PC Pro的December 2023目录

Like many PC Pro readers, I suspect, I love a drop of science fiction. Particularly when I want to remove my mind from what’s happening in the world and transport it to a different point in the space-time continuum. Isaac Asimov remains one of my favourite sci-fi authors, and on impulse a couple of weeks ago I bought a compendium of his robot stories on my Kindle. Unfortunately, rather than transporting me from my everyday life, the book merely echoes it. While the word “robots” may conjure up images of metal humanoids performing dangerous duties, several of Asimov’s meatier stories revolve around the Brain – an all-knowing sentient computer that can see things mere humans cannot. You can put forward an argument that we already have various Brains in today’s…

It isn’t only drones and satellite broadband that are changing the face of warfare (see p12), but the faces fighting wars are changing, too. That’s why the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has published a new set of rules laying down the law to civilian hackers participating in cyberconflicts. “Today, it’s sometimes said people are only one click away from conflict,” said Tilman Rodenhäuser, a legal advisor at the ICRC. “You no longer need to go to a country at war in order to participate in hostilities in a way. The cyber environment, for someone with the right skills, has really made it much easier to cause an impact in a country already devastated by war.” Designed by Rodenhäuser and his colleague Mauro Vignati, an advisor on digital…

PREMIUM LAPTOPS Apple MacBook Pro 16in M2 Pro power from £2,699 from apple.com/uk All the upgrades to this 2023 model are within, as Apple’s M2 Pro and M2 Max processors take charge. Combine this power with the 16.2in mini-LED screen, superb sound system and phenomenal battery life, and you have the world’s premier workstation laptop. REVIEW Issue 342, p48 ALTERNATIVES Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304) The perfect 13in laptop? At 1kg, it packs power along with 1TB of storage, a top-quality OLED panel and superb battery life. £1,600 from uk.store.asus.com REVIEW Issue 348, p58 Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra Samsung packs everything into this 16in laptop, from a superb AMOLED panel and a slim 1.8kg chassis to a Core i9 CPU and RTX 4070 graphics. Expensive but top quality. From…

Barry Collins is a former editor of PC Pro and doesn’t miss the days of hanging out of a bedroom window to catch a passing 3G signal. X@bazzacollins About 15 years ago, I woke up to a hissing sound. I’m used to people hissing when I’m talking, but when I’m sleeping? That was new. I spent a bleary-eyed 15 minutes wandering around my newly bought home, trying to work out where the noise was coming from. Eventually I tracked it down to the hot-water tank, where a small jet of water was soaking the assorted bed linen, odd socks and Christmas decorations that are kept in airing cupboards by law. It was a bank holiday weekend, so after the plumber had worked out precisely how much extra he was going…

Part 2: Creating graphical interfaces Two months ago (see issue 349, p44) we introduced the free edition of Microsoft Visual Studio, and walked you through setting up your first program in Visual Basic. What we didn’t touch on is the aspect of Microsoft’s IDE that makes it “visual” and sets it apart from many other development environments – namely, the ability to create rich graphical interfaces for your programs. In fact, that undersells just how powerful the package is. Visual Studio isn’t just about adding buttons and menus to your code: it allows you to design the GUI first, and then slot in event-driven code to make each element work – a wonderfully intuitive and efficient workflow. To showcase just how easy it can be, this month we’ll walk through…

SCORE PRICE Core i3, £333 (£400 inc VAT) from currys.co.uk In the tsunami of tech news in October, you could be forgiven for missing Google introducing its Chromebook Plus branding. The idea is to set a bare minimum level of specs – 12th gen Intel Core processors or the AMD equivalent, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and a Full HD screen – so that if people see a Chromebook Plus logo they know the laptop will be fast. Asus, HP and Lenovo updated existing laptops with the Chromebook Plus branding, but Acer refreshed its existing Chromebook 514 and 515 lineup with 13th generation Core chips, plus 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. I’ve tested both UK versions of the Plus 515 for this review, with the sole difference…

SCORE PRICE £354 (£425 inc VAT) from scan.co.uk The Intel Core i7-14700K is the workhorse CPU in Intel’s 14th generation and, like any good workhorse, it needs to do some heavy lifting. Fortunately it’s more than capable of that on two counts: first for the demanding workloads it’s designed for, and second to prevent Intel’s Raptor Lake Refresh from being completely forgettable. For a start, it’s the only processor of the three to get a substantive upgrade to its specifications. Rather than the eight performance and eight efficiency cores (P-cores and E-cores) of the i7-13700K, the i7-14700K comes with eight P-cores and 12 E-cores, all running with a slightly higher turbo boost clock for extra performance. The i7-14700K also includes Intel’s Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0. That’s a mouthful, but…

