At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict Coming in at half the price of the cheapest Fitbit, Xiaomi’s latest Mi Smart Band 4 offers activity-, health- and sleep-tracking at an incredible £34.99. The enhanced colour AMOLED panel alone makes it worth the upgrade, though it won’t entirely replace a smartwatch or smartphone for notifications, and we’re pleased to see Xiaomi taking advantage of the device’s waterproofing with swim-tracking. We’d love to see Xiaomi come up with a charging solution that doesn’t involve removing the tracker from the band, but Mi Band 4 is otherwise difficult to fault....

Xiaomi has announced its Mi Mix 2S , an upgrade on the Mi Mix 2 with an enhanced camera that integrates AI, improved performance, wireless charging and more. (You may also be interested in the Mi Gaming Laptop , also announced this morning.) When is the Mi Mix 2S release date? In China the Mi Mix 2S goes up for pre-order today at 6pm, and will officially go on sale on 3 April....

Xiaomi released its first foldable smartphone, the Mi Mix Fold, in April 2021. Now, a little over a year on, the Chinese company has finally revealed the second generation: the Mix Fold 2. The foldable has had a near-total redesign, making it much more premium, with a slim design, top specs, and powerful Leica cameras. Here’s everything you need to know about the Mix Fold 2, which has launched in China but may not make it elsewhere....

Xiaomi’s new Mix Fold 3 is a book-style folding phone that’s just 5.26mm when unfolded and 10.86mm when closed. That’s thinner that the closed 13.4mm Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 , and not far off the 7.9mm iPhone 14 Pro . The impressive engineering on the new device will only be available for Chinese customers to buy, much like the recent Xiaomi 13 Ultra and Oppo Find X6 Pro , setting a trend of the most cutting edge mobile tech being kept from Western buyers....

At a glance Expert’s Rating Pros Great battery life Considered design Cons Poor performance Bad cameras Low onboard RAM/storage Slow charging Our Verdict The Poco C40 has a decent screen, excellent battery life and is a very affordable smartphone. Sadly, the performance is underwhelming and the cameras really don’t impress. Sure, you can save yourself some money by buying this phone, but I feel the compromises may make it seem like you still overpaid....

Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club is one of the most prolific British mystery novels in years. The original book spawned three more entries, each of which propelled the author to bestseller lists worldwide. It’s therefore no surprise that the renowned story was snapped up by Netflix , with an incredible cast attached to it. But that’s not all – the film has a limited theatrical run in cinemas in the UK, if you’d prefer the big screen experience....

A report from UK consumer watchdog Which? has found that smart devices around your home could be collecting more data on you than you realise. Which? assessed appliances and devices from four categories – smart air fryers, TVs, smart speakers and smart watches – and scored them on privacy. Smart air fryers, which have an app connection to send cooking alerts to your phone, let you follow online recipes and set the air fryer from your phone, were among the worst offenders....

Although CES at the start of January is a popular time to announce new technology, especially TVs, Philips has announced its 2022 range today. It includes new flagship OLED and Mini-LED models as well as an upgraded The One. The range was unveiled at the TP Vision Live event with a keen focus on the new flagship OLED807 which comes in 48-77in sizes and promises picture and sound quality improvements to its highly regarded 2021 predecessor....

Prod it Automatic machines press different areas on the screen to ensure there’s a response, even round the very edges. Similar machines press the buttons repeatedly, an accelerated way of seeing if they still work after thousands upon thousands of pushes. Drop it Everyone’s favourite test to watch, unless you have mechanical sympathy. This machine drops phones from 1.4m onto a hard marble floor. All six sides are tested: edges, plus front and back....

At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict The regular Kindle now has a light meaning you might have little reason to splash out on one of the more expensive models if you don’t need extra features like waterproofing and 3G. The Kindle 2019 does the basics and does them extremely well so it’s ridiculously good value despite being a little more expensive than its predecessor. Price The Kindle for 2019 is still the cheapest of the current range....

Where is Apple’s 12 Days of Christmas 2017? Apple’s 12 Days of Christmas isn’t happening this year for the second year running, but here are 12 great apps you can get for free anyway. For the fourth year since it began in 2008, Apple has decided not to run its 12 Days of Christmas promotion, disappointing many iTunes users who’ve loved getting a free gift each day during the holiday period....

Apple has revealed a new Hi-Fi-level tier for Apple Music, offering lossless audio playback and spatial audio support via Dolby Atmos at no extra charge – a stark change compared to many music streaming rivals. With spatial audio and lossless playback finally available, here’s all you need to know about Apple Music Hi-Fi right now, including the latest release date, pricing and feature details. When was Apple Music Lossless released? Spatial audio and lossless playback arrived after Apple announced it would be added to Apple Music following the WWDC 2021 keynote (alongside the news that spatial audio would also rollout to tvOS and macOS later this year)....

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is finally available to buy, following a leaked keyring and subsequent E3 2018 announcement. The series has been a household name in the gaming world since the release of the first game back in 2007, and although it has had a rocky reputation in recent years with buggy releases, 2017’s Assassin’s Creed Origins brought life and excitement back into the franchise. Here’s everything we know about Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, including the release date, the latest gameplay details and videos....

At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict For just £120, we’re really impressed with the Asus Memo Pad 7. In addition to a good-looking design and sturdy build, it also boasts hardware that rivals tablets with much higher price tags. A higher-resolution screen and front-facing speakers would add even more appeal, but if you’re looking for a budget tablet and have been Considering the Tesco Hudl, Kindle Fire HD or even the Nexus 7, it’s worth investigating the Asus Memo Pad 7, too....

The ROG Phone 3 has been officially revealed by Asus, but with more leaks than a sinking ship in the run-up to the event, it’s not really a surprise. Still, Asus looks to provide the most capable gaming smartphone on the market in 2020 with powerful internals, gaming-specific hardware, a huge battery and a range of accessories that further extend functionality, but UK fans may have to prepare themselves for disappointment....

At a Glance Expert’s Rating Pros Fast speeds Excellent Wi-Fi 6 coverage User-friendly app Can be added to a mesh network Cons No cheap mesh satellite option No USB port Our Verdict The Asus RT-AX55 is a very affordable Wi-Fi 6 router with a user-friendly app, good performance and can also be made into a mesh system. Best Prices Today: Asus RT-AX55 It’s 2021, and the WiFi 6 cat is out of the consumer technology bag....

At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict Don’t write the ZenBook Pro Duo off as a mere novelty without trying it. This may or may not be the future of laptops, but for creatives, multi-taskers, and the attentionally challenged, the second display quickly makes a case for itself. The question is how much you’re willing to compromise to get it, with rubbish battery life and a giant chassis. This isn’t perfect, and future dual-screen devices will find better ways to make the form factor work....

There’s no legal age at which you can buy a phone for your child, unlike driving a car. You’ll shoulder the cost, but a phone can be in a child’s hands at any age. However, the choice of which phone is best for kids and its cost isn’t really the main issue for parents. And getting a good SIM plan for kids isn’t too much of a problem either. Instead, the main issue is timing....

This week, the celebrations are in full swing for the BBC centenary, marking 100 years since the channel first broadcast on our airwaves. Since its inception, the BBC has shown some of the most important moments in our history, including Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation and the first televised Olympic Games. It is also the home of the longest-running sci-fi show, Doctor Who . However, it has also had some hilarious moments as well....

Thanks to camera drones , just about anyone can now shoot photos and videos from the air. But once the novelty of the aerial perspective has worn off, you’ll want to know how to get those cinematic-looking shots and extract the best possible quality from your camera. We spoke to Jeff Colhoun , a cinematographer who’s been using drones since 2011, to get his best tips for beginners. Note: We’re not covering filming techniques here – that’s a separate subject....