly lights? Only about a million times? Okay then, moving on... eero Wi-Fi products come under Amazon's gargantuan umbrella and that means some serious compatibility advantages. Not only are these latest mesh routers backwards compatible with earlier generations of eero products, Amazon has even started building Wi-Fi extending abilities into its latest Echo smart speakers. So even if the whopping 560 square-metres of coverage from the 3-pack of eero Pro 7s I'm reviewing here isn't quite enough for you, just placing an Echo Pop in a dark spot can extend your coverage even further. I was keen to try this out and although I do own a few compatible Echo speakers, because the coverage from this three unit system is so comprehensive, although the app recognised these units under the list of connected devices, it deemed most of them unnecessary to use as extenders because they wouldn't add any useful extra capacity. Smart. As you'll see from my testing in the video below, the available download speeds are impressive, everywhere around my house. Of course, to make full use of these speeds, it helps to have a Wi-Fi 7 capable device, like my trusty Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Although that phone is now 18-months old, its Wi-Fi 7 chops have future-proofed it and made it more useful than many other Wi-Fi products still being released today. But it's not just faster speed on offer here, sheer capacity is perhaps an even more important factor. Because these are tri-band routers, transmitting and receiving on the 2.4, 5 and 6GHz bands, there's plenty of room for everyone - up to 600 devices in fact. eero uses something Amazon calls TrueMesh to route data through the fastest path available, while something else known as TrueChannel eliminates congestion, interference and dropouts. On top of all that, each eero Pro 7 unit (like most things Amazon makes) is also its own smart-home hub, supporting all Matter, Thread and Zigbee devices. Try as I might, I've struggled to find anything that under-performs with the eero Pro 7 system, which makes me wonder why you'd need to extend your budget up to the current top-of-the-line, eero Max 7 router, which purports to be even faster and more powerful. One reason might be the number of built-in LAN ports. While each eero Pro 7 router has two 5 GbE ports, on the primary router, one of those will be taken up by the very nice, braided ethernet cable (supplied in the box) running from your modem. That leaves you with just a single LAN line at your fastest access point. I've found running an external switch from this connection works perfectly well but it'd still be nice to have another couple of ports to connect to directly - which is exactly what you get on the bigger eero Max 7. My only other grizzle is nothing to do with the eero Pro 7 specifically; it's the same issue I had years ago when upgrading from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6... Not all of your existing devices will work with the new Wi-Fi 7 network just because you give it the same name and password - be warned. The tablet I run my Plex server on proved particularly touchy, connecting then disconnecting randomly - not really what you want when you're trying to stream Gladiator II. Luckily, this was easily fixed with a network reset on the tablet (essentially wiping its Wi-Fi memory and starting again). Weirdly, only a few of the roughly 90 different devices that connect to my home network have acted up this way - most figured things out without a hitch. Conversely, when I went from Wi-Fi 5 to 6 I had to reset pretty much every single device. I never want to go through that again. That's probably the real beauty of this eero Pro 7 system - not just how fast and powerful it is, or how easy it is to set up - but its glorious backwards compatibility. After all, not all technology is suddenly useless just because it came out last year.           Click here for more information and pricing on the eero Pro 7 3-pack. Wed, 30 Jul 2025 02:36:51 Z /lifestyle/technology/wiz-hdmi-sync-box-with-tv-backlight-gradient-light-bars-and-gradient-floor-light-at-last-theres-a-cheaper-way/ /lifestyle/technology/wiz-hdmi-sync-box-with-tv-backlight-gradient-light-bars-and-gradient-floor-light-at-last-theres-a-cheaper-way/ TV backlighting is perhaps one of the more unnecessary bits of tech you can invest in. As much as I personally love it, it's certainly not something you need, especially given how much it can cost to set up. Philips Hue has led the way in this department and I recently reviewed its updated 8K Sync Box - a crucial bit of kit you need before you can even start adding actual lights to your system. Oh... and if you go with Philips Hue, you'll also need something called a Hue Bridge - this is essentially the wireless hub any Philips Hue lights connect through instead of pairing directly with your Wi-Fi router. But why am I talking about Philips Hue when this review is about three different WiZ products? I wouldn't usually focus on competitor products in a review but in this case I'm making an exception because both Philips Hue and WiZ are owned by the same company; Signify. This is a phenomenon that pops up in the tech industry from time to time - two established brands competing with each other even though somewhere along the way they were brought (or bought) under the same umbrella. On the surface, one would assume the master plan is to appeal to different slices of the market - Philips Hue using its heritage heft to corner the more premium end of things while WiZ keeps it a bit more cheap and cheerful. What I've learned while reviewing the HDMI Sync Box with TV Backlight, Gradient Light Bars and Gradient Floor Light - all from WiZ - is the Venn diagram displaying every product from WiZ and Philips Hue shows quite a bit of crossover. It's easy to be confused by this so if you'd like to add some synced backlighting to your home theatre experience, I'll do my best to help. The first big difference between Hue and WiZ is you don't need the extra Bridge to connect and control your WiZ devices - just fire them up, open the WiZ app on your phone and they'll appear pretty much automatically. Using the app, you can create a whole WiZ home, naming the rooms and devices