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Discover More About Dell Latitude 5490

March 20, 2019
The 14-inch Dell Latitude 5490 is built for work, with plenty of speed, durability and comfort. With an 8th-Gen Core i7 processor, the Latitude 5490 (tested at $1,509; starting at $799) enables you to blaze through your to-do-list, multitasking away with a keyboard that feels great to type on and a battery that will make it through the day. But if you're hoping for your work to look great on your screen or use your laptop to listen to any audio, the Latitude falls flat. Even with those caveats, though, this machine is a productivity powerhouse. Specs CPU Intel Core i7-8650U Operating System Windows 10 Pro RAM 8GB Hard Drive Size 256GB Design The matte black Latitude 5490 (with a carbon-fiber lid and underside, and a plastic keyboard deck) feels quite sturdy. Ever the minimalist , its silver Dell logo sits square in the middle of the lid, the keyboard is slightly recessed into the deck and a small sliver of its power button glows white when it's powered on. Weighing 3.8 pounds and measuring 13.1 x 9.0 x 0.8 inches, the Latitude is heavier than the 3.5-pound Lenovo ThinkPad T470 (which weighs 3.9 pounds when upgraded to its six-cell battery), which is a slightly larger 13.3 x 9.2 x 0.8 inches. The Latitude splits its ports among its left, right and back sides. Its HDMI port, optional SIM tray and first USB 3.0 port sit on the rear, while the left has its singular USB Type-C with DisplayPort, smart card reader, SD memory reader and second USB 3.0 port. The right side has a VGA port, a headphone jack and a third USB 3.0 port. Businesses with old monitors and projectors will appreciate the VGA connector. Security and Durability The Latitude 5490 is built tough, so you don't need to worry about treating it with tons of care. The laptop passed 14 different MIL-SPEC tests, the same ones that U.S. military equipment must survive. That means the laptop has endured vibrations and drops onto the floor, withstood getting sand and dust blown at it and survived climates as cold as minus 20.2 degrees Fahrenheit and as hot as 140 degrees. The Latitude 5490 offers several optional security features: an IR webcam for Windows Hello login, a fingerprint reader for additional biometric security and a smart card reader for a layer of security that many companies require. It also includes an FIPS 140-2 Certified TPM 2.0 chip for securing sensitive information, and the model we tested features Intel's vPro technology that enables remote access for IT professionals. Display The Latitude 5490's dim, dull display is its weakest link. As I watched the Incredibles 2 trailer on this screen, I noticed how it rendered the superfamily's outfits in a lifeless burnt orange and pale yellow, taking all of the pop out of the hues. The 1920 x 1080 panel's crispness still managed to offer sharp details, including the leathery texture and stitching on a henchman's coat. According to our colorimeter, the Latitude's display reproduces 65 percent of the sRGB spectrum, which is far below the 107-percent premium-laptop category average and also beneath the Lenovo ThinkPad T470's 73 percent. Those soft colors may also be tied to the Latitude 5490's relatively low brightness rating of 178 nits, which is less than the 234-nit rating from the ThinkPad T470 and the 284-nit premium-laptop category average. The display's poor range of viewing angles -- I saw colors darken severely when viewing the panel from 30 degrees to the left and right -- is attributable to both its lack of brightness and the reflections picked up by its glossy panel. The Latitude 5490's touch screen speedily and accurately responded to my taps and gestures as I opened and closed windows and accessed menus. It didn't keep as fast a pace with my speedier input, as I saw a lag while doodling in MS Paint. Keyboard, Touchpad and Pointing Stick The Dell Latitude 5490's keyboard offers a comfortable typing experience. When testing it out on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, I click-clacked my way to 77 words per minute, which is close to my 80 words-per-minute average. This is due, in part, to the key mechanisms offering 1.9 millimeters of travel and requiring 70 grams of force to actuate. Those measurements are within or above the 1.5- to 2.0-mm and 60-gram standards we prefer. The 3.9 x 2.0-inch nonclicking touchpad on the Latitude offers smooth, accurate navigation. The touchpad's dual pairs of left and right mouse buttons, though, offer almost too much travel and could stand to be a bit more clicky. The touchpad also supports two-finger scrolling and the standard Windows 10 navigation gestures for viewing all windows at once and jumping to the desktop. The Latitude 5490's soft rubber pointing stick offers an additional way to navigate, with accurate input recognition. While some may prefer the convex Trackpoint found in the ThinkPad T470, this concave surface is still serviceable, with nubs that allow you to get a better grip. Audio The Dell Latitude 5490's speakers filled a medium-size conference room, but the sound quality was disappointing. When listening to a variety of content (including the Black Panther soundtrack and clips of talking YouTubers), I noticed the vocals sounded blown-out and hollow, missing their bass. As I played instrumental music from the band And So I Watch You From Afar, the sound profile felt too warm, and drum cymbals didn't clash crisply. The Waves MaxxAudio Pro audio utility allows you to adjust bass and other settings, but I couldn't right the wrongs of the Latitude's sound, no matter how many tweaks I made. Performance Armed with an 8th-Gen Intel Core i7-8650U CPU and 8GB of RAM, the Latitude we tested is powerful enough for serious multitasking. With the Videos app and the audio preset utility open in the background, I saw no lag after splitting my display between a 1080p YouTube video and more than 15 Google Chrome tabs. Windows stayed responsive, TweetDeck columns moved smoothly as I scrolled and Google Docs didn't stutter as I wrote sections of this review. Not Tested 3139.82 3DMark Fire Strike 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Color Accuracy Color Gamut Dirt 3: Complete Edition Display Brightness (Nits) Geekbench 3 Geekbench 4 Hard Drive Speed Jetstream Dell Latitude 5490 at Amazon for $724.90 The Latitude scored a mighty 14,838 on the Geekbench 4 general performance test, beating the 9,316 category average. It also towers above the 6,739 from the Lenovo ThinkPad T470, though that machine uses an older, less-powerful Intel Core i5-7200U CPU. The 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD in the Latitude duplicated a DVD's worth of multimedia files in 19 seconds, for a speed of 267.9 megabytes per second. That score is almost identical to the 267.8MBps we saw from the 256GB PCIe SSD in the ThinkPad T470. Both speeds exceed the 259.9-MBps category average. The Latitude also performed admirably on our Excel spreadsheet test, which measures how long it takes to match 65,000 names to addresses, finishing in 59 seconds. The 1:55 average is nearly twice as long. On the Ice Storm Unlimited gaming test, the Latitude 5490's integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 card notched a solid 89,735. That beats the 62,912 from the ThinkPad T470 (Intel HD Graphics 620) and the 78,997 category average. The Latitude also performed well on the Dirt 3 racing game, hitting 69 frames per second (at Medium graphics at 1080p) and speeding past the 48 fps from the ThinkPad T470 and the 55-fps category average. Battery Life If you're looking for a long-lasting laptop, the Latitude 5490 will definitely satisfy your demand. The notebook made it 9 hours and 54 minutes on the Laptop Mag Battery Test 2.0, which continuously browses websites on a local server at 150 nits of brightness, outlasting the 8:16 category average. The ThinkPad T470 lasted a shorter 7:33 with its default 3-cell battery and a longer 16:01 with its optional 6-cell battery. Webcam I've grown to have zero expectations for internal webcams, and the 0.9-megapixel shooter in the Latitude 5490 does nothing to change that. While I can see myself in the test, the image blew out the white on my sweater, left my co-workers barely visible in the background and captured barely any detail of my hair. Heat The Latitude stays cool up top but gets a little too hot underneath. After we streamed 15 minutes of full-HD video, its touchpad and keyboard (89 degrees Fahrenheit)) registered measurements below our 95-degree comfort threshold, but its underside ranged from 98 degrees in the middle to 103 degrees in the lower-left corner of the underside. Software and Warranty The Latitude 5490 ships with the same amount of bloatware you'll find on most PCs, as well as some Dell-branded system utilities. That means you get free-to-play games such as Bubble Witch 3 Saga and Disney Magic Kingdoms, as well as apps such as Autodesk SketchBook, which locks its premium features (distort transform, color adjustments and text overlays) behind a pro version that costs $4.99 per month. Actually useful preloaded tools include Dell Command Update for getting system updates from the computer-maker and SupportAssist for getting tech support and diagnostics. The Latitude 5490 comes with a one-year hardware warranty from Dell, which will provide on-site or in-home service after a successful remote diagnosis. Check out our annual Best & Worst Laptop Brands competition and Tech Support Showdown to see how Dell stacks up against other laptop-makers. MORE: Best Laptop Deals of 2018 Configuration Options Dell sells the Latitude 5490 in a variety of configurations, and we tested the $1,509 Core i7-8650U model with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. The $799 entry-level model features a Core i3-7130U CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB, 7,200-rpm hard drive. Dell Latitude 5490 at Amazon for $724.90 If you don't need the fastest system possible but you like everything else about the Latitude 5490, look at the $1,279 model, which rocks a Core i5-8250U CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. Bottom Line The Dell Latitude 5490's speed, longevity and typing experience combine for an excellent laptop, complete with a zippy SSD and better gaming performance than we expect from a business notebook. But the system is ultimately hampered by high temperatures and subpar screen and speakers that dampen video and distort audio. Instead, you might want to check out the $1,113 configuration of the Lenovo ThinkPad T470, which offers a brighter, more colorful display and a 6-cell battery for much longer battery life. But with that machine, you're trading away performance, and it's hard to argue with the brawn of the Latitude 5490, which provides tons of support for demanding users.
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HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 Review Compact and Nimble Server

March 19, 2019
HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 Cover The HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 is a single socket, Intel Xeon E-2100 series server. In our review, we are going to show the ins and outs of the DL20 Gen10. Although most servers today are dual socket, higher memory, and core count affairs, there is a notable segment of the market that needs small, low core count, high clock speed servers. Great examples of this range from dedicated web hosting to EDA applications. In this segment, the Intel Xeon E3-1200 series has been the king of this market for the better part of a decade offering up to four cores and high clock speeds. With the introduction of the new Intel Xeon E-2100 series, Intel now offers more cores and higher clock speeds. If you want an overview of the CPU generations, in this segment we have you covered with: Looking back at Intel Xeon E3-1200 V1-V6 to the New Xeon E-2100. HPE’s take on the DL20 Gen10 shows how it uniquely looks to address this market. In this review were are going to take a look at the hardware behind the HPE DL20 Gen10. We are then going to look at the management which HPE excels in. After we look at the server’s features, we are going to focus on the performance and power consumption before concluding with our final thoughts. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 Hardware Overview First, we are going to take you on a tour of the HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 starting with the outside of the chassis. The HPE DL20 Gen10 is a 1U short-depth server. Its focus is on the Intel Xeon E-2100 series processor platform which is optimized for cost. As a result of the platform’s technical capabilities, HPE can make the DL20 Gen10 a compact yet flexible system. The DL20 Gen10 is part of HPE’s broader portfolio of products. For example, if you wanted a tower Xeon E-2100 solution, you could choose the HPE ProLiant ML30 Gen10. We are going to evaluate the server hardware on the context of the market segment it plays in. In the front of the server, we have six SFF 2.5″ drive bays. The top left drive bays are in the place of an optional optical drive. HPE also has a version of the DL20 Gen10 chassis with two LFF 3.5″ drive bays. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 SATA SFF Drive Bays We wanted to take a quick moment to point out a feature of the HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 that is simple, yet a differentiator. Inside the server’s lid, there is a diagram of major system components. One can even see the SFF and LFF drive bay options described above on this diagram. Compared with white box solutions, HPE servers are meticulously labeled. This makes maintenance significantly easier which can be a life-saver if one has to utilize remote hands directed by tickets or phone to service the server. One many think this has obvious benefit, but most whitebox solutions are not well labeled. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 Under Lid Diagrams The rear of the unit shows several key features. Starting on the left side there is a dedicated iLO management port. We are going to cover iLO management later in this review. Other ports include a VGA port, a serial COM port, and two USB 3.0 ports for KVM cart hands-on access. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 Rear IO The two NICs are 1GbE networking which is appropriate for many of the dedicated web server and similar applications where network performance is not necessary. If you do want more network performance, the PCIe risers have two slots, a low profile x8 slot and a full height slot with a PCIe 3.0 x16 physical connector. We wanted to take a quick moment to highlight how well executed even this simple riser is. HPE has two labeled pull points and guide pins to make servicing easier. This simple design is a major improvement to many white box servers that utilize screws. HPE’s mechanical engineers have been designing simple solutions like this for generations of servers. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 Tool Less Riser Alignment Powering our review unit is a single power supply. It is marked as a 290W unit, similar to the DL20 Gen9’s. We can see that the power supply is also 80Plus Silver rated. Many other 1U servers in this class are now using 80Plus Gold power supplies. In the 30-290W range, the difference is likely single digit watts. We understand it as a cost-saving measure as it is harder to make low wattage high-efficiency power supplies. At the same time, this is an area where HPE can improve in future generations. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 290W Single PSU 80Plus Silver Looking at the server’s internals from a bird’s eye view, one can see a very compartmentalized server with a few main areas. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 Internal Roadmap Headlining these areas is the CPU and memory. HPE uses two 1U fans for redundancy and a passive heatsink on the CPU. HPE has a wide range of CPU options available for the ProLiant DL20 Gen10. We have a number of those options benchmarked later in this review. There are also four DIMM slots. Current DDR4 ECC 2666MHz UDIMMs have maximum capacities of 16GB. In the near future, this will be up to 32GB per DIMM. Intel has stated that the Xeon E-2100 series will scale from a maximum of 64GB today to 128GB in 2019 when the DIMMs and firmware are available. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 CPU Airflow And RAM On the subject of cooling, there is a fan that blows air from the storage bays to the PCIe expansion area. This photo gives a clear look at another aspect to the DL20 Gen10: the fans. In this chassis, the fans are made for relatively easy servicing, but they are not as easily hot-swappable as in higher-end servers. In this market segment, this is a standard design and HPE’s connectors are better than most. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 Storage To PCIe Expansion Fan HPE’s iLO 5 is built in. One can see the iLO BMC and its memory just above the PCIe header for the PCIe riser. If you have not already, check out Basic BMC and IPMI Management Security Practices. This complex forms the basis for HPE’s silicon root of trust to help prevent against BMC firmware attacks that have been in the news lately. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 ILO BMC Memory And PCIe Our test server is equipped with a dedicated management network port on a separate PCB. This PCB also houses an M.2 slot. This is a cost saving measure. At the same time, this should be built into the main motherboard PCB. Other competitive systems have onboard M.2 and dedicated management ports standard. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 Dedicated ILO And M.2 Slot In this market segment, there are tradeoffs made to keep costs in-line with customer expectations. There are few customers who would want to pay $2500 for a server that houses a $300 CPU and $200 of memory. Here is the configuration that HPE sent, we augmented it to get comparable benchmark results.
