In a world where even business laptops seem to be getting slimmer and lighter every year, the Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 3 is a rare example of one that hasn't been designed with style or portability in mind. It's big, with the kind of desktop footprint you'd normally associate with coffee table hardback books. It's not particularly thick or heavy, but you'll notice its 1.77kg weight in your backpack if you spent the day carrying it around.

No, this one's all about productivity and furnishing workers with a laptop that will support them through the longest and most challenging working days without causing pain or eye strain. It has a big 16in screen, a sizable keyboard, up-to-date connectivity, and all the performance, security, and management features of Intel's latest tech.

Needless to say, that doesn't come cheap, particularly in a market where last year's entry-level specs are now hitting mid-range price points. But if you're looking for a big-screen workhorse, this one has plenty going for it.

Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 3: Design

The basic design and construction could be described as classic ThinkPad. It uses a mix of tough plastics – mostly post-consumer recycled – and aluminium, with everything finished in the same matt black. Fripperies are short on supply, bar the ThinkPad logo with a glowing LED dot for the i on the lid, and a second one without illumination on the keyboard deck. The plastics on the underside don't feel quite as premium as you might expect on a £1500 device, but that doesn't mean they're not robust. The L16 Gen 3 meets or exceeds MIL-STD-810H standards for durability, and even the lid has barely any flex under sensible levels of torsion.

This isn't one of those laptops where you'll need to carry any adaptors or USB docks. It has two Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports onboard, along with two USB 3.2 ports, an HDMI out, a 3.5mm audio jack and even a Gigabit Ethernet port. You'll need one of the Thunderbolt 4 ports for charging, but this is one of those unusual 16in laptops where you can get away without being chained to the mains for most of the day. In fact, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 built-in, you might not need to plug in anything at all.

As we said, the L16 Gen 3 has a sizable desktop footprint, nearly 36cm across by over 25cm deep. One bonus of that is that there's plenty of room for a full-sized keyboard with generous spacing between the keys, not to mention a slightly smaller numeric pad on the right-hand side. It's one of the best layouts we've come across to feature a numeric pad. Nothing feels crammed in, the keys fall neatly under the fingers, and there's even a separate cursor pad. Meanwhile, the keys themselves live up to the ThinkPad range's usual high standards, with a solid, quiet but slightly clicky action that gets you up to normal typing speed in no time. It's one of several good reasons why the L16 Gen 3 provides such a comfortable all-day working experience.

This excellent work on the keyboard is backed up by the touchpad. You could argue that there would be more room to manoeuvre without the physical buttons built into the top edge, but there's no denying that they give recognisable and tactile feedback when you click a button or make a selection. The signature red joystick-like analogue nub is even more an acquired taste, but it's become part of the ThinkPad identity. If you like it, it works just as well here as on any other ThinkPad we've looked at.

Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 3: Display and features

The 16in IPS display comes with its good points, but also with a wishlist of possible improvements. On the first front, it's quite bright with a maximum luminance of 429cd/m2, according to our tests. Whites look white, blacks look black by IPS standards, and contrast and clarity are good, with a contrast ratio of 1738:1. On the second front, we'd like it even more if the resolution were higher – 1920 x 1080 starts to lose its sharpness on a 16in display – and color performance leaves a lot to be desired.

We don't expect superb color accuracy or DCI-P3 color coverage on a business laptop screen, though both are always a plus. However, the L16 Gen 3's sRGB coverage stops at 64.9% of the standard color gamut, while the screen covers less than 50% of DCI-P3. Color accuracy is nowhere near the level you'd want for professional design work. In everyday productivity apps, this isn't too much of an issue, and having such dark black text on a crisp white background arguably compensates a lot. What's more, streaming video looks far from dull or lifeless. All the same, you can't help feeling that this big screen, so well-equipped for working across multiple documents and apps, really ought to be a bit more capable.

There's some further disappointment with the Webcam. Unless upgraded to a 5 megapixel camera with infrared sensor for Windows Hello (an extra £10), you're stuck with a 720p snapper that's slightly blurry and prone to smearing during daylight hours, and almost unusably noisy in low light. Do yourself and your end users a favour and upgrade when you buy.

Luckily, the sound is a different story. The speakers go loud without distorting, and while there's not much bass, the overall tone and clarity are fine. The dual mic array does a decent job of capturing sound, holding up well for video calls and Web chats.

Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 3: Performance

Our base model ThinkPad L16 Gen 3 uses the same Core Ultra 5 325 processor as the ThinkPad L14 Gen 7 we reviewed recently, partnered with the same 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. It's no surprise then that performance is in much the same league, with the bigger ThinkPad sometimes coming out on top, sometimes slightly behind.

In comparison to other big-screen laptops, it's slower than the 2025 Acer Aspire Vero 16 with its Core Ultra 7 255H Arrow Lake CPU, particularly when it comes to multicore performance. In Geekbench 6, it scored 2650 in the single-core test and 9342 in the multi-threaded benchmark, against 2767 and 14800 from the Acer. The Dell 16S was also faster, scoring 2683 and 11052. Results in the Cinebench 2024 3D rendering benchmark also show the ThinkPad L16 Gen 3 falling behind the competition, with scores of 115 (single-core) and 407 (multi-core) to the Vero's 120 and 770. All are comprehensively monstered by new Panther Lake and Snapdragon X2 devices like the Acer Swift 16 AI and Asus Zenbook A16.

This isn't a powerhouse laptop, and that goes double for GPU performance, where its benchmark scores are pretty underwhelming. However, it's perfectly decent when tackling everyday productivity apps, and it feels capable and responsive in normal use. The Core Ultra 5 325 features a 47 TOPs NPU, so you're covered for Copilot+ PC AI features and emerging AI tools, and the laptop runs near-silent most of the time. The 512GB SSD is also seriously speedy, hitting 7013MB/sec read speeds and 5926MB/sec write speeds according to our tests.

One area where the ThinkPad matches the Vero 16 is battery life. It survived 17 hours and 40 minutes of our standard battery rundown test with the brightness reduced to 170cd/m2, surpassing the Acer by 24 minutes. That's also an improvement on the 12 hours and 57 minutes we saw from the Dell 16S. Big screen laptops don't tend to have so much stamina, but in use we found the ThinkPad could get us through a working day without much trouble, even with the brightness turned up.

Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 3: Is it worth it?

Like most IT budget holders, we're still adjusting to the new realities of PC pricing, and the ThinkPad L16 Gen 3 is the kind of laptop that would have cost somewhere between £900 and £1200 just a couple of years ago. In 2026 with RAM and storage prices through the roof, you're looking at just over £1500 for the basic version with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, rising to over £2200 if you want a Core Ultra 7 355, 32GB and 1TB.

All we can do is compare it to whatever else is out there. The Dell 16S is slightly cheaper for a Core 5 Ultra model with 16GB of RAM, and it's got a higher-resolution screen to boot. The Aspire Vero 16 is hard to come by at the moment, but was on sale for under £1,000 in recent months. The HP ProBook 4 G2i with a Core Ultra 7 355 can be found for under £1,400. Each of these laptops beats the ThinkPad L16 Gen 3 on either specifications, features, or performance.

Yet the ThinkPad still makes a compelling argument in terms of its sheer usability. It's not super-speedy, and its screen could be improved, but it's built to last and is very comfortable and practical in everyday use. Throw in Lenovo's usual strengths in security and management, and it's an easy choice for enterprises big and small, even if you can't avoid the feeling that you could get more for your budget elsewhere.

Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 3 specifications

Display 16in 1920 x 1200 resolution IPS touchscreen, 60Hz

Processor Intel Core Ultra 5 325

GPU Intel Graphics

RAM 16GB DDR5

Ports 2x Thunderbolt 4/USB-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.1

Camera 720p webcam

Storage 512GB PCIe4 SSD

Connectivity Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4

Weight 1.77Kg

Dimensions 358 x 254 x 19.6mm

Battery Capacity 57Wh

Operating System Windows 11 Pro

Does the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 work as a business phone? The South Korean electronics giant clearly believes so because it has released an Enterprise Edition of its revitalized foldable smartphone.

To be clear, there's nothing new on the device, which launched midway through the summer. There isn't a specific capability or feature that's been added for enterprise workloads. It's more about the way you can purchase it and what it has to offer thereafter.

You get a Knox Suite enterprise plan, which is a single platform to manage your devices, from deployment through to individual device security. You get a guarantee of seven years of updates. And you also get Samsung's Quickstart service, which handles the setup of all your devices, including the Knox Suite.

It's also very expensive, regardless of whether you buy it as a consumer or a business. It's £1,709 in the UK, and $1,900 in the US – though that's the consumer option, as the Enterprise Editions are not available across the pond.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Design

At launch, the audience let out an audible gasp when the Z Fold 8 was first revealed, because it isn't your standard foldable. It isn't long and tall; it's short and square, almost like a mini passport when folded. And it's thinner than ever. Unfolded, it's like a sheet at just 4.5mm. And oh so light at just 201g. This makes it both pretty and delicate.

And that slight change in form factor gives you what you really need from a foldable display: an optimal aspect ratio for reels and social content. By default, the Z Fold 8 is set to 4:3 – or 3:4 for portrait – and that is even the case when it's folded. Which, as I have quickly learned from my time with the device, is perfect for reels and scrolling socials. The 120Hz refresh rate also helps here.

That being said, however, one thing that became quite apparent early on is that I didn't really like to open the screen up. Part of that was the fear that someone might call me and force me to answer with a tablet on the side of my face, which looks ridiculous. But the main reason is that I simply don't need the bigger screen when I am out and about.

In fact, I really like the mini display. I found its passport-shaped form very handy; I took my photos with it, I recorded video with it, and I generally accessed all my apps without opening it fully and had no issues. Essentially, this is the form factor for me: a shorter, squarer device.

Another issue, maybe too specific to me, is finding the orientation when you pull it out of your pocket. Often when I did use the main display, I would either have it upside down, so the cameras were at the bottom, or I would lose the position of the volume controls – I had a similar issue with the Motorola Razr – which is probably the biggest reason I wouldn't have a folding phone.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Displays

Both the main and external displays on the Z Fold 8 are Dynamic AMOLED's with a 1972 x 1248 resolution, and they both also have a 120Hz refresh rate. The smaller display is 5.5in while the main one is 7.6in.

For our colorimeter tests, we focused on the main display, with the 'Standard' settings. Its brightness peaked at 374.55cd/m2 and it scored 98.4% for sRGB color coverage and 101.6% for volume. The scores are comparable to the S26 Ultra, or the Honor Magic V6 if you want a foldable comparison.

The only negative was a low Adobe score (69.7%), which pretty much rules out editing photos to a professional level. The more mobile editing software we have, the more we really need mobile devices with higher scores here.

As mentioned, I have a preference for the outer display, particularly when out and about. I attended Logi Work 2026 earlier in the week, and the majority of my images and work messaging were done with the 5.5in display. Perhaps more seasoned foldable users (someone who has it as a daily driver) would use the main display more, but for me, the short display is king.

The only other issue, certainly from a business perspective, is the lack of the Privacy Display on either screen. For now, it appears to be just for the S26 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Specs and Performance

Inside the Z Fold 8 is a 3nm developed Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, which is paired with 12GB of RAM and 265GB of storage. The 8 Elite Gen 5 is a snappy chip, performing much better than its predecessor in our tests, making our experience of the Fold 8 very smooth.

In Geekbench, it notched 3,117 for single-core workloads and 10,716 for multi-threaded. These were far better than the previous Fold, though both were slightly under the Honor Magic V6, which we tested at the start of the year.

Samsung is very pushy when it comes to on-device AI, and has made lots of tools available, particularly for camera and video enhancement. But there's also been more use of contextual AI, with the 'Now Nudge' feature. It took me a while to get going with it, you need to turn it on in the AI settings and agree to let it use your data. And you also need the right apps and use cases for it, but essentially it reads your screen and offers tips and shortcuts. So for example, if a date or location is mentioned in an email, it will pop up on the screen with the calendar info. It's quite good at showing conflicting meeting times, in my experience.

You might see the 4,800mAh battery as a compromise, considering the Ultra model has a 5,000mAh battery, but it doesn't actually equate to better battery performance. The Fold 8 lasted just under 25 hours in our looped video test, which is very impressive for a foldable phone.

Even more impressive, running the same test on the cover display produced even better results – over 30 hours. By the end of this review, I may have a solid argument for using the cover display entirely.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Cameras

You get four cameras on the Z Fold 8: two 50MP lenses on the rear – these are the main cameras – and two 10MP cameras housed in the two displays. Essentially, it's two selfie and two rear cameras. The rear cameras are wide and ultrawide, and the cover camera is also ultrawide. However, none of them are telephoto lenses, but that's arguably why it's so thin and light.

I captured a fair amount of decent images on the main cameras. The lackluster zoom made it hard to get enough detail from subjects at a distance, such as someone on stage. And I also noticed lots of visual noise around the edges. But it captures color that's true to life, and the two selfie cams produce nice warm images.

Due to the shape, you can get a little lost in aspect ratios; I certainly did, going by how many of my images ended up being square. But the camera interface does a great job of simplifying all of its options and controls.

One issue I have with the cameras is actually the folding aspect: unlike previous models, or the Z Fold 8 Ultra, I couldn't get the display to stay fixed in a folded position. So you can't really capture yourself with the timer or a video hands-free. I managed it a few times, but it wasn't very long before the device snapped open.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Is it worth it?

As a foldable device, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is truly game-changing. And that's just the shape of it. It's the 'reel deal', if you excuse the terrible pun. Both displays are buttery smooth, colorful, and well optimized for battery usage.

However, there are a few nagging issues, such as the lack of a telephoto lens, and there isn't really enough on the device to make it a proper business phone. The Enterprise Edition extras at purchase are great value, but we would have liked more from its on-device capabilities, like Now Nudge. That being said, it's the most interesting foldable device there has ever been.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 specifications

Ugreen's NASync desktop appliances are gaining a strong reputation in the NAS space as they score highly for build quality, hardware specifications, and prices. The premium Ultra series steps in at the top of the range and moves the focus up to growing businesses and power users that want a combination of high storage capacities, top performance, and plenty of features.

This is a review of Ugreen's flagship NASync DXP8800 Ultra 8-bay model, which has a modern Intel Core 7 150U mobile CPU in the driving seat. And eight efficient plus two multi-thread performance cores, a maximum 5.4GHz Turbo frequency, and a minuscule 15W base TDP. Along with a faster CPU, the only other notable difference with Ugreen's older DXP8800 Plus is that the maximum DDR5 memory capacity has been increased by 50% to 96GB.

The DXP8800 Ultra employs exactly the same solidly built aluminium chassis as the Plus model, so you get a veritable port-fest. A standout feature is the pair of 40GbE Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, but there are also dual 10GbE multi-Gigabit, USB-A 3.2 Gen2, and USB-A 2.0 ports, along with an integral SC4 card reader, while 8K video output from the CPU's Iris Xe Graphics 96EU chip is routed to an HDMI 2.1 port.

Ugreen NASync DXP8800 Ultra review: Hardware features

The main drive bays use tool-free telescopic carriers and you can pick from a wide choice of devices as Ugreen's compatibility list currently shows 57 different models which include plenty of NAS-specific HDDs from Seagate, Western Digital and Toshiba.

You'll also find two M.2 NVMe SSD PCIe 4 slots lurking behind a spring-loaded cover in the base which can be used as high performance storage pools or caches. Alongside them are two SODIMM slots with one occupied by the base 8GB of 5,600MHz DDR5 memory.

The rear magnetic dust cover has two 12cms diameter cooling fans behind it and during testing, we found they were whisper-quiet. There's also a PCIe Gen4 expansion slot alongside but although the user manual provides clear instructions, patience is required as it's very difficult to access.

Ugreen NASync DXP8800 Ultra review: UGOS and apps

For testing, we loaded four 4TB Seagate IronWolf NAS HDDs and used Ugreen's web portal to discover the appliance and install the latest UGOS software. The web console is easy to use and aids storage pool creation with sage advice on the various RAID options based on the drives selected.

We chose the recommended RAID5 volume and were prompted to create personal and shared folders and configure remote access, which creates a unique Ugreenlink ID and secure web link. We opted for a Btrfs volume to enable storage quotas and snapshots and noted that the latter feature still only supports NAS shares and not iSCSI LUNs.

Ugreen lags behind Qnap and Synology for app choices, but it is catching up as 35 are now available for the DXP8800 Ultra. The Model Manager and OpenClaw agent apps are of particular interest as they bring smart AI tools into play.

Model Manager provides a central location for managing AI features, but Ugreen's AI Console, Uliya, and Voice Memos apps are only supported by the iDX models. For the DXP8800 Ultra, the Model Manager integrates with the Photos and Surveillance Center apps and provides facilities for authorising various AI models for them, including people, text, and image recognition for photos, plus facial recognition and general detection for surveillance.

OpenClaw uses the Docker app and the latest UGOS updates its engine to 29.6.2, which addresses a number of security issues. If you're planning on using OpenClaw, you'll find Darien Graham-Smith's excellent in-depth tutorial in Issue 383 of PC Pro.

Other apps of distinction include Sync & Backup, which secures local data to a remote Ugreen NAS and vice versa, and also supports Rsync servers. The Cloud Drives app provides file syncing for ten cloud storage services including Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive, while Ugreen's NAS Windows and macOS desktop tools use sync tasks to secure selected data to shared folders and update it in real time.

The appliance's HDMI port comes into play only when you use Ugreen's mobile app. Load the Theatre app, pick a video to stream, select the HDMI Play projection mode, and sit back and enjoy.

Ugreen NASync DXP8800 Ultra review: 10GbE performance

For our speed tests, we hooked the appliance up to the lab's Zyxel XMG1930-30HP multi-Gig switch and mapped a share over 10GbE to a Dell PowerEdge Windows Server 2025 host. Ugreen added UGOS support for 9000-byte Jumbo frames earlier this year, and with these enabled, we saw good Iometer sequential read and write rates of 9.2Gbits/sec and 8.8Gbits/sec and random speeds of 9.2Gbits/sec and 0.7Gbits/sec.

For our real-world tests, copies of a large 25GB test file between the appliance and server delivered sustained read and write rates of 3.8Gbit/sec and 3Gbits/sec. Securing a 22.4GB folder with 10,500 small files to the share averaged a very respectable 2Gbits/sec.

From the SAN Manager app, we created a 500GB iSCSI target and, after mapping it to our host server, watched Iometer report back with very similar sequential and random read and write rates as the NAS share. We noted that although the SAN Manager clustering feature allows multiple clients to connect to the same iSCSI LUN, MPIO (multipath I/O) for redundant, load-balanced links is not currently supported.

For cache testing, we installed two Kingston M.2 NVMe SSDs and assigned them to our data volume as a mirrored read/write cache. This made significant improvements to random write operations with our NAS share and iSCSI LUN, seeing respective speed increases of 245% and 290%.

Ugreen NASync DXP8800 Ultra review: Is it worth it?

For an 8-bay NAS with dual TB4 and 10GbE ports, the NASync DXP8800 Ultra looks like a good value, with it currently listed on Ugreen's US site for $1,799. Competition comes mainly from Qnap's new TX-h966TX 9-bay hybrid NAS, which sports dual TB4 ports, a 6-core Core i3 CPU, a single 10GbE port, and support for up to four U.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs.

Ugreen's UGOS OS is a work in progress, but all the important apps are present, while the OpenClaw agent and Model Manager show its continued focus on developing AI-powered capabilities. At first glance, it does look to be a modest hardware upgrade over the DXP8800 Plus model, but the Core 7 150U CPU is noticeably faster across the board than the older Core i5-1235U, and memory capacity is 50% higher, so it can easily cope with current and future workload demands.

Ugreen NASync DXP8800 Ultra specifications

If you're on the lookout for a mini PC, the chances are you're prioritizing a compact build and affordability over power. While mini PCs can punch well above their weight at times (like the Apple Mac Mini), desktop PCs and workstations still win out when it comes to which machine boasts the biggest performance credentials. In the world of Windows mini PCs around the $500 mark or under, value for money reigns – and it's about finding the most functional machine to suit your likely entry-level needs.

Acemagic's catalogue of mini PCs ranges from the sublime (in the form of the Matrix Mini M1) to the underwhelming (courtesy of the Kron Mini K1). Taking lessons from the failures of the latter is the Chinese firm's newest budget-friendly mini PC, the Kron Mini K5.

Before you ask, we don't understand the naming convention either, but consider this to be the K1's spiritual successor. We have much higher hopes for the newer model given it comes packaged with a new Intel Wildcat Lake entry-level processor, as opposed to one that's several years old upon release. Despite launching in 2025, the K1 featured the then-three-year-old Intel Core i5-12600H CPU, for reference. With fresh hardware and a cool blue chassis, can this $400 (after discounts) mini PC make a case to be the best entry-level machine of its kind out there?

Acemagic Kron Mini K5 review: Design

This mini PC takes a subtle left turn from the familiar design language of its predecessors, manifesting as a couple of tweaks alongside a knockout color choice that gives the machine some extra character. Although its compact dimensions remain the same as the Kron Mini K1 (128 x 128 x 41.3mm) and even the Matrix Mini M1, the Kron Mini K5 feels modern; the cool, breezy exterior complements the fact that its components are fresh.

You can also find this design language in the etched lateral metallic strip lining the top of the machine, matching the tone of the metallic blue used on top, which contrasts excellently with the matted and dustier iteration on the rest of the body. This is enough to add something different to a neat but overly familiar design. Otherwise, the power button has changed – spelling out 'POWER' instead of the power symbol we're familiar with. Thankfully, the LED backlighting remains. You may well not care about all this if you simply want to mount the device onto the back of your monitor – with the tools to do so provided in the box – but leaving the Kron Mini K5 out on your desk is no bad thing and gives you something easy on the eye to add to your workplace aesthetic.

