Google Pixel 2 review

The Google Pixel 2 is the premier Android device that proves that two rear cameras aren't always better than one on a phone, especially if you favor photo quality over the latest all-screen designs. We have the picture proof below.

It’s Google’s superior software that pushes this Android Oreo phone – now able to run the Android P beta – to snap some of the best-looking pictures we’ve seen, topping the camera on last year’s impressive Pixel and Pixel XL debut

What’s more, this year's upgrade is faster, water-resistant and adds a new way to call up the Google Assistant: simply squeeze the phone’s sides to launch your new AI buddy. It sounds like a gimmick, but it’s easier than accidentally hitting another (Bixby) button like on the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus.

The Pixel 2, with its 5-inch screen, doesn’t look like the future of smartphones, except for its lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack. It doesn't have one, so you're going to want a pair of our best Bluetooth headphones for this one.
It doesn't look as slick as the simultaneously launched Google Pixel 2 XL, which has an edge-to-edge 6-inch display and tall 18:9 aspect ratio. The standard Pixel 2 is quite bezel-heavy. Of course, we now know it has more vibrant colors and no signs (yet) of screen burn-in problems like its larger counterpart. Pixel 2 may actually be a case of "better small than sorry
The bezels won't bother you if you want a phone that’s a great size, runs smart Google software and has a fantastic camera that will make your friends – even your Samsung-owning friends – jealous. Google's camera is only sometimes bested by the Samsung camera and the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro... but not always.
Plain and simple, the Pixel 2 is for people who favor functionality over fashion.
Update: Google Pixel 2 remains one of our favorite phone in 2018 – despite some technical issues of reliability at launch – for one reason: it has an amazing camera and starts at a normal smartphone price. And it has recently gotten even better thanks to Google awaking the Pixel Visual Core, the phone's co-processor dedicated to imaging, in the February software release.
It keeps getting better though, as Google has released the first developer preview of Android P. This one's just for developers and requires you to flash your device to get access, but future versions will allow any user to easily enroll.
Your only issue may be finding one in stock. Be sure to check out our hand-picked Google Pixel 2 deals to find the best value

Price and release date

• Starts at $649 / £629 / AU$1,079 for 64GB model
• Announced October 4, shipped Thursday, October 19
• In the US, try Verizon if the Google Store still has delays

The Google Pixel 2 price didn't increase year-over-year, so like its dated design, it isn't keeping up with the competition. This is surprising for a phone announced on October 4, and a release date of October 19.
It costs $649 / £629 / AU$1,079 for the 64GB version, and $749 / £729 / AU$1,229 for the 128GB configuration. In the US, this phone is sold on-contract through Verizon only among carriers, but worry not, ordering it from the Google Store will mean it works on all networks, including AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint.

New Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL photo examples 

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL have the same camera, and our very own Cameron Faulkner had both on his honeymoon to give us example of photos people take outside of a testing lab.

Design

• Great size and likable design
• Squeeze the sides to launch Google Assistant
• Waterproof, but no 3.5mm headphone jack

The Google Pixel 2 has a likable size and aesthetic, if you can look past the fact that the phone won’t wow you with an all-screen front. It has a futuristic camera, but the design has a distinctly last-year feel to it.
It easily fits into one hand thanks to its palmable dimensions and light weight. A few years ago this would’ve been considered a phablet, but today, next to the Note 8, it’s a normal-sized Android phone. Most will be able to manage one-handed operation of its 5-inch screen, something that's literally a tall order with the 6-inch Pixel 2 XL.
Both new Pixel phones are now IP67 waterproof (meaning they can survive underwater up to 1m or 3.3ft down for an hour) and retain a glass-and-metal design on the back, albeit with less glass toward the top compared to their predecessors.
The fingerprint scanner has been moved – don’t worry, it’s not off-center, as on Samsung’s new phones – onto the textured aluminum portion of the back, while the camera remains on the glass part, and has a protective ring around it now.
You won’t find a headphone jack on this phone, nor even USB-C earbuds inside the box – it comes with just a simple 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter. Google may have done some research and figured out that you probably own better headphones than the ones it usually supplies for free – plus, it’s all the more reason for you to buy into those Pixel Buds that just launched, righ

Music on this phone sounds great through headphones, and we even liked listening to music through the dual front-facing stereo speakers. Yes, there's an odd ticking noise coming from some Pixel 2 speakers, but Google promises a software fix for this issue.
Front-facing stereo speakers have become rare among smartphones, which too often fire onboard audio out of the bottom of the phone through a single speaker. Having them increases the size of the top and bottom bezel, but stereo speakers are part of the functionality-over-fashion trade-off we’re talking about.
The Pixel 2 also acquires a feature from the HTC U11 called EdgeSense. Squeezing the phone’s sides launches the Google Assistant, which in our experience has come in handy, and is way better than adding a dedicated AI button – Samsung uses such a button for its Bixby assistant, and we can’t stop accidentally pressing it on the Galaxy S8 and Note 8.
The LG G7 ThinQ uses for a button for Google Assistant, which at least leads to our favorite AI. But this squeezing function is better (and not as easy to accidentally press). Our only complaint is that Google won’t allow you to customize this squeezable feature to open up the camera or another app of your choice.