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Honor Watch Magic review: Lots of features, not expensive

March 19, 2019
It’s been two years since the release of Honor’s smartwatch, the S1, and the company has now launched the new Honor Watch Magic, which has more in common with the recently released Huawei Watch GT than the S1. It is a good option for those who want all the key features of the Watch GT at an affordable price. A No-frills Smartwatch With All The Essentials Honor has skimped on Google’s Wear OS and the watch runs company’s own LiteOS instead, which is a stripped down version of the LightOS software that was seen on the Huawei Watch GT. Since it’s a proprietary OS, we can expect it to be more integrated with the hardware and provide a more snappy experience. The Watch Magic might not be the best smartwatch out there, but the company is banking on its small size, simplicity, and affordability to compete with other fitness trackers on the market. It packs in a small 178mAh battery, which Honor says would be enough to sustain a week of use. The watch rocks an ARM M4 processor and it offers 16MB of RAM and 128MB of onboard memory. Compared to the 1.39 inches AMOLED display of the Huawei Watch GT, the Honor Watch Magic has a circular 1.2-inch screen with the same pixel density of 326ppi. At 9.8mm, it is a great option for people who have an aversion for chunkier watches. Honor has cut corners on the construction material, as the watch features a stainless steel and plastic body, and the ceramic bezel seen on the Huawei Watch GT is missing. You can choose from different QuickFit straps to customize the watch. With a 5ATM rating, the watch is swim-proof. The standard smartwatch features such as GPS (including GLONASS, Galileo), Bluetooth 4.2, and heart rate monitor are also there. There is also built-in NFC for mobile payments.   https://youtu.be/t9i-bIdXquA
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Learn About The Samsung S10 Series

March 18, 2019
Samsung has priced the smaller version of the top-tier S10 models more attractively than the S10+. In addition to its smaller display comes a lower capacity battery, a single front-facing camera along with less internal storage. Likewise, there is no option for a ceramic back as there is with the S10+. Read on to find out how the Galaxy S10 compares against its Plus namesake and how it stands up against other modern flagships. The Galaxy S10 series is upon us. We have already reviewed the largest and most expensive model of the three, and now it is time to see how the regular Galaxy S10 fares in our tests. The Galaxy S10 is generally more compact than the Galaxy S10+ due because of its smaller display. Its Dynamic AMOLED display measures 6.1-inches, which is 0.3-inches smaller than the one in the Galaxy S10+, but it still has the rounded screen edges that you may have seen with the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S9. However, unlike the Galaxy S10+, the S10 has only one punch-hole front-facing, which may appeal more to those we prefer a clean look than what Galaxy S10+ offers. Our test device has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, which currently retails for €899. There is also a 512 GB model that also has 8 GB RAM and which costs €250 (US$250) more. You could purchase a comparable microSD card for considerably less though. The S10 has a 3,400 mAh, which is 700 mAh smaller than the one in the S10+ but 400 mAh larger than the battery in the Galaxy S9. Samsung has also equipped the S10 with three rear-facing cameras as it has with the Galaxy S10+. Additionally, the S10 features the same ultrasonic fingerprint sensor as its larger sibling and the reverse wireless charging PowerShare functionality too. Moreover, the S10 and Galaxy S10+ are some of the first commercially available smartphones to support Wi-Fi 6, which you may have seen referred to as the 802.11 ax standard, along with LTE Cat. 20. Samsung should also release a 5G model of the S10 in Q2’19, which has an even larger display and a larger battery too. We have chosen to compare the Galaxy S10 against other non-plus-sized flagship smartphones. Our comparison devices will include the Apple iPhone XS, the Huawei P20 Pro, the LG V40 ThinQ, the OnePlus 6T, the Sony Xperia XZ3 and the Nokia 8 Sirocco. Samsung Galaxy S10 Smartphone Review Samsung Galaxy S10 (Galaxy S Series) Processor Samsung Exynos 9820 Graphics adapter ARM Mali-G76 MP12 Memory 8192 MB , LPDDR4x Display 6.1 inch 19:9, 3040 x 1440 pixel 551 PPI, Capacitive touchscreen, 10-point multitouch , Curved Dynamic AMOLED, OLED, glossy: yes Storage 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash, 128 GB , 108.5 GB free Weight 157 g ( = 5.54 oz / 0.35 pounds), Power Supply: 57 g ( = 2.01 oz / 0.13 pounds) Case There is no ceramic version of the S10, unlike the Galaxy S10+. Samsung has instead opted to equip the former with a glass back, which the company reports is made from Corning Gorilla Glass 5. By contrast, the touchscreen is protected by the newer Corning Gorilla Glass 6, which promises to be up to 2 times tougher than its predecessor. The S10 is just as thick as its larger sibling at 7.8 mm, while its triple rear-facing camera housing protrudes from the back glass by approximately 0.6 mm. The latter means that the S10 cannot lie flat on a table, but there is an edge around the housing that should prevent it from being as scratched as easily. Samsung currently sells the S10 in Prism White, Black, Blue and Green. Our test device is the second of the four colours and picks up fingerprints more easily than our ceramic Galaxy S10+ does. However, there is no difference in the quality of craftsmanship between the two devices. Our review unit’s dark stainless-steel frame makes the device feel heavy, but also more premium than smartphones made from aluminium. The gaps between materials are all tight and even, with the two pieces of glass almost blending seamlessly in with the frame. The S10 is impervious to our attempts to bend it too, and its OLED panel does not distort no matter how hard we apply pressure to it. The plastic card slot also sits completely flush with the frame, but it has a slightly glossier finish than the stainless-steel, which prevents it from blending in completely. The card slot is quite flexible too and has a rubber ring around its outer edge to prevent the ingress of dust and water. Our review unit is the DUOS model, which means that it supports dual-SIM functionality. The card slot has two nano-SIM card slots with the second SIM slot also doubling as a microSD card slot. You must forego dual-SIM functionality if you want to use a microSD card though. The battery can only be replaced by removing the back glass, as has been the case with Samsung Galaxy phones since the S6. The back glass is secured with water-resistant and dustproof adhesive which helps gives the S10 its IP68 certification, but it does prevent people from replacing the battery without voiding the device’s warranty. Connectivity Samsung currently only sells the S10 with 8 GB RAM, which is 4 GB less than the most expensive Galaxy S10+ models, but it should be plenty for most people. The S10 comes with a maximum of 512 GB UFS 2.1 storage too, which is only half of what the most expensive Galaxy S10+ has. Both devices have a USB 3.1 Gen.1 Type-C port though that provides not only provides fast data transmission but also support for wired image output to external screens via HDMI or DisplayPort. The S10 supports the Samsung DeX desktop mode too and USB On-The-Go (OTG) for connecting external peripherals like a keyboard and mouse. The S10 supports all modern microSD file systems including exFAT, but we could only format our microSD card as external storage, which means that we could only save apps and data to internal storage by default. However, there is an option to enable the latter for microSD cards, which is hidden within Developer options. Samsung also includes practically every sensor going into the S10. There is still a heart rate sensor next to the rear-facing cameras with which it also equipped the Galaxy S9. There is also support for dual-audio Bluetooth 5.0 and many audio codecs, but Samsung continues to ignore aptX HD. There is NFC and MST functionality too for use with services like Google Pay and Samsung Pay. In short, the S10 is suitably equipped for a flagship smartphone, although there is no radio receiver or IR blaster, which may frustrate some people. One of the highlights of the S10 and the S10+ is their ultrasound in-screen fingerprint readers. We have seen in-screen fingerprint sensors before with the OnePlus 6T and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, but the ultrasonic one in the S10 and S10+ should provide improved security, faster recognition and work better at night. Alternatively, you could use 2D facial recognition, but this is not as secure as using a fingerprint. Samsung has removed the Iris scanner with which it equipped its Galaxy S9 series, but there is still the option to set a password, pattern or PIN. Software The Galaxy S10 ships with One UI, which is a Samsung customised version of Android 9.0 Pie. One UI looks tidier, cleaner and feels quicker than Samsung Experience, which it replaced in late 2018. Bixby remains a focus of One UI, and now supports more languages including German along with a new option to set routines. Like Google Assistant, Bixby can now also learn from your habits and provide advice on when to take a break or the optimal route based on current traffic information. Samsung has also announced that it will make the Bixby button configurable via a software update. The company refers to this as “Bixby Key Customization”, but we could not test this at the time of writing, but we suspect that Samsung will roll it out soon via an OTA update. The feature should make its way to the Galaxy S8 and S9 series too. The DUOS model also has a dual-messenger feature that allows you to create a duplicate of an app so that you can have a dedicated app for each SIM card. The Galaxy S10 does not support multiple user accounts, but it can backup contacts, data and message history to a microSD card or external storage when connected to a computer. You cannot save data to a NAS like you can with the Mate 20 Pro though. Samsung includes plenty of bloatware including its Galaxy Store. Our review unit has a few Microsoft apps pre-installed too, which can only be disabled. Most of the pre-installed apps cannot be uninstalled. Default home screen Quick Settings A look at the list of pre-installed Samsung apps The new Bixby routines Independent journalism is made possible by advertising. We show the least amount of ads whenever possible but we intentionally show more ads when an adblocker is used. Please, switch off ad blockers and support us! Communication & GPS The S10 and Galaxy S10+ are the first smartphones to support the new Wi-Fi 6 standard. The Wi-Fi Alliance has decided to change the nomenclature with the new ax standard, so IEEE 802.11-ax has become Wi-Fi 6. The Wi-Fi module supports VHT80 and can connect to 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz networks. Samsung claims that the device can achieve up to 1.2 GBit/s download speeds, which is impressively fast. However, the Mate 20 Pro could theoretically achieve up to 1.7 GBit/s with VHT160 despite supporting up to the older Wi-Fi 5, or 802.11 ac, standard. Both the S10 and the Mate 20 Pro smartphones are too fast for our current reference router, the Linksys EA8500. Our review unit achieved excellent transfer speeds in the iperf3 Client Wi-Fi tests that we conduct, but they fall short of some other flagships like the LG V40 ThinQ and even the Galaxy S9. It appears then that Samsung has some optimising to do with the S10’s new Wi-Fi module, but we doubt whether most people would notice the difference between the transfer speeds in our comparison tables during daily use. In short, the S10 should always maintain a fast Wi-Fi connection without any connection issues or performance dropouts. The S10 supports almost all 2G and 3G frequencies and utilises LTE Cat. 20 for fast connections over LTE. However, our review unit supports surprisingly few LTE bands. While you should have no issues with connecting to LTE networks on intercontinental trips, the S10 does not support enough LTE bands for it to be considered a global smartphone. If you decide to buy an S10 or Galaxy S10+ on a trip to Asia or America, we would recommend first checking whether that regional variant supports all LTE bands that your home country uses because it may not do.
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Lenovo Ideapad 330s Review

March 15, 2019
In this era of digitalization, both in relation to personal endeavors as well as professional sectors, laptops have emerged as an absolute essential necessity for each and every one. Not only are these portable computers extremely favorable for continuous mobility but they are also necessary for instant communication, documentation, audio-visual presentations and such other countless purposes. Choosing just the correct kind of device that will meet up with a customer's requirements and needs of specs and functions, however, indeed becomes a difficult task. The incredibly popular eCommerce platform Paytm Mall, however, makes that job easier by providing customers with numerous variants to choose from and to order. This not only enables an extremely hassle-free shopping experience, altogether but also permits smooth delivery of the best quality device right at your doorstep. The numerous Paytm Mall coupons also provide amazing concessions to customers, thereby, permitting them to purchase just the device that they require at unbelievably affordable price ranges. Recently launched by Lenovo IdeaPad 330s is bound to emerge as an ideal choice if you are someone looking for a laptop that is simple yet well-functioning. Available at a reasonable price and equipped with decent features, the IdeaPad 330s despite not boasting of hardware suited for acute gaming, is sure to come across as impressive in professional sectors as well as in case of personalized use and thereby prove to be a popular product among one and all. Lenovo IdeaPad 330s: Display In spite of being a budget-friendly laptop, the IdeaPad 330 is does not compromise, when it comes to the display of the device. Rather, it is the 15.6-inch display with a complete HD resolution of 1920x1080, which sets apart this Lenovo device from its other competitors. the colour play is decent that makes the hues come across as needed too flat nor too sharp. the brightness, however, can be referred to as below average, even in indoor settings. This, in turn, makes the viewing angles suffer as well in case you are not looking at the screen, straight and upright. However, despite these meagre shortcomings, the display results, in its totality, will satisfy most customers seeking for average and decent weaving performance.   Lenovo IdeaPad 330s: Build and Design Lenovo makes it a point to impart an absolutely premium look to the device, in spite of its average cost. The combination of aluminium, as well as plastic in the body, lends the IdeaPad 330s a look that is understated yet immaculate. Further, this was built also ensures that the laptop weighs approximately around 1.8 kilograms which is neither too heavy not to light, thereby making it easy to carry. The smoothened-out edges and the almost absolutely flat base make the device easy to use and place. The bottom rubber strips, too, help in this regard, making the positioning of the laptop firm and steady. the Hindi of the display can be opened at an angle of above 180 degrees making it easy to type, view and work on the laptop. The matte finish serves as the ultimate deal breaker transforming the look of this Lenovo laptop into one that is absolutely awe-provoking at a mid-range budget. Lenovo IdeaPad 330s: Miscellaneous Features Although there are improved variants available as well, the Lenovo 330s with the precise expected specifications comes equipped with a 4GB of RAM and a processor of the eighth generation Intel core i3-813ou. While there is a UHD Graphics 620 chip integrated so as to control the onboard graphics, the storage of the device, on the other hand, is attributed to the 1 TB hard drive that it comes with. however, numerous other variance with different storage options and with 8GB of RAM are available as well to choose from. Lenovo IdeaPad 330s: Keyboard The key is, despite being a bit too flat, are not entirely inconvenient to use and therefore, the tactile feedback is not exactly negative, either. The backlit feature of the keypad comes with the options to switched off, opt for a brightness of low level and to choose a dazzling, high brightness level all of which can be done by pressing the Fn key and the space bar, together, at the same time. Despite the absence of such dedicated keys as Home, Page Up, Page Down and so on, the utility of which can be substituted with the combination of Function and Arrow Keys, the typing experience on this keyboard is well above decent although the typing speed might get hindered up to an extent. Lenovo IdeaPad 330s: Touchpad The Lenovo IdeaPad 330s sports a reliable touchpad that registers every movement with acute speed and precision. This also ensures smooth function in spite of gestures with multiple fingers. plastic build of the touchpad does not interfere with the smooth performance and the click zones of left and right are acutely distinctive and recognisable. Lenovo IdeaPad 330s: Battery The battery life of IdeaPad 330 has exceeds 5 hours and 10, can be easily considered to be above average. However, the battery performance, which varies in case you are installing new applications and so on, can be improved by lowering down the brightness level of the display and the keypad. Lenovo IdeaPad 330s: Performance and Verdict The IdeaPad 330 has deli was a decent performance even in case of installing applications, booting and so on. However, in rare cases, the device gets stunned and halted for brief moments. although otherwise a well functioning device in all aspects, gaming is, however, not Lenovo IdeaPad 330s' best forteand shall be avoided in most cases. The Lenovo IdeaPad 330s, all together, is a reliable device, that seeks to satisfy customers through its all round performance in terms of display, typing, sound quality, processor and even battery life. however, in case you are looking for maximum efficiency, it is indeed a wiser option to opt for the variant with 8GB of RAM. Nevertheless, considering it's unbelievable price and the further discounts that you can enjoy by using the paytm Mall coupons available for one and all the Lenovo IdeaPad 330s is an absolute must buy for everyone. Therefore, so as to enjoy a decent, multi-tasking digitalised experience and efficiency, order one of these compact, brilliantly-designed laptops at your earliest, all of which are available on Paytm Mall.
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HPE’s ProLiant ML30 Gen9 server reviewed

March 15, 2019
It may be inexpensive, but the ML30 is also ideal for small and mid-sized businesses with an eye on the future. Growth and evolution can be a challenge for small businesses, but HPE’s ProLiant ML30 Gen9 is a server that will keep up. We’ve seen it selling for as little as $1,200, so it’s very affordable too. That $1,200 model included a 3GHz Xeon E3-1220v6 with 8GB of DDR4 memory, but HPE also offers other processors in Intel’s latest-generation Xeon E3-1200 v6 server range (though you might still find some models with older v5 chips), along with up to 64GB of RAM. The ML30 contains a four-bay, large-form-factor (LFF) drive cage hidden behind the lockable bezel. You should be able to tailor storage to your requirements, since HPE offers an excellent choice of drives spanning high-performance SAS, mid-line SATA and low-cost SATA plus SSDs. If you want more choice, HPE’s options include four-bay non-hot-plug (NHP) and hotplug cages, and stretch up to an eight-bay hotplug small-form-factor (SFF) cage. It’s worth mentioning that HPE’s hotplug carriers aren’t just about the sockets: they’re packed with status LEDs. Although these are partially obscured by the bezel, they show you at-a-glance how healthy your drives are, when they’re being accessed and, in the case of a RAID array, which volumes can’t be safely removed with the server running. On the subject of RAID, your options begin with the embedded Dynamic Smart Array B140i controller, which offers RAID 0, 1 and 5 arrays, and supports both four- and eight-bay cages. It can only handle SATA drives, however: if you want high-performance SAS drives then you’ll have to pay more for the Smart Array P440 controller. There’s plenty of room to expand in other directions too. Along with dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, the motherboard has four available PCI Express slots. There are also two free 5.25in bays above the hard disk cage. One notable strength of the ML30 is its top-tier remote management capabilities. The motherboard sports HPE’s standard-setting iLO chip, which shares access with the first Gigabit port and provides the best web portal on the market. It’s crammed with useful information on server status, along with direct links to HPE support. The price also includes an iLO Standard licence, which enables remote power controls – but to get full OS remote control and power metering you’ll need an Essentials upgrade. The Intelligent Provisioning feature of the iLO chip is a winner: it helped us get Windows Server loaded up with the correct drivers inside 20 minutes. You can even make use of HPE’s free System Management HomePage tool: this provides a basic web interface with useful details on critical hardware components. HPE’s Insight Control software offers complete network systems management, but it costs extra and is best suited to larger businesses with multiple systems and servers. While it isn’t the most power-efficient server we’ve seen, the ML30 Gen9 won’t wreck your electricity bill: with a single 460W PSU and a pair of 1TB SATA data drives, we measured an idle power draw of 35W, peaking at 92W with the CPU under load. This server will also appeal to those who value peace and quiet: from one metre away we measured it as a barely audible 36.2dB. The ML30 Gen9 is a great choice for small and mid-sized businesses with an eye on the future. The low starting price makes it very good value, it’s endowed with the best remote management tools in town, and it offers plenty of upgrade space to keep in step with demand.