The selection of ports available is identical to the Kron Mini K1, with the front hosting the only USB-C port (3.2 Gen 2) alongside two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The rear features four USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0, a 2.5GbE Ethernet port, and DC input. There's also room for a Kensington Lock Slot (as well as a lock switch at the top of the rear), but sadly no SD Card reader, which you may often find on the side of machines like this. Your wireless standards, meanwhile, are Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi 6, both of which aren't the newest out there.

Acemagic Kron Mini K5 review: Specs and performance

The Intel Core Ultra 5 320 Wildcat Lake processor fitted into the Kron Mini K5 is a six-core entry-level chip geared for energy-efficient budget laptops and mini PCs. Two performance cores (for more demanding workloads) have a 1.5GHz base clock speed (and 4.6GHz turbo), while four efficiency cores (for more background and everyday tasks) offer a 1.3GHz base clock speed (and 3.4GHz turbo).

The chip also integrates around 16TOPS of AI performance, which isn't much – but enough for Windows 11's simple AI features like real-time background blurring on a video call, live noise cancellation, as well as real-time translation or transcription. It also comes with an Intel Xe Graphics chip, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, and a 512GB SSD.

Performance testing with Geekbench 6 produced a single-core result of 2,427 and a multi-core score of 7,655. The former is largely in line with expectations and means that it can handle all simple, single-core background tasks as well as you would need. The latter result also met our expectations – performing much better than the Intel Core i5-12600H in the Kron Mini K1 (5,508) as well as the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U in the Acer Revo RB-102 (6,869), which actually costs a little more.

Graphics performance too was very good; it clocked a score of 12,658 in the OpenCL test, beating both the Acer (11,029) and the Kron Mini K1 (9,630). Last year's Matrix Mini M1, however, did beat it with 13,514. The Intel Xe Graphics chip won't come anywhere near the Intel Arc Graphics chips, but should be enough for basic photo editing and graphic design.

Unfortunately, if you're hoping to transfer data at speed – SSD reads of 1,775MB/s and writes of 1,689MB/s are certainly on the lower end and well below average.

Acemagic Kron Mini K5 review: Is it worth it?

We enjoyed plenty about the Kron Mini K5 mini PC, including its fresh and sharp design and metallic blue double-hue chassis – not to mention the fact that the components powering it are as new as you can get. This might sound like an obvious point, but plenty of mini PCs out there in the budget category are retrofitted with chips that are several years old at the time of release, so to find one available for roughly $400 with a new Intel chipset and enough AI power for basic on-device processing is excellent. You'll also benefit from a healthy amount of graphics power at this price point.

There are some misgivings, such as the wireless standards being a little behind the times, as well as a port selection that lacks more than one USB-C connection and no SD Card reader. The SSD could also have done with a bit more speed. But it's certainly enough to get by for the majority of office workers – and it won't break the bank.

Acemagic Kron Mini K5 review specifications

The new Acer Aspire Go 15 is the first laptop released in the UK to run on Qualcomm's new Snapdragon C chip. We've used the word 'new' twice in that last sentence, and in both cases it's doing a fair bit of heavy lifting.

First, the Aspire Go 15 has been around for a while, running on a selection of low-power processors like the Intel Core 5 120U and AMD Ryzen 7 5825U; second, the Snapdragon C is, to all intents and purposes, a rebadged Dragonwing QCS6490, a processor that's been knocking about since 2021.

The Snapdragon C is a 7W TDP chip that features 8 cores, but they are the standard ARM-pattern Kryo cores rather than the custom Oryon cores found in the X1 and X2 processors. Graphics are handled by an Adreno 643 GPU, and there's a 12 TOPS Hexagon NPU in the mix.

Given that information about the chipset, and the fact that this is a laptop with a £449 price tag, which makes it the cheapest model in the budget Aspire Go range by some margin, it should be clear that we are here looking at the very entry level of the laptop market. Ladies and gentlemen, please limit your expectations.

Acer Aspire Go 15: Design

For a 15.6in laptop, the Aspire Go 15 is relatively light and compact, weighing 1.21kg and measuring 356 x 235 x 20mm. That makes it easy to slip into a backpack and carry around for the day, even with the small bundled 65W USB-C charger. The body is made entirely from plastic, but it feels reasonably solid and looks rather more expensive than it actually is. In the absence of any metal, the lid is rather bendy, though not excessively so. The silver paint finish does an excellent job of not showing fingerprints.

Wide screen bezels usually give the game away with budget laptops, but the Aspire Go does well here with plastic strips just 6mm wide at the sides, 10mm deep at the top and 15mm at the bottom. On the left side of the Go 15, you'll find two 5Gbps USB-C ports and an HDMI 1.4 video output. On the right is a single 5Gbps USB-A port and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Traditionally, Acer's Aspire Go machines use a barrel DC-in jack, but this new model can be charged via either of the Type-C ports, both of which also support DisplayPort video output.

Remove the plastic base plate and the first thing that strikes is the vast amount of space: the entire upper left quadrant is unoccupied save for a single small fan. Next to the Serengeti-esque void is the motherboard, while below sits a 52Wh battery that's easy enough to remove. Everything of interest is fixed in place, so there's no opportunity to add or change the RAM or storage or swap the WLAN card.

The Qualcomm C6700 WLAN card supports 6 GHz Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4, which is absolutely the most you can expect at this sort of price.

Acer Aspire Go 15: Keyboard, touchpad, and webcam.

The keyboard benefits from an expansive layout with a handy numeric keypad and full-sized left/right arrow keys. The keyboard deck could be rather more solid; there's quite a bit of sag when you press down hard in the middle, but the keys have a positive action, albeit over a somewhat short travel. The keyboard lacks anything in the way of a backlight, but given the MacBook Neo is in the same boat, we can't mark the Acer down on this score.

The 125 x 80mm plastic touchpad beneath it is not too bad either: It's smooth and responsive with a well-damped and quiet click action. The webcam may be a 1080p rather than 720p unit, but it lacks support for Windows Hello facial recognition, and the images it produces, while bright, are also colorless and a little hazy. At least Acer has seen fit to install a manual privacy slider.

Acer Aspire Go 15: Display

We were happy to discover that the 60Hz 1,920 x 1,080 display is indeed an IPS panel rather than some bargain-basement TN affair with all the visual refinement of an Etch A Sketch. The viewing angles are wide, and the anti-reflection matte finish does a very good job keeping reflections in check.

In the debit column, the maximum brightness is a somewhat Stygian 268cd/m2 while color gamut coverage is meagre to say the least, with volumes of just 55.2% of sRGB and 39.1% of DCI-P3. With so little color, measuring the accuracy was a waste of time, but we did it anyway. The Delta E variance against the sRGB profile came back at a woeful 6.8.

Ignoring the fact that Lenovo can sell its Chromebook 14 Plus with an OLED screen for the same price, we expected little more on the display front, and in the cold light of day the Acer's display is entirely suitable for basic PC duties. Watching some shows on Netflix wasn't as dreary an experience as the colourimeter numbers suggested it would be.

Acer Aspire Go 15: Specs and performance

The 'new' Snapdragon C processor contains one high-performance core running at 3 GHz, three more performance cores running at 2.4 GHz, and four low-power cores running at 1.9 GHz. There's also 8GB of single-channel RAM.

If you're expecting performance to match the new £700-£800 budget laptops that are arriving on the market pell-mell at the moment, you'll be disappointed. There's a good reason for that £250-plus price difference.

The gulf in performance between the Snapdragon C-powered Aspire Go 15 and the likes of the Wildcat Lake-powered Acer Swift 14 Air, the A18 Pro-powered MacBook Neo, and the Snapdragon X1 Asus Zenbook 14 is considerable.

Starting with the results of our trusty old Hanbrake-based 4K multi-media benchmark, the Aspire Go 15 scored a lowly 38 points compared to the Swift Air's 167, the MacBook Neo's 120 and the Zenbook 14's 190. That's a gap so large you could fill it with water and reenact the Battle of Trafalgar.

Looking at the Geekbench 6 multi-core CPU benchmark results, the Aspire Go's score of 3,213 isn't great, less than half the 7,992 scored by the Swift Air, but it is better than the quad-core Intel N150 processors in the Beelink Mini S13 and Acemagic V1, which scored 3,023 and 2,750, respectively.

For reference, other CPU benchmark scores include a Geekbench 6 single-core result of 1,181 and Cinebench R24 scores of 212 multi-core and 57 single-core.

Overall performance was indeed similar to the Intel N150-based Beelink Mini PC, which scored 50 points in our 4K multimedia benchmark; in other words, fine for the most basic of web-based SaaS duties and media consumption but little beyond.

Drilling down into the Aspire's performance, it's clear that what really lets the side down isn't so much the CPU's performance as it is the GPU's capability, or lack thereof.

The Geekbench 6 benchmark ran so slowly that after 90 minutes we gave up on it, but the 3DMark Night Raid test returned a score of 4,980. Compare that to 18,140 from the Swift Air's Intel Graphics iGPU.

When we undertook some basic creative work on the Aspire Go 15 using Gimp and HandBrake, rendering proved to be very slow, it did at least run all the jobs we tried without any hiccups or crashes.

The 12 TOPS Hexagon NPU is of little value in the Windows scheme of things: the only part of the Copilot+ panoply that's supported is Live Captions. Everything else, including webcam Studio Effects, Generative Fill in Paint, and Recall, is missing.

Storage comes in the form of a 128GB UFS 3.1 card made by Biwin. Average sequential read and write speeds came back at 1,678MB/s and 1,295MB/s respectively, which is not at all bad and certainly faster than the rest of the chipset can make any real use of.

It would have been nice if Acer had started the storage capacity at 256GB. With just half that, users will constantly be having to housekeep Windows to remove any unnecessary bloat just to keep a usable amount of free storage space.

While Windows 11 runs perfectly well on Snapdragon C, we couldn't help but think that a lightweight Linux distro like Manjaro would be more suited to such a low-power platform. Sadly, we weren't able to boot the Aspire Go from a USB stick, no matter what we tried.

Qualcomm boasts that the QCS6490 offers "Long-term support for Android OS upgrades, Linux, Ubuntu..." so assuming you can get past the boot issues we experienced, Linux should run.

Qualcomm's media pack makes much fuss about the efficiency of the Snapdragon C platform, and here it does indeed do well. In our standard video rundown test, the Aspire Go ran for 18 hours and 2 minutes.

That's a thoroughly good showing for a super-budget laptop and more than double what you can expect from any of the Intel- or AMD-driven Aspire Go 15 laptops.

An obvious benefit of having a 7W CPU is that heat generation is simply not a problem. Even the tiny fan barely has to do any work to keep things cool. In the vast majority of user scenarios, the Aspire Go 15 may as well be passively cooled.

Acer Aspire Go 15: Is it worth it?

It's hard to get overly excited about the Aspire Go 15, given its utilitarian ambitions. After all, for £450, all you can reasonably expect is a laptop that can handle the most basic computer tasks. And while the Aspire Go 15 can absolutely do that, it can't do much more.

If we temper our expectations, the Aspire Go 15 shines more brightly. The IPS display is arguably the weakest component, but it's perfectly usable and suffers from none of the problems that bedevil cheap TFT panels, while the sound system is surprisingly competent.

It also bears remembering that even such basic functionality as charging over USB-C, 6GHz Wi-Fi and a decent battery runtime are by no means given on super-budget laptops in this sort of price bracket.

Performance isn't desperately awful either, despite the less-than-impressive benchmark scores. If all you want a laptop for is basic productivity, web browsing and media consumption, the Aspire Go 15 won't give you any reasons to regret parting with £450.

Acer Aspire Go 15: Specs

The Pro MP245PDG is MSI's latest premium 24in monitor. But while the Pro business branding suggests that it solely has the workplace in its sights, even a cursory glance at its specifications reveals that it's been designed to live a double life.

The integrated KVM switch and 98 watts of USB-C power delivery makes light work of swapping from home PC to work laptop or using both side by side, and the 144Hz refresh rate isn't just easier on the eyes for long days – it's also more capable for gaming. Put it all together, and you have a fine recipe for a true do-it-all monitor.

MSI MP245PDG monitor: Design & Features

If you've seen MSI's previous generation of 24in Pro monitors, then you know what to expect here. And this isn't a bad thing: the fact that you can barely tell them apart means that offices rolling out new models will get a neat, consistent look from desk to desk.

As the priciest model in the line-up, MSI lets the specifications do the talking: while the Full HD panel uses VA technology and lower refresh rates for the cheaper models in the MP245 family, the MP245PMG opts for a more colour-accurate IPS panel with a 144Hz refresh rate and a 1ms MPRT response time.

Eagle-eyed buyers will wonder why the claimed brightness and contrast are down on the previous model, however – and this is likely due to upgrades elsewhere. Firstly, I'd point the finger at the new USB-C port. This accepts DisplayPort Alt video inputs from compatible laptops and devices, and also provides up to 98 watts of power delivery.

There are more subtle changes that you won't see in the specifications, but are very welcome for business use. For instance, the matte anti-glare coating is very slightly better at suppressing bright lights, and while the exterior is still all plastic, the MP245PDG feels markedly more taut than the previous model. Tap on the rear of the panel, and it sounds just that bit more rigid and damped. Better build quality is always a bonus.

The adjustable stand is unchanged – and this is no bad thing. It attaches to the monitor via a standard VESA 100x100mm mount, and there's no quick-release mechanism, so you do need to lay the monitor flat and insert the four screws. Again, though, there's a benefit here – you don't need to mess about with VESA adapters if you prefer to mount the screen to a monitor arm or aftermarket stand, and you can then reuse the stand with any VESA-compatible monitor.

Connectivity marks a decent upgrade overall. Given that this is 2026, it's no great surprise that the D-SUB (or VGA, if you prefer) port from the previous MP242PMG model has disappeared. In its place, you get USB-C (with DisplayPort Alt and 98W Power Delivery), one DisplayPort 1.4 input, one DisplayPort 1.4 output for daisy-chain duties, and one HDMI 1.4b input. MSI has also added a Gigabit Ethernet socket. The USB hub has been upgraded, too, with a USB-B input powering two 5Gbps USB-A ports, both positioned at the rear. The 3.5mm headphone output is still present, however.

You do also get a basic Full HD webcam thrown in. This does struggle in lower light, with both detail and colour draining from the image in dimmer environments, but add some good lighting to the mix, and it's actually very serviceable. With good lighting, skin tones look natural, and colors are nice and punchy, and there's ample detail for video calls. What's more, the sensor here does a much better job of preventing overexposure than the older MP242PMG: with both monitors and cameras working side by side, the newer model does a far better job of preventing highlights from getting blown out.

Given all the connections on offer, it's good to find a basic KVM switch included along with PiP and PbP functions. This allows you to share the USB peripherals and Ethernet connection between two machines – albeit only one at a time. Unlike pricier models, however, you're limited to swapping between a device connected to the USB-C video input and one of the other video inputs – unlike pricier monitors, you can't select any two video inputs.

Still, swapping between machines is a simple case of pressing left on the monitor's little OSD joystick – or you can install MSI's Productivity Intelligence software (Windows 10 and 11 only) and assign a specific keyboard shortcut. The only missed opportunity here for the Productivity Intelligence software is the lack of remote management of the monitor's features – the Ethernet socket is purely there for networking, not remote control.

The on-screen display remains unchanged. The menus are still sensibly laid out and easy to navigate, so nothing needed upgrading for 2026. There is one issue, however: the clickable four-way joystick seems to have gotten worse. It could just be this specific review sample, but during my testing it had an annoying tendency to not register some directional movements. The old model didn't suffer from this issue, so it could be that it might ease up after more use – or it could just be an inferior design.

MSI MP245PDG monitor: Display quality

It's worth noting that the new model isn't a universal upgrade. With the MP245PDG and older MP242PMG models side by side, the most obvious change is brightness – the old model is substantially brighter at maximum brightness. This, however, is of limited use: while the new model only reaches a peak brightness of 353cd/m2, that's far too bright for normal office usage. Even half that figure will feel overly bright under normal lighting.

Contrast has taken a tumble, too, with the previous model's claimed 1,500:1 dropping to 1000:1. In testing, however, the difference isn't as stark as that sounds – I saw a measured contrast around 1,134:1 vs the 1,444:1 of the previous model. It's enough to produce slightly greyer blacks in darker environments, but night and day it is not. If there's a downside to the lower contrast and brightness, it's HDR performance is slightly worse. But again, given that it wasn't really usable before, this isn't a deal breaker.

More crucially, however, the new panel looks very slightly sharper than the old. There's no getting around the fact that this is a 24-inch Full HD display, so pixel density is relatively low, but text and fine detail look subtly more defined than the old generation. This could be down to the new panel, but I suspect it's more likely due to the upgraded matte anti-glare coating – this appears to be slightly better at diffusing bright reflections. Regardless, it's a subtle but welcome improvement.

Despite the lower brightness and contrast, the overall image quality is improved. Color accuracy is almost identical – I saw average Delta E figures of 1.3 for the sRGB mode, which is more than good enough for color-critical work – but the more accurate white point now produces more natural, untinted whites dramatically. Gone is the warm yellow hue from the old model's sRGB mode, and this improvement is night and day with the monitors side by side.

While the upgrade from 120Hz to 144Hz might not seem like a huge leap, the overall motion clarity is slightly improved. This has the biggest impact in fast-moving games where there's just a tad less blur – for a business display, the level of detail on show during gaming is unusually refined.

MSI MP245PDG monitor: Is it worth it?

As ever with a new product, the launch price does not work in the Pro MP245PMG's favour: £219 is very expensive for a 24in Full HD monitor. That kind of budget will easily stretch to a 27in QHD monitor, which will deliver a larger, significantly sharper desktop. For instance, at the time of writing, the very competent Philips 27E1N1600AE is retailing at £139. If you can live with a far more basic set of features, that provides a larger, sharper panel with 65W of USB-C power delivery for vastly less money.

That's not to say that the MP245PMG won't be an attractive package for some businesses and home offices, though. Not everyone has room on their desk for a larger monitor, and MSI has crammed a good amount of connectivity and genuinely useful features into a compact, well-designed footprint. If that sounds like what you've been looking for, then the price premium may be one you're happy to pay.

MSI MP245PDG monitor specifications

If color accuracy is high up your list of priorities, then the Asus ProArt PA278QGV serves up a Calman Verified panel for a little less than you might expect.

This is the second generation of the brand's popular PA278QV model, and while it retains the 27in 2,560 x 1,440 canvas of its predecessor, it introduces an upgraded IPS panel that promises 95% DCI-P3 coverage, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a guaranteed average Delta E of less than 2.

On paper, that all sounds like pretty impressive stuff, but the clincher here is that it's actually quite affordable, too. For around £250 at the time of writing, the PA278QGV looks like a potentially perfect fit for creative desks – both at home and in the office – which demand good color accuracy without spending the earth.

ASUS ProArt PA278QGV: Design and Features

First impressions are good – and setup is quick. The PA278QGV's panel clicks into the adjustable stand thanks to a quick-release mechanism. There are no bolts to screw in here. Admittedly, the overall construction does feel a little light and plasticky, but it's not bad for the money at all. There's a bit of a hollow feel to the monitor's curved rear panel and the stand is a touch wobblier than pricier models, but there's nothing here which impedes the function. In fact, the stand is fully adjustable, even with a single hand – there's 130mm of height adjustment, plenty of side-to-side swivel, ample amounts of tilt, and it rotates into portrait mode in either direction.

Let's get the bad news out of the way here: there's no USB-C. Asus attempts to make amends by providing a high-speed USB 3.2 Gen 1 hub, though. The single upstream USB-B port powers up two 5Gbps USB-A ports at the rear and a further two under the panel's lower left-hand bezel. There are DisplayPort and HDMI inputs, too, albeit only one of each – and the latter only supports up to 100Hz. You'll need to use a DisplayPort cable to get the monitor's full 120Hz. A 3.5mm headphone output is present, too.

You do also get a few useful cables in the box. There's the usual IEC power cable for the built-in power supply, and you'll find DisplayPort and HDMI cables in addition to the USB-B to USB-A cable for the hub.

The PA278QGV's on-screen display and controls are pretty good overall. Unlike many monitors which position the four-way joystick controls behind the monitor, Asus has mounted it up front here. What's more, the joystick is flanked by five buttons. Tap the joystick and a little on-screen legend tells you which button to press to bring up specific quick adjustments, or you can click the joystick again to bring up the full menu. The controls are responsive, and the menus are markedly more legible than some I've seen in recent years – all of the options are simply laid out and easy to navigate.

Given the PA278QGV's focus on color accuracy, it's good to find a wide range of factory-calibrated picture modes. You can leave the panel in its Native mode if you prefer to perform a software calibration with a suitable colorimeter (naturally, there's no hardware calibration support here), or you can cycle between the sRGB, BT.709, Adobe RGB, P3, BT.2020 and DICOM modes. Some of these – sRGB, for one – lock down the various gamma and color temperature settings, but others provide at least some level of control over gamma curves or color temperature, which is welcome.

There are some odd decisions here and there, though. For instance, it's good to find an automatic brightness sensor, but this is either on or off – you can't customise how aggressively it'll lower or raise the brightness. And similarly, the automatic color temperature is a toggle switch. Turn it on during daylight hours, and it tints white backgrounds with a very warm orangey glow. It's also a shame that the automatic adjustments are so visible – it's not a smooth shift in brightness or color temperature. Instead, the brightness and color temperature move up and down with clunky steps.

Saying that, I did find the automatic brightness sensor quite useful – I work under bright office lighting during the day and dim everything right down past sunset – but it's a shame Asus hasn't made more effort to allow users to adjust it to their preferences. I would have liked it to be a touch brighter during daylight hours, for instance, and there's no way to do that apart from resorting to manual adjustments.

If menus are the bane of your existence, then Asus also gives you the option of installing its DisplayWidget Center software. This is available for both Windows and MacOS and gives you quick control of the monitor's image settings. You can switch preset picture modes and adjust all the relevant settings, and you don't have to have the USB-B cable connected – the software communicates via either of the DisplayPort or HDMI inputs.

If you're wondering about audio, then the PA278QGV does have a basic pair of 2-watt per channel speakers. As ever, these are best ignored – the sound quality is tinny and only useful as an emergency fallback. My advice is to take advantage of the 3.5mm output at the monitor's rear.

ASUS ProArt PA278QGV: Display quality

Asus' claims for the PA278QGV are pretty bold for a £250 monitor – and the good news here is that it lives up to most of its claims. The big attraction here for many buyers is the promise of color-accurate modes for all the key color spaces: sRGB, DCI-P3, Display P3 and Adobe RGB. Asus claims an average Delta E of less than 2 for the sRGB and P3 modes, but it also achieved that for the Adobe RGB color space in my tests.

Subjectively speaking, it produces a bright, vivacious image straight out of the box. The matte anti-glare coating is quite aggressive and introduces a noticeable grain to white backgrounds, but the flipside of this is that it does a good job of controlling bright light sources. For most sensibly lit offices and homes, that's probably a price worth paying.

The image quality is really very good for the money. For instance, the sRGB mode gets the panel off to a great start. The average Delta E of 1.29 and maximum of 2.33 is very good for the price class, and every aspect of the calibration is impressive. The white point hits an almost perfect 6,475k and RGB tracking is top class. Gamma is very slightly higher than it should be, but it's marginal.

Switching the monitor to its DCI-P3 colour space reveals some welcome customisation – you can choose from a strict greenish DCI-P3 white point, or switch it to a more useful everyday 6,500k setting which equates to a Display P3 profile. Interestingly, you can also select an M Mode setting which more closely mimics the slightly cooler white point of a MacBook display.

Tested against a Display P3 target, the PA278QGV retains an average Delta E of 1.52. The maximum slides up to 3.78, but this is no surprise – according to my measurements, the panel only covers around 89% of the P3 color space, so it simply can't produce some of the required colors. That said, the rest of the performance here is as close to Display P3 as you could hope for given the asking price. The white point again is almost perfect at 6,553k and gamma and RGB track very well, with only gamma tracking a little higher than intended. To all intents and purposes, the PA278QGV presents a really good-looking, nicely saturated image.

It's only once you stretch to Adobe RGB that the wheels start to fall off. The monitor only reproduces 82% of the colour space, so it simply can't reproduce certain colors. The average Delta E remains under 2 at an impressive 1.4, but the limited color palette means that the maximum deviations rise to a Delta E of 6.44. That isn't good enough for critical usage.

That said, it's no surprise to find that there are some limitations to what you can expect from a £250 monitor. Contrast is another limitation: the PA278QGV didn't achieve anything higher than 1,311:1 in my tests. Blacks do look rather greyish as a result, and especially so once you dim the lights down.

Similarly, while there is more than sufficient brightness for SDR content – the maximum brightness of 357cd/m2 is excessive for most lighting conditions – the panel doesn't get bright enough to make the HDR mode worthwhile. The low contrast and limited brightness rob HDR content of all its depth, punch, and vibrancy.

Motion clarity doesn't challenge similarly priced gaming displays, but push the panel to its maximum 120Hz refresh rate, and it's more than usable for casual gaming. You will need to push the TraceFree overdrive control to its maximum to clean up blur on moving objects, though – at default settings, fine detail looks fuzzy.

ASUS ProArt PA278QGV review: Is it worth it?

The ASUS ProArt PA278QGV is a really good all-rounder for the money. The overall image quality is refined, and the design is sensible: the adjustable stand and four-port USB hub are genuinely useful. Granted, it is a shame that USB-C didn't make it into the specification list, but it's not a deal breaker.

If you're looking for a monitor that'll suffice for color-critical work on a relatively tight budget, the PA278QGV is a good addition to any desk.

ASUS PA278QGV specifications

The new foldable iPhone Duo may have grabbed the world's attention, but the Apple iPhone 18 Pro is very much worth our time. Not least because it has a genuinely exciting upgrade to its camera system and an unbelievably long battery life. But also because it's still, even after 19 years, the big draw in the smartphone market.

Apple quite explicitly targets small businesses with its marketing and aftercare services (AppleCare+), but it doesn't necessarily offer business deals, so prices start at $1,199 (£1,199) for the base model of the iPhone 18 Pro. You can get one with up to 12GB of RAM and even 2TB of storage. But there is no real difference between purchasing it as a consumer or a business.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro: Design

At face value, the iPhone 18 Pro has largely the same design as the iPhone 17 Pro. Although there's no orange this year, just black, silver, blue, and a rather fetching burgundy. As a business-focused publication, we have a review unit in the more professional black.

It is noticeably heavy; it feels like a very dense handset that is more likely to crack the ground than its screen. I still have the iPhone 17e here, and the weight difference, on feel, is massive. Compared to the 17 Pro, the 18 Pro has gained 5g (206g to 211g), which might not sound like much, but you can feel the difference in the hand.

Without much change to the outward design, and the fact that it has the same dimensions as the 17 Pro (150 x 71.9 x 8.8mm), we can safely assume the extra weight is inside: here you have a new chipset, the A20 Pro, a bigger battery (3998mAh to 4o56mAh), and some additional hardware on the main camera to control shutter speed. There's also a new vapour chamber, which is arguably where the extra weight is. It remains a beautiful device, but it is a bit of a chunk.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro: Display

The 6.3in LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display looks almost like for like with the iPhone 17 Pro. So you get a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10 capabilities, and some thin bezels.

Most of the new elements are to do with the smaller Dynamic Island, which is the cut-out at the top of the screen where the selfie camera and sensors are housed. It's smaller because Apple has managed to move the IR camera underneath the OLED panel with a tweak to the way it presents pixels in that section of the display. Essentially, it's created more space between the pixels there so that more infrared light can pass through – you don't see any difference because the pixels in that area compensate by operating at twice the brightness.

It's a clever way of improving the way the Dynamic Island sits on the screen, one that doesn't really hamper the overall performance of the display. In our tests, the iPhone 18 Pro hit a peak brightness of 432.50cd/m2 and showcased 97.2% for sRGB gamut color coverage (97.8% volume). If we're comparing these scores to a rival, they're actually higher than the S26 Ultra on all counts, but only slightly.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro: Specs and performance

Another generation of iPhone almost always means a new chipset; for the 18 Pro, we have the Apple A20 Pro – a 2nm developed processor with a hexa-core architecture. This is matched with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, though you can go up to 2TB if you have the cash.

Benchmarking for iPhones, and indeed MacBooks and Mac Minis and so on, has gotten a little silly. The results are inevitably impressive on paper, but they don't really tell the full story; just that it's strong in single- and multithreaded workloads. So in Geekbench 7, the 18 Pro came back with 4,720 for single and 12,629 for multi-threaded.

On-device AI tools and capabilities are starting to become a good way to showcase a phone's power. Though we don't really have a straightforward way of expressing it. But if we take the way the processor optimizes other areas of the phone, such as the battery, you can almost see what I mean. In our looped video test, the 18 Pro lasted 26hrs 58mins – which is frankly marvelous. But in real life, with the day-to-day use of the phone, I genuinely went at least two days before needing a charge.

You may have seen the joke doing the rounds that this is the coolest iPhone ever, because of a new internal layout; there are some changes to the placement of components, but much of the cooling is handled by a new, larger vapor chamber which disperses heat more evenly throughout the handset. I did feel it heating up during the initial setup, but nothing during our tests. So it is indeed cool.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro: Cameras

Resolution-wise, you have nearly the same triple camera setup as the 17 Pro, with three 48MP lenses that shoot wide, ultrawide, and telephoto. You get a 4 x optical zoom on the 100mm periscope telephoto lens, and a 3D sensor shift to help steady zoomed-in shots.

The big addition this year is the shutter controls – there's even a little shutter mechanism on the main lens – with Apple looking to give its users more agency over their photography. You can still use the automated settings for point-and-shoot, but the more 'professional' settings offer that DSLR-style approach to photography.

These 'pro' controls are all in the menu with the six spots, and they can also be customised to the user's preferences. Much like an actual DSLR, you mainly need to worry about 3 of them – shutter speed, aperture, and ISO ('Exposure' is where you can set ISO level). Though iPhones tend to have a 4:3 aspect ratio by default, so I did have to change that a lot. There's also a particularly useful focus slider.

One point of note: the variable aperture is only available on the main lens, and you can sometimes get lost in the many options the Pro mode offers. You may also notice more grain in some shots; I had trouble in low-light settings and indoors, where the grain is noticeable, and no amount of fiddling with the controls fixed it.

However, the overall experience is good. I got some great shots outside, in mixed weather conditions. I enjoyed playing around with the variable aperture; I captured loads of terrible images where I was trying to get blur and movement. That's the joy of it really; it's like discovering photography again. When you do finally get that sweet, sweet shot, it's a great feeling. The aperture control gives you so much more flexibility, and if you can grasp the daunting options in Pro mode, you will undoubtedly produce some stellar photography.

This also translates to video, to a degree. You can shoot at 4K up to 120fps, and you have some great stabilization work going on in the background. However, you don't have as low a shutter speed with the video; you cannot go below 1/24, which is a shame, because otherwise it's superb.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro: Features

Features on the iPhone 18 Pro include Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0. You get two extra physical buttons in addition to the power and volume ones. There's a flat indented one down the right-hand side that quickly launches the camera. And then there is the smaller 'Action' button, which can be customised with a small selection of apps and functions, such as silent mode or the touch.

You can also add your ChatGPT account to Siri to make it even more knowledgeable. Though, as a business application, I would like it to work with more third-party apps, maybe the ability to send messages in Slack, as it does with WhatsApp.

The smaller Dynamic Island is the same as before, works well with certain third-party apps, and you can use it to search and customise quick launch apps. After a few days, it actually populated with the apps I use the most, which is a nice organic way of having it set up for you.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro: Is it worth it?

For a phone that looks largely the same as the year before, there was actually a lot to discuss on the iPhone 17 Pro. From its intuitive A20 Pro chip to its new thermal chamber, there's a lot going on inside.

And we were left very impressed by the upgrades to the camera and the variable aperture – particularly the dilating ring on the lens. This is by no means a replacement for a proper professional camera, but it's both a great smartphone camera and a good entry-level option for people to learn traditional camera controls.

As a business phone, it's a solid choice, packed with useful features and apps. It has great battery life and useful capabilities when synchronised with a MacBook. All in all, an iPhone worthy of more attention.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro specifications

There's something reassuringly small-C conservative about Lenovo's ThinkPad line, and particularly the more everyday L, E and T series models. These aren't style-focused executive toys that make trade-offs on usability to keep the size and weight to a minimum. You won't find gimmicky features that force you to relearn how you use your laptop. ThinkPads feel like they've been tried and tested over generations, with refinements creeping in as they show value to end-users and the IT team.

The new ThinkPad L14 Gen 7 does nothing to alter this impression. Its physical design is not a huge departure from the ThinkPad L14 Gen 6. While it features Intel's latest Panther Lake hardware, its most innovative features are software-focused with a big emphasis on on-device AI. For some enterprises, this may be enough to swing a fleet refresh Lenovo's way, and for those where ThinkPads are already the default choice, the L14 Gen 7 won't do anything to rock the boat.

Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 7: Design

Like the Gen 6 model, the ThinkPad L14 Gen 7 is a relatively compact and lightweight laptop built around a 16:10 aspect ratio 14in screen with a 1920 x 1200 resolution. Without a Gen 6 here for direct comparison, it's hard to say how much the design has changed, but the dimensions and weight are identical, with a 313.7 x 226mm footprint and wedge-shaped profile climbing from 11.32mm to 17.01mm.

It actually feels slightly heavier than its 1.36kg weight, but that may be because it feels positively chunky in comparison to some slim-and-light 14in laptops we've seen recently, not to mention extremely a whole lot tougher. Only the top cover is aluminium, with the rest manufactured from a range of plastics with between 50% and 90% post-consumer recycled materials. All the same, it meets MIL-STD 810H certification and seems practically bulletproof.

On the lap or on your desk, it's clear that Lenovo has got the ergonomics right. The ThinkPad L14 Gen 7 feels stable, with palmrests that support your hands in a comfortable typing position. Where other executive laptops have experimented with invisible touchpads or non-mechanical, haptic clicks, the ThinkPad has a traditional touchpad with physical buttons at the top, because that's what ThinkPad users expect. Ditto the red analogue nub in the middle of the keyboard, which also controls the pointer, not to mention the separate, physical fingerprint reader and power button on the right-hand side of the keyboard. While the ThinkPad can authenticate through facial recognition via the IR webcam and Windows Hello, there's still a feeling that fingerprints are faster, more secure and – on this machine – just work.

The keyboard is predictably great as well, with those large, shield-shaped, slightly dished keys, sensibly sized function keys and separate cursor pad. There's no numeric pad crammed in, and the main navigation keys are in the top-right corner, just where you'd expect them. If you've used a ThinkPad before, this one will feel familiar. If you haven't, you should get used to it in no time.

Physical connectivity also seems identical to the Gen 6 version, with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI, a 5Gbps USB 3.2 port, and an RJ45 port on the left-hand side, plus two further USB-A ports and an audio jack on the right. Meanwhile, you have WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless connectivity. There's no need to carry adaptors or docks around to get a working desktop setup up and running, though Lenovo has a comprehensive line-up of them if you feel differently.

Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 7: Display

If the ThinkPad L14 Gen 7 has any weakness, it's the display. It ships with a 14in WUXGA panel with a respectable 400cd/m2 maximum brightness, but with color coverage topping out at 45% NTSC. That might not mean much outside the US, but in our tests the screen covers just 57% of the sRGB color gamut and 39.7% of DCI-P3. Color accuracy is also substandard, with an average Delta E of only just under 5.

This clearly has an impact if you were planning any color-critical design or image editing, but the screen isn't a disaster for more basic office productivity work. It's actually brighter than the specified 400cd/m2, peaking at 432.5cdm2, and this, along with an effective anti-reflective surface, makes the laptop usable in more situations than some more vibrant, glossy displays. Plus, while colors are a little muted when you're watching streaming video, there's still plenty of contrast.

This is a business laptop, not an entertainment centre, so the audio focuses on clarity over a wide soundstage or a thumping bass. For all that, the sound's quite listenable, even at high volumes, only growing harsh when you near the top of the volume range. Voices in meetings are easy to follow, and the onboard mics do a solid job of picking up your speech in turn. Meanwhile, the built-in webcam is a star performer, delivering solid, well-balanced, and well-exposed video in most practical lighting conditions, both at 1080p and 1440p resolutions.

Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 7: Software

Lenovo is pitching local AI as a key selling point for the new L-series ThinkPads, making the most of the laptop's status as a Copilot+ PC and the 47 TOPS NPU in its Core Ultra 5 processor. To ensure that business users get more value from their AI hardware, it's also preinstalled with its own generative AI assistant, Qira. Qira promises a lot, including image generation, real-time translation and transcription, context-sensitive assistance based on what's going on on-screen, and an AI chatbot. The latter can work with documents added to its knowledge base and can either use local AI processing or take a hybrid approach, mixing local and cloud-based resources.

There's some good stuff going on here. The interface is clean, with a floating toolbar offering access to Qira's basic modes: Chat (self-explanatory), Live (text and voice-based multimodal conversation), Catch-me-up (a notifications summary) and Pay Attention (live transcription and translation). A toggle in the settings switches between local and hybrid processing. Image generation can be found, along with the knowledge base, through the Focus Zone.

However, there are some limitations. Only the Chat function appears to work with local processing, so you don't get the privacy or security benefits you might get with running the Live and Pay Attention features offline. And while Chat could answer questions about documents uploaded to its knowledge base, producing useful information, the answers weren't as in-depth as those I might have had from Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini. Our results with image generation were similarly disappointing, with artificial-looking scenes and some really odd elements creeping in. Transcriptions produced from a recorded meeting were reasonably accurate, as was the summary, but Qira made no attempt to identify or track the speakers. It's good to see Lenovo trying to justify the AI PC hype, but while Qira has potential, it's not something we'd bet our business on right now.

Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 7: Performance

While there's a high-end model available with a Core Ultra 7 356H, our review ThinkPad L14 Gen 7 uses a Core Ultra 5 325 CPU with 16GB of DDR5 RAM. It's an eight-core chip with four Performance and four Low Power Efficient cores, running eight threads at speeds of up to 4.5Ghz for the P cores. Its Geekbench 6 scores – 2,562 single-core and 9,417 multi-core – place it firmly in the region of acceptable for mainstream apps.

That's roughly on a par with the new Dell XPS 14, which uses the same chip, and a little slower than the Acer Swift Go 16 AI, with its underwhelming Ryzen 7 AI 455. It's also behind the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11, with its entry-level Snapdragon X2 Plus CPU, and the Acer Swift Spin 14 AI, with the faster Snapdragon X2 Elite. The picture is replicated in the Cinebench 2024 rendering benchmark, where the ThinkPad scores 469 for multi-core performance against 649 for the IdeaPad Slim 5x and 646 for the Swift Go 16 AI.

That said, the Core Ultra 5 325 fares better on GPU performance, according to Geekbench 6, scoring 23021 to 13300 from the IdeaPad Slim 5x and 13669 from the Swift Go 16 AI. It's a similar story with 3DMark's intensive graphics benchmarks.

This doesn't mean the ThinkPad L14 Gen 7 ever feels slow or unresponsive, particularly when switching between a dozen open browser tabs or running mainstream office apps. There's enough CPU power and RAM here to make Windows feel perfectly fluid, and running Qira in the background doesn't have any noticeable negative impact. It's still hard to gauge its AI capabilities, however. Using the Geekbench AI benchmark, it appears to perform better than the Swift Spin 14 AI on CPU and NPU compute power. In the Procyon AI Text Generation and Image Generation benchmarks, the opposite is true, and by some margin.

In general, we've found Intel's Panther Lake tech shows real improvements in energy efficiency. Certainly, the Core Ultra 5 325 helped the ThinkPad L14 Gen 7 keep going for 20 hours and 13 minutes in our usual battery rundown test, beating both of the Acer machines and the new Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, though not the Dell XPS 14 with its phenomenal 28 hr 13 min result. In general use, it easily lasted through a day with the brightness turned right up, with enough charge remaining to get us through most of the next morning.

Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 7: Is it worth it?

There are areas where the ThinkPad L14 Gen 7 isn't particularly competitive. Its display is mildly disappointing, while its performance is nothing to write home about. Lenovo's Qira AI assistance shows promise, but doesn't feel quite ready for serious enterprise use quite yet. However, the ThinkPad succeeds in the areas where ThinkPads have traditionally succeeded. It's a great device to work on; the build quality is impeccable, and it still has all the platform-level security and management features that corporate IT decision-makers deem essential. This refresh might be short of compelling reasons to switch to the ThinkPad L14, but there's still a solid rationale for sticking to this model and the ThinkPad brand.

Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 7 specifications

The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is direct competition for the Asus Zenbook A14, a fine superlight 14in OLED laptop that we have had a lot of time for here at ITPro. Both machines are built around Qualcomm's latest 2nd-generation Snapdragon X2 chipsets, and both will set you back around £1,300.

There are some important differences though. Firstly, HP has equipped its laptop with a touchscreen, something that's not an option on the Asus machine or that other stalwart of the compact laptop world, the Apple MacBook Air.

Secondly, the HP uses a less potent processor, the 10-core X2P-64-100, rather than the 18-core X2E-88-100. That makes the two machines subtly different in their approach to answering what is basically the same question.

There are several different versions of the 2026 OmniBook Ultra 14 available, some with Intel's Core Ultra 3 Panther Lake processors, some with 3K OLED displays, along with 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSDs, but our review model is the entry-level, and thus also the cheapest, available to buy in the UK.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Design

Made entirely of aluminium, except for the plastic base plate, the OmniBook Ultra is physically and visually a very sharp piece of kit. Thanks to some heavily sculpted sides, the right-angled edges are only 3mm thick.

At 1.24 kg, the OmniBook is rather heavier than the unusually lightweight Zenbook A14, which tips the scales at less than 840g. It's the same weight as a 13.6in MacBook Air, though, so it's hardly a porker.

The HP's external dimensions of 311 x 215.6 x 10.7 mm compare favourably with the competition: It's thinner than both the Zenbook A14 and MacBook Air, and thanks to those sculpted edges, it feels even thinner again.

Despite the thin profile, the OmniBook feels reassuringly solid, with both the body and lid manfully resisting our best efforts to bend them out of shape. HP boasts that the OmniBook Ultra has passed "20 MIL-STD tests", though it keeps quiet about precisely which ones.

There's one colorway which HP describes as 'Stone blue with a sandblasted finish'. It's easy enough on the eye, but more importantly it doesn't show fingerprints, so it keeps everything looking pretty much box-fresh even after regular use.

We're not typically fans of the all-Type-C approach to ports, but at least HP has fitted the OmniBook Ultra with three rather than two, meaning you can charge from either side. All three are 40Gbps-rated and support a DisplayPort 2.1 video feed.

We found it quite liberating to have a compact laptop that leaves you with two free Type-C ports after you use one to connect to all your sundry desktop accessories via a dock. The Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 WLAN card supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, so nothing is lacking with wireless connectivity.

Getting inside the OmniBook Ultra 14 is a breeze, but once in, all you can do is swap out the 2280 M.2 SSD, replace the battery, and blow fuzz out of the two fans. The memory modules and WLAN card are all fixed in place.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Keyboard, touchpad, and webcam

The keyboard benefits from a solid foundation, so there's little flex even under pressure, and generously sized 20mm-square keycaps. The keys have 1.3mm of travel and a light, silent action, making typing an effortless and unobtrusive undertaking. The two-stage white backlight works well with the white-on-grey keycap graphics if you need to type in low-light environments.

The touchpad is a sizeable 140 x 85mm haptic affair with a mylar covering. The size means there is ample space for the most extravagant of gestures as well as the edge-swipe zones on the left and right sides for display brightness and volume, though these can be disabled should you wish.

Of course, the great benefit of a haptic touchpad is that it's effectively silent in use. This makes the OmniBook Ultra the perfect device for use in a library or lecture theatre where erroneous laptop noises may not be easily tolerated.

There's a lot to like about the webcam. To start with, it's a 1440p affair that produces very crisp images. It's colourful too, and handles sudden changes in ambient lighting well. Beyond the impressive core performance, the camera array can be covered with a manual privacy shutter, and it supports Windows Hello IR facial recognition.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Display

The HP's 60Hz OLED display is very much a game of two halves. We like the wide-gamut color support with volumes of 162% sRGB and 99.5% DCI-P3 and the impressive accuracy: Put the display into P3-D65 mode in the HP control panel, and the resultant Delta E accuracy came back at an impressive 1.1.

The negatives are a rather low peak brightness of 285 nits (HP claims 300, but the difference is neither here nor there) and a very reflective screen surface. That's a combination that makes the HP borderline unusable outdoors in anything approaching bright sunlight.

For comparison, the display in the Zenbook A14 can get close to 390 nits while a MacBook Air can easily top 500 nits. That's one heck of a difference. There's no point worrying about the difference in brightness in HDR mode rather than SDR mode because the OmniBook's display doesn't support HDR.

Of course, neither the MacBook nor the Zenbook's display is touch-enabled, and the OmniBook's screen is made from genuine Corning Gorilla Glass 3 over it to keep it scratch-free.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Specs, performance and battery life

The Snapdragon X2P-64-100 CPU is the second up from the bottom in the new second-generation lineup and comes with 10 cores, six of which are termed, somewhat counter-intuitively, Prime with a maximum speed of 4.0GHz and four Performance at 3.4GHz along with 16GB of multi-channel LPDDR5x RAM.

From a cursory glance at the differences between the ARM processors in the OmniBook and the Zenbook A14 and M5 MacBook Air machines, you would expect the latter duo to beat the HP like a red-headed stepchild, but the differences are rather less.

To give two headline benchmark scores, the HP returned Cinebench R24 scores of 973 multi-core and 133 single-core, compared to 1139 and 147 from the Asus, while in the 3DMark Night Raid graphics test the HP scored 33,406 to the Zenbook's 40,574.

Turning to the ubiquitous Geekbench test, the OmniBook scored 3,157 single-core and 14,653 multi-core. For the Zenbook A14, the results were 3,569 and 19,713, while the M5 MacBook came in at 4,199 and 17,213.

Clearly then, while the Asus and Apple machines return the higher scores, the difference is not so dramatic as to give anyone pause when choosing a machine for everyday computing duties.

Indeed, given that the Asus Zenbook A14 has 18 CPU cores to the HP machine's 10 and a more potent GPU with twice as many shaders, we expected the gap to be greater. In basic day-to-day use, we'd go as far as to say that the differences are essentially impossible to discern.

When it comes to running local AI tasks, the HP is as good as any other laptop in the same market category thanks to an 80TOPS NPU. This, of course, means the OmniBook is fully Copilot+ compliant, so you get Windows' features like Recall and generative fill in Paint.

The 512GB Phison SSD turned in a very impressive average sequential read time of 7,200MB/s. Sequential write speed was more par for the course at 3,010MB/s, but it's still a good showing overall.

Where the HP's less potent chipset pays dividends is in battery life. In our standard video rundown test where we loop a video using VLC with the display brightness set to 170 nits, the HP pushed on to a superb 37hrs 15mins. That's 7 hours better than the Asus Zenbook can manage, also from a battery with 70Wh capacity.

Of course, the Asus Zenbook A14 is still a strong performer in this arena, and can happily run for twice as long as an M5 MacBook Air. But the OmniBook Ultra can do better than the MacBook Air by a factor of 2.5. Colour us impressed.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Is it worth it?

Providing you don't plan on using your laptop outdoors, where the dim and reflective screen will soon become an irritant, the OmniBook Ultra 14 has a lot going for it, not least the epic battery life, which we found good enough to get through three working days with a commute at the end of each, and then some.

Dimness aside, the display is colorful and color-accurate and touchable, while the sound system is top-notch. The keyboard and touchpad are easy to recommend, and on balance we applaud HP's decision to equip the OmniBook Ultra with three Type-C ports even if that means no USB-A or HDMI options.

For the money, the OmniBook Ultra is also a very smart and well-made laptop, and even though the Snapdragon chipset is almost the runt of the X2 litter, its performance was more than up to snuff.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Specs

The Lenovo Idea Tab Pro Gen 2 sounds like it should be a top-tier tablet, a premium offering, but having seen the new Yoga Tab Plus at IFA, my expectations have been somewhat spoiled.

A 13in tablet with an attached keyboard and cover, with a bundle that also includes the Tab Pen Plus, is actually quite affordable at just £548 for the lot. Particularly if this is going to be used by front-line workers or those on the go.

Lenovo Idea Tab Pro Gen 2: Design

The Gen 2 of the Idea Tab follows on from older models in that it's all grey and has a straightforward design with few frills. The large 'Lenovo' icon across the back is the most glamorous thing on the design, and that's pretty much a standard inclusion on most devices. What I am saying here is that this is a suitable business device; nothing outlandish, and just a tad boring.

It's 6.2 mm thick, weighs 598g, and has just one rear camera lens (13MP wide). It's all a bit dull until you attach the keyboard and cover, which are very well made and simple to both attach and adjust. You need a flat surface to use the stand; it won't stay up on a lap, and it just has one angle of use.

The 13in display is large and bright, with chunkier bezels than we're used to seeing on tablets. There are Pogo connections on the bottom for the keyboard. Speaker holes on the left, on either side of the sole USB-C port, a pair of volume buttons on the left, and a power button on the top corner.

Lenovo Idea Tab Pro Gen 2: Display

You have an IPS LCD panel on the Idea Tab Pro, which has a generous 144Hz refresh rate, 3504 x 2190 pixels, a 16:10 ratio, and 318 ppi density. The refresh rate makes for smooth visuals, great for surfing the web or infinite scrolling on socials. I suspect this could be a good screen for illustration, but you're let down by the included stylus (more on that later).

With our colorimeter, the Tab Pro had a peak brightness of 629.78 cd/m2, which is frankly ridiculous. That's not even an HDR video playback test; it's just simply capable of insanely good brightness. And it has adaptive brightness control, so you can literally go outside, in the sunniest of weather, and not need to adjust anything.

For color accuracy, we fall slightly in quality: the Tab Pro recorded 95.6% for sRGB gamut color coverage and 96.4% volume. These are by no means terrible scores – anything above 95% is considered good. But they do pale in comparison to the latest Galaxy Tab, iPad, and other alternatives like the Huawei MatePad Pro and OnePlus Pad

Lenovo Idea Tab Pro Geb 2: Keyboard and pen

There is a strange collection of key icons on the detachable keyboard. And they don't seem to be what they say they are. Colons, forward slash, and the '@' symbol are not where they say they are and, in some cases, nowhere to be found. I worried that I may have rushed through the setup process and selected the wrong keyboard layout, but no, this keyboard is just odd.

It's a shame because I found it to be very comfortable to type on. For an attachable tablet keyboard, you get a nice solid base, a fair amount of travel, and nice-sized keycaps. I hit my typing speed relatively easily (if we ignore the time spent working out icons).

Below the keys, the trackpad is quite good. Again, it feels solid to click through, has a wide field to spread the cursor around, and responds well. It's fairly large, as far as tablet trackpads go, but still gives you enough room either side for palm rests.

However, the Tab Pen Plus stylus included in the Idea Tab Pro Gen 2 bundle isn't particularly good. It's slippery on the screen, hard to control and keep straight, and lacks the precision to make decent illustrations. It's best to keep an eye on upcoming launches and look for the Yoga Pen Pro (Gen 2) if you want a stylus for detailed artwork.

Lenovo Idea Tab Pro Gen 2: Specs and performance

Under the hood of the Idea Tab Pro is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 (SM8735 ) processor, and our review unit has 8GB of RAM. You can pay more for the 12GB version, though the limit for storage is 512GB.

As a 'Pro' model with the Snapdragon 8s, there's no surprise that its benchmark scores are pretty decent. In Geekbench 7, the Idea Tab Pro scored 1,862 for single-core workloads and 6,612 for multithreaded. Those are fairly good scores, and our own experience can attest to this being a snappy device, but the benchmarks are a little behind the likes of the OnePlus Pad 3 and the Galaxy Tab S11.

When it comes to battery life, there's more to shout about. In our looped video test, the Idea Tab Pro Gen 2 lasted 15hrs. Which is as good as, and in some cases better than, a few recent tablet tests. Though, again, it's nothing compared to the Galaxy Tab S11.

Lenovo Idea Tab Pro Gen 2: Is it worth it?

The biggest failing of the Lenovo Idea Tab Pro Gen 2 might just be that it's not as good as its competitors. It probably also doesn't help that Lenovo's soon-to-be-released Yoga Tab Pro is, on paper, considerably better – the pen alone is a hell of an upgrade.

So what we have here is an OK tablet, a good but confusing keyboard, and a poor, low-quality pen bundled in. It isn't quite 'Pro' enough for me, though it is an affordable bundle at just £548.

Lenovo Idea Tab Pro Gen 2 specifications

Purchasing a device for the enterprise has never been trickier, given the varying demands across an organization, the nascent and intensive nature of AI adoption, as well as the sheer insanity of component price surges. That's why HP is banking on enterprises with zero room for error and a demand for limitless compute should sparing no expense at locking down desktop-based high-performance computing (HPC).

The HP Z4 G6i Workstation is a device that's absolutely not suitable for general computing, rather, it's designed for those who need to tap into HPC-level power but in a conventional desktop form factor. This cohort includes data scientists, AI developers, product designers and engineers, architects, CG artists, and many more who handle the most demanding workflows.

There's just one catch. This beastly machine starts at $8,219.00 (roughly £6,000) – so it's certainly a step up from your conventional tower desktop, despite appearances. Our review configuration, however, was fully kitted out with an Intel Xeon 678X CPU, 128GB RAM, and a high-end Nvidia RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPU – and came in at a staggering $50,000 (approximately £37,000). This is clearly out of reach for most users, but for those looking to bring data center-level performance to the workspace, could it be the steal of the year?

HP Z4 G6i Workstation: Design

The HP Z4 G6i's expansive chassis is on the larger side for a desktop machine, measuring 20.98 x 46.99 x 43.82 inches – equating to a 43L capacity. The large Dell Pro Max Tower T2, by comparison, adopts a standard 32L chassis. But the HP machine is much lighter, starting at 13kg versus the Dell's 23kg weight – making it more friendly to shift around a particular space or install in the first instance.

There are plenty of nice touches with the machine, including the front grill with inward curves on the top and bottom, and various LED lights that flicker on and off during operation, including a mesmerizing green hue that beams from the rear and reflects off the wall. It's a little much, but perhaps a subtle reminder of this machine's potency. The build quality is generally sturdy, but we found the front panel where you find a handful of ports a little loose. This line of connections cuts across the middle in a somewhat clumsy way, disrupting the neat design of the grill; we'd much prefer these tucked to the side. But it's not particularly consequential. The machine's best feature is the screwless mechanism to detach the side panel and expose its innards. This easy access mechanism is simple and highly welcome.

HP Z4 G6i Workstation: Connectivity and Features

You can broadly configure this workstation to your liking with a wide choice of physical and wireless connectivity options. Our configuration featured the 'premium' front panel option of two USB-C ports (20Gbps with USB Power Delivery 3.0) and two USB-A (5Gbps, alongside an SD card reader and a 3.5mm audio jack. The entry-level arrangement simply includes four USB-A (5Gbps) ports instead of the two and two.

On the rear, you'll find five USB-A (5Gbps) ports, one USB-C (10Gbps with 15W Power Delivery), an RJ-45 Ethernet (1 GbE) port, four DisplayPort 1.4, and an audio in/out port. Beyond this, you can add optional extras. There are, for instance, a slew of networking options including 2.5GbE or 10 GBASE-T ports – alongside a variety of wireless networking solutions that incorporate Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. There's no need to compromise, with a high degree of choice depending on how you wish to use the machine.

Although the machine ships with Windows 11 Pro by default, Linux users will rejoice at the optional (but expensive) choice to add a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) license on top of the existing OS installation. The Z4 G6i is also Ubuntu-certified, having been tested by Canonical, while you have the option to access your Linux environment directly within Windows via the Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 platform.

This comes alongside a suite of optional settings available for between $1 and $5, such as Ultimate Performance Mode by default, Corporate-Ready Image, and additional security software alongside HP Wolf Security Suite including the Enterprise Security Edition and HP Smart Cover Enable Safety Interlock and Cover Removal Sensor, which rolls off the tongue. It comes alongside an optional Remote System Controller to manage a fleet. Indeed, one of the HP Z4 6Gi's best features is the ability to chain a fleet of these machines in a 4U rack with an optional rail kit to seamlessly integrate them into a combined network.

HP Z4 G6i Workstation: Performance

When you turn on the HP Z4 G6i for the first time, you're met with an almighty roar as if to remind you that you are, indeed, dealing with a beast of a machine.

Within, you'll find the new Intel Xeon 678X (48 cores) processor, with a 2.4GHz base clock speed and up to 4.9GHz turbo clock. This processor is specifically designed for heavy and professional computing tasks that demand a monumental amount of parallel processing power. Beyond a simply monstrous 128GB DDR5 SDRAM and 4TB SSD storage (split across two drives), our review unit also included the Nvidia RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition GPU, which is about as high-end of a graphics card as you can find.

The base configuration of this machine ships with an Intel Xeon 634 CPU and an Nvidia RTX A400 GPU and just 16GB RAM – with our model worth approximately $32,000 more. There is a version of this machine that's relatively affordable (for a workstation), and you'd probably be right in saying our specific configuration was a little overkill. That is, however, unless you're planning on running extremely intensive workloads that include a heavy dose of AI.

In that vein, there was simply nothing we could throw at this machine that challenged it – including running some of the most recent PC games on maximum graphics settings. Sure, the components in this machine aren't really designed to handle gaming, and yet it achieved smooth and quiet performance throughout extended usage.

We also ran benchmarking with Geekbench 6, but the results are to be taken with a pinch of salt. That's because the Xeon CPU isn't necessarily best suited for the sorts of workloads that the benchmarking test challenges it with – unlike most consumer-oriented processors. Nonetheless, the Intel Xeon 678X scored a respectable 2,474 for single-core performance and 22,557 for multi-core performance. Our OpenCL test benchmarking the GPU also achieved 368,849 – a monstrous score that's near-impossible to outpace without investing in the sort of GPUs that Nvidia ships off to AI data centers.

When we tested the SSD, we registered reads and writes on the C: drive of 14,219MB/s and 11,536MB/s respectively, which is phenomenally quick. The D: drive was about half as fast, with speeds of 7,244MB/s and 6,878MB/s, which is less optimal but still faster than all SSDs you'll conventionally find in laptops.

HP Z4 G6i Workstation: Is it worth it?

This workstation is undeniably a brilliant machine in almost every sense. It's near-impossible to assess its value, however, given the sheer number of configurations available, which will likely serve different kinds of users. That might sound like a cop-out, but it's to HP's credit that it gives customers so much flexibility to make their version of the Z4 G6i workstation truly tailored to their needs and their budget.

Most professionals tempted by a machine like this won't need to configure theirs to be anywhere near as powerful as the one we reviewed. The base version retails at approximately $8,000 and offers good value considering how expensive computing has become in the last year or so.

From there, you may consider ratcheting up the power depending on how each component or amount of memory may suit the work you need doing. That said, the price of this machine scales monstrously with the potency of the components, or the amount of memory and storage you want, offering far more power but at a diminishing degree of value for money.

The advantage of a machine like this, however, also comes in the fact that the chassis itself is designed supremely well (barring a bit of looseness on the front panel), and offers very easy scalability should you wish to link up a few in a 4U rack configuration for even more computing power.

HP Z4 G6i Workstation specifications

There's a sense that 2-in-1 convertibles have fallen out of style, falling in between the two stools of the Surface Pro-style tablet with a detachable keyboard on the one hand, and the slim, light clamshell laptop on the other. Yet the Swift Spin 14 AI is a good reminder of why this form factor can work so well for business. It's highly portable, very versatile, and usable in a wide range of scenarios. It's an effective tool for meetings and presentations, but also strong for productivity on the move. What's more, with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite processor inside it, it's powerful enough to handle quite demanding apps.

The sort of pricing we've grown accustomed to in 2026 has an impact on its value, but Acer's convertible holds up as a good choice for remote workers, small businesses, and budget-conscious SMBs.

Acer Swift Spin 14 AI: Design

The Swift Spin 14 AI isn't as small or lightweight as some 2-in-1 convertibles, mostly because Acer has opted for a larger 14in screen. However, it's also gone for a squarer aspect ratio than normal, giving you a fairly compact device with a 314 x 230mm desktop footprint, that's just over 16mm thick when closed. The screen isn't quite as tall as it first appears, with space occupied by a chunky lower bezel roughly 28mm thick, while the bezel at the top is itself around 13mm thick to accommodate the webcam and the slider for its physical shutter. However, the aluminium body feels very solid, albeit with some flex in the lid, and it's an easy fit into a briefcase, bag or backpack, particularly with a weight of only 1.34kg.

Opinions may vary on the dark blue finish, but it's a change from the usual greys and blacks without any risk of looking garish. The etched contrast-line logo on the lid also adds some extra visual interest. Meanwhile, the hinge mechanism allows you to wield the Swift Spin 14 AI in four configurations: as a normal clamshell laptop, as an oversized tablet with the base tucked right behind the screen, and in the usual tent and stand formats, giving you the screen without the keyboard in the way.

All configurations have their uses, with the tent and stand formats useful for presentations and post-work entertainment, but what makes the tablet mode particularly useful is the inclusion of a garaged stylus. Fire up OneNote, Evernote or your favourite notes app, and you're good to scribble notes, doodle and sketch. The stylus is on the slim side, but it's well-built, sensitive and free from irritating lag, while charging through two contacts when slid back into its home on the right side of the chassis.

You can use it inside the touchpad for navigating Windows and your apps, but it's more of a choice than a necessity, as the touchpad's large, well matched to the screen's aspect ratio and very smooth and reliable in use. And while it might take a while to adapt to the feel of the keyboard – it's more 'poppy' than 'clicky' – the travel and sensible layout make for perfectly quick and comfortable typing. It's never great to see a power key in the top right corner where you expect to see delete, but it's something you get used to after the first day or so of use.

Connectivity is just what we'd expect for a Snapdragon X2 laptops, with two USB 4 Type-C ports, one on either side, plus two USB 3.2 Type-A ports (ditto), an HDMI 2.1 output, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Beyond that, you have tri-band Wi-Fi 7 for your network connectivity plus Bluetooth 6 for your wireless peripherals.

Acer Swift Spin 14 AI: Display

If there's anything that demonstrates that this is a mid-range laptop rather than a premium device, it's the display. It's IPS rather than OLED or mini-LED, with a basic 1920 x 1200 resolution and a stated maximum brightness of 350cd/m2. In our tests, that's pretty much on the money, with a maximum recorded brightness of 346cd/m2, while it covers 97% of the sRGB color gamut and 77.5% of DCI-P3. Black levels are fairly low by IPS standards, so contrast isn't a problem, while an effective anti-reflection coating makes it readable in most conditions, despite the gloss surface.

Color accuracy is also fairly good, with an average Delta E of 1.98. All the same, there's something a little subdued or even dull about the colors, especially during daylight hours, and you can't help missing the extra clarity you might have found with a higher-resolution. It's a perfectly good screen for productivity or video streaming, but not for more creative work. To balance this, the squarer aspect ratio can make the screen seem larger than it actually is, which comes in useful when you're working across multiple windows or trying to deal with a complex UI. Whereas the screens on some 13in and 14in laptops can feel cramped over long sessions of work, the Swift Spin 14 AI feels more comfortable and expansive.

The Swift Spin 14 AI promises DTS: X audio, but don't get too excited. There's a wider than average stereo output, but the tone is thin and sometimes piercing, particularly when playing music. The sound is clear enough for online meetings and calls, but even then we'd recommend headphones, both for a warmer tone and a fuller-sounding mic. On the more positive side, the Webcam captures clean-looking, well-balanced video without excessive noise, while also handling Windows Hello face authentication quickly and reliably.

Acer Swift Spin 14 AI: Performance

The Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E78100 is a step down from the X2 Elite Extreme we saw in the Asus Zenbook A16, but performance is still exceptionally good for this class of laptop. In Geekbench 6, the Swift Spin 14 AI's scores of 3218 (single-core) and 15116 (multi-core) put it comfortably ahead of the MSI Prestige 13 AI+ with its Core Ultra 7 355 CPU, and put it in contention with the Acer Swift 16 AI SF16-71T, with its 16-core Intel Core Ultra X7 358H chip. That holds true even in intensive workloads, including 3D rendering in Cinebench 2024.

The only area where it struggles to keep up is in GPU performance, where the integrated Adreno X2-85 GPU is no match for the ARC B390 GPU in the Swift 16 AI. Where the Swift Spin scores 2951 in the 3DMark TimeSpy test and 3434 in the Steel Nomad benchmark, the Swift 16 AI scores 6363 and 5441. Still, unless you're playing games or running small language models on your laptop, you're unlikely to notice any shortfall. Scores in the Geekbench AI benchmark indicate decent levels of basic AI performance, helped by the Qualcomm processor's 80TOPS NPU. Meanwhile, the Swift Spin 14 AI is more than powerful enough for any productivity tasks.

As always with ARM-powered laptops, there's a possibility that specific apps you want to run or hardware that you want to use may not be compatible with the architecture. However, barring games these exceptions are getting few and far between, with most apps running natively on ARM or through Microsoft's PRISM emulation layer.

As for battery life, it kept running for 17 hours and 18 minutes in our usual video rundown test- nowhere near the incredible 27 hours of the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x with its Snapdragon X2 Plus, but still enough to get you through a solid day and more of work, even with the brightness ramped up.

Acer Swift Spin 14 AI: Is it worth it?

Last year we would have described the £1399 inc VAT price point as a bit steep, particularly given the fairly basic screen. This year it seems reasonable when you look at what that kind of money buys you elsewhere. If you're simply after a good everyday workhorse of a laptop, the IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11 has a brighter screen and a better keyboard for under £1000, but it hasn't got the flexible design or versatility of the Swift Spin 14 AI, nor quite the same level of performance. As a do-it-all machine for mobile professionals, marketers, consultants and small businesses, it's one of the best options we've reviewed this year.

Acer Swift Spin 14 AI specifications

Asus is back with a brand new Zenbook 14, and once again with a Snapdragon X chipset. However, unlike the much pricier Zenbook A14 that was launched back in the Spring, this new Zenbook 14 is only £799.99.

And, seemingly, all that's different is a smaller battery, less storage, and a missing 'A' in the title. So you get the same professional look and feel, a light chassis, and a full set of features and capabilities. On paper, it seems perfect for the office.

Asus Zenbook 14: Design

There is something very professional about the Zenbook 14; from its choice of colors to its smart iconography, everything is understated and stylish. It has a sort of pastel finish across the lid and an all-metal build that features a high-tech 'Ceramic Ceraluminium' material – essentially aluminium with a ceramic-style finish. This is both shock- and smudge-resistant.

A choice of striking colors can adorn the lid, chassis, and keys. We have the blue-gray model, which looks well suited to office work. There are also 'Zabriskie Beige' and 'Coral' (pink) variants, but the blue is probably the most sensible.

Lightness is key; it only weighs 1.10kg and is merely 0.55 in thick. It slips in and out of a rucksack with ease and barely registers when you pick up said rucksack. And, more and more on notebooks, we are seeing easy-to-lift lids; this is the case with the Zenbook 14 thanks to a new hinge that allows for the 'optimal torque'. So it's easy to carry and easy to open.

Asus Zenbook 14: Display, keyboard, and trackpad

Open the lid of the Zenbook 14, and you will see a pretty 14in WUXGA OLED display with a 1920 x 1200 resolution. There are some fairly thick bezels, particularly at the top where a 1080p webcam is housed, but it isn't too noticeable.

With our colorimeter, we measured peak brightness at 302.96 cd/m2, which is great for a laptop. The Zenbook was perfectly adaptable to most lighting conditions, and its adaptive brightness works so well you don't even notice it changing.

Color-wise, the Zenbook's 14in display is a high performer with 100% for sRGB color coverage and a whopping 169.4% volume. These scores were higher than the recently tested, and more expensive, Acer Swift Air. Add to that the 92.6% score for Adobe, and you have a super display for photo editing on the go.

Under the display, you have a chiclet keyboard on the Zenbook 14, with large, excimer-coated keycaps that are built to last. These have plenty of travel (1.7mm) and a nice feel when typing. There's no liberties taken with the layout, though the volume controls are far left along the function row.

Below the keyboard is an ErgoSense touchpad, with many gesture and finger-swiping controls. Most of these are standard laptop controls now, but there is simplicity to the way the Zenbook has incorporated them. Switching apps is pretty seamless with the three-finger gesture. The trackpad itself is nice and responsive, though it is a touch noisy with clicks.

Asus Zenbook 14: Specs and Performance

Arguably, the area where the new Zenbook 14 has managed to save some money is in performance and storage. So you get the Snapdragon X processor, rather than the X2 Elite found in the A14. You also only get 16GB of RAM, rather than 32GB. You do, however, get the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU with up to 45TOPS, which does sound a little more premium.

In Geekbench 7, the Zenbook's single-core scores were not as impressive as we hoped, bringing back just 1,324. The multi-threaded score was more to our expectations, with a mighty 10,547. But these are not the best benchmarks around for a Windows machine.

Similarly, the 3-cell Li-ion battery promises up to 18 hrs of web browsing, according to Asus, but only lasted 10hrs, 13mins in our looped video test. Admittedly, it did last for much longer during work, making it through a whole shift without needing a charge. But still, we did expect a little more.

Asus Zenbook 14: Features

For ports, the Zenbook is adequately stocked with two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, one for display and the other for transfers, with data speeds up to 10Gbps. There is a more traditional USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A on the left of the chassis, with data speed up to 5Gbps. And you also have a 3.5mm Audio Jack and an HDMI 2.1 port. An SD card reader would have been nice, but all the same, there is enough here for the average desk setup.

There are also a number of software extras included, such as the Microsoft Pluton Passkeys, which are built into the CPU for security. Asus also bundles in its own apps – GlideX, ScreenXpert, MyASUS, and StoryCube – which are all useful in various ways. MyASUS, for example, offers features to control fan speed or filter out external noise from your microphone.

Asus Zenbook 14: Is it worth it?

If you were a fan of the Zenbook A14, but not so keen on the cost, then the Zenbook 14 is a great office laptop. It has a beautiful display, a stylish build, and it's very light, all for just £799.99.

The main trade-offs are an older Snapdragon chipset and lower RAM and storage options. The battery is also not as good, though it can get you through a standard working day. Not the best Zenbook around, but it is a dependable office laptop.

Asus Zenbook 14 specifications

Space-poor SMBs will love Qnap's TS-432XeU as it's one of the smallest rackmount NAS appliances around. Its standard-width 1U chassis measures a mere 292mm deep, so it'll slip easily into a small wall box or a standard two-post data cabinet

Stepping up as a lower-cost alternative to Qnap's TS-435XeU, it employs the same super-slim chassis but drops the two internal M.2 NVMe SSD slots and supplants the 2.2GHz quad-core Marvell CN913X CPU with a 1.7GHz quad-core Annapurna Alpine chip. Networking is slightly diminished too, as it sports the same dual 2.5GbE multi-Gig ports but halves the 10GbE SFP+ port count to one.

The appliance presents four hot-swap LFF/SFF bays at the front, and it's possible to expand capacity outside the box. The rear USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports can be used to add up to two of Qnap's tower or rack expansion units, and we suggest the TR-004U model as this 4-bay 1U rack shelf is the same depth as the appliance.

Qnap TS-432XeU review: Build quality

The TS-435XeU is well built with a solid steel chassis and sturdy metal drive carriers. The appliance includes 4GB of DDR4 SODIMM memory, which can be expanded to 16GB – half that of the TS-435XeU.

As you'd expect with such a small chassis, there isn't a lot of room inside, but the memory slot is located on the top of the motherboard and easily accessible. As with the TS-435XeU, there's only one slot, so any upgrades will require the base memory to be ditched.

Three cooling fans are arranged across the rear panel, with one drawing air over the CPU's heatsink via a small plastic shroud. During testing, we found the appliance to be whisper-quiet, making it a great choice for small offices that value their tranquility.

Qnap TS-432XeU review: Deployment and limits

For testing, we fitted four 4TB Seagate IronWolf NAS-specific HDDs and used Qnap's Qfinder utility to discover the appliance on our lab network. It provided quick access to the web browser setup wizard, where we left it to load the latest QTS 5.2 OS.

Note that Qnap's QuTS OS is off the menu, as this is only supported on Intel- and AMD-powered appliances and not ARM-based ones. QTS is a more nimble OS that doesn't have such a high demand for memory and is designed for entry-level NAS appliances.

QuTS provides superior data protection features such as ZFS copy-on-write, end-to-end checksums, and WORM (write once read many) policies for NAS shares. However, its data deduplication feature will only be enabled when you have at least 16GB of memory.

There are also software limitations, as Qnap's ARM-based appliances can't run high-profile apps such as the Virtualization Station and Hyper Data Protector. That said, we counted 79 apps available for this appliance, which include key data protection apps.

Qnap TS-432XeU review: QTS data protection

We used the Storage & Snapshots app to create a RAID5 array which also offers facilities for running manual and scheduled snapshots of NAS shares and iSCSI LUNs. QTS can manage up to 256 snapshots, with a limit of 64 per volume or LUN and Qnap's snapshot technology supports standard EXT4 file systems, so it doesn't require you to choose between this and BTRFS when creating volumes.

The licence-free Hybrid Backup Sync 3 (HBS 3) app is designed to protect your NAS data, helps you create a 3-2-1 backup strategy in only four steps, and uses Storage Spaces to define multiple backup destinations. These can be local repositories on the appliance, remote locations such another Qnap NAS and Rsync, FTP or CIFS/SMB servers, and cloud storage with Qnap supporting no less than forty providers, including its own myQNAPcloud service.

HBS 3 can run data integrity checks when backups have completed to ensure they can be restored, and file version management provides extra protection against ransomware. HBS 3 also offers one-way and two-way syncing services between NAS source folders and destinations such as remote Rsync, FTP and CIFS/SMB servers or any supported cloud provider.

QTS can boost performance for cloud storage as the HybridMount app uses standard file protocols to mount storage from providers such as Amazon S3, Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive as NAS shares and assign a local cache to them. You get perpetual licences for two providers included with extra ones costing £15 per year.

Alternatively, you can use the VJBOD Cloud app to present cloud storage as local block-based NAS or iSCSI volumes. One perpetual provider licence is included, with more also costing £15 per year.

Qnap TS-432XeU review: 2.5GbE and 10GbE performance

With the appliance hooked up over 2.5GbE to our Zyxel XMG1930-30HP multi-Gig switch, we mapped a share to a Dell Windows Server 2025 host on the 10GbE LAN. Performance is good with Iometer reporting raw sequential read and write speeds of 2.3Gbits/sec and 2.2Gbits/sec.

Real world speeds were in the same ball park, with 25GB file copies between the server and appliance averaging read and write speeds of 2.3Gbits/sec and 2.1Gbits/sec. Our backup copy test using a 22.4GB folder with 10,500 small files delivered 1.1Gbits/sec.

We moved to 10GbE by connecting the appliance using a DAC (direct access cable) to the switch's 10GbE SFP+ port. Running Iometer on the share again returned sequential read and write rates of 8.6Gbits/sec and 5.6Gbits/sec. Our real world large file copy delivered sustained read and write speeds of 3.8Gbits/sec and 2.9Gbits/sec while our backup test averaged 1.7Gbits/sec.

Over 2.5GbE, the TS-432XeU matches the TS-435XeU, but Iometer NAS read and write speeds over 10GbE are down by 4.6% and 22%, respectively. Even so, that's nothing to be sniffed at and will easily be enough for the target market of small businesses.

Qnap TS-432XeU review: Is it worth it?

The TS-432XeU is an affordable choice for small businesses with it listed on LambdaTek for £617 excluding VAT. The ARM CPU does have some limitations but Qnap's QTS OS delivers plenty of data protection apps, performance over 2.5GbE and 10GbE is quite respectable, and its compact dimensions make it a great choice where office space is at a premium.

Qnap TS-432XeU specifications

There's no doubt we live in a golden age for cheap laptops. Apple's cracking little MacBook Neo heralded the dawn, but the Windows boys have responded quickly and dramatically.

Dell was fast out of the blocks with the £899 XPS 13, with Acer hard on its heels with the £699 Swift Air 14. Lenovo has even joined in with its IdeaPad Vibe.

We can expect competing machines from HP and Honor in due course, all built around Intel's new budget Wildcat Lake and Qualcomm's X1 Snapdragon CPUs, all with screen sizes between 13 and 14 inches and all costing somewhere between £700 and £900.

The first of the Neo-worriers to land here at ITPro is Acer's offering, which, for the time being, also appears to be the only one that can match the Neo's price, starting at £699 ($699 in the USA) for the entry-level model.

Acer Swift Air 14: Design

Like the MacBook Neo and Lenovo's Chromebook 14 Plus, the new Swift Air fully subscribes to the philosophy that a very cheap laptop doesn't have to be an unholy lump of plastic tat.

All the bits you regularly touch are made from aluminium, and both the build quality and paint finish are every bit as good as you'll find on much more expensive Acer machines like the Swift Go 16.

There's a choice of colors – sage green, frost blue, blossom pink, or lilac purple – complete with some stylish pinstriping on the lid. However, that was missing from our sample as it was technically an engineering sample rather than an actual production unit.

Acer reckons the Swift Air 14 weighs 1.2kg, but our sample tipped the scales at 1.07kg. That's more than feather-light 840g Asus Zenbook A14 but less than the 1.23kg MacBook Neo.

The design of the Swift Air is typical Acer, which means it's not quite as visually interesting as your average Asus, Dell or Apple notebook. It's not ugly, just a little nondescript.

On the left side of the Swift Air there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, while on the right there's a single 5Gbps USB-A port and a 3.5mm audio jack. Some may bemoan the absence of an HDMI output, but given that both Type-C ports support DP Alt Mode video, it's a minor issue.

Wireless communications are handled by an Intel AX211 card, which supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. Neither is the latest word in modernity, but as long as there's support for 6GHz Wi-Fi, we won't be complaining.

Taking the base panel off the Swift Air is simplicity itself once you've undone the 4 Torx screws that hold it in place. There's no space for a second SSD, and the RAM is soldered in place, as is the WLAN card, but you can easily replace the 2280 SSD and the battery.

Speaking of SSDs, the 512GB SanDisk drive in our test unit went like the dickens, recording sequential read and write speeds of 5,692MB/s and 5,017MB/s respectively.

Acer Swift Air 14: Keyboard, touchpad, and webcam

The keyboard is typical of many 14in laptops, a nicely spaced chiclet affair with pleasant soft-feel keys. The typing action is light but still positive, and there's a two-stage white backlight.

The keyboard deck has rather more flex than we'd like, especially around the F/G/H keys in the middle, but it's no worse than we've encountered on laptops costing far more.

The Mylar touchpad is bang on the money. It's a decent size at 125 x 80mm and reacts instantly to taps, swipes and gestures. The click-action is crisp and not too loud, acing our "Can you use it in a library reading room without getting disapproving glances?" test.

The 1080p webcam is another component that punches above the Swift Air's price, producing images that are bright and colorful, and there's a manual privacy slide shutter. It also supports Windows Hello facial recognition and Windows Studio special effects.

Acer Swift Air 14: Display and speakers

When both Apple and Dell have opted for 2.5K displays in their small, cheap laptops, Acer's decision to stick with 1,920 x 1,200 may raise an eyebrow, but the Acer still boasts a 162PPI dot density, the equal of the Dell XPS 14 we had in to test recently and looks crisp and sharp to the naked eye.

Elsewhere, the IPS panel does far better than you'd generally expect from a budget laptop. Peak brightness is a solid 440cd/m2 and it covers 97% of the sRGB color space, equal to 77.6% DCI-P3. The Delta E accuracy of 1.9 won't win any awards, but at below 2, the vast majority of users won't notice the discrepancies.

There's no option to have the Swift Air with a touch interface, but it's some compensation that you get a smooth 120Hz refresh rate and that the matte finish is good at suppressing reflections.

Like the display, the sound system is much better than the price tag would suggest. There's ample volume, our sound meter registering 77.1dBA from a pink noise source at a distance of 1m, and the soundscape is rich, detailed, and composed.

Even at maximum volume, there's none of the shrillness that was evident during our listening tests with the MacBook Neo.

Acer Swift Air 14: Specs and performance

Intel's Core Series 3 Wildcat Lake processors are the puny little brother to the muscular jocks of the Core Ultra Series 3 Panther Lake chips.

Ignoring the milksop Core 3 304, there are five 6-core processors (two cores are termed Performance and 4 Low-Power Efficient) in the Core 5 and Core 7 lineup, with clocks ranging from 4.4GHz to 4.8GHz and NPUs with 15, 16 or 17TOPs capacity.

Our sample featured the 4.6Ghz Core 5 320 CPU, but Acer UK is also advertising a model with the 4.8GHz Core 7 350 processor and 12GB of RAM.

A word of warning here: The Swift Air laptops that you buy in the shops won't be quite as nippy as our review unit because it came with 16GB of RAM rather than the 8GB (but still multi-channel), which is standard with the Core 5 320 processor.

All feature an Intel GPU with 2 Xe cores, though with slightly varying speeds, and all have a base power rating of 15W and a turbo rating of 35W.

The biggest difference will obviously be in multitasking performance. If you avoid running multiple apps along with a dozen or more Chrome tabs simultaneously, you shouldn't experience any serious bogging down.

It may seem a little unfair to compare the cheap Acer with the significantly more expensive – by a factor of almost two – MSI Prestige 13 AI+, which has 8 CPU cores and 4 GPU cores, but it's a testament to Acer (and Intel) that the Swift Air does not disgrace itself in such a comparison.

In our trusty old 4K multimedia benchmark, which is built around the HandBrake transcoder, the Acer scored 167 points to the MSI's 201 and the MacBook Neo's 126.

Looking back at historical test results, that puts the Core 5 320 roughly on a par with some Raptor Lake i5 U-series chips from 2023, and you didn't find those in laptops at this sort of price.

In the Cinebench R24 test, Swift Air scored 113 in the single-core test and 359 in the multi-core test. For comparison, the MSI Prestige 13 AI+ scored 547 in multi-core and 112 in single-core.

In the Geekbench 6 benchmark, the Acer scored 7,992 multi-core and 2,576 single-core, compared to the MSI's 10,091 and 2,512 and the Apple's 8,680 and 3,456, respectively.

We had expected the gap between the Swift Air and the Prestige 13 AI+ to be bigger and were generally impressed by how well the Swift Air went about its business.

Granted, with 8GB rather than 16GB of RAM, things are likely to slow down with multiple apps running, but we'd argue that if you expect to be able to run lots of apps simultaneously and cleanly on your laptop, you should expect to pay more than £699. Quite a lot more, in fact.

With only 2 Xe graphics cores, the Swift Air is far from the fastest graphics machine around, but again it doesn't end up with egg on its face.

In the 3DMark Night Raid test, it scored 18,138 to the MSI's 23,350, and while it only managed to run the SPECviewperf 3dsmax modelling test at a pedestrian 11.7fs, compared to the MSI's 18.7fs, it did at least manage to run the complete test, something we were far from sure it would.

The 16TOPS NPU is too weak to deliver the whole Copilot+ experience, so there's no support for Recall or Cocreator in the Paint app.

The dual-fan cooling system had no trouble keeping the Swift Air well-ventilated. Running the system under maximum stress caused no thermal issues, and the fan noise never rose much above a low hum.

The combination of a low-power CPU and a larger-than-average-capacity battery for a laptop in this class of 70Wh meant the Swift Air turned in an impressive battery runtime of 22 hours and 35 minutes.

That's nigh-on double the best the MacBook Neo could manage and seven hours more than the MSI Prestige 13 AI+. Both those machines have higher-resolution displays, which makes Acer's decision to equip the Swift Air with a FullHD panel seem rather sensible.

The takeaway from all these results is that if your understanding of a "cheap" Windows laptop is something built around a Twin Lake N150 chip, then Wildcat Lake will come as something of a revelation. For a budget laptop, the Swift Air is impressively capable of functioning as a day-to-day laptop for the vast majority of users.

Acer Swift Air 14: Is it worth it?

We'd argue that the Acer Swift Air is a more important budget laptop than the Apple MacBook Neo. With a considerably longer battery life, larger display, a keyboard backlight, and a USB-A port, it's certainly more usable on a day-to-day basis.

We've yet to test Dell's new XPS13, but given that prices for the general public start at £899 in the UK, a full £200 more than the Acer Swift Air and MacBook Neo, it's already at a handicap. Hopefully Dell will rethink the difference between the UK price and the $699 it's asking for the same model in the USA.

Traditionally, buying a laptop for this sort of money meant having to tolerate a lot of mediocrity either in terms of quality, performance, or usability. It's the greatest credit to Acer that, with the Swift Air, it's cooked up a cheap laptop that won't just be selling to buyers who can't afford better, but also to buyers who quite reasonably ask themselves, "why pay more?"

Acer Swift Air 14 specifications

2026 may go down as the year that foldable phones came of age, but it will be worth looking back at the number of quality budget phones that were released. The latest is the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE, the most affordable model of the S26 that often doesn't fall too far behind its premium siblings.

Due to the state of memory chips and the general cost of living at the moment, the term 'budget' might need a rethink, especially as the S26 FE is $699 for the basic model. Which might make it too expensive for a business phone, but still, that's a lot less than any of the premium models.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE: Design

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is, as expected, a condensed version of the Ultra, with some features missing to save costs. However, visually, it's simply a smaller model than the Ultra.

You get a gloriously large 6.7in display, a delicately curved camera bump with three lenses, and it comes in three colors – Blueberry, Graphite, and Pistachio – and all models have a metal frame around the chassis with flat sides. At first glance, it looks exactly like the Ultra, with only the slightly smaller size giving it away.

It's 7.4mm thick, which is 0.5mm less than the Ultra. It still feels quite cumbersome to operate one-handed; my short thumb struggled to reach all of the touchscreen while I was on the move. And I did almost drop it a few times while getting it out of my pocket due to the slippery back cover. But these are things I'm willing to overlook for the use of a 6.7in display.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE: Display

The screen is a gorgeous Dynamic AMOLED 2X, with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ capabilities. It's seemingly the same display as found in the S25 FE model, and there are no complaints here from us. It's bold, bright, and very crisp. Great for YouTube videos, photos, even some document editing.

In our tests, the S26 FE recorded 100% for sRGB gamut color coverage (115.8% for volume), which is a high score for a budget device. This is the most affordable Galaxy S26 device, but the standard is still high. The S26 Ultra, for instance, hit 96% for color coverage.

The S26FE couldn't really compete with brightness, peaking at 421.72cd/m2 during our tests. That's a little low compared to other S26 models, but it's still bright enough to handle most sunny conditions.

You also get a wealth of modes and controls for the display, though there's no Privacy Display on the FE; that's still exclusive to the Ultra. This isn't much of a surprise as it isn't on the ZFold8 either, but still, once you see the Privacy Display in action, a life without it seems insecure – it's one of the best privacy features we've seen for a while, and it's a shame it's not available on the FE.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE: Specs and performance

The FE is packing the in-house developed Exynos 2500 chip, which is the same as last year's models. It is a good chip, but it's matched with a measly 8GB of RAM. What's worse, you can only opt for up to 512GB of storage, which is a bit of an issue if you are heavy on downloading files and videos.

In Geekbench 7, the FE came back with 2,048 for single-core and 7,503 for multi-threaded. Neither is particularly groundbreaking compared to the Ultra, but they are good scores. Both scores were nearly double that of our recent review of the Motorola Edge 70 Pro, for example.

The FE has Android 17 out of the box, with Samsung's One UI 9 overlay. And even better, it has a guarantee of up to 7 major OS updates across its lifetime. The best feature here, from our experience, is the split-screen multitasking mode, where you easily switch between apps with just a tap.

As with recent Galaxy S models, the battery lasts well beyond our 20-hour looped video test. The Galaxy S26FE needed two attempts and held out for 28hr, 54min – around 7hrs less than the S26 Ultra. This rings true in real life, as I found on a recent trip to Berlin for IFA; I went two whole working days before needing a charge.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE: Cameras

Similar to the 25 FE, the 26 FE supports a triple camera setup with a 50MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide) lens, an 8MP, f/2.4, 75mm telephoto one with 3x optical zoom, and 12MP, f/2.2, 123˚ ultrawide lens. On the front is a 12 MP, f/2.2, 26mm wide camera.

The main 50MP lens is brilliant, captures nice crisp images, particularly in portrait mode where you get a nice differentiation between subject and background. The optical zoom capabilities of the telephoto lens are limited; the closer you get to the limit, the blurrier and grainier it gets. And not everything comes back in focus – I found it hard to get stabilized images and video while walking around IFA.

As with the last few Galaxy smartphones, you get a Pro mode that shoots RAW. You can have a play about with the ISO and shutter speed and get more true-to-life shots. It is, admittedly, quite tricky to find the right balance every time; it's oddly easier on an actual camera, but it is nice to have that option as the point-and-shoot capabilities of the FE can seem a bit too enhanced.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE: Is it worth it?

For $699 (£699), you may have expected a little more from the S26 FE. It's still using last year's chip, has largely the same display and camera tech as the S25 FE, and Samsung has not installed the privacy display, which will be something businesses want. And that's before we get to the issue of RAM and storage, where only the latter can be boosted, for a price, but only to 512GB.

In many ways, however, the main issue is that the S26 Ultra is just so darn good; it has so many top features, many that will appeal to businesses, that it makes the FE a bigger drop-off in quality, one that's much more noticeable than there was between the S25 and S26 FE. It's worth remembering that the S26 FE is a budget model, but it could have been so much more.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE specifications

Faster, smaller, more efficient – pick three. That's MSI's proposition for the Cubi NUC AI+ 3MG. With Intel's Lunar Lake generation making way for the new Panther Lake-H chips, MSI has been able to slash the Cubi down in size while boosting performance in the places that matter for business use. Lunchtime gamers might not be so happy – and I'll explain in more detail why later – but for everyone else, this is a big upgrade in a very small package.

MSI has shrunk the 3MG generation right down. Palm-sized might be stretching it a little, but it's not far off: this mini PC measures a few millimetres shy of a 12cm x 12cm square and stands 37.5mm tall.

MSI sent us the top-end model, but naturally there are a variety of pre-built and barebones skus to consider. There are a trio of Panther Lake processors to choose from – the Core Ultra 5 322 (6 core, 6 threads, up to 4.4Ghz, 40+ TOPS), Core Ultra 7 355 (8 core, 8 threads, up to 4.7Ghz, 45+ TOPS) and the flagship Core Ultra 9 386H (16 core, 16 threads, up to 4.9Ghz, 50 TOPS).

IT departments with a healthy supply of DDR5 SODIMMs, M.2 2280 SSDs and spare Windows licenses can select one of the three barebones models which retail for around £460, £550 and £680. Pre-built models start at around £900 for the Ultra 5 322, 16GB DDR5 and 512GB SSD model, with the Ultra 7 355, 16GB, 1TB model pushing up to £1,099 and the Ultra 9 386H, 32GB, 1TB model topping out at £1,400. All ship with Windows 11 Pro.

The 3-year warranty is worth mentioning here, too. That's significantly longer than some rival devices, and if you buy via a B2B supplier you'll be able to upgrade to the Advanced Replacement scheme, which sends out a replacement device the instant your device is diagnosed as faulty.

MSI Cubi NUC AI+ 3MG: Design & connectivity

This compact matte black cuboid fits is nothing much to look at, but practicality is the priority here – it's compact, well connected, and you get tool-free access to the SSD and RAM. Turn the little fingerscrew, slide and pull the little tab, and the latch releases the metal base. It's very neat.

Most users won't need more than the 32GB of DDR5 memory that this review unit shipped with – but you can push it up to 128GB for very specific AI or mini server duties. And the ability to quickly slide in a new PCIe Gen 4 SSD may come in handy, too.

There's a good amount of connectivity here for the size. Up front, you get two USB-A ports – one full-speed 10Gbit port, one limited to USB 2.0 speeds – and a single 10Gbit USB-C port. There are two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports at the rear, and these support up to 98 watts of power delivery for compatible devices. The pair of 2.5GbE Ethernet ports is backed up by an MTK RZ717 chip, which provides Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

You can now connect up to four displays – up from the three on the previous generation – which is great for power users: the pair of HDMI 2.1 ports can be used alongside the pair of Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports to power four 4K 60Hz displays. With two discrete Thunderbolt 4 controllers, you can daisy-chain two displays off of a single port and save the other for high-speed external drives or similar.

A single power input accommodates the 120-watt laptop-style power supply, but you don't have to use it – the unit also accepts up to 98 watts of power delivery from a compatible USB-C equipped hub or monitor. The maximum power delivery the MSI itself can generate is 15 watts, though, so it won't fast charge anything bigger than a phone or tablet.

There are compromises. For example, there is no SD card reader, no 3.5mm headphone output, and no rear-facing USB-A ports. It feels like MSI very much intends this mini PC to be used with a docking station – or a well-appointed USB-C monitor which can provide the missing USB and audio connections.

The combined power button and fingerprint reader on the front of the Cubi is rather ingenious – or at least it is, as long as you don't take advantage of the VESA mounting plate in the box. Reaching around the back of your monitor to log in would be marginally less than ideal. In fairness, MSI does supply a short extension cable with a light, plasticky power button backed with a sticky pad for this exact scenario, but you do lose the fingerprint login functionality. It's good to see that a discrete TPM chip comes as standard, though.

MSI Cubi NUC AI+ 3MG: Performance

The range-topping Intel Core Ultra 9 386H in the top-end Cubi 3MG model is significantly more powerful than the previous generation. It doubles the overall core count, taking the previous generation's four performance and four low-power cores and adding a further 8 efficiency cores. AI performance takes a big step forward as a result: Intel's NPU 5 architecture delivers 50 TOPS of AI compute in this high-end chip, a handful less in the slower variants. This combines with the CPU and GPU to generate 100 TOPS of compute. Impressive for a unit that fits in the palm of your hand.

Those upgrades have led to some sacrifices: GPU performance isn't a patch on the previous Lunar Lake generation. With a Mini PC of this size, something has to give. Instead, the Panther Lake generation slashes the GPU core count in half and settles for four of the new Battlemage Xe3 cores. That said, a little lunchtime gaming isn't entirely out of the question. The 3DMark results are similar to the last Lunar Lake generation, but I found that even demanding titles such as Arc Raiders played fine at 2,560 x 1,440 and lowest settings with XeSS Performance mode enabled, with framerates generally hovering between 40fps and 60fps.

This is all the more impressive when you consider that MSI has had to place some tight thermal limits on the Panther Lake chips to prevent the tiny chassis from overheating. The chip simply isn't allowed to boost to its maximum wattage, and sustained workloads are similarly restrained. The flipside here is that, even with sustained heavy gaming or multi-core workloads, the MSI is never excessively noisy. Heavy loads see the fans spin up to a steady white noise, but this is quite easy to ignore – and unlike some mini PCs it's never irritatingly shrill.

The tight power limits explain why the benchmark results aren't universally leaps and bounds ahead of previous-generation mobile chips. For instance, you'd expect the latest architecture to stretch its legs against the two-generations-old 16-core Core 9 Ultra 185H in the Geekom IT13 Max, but it actually performs similarly. This isn't the disappointment it sounds, however: the Geekom is almost twice the size, and it allows its fans to reach higher noise levels to give the chip more headroom.

Despite this, the MSI still gives a good showing as it pushes around 7% ahead in Geekbench 6's single core benchmark, with a result of 2,546, and even edges out a slim 3% lead in the multi-threaded tests with 13,486. Graphics performance drops behind, though, with the MSI falling 43% behind the Geekom. Again, though, even this loss speaks to the efficiency improvements for this generation: the Geekom's Meteor Lake GPU has double the number of GPU cores at its disposal.

MSI Cubi NUC AI+ 3MG: Is it worth it?

The Cubi NUC AI+ 3MG is a great example of a well-engineered mini PC. Some sensibly restrained power limits have allowed MSI to pack considerable capabilities into a tiny, quiet footprint, and the only real disappointment here is that you simply can't eke every last drop of performance from the platform. After all, there's only so much heat that a half-litre chassis can handle.

For many desks, though, a few compromises for quieter operation make a lot of sense. You get the upgradable RAM and SSD options from the older Meteor Lake generation, a big boost in AI compute power, and more than sufficient oomph to handle a wide range of day-to-day workloads. Suffice to say, the MSI Cubi NUC AI+ 3MG is a mini PC with big potential.

MSI Cubi NUC AI+ 3MG specifications

Lenovo is coming to IFA 2026 with a whole new line of Yoga devices, including a new Yoga Tab Plus Gen 2. Naturally, on-device AI dominates the marketing here, as it does with seemingly everything. But look beyond that, and you'll see that what Lenovo has in its Yoga Tab is a tablet that's better than it has ever been.

More specifically, our focus was drawn to its accessories, which left a great first impression during our sneak peek of the Yoga Tab Plus, ahead of IFA 2026.

Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus Gen 2: Design

The Yoga Tab Plus Gen 2 is a generously sized 13in tablet. With the keyboard attached, it has some heft to it, though on its own the tablet only weighs 605g. It's 8.27mm thick, which is considerably more than the Galaxy Tab S11 and the M5 iPad Pro.

The 13in display is crisp and clean, with a 3:2 ratio and a buttery-smooth 144Hz refresh rate. It appears to also be a very bright panel, with the Lenovo drawing app showcasing a luminous white screen when opened.

At face value, the Yoga Pen Pro Gen 2 looks pretty standard, and some of its controls are already in use on iPads and the OnePlus Pad 3. But there are two additions here that really impressed us. The first is the eraser; like a real pencil with a rubber on the end, you can simply turn the Yoga Pen Pro upside down and use the back end of the stylus to erase your work – which is cute and clever.

The second is the haptic feedback. Both ReMarkable and Huawei have produced pens that can almost replicate the feel of a pen on paper. They have the scratch and resistance. Lenovo has gone in a slightly different direction with a Yoga Pen Pro in that it seems to have a little rattle, a little life in it.

It doesn't necessarily give the impression of pencil on paper, but it doesn't slide around the screen either – there's a good degree of control that you don't get with other styluses. In my ten minutes with the Pro, I drew one of the Berlin Bears that was nearby, and it was done with ease. This is something I would be excited to try with the Android Sketchbook app.

Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus Gen 2: Specifications

A Snapdragon 8 Elite chip powers the Tab Plus, and it's paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD. You can also expand that up to 2TB with an SD card, which is great for those who will use it for creative purposes, as files eat up storage.

Other features include a USB-C port, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6.0. There is an 8MP front camera, and on the rear 13MP and 2MP lenses – we didn't really get much time to test these out, though tablet cameras are largely unnecessary save for video calls. And, out of the box, the Yoga Pad Pro Gen 2 will support Android 17.

Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus Gen 2: First impressions

Admittedly, the tablet's build isn't as impressive as its competitors. It's not particularly slim in comparison to the iPad Pro, or OnePlus Pad 3, or Galaxy Tab S11, but the argument Lenovo can make here is that thinness is not super important. The user experience is. And having used it at IFA, we can say it was a good experience.

The Yoga Pen Pro Gen 2, however, is a joyous little accessory. One we would happily take home and use repeatedly. Once again, Lenovo has shown a different way to look at our everyday technology, and its Yoga Pen Pro is mighty.

Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus Gen 2 specifications

The word 'vibe' has been somewhat tainted by the technology industry. Whether it's 'vibe working' or 'vibe coding', it's often used incorrectly. So there was some trepidation when Lenovo announced its new colorful laptop range, the IdeaPad Vibe.

What 'Vibe' means in relation to this laptop is a little unexplored. The range of colors it comes in is certainly some kind of vibe, like aura farming in laptop form. But you have to look beyond that and see the specifications – it has a surprising amount to offer underneath the shiny exterior.

Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe: Design

The Vibe is a compact laptop with just a 14.9mm thickness. It's only 313.6mm tall, with a 14in WUXGA OLED display and a standard-sized backlit keyboard. It was no trouble to hold one-handed, either, weighing just 1.3kg. This makes it a great option for remote workers and travelers.

Businesses might not immediately see the Vibe as a work machine, largely because Lenovo is positioning it as a machine for consumers but also because it comes in such a wide variety of colors. And those colors have extravagant names, like 'Spicy Gold' and 'Dreamy Violet'. But there is 'Chill Blue' and 'Lowkey Grey', which seem more like colors businesses opt for. However, 'Zen Green' and 'Radiant Coral' are fairly professional-looking shades.

One thing that was very apparent in our 30 minutes with the device is that it's very easy to use. The lid can be opened with one finger, the keyboard has decent travel (1.3mm), and it has nice bright backlighting. It might not look or sound like a business laptop, but the Vibe has lots for business to like.

Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe: Specifications

For a small laptop, the Vibe sure does cram in a lot of ports; you get two USB-C slots for data transfer and charging, two standard USB-A 3.2 ports, an HDMI slot, an audio jack, and, pleasingly, a microSD card reader – which all us photographers and creators like.

Add to that the fact that it also comes with up to 1TB of SSD, and you have a machine that can store all your images and videos. The only thing that might let it down here is the display, which might not be totally suitable for image editing and color work, but we won't know that until we get one in for testing.

We also can't say which configuration is best, though you'll have a choice between the AMD Ryzen AI 4000 series and the Snapdragon X chip – both have come back with good benchmarks in other devices, so it seems like a good choice either way. And the Vibe will complement both options with a healthy helping of RAM (32GB DDR5-5600 dual-channel).

Other features include Wi-Fi7 and Bluetooth 5.4, as well as a 5MP IR webcam with an optional privacy shutter.

Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe: First impressions

The Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe is a colorful assault on the eyes. But it's best to ignore the bright shades and fancy names, because that will blind you to the actually interesting features, such as the fullness of the port selection and the portability. It's going to be marketed to individuals, but this seems just as good for business as the MacBook Neo – light, efficient, and, crucially, affordable.

Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe specifications

It's become increasingly common to find network connections on relatively affordable document scanners, sometimes even paired with color screens – such as on the Ricoh ScanSnap iX2500 we reviewed recently. The Ricoh SP-2230N is that scanner's more affordable cousin, forgoing the screen and Wi-Fi, but still covering the essentials for reliable business document scanning, and supporting multiple users through a gigabit Ethernet port on the back panel.

This isn't the most sophisticated document scanner around, but it's clearly designed to survive years of fairly intense scanning and archival. Ricoh quotes an expected daily volume of 4,500 sheets – that's about nine every minute over an eight-hour working day. It's built for a range of input media, from regular A4 pages, through register receipts or plastic ID cards, to folded A3 or over-length sheets.

Open up the paper mechanism, and you'll see dual contact image sensors (CIS), meaning the SP-2230N can capture both sides of each page in a single pass. This duplex capability means its 30-page-per-minute (ppm) engine speed translates to 30 images per minute (ipm) in simplex mode, or 60ipm when scanning both sides. A sister model, the SP-2240N, ups those speeds to 40ipm and 80ipm respectively.

This scanner's sturdy paper input tray clips into place and feels almost indestructible. Its long, telescoping output tray is built into the base of the scanner body. This does flex – we got the tip to touch the desktop when pressing down on it – but it doesn't feel at all under strain when doing so. One drawback of the click-in input tray is that it's not designed to fold closed over the input slot, which would help prevent dust gathering in the mechanism. Still, that's not likely to be a big issue on a scanner in daily use.

On the Ricoh SP-2230N's front panel you'll find buttons to cycle the power and start or cancel scanning. There are also three 'Send to' buttons, configurable for different functions depending exactly how you end up using the device. While this is useful, it's not as self-explanatory as the configurable icons on the ScanSnap iX2500's screen, which you can set up to trigger specific scan tasks for multiple users.

Ricoh SP-2230N review: Setting up

This is a compact and lightweight scanner – at 292mm wide, it's only about 3in wider than a sheet of A4 paper, so it's fairly easy to accommodate on a busy desktop. One exception to note is that with both trays fully extended, it's necessarily deep – we measured around 600mm (23.5"), far more than the stated 163mm (6.4"). The SP-2230N uses an external power adaptor, but this is about as small as they come – you can nestle the adaptor in the space between a wall and the rear of the scanner itself.

While an Ethernet port may be less convenient than Wi-Fi for scenarios like a floating reception desk, it does at least mean you don't have to worry about signal quality. It's great to have reliable gigabit speeds, although in our experience 100Mbit Ethernet probably wouldn't be a bottleneck even for 600 dots per inch (dpi) duplex scans.

Ricoh supports this scanner with its PaperStream ClickScan software, which makes it relatively easy to change basic scan settings when you're using the SP-2230N with a PC. It's easy to miss the extra settings icon on the File Format tile – you'll need to go here to enable searchable PDF files, rather than a straightforward PDF or another format. Alternatively, you can configure the scanner in PC-less mode, allowing you to route jobs directly to a network folder or email inbox, for example. Importantly, Ricoh has built in the necessary intelligence for the SP-2230N to run optical character recognition (OCR) onboard, so you can enable it for PC-free scanning – an excellent feature.

With just the three Send to buttons, this scanner isn't as configurable as some we've tested, but that does still allow some flexibility. For example, you could define one workflow to drop searchable PDFs into a network folder, and another to email a particular address with ID card scans. Our one grumble is that there's no easy way to mark which button does what – you'd need staff to remember, or to come up with a labeling system yourself.

Ricoh SP-2230N review: Scanning

We performed our usual suite of timed scan tests from a Windows 11 PC, experimenting with triggering jobs directly from ClickScan's Scan button and from the hardware button on the scanner itself. The SP-2230N almost lived up to Ricoh's stated speeds, hitting a best of 55.4ipm on a 24-side duplex scan at 150dpi. It was only fractionally slower on shorter jobs, completing a 10-page, 20-side duplex scan in 23 seconds – a rate of 52.2ipm. We timed a single page at just six seconds at either 150 or 200dpi, although when stepping up to 600dpi this job took a further second.

These are decent speeds for a document scanner at the affordable end of the spectrum. What's more impressive is that on our reasonably fast host PC there seemed to be no difference in performance between simplex and duplex scanning, and precious little difference whether OCR was enabled or not.

A case in point came with our 10-page, 16-side torture test, a mix of yellowing, tissue-thin magazine pages and poor quality A4 prints, deliberately jumbled up to test automatic de-skewing, page orientation and blank page detection performance. This sailed through the scanner in 22 seconds at 150dpi, or 23 seconds at 300dpi, with the SP-2230N correcting every page and successfully skipping the four blank sides – not always the case among document scanners. With OCR enabled, the same jobs needed just an extra second each.

This scanner tops out at 600dpi, and as we'd expect, this was quite a bit slower than its low-resolution performance. It still scanned 22 15x10cm (6x4") photos in only 45 seconds, though, which is handy enough if you have a stack of snaps that need digitizing. If you do need faster speeds, the ScanSnap iX2500 completed this particular job in an incredible 15 seconds.

Just as we found with the ScanSnap iX2500, the Ricoh SP-2230N performed brilliantly at its default settings. It detected and corrected rotated pages, straightened up skewed ones, and ignored empty sides without slipping up. We didn't experience any misfeeds or damage, even on thin and tired documents that have been through more scanners than we'd care to mention.

