At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict If you’re looking for an extremely lightweight laptops that doesn’t scrimp on ports then the Vaio SX14 fits the bill. However, this has tough competition and the high asking price combined with shorter battery life and a poor trackpad means that it’s not all plain sailing. Best Prices Today: Vaio SX14 The Vaio brand used to be one of the biggest laptop names around before Sony unexpectedly exited the market in 2014....

At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict The ViewSonic VP2772 sits in the semi-pro market, with relatively decent performance and a decent adjustable stand, although overall build quality and attention to detail fall a little short of that found on high-end monitors from Eizo and NEC. But if 27 inches of better-than-HD resolution appeals the ViewSonic is one of the few select monitors that will deliver. Best Prices Today: ViewSonic VP2772 These are meant to be serious low-frills designs aimed at designers using Windows on a budget, although at around £600 this monitor still represents a large investment....

When choosing a SIM-only deal or buying a phone on contract, it might look like there are loads of different networks in the UK. However, many of these are so-called ‘piggyback’ providers, or Mobile Virtual Networks (MVNOs) . They pay to use the networks of one of the main networks, of which there are now only three: EE, O2 and VodafoneThree. The latest is a direct result of a merger between Vodafone and Three UK owners CK Hutchison, which has now been completed....

At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict We love the Wellograph’s dressy looks and superb display graphics, but you do pay for these in terms of price compared to other more sporty wristbands. We did find the syncing to be a bit of a pain, and the battery tends to switch to watch-only mode even with noticeable juice to spare. We prefer a fitness watch to keep going till it or you runs out....

Whether you work at the local pool, have messy pockets or you simply consider yourself accident-prone, there’s a strong chance that water and dust resistance is high on your list of priorities when choosing that brand new phone. But the level of protection you get will vary hugely depending on if you have a budget , mid-range or flagship phone . In general, the amount of water and dust resistance will be defined by an official IP rating....

What is NFC? What is NFC for? Find out in our essential guide to NFC, and how to use NFC on your smartphone to do useful things. We explain Near Field Communications technology. NFC can be a useful- and used feature. Often it is not, although we predict a big future for the tech. In this article I will examine NFC, what it is, how it works, and for what it is used....

Dyson, the brand best known for its distinctive cordless vacuums, has also made substantial inroads into the luxury hair styling market. It’s now building on the success of its existing products – the Supersonic hair dryer , the Corrale straightener and the Airwrap multi-styler – with the launch of a new styling tool, the Airstrait. What is the Dyson Airstrait? Dyson’s Airstrait is a wet-to-dry hair straightener that uses hot air, rather than hot plates, to smooth and straighten hair without the use of a hair dryer first....

While the three-year-old app was relatively unknown at the beginning of 2018, Vero has exploded in popularity and boasts over 3 million app downloads. Instagrammers are flocking to the service, which offers an ad-free experience and chronological timeline, with rumours that it’ll only be free to use for early adopters. What is Vero, and why are Instagram users signing up to it? The app itself is nothing more than a reskinned version of Instagram that allows you to post more than photos; you can post music, book and movie recommendations, your current location and more, all without leaving the app....

Windows Core OS (or WCOS for short) is a new, stripped-down version of Windows that can be adapted to run on a wide variety of devices with minimal work compared to the old way of doing things. Oddly, there hasn’t yet been an official announcement about it from Microsoft – even now that the company has released a Windows 10X emulator for app developers. The likely reason for this decision is that no-one really needs to know about WCOS....

The new Motorola Razr (above) is the most exciting phone we’ve seen for a very long time. You’ll read all kinds of views on what makes it so special, but there is one cohort whose opinion is particularly interesting. It’s the team which built the original model. Building a new mobile phone is a significant task, in the days of the original Razr the development cost was something like US$9m (£6....

It seemed as though agreeing to the updates would mean WhatsApp could share users’ private messages with Facebook, its parent company. However this was a misunderstanding and the changes actually referred to chats with businesses, which don’t get the same level of privacy as chats with friends and family. Nevertheless, you may still want to know whether WhatsApp is safe to use or not. If you’re wondering if other apps such as Telegram are a better option, we’ll explain what you need to know about both Telegram and WhatsApp’s encryption and data collection processes....

