Category: First Impressions

Hands-on with the Realme X3 SuperZoom, coming to UK for £470 (plus other stuff too)

Published date May 26, 2020

Realme’s latest launch is the X3 SuperZoom. As the name suggests, it boasts a premium camera experience at a very affordable pricepoint.

Huawei Mate Xs Hands-On: The true folding pro?

Published date February 24, 2020

Amongst a series of announcements from Huawei in Barcelona this morning, the Mate Xs was perhaps the most exciting. I’ll be covering the other new announcements later (there’s a new…

Motorola Razr Hands-On: You know it’s expensive. You still want one. [Updated for pricing]

Published date December 18, 2019

Yesterday I got a chance to have a play with the Motorola Razr built for a new generation, featuring an exceptional folding display. With pricing rumoured to be upwards of…

Honor Magic Watch 2: the Huawei Watch GT 2 on a budget

Published date November 26, 2019

Honor has today launched its own version of the Huawei Watch GT 2, and with the promise of a highly competitive price, it is arguably the better buy. Powered by…

Hands-on with the Cosmo Communicator; virtually ready to ship to original backers

Published date October 4, 2019

At the start of this year, Planet Computers (the company behind the Gemini PDA) showed off a prototype of its second-generation portable computing device that uses the classic Psion keyboard…

Huawei P30 Pro Hands-On: Huawei’s claim of rewriting the rules of photography is an understatement

Published date March 26, 2019

Huawei has today launched the P30 Pro, a handset that the company claims will rewrite the rules of photography. Is this merely the standard hype for a phone launch we’ve…

Xiaomi’s no-nonsense, no-notch, no-hole, Mi Mix 3 is coming to the UK in the new year

Published date December 12, 2018

Xiaomi’s Mi Mix 3, with its totally full-screen sliding display, is coming to the UK in the new year. By utilising a slide-up design to reveal the selfie camera(s), the…

Did I forget to mention the other stuff Huawei announced yesterday? Here’s a catch-up of the other Mate 20 phones and wearables

Published date October 17, 2018

I have no qualms about saying the main product of interest to me, and likely you, at Huawei’s Mate 20 Series launch event yesterday was the announcement of the Mate…

Hands-on with the new Huawei Mate 20 Pro and the Huawei Watch GT

Published date October 16, 2018

So many new phones end up being evolutionary than revolutionary, that it becomes a welcome surprise when a company brings something new to the table. In the case of the…

Nokia aims to shake up the midrange market with the high-performing Nokia 7.1

Published date October 5, 2018

As flagship phones get increasingly expensive, there’s an ever-growing market in the mid-range for affordable, but still well-performing, smartphones. Today Nokia launched the Nokia 7.1, a sub-£300 (£299) Android phone…

Honor Play: An affordable gaming phone that’s also a great smartphone for anyone

Published date August 25, 2018

Honor has been building phones for almost everyone, but did it have one especially for gamers? Well, it does now! The Honor Play is Honor’s latest offering that aims to…

Galaxy Note 9, Tab S4 and Watch: Hands-on with the latest additions to Samsung’s family

Published date August 11, 2018

Yesterday at a lavish event in New York, Samsung unveiled the new Galaxy Note 9, along with the Galaxy Watch and a new Bixby-powered Galaxy Home speaker. Earlier it had…

Huawei P20 Series Launch: P20 Pro changes the game for mobile photography

Published date March 27, 2018

Today in Paris, Huawei unveiled three new P-Series smartphones; the P20 Lite, P20 and P20 Pro. For reasons you’ll discover soon, I am concentrating my attention on the P20 Pro….

Hands-on with the Honor 9 Lite

Published date February 6, 2018

A short hands-on with the Honor 9 Lite, and some first impressions of the new ‘affordable premium’ phone.

Honor UK Launch Event: Affordable 7X and flagship View 10 unveiled

Published date December 5, 2017

Honor invited me to see the launch of two exciting new smartphones just in time for Christmas. Check out the Honor 7X and View 10.

Gemini PDA: 20 years on, meet the all new Psion Series 5

Published date November 29, 2017

I knew that having been in the game for so long would pay off eventually, as I finally got a hands-on with a device I’ve longed to see for almost…

Huawei Mate 10 Pro Hands-on: First impressions of Huawei’s brand new flagship

Published date October 16, 2017

I’ve seen the future, and it’s not a smartphone! At least that’s the marketing that Huawei will be using to sell the brand new Mate 10 handsets announced today. In…

Vodafone launches the Smart V8, the spiritual successor to the Smart Ultra 6

Published date June 27, 2017

As part of Vodafone’s 2017 collection of own-brand smartphones and tablets, the network has today announced the Smart V8 as its new flagship. At a recent event I got one…