Screen

• Full HD 1080p screen is bright and colorful
• Thick bezels make it far from an all-screen phone
• Not the best choice for Google Daydream VR

The 5-inch Google Pixel 2 display looks superb for Full HD, but it’s also uninspiring at the same time. It’s bright and colorful, though not as rich as a best-in-class Samsung smartphone screen.

What’s distracting is its screen-to-body ratio, with large bezels flanking the screen on all sides. This is even more noticeable in 2018 with so many all-screen Android phones around, including the bigger Google Pixel 2 XL – and it's especially distracting when the standard trio of on-screen buttons are sometimes displayed within a black bar that eats into your precious screen space.
The display works okay with Google Daydream, but it’s less than ideal given the fact that you can see individual pixels at 1080p. The headset really calls for the Quad HD display from the Pixel 2 XL.
We did like the new always-on display, which shows the date, time and notification icons, and the overdue double-tap-to-wake-the-screen functionality. It’s now a lot easier to see what’s going on with your phone before you wake it up.
You just have to get beyond the bezels, and the fact that putting your Google Pixel 2 in a case makes the outline seem even more pronounced.

Apple TV

The Essential Review

The Apple TV was ahead of its time when it released back in 2015. It featured a new touch remote and a brand-new interface that no one had seen before.

[Update: You didn't think that Apple would stop updating the old Apple TV just because the new Apple TV 4K has been released did you? tvOS 11.2 has just been released, and the update includes a number of benefits for US sports viewers. You'll be able to keep an eye on scores for multiple games while watching just one of them, and you can also set up notifications that'll allow you to swap to games that are particularly close. 

The other part of the update concerns HDR playback, but you'll have to be using an Apple TV 4K to get that particular option.]
It was - and still is - a pretty cutting-edge streaming video player.
The kind of person who will get the most enjoyment out of the Apple TV is someone who doesn't mind the experimental frontier - they're comfortable with the idea of using AirPlay to screen mirror their Apple device and are OK rutting through a pile of apps to find what they're looking for.
It's not as straightforward a package as a device from Roku; it's not nearly as cheap as Google's Chromecast devices and Amazon's Fire TV has a lot of the same functionality (in addition to 4K HDR support) for a whole lot less.
But if you can look past that and are looking for a 1080p streaming device with a ton of panache and style, Apple TV is still a great choice in 2017.
If you are looking for a 4K streaming device and are dead-set on staying within the Apple ecosystem, check out the also excellent Apple TV 4K.

• Thinking of getting an Apple TV? Here are the best Apple TV deals

Apple TV price comparison

As it stands, the Apple TV comes in two flavors - the 1080p Apple TV, and the Ultra HD-capable Apple TV 4K. Both of these devices are a bit more expensive than similarly spec'd streaming devices, but Apple's streamers do have a certain style about them that you can't find anywhere else.
The original Apple TV comes in two price points: a 32GB version that costs $149 (£129, AU$269) and a 64GB version that comes in at $199 (£169, AU$349).

Of course, as we mentioned earlier, the Apple TV is a bit limited in the resolution department. Namely, it's stuck in 1080p. If you have a new 4K TV and you're looking to take advantage of that extra headroom, you're going to need to upgrade to the Apple TV 4K - a nearly identical version of the Apple TV but one that supports Ultra HD streaming and two types of HDR.
The Apple TV 4K comes in at, you guessed it, two price points. There's a 32GB and 64GB version of the device but, unless you plan on going heavy on the apps, the 32GB should be fine for most folks. The 32GB Apple TV 4K comes in at £179 / $179 / AU$249, and the 64GB option at £199 / $199 / AU$279.

New Apple TV (on left) sits next to an Apple TV (2013)

Apple TV:

The Apple TV in question or, more precisely, what the company is calling the new Apple TV, is the fourth iteration of a "hobby project" Steve Jobs started in 2006. Jobs' vision was to create a dead-simple entertainment hub, one that could access your media in a few simple steps.
That came to fruition in 2007 with the first Apple TV. (Apple wanted the name iTV, however the major British broadcast network of the same name threatened to take legal action should Jobs brand Apple's new device using that moniker.)
In the time since then we've seen two sequels that upgraded the internal Wi-Fi antenna from 802.11b to 802.11a/b/g/n before landing on 802.11ac for the latest build. The processor has been radically changed in that time, too, starting at a 1 GHz "Dothan" Pentium M equipped with 256 MB and ending on a vastly improved 64-bit Apple A8 processor.
Yes, a lot has changed since the first Apple TV. There's less hard drive space on the new unit, ironically, but that's because streaming has overtaken the notion of owning content.
Speaking of hard drive space, the new Apple TV comes in two flavors: an Apple TV and an Apple TV 4K. The only difference between the two is the resolution

Both of the new Apple TVs are driven by apps of all shapes and sizes, not just first-party ones anymore. For the first time ever you'll see the wealth and power of the Apple App Store in the living room, and I expect that once the system matures it will be a sight to behold.
And, unlike the bastardized OS of systems past, the new plastic runs a platform of its own called tvOS, a nomenclature taken from the Apple Watch's watchOS.
What hasn't changed is that Apple still cares first and foremost about Apple products. The new Apple TVs work best with iPads, iPhones and Macs thanks to Apple AirPlay and will allow you to easily stream content from your phone or tablet to the big screen.
And while there have been steps taken to make the system feel less Apple-centric, the iTunes store stands firmly in the center of everything. Every search includes results from iTunes. Every purchase goes through iTunes. You can't go more than five minutes without being shown some new TV show or movie that, as soon as you click on it, will bring you back into the icy-cold money-loving hands of Apple's ecommerce magnate.

Apple TV vs the competition

If you're entrenched in the Apple ecosystem (by which I mean you buy movies and shows from iTunes, subscribe to Apple Music and/or stick to phones and tablets running iOS), then the Apple TV will be a supremely good addition to your living room that will only improve with age.
The less of those features you care about, however, the less you'll like the new Apple TV against the other extremely strong contenders in the streaming video space.

Apple TV vs Amazon Fire TV: The Amazon Fire TV has been a thorn in Apple's side since its launch in 2013. It presents its own problems by restricting a good deal of content to Amazon Prime subscribers, but the most recent revamp of the system saw a huge improvement with the addition of 4K streaming.
The Fire TV is not nearly as good a game console as the Apple TV has the potential to be (or even currently is), but it does have the advantage in price - $99 (£79, about AU$140) vs the Apple TV's 

Apple TV vs Roku Ultra: If you're in the US, own a 4K TV and are more concerned about streaming video content than any app or game, stop reading right now and buy a Roku Ultra. At $99 it's significantly cheaper than the new Apple TV and worth every cent.
Why? Well, the Roku Ultra is the most egalitarian system of the bunch. It doesn't care if you pick Netflix over Amazon, or Vudu over Hulu. It doesn't want to sell you an Rdio subscription, and it could care less if you join YouTube Red. At the end of the day, all Roku's new device cares about is getting you to the content you want through the most affordable means possible. It's entertainment on your terms, and in my opinion the epitome of the cord-cutting movement.

Apple TV vs Android TV / Chromecast: It's hard to compare a full-size system to Google's pint-sized streaming disc, but if you could put the two against each other pound-for-pound, the $35 (£30, AU$49) Chromecast would probably eke out a win.
Google's streaming stick plays nicely with both iOS and Android apps, and while it doesn't have an interface of its own it boasts a relatively impressive app that essentially performs the function of a full streaming video box at a quarter of the price. Admittedly it's up to developers to support the Chromecast, whereas Apple can control its own destiny for the Apple TV, plus the Siri Remote - while troublesome at times - is actually pretty svelte.
 

Samsung Galaxy S9 review

The Samsung Galaxy S9 is the phone that's supposed to lead the charge where the Galaxy S8, one of the best phones we've ever tested, left off - but it's not as much of an upgrade.

Well, that's at first glance, because there is a raft of updates that some would find appealing. Yes, the design is identical to the Galaxy S8, and in reality this really should have been the 'S' variant of that model if Samsung ever wanted to ape Apple's naming str

But there's also a new, high-power camera on the back that brings genuine innovation in the dual-aperture shutter, as well as a more robust frame and so, so much more power under the hood.
The screen is brighter and the dual speakers make this more of a media marvel - and the Galaxy S9 fixes one major flaw with the S8 by making it easy to unlock the phone with your face or finger, which 2017's model failed at - and that's why we've named it as one of our best smartphones around at the moment.
If this sounds like we're talking up an uninspiring phone, that's partly true - but we wanted to make sure you knew the big changes on the S9 if you were confused on why it looks so similar to last year's model. ateg.
These plus points are also set against a backdrop of a high price; we’re not talking iPhone X levels here, but it’s still one of the more expensive options you can buy. The larger Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus with a 6.2-inch screen is even pricier.
So if you’re looking to replace a 2016 phone do all the new features really offer enough to make the Galaxy S9 a worthwhile upgrade, or is the cheaper Galaxy S8 still the best phone in the world
?

Price and release date 

Samsung Galaxy S9 specs

Dimensions: 147.7 x 68.7 x 8.5 mm
Weight: 163g
Screen size: 5.8-inch
CPU: Snapdragon 845 / Exynos 9810
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB
Camera: 12MP rear, 8MP front
Battery: 3,000mAh

The Samsung Galaxy S9 release date was March 16, with pre-orders being delivered slightly ahead of this around the world - so you're able to buy it now.
The Galaxy S9 is on sale for £739, $719.99, or AU$1,199 SIM-free directly from Samsung, but exact pricing for other markets is currently unclear.
In the UK, that's a huge price jump over last year's handset, which cost £689 at launch, and it's the same price our sources reported before it was made official.
In terms of a UK cost on contract you can expect to pay between £35 and £50 per month for a decent slug of data, although with many contracts you’ll need to pay a little upfront too.
In the US, we're seeing around $30 a month for the contract, and between $720-$800 for the phone itself. It's actually a little cheaper in the US compared to the Galaxy S8, bucking the trend we're seeing in other regions worldwide.
There aren’t any storage variants of this phone though in the UK or US, with only the 64GB option on sale.