Robots are popping up everywhere from brothels to battlefields , but when the droids malfunction the consequences can be catastrophic. Techworld looks at what can happen when robots go wrong. Nagasaki, Japan, : Hundreds of robot staff laid off by hotel after complaints by guests The world’s first hotel staffed by robots laid off half its 243 droid workers after complaints from guests about their poor level of service. The Wall Street Journal reported that their human colleagues had to work overtime to compensate for their failings, which included waking up guests whose snores were mistaken for voice commands and getting stuck in corridors....

Motorola officially released its latest flagship handset in the Moto G100 in April. The 5G phone, originally released in China as the Moto Edge S, underwent a rebranding as the G100 for its 25 March global launch. You can now buy the phone directly from Motorola and several other retailers (listed below). The Moto G100 is the first Motorola G-series phone powered by the Snapdragon 870 chip, which is essentially a faster Snapdragon 865....

The Realme 8 and its 5G counterpart officially launched in the UK on 12 May. The Realme 8 was available to buy from 12 May, while its 5G sibling went on sale on 20 May with early bird pricing. The phones join the 8 Pro, which became available to buy on 31 March. Realme unveiled the range at its 24 March virtual event. Previously, the standard Realme 8 phones were only available to buy in India – one of Realme’s biggest markets....

Something strange has happened. For the first time probably ever, I’m genuinely excited about the upcoming launch of a budget smartphone . The device in question is the CMF Phone 1 and I’m more intrigued by it than Samsung’s imminent Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 – I’ll tell you why. To set the scene, CMF is the sub-brand of Nothing, a young challenger brand headed up by Carl Pei, a co-founder of OnePlus....

Withings has announced Withings Move, a cusomisable analogue watch with built-in activity and sleep tracking, and impressive 18-month battery life. A more advanced model will offer heart-rate monitoring and electrocardiogram (ECG) checks. When you walk, run, swim or bike, Move will automatically record your activity. By long-pressing the side button, you can launch a workout session. This will activate a chronograph and connected GPS to give statistics on duration, distance, elevation, and path mapped in the Health Mate app....

At a glance Expert’s Rating Pros Attractive design Clever display Excellent battery life Good sleep tracking Cons Only basic workout data Unreliable heart rate monitoring No built-in GPS Our Verdict The Withings ScanWatch 2 is an impressive hybrid watch, combining a premium analogue design with advanced health sensors. But its fitness tracking and non-health features are a clear step down from most smartwatches. Best Prices Today: Withings ScanWatch 2 When it comes to watches, French company Withings dares to be different....

At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict We’re big fans of Xiaomi phones, but have been frustrated by MIUI on many an occasion. The Mi A1 and Mi 5X are to all intents and purposes the same phone, except one runs Android One and the other MIUI 8.5. That’s huge news: at last we have a Xiaomi phone we can really get onboard with in the UK and Europe. The Mi A1 itself is a well-built and decent all-round mid-range Android phone....

Xiaomi’s Mi Max was a beastly smartphone with a hulking 6.44in screen, decent performance and a mammoth battery. It’s just got even better, as Xiaomi in May unveiled its successor the Mi Max 2. Later in July the phone will also be coming to India. Also read our full Mi Max 2 review Still with a 6.44in screen and all the things we loved about the original Mi Max (read our Mi Max review ), the Mi Max 2 now has an even more capacious battery (5,300mAh vs 4,850mAh) with Quick Charge 3....

Trailing almost two months behind its October Chinese launch , Xiaomi’s Mi Mix went on sale in January at £499. It’s now joined by a 5G variant, which is available from Vodafone as not only the first 5G phone to go on sale in the UK, but also the cheapest. We’ve compared Mi Mix 3 and Mi Mix 3 5G on Vodafone’s 5G network to see whether it’s worth upgrading yet....