Page 28 - Computeractive - January 2, 2018 UK

R e v i e w s

PHONE ❘ £200 from A ppliances Direct www.snipca.com/26158

MotorolaMot o G5S

Third t ime l ucky?

If at first you d on’t succeed, a s t he saying 5.2in s creen s ize a s t he Plus. Th e
goes, k eep l aunching different v ersions screen itself i s b etter, with high
of the s ame p hone. M otorola’s M oto G 5 brightness a nd contrast levels,
(see our r eview , Issue 5 00) w as a although colour a ccuracy i s s till
disappointing successor to the e xcellent a b it off. B elow i t i s a v ery f ast
G4. The G5 Plus (see Issue 5 01) w as better fingerprint reader, w ith a n NFC
but more expensive; and n ow the G 5S chip for c ontactless p ayment,
tries again t o h it the h appy medium. and o n t he back i s a h igher-
At the o fficial £ 219 i t’s o nly j ust g ood resolution camera, which g ave u s
enough, b ut if you c an find i t d iscounted startlingly g ood results for a b udget
to £200 or less, this model is well phone – o nly l etting us down in low l ight. VERDICT: The G5S feels like a v ery
worth considering. The front s elfie camera i s j ust O K. decent phone for 2 00 quid, with no
Instead of the G 5’s plastic chassis a nd Android 7.1.1 is installed, with a f ree major flaws. I t d oes, however, have a l ot
aluminium b ack, the G 5S is a p roper upgrade t o 8 .0 ‘Oreo’ coming soon, b ut of competition in this p rice b racket
aluminium unibody and f eels much more performance is still average f or the p rice. ★★★★☆
upmarket, w ith t he same slightly l arger Despite a l arger b attery, t he G5S lasted
only a f ew minutes o ver 1 2 h ours in our ALTERNATIVE: Huawei H onor
SPECIFICATIONS video-playback t est, beating t he V o dafone 6X £200 This s lightly larger
5.2in 1 920x1080-pixel s creen •• 16-megapixel Smart V 8 b ut well short o f t he Samsung phone is more p lasticky b ut
rear camera •• 5-megapixel f ront camera •• 32GB Galaxy J5. Still, i t w ill be enough for has similar specs and a g ood
flash storage •• MicroSD c ard s lot •• 802.11ac W i-Fi ••
Bluetooth 4.2 •• 3G/4G •• 150x73.5x9.5mm ( HxWxD) most people, and a ll round t he G5S is dual rear camera
• • 157g •• One-year w arranty www.snipca.com/26160 not a b ad deal at all.

SMART W A T CH ❘ £329 from A pple www.snipca.com/26157
AppleW a t c h S eries3

Everything at hand

This t hird version of Apple’s W atch is the fi rst t ime, it’s waterproof, s o y ou can
hardly any d ifferent o n t he outside wear it swimming and i t’ll track y our
except for a r ed insert in the s ide knob lengths a nd heart r ate, although it lacks
(or C rown) t o l et everyone know you’ve advanced o ptions like s troke d etection
bought t he latest version. B ut on the – a vailable on specialised fitness bands.
inside the h ardware a nd software have The other b ig innovation is built-in 4G,
been u pdated, w ith w atchOS 4 ( also which l ets you c onnect t o t he internet
available for o lder m odels) bringing S iri when you d on’t have your iPhone.
voice a ssistance, i mproved h ealth a nd With GPS already a dded, this makes VERDICT: It’s only for i Phone users,
fitness apps, a nd GymKit, w hich c onnects the W atch a f ully s tandalone d evice, but this i s a s g ood as smart watches
to compatible gym e quipment. but you s till need an iPhone to make it get right now, and t he ability t o w ear i t
Fitness i s i ncreasingly t he focus, although work, a nd if you o pt for 4 G b oth m ust underwater is a g reat leap forward
the W atch is also good for n otifying you be on the E E n etwork. ★★★★☆
about incoming messages and l etting you The Series 3 s tarts a t £ 399 with 4G
take phone calls and r eply t o t ext m essages or £329 without, w ith p rices rising – ALTERNATIVE: Huawei W atch 2
without having to get y our p hone out. F or depending o n s ize ( 38mm or 42mm Sport £329 It’s not f ully
strap), colour, strap a nd finish t o w ell waterproof a nd the b etter-
SPECIFICATIONS over a g rand. Th e S eries 1 ( a s lightly looking Classic version is pricey,
Retina A MOLED t ouchscreen •• Heart-rate m onitor •• upgraded version of the o riginal m odel but with GPS a nd optional 4 G
GPS •• Optional 4 G • • Fits 135-210mm wrist s ize ••
One-year w arranty •• Requires iPhone 5s or higher without GPS or 4G) is still available this i s t he nearest Android rival
(6 for 4 G) with iOS 1 1 www.snipca.com/16795 from £249.

28 20 December 2017 – 2 J anuary 2018