That's perhaps the main thing for a scanner that might be capturing contracts, certificates, or other irreplaceable documents, but happily the SP-2230N combined this reliable performance with strong quality throughout. Regular office documents were nicely exposed, with accurate colors, and reasonable crispness even at a relatively low 150dpi. Although backgrounds were whitened to enhance the results, this didn't come at the cost of fidelity – subtle graphics and small pen marks such as checks were retained.

While you'd get better photo scans from a good quality flatbed scanner, the SP-2230N is certainly good enough for archiving company or family snaps. We've seen document scanners that struggle to reproduce the color in photos, lack the necessary sharpness, or simply miss rich details in the shadows or lightest parts of an image. The SP-2230N had none of those problems – its dynamic range in particular was excellent, allowing it to capture photos with surprising fidelity.

Ricoh SP-2230N review: Is it worth it?

Provided you aren't expecting blistering, departmental speeds, the Ricoh SP-2230N offers everything a single user, or even a small office or workgroup could need from a document scanner. It's rugged and was entirely reliable in our tests, producing consistently straight, streak-free and clean documents. Ricoh's software, and the scanner's own onboard processing, means it's well suited to routing documents through a couple of different regular workflows, especially given it can apply OCR without any help from a host PC.

All this makes it a good choice for a front desk, provided it's within reach of a wired Ethernet connection, and that you won't need support for passport scanning. It's also ideal as a cheap document scanner shared within a small team – just find a way to remember what the three buttons do.

Ricoh SP-2230N specifications

Motorola's resurgence continues with the Edge 70 Pro, a top-of-the-line model of its Edge handset that features four 50MP camera lenses and a stunning curved screen.

The Pro model costs £749.99 in the UK and features 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. A mid-level chipset and some plastics used within its build are part of the reasons it's so affordable (compared to other devices).

Motorola Edge 70 Pro: Design

Motorola's Edge 70 Pro feels a little extravagant in a similar way to Huawei handsets in that they're very glossy, delicate builds, with curved chassis and luxurious colors. The Edge 70 Pro review unit we have has a rich burgundy back cover, with a matte finish. Parts of it almost glow pink in the light, particularly around the three camera lenses.

And the curved edge display is a welcome addition; it's very similar to what Samsung Galaxy used to have – almost a throwback, but one that helps it stand out. The subtle bend in the glass is just gorgeous, and you do feel like you're using a screen that's wider than it actually is. And the curved display, chassis, and back cover also make it seem like the whole device is slimmer than it is.

In the US, Motorola is one of the most popular brands, only below iPhone and Samsung. And part of the reason for that is the quality of its handsets – the Edge 70 Pro is as beautifully constructed as anything Samsung and Apple have created over the last few years.

Motorola Edge 70 Pro: Display

The 6.78in display is a P-OLED; the 'P' means there is a flexible plastic layer underneath the main part of the display. It has a 1272 x 2772 resolution and a whopping 144Hz refresh rate.

The default color setting is quite punchy, perhaps more vibrant than it should be – this was because, for us, the default was 'Vibrant'. You can select Natural, which just slightly dials everything back, or attempt to adjust the color temperature with the giant color wheel, but it is very tricky. The other alternative setting is 'Radiant', and it's not particularly impressive or that much different from Natural.

With our colorimeter, the Edge 70 showcased 100% for sRGB color coverage and an impressive 161.1% volume (+ 97% for Adobe) under the vivid setting. Putting it up there with some of the best around.

The phone also achieved a peak brightness of 513.41cd/m2 which is decent. During our time with Pro, it never really needed to be shielded from the sun or even have its brightness tweaked, as the automated settings really do take care of it for you.

Motorola Edge 70 Pro: Specs and performance

Under the hood of the Edge 70 Pro is a MediaTek Dimensity 8500 Extreme with 12GB of RAM. This is a chip found in several mid-range devices, which fits with the pricing of the Edge 70 Pro, though it still somehow manages to underwhelm in benchmarks.

In Geekbench 7, for example, the Pro scored 1,035 for single-core workloads. And then 4,791 for multi-core. Which is rather weak compared to other midrange devices, such as the iPhone 17e and the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE.

In our looped video test, the Edge disappointed further, lasting just 12hrs and 23mins. That was less than the Razr 70 we tested the week before and considerably less than many of the phones the Edge is competing with, such as the iPhone and the Galaxy S26.

For real use, I found the device a little better, lasting well into a second day. This included most of our tests, some work-based use (email, Slack, phone calls), and a fair amount of YouTube viewing.

Motorola Edge 70 Pro: Cameras

Although this isn't a premium smartphone, it does have a premium camera setup; the Edge 70 Pro has triple 50MP rear lenses and a fourth 50MP lens on the front. The back three include a wide and periscope telephoto lens, with 3.5X optical zoom.

Image quality is good on all four lenses. However, there is a fair bit of enhancement going on; for example, it will brighten up a shot automatically, without needing to use the Night Vision settings. Which is not a terrible fault, though it will make it harder to get real-life shots with the point-and-shoot mode. I found a similar issue on the Razr 70 where it did a little too much enhancing.

For video, the Edge can shoot up to 4K at 60fps, and also shoot in HDR10+. Similarly, it offers enhanced results, but the footage we captured was smooth and stabilized.

Motorola Edge 70 Pro: Is it worth it?

The Edge 70 Pro is best described as a mixed bag. It looks the part thanks to that beautifully curved screen and stylish design. The display is pretty, and the camera setup is a lot better than you would expect for the price. But there are two areas where it really lets itself down: the processor and battery.

Admittedly, the low battery benchmark didn't really translate to poor use in real terms, though plenty of phones at this price range can offer more than 15hrs in our tests. And likewise, we didn't see any sluggish performance despite the low Geekbench scores. This is, truth be told, a good business phone. It's just not as good as the competition.

Motorola Edge 70 Pro specifications

Confused by Dell's laptop naming scheme? You're not the only one. Last year, the company scrapped its entire portfolio, including the XPS branding, to release new machines under the Dell, Dell Plus, and Dell Pro labels. Now, XPS is back with a bang, while the Dell Plus laptops have been scrapped – in their place is the Dell 14S and Dell 16S, the latter of which we've gotten our hands on.

These mid-range productivity-centric devices are designed to be everyday workhorses that won't hit the performance heights of the higher-end laptops, but they've still captured that premium essence and will be much more friendly on your IT budget. As such, our 16S has the latest Intel 300 Series processor and an eye-catching shell. Will its £1,500 pricing be enough to tempt you away from the near-double-in-price XPS 16?

Dell 16S review: Design and display

Dell's choice of a clean and crisp Frost Blue chassis coating underlines this laptop's appeal to a more general audience, rather than a high-up executive or power user. While it's also available in a darker, less exciting grey tone, the playful charm and freshness give you a completely different outlook.

That's not to say it isn't as robust as you'd want from a Dell laptop, with its sturdy two-tone CNC-machined recycled aluminum chassis exuding a much-needed sense of durability. A nice touch is the contrast between the clouded, frosty coating on the palm rest, base, and lid against a sharper and reflective metallic lining along the sides – giving it some additional character. While an oddly square-shaped touchpad blends into the chassis, the charcoal-toned keycaps are a contrast too far and clash with the machine's freshness, as does the plastic casing around the display, undermining that premium feel. There's no flex on the lid, thankfully, which means it's at least functionally strong.

The machine's dimensions are about in line with comparable 16-inch laptops, including the HP EliteBook 8 G1a 16, and it's more compact than the Dell 16 Premium, while its 1.77kg weight is around the middle-of-the-road. For a 16in machine, you shouldn't have many portability problems.

While the 2,560 x 1,600-pixel 120Hz IPS display (equating to a below average 189 pixel-per-inch sharpness) is bright enough, registering a decent 352cd/m2 brightness in our display testing, there are a few shortcomings in terms of its color accuracy. While you can expect near-100% (or maximum) coverage of the sRGB spectrum in many modern laptops, the Dell 16S only achieves 89.1%. The results aren't much better for color accuracy for photo or video editing, with 65.1% and 70.1% coverage of the Adobe RGB and DCI P3 spectra. Combine this with a poor black level of 0.3cd/m2 and a contrast ratio of 1,178:1, it's evident that – while suitably bright – the display is among the weakest that we've tested over the course of the previous and current generation.

Dell 1S review: Performance and battery life

With the latest specs, you'd expect the Dell 16S to impress. Our configuration came fitted with a mid-powered eight-core Intel Core Ultra 7 355 processor alongside an Intel Graphics card, 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and a 512GB SSD. Performance is solid in and of its own right and it's about in line with the mobile processors you'd find in the previous generation's cohort.

Benchmarking with Geekbench 6 rendered a decent set of single-core and multi-core results of 2,683 and 11,052 respectively. We'd describe this as solid, if not unspectacular. The chipset is just about on the weaker end of the Intel 300 Series spectrum – and is comfortably outpaced by the best 200 Series chips. Take the Dell 16 Premium (Intel Core Ultra 7 255H), which scored 2,803 and 16,016 – or the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Gen 10 Aura Edition (Intel Core Ultra 9 285H), which scored 2,743 and 12,057.

Graphics performance was also respectable, with the Intel Graphics chip scoring 24,616 in our OpenCL benchmark – this is a little under the minimum we'd see with the Intel Arc Graphics chip, which could potentially reach above 30,000. For an entry-level GPU in a mid-range laptop, it's absolutely fine and will support basic-to-moderately intensive tasks without much problem. Where we were extraordinarily disappointed, however, was in SSD write speeds. While the 512GB SSD can read data at an average 5,280MB/s, it reads data at 255MB/s – which is borderline defective. We normally get results in the range of 2,500-6000MB/s.

The Dell 16S' battery life, meanwhile, is slightly better than many 16-inch machines we've tested recently, many of which can only reach 10-11 hours. Lasting 12hrs and 57mins, it's better than either the aforementioned Dell (10hrs and 20mins) and Lenovo (8hrs and 58mins) laptop, for example. There are one or two models that can outrun this; however, the Dell 16S is not able to outlast the AMD-powered HP EliteBook 8 G1a 16 (14hrs and 29 mins), for instance.

Dell 16S review: Features

The keyboard in the Dell 16S offers a bog-standard, solid and satisfying typing experience with minimal complaints. While certainly more generic than the exquisitely designed zero-lattice keyboard you'll find in the XPS or previous-generation Dell machines, there are few complaints about it. The off-centered placement to accommodate a numberpad will take some getting used to if you're used to centrally-aligned typing, but it's otherwise snappy, responsive, and each keystroke has a sufficiently deep travel distance.

The expansive touchpad, on the other hand, is oddly square-shaped rather than the more common rectangular form you'll find in most laptops. Its depth means that you can't perform left- or right-click actions without shifting your hands away from their position on the keyboard, while the button clicks are each a little lightweight. It's suitably responsive, however, and offers the perfect balance of smoothness and friction so that your finger feels comfortable while also not slipping on ice.

Connectivity is very good, meanwhile, with two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps), one HDMI 2.1 port, and two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports (one on each side), as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack. There's also a little LED indicator next to the USB-C ports on the left-hand side to indicate when power is connected. We would much prefer a USB-C port on either side, however, to give you more flexibility, and there's no room for an SD Card reader. You'll also get the latest Bluetooth 6.0 and Wi-Fi 7 wireless standards – and they work well with stable connections.

Beyond the usual collection of Windows 11 AI features, thanks to a 49TOPS integrated NPU, there's very little in terms of bells and whistles available. The Dell Optimizer app is a console that lets you manage your device if you want a different skin to Windows Settings, while Dell offers a number of additional optional third-party software upgrades as well as two tiers of hardware support, at an additional cost, during the purchase process.

Dell 16S review: Is it worth it?

We've had a mixed experience using the Dell 16S, with plenty of positives including a fresh design, snappy keyboard, and healthy selection of ports, but there are too many flaws to suggest that it offers value for money at its current price.

The display, for instance, is less-than-ideal if you want to work with media in a professional sense. It's bright and crisp enough for day-to-day usage, but underperformed when we lifted the lid off the hood. Performance, too, is just about fine – but won't really challenge the highest-end machines out there right now. One suitable comparator is the Acer Swift 16 – which is just £300 more but includes an OLED screen, a much better CPU, double the RAM and SSD space.

You can argue it's worth pushing your budget up to £2,000 so you can afford the highest-end 16S, with a monstrous Intel Core Ultra 9 386H processor (slightly better than the Acer's CPU) and 32GB RAM – but you're still stuck with the same display, and for that amount of money you're really looking for something that can dazzle you.

What you're paying for in the Dell 16S is its sophisticated and robust chassis that boasts a strong design and a guaranteed level of physical reliability – while still being enjoyable to work with on a day-to-day basis. While the Dell 16S has ambitions to punch above its weight, it doesn't excel in any single area and doesn't offer the best value considering its underwhelming display.

Dell 16S review: Specifications

SMBs seeking a powerful single-socket rack server that'll fit in the smallest of spaces will find Broadberry is offering a tempting proposition. Presented as an ultra-short-depth 1U rack system, the CyberServe EPYC EP1-102A packs a lot into its compact dimensions.

Targeting SMBs and workloads such as edge computing and web hosting, Broadberry offers it with a good choice of AMD EPYC 4004/5 CPUs, and it can handle up to 192GB of fast DDR5 memory. It has another trick up its sleeve as its single PCIe slot supports an Nvidia Quadro RTX A1000 or A400 GPU card for lightweight AI and rendering duties.

Remote server monitoring comes as standard, as the CyberServe sports an integrated AST2600 BMC (baseboard management controller) with a dedicated Gigabit port. You can also manage and monitor multiple servers with the Asus Control Center Express (ACCE) utility providing a centralised dashboard.

Broadberry CyberServe EPYC EP1-102A review: Build and design

The CyberServe showcases the Asus ExpertCenter Pro ER100A B6 1U rack platform. The chassis is solidly constructed, and removing the lid reveals a smartly designed and tidy interior affording easy access for upgrades and maintenance.

Broadberry supplied our system with a meaty 16-core 3GHz AMD EPYC 4545P topped off with a chunky passive heatsink. Flanked on one side by four DIMM slots, it came with one occupied by a 32GB DDR5 UDIMM module.

Cooling is handled efficiently by a central bank of three dual-rotor fans in front of the motherboard with a plastic air shroud directing air over the CPU's heatsink. We noted that the shroud is secured in place with four screws – many similar short-depth Supermicro rack servers we've seen leave their flimsy air shroud loose, with only the lid keeping it in place.

Another cooling fan sits to the left of the chassis and is angled in to push air over the PCIe expansion slot. All told, we found the server ran very quietly, making it a good choice for small office environments.

The rear panel presents dual 2.5GbE multi-Gig ports, and if you feel the need for more speed, Broadberry offers 10GbE, 25GbE and 100GbE PCIe adapters. You're spoilt for choice if you want to connect a local monitor, as the server offers VGA ports fore and aft, while the rear 10GbE 3.2 Gen 2 port supports DP Alt-Mode for piping output to an HDMI-enabled monitor.

The front panel also has a handy 2-character Q-code LED display. This provides a running status tally as the server boots up and warns if any errors are detected – the manual provides a full list of Q-codes and their meaning.

Broadberry CyberServe EPYC EP1-102A review: Storage features

Standard storage features are fairly simple, with the base system offering two hot-swap SFF bays at the front with the backplane cabled directly to the motherboard's embedded SATA ports. Drives are easily added by snapping them into the tool-free carriers, and it's worth noting that unlike the blue-chips, Broadberry allows you to install your own choice of storage devices without invalidating the warranty.

Further storage expansion is possible as the server has an extra internal tray behind the front air grill that accepts two fixed SFF devices. Power cables are already provided, and with spare SATA and SlimSAS ports on the motherboard right next to the tray, you can cable up SATA or U.2 NVMe drives.

The system was supplied with a 2TB Micron 3500 M.2 NVMe SSD installed in the single motherboard slot beneath the expansion bay. A nice touch is that the SSD is completely covered with a large aluminium heatsink, which also gets the benefit of the expansion bay cooling fan.

Broadberry offers a range of optional Broadcom SATA/SAS RAID adapters, but the AMD chipset does have embedded RAID capabilities, which come into play when you change the BIOS SATA settings from AHCI to RAID. Arrays can be created and managed using AMD's RAIDXpert2 utility, which is available for Windows Server 2022/2025. We dropped a couple of WD Red SATA SSDs in the front bays and had no problems using RAIDXpert2 to create a software-managed mirrored array.

Broadberry CyberServe EPYC EP1-102A review: Server management

The server's embedded AST2600 IPMI controller and dedicated Gigabit port offer a tidy web interface packed with plenty of information on system health and critical components. It isn't as feature-rich as Dell's iDRAC or HPE's iLO controllers, but its dashboard provides an overview of all the latest events, and you can pull up graphs of hardware sensor data, define thresholds for each one, and link them up with email alerts if any are breached.

Firmware upgrade tools are provided along with remote power controls, and the controller's built-in firewall provides options to create IP address and port-based protection rules. Unlike Dell and HPE, the IPMI controller includes full OS remote control and virtual media services as standard features and not as chargeable licence upgrades.

The ACCE software is available for Windows and Linux hosts and is used to manage multiple servers from a single console. A licence code is included on a card in the server's accessory box, and we loaded ACCE on a Windows Server 2025 host.

ACCE focuses primarily on managing Windows and Linux endpoints and offers a remote agent deployment tool. Systems with agents appear in the main dashboard page where you can view their hardware sensors and perform a variety of tasks such as running BIOS and driver updates and system inventory.

The management controller section scans for BMC devices, and after discovering the CyberServe's AST2600, it presented a list of tasks including pulling up hardware sensor details, updating the BMC's firmware, and loading event logs. As far as we can see, BMC monitoring doesn't need a licence, which is only required for each agent deployment.

Broadberry CyberServe EPYC EP1-102A review: Is it worth it?

With a price tag for the system on review of £3,656 excluding VAT, Broadberry's CyberServe EPYC EP1-102A is offering a very affordable alternative to the blue chips. It comes up a little short in the storage department, but it is available with a good choice of EPYC CPUs, has a big memory capacity, supports an optional GPU, and its short-depth chassis can go places most other servers can't.

Broadberry CyberServe EPYC EP1-102A specifications

One of the most sought-after form factors on the market is the humble miniature desktop PC, with a wide range of manufacturers competing to produce the most appealing mini computer. Most of these are cheap and cheerful entry-level devices that suit office workers running simple daily tasks. These include the Geekom Air12 2026 Edition and Acemagic Vista Mini V1, among many others.

A handful of machines aim to punch up a level, including Acer's Revo RB-102. Launched last year, this alluring felt-topped mini PC looks the part and features an Intel Core Ultra 100 Series chipset with a modest amount of memory and storage. Priced at a not-inexpensive £589 – similar in value to the middling Acemagic Kron Mini K1 and more expensive than the excellent Acemagic Matrix Mini M1 – does Acer's compact desktop machine do enough about it to convince you to depart from the entry-level options?

Acer Revo RB-102 review: Design

Mini PCs look very similar, barring the chassis color, some detailing, and the placement of ports. Otherwise, you get a box that's usually black, grey, or silver with a tiny bit of flourish.

Yes, there are some exceptions – the DGX Spark devices, for example, adopt the same form factor across manufacturers, inviting very interesting designs to help each one stand out. In the entry-level market, price is king, so designs are minimalist and construction materials are usually cheap. To distinguish the Revo RB-102, Acer has swapped the hard top casing with something a lot closer to carpet.

This fabric-adorned black-shaded box looks fantastic on your desk and does wonders to add a little softness to your office setup, where alternatives would simply serve to harden the overall feel of your workspace. For that reason, you're unlikely to want to hide it by mounting it to the back of your monitor – so bear that in mind. There's nothing distinct about its fairly average size (131 x 131 x 43mm) and weight (449g) otherwise, making it suitably portable if you need to transport the device. Should you need smaller or lighter devices, they certainly exist, but the difference would be negligible.

While we love the overall design, its functionality is a mixed bag. First, let's get the Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 out of the way – although not the very latest standards, they're an acceptable compromise at this price point.

We were, however, disappointed with the fact that there's only one USB-C port and it's on the front – with no near alternative. This sits alongside a Kensington lock slot, two USB-A 3.2 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. On the rear, we get two additional USB-A 3.2, DisplayPort 2.1, and HDMI 2.1 ports alongside an RJ45 Ethernet port. There's no room for an SD Card reader, which some devices fit on the side, however. It's certainly usable, but with such a need for USB-C, we'd have loved the flexibility of at least an additional port.

Acer Revo RB-102 review: Specs and performance

The 12-core Intel Core Ultra 5 125U processor is a low-power mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, with a small capacity for AI workloads thanks to an integrated 11 TOPS NPU. The key appeals here are low power draw, support for multiple displays, and efficiency. This was fitted alongside an Intel Graphics chip, as well as a minimal 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD.

Given this machine's pricing, we wouldn't expect fireworks. Still, performance benchmarking with Geekbench 6 rendered a modest single-core result of 2,093 and a multi-core performance of 6,869. These aren't poor results in isolation – outperforming the comparably priced the Kron Mini K1 (Intel Core i5-12600H) on multi-threaded performance (5,508) but underperforming on competency running the simplest tasks (2,233). Compare it with the excellent Matrix Mini M1, however, with its Intel Core i9-13900HK (14-core) and 32GB RAM producing results of 2,806 and 8,912; this machine is priced at roughly £150 less. Generally, during our experience, the machine ran a little noisy, and navigating across menus and applications wasn't as buttery smooth as we'd have liked.

Similarly, the Iris Xe Graphics chip in that Mini M1 scored 13,514 in our OpenCL test compared with the Acer's 11,029. However, the latter result is respectable and comes in higher than many of the entry-level and even a couple of the mid-range mini PCs we've tested in recent years. Its SSD read and write speeds are also just fine – coming in line at 3,278MB/s and 2,301MB/s respectively. This isn't the quickest but more than passable.