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Ryze Tech Tello Drone Review: Fun Goes Only So Far

March 14, 2019
Drones are fun, but they aren't generally educational. The Ryze Tech Tello ($99) aims to be both by allowing you to fly the drone with an app or an optional Bluetooth remote. You can also program the drone using Scratch, an open-source programming language developed by MIT. This simple but powerful language allows you to write programs by dragging and dropping blocks of code, like building a Lego model. Unfortunately, while the drone is enjoyable and simple to fly, the programming approach feels like an afterthought. Design: Small and Sleek The Tello is a small drone, measuring just 6 x 6 x 1.3 inches. It weighs just under 3 ounces, so it does not need FAA registration. Most of the weight comes from the battery that slides into the plastic-covered body of the drone, with the rotors around it. These are protected by prop guards that protect the fast-spinning blades in collisions. However, they don't completely cover the blades, so the Tello should  be used only by those old enough to know where their fingers shouldn't go. Control The Tello can be controlled three ways: through an app, a remote control or through the Scratch programming interface. The Tello app is free for iOS and Android smartphones. This provides a touch-screen interface to control the drone as well as a preview of the image from the camera. It's a simple program to use and provides a good level of control for beginners and experienced fliers. Photos and video are saved through this app: The drone itself does not have any storage. We also tested the Tello with the optional  $34 Gamesir T1s game controller. This connects with the smartphone, which then sends the commands to the drone. Gamers will  feel at home with the two analog joysticks on the front of the controller, and they provide a good degree of fine control over the drone. Programming using Scratch Finally, the Tello can be controlled through the Scratch programming interface. This is more complex to set up, and is only briefly described in the single-page documentation. To get this running, you have to install the offline version of Scratch (which also requires Adobe Air)  and Node.js, a JavaScript engine that Scratch uses. (These apps are available for Windows and Mac.) You then install the Tello Scratch extensions, and run Node.js to allow Scratch to talk to the drone. Finally, when you start Scratch, you have to enable these extensions by holding down Shift and selecting file>Enable experimental HTTP extensions. What the documentation doesn’t explain is that you also have to set the computer running Scratch to connect to the Wi-Fi network that the drone creates: The drone cannot join your existing Wi-Fi network. Once you are all set up, you can use a series of Scratch coding blocks to do things like take off, turn, fly a certain distance or for a certain time in one direction, do a flip or land. When you combine this with the standard Scratch blocks, you can do things like build a simple on-screen remote control, set the drone to take off when the computer hears a sound, etc. Credit: RyzeUnfortunately, there is no documentation for the Tello Scratch blocks, and there is no way to do more interesting things like capture video or images, use the camera on the drone to react to the world or do more than fly around a bit. If that all sounds like a lot of hassle for a limited benefit, you would be right. The Scratch control over the Tello is half-baked, poorly documented and provides only a very limited amount of control. By contrast, the Parrot Mambo can be programmed using one of several coding languages: Swift, Tynker, Workbench, Simulink, Python and Javascript. Flying The Tello is a fast, maneuverable drone with surprising speed for its size. We measured it at a brisk 20 mph in the fast flight mode, and it could stop and turn in about 6 feet. The slower speed mode limits this to a more manageable 8 mph, and you should leave it on that setting until you get used to it. Taking off is easy: just put the drone on a flat surface, press the takeoff button and slide the on-screen confirmation. The drone then starts the motors, takes off and hovers about 5 feet above the ground. Alternatively, you can use the Throw & Go mode. Here, you activate the mode, then throw the drone into the air, where it will start the motors and hover in place. Be careful, though: the motors start rotating as soon as you activate the mode, and are rotating fast enough to cause a nasty bruise on any fingers that get in the way. Take my word for it. From the app, you can activate several fun flight modes: 8D flips, Up & Away, 360, Circle and Bounce Mode. 8D flips is an acrobatic mode, where you slide the on-screen control and the drone flips in one of eight directions. Up & Away captures a video where the drone flies up and away from you. The 360 mode shoots video while the drone slowly rotates in place, while Circle records a short video as the drone rotates around the subject, keeping the camera pointing at it. Bounce Mode is a bit of an oddity: the drone bounces up and down between 2 and 6 feet above the ground as you move it around. It's great for amusing small children or annoying small dogs, but I can't see any real use for it beyond that. Depending on your children or dogs, that may be reason enough for the mode to exist, though. There is  no GPS on this drone, so you can't program a course and set the drone to follow it through the smartphone app. If the drone flies out of Wi-Fi range, it hovers in place until it reacquires the signal. You do get a warning in the smartphone app, but the drone does not stop automatically, or return to you. When used with an iPhone 7 Plus, I found the Tello's range was rather short: the signal started to drop off at about 30 feet and was lost at about 40. Photos and Video The Tello captures 720P video at a resolution of 1280 x 720, and still images at 5 MP (2592 x 1936). Ryzen Tech Tello Drone MP4 Both are clean and sharp, with good levels of detail and natural, bright colors. When flying over grass, the turf had a natural, vivid color while still showing the details of the blades. Battery Life: Short The 1100 mAh battery that powers the Tello provided about 3 to 5 minutes of flight time. That isn't long — about half that of the Parrot Mambo — especially if you are trying to use the programmable features of the drone, as it takes longer than that to get up and running. In addition, the drone has an annoying habit of turning itself off after about 30 seconds if it does not detect a Wi-Fi connection. If you are struggling with trying to get the software running, that isn't long. Bottom Line The Tello drone is fun to fly with responsive controls that work for beginners and experienced pilots. The App is simple to use and captures nice (if somewhat jerky) video. But if you are thinking about this as a fun way to learn programming, forget it: the Scratch support is hacked-together, very limited and poorly documented, and feels like an afterthought.
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Check Out The iPhone 8 Capabilities And Features

March 11, 2019
Key Specifications 5.5-inch 1080p True Tone LCD A11 Bionic 64GB or 256GB storage Dual 12-megapixel rear cameras, 8-megapixel front camera Portrait Lighting Stereo speakers Bluetooth 5.0 Editor’s note: Apple unveiled its new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR on September 12. We’ll be re-reviewing the iPhone 8 Plus to reflect its new price and place in Apple’s portfolio.  What is the iPhone 8 Plus? The iPhone X might have garnered a whole heap more hype when it hit shelves, but the iPhone 8 Plus is still a great phone. Just don’t come here expecting to be blown away. Instead, the iPhone 8 Plus represents a steady, safe update. There are nice upgrades to the screen, camera and processor, although nothing that will really make you say ‘wow’. It’s an iPhone 7S Plus in all but name. Related: iPhone XS iPhone 8 Plus price Prices for the iPhone 8 Plus start at £799/$799 for 64GB and £949/$949 for 256GB. That’s cheaper than the iPhone X – which will start at £999/$999 when it ships in November – but it’s a higher starting price than the iPhone 7 Plus (£719/$749, 32GB). The top iPhone 8 Plus deals right now   45GB of data, six months of Apple Music and three months of BT Sport are all up for grabs in this fantastic contract from EE, and with absolutely nothing to pay upfront. iPhone 8 Plus – 16GB, £32/month and £235 upfront on Vodafone If you're happier to keep your monthly cost down, 16GB is still plenty of data for surfing and streaming, courtesy of Vofafone. iPhone 8 Plus release date Apple’s latest Plus phablet is available from various networks and the Apple Store. To get the best price, check out our iPhone 8 Plus deals page. iPhone 8 Plus – Design The single biggest disappointment with the iPhone 8 Plus is its design. This is now the fourth time – iPhone 6, 6S, 7 and 8 – that Apple has stuck with the same design for its handsets. Considering it was easily the least attractive iPhone three years ago, it’s certainly fallen behind the Android pack now. To be honest, the iPhone 8 Plus is comfortably my favourite iteration of the design, but that seems like faint praise at this stage. The aluminium rear has been replaced with a surface that Apple is calling the ‘most durable glass ever on an iPhone’ – and it feels so much better for it. It’s grippier, and doesn’t feel like it will fly out of my hand every time I pick it up. It’s also fairly weighty – almost too heavy for me to use comfortably. At 202g, it’s 7g heavier than the already hulking Samsung Galaxy Note 8, and it makes the 150g LG V30 feel like a toy. Add a case, which I’m sure most people will, and that weight will only increase. Apple has always been masterful at fit and finish, and the way the glass slightly curves at the edges and blends into the familiar 7000-series aluminium rim is super-impressive, despite the faint lip where the glass meets the metal. Like the iPhone 7 before it, the device is IP67-rated for water-resistance too – something that’s become even more popular in the phone market of late. Related: iPhone X – Everything you need to know Apple remains the best in terms of the colour options it offers, and this is especially true of the new Gold hue. This could be one of the most controversial iPhone colours ever – but I’m a huge fan. It’s a blend of the lighter Rose Gold and the more harsh Gold of the iPhone 7, but the addition of the glass gives it a creamy, almost ’70s vibe that’s hard to get across in pictures. The iPhone 8 is available in the less interesting Silver option and Space Grey too. The biggest problem with the ageing design of the iPhone 8 Plus is the sheer size of it. The 5.5-inch display used here is small compared to the 6.3-inch screen of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the 6-inch panel on the LG V30, but the phone itself is far larger than both those models in every dimension. It’s cumbersome to hold, too wide and feels old-fashioned. It looks like a phone from 2014, and the huge bezel surrounding the display doesn’t help matters. It’s clear that Apple is capable of designing a stunning phone – just look at the iPhone X – and I understand that the company will be pushing that as its future direction. But the iPhone 8 Plus isn’t cheap, it’s a £799 phone. It’s more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy S8, and it needs to compete. iPhone 8 Plus – Screen The running theme of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus is that they take the basics from the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, but the individual components have been tweaked and fine-tuned. Take the screen, for example. The iPhone 8 Plus has the same 1080p IPS LCD as last year’s handset, capable of displaying the wide DCI-P3 colour gamut. However, it now benefits from the True Tone tech that Apple first debuted on the iPad Pro 9.7-inch. True Tone alters the colour temperature of the display depending on the environment in which you’re in, reducing the harsh blue tones typical of an LCD when you’re in a softly lit room. This may sound like a minor tweak, but the difference is significant, obviously so on switching back to an iPhone 7. To get a clear idea of the level at which True Tone alters the balance of the display, toggle it on and off in Settings – and shudder at just how blue the normal screen is. As good as the True Tone implementation is, I’m annoyed that Apple didn’t opt for full OLED across the entire range. Instead, it’s only the iPhone X that gets the better saturation and near-perfect blacks that come with an OLED panel. The iPhone X also has a much better contrast ratio (1,000,000:1 vs 1300:1) and offers ‘True HDR’. The iPhone 8 Plus can play back HDR (high dynamic range) movies from iTunes and content from Netflix, but they won’t look quite so rich and colourful. Still, watching the HDR version of Mad Max was an enjoyable experience, even on a 5.5-inch display.
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Mac Pro 2019: Everything you need to know

March 8, 2019
Apple is reportedly set to showcase a new Mac Pro at WWDC 2019 in June It’s been more than five years since the Mac Pro has shown its face. Since then, Apple’s reputation as the go-to option for creative professionals has been shaken. Whether it’s the neglect of the Mac Pro or the questionable changes to the MacBook Pro, Apple has a lot of ground to make up. But this year, it looks like an updated Mac Pro could be in the works or even previewed at WWDC 2019, Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference. Nothing is for certain yet, but we do have some rumors and reports to speculate on. Price and release date In 2018, Apple had an extended interview with TechCrunch that focused on the Mac Pro. One of the purposes of this interview was to confirm that the Mac Pro would not be released in 2018. This was partly to squash the rumors that the Pro would show up 2018, but also seems to be a direct confirmation that the new version would come in 2019. With an uncharacteristic preview, Apple straight-up called it a “2019 product.” That gives Apple a couple of options for announcing the new model. WWDC is in June, and if the Mac Pro is already in production this would be a good time to announce it. In fact, a February 2019 report from Bloomberg indicates that Apple could use WWDC as the stage to preview a high-end version of the redesigned Mac Pro. It would also keep to tradition, as the 2013 Mac Pro was announced at WWDC. Or Apple could go the iMac Pro route and make a special fall announcement for the product, followed by a holiday release date (The iMac Pro, specifically, was released in December). Focusing on artists The new Mac Pro is going to be very focused on artists and technicians. In fact, Apple hired a group of creative professionals so that they could see how these people actually used both the hardware and software behind the Mac Pro. While going to top artists and designers was possible, Apple found it very difficult to actually watch those professionals in action because they were often working on big movies or brand campaigns that involved a certain amount of secrecy. So, Apple decided to hire them for its own projects so the company could get a close look at how they interacted with the Mac Pro. “We’ve been focusing on visual effects and video editing and 3D animation and music production,” John Ternus, VP of Hardware Engineering, told TechCrunch. Many adjustments have apparently been made accordingly, although Apple notes that these aren’t necessarily performance-related or even all focused on the Mac Pro. Rather, they are tweaks to make things easier for users, including software changes to help speed certain processes up. It will be a ‘modular system’ In 2017, Apple mentioned that the Mac Pro would be a modular system. That was again confirmed in 2018 and teased once more in February 2019 when a YouTuber released a video claiming he has specific in-depth information from inside sources from Apple on the Mac Pro. What do the “modular system” references all mean? Well, it’s still not entirely clear at this point. But here are a few possibilities. First, it could mean the Pro is literally modular, with plenty of hardware customization and the ability to easily upgrade the computer based on your specific tasks. This could involve personalizing your ports, adding more RAM, customizing for VR, and upgrading the GPU. At least some of this customization is likely. Judging from rumors coming from the YouTube video, it also could mean that the Mac Pro might have custom components which could be stacked on top of each other like bricks. That is a departure from other modular setups as components wouldn’t be housed together in a case. Multiple Mac Pro modules could be sold by Apple, but the only required purchase would be a “brain” which is the same size as a Mac Mini. Each module could also have its own independent power supply and cooling method, with connectivity accomplished via a custom data connector. Finally, Apple could be talking about a broader type of modularity, where the Mac Pro is made to work well with many different accessories and peripherals in flexible, demanding work environments. Based on what TechCrunch saw — which included setups where the Mac Pro functioned with multiple attached iPad Pros, a MacBook Pro, and an external GPU — at least some of this seems likely as well. Apple wants the Mac Pro to be defined by workflows and to be able to do whatever is needed. The Pro will be matched with an Apple-created display In 2017, Apple SVP Phil Schiller said of the company’s professional customers, “We want them to know we are going to work on a display … Since the Mac Pro is a modular system, we are also going to do a Pro display.” It’s safe to assume this part of the project hasn’t been dropped, especially since we saw leaks of a new Apple desktop monitor back in November 2018. This monitor appears to be around 27 inches and similar to the iMac design, but with even thinner bezels (sorry, it doesn’t look like it will be flexible). It’s also safe to assume at least a 5K resolution — possibly higher — and a design made for connection to the Mac mini and Mac Pro. Expect an updated design With all the references to modular systems, and Apple admitting that the old Pro didn’t have enough room for things like storage expansion, you can expect the new Mac Pro to look very different from the previous version. In the early days, the Mac Pro was a blocky computer resembling traditional PC towers. Apple radically redesigned the Pro for 2013, where it became a simple cylinder with two chip panels and a central fan for quiet cooling. Apple could keep the cylinder design for its cooling advantages and make it easier to upgrade — or the company could redesign yet again and come up with a new frame entirely, one that would benefit its modular goals. However, it’s worth noting that the new Mac mini, after a similar hiatus, sports a design very similar to the old mini, so Apple may be inclined to follow the older design with moderate changes. An Apple T2 chip is likely The Mac Pro processor is still wide open to rumors, but you can bet we’ll see the same T2 chip that’s in the iMac Pro and MacBook Pro. This is simple, keeps with Apple’s ongoing goal of using more of its own processors, and will supply the Mac Pro with plenty of power. However, like the iMac Pro, the T2 chip would probably be in a co-processor system that would allow for more features like increased security and instant-on Siri accessibility. As for its actual processor, we can only assume the Mac Pro will ship with one of the 9th-gen Intel Xeon processors to emphasize its professional power. The GPU, by the way, is even more up in the air. All we know is Apple will probably continue its preference for AMD over Nvidia.
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Microsoft Surface Pro review: Still worth buying?

March 7, 2019
If there's one product line that has done more to popularise 2-in-1 devices than any other, it's Microsoft's Surface Pro family. The sleek, shiny detachables have made the historically-unpopular category appealing almost single-handedly, thanks to an elegant aesthetic combined with impressive performance. Now we have the latest addition to the line, simply dubbed the Surface Pro. The successor to the Surface Pro 4 has big shoes to fill though; that device was not just one of our favourite hybrids of 2015, but one of our favourite laptops overall. Matching its combination of speed and portability is no mean feat. Thankfully, it appears that Microsoft has changed very little with its latest hybrid, keeping the same look and feel as its predecessor with only minor tweaks to its features and functionality. The exception to this is some rather beefy upgrades to the internal hardware, which combined with the classic design looks like a recipe for success. Specs and performance Although it's now been surpassed by Intel's 8th-generation Coffee Lake chips, the Surface Pro's Kaby Lake processor is still frighteningly fast. Our Core i7 review unit, paired with 16GB of RAM, racked up an astounding overall score of 102. Not only is that considerably better than any other Microsoft device to date, it's also beating out pretty much all of its competition from the likes of HP and Dell. In fact, that's approaching the kind of speeds we'd expect from a desktop Pc. Convertible devices are sometimes a little lacking in the battery department, but that's not the case here. In our battery tests, the Surface Pro lasted more than 11 and a half hours. That's an absolutely stonking result - especially given the amount of performance on display - and you can count on Microsoft's new hybrid to power you through even the most demanding workdays, and then some. Display Unsurprisingly, the display is also excellent. Microsoft has built this device for graphic designers, and the quality of the 12.3in PixelSense screen is immediately evident. Brightness is blazing, and the deep contrast levels make it as excellent for office work as it is for watching movies on. Covering almost 95% of the sRGB colour spectrum, this display should be perfect for photo editing and the gorgeous 2736 x 1824 screen means that both pictures and video will look pin-sharp and packed with detail. TypeCover keyboard The Surface Pro's TypeCover keyboard has been updated, too. You may be hard-pressed to tell the difference, though, as hardly anything has changed from the Surface Pro 4's keyboard. That's no bad thing - the previous TypeCover was truly excellent. Not only was it by far the best detachable laptop keyboard we'd ever seen, it was one of the best laptop keyboards around, full stop. Thankfully, the new TypeCover retains this crown, and the minor additions that Microsoft has made - a slightly increased travel distance on the keys and a water-resistant Alcantara covering - have only made it better. It's beaten by the keyboard on the latest MacBook Pro - but not by much. Design and appearance In terms of the device's actual design, very little has changed compared to the Surface Pro 4. Microsoft has pretty much nailed the perfect design for a detachable hybrid - as evidenced by the legions of companies that have since copied it - and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The new model is a tiny bit thinner and lighter than the Pro 4 and the hinge has been slightly improved, but otherwise, it's business as usual. A good thing, too; the Surface Pro is absolutely lovely. Thin and light, with an attractive, matte-finished chassis, it's by far one of the most eye-catching devices on the market - and that's including Apple's range of devices. Ports and features Another touch that will please creatives and digital artists is the new Surface Pen, which has been upgraded from last generation's model. Microsoft has more than quadrupled the level of pressure sensitivity and added tilt shading to make it even more like using a real pencil. If there's one flaw, it's in Microsoft's choice of ports. The Surface Pro has just one USB 3.0 port and a mini DisplayPort, and doesn't support the emerging USB-C standard. The main benefit of using USB-C is that one port can do everything - it allows you to charge your device, connect peripherals like keyboards, mice and displays and even connect to wired internet networks. It's great for agile working because you don't need to spend five minutes unplugging everything if you need to duck out of the office in a hurry. It's a shame that the Surface Pro doesn't support this, as it's the only thing holding it back from being the best business device on the market today. Taking it on the go is also made much easier and more convenient by the addition of an LTE-enabled model, which allows you to stay connected even without a Wi-Fi signal, either via an e-SIM or by popping in a nano-SIM. Microsoft claims that the device will still retain around 90% of its battery life even when using it exclusively on a mobile connection, although we haven't had an opportunity to test this out. LTE speeds are capped at 450Mbps, unfortunately, which is a shame considering Gigabit LTE is on the horizon. Verdict Even with these scant flaws in mind though, the Surface Pro is an absolutely excellent piece of kit. It's small, attractive and almost scarily powerful. Be warned, though: it doesn't come cheap. The Surface Pro starts at £800, and tops out at well over two and a half grand for the most expensive model. It's a lot of money, admittedly, but on the other hand, you're getting one of the most capable machines on the planet for your investment. Microsoft's latest flagship is the peak of the company's research and development efforts. It may be expensive, but for those that can afford it, it's the best Windows hybrid around. Specifications CPU Dual core 2.5GHz Intel i7-7660U RAM 16GB Screen 12.3in, 2736 x 1824 Dimensions 292 x 201 x 8.5mm Weight 784g
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