as you wish. That part's easy. However, it took me a while to find the section of the app that lets you configure your lights to sync with the picture on your TV. My impression is the WiZ app was designed to control all kinds of smart lighting and the TV sync box didn't turn up until fairly recently, so was just added to the app as a bit of an afterthought. That's not to say it doesn't work once you DO find out where the settings are - look it up under the "Library" tab, if you're wondering. There, at the top of the options, you can choose to sync your lights with video or with music. Music uses your phone's microphone to listen for the beat, tone and changes in volume to create a wireless light show to match. Meanwhile, once you choose the video option, you can then customise the sync mode - Cinematic, Vibrant, Relaxation or Rhythmic - and alter the brightness, saturation and intensity. You can set the lights to come on automatically when the HDMI Sync Box starts receiving a signal and you can even balance the brightness of whatever WiZ lights you've paired up. For example, in the video below I've plugged a Chromecast with Google TV into the WiZ HDMI Sync Box but the two Gradient Light Bars at the bottom of the screen seem to be a bit brighter than the TV Backlight strip running around the top and the sides - this can be equalised using the app. You'll also need to indicate exactly where you've placed the lights in the room - this part looks pretty much exactly like the same experience in the Philips Hue app. You simply slide each light around the room with your finger, adjusting the height and position so it can mimic the action on screen exactly. I like the way the WiZ HDMI Sync Box comes packaged with the TV Backlight strip, complete with its own sticky backing or the option of some little sticky clips to hook the Backlight up with. Unfortunately, the TV I was sticking it to had a textured surface that the little hook things refused to stick to, so I had to go with the more permanent sticky backing on the light strip itself. While I chose to use the WiZ Gradient Light Bars to fill out the effect along the bottom of my TV, if the base of your telly is obscured by a giant soundbar or something similar, you may feel you only need the effect of the Backlight strip on its own. The Gradient Light Bars also come with two kinds of mounting stands. You can set them up horizontally, as I have in the video, or you you might want to stand them up vertically and move them further out to extend the backlighting effect on either side of your screen. A pair of WiZ Gradient Floor lights can take this either further to each side or, as I have in my case, you can use one or two to project synced lighting effects on the wall behind you - working in much the same way as surround-sound speakers do. As you'll see in my video, this works brilliantly and the immersive way the rear-projected effect brings you into any scene with fire or explosions is particularly convincing. Another reason I've made the comparison to the Philips Hue range is you can't argue with the value for money. Right now, to buy the WiZ HDMI Sync Box with TV Backlight, the Gradient Light Bars and Gradient Floor Light altogether costs more than TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS LESS than the Philips Hue Play HDMI 8K Sync Box on its own. From what I can tell, there's not a huge difference between the WiZ Gradient Light Bars, the WiZ Gradient Floor Light and their Philips Hue Play counterparts. Build quality seems great, with nice brightness and colour, although I will say the base of the Floor Light is fairly narrow and it's not super stable on uneven surfaces like thick carpet and plush rugs. And when it comes to the WiZ TV Backlight, my impression is it's just not as bright as the Philips Hue version - although not everybody has the privilege of testing them together like I do and you might not notice in isolation. I certainly appreciate how much thinner, lighter and more flexible the WiZ strip is - it makes installation a breeze. But... to keep it real, there is a certain amount of "You get what you pay for" going on here. The first major consideration is how many video sources you have plugged into your TV. If it's just one Sky TV box, or perhaps an Apple TV or the like, that's fine. However, because the WiZ HDMI Sync Box only has one input, if you want fancy lighting effects for your gaming console or any other devices as well, that's going to be tricky. I assume you could (in theory) run everything through a 3rd-party HDMI switcher of some kind, and then plug THAT into the WiZ box but in my experience, picture and sound quality start to degrade pretty quickly the more devices that get in the way. Meanwhile, the Philips Hue Play 8K Sync Box has four inputs and yes, as you will have spotted, it's also capable of 8K transmission, when using the right source device and cables. Back on the WiZ box, the single input is only HDMI 2.0, not 2.1 - so 4K at 60Hz is the absolute best quality picture you can expect. Which for most people is plenty - so for most people, the WiZ option is definitely worth checking out. Click here for more information on the WiZ HDMI Sync Box with TV Backlight, Gradient Light Bars and Gradient Floor Light. Mon, 28 Jul 2025 00:14:26 Z /lifestyle/technology/samsung-galaxy-z-fold7-a-coming-of-age/ /lifestyle/technology/samsung-galaxy-z-fold7-a-coming-of-age/ If ever there was an example of the tech industry presenting us with a product nobody asked for, it's the folding phone. A flip phone? Sure. That made sense. Having the ability to essentially bundle your phone up to make it half its size was great. Much more pocketable. And you could protect the screen inside. And it made you look a bit like Captain Kirk using his communicator. But a phone that folded out to be twice as big? I'm a pretty big sci-fi fan and I can't think of any portrayal of the future where our phones were bigger, not smaller. And yet... Because they could, they did. They told us this was the phone that doubles as a tablet and amazingly, some people actually bought them and some of those people even used them that way. Despite the massive crease in the middle. Despite the terrible battery life. Despite the mediocre (and sometimes even plain bad) cameras. And despite the fact when you folded it up it was like having two phones in your pocket instead of one. This was what I like to call an Emperor's New Clothes moment; the folding phone was silly but everyone was too afraid to admit it. Well I'm here to tell you, things have changed. Now the only silly thing about it is the price. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 is available in four colours; Blue Shadow, Silver Shadow, Jetblack and Mint. It comes in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB options and has an RRP ranging from NZ$3,249.00 to NZ$4,099.00 - although whether anyone will ever end up paying over $4k for a phone is unclear as pre-orders of the 1TB variant are currently being discounted by $300 on the SamsungNZ site and there are some incredible bonus bundles out there too. Still, a lot of money - as the Galaxy Fold always has been. However, this year, finally, you might almost be getting what you pay for. Let's start with the size; The Z Fold7 is both bigger and considerably smaller - in all the right ways. The main display (unfolded) is now a full 8-inches - last year's was only 7.6. Because of that, the cover display has also expanded out to 6.5-inches but more importantly, it has a more familiar aspect ratio, no longer unnaturally tall and skinny in the hand. The even bigger headline is how slim Samsung has managed to make this thing; just 4.2mm when unfolded. It's lighter too; only 215 grams which means it amazingly now weighs slightly less than its S25 Ultra stablemate - and not much thicker, even when closed. Despite this incredible new slimness, there's a new feel of durability about the device - not only are the displays protected by some of the latest developments from Corning Gorilla Glass, Samsung has made the Armor Aluminium frame even tougher and has completely redesigned the all-important hinge mechanism, now rebranded as the Armor FlexHinge. This, in turn, has led to the least-visible crease on a Samsung folding display yet. In fact, the folding technology is now so good, I honestly don't even notice it. If I want a bigger screen, I just open the phone. It seems much more natural than ever before. Another significant, tangible upgrade is the camera configuration, both inside and out. I've been highly critical of the cameras on Samsung's folding phones from the very beginning. I just couldn't understand why you'd hamstring your most expensive phone with average photo performance. Then, to add insult to injury, they made the camera on the Fold3's main (internal) screen even worse. The under-display sensor was covered up (sort of) by larger pixels, rendering it (sort of) invisible - but at the cost of terrible quality photos and videos. Thankfully, at last Samsung has seen the error of its ways and reverted back to a decent 10MP punch-hole sensor, just like we're used to on any other handset. Now, if they could just move it to somewhere more practical, like the centre of one of the edges so we can actually look people in the eye when we're on a video chat. To be honest, I seldom use that internal camera for anything other than unlocking via facial recognition, not when now, finally, the primary camera array outside is so good. It's only taken seven generations but now we have a 200MP wide camera, a 12MP ultra-wide and a 10MP telephoto module that really stands out - both figuratively and literally. This is a classic illustration of the reality check Samsung has given itself; Yes, you can have one of the thinnest phones ever - but if you want great photos and videos, you'll have to put up with a big camera module. That's just physics. And I'm pretty sure Fold fans will be fine with that compromise. The 200MP main camera doesn't just mean incredible detail, it also does some cool stuff with light - as demonstrated by this twilight shadow shot... Meanwhile, the ultra-wide also performs like a flagship camera should... While the ability to zoom in on these crazy cloud formations above Mauao worked a treat. As an Android device, Gemini AI is pretty baked in. Sporting the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor, the Z Fold7 is more than capable of supporting AI functions like Google Gemini, not to mention all its native Galaxy AI tricks too. Do I know the difference between Galaxy AI and Gemini AI? Nope. Does it matter? Nope. Do things like multi-screen translation, Circle-to-Search and Object Eraser work better than ever? Of course. So who cares what it's called? Rest assured, there's plenty of NPU power to turn my dog into a 3D cartoon and more than enough graphics ability to play the latest and greatest mobile games on either the cover screen or primary display. A bit like how I said I no longer really notice the crease, the Galaxy Z Fold7's OneUI operating system has now evolved to a point where the transition from using an app like Outlook on the cover screen to the much more user-friendly wider version inside happens so smoothly and instantaneously, I don't even think about it. And that's the ultimate test of great tech; when things work so well, you don't notice them. I was shooting a video yesterday for a forthcoming review of a cooking appliance. I had an expert explaining how to use it and part of that was through the associated app. At which point, quite organically, I simply opened the Z Fold7 to see the recipe suggestions in their full, wide-screen glory. It wasn't until my guest commented on how cool that was I was reminded that yes, indeed, that really is pretty cool. Which it would have to be - remember, this phone is more expensive than most people's computers. Hell, it's more expensive than a lot of people's cars. In saying that, with the latest and greatest mobile chip, up to 1TB of storage and up to 16GB of RAM, this device could put a lot of other computers to shame. If you've been an early-adopting Fold fan from the start, it's probably more because you saw the potential of the device rather than being super satisfied with the reality of those first few iterations. Now all of that potential has been realised, so it might be time to upgrade and start living the dream.           Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7. Wed, 23 Jul 2025 00:27:56 Z