Bixby is back... and better

• Bixby Voice is still behind
• Bixby Vision is far more useful

Bixby Vision returns more results... but some are not as accurate as others.

We were thoroughly disappointed by Bixby on the Galaxy S8 last year, as it promised to be the ultimate digital assistant and, well, it wasn't.
It simply couldn't do enough – it wasn’t able to work out what you wanted contextually, and it wasn’t able to start or control enough apps. We could forgive the gestation period for this feature if it wasn't for the fact that Google Assistant is already on the phone, and incredibly capable.
However, Samsung has upgraded Bixby on the Galaxy S9, and kept the Bixby button on the side of the device to allow you to interact with your assistant. You use the button as on a walkie-talkie, pressing to talk to Bixby and releasing when you’ve delivered your command… but it's a bit slow to catch up.
Bixby can be too literal – wanting to set a timer preset rather than just starting a countdown for example – and while you can ask it to take a picture and send it to a friend the whole process takes around 30 seconds – and that's assuming Bixby can find the friend to start with – in which time you’d rather just do it manually.
The Galaxy S9 also keeps telling us that we can dictate using Bixby, but this was never 100% accurate – it was pretty darn good, considering that you're essentially talking to a baby robot, but we needed to edit our words before sending.
Bixby Vision has come a long way though – and the fact that it's turned off by default is just beautiful. No longer do the little green fireflies automatically dance across your viewfinder when you're trying to take a picture of your car, dog, mother or laundry basket (to show her you've done it all) as the phone tries to work out what's being looked at.
However, when you do turn on Vision the features are pretty useful. Bixby is much, much better at being able to work out what it's seeing than what it’s hearing, and can give accurate results on the web for things like comics, lamps and nature scenes.
The translation tool is also very strong – it comes up with some weird answers here and there, but on the whole it's very easy to work out what you're looking at. Samsung is making a big deal about this feature, although in reality it's a bit niche... you'll need to be in a foreign country, with data, and completely unable to work out what you're looking at.
So while it's good that Bixby has been upgraded, to at least bring some sense to having that button on the side of the phone, it's still a novelty rather than a must-have feature.
Mapping the button to Google Assistant is still a far better way to get the most from your phone with your voice (although you’ll need to download a third party app to do it), despite it being more limited in scope... at least it manages the things it can do very well.

Improved biometrics

• Intelligent scan is accurate, but not as secure
• Far easier to unlock your phone

The new Intelligent Scan cycles between facial recognition and iris scanning.

Anyone who read our Galaxy S8 review last year would have realised quite quickly that the biometric unlocking features of that phone almost made it unusable. The fingerprint scanner was too hard to reach, the iris scanner too unreliable and the facial recognition just too poor.
Samsung needed to do something, and it has, with all three features now working seamlessly and interchangeably.
Intelligent Scan marries the iris scanner and facial recognition to make unlocking your phone with your face a far, far simpler task, and as mentioned the fingerprint scanner is much easier to hit.
The speed of the Intelligent Snan feature is so much better than last year... where the iris scanner and facial recognition on the S8 were between 30% and 50% accurate, the two together on the Galaxy S9 yield success almost every time.
In low light the iris scanner is still a bit slow to react, and not always pleased to let you in (in this case, Apple's Face ID absolutely destroys it for accuracy and ease of use), but it's so simple to just flick your finger to the scanner on the back that we never had an issue.
That's a real benefit over the iPhone X, keeping the fingerprint scanner.

The fingerprint scanner is now below the camera and in a far easier spot to hit.

There are a couple of flaws with the biometric system. First, the 2D scan of the face the S9 makes to recognize you isn't as secure as other methods, like the fingerprint scanner or Apple's Face ID.
That's not a huge problem for us – the fingerprint scanner is a better way of paying for things anyway, and really biometric unlocking is more about convenience than it is security.
We weren't able to dupe the Samsung Galaxy S9 with a picture of our face, so if you lose your phone you can feel secure in the knowledge that the thief isn't getting in, which is what most of us really want.
Second, and more frustratingly, you can’t really unlock the phone when it’s placed on a table – the field of vision for the scanner is limited, so unless you weirdly shove your head over it you won’t get in, whereas Apple’s Face ID offers a much wider viewing angle.

New speakers

• AKG tuned sound is loud
• A tiny bit lacking in punch, but a big upgrade on the S8

The speakers still fire downward from the bottom of the phone, but also from the earpiece.

The other key feature that Samsung is talking up on the Galaxy S9 is the improved speaker setup. If you're tired of hearing sound shoot out the bottom of your phone, you'll appreciate that the top earpiece is now able to fire out sound towards your face.
These speakers have also been tuned to support Dolby Atmos sound, giving you a sense of space from the audio coming out from your phone.
Given how thin this phone is, the overall volume and quality of sound coming out of it is impressive. If anything the volume can go a little too high, and we found ourselves turning it down on occasion, despite only watching videos on social media.
The quality isn't the best on the market – there's definitely a little more punch and clarity from the iPhone X, where the Galaxy S9 is a little bit muddier – but the idea here isn't to replace a Bluetooth speaker, but rather provide a decent experience when listening to music or podcasts without earphones.

iphone x

The iPhone X is the huge leap forward that Apple's handsets needed after ten years, and it's even better in 2018 thanks to a more stable iOS 11.3 update. Aside from the original iPhone in 2007, this new iPhone is having the biggest impact on Apple’s smartphone direction ever.

Update: iPhone X has been updated to iOS 11.3, and iOS 12 will launch in beta in a few weeks at Apple's WWDC 2018 keynote. We've updated this review to note the software changes.

Apple itself is calling it the future of the smartphone, the embodiment of what it’s been trying to achieve for a decade. But while the iPhone X is all about premium parts and an all-new experience, it’s a huge gamble for the Cupertino brand too, as it tries to reclaim some leadership in smartphone innovation.

Losing known, reliable elements like the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, the home button; introducing new methods of navigating and unlocking the phone – and charging a lot more for the privilege – seems risky for a company that was already treading new ground by doing away with the traditional headphone jack last year.

But the iPhone X is the handset we’ve been demanding from Apple for years – a world away from the increasingly-tired designs that those who just want a new iPhone have had to make do with.

Watch our review the of the iPhone X's design below.

 

The fervor around this phone tells that story

y – everyone wants to know if the new iPhone X is worth having, partly because it actually represents a new iPhone, and that fervor is such that they don’t seem to care about the cost.

So… is the iPhone X worth having? Will it change the direction of an industry where many of the specs Apple has put in – fast charging, wireless charging, bezel-less displays and face recognition – are already on the market?

We've had the iPhone X in our grasp for a more than six months now, and it's easily one of the best smartphones around - but there are still a few things that might throw even long-time Apple fans.

iPhone X specs

Weight: 174g
Dimensions: 143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7 mm
OS: iOS 11
Screen size: 5.8-inch
Screen Resolution: 1125x2436
CPU: A11 Bionic
RAM: 3GB*
Storage: 64GB / 256GB
Battery: 2,716mAh*
Rear camera: 12MP+12MP (both OIS)
Front camera: 7MP
*According to Chinese filings

iPhone X price and release date

• Now available; released on November 3 worldwide
• The most expensive flagship phone on the market
• Comes in 64GB and 256GB storage sizes

It’s almost pointless to discuss the iPhone X price – it’s the most expensive flagship phone on the market, but iPhone users are more willing than most to look past cost.
But, while the focus here is going to be on the technology, we still need to at least mention the price and release date. It's out now, having launched worldwide on November 3. The price is harder to swallow.
The iPhone X costs $999 / £999 / AU$1,579 for the basic, 64GB model. If you want the larger 256GB model it’s going to cost you $1,149 / £1,149 / AU$1,829 for the privilege.
Word is that Apple said to be launching a cheaper LCD iPhone variant for 2018, what we're calling the iPhone 9 for now, as Apple looks to bring the bezel-less form factor to a lower-cost, non-OLED variant... but that's strictly rumor for now.
The initial issues with stock are now over, and you can grab the handset in a a number of ways - with the iPhone X colors pretty limited this year, and the option of two storage sizes your main choices.

Screen

• By far the best screen on an iPhone
• Clear, vibrant colors
• Notch at top slightly irks, but doesn’t get in the way

The first thing you’ll notice about the new iPhone is hard to miss: the new screen blazes into your eyes the second you pick up the handset.
The 5.8-inch OLED display is, quite simply, the best thing Apple has ever crammed into an iPhone. It’s leaps ahead of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus for so many reasons: the sharpness, the quality, the fact that it fills the whole front of the phone, and the color reproduction.
It’s also using a new, longer, screen, but while it looks larger than the iPhone 8 Plus’ 5.5-inch display on paper, it’s only marginally bigger in terms of actual screen real estate – it’s just stretched upwards, so it's taller, not wider.

The stretched screen is a completely different experience on the iPhone X

OLED technology means you’re getting deeper blacks and more blinding whites, so everything from websites to the photos you take in will look a little better.
Some will point to the fact that Samsung has been using OLED screens on its phones since the first Galaxy, but Apple counters that by saying it’s only now that the technology is good enough for its phones.
On the face of it that sounds defensive, but when you use the iPhone X you can see it’s a screen that’s incredibly, well, Apple.
It’s not the sharpest or most colorful screen on a smartphone, but it’s clean, crisp and doesn’t suffer from terrible color shifts when you move it around. It’s a great display to look at from all angles, and that’s what you want on a mobile device.
It's also been dubbed the best in the world, by the esteemed DisplayMate testing, showing that it's the brightest and more color-accurate OLED on the market and good off-centre brightness shifts - showing Apple can tune the tech from Samsung really well.
The term ‘bezel-less’ has been bandied about for the iPhone X, but that doesn’t really tell the right story. Yes, there are slight bands around the edges of the screen as this isn't a curved screen iPhone, but they don’t mar the experience – they give the fingers something to land on, preventing accidental touches of the screen.
Apple could reduce these further in the future and offer a more visually-appealing iPhone, but on the X the experience is still striking.
Talking of visual appeal, the notch at the top of the iPhone X is something that’s been divisive, and that’s fair. Apple has taken this little chunk out of the top of the screen to house the new TrueDepth camera, and it encroaches on the display. A lot newer Android phones, including the oneplus six, copy this style.
In portrait mode it’s hard to notice it’s there, and the way the notifications bar spills around it is nice.
However, place the phone in landscape mode and it’s far more noticeable; it’s an irritant when you’re watching movies, as when we wanted to expand them to fill the screen (one of the real beauties of having a longer display) elements of the action were cut out by the notch.
The longer screen is also thinner though - this means there's less real estate for typing. We didn't notice this at the start, but when flipping between the X and an older iPhone, you'll really see there's less space for your digits to tap onto.
While we’re talking about that longer screen, the 18:9 format is something we’ve seen on a number of other phones this year, and in the Android world the apps are largely encoded to fill the display just fine.
On the iPhone X, however, that’s not the case, with many apps we used packing massive black bars above and below the display. That's quickly started to improve though, and each day more apps update for the longer screen.

Native apps have a space below the keyboard where the home button would have gone

The issue with apps using the black bars is that it makes the iPhone X look like any other handset from Apple - even an iPhone 3GS – and given the screen is the main visual differentiator on this phone, and you want every app to fill the display nicely. There are now very few apps left that have these bars above and below, with most expanding the screen to fill the whole front of the phone and curve around the notch.
The new display on the iPhone X also showcases a new feature for Apple: HDR playback. The phone can show movies encoded in the HDR10 and Dolby Vision formats, and combined with the OLED display the images offer so much more depth and realistic color reproduction.
If you’re watching a scene with explosions in it, the effect is incredible on the iPhone X – much like with all OLED screens.
However, it’s inherently harder to make out detail in darker scenes in HDR movies – that’s something you’ll need to adjust to.
Compared to the LCD screen of the iPhone 8 Plus, there are times when you can see less of the action, but compare them side by side and you’ll see that the overall richness, depth and quality for watching movies is just higher on the iPhone X.
Like the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, the X uses a True Tone display, which mimics the lighting conditions around it and will adjust the white balance accordingly. It’s not a reason to buy the phone on its own, but it’s a really premium little extra

nintendo switch review

Hardware

No doubt about it, the Switch is unlike any system we've seen before. It's both a powerful portable device and a capable home console when connected to your TV. The ability to easily swap between different modes just by dropping the system into its dock is what makes it truly special. Nintendo doubled down on the Wii U's best feature: being able to play games entirely away from your TV. But unlike that console, which relied on a clunky Fisher Price–esque gamepad, the Switch is a lot more refined. And, thankfully, you don't need to worry about staying within wireless range of it either.
             

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At its core, the Switch is basically just a very powerful tablet. It's driven by a custom version of NVIDIA's Tegra X1 chip, which also sits at the heart of that company's Shield set-top box. In fact, Nintendo's system is also reminiscent of NVIDIA's Shield tablet, an earlier stab at combining portable and home gaming. The Switch is much beefier than a typical slate, though, measuring around 15.2 millimeters thick. It also features a 6.2-inch 720p display -- a huge improvement over the Wii U's low-resolution screen. And even though it's made entirely out of plastic, it feels sturdy enough to survive a few drops.
Aside from the usual power button, volume controls and headphone jack on the top of the tablet, the Switch also has a USB-C port on the bottom for charging. It's definitely nice to see Nintendo finally give up on proprietary charging cables. There's also a slot for game cards on top, a kickstand around back, and a microSD card slot nestled underneath the kickstand. The console ships with 32GB of internal storage, but it's helpful to be able to upgrade that easily.
Yes, Nintendo decided to forgo optical media with the Switch. The game cards it relies on look similar to the cartridges used on the Nintendo 3DS and DS. While it seems like a throwback, using game cards makes a lot of sense today. They don't skip like optical media (which is important for a portable device), they load data faster than discs, and they can also store a lot more than they used to.

It wouldn't be a new Nintendo console without unique gamepads, and the Switch's Joy-Con controllers certainly fit the bill. They resemble two miniaturized gamepads; both feature an analog stick, four face buttons, two top buttons and another two buttons on the sides. There are a few differences, though. The left Joy-Con has a minus button and one for taking screenshots. The right Joy-Con, meanwhile, has a plus button and another one for quickly returning to the home screen.
Sliding on the included Joy-Con Strap accessories makes their buttons easier to hit, and gives you some helpful ways to secure the controllers when you're playing a game that uses motion controllers. And, as you've probably seen from Nintendo's Switch promotional videos, you can also hold the Joy-Con controllers horizontally to use them as tiny gamepads. While it's not exactly an ideal way to play modern games, it lets you bring in a friend for head-to-head battles in titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
In many ways, the Switch is defined by how you're using the Joy-Con gamepads with the tablet. Slide them onto the side of the Switch and you've got a game system you can take anywhere. You can also pop out the kickstand, place the Switch on a table, and hold the controllers in each hand. But once you dock the tablet and slide the controllers onto the included Joy-Con Grip accessory, you're dealing with something that's more like a traditional console.
The system's dock is mostly just a slab of plastic for charging the Switch. It has power, HDMI and USB 3.0 connections on the back, and there's a useful flap for routing your cables neatly. There are also two additional USB ports on the side, which could be useful for charging controllers and low-bandwidth peripherals. While it's fairly plain-looking on its own, the dock looks attractive when the Switch is in place. And, thankfully, Nintendo made it easy to drop the console into the dock. I never had an issue with the Switch getting misaligned, and I'd imagine it wouldn't be a problem for kids either.

As a portable console

While it might look hefty, the Switch is actually lightweight and easy to hold with two hands. It's definitely a bit awkward to hold one-handed with the Joy-Con controllers attached, but that's not something you'll be doing much. Most important, it feels light-years beyond the Wii U's clunky gamepad, which in retrospect was little more than a prototype for the Switch. Whenever I handed the console over to someone, they immediately remarked on how light and balanced it felt.
The Switch's screen is bold and sharp -- for the most part. It worked best indoors and on cloudy days. But once there was a hint of sun in the sky, it was a lot harder to see anything on the screen. And yes, I made sure to turn off automatic screen adjustments and crank the brightness all the way up. Even when the screen was bright enough, its high reflectivity often got in the way. Compared with the displays we're seeing on modern phones and tablets today, the Switch is noticeably inferior.
While it's easy to hold, the Switch isn't exactly pocket friendly. It'll stick out of most pants and jacket pockets, thanks to its extra-wide frame. This is definitely the sort of gadget that you'll need a bag to transport. I'd also recommend snapping up a case to protect the screen.
I tested The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for most of this review, and at the last minute I received Super Bomberman R. Zelda performed well; it's certainly a lot smoother than other games I've seen running on NVIDIA's X1-powered hardware. In particular, Zelda's stylized graphics also do a fine job of showing off the Switch's screen indoors. Super Bomberman R, meanwhile, is ... Bomberman. It's not that different from other games in the series, and it doesn't do much to show off the Switch's capabilities.
I had no trouble playing Zelda for hours on end in the Switch's portable mode. The Joy-Con controllers are well suited to mobile play, since they're not very large. All of the controller's buttons offer a decent amount of feedback, though you can only expect so much from small buttons. Sure, I miss having a traditional directional pad on the left side of the console, but I'll gladly forgo that for the ability to turn the Joy-Cons into two tiny gamepads. The latter feature isn't very helpful in Zelda, but it will be in future games like 1-2 Switch and Snipperclips.

As you'd expect, battery life is the Switch's biggest portable problem. I was able to play Zelda for only around two and a half hours before I needed to recharge. Nintendo claims less demanding games might last for up to six hours, but I'll take that figure with a grain of salt, since the company previously said Zelda would get around three hours of battery life. Clearly, it's not the sort of device you'd want to take on a long trip without a power adapter or backup battery.
Since it charges via a USB-C port, though, you should be able to juice up easily with typical battery packs in sleep mode. (Hooray for interoperable standards!) You might have trouble charging from some sources while playing Zelda, since the system would technically be using more power than it takes in.
It was a unique experience playing Zelda in the Switch's tabletop mode (with the kickstand out), though it's clearly not an ideal way to play the game. It's far more immersive when you're actually holding the Switch in your hands. That kickstand, by the way, is easily the flimsiest component of the entire system. It's just a thin piece of plastic, and I often felt like I'd rip it out of the system whenever I used it. At least Nintendo recognizes it could be a problem: The company points out that you can simply pop it back in the Switch if it falls out. Still, that's a component that might not last too long in the hands of unruly kids.

As a home console

The Switch feels much more familiar when it's docked to a TV. As soon as you slip the Joy-Cons into the Grip accessory, there really isn't a huge difference between the Switch and Nintendo's previous consoles. As a former Gamecube owner, I also felt a bit of nostalgia holding the Joy-Con Grip. It's similar to Nintendo's excellent Wavebird controller in your hands, even if the two gamepads don't look much alike.
Naturally, Breath of the Wild is a much more epic experience on a large television. The game simply looks great, with long draw distances, spectacular lighting effects and detailed characters. I lost count of the number of times I set the controller down just to take in Zelda's detailed environments. In particular, I loved the way sunlight and clouds slowly rolled over the game's expansive environments. Zelda had some performance issues when the screen was filled with enemies and lots of action, but it wasn't anything game-stopping. It's not really news that the Switch's graphical capabilities aren't competitive against the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One -- that's not the market Nintendo is aiming for.
The Joy-Con Grip held up through hours of playtime, though the smaller buttons on the controllers were irritating during longer play sessions. And, strangely enough, you can't charge the Joy-Cons from the Grip; you have to reconnect them to the docked Switch to do so. If you want to refuel while playing a game, you'll have to shell out another $30 for the Charge Grip accessory, which includes a USB-C port on the top of the gamepad.

While the Joy-Cons should technically last for round 20 hours of playtime (I never noticed them losing much charge), it's still baffling that Nintendo is making you pay extra for the privilege of a USB-C port. And despite its name, the Grip Charge doesn't have any sort of built-in battery to recharge the Joy-Cons either.
Nintendo's Switch Pro controller is a solid alternative for gamers looking for a more traditional gamepad, but at $70 it's surprisingly pricey. It's the only Switch controller with a directional pad, which makes it a must-have if you're into fighting games. It wasn't long before I started favoring the Pro controller while playing Zelda, though I noticed some build-quality issues after a few hours. The controller's right analog stick stopped rotating smoothly and feels a bit rough in certain spots now. That's the sort of thing that a warranty would cover, but hopefully it's not a widespread problem.

One surprising issue: There's currently no way to get wireless audio from the Switch when it's docked. That's practically a standard feature in consoles today -- even the Wii U! -- and its absence could pose a problem for anyone who wants to game at night without disturbing their housemates. There's a chance that you'll be able to get wireless audio from the upcoming Switch mobile app, but Nintendo hasn't commented on that yet.

A familiar eShop and friend network

The Switch's day-one update adds a slew of new features that I couldn't test in my initial review. Most importantly, it gives you access to the Switch's eShop, where you can actually download new games. If you've used Nintendo's online stores on the 3DS, Wii U or Wii, you won't notice any significant changes. It shows off recently added games (only nine are available at the moment), and it lets you keep an eye on upcoming titles. And yes, if you have money sitting on a Wii U or 3DS online account, you'll be able to transfer it to the Switch eShop when you first sign in.
Similarly, the Switch's friend list looks very familiar -- right down to the resurrection of the dreaded friend code. Luckily, that's not the only way to add multiplayer buddies: You can also choose from people near your Switch, or folks you've played online. There's not much you can do with the friend list right now, but it will be the central piece of Nintendo's upcoming mobile app, which lets you chat with your buddies.

Questions remain

As much as I loved the Switch's ability to let me game just about anywhere, there's still a lot that's up in the air. Nintendo's multiplayer network is free for Switch owners until the fall, for example, but we don't know how much it'll cost after that. At this point, all we've learned is that it will rely on a smartphone app and could potentially cost between $20 and $30 a year. You'll also have to wait until who knows when to play Virtual Console titles on the Switch.

Additionally, I didn't have a chance to review the Switch's newer gaming experiences ahead of its launch, like the unique 1-2 Switch minigame collection . I've enjoyed what I've played of that game from preview events, but it would have been nice to actually test it at home. Nintendo's slim launch lineup doesn't inspire much hope either. Aside from Zelda, there aren't any must-have titles, though I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Arms, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Splatoon 2 later this year.
Clearly, Nintendo was in a bit of a rush to launch the Switch. That's a shame, because it's tough, as a reviewer, to completely weigh in on a system that's not quite finished. It's also particularly worrying after the failure of the Wii U, a console that launched with a series of baffling issues as well. If Nintendo wants to make shoppers more confident about its abilities to launch new hardware and networking capabilities, this isn't a good start. We'll update this review once we get a chance to test more games and features.

The competition

While the Switch technically competes with all of the other consoles on the market, it's clear that Nintendo isn't trying to take them on head-on. Instead, like with the Wii, it's offering an alternative experience. Sure, you can get luscious 4K graphics on other consoles, but when did you last go head-to-head with a friend in Mario Kart?
Still, the Switch is $300, so if you have a limited budget for gaming, you might be better off with the PlayStation 4 Slim or Xbox One S. Those consoles cost the same but have far more robust libraries and multiplayer networking features. And while Nintendo claims the Switch doesn't mean it's giving up on the 3DS, it's not hard to imagine that having a more powerful portable console on the market could eat into that system's sales.

Wrap-up

My big takeaway from the Switch: Nintendo has figured out how to innovate once again. It's clearly different from other consoles, and it does plenty of new things that gamers might appreciate. But the system's battery life, outdoor screen performance and unknown networking capabilities have me worried. Nintendo has wowed us again, but it still has a long way to go to prove that the Switch isn't another Wii U