Acer Revo RB-102 review: Is it worth it?

The mid-range market is an incredibly tough nut to crack, with the approaches to both pricing and hardware varying between options.

Instead of opting for a higher-end chip from a few generations ago, as the Acemagic Matrix Mini M1 has done, Acer chose a relatively recent Intel CPU from the first generation of NPU-supported processors to squeeze the smallest amount of AI functionality. So you get features like Windows Studio Effects. But the price is a little higher – and that's despite raw performance coming in relatively cool. That's partially because it's fitted with just 8GB RAM. While it's the latest standard (DDR5 SDRAM vs the DDR4 SDRAM you'll find in most other mini PCs), we'd loved to have seen at least 16GB – but such is the way of the world.

If you can't be swayed by the outstanding Mac Mini, which is supremely more powerful and roughly the same price, the Acer Revo RB-102 is a reasonable Windows mini PC that looks a cut above the rest – and can hold its own against the competition. Chief among its rivals is the lesser Air12 2026 Edition, which the Acer outpaces while offering a bit of AI sauce if you need it. If not, however, you're best looking at the Acemagic Matrix Mini M1, which is cheaper and more powerful.

Acer Revo RB-102 review specifications

Hello Moto; there is a big slice of nostalgia to be had when unfolding the Motorola Razr 70. From its initial greeting to the sheer joy of having an early noughties-style flip phone brought back as a touchscreen, the Razr 70 fills that role very well.

The 70 is the budget or mid-range model to the 70 Ultra. At face value, it might seem a little expensive for a budget phone, but £799.99 is quite cheap when compared to other foldable devices – the new ZFlip8, for example, is over £1,000.

Motorola Razr 70: Design

Folded or unfolded, the Razr 70 is a beauty. That's particularly true in the jade green color that our review unit came in. The curved edges make it appear slimmer than it actually is; it's 7.3 mm thick when unfolded and a whopping 15.9mm when folded, but it really feels and looks a lot less than that.

Unfolded, the back cover is made up of a textured panel, with a two-tone Motorola logo and a Razr one along the bottom. The top portion is the front screen. When folded, a small bar protrudes, with no insignia, creating a nice, understated design.

Occasionally, I would pull the device out of a pocket and open it in one hand, only to realise it was upside down, but you do get it right after a while. Your fingers learn where the cameras are on the external screen, and that is the best way to guide you.

When it is folded, however, it is just the perfect size for seemingly any pocket. I even carried it in a shirt pocket. And this is one of the best reasons to go for a flip phone, rather than a standard foldable, as it just becomes completely portable and accessible.

We must talk about the crease on the internal display, as it is hard not to see. It catches the light, you can feel the bump as you move your finger down the screen, and in some cases you can see a little warping of graphics. Text bubbles, for example, have a slight curve that shouldn't be there.

Motorola Razr 70: Display

You get two displays on the Razr 70; a tall 6.9in main display and a square 3.6in one on the outside. The external screen is an AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. You can tap this awake and see various notifications, the time, and also take square photos with the handset still folded.

The internal display is tall and thin, which is easy to navigate with one thumb and operate one-handed. It's an LTPO panel with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ capabilities.

With our colourimeter, the Razr's internal display showcased 98.8% for sRGB gamut coverage and 188.8% for volume. Generally, a score above 96% for coverage is good; having over 98% puts the Razr up there with non-foldable phones, like the iPhone 17 and the Galaxy S26. And its brightness peaked at 488.40 cd/m2, which is not super bright. Our recent Fairphone 6 review offered up significantly more, but the Razr didn't struggle in our experience, regardless of the sunshine.

The aspect ratio, however, is merely ok. There are times when it clips content. I notice this a lot on Instagram and YouTube, where text or the sides of videos have been cut. This is something Samsung has tackled with its passport-sized ZFold8.

Motorola Razr 70: Specs and Performance

The Razr 70 packs a Mediatek Dimensity 7450X chipset and 8GB of RAmM (which you can boost to 12GB). As a mid-range flip phone you shouldn't expect too much from the 70 and the 7450X, and that is highlighted in its Geekbench scores.

For single core, it only managed 822 in Geekbench 6. The 3,135 multithreaded score is much better, but still off the likes of the ZFlip8. It looks poor on paper, and maybe doesn't do the Razr justice, as it does feel quite snappy to use.

In our looped video test the Razr lasted 13hrs 59mins which is, again, merely OK. Other devices are pushing well beyond 15hrs in the same test. Standard foldables are getting more by adding additional batteries. But the Razr just packs the one and doesn't really compete. In every day terms, the phone lasted a full day before needing a charge, but any excessive use and it was struggle to get through a working day.

Motorola Razr 70: Features

The camera setup on the Razr 70 is impressive. You get a 50MP f/1.7, wide lens on the rear and also a 50MP f/2.0, ultrawide lens. On the front, where the external display is, you have a 32 MP lens with a f/2.4 aperture that shoots wide.

The selfie camera creates warm and bright images. Colors look more vibrant than they actually are, admittedly, which suggests excessive AI enhancements. But for capturing details its remarkable. Similarly, the Night Vision setting on the main 50MP lens also captures more vibrancy than is apparent – perhaps overcompensation for the dark. My shots appear almost neon, but there is no faulting the amount of detail it finds.

For video, the detail capture and the overly enhanced quality are the same, but I was able to create really good footage for reviews. The Razr is quite versatile with its different modes and settings and shoots at 4k up to 60 fps. This could well be a good option for content creators, particularly as it's oh-so portable. It packs a surprising amount of quality in its small stature.

Motorola Razr 70: Is it worth it?

So the Motorola Razr 70 is a super flip phone full of little nostalgic hits. But the tall and thin internal display makes it a little difficult to recommend as a business phone.

I really struggled to use it for work, whether that was messaging on Slack, looking at documents, or even sending emails. The screen is just not the right aspect ratio.

What I did find it useful for was image and content creation, making videos for reviews and filming myself. It was very strong on both counts. And the compact size is great. It's easily the most portable device around.

Motorola Razr 70 specifications

The Fairphone Gen 6+ is one of those handsets that should really appeal to businesses that are in the market for mobiles. A modular phone, with additional parts for fixes and upgrades that are affordable.

It helps with sustainability goals, and it's oh so simple to fix and replace parts thanks to its uncomplicated build and mini tools. Everything you need is either in the box or findable on the Fairphone website.

The '+' is important, as this is not merely the Fairphone 6. It's an upgraded version of that model, which is available in the US for the first time. The initial cost is €649 in Europe and $649.99 in the US, and most of the accessories and replacement parts are between $25 and $50.

Admittedly, there is a lack of sparkle here, and it's underwhelming compared to other phones. But for a business phone, it's a super solution.

Fairphone Gen 6+: Design and display

The handset is quite thick at 9.6mm. It looks far bigger than most devices on the market. But it feels solid and well constructed. There are two screws to open the back and access the insides, and you have some options within the box to change your back cover. Our unit came with an option that has a card holder and a lanyard.

Another difference from the standard 6 is the new Cobalt Blue, which is bold and harks back to the company's origins. It includes a little vibrant yellow clicker on the side above the volume and power buttons.

You have two camera lenses and a sensor on the back – it's not a triple-lens setup despite its appearance. There's a USB Type-C port at the bottom with speaker holes on the left and a slight dip where you find a non-obtrusive 'Fairphone' logo along the bottom in black.

On the other side, there's a lot to like about the 6.31in P-OLED panel on the Gen 6+. It uses LTPO technology, which is good for saving power. It has an adaptive refresh rate that goes up to 120Hz. And it uses a 20:9 aspect ratio. The panel is also incredibly bright, peaking at 745.12 cd/m2 in our tests.

For color coverage, the Gen 6+ is very strong, showcasing 95.2% of the sRGB gamut color space and 95.6% for volume. Maybe not the level of an iPhone or Honor's 600 model, but a decent score nonetheless. In my experience, the Gen 6+ was bright and vibrant across all types of content.

Fairphone Gen 6+: Specs and Performance

You get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 in the 6+, as opposed to the Gen 3 in the standard 6. This is paired with a bigger slice of RAM, with the 6+ able to use 12GB of DDR5 compared to the minuscule 8GB in the 6.

Its Geekbench scores are true to its mid-range level, with just 1,284 for single-core and 3,661 multithreaded performance. This is slightly below the Honor 600 on both scores, which retails at a similar price.

In our looped video test, the Gen 6+ lasted 15hrs and 45mins which is a good score. You will, after all, be able to upgrade this battery, and while some devices can boast over 20hrs in our test, they arguably won't be able to keep that up over their lifetime and will end up being replaced entirely.

Fairphone Gen 6+: Features and cameras

The Gen 6+ has two rear cameras: a 50MP main lens and a 13MP wide one. There is also a 32MP front camera. The rear shoots video at 4K at 30fps with the main lens and 2K at 30fps with the selfie lens.

Images are crisp and full of detail, while video is nice and smooth with the 'anti-shake' feature. There are lots of options for slow-motion shots, time-lapse images, and also a very cool 'Super Night' setting, which works surprisingly well. There's hardly any blurriness, and you don't need to keep the phone still for long to capture images.

Feature-wise, the yellow toggle button on the side is the standout addition – not new to this version, but a great inclusion. With this, you can switch between normal and focus modes, and in a much quicker way than most other brands, like iPhone.

You can customize it and even give it a name. I set mine up to just receive work emails and Slack messages, and instantly felt more productive and less stressed.

Fairphone Gen 6+: Is it worth it?

The Fairphone Gen 6+ is a superb, modular smartphone that's both affordable upfront and cost-effective in the long-run. A lot of work has gone into making it more competitive; the screen is bigger and brighter, the camera setup is very high quality, and the overall experience is good

By and large, consumers might want more glitz on the outside, and the battery didn't last as long as other phones in this price bracket, but there is nothing else as modular as this. And that toggle to focus is simply superb.

Fairphone Gen 6+ specifications

VPNs (virtual private networks) have traditionally been the go-to solution for many businesses as they provide affordable, secure access to the corporate network for remote workers. There are numerous disadvantages, though, as their encryption processes can impact performance, they don't scale well with increased demand, some can be complex to configure, and few provide any endpoint protection services.

WatchGuard's FireCloud takes secure remote access to the next level and has all the acronyms you'll want to see as this SASE (secure access service edge) solution delivers FWaaS (firewall as a service), SWG (secure web gateway) and ZNTA (zero trust network access). Managed from the WatchGuard Cloud platform, it provides endpoint anti-malware, WatchGuard's APT, IPS, web content and application filtering, geolocation controls and facilities to present remote workers with secure access to private resources on the corporate network.

FireCloud is available in two versions with the Internet Access edition enabling the FWaaS and SWG components to protect remote workers from internet-based security threats. The Total Access edition adds application-level ZNTA and allows you to dish out VPN-free secure access to private resources.

A key feature of both editions is WatchGuard's globally distributed PoP (point of presence) network. Currently comprising fifteen PoPs, these increase performance as remote workers automatically connect to the nearest one which applies cloud-based security such as anti-malware, IPS and content filtering.

WatchGuard FireCloud review: Deployment

We reviewed FireCloud Total Access, and our first task from the WatchGuard Cloud portal was to configure an identity provider. We took the easy option by choosing the WatchGuard Cloud Directory as our authentication domain, but other options include WatchGuard's AuthPoint or third-party SAML 2.0 providers such as Microsoft Entra ID and Okta.

Users are imported or created from the portal's Directories and Domain Service page. We manually created our users by providing their names, a suitable username, and their email address, after which an invitation was sent out to each one requesting them to password-protect their account.

Make sure you configure the agent deployment settings correctly, as it defaults to installing WatchGuard's EPDR (endpoint protection, detection and response) and should be changed to FireCloud. You can then let your users install the Connection Manager agent, which asks for their login credentials, applies the assigned access rule policy, and routes their traffic through the nearest PoP.

We came across an issue as we also have EPDR activated in our cloud portal. Both this and FireCloud currently use the same agent install file, and even though we had the deployment set to FireCloud only, we found each client also appeared in our EPDR console as an unlicensed endpoint. It doesn't affect FireCloud operations, with WatchGuard advising us this is a known issue and is developing separate agent installers due to be released in FireCloud v2 in a few months.

WatchGuard FireCloud review: Access rules and security services

Access rules combine all FireCloud client security settings and, as with the Firebox appliances, all key services are presented in one page. These include web and application controls, which are both accessed from the content filtering section, with the former offering 166 URL categories that can be allowed or blocked.

App controls are equally extensive, with 1,275 predefined app and protocol signatures provided, and both services are applied to an access rule using one action policy. From the content scanning section, you can enable the gateway AV (GAV) and APT blocker services with the geolocation service using rule actions to determine which countries users may access.

Applied as global settings, the network blocking section covers botnet detection and IPS plus port and website restrictions. The tunnel bypass feature allows you to specify IP addresses and networks that sidestep the FireCloud security checks and go directly to the internet.

WatchGuard FireCloud review: Private resources

To allow remote users to access resources on the company network, you first need to define a FireCloud gateway. Three options are available, and if you use a WatchGuard Firebox appliance, you're in luck, as this already has the gateway service ready and waiting.

We used our Firebox T185 as a gateway, which took seconds to declare to FireCloud. The server gateway component can be installed on an existing Windows Server host, which makes it available as a single private resource. Or you have virtual gateways for Hyper-V, VMware, and Proxmox, which you use to declare multiple resources behind them.

Private resources are defined by providing their IP address and port ranges and assigning an FQDN (fully qualified domain name). This doesn't need to be resolvable, as it's used by clients to access the resource.

We created a private resource for the lab's Brother A3 business inkjet and, from our Windows 11 remote clients, manually added a PCL6 printer driver using its FQDN for the LPR port and had no problems printing to it. Likewise, with an RDP connection to one of the lab's Windows systems, as remote clients just entered the resource FQDN in their Windows RDP app.

WatchGuard FireCloud review: Cloud monitoring

The cloud portal offers plenty of monitoring services, with WatchGuard's Rai (Red AI) the star player. This gathers security feeds from all your cloud-managed WatchGuard products and presents them in one dashboard with AI-generated summaries for an at-a-glance view of your security posture.

FireCloud provides a usage report showing all devices and their connection status over customisable time periods. The security tab keeps you posted on areas such as attack, malware and APT activity, along with charts of blocking actions for apps, malware, users, URLs and destinations, with the geolocation map below showing the number of attempts to access banned countries, and the view can be changed to show specific users.

Move to the traffic tab, and you can see access charts for private resources, allowed apps, web and app categories, domains and users. For more specific information, you have the FireCloud log search facility which allows you to drill down deeper and see details on particular security services.

WatchGuard FireCloud review: Is it worth it?

FireCloud is available with volume discounts, so the more client licences you buy, the more you save. WatchGuard Online shows the Internet Access edition for one year starting at £70 per licence, excluding VAT, dropping to around £38 for more than 5,000. The Total Access edition starts at £108 per year for up to 50 licences, falling to £60 each for over 5,000.

True, FireCloud costs more than VPNs but is far better suited to modern hybrid working environments comprising office, remote and mobile workers that need to access a mix of on-premises and cloud applications. It neatly combines FWaaS, SWG and ZTNA services, and its integration with the WatchGuard Cloud portal makes it far easier to deploy and manage than complex and cumbersome VPNs.

One of our biggest gripes about network monitoring software products is their convoluted and confusing licensing schemes. Some charge by sensor, monitored element, volume, or network port; others do it by node or device, and there's also the extra cost of optional add-on modules.

The SolarWinds Observability suites cut through the confusion as you can choose from SaaS cloud-hosted or on-premises versions, and both are licensed purely by the node. We review the SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted (SWOSH) version which offers three simple subscription plans.

With a monthly cost of around £6 per node, the SWOSH Essentials edition teams up SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) module with the Log Analyzer, Server & Application Monitor (SAM), IP Address Manager (IPAM), VoIP & Network Quality Manager (VNQM) and User Device Tracker (UDT). The Advanced edition is well worth considering as for £10 per node/month, this adds the Network Configuration Manager (NCM), NetFlow Traffic Monitor (NTA), Virtualization Manager (VMAN) plus Server Configuration Manager (SCM) and also introduces the new ML-powered anomaly alerting service.

The Premier edition pushes the monthly node price to £13 and augments Advanced with storage and web performance monitoring and an incident response service. It also offers value-based licensing where you can monitor elements such as containers and on-premises virtual machines (VMs) without consuming a full node license.

SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted review: Easy deployment

SWOSH offers a remarkable range of monitoring components, and all are neatly integrated into the Orion web console. This provides a single pane of glass, with the console's 'My Dashboard' tab presenting a drop-down menu for access to each module and its associated metrics, along with three other menus for alerts and activity, reports, and all settings.

We deployed SWOSH on a Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V VM in the lab with a single routine handling the entire process and taking 40 minutes to download and install all components. As we were evaluating SWOSH, we used the included SQL Server Express database, but for production environments, you'll need to source a full version of SQL Server 2016 or later.

Also, pay particular attention to the minimum hardware requirements. We started our VM with eight Xeon Scalable Gold vCPUs and 16GB of virtual memory but had to increase it to 32GB as we were receiving low memory alerts for the host system.

SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted review: Voyage of discovery

The Discovery Central page offers wizard-assisted routines to discover cloud entities and network devices. We started with a scan of our lab network and ran through adding our network subnet and providing credentials for SNMP, Windows WMI, and VMware, after which SWOSH reported back in 10 minutes with a complete list of all identified systems.

Cloud monitoring services are provided for AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. We chose AWS and found the discovery process simple, as after providing our access and secret keys, SWOSH presented a dashboard of all our resources, including cloud instances and S3 buckets.

Discovery Central also provides a section for configuring the new AI agent. This uses the Platform Connect service to link up with the SolarWinds AIOps cloud service using a choice of three global data locations.

The agent presents a right-hand side menu where you can ask natural language questions about anything on your network or how to achieve something. It's currently in SW1 preview and focuses on the SolarWinds knowledge base documentation and the current state of your network. It impressed us nonetheless, as it came back with detailed answers to questions about, for example, the status of our VMware estate, the most critical nodes and patterns in alert summaries.

SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted review: The Orion console

The home page presents a bold summary with at-a-glance views of your entire network. Widgets are included for areas such as node, group and application status, active alerts by severity, Top 10 views, hardware status plus anomaly-based alerts, and dashboards can be customised by creating new widgets for specific interests and dragging them to the desired location.

From NPM, you can pull up detailed summaries of all monitored nodes, each assigned a colour-coded status icon, see active alerts, a network Top 10 plus routing insights, and use NetPath to monitor external web locations and see hop-by-hop maps with latency and packet loss details for each step. NTA is another easy one to use as it automatically picked up the NetFlow feeds from our WatchGuard firewall appliance and provided detailed views of detected applications, the top conversations and busiest endpoints.

Accessed from the Home menu, the PerfStack Analysis tool can be used to identify the root cause of network problems by comparing data collected from multiple devices in one dashboard. You'll find the Quality of Experience (QoE) service here too, which uses sensors linked to switch mirror ports to identify, categorise and analyse traffic for over 1,500 applications.

The discovery process automatically identifies running apps, with the SAM module providing heaps of templates for monitoring server and app performance, although some are old enough to be in a museum. For MS365 monitoring, we were pleased to see SolarWinds has replaced its clunky PowerShell queries with API poller templates which are much easier to use.

SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted review: Hardware health, VMAN, SCM and anomalies

If SWOSH detects a supported server during discovery, it'll assign a hardware health sensor resource that provides details on system temperatures, power consumption, and cooling fan status. It worked for our HPE ProLiant iLO-equipped servers as SolarWinds no longer needs HPE's System Insight Manager (SIM), but Dell fans must continue using the pensionable OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) as native support for iDRAC controllers probably won't be implemented until the 2027.2 release.

The Advanced version is ideal for businesses big on virtualisation as it includes the VMAN module. This augments NPM's basic availability checks with full host monitoring, reports on CPU, memory plus datastore usage, views of VM resource use and capacity planning reports.

SCM's hardware and software inventory were found to be accurate, and we used its baselines to keep track of server and application changes on our Windows hosts. The new anomaly alerting service allows you to create custom alerts that go beyond the static thresholds used by NPM. They're simple to create as you provide a name, assign one of five alert levels, apply it to a node, interface or VM, and add conditions such as average CPU load with a threshold of your choosing.

SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted review: Is it worth it?

SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted is good value as its cost per node is significantly lower than many competing products and made all the more affordable thanks to the sheer number of monitoring modules included. There are a lot of features to play with so it'll take some time to get it configured to your requirements but the suite is simple to install and easily managed from a single web console.

Dell's culling of the XPS moniker in 2025 as part of a massive product refresh underscored one of the most befuddling branding decisions in hardware history. The name recognition alone is worth its weight in gold, not to mention the XPS' history of elite performance and exquisite design. More than a year on, and here we are. Dell's mea culpa is clear and contrite, evidenced by the choice to scrap the iconic 'DELL' logo from the chassis of three new models and instead brandish them with 'XPS' alone.

We've got our hands on a mid-powered XPS 14 (fitted with an Intel Core Ultra 5 300 Series processor), a laptop that feels just as premium as you'd expect but perhaps a bit friendlier on your budget given the toned-down configuration. Dell's high-end enterprise lineup was a little lost in the XPS' absence, with the Dell 14 Premium (its spiritual successor) proving a pale imitation of the once great enterprise laptop. Can the new XPS 14 show that it's more than just a change of logo, and once again transcend the ordinary for a new generation?