Upgrade to Windows 11 Pro for just £49.99 pcpro.link/win11upgrade If you’re using Windows 11 Home but fancy switching to Professional, we have great news. Not only is it a steal at £49.99, but it’s incredibly simple to do. Upgrading is a matter of typing “Change product key” and then entering your new Pro licence key into the dialog box. Windows will then update, reboot, and you’ll have a fully activated Windows 11 Pro. Within minutes, you’ll have access to extra business functionality: enhanced BitLocker encryption, remote logins and more. Perhaps best of all, you create and host virtual machines using Hyper-V, which is ideal for testing new software or, if you’re a developer, checking how your software performs on other OSes. Windows 11 Pro also enables you to quickly connect…

SCORE PRICE £58 (£70 inc VAT) from logitech.com When Logitech touted its new keyboard, the Wave Keys, as an ergonomic wonder I was sceptical. After all, how could a simple wave design and a wrist mat make typing more comfortable? But I was wrong. From the moment I placed my hands on the keyboard, I was struck by at how comfortable and natural it felt. The wave design conforms to how you naturally rest your wrists and hands, while the wrist rest is made from three layers of memory foam to give a heavenly combination of comfort and firmness. No wonder United States Ergonomics gave it the “stamp of approval”. As the price gives away, this is a membrane rather than mechanical keyboard. The keys have a satisfying clacking sound…

SCORE PRICE £1,333 (£1,599 inc VAT) from oneplus.com The OnePlus Open is a wake-up call. After spending almost three weeks capturing portrait photos with its Hasselblad cameras and learning to love its Open Canvas multitasking, I’m astonished by what OnePlus has achieved with its first ever foldable. It took Samsung five tries to incorporate a gapless hinge design as it finally did with the Galaxy Z Fold5 (see issue 349, p68); the OnePlus Open does that and so much more in one fell swoop. Price is on its side’ too. At £1,599, it costs £150 less than both the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Google Pixel Fold (see issue 348, p44). You can claim £100 off if you sign up to OnePlus’ newsletter, too. Then consider that the Open ships with…

SCORE PRICE 128GB, £749 (£899 inc VAT) from apple.com It’s been years since I’ve opted to use one of the standard iPhones as my main driver, and for good reason. But this year it’s different and throughout my iPhone 15 Plus review process, I’ve realised it’s more than equipped to handle what I want in a day-to-day phone: long battery life, smooth performance and a killer 48MP camera that can compete with the sluggers in the space. The iPhone 15 Plus ticks all the boxes, which is no easy feat when I’ve been spoiled by other flagship phones. I think most people will be delighted by the iPhone 15 Plus, assuming they like larger screens. I still find the iPhone 15 Plus a little unwieldy to use one-handed, but at…

SCORE PRICE 41mm, £333 (£399 inc VAT) from apple.com Apple Watch updates tend to be incremental: Apple got most things right with the original design, and since then it wisely hasn’t tinkered too much with the formula. Thus the new Apple Watch Series 9 comes in the usual choice of two sizes (41mm and 45mm), with the familiar rotating digital crown, side button, and tiny microphone and speaker. This edition does introduce hardware changes. The screen now goes up to a searing 2,000cd/m2 – twice the maximum brightness of the Series 8 – so you can easily read it even in the brightest sunlight. The assembly process has been updated, too. Apple proudly advertises that the Watch is now carbon-neutral, thanks to a combination of recycled manufacturing materials and energy…

SCORE PRICE £291 (£349 inc VAT) from store.google.com Google’s first Pixel Watch was a respectable attempt at making a Fitbit-style wearable for Pixel phone owners; with the Pixel Watch 2, the platform is starting to find a distinctive identity, with a spread of enhancements that make it a challenger to Samsung’s Galaxy Watch range. At first glance, the Watch 2 looks identical to its predecessor. It’s still only available in a 41mm size, and the large bezel area around the screen remains. This feels like wasted space. Still, a trio of colour options – Matte Black, Polished Silver and Champagne Gold — and a new range of straps give you more scope to make the watch your own. The Pixel Watch 2 sits lighter on the wrist, too: the chassis…

Testing smart home products to see what they do is about having the right kind of kit to test them with. For that reason, our “test home” is full of smart home products. For day-to-day control we have HomePods, Echo speakers and Google Assistant smart speakers. We also have SmartThings running with an Aeotec hub providing Zigbee, Z-Wave and Matter devices. In addition, we run multiple heating systems (Drayton Wiser, Nest and Honeywell Evohome), and we run both Abode and Ring Alarm security systems. We have Philips Hue and WiZ smart lights, plus access to other Zigbee smart lights. There’s more. We run smart locks from Yale and Nuki, plus we have a range of Matter-enabled products, including Nanoleaf bulbs, SwitchBot Blind Tilt (smart blind controllers) and some smart plugs.…

SCORE FROM home.google.com/intl/en_uk/welcome Google Home is the app that ties the smart home in with the Google Assistant, including smart speakers and displays, such as the Nest Hub. It all works in a very similar way to Amazon Alexa, but while Google has been working on the app and tech behind it to make it easier to use, there are still a few things that hold it back. As you would expect, Google Home allows you to add devices to your system. As with Alexa, this is mostly achieved by logging into third-party accounts, with Google Home pulling in all connected devices. While Alexa still has the lead for device compatibility, Google Home isn’t too far behind. When Matter was first launched, Google decided to give this feature only to…

SCORE FROM smartthings.com SmartThings started life as the original smart home automation platform, built to make it possible to control devices from multiple manufacturers. However, the system really took off when Samsung bought it. Today, we’re at the point where SmartThings is both the default home for Samsung products, ranging from fridges and washing machines to TVs, as well as a powerful automation app in its own right. SmartThings is capable of running entirely in the cloud, but there’s also the Aeotec SmartThings Hub available (£100 from Amazon). Buy this, and you can directly add Zigbee and Z-Wave devices, plus Matter devices, including Thread devices. Depending on what you want to achieve, the Hub can be a good add-on. Most devices are added to SmartThings using cloud connections, much like…

SCORE PRICE £33 (£40 inc VAT) from amazon.co.uk When it first launched, the Eve Energy was an Apple-only product, connecting via Bluetooth or Thread. Today, thanks to a firmware update, Eve Energy is now Matter-certified so it will work with any Matter Controller provided there’s a Thread border router nearby. That undoubtedly widens the capabilities of the product, although to get the full feature set you still need an iPhone. Also, if you buy the version that has Matter pre-installed, you can hook this plug up to any compatible system; if you buy the older version, then it can only be installed via iOS and then upgraded to Matter. Small enough to plug into a double socket without obscuring the neighbouring socket, the Eve Energy is versatile. It has a…

SCORE PRICE Two-pack, £33 (£39 inc VAT) from shop.meross.com Available as a twin pack, the Meross Matter Smart Wi-Fi Plug with Energy Monitor plugs (part code MSS315) are remarkably good value considering that they can monitor energy usage and are also Matter-compatible. Rather than using Thread, which is still unsupported in most homes, Meross uses standard Wi-Fi. Regardless of which smart home system you use, you can use this plug to its best with direct control from any Matter controller; pretty much every smart speaker and smart home hub will work as a controller. We connected our test smart plug to HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings with no problems. This small plug doesn’t occupy much space, so it won’t obscure a second plug in a double socket. For…

SCORE PRICE £22 (£26 inc VAT) from amazon.co.uk The Philips Hue Smart Plug is different to the other smart plugs we’ve reviewed in that it’s built to integrate into the Hue ecosystem. It will work over Bluetooth, for limited and local control, but it works far better with a Hue Bridge over Zigbee. This increases the range, turns on out-of-home control and opens up compatibility, so the plug works with HomeKit, SmartThings, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and more. This wide-ranging compatibility is good to see, but the Philips Hue Smart Plug is more expensive than the Meross plugs, which have similar levels of compatibility. (Although Philips has just added a Matter update, this doesn’t support adaptive lighting, but is faster than cloud-based integrations such as Alexa.) Instead, what makes this…

There’s a famous XKCD comic strip (see below) that talks about how standards proliferate, with the issue of multiple competing standards calling for one overarching standard that covers everything; the end result is that there’s now one more standard to confuse things. That, as ever, remains true with the smart home and Matter. I’ve been reviewing smart home kit for many years, and my home is a conflicting mess of smart speakers, hubs and devices that struggle to talk to each other. Take this simple example. I have an office in the garden, with double doors, both controlled by different smart locks. I have smart plugs inside – one that controls the monitor, webcam and printer, and another that controls my Sonos system. I have smart lights from Philips Hue,…

SCORE PRICE 50 devices, 3 years, £3,835 exc VAT from eset.com Eset Protect is a versatile endpoint protection solution, and it can be run either on-premises or in the cloud. That said, Eset’s focus is clearly on the latter, and it makes more sense for SMBs as Protect Cloud is easier to deploy and doesn’t need a dedicated hosting server. The product is available in four versions. Entry delivers a cloud console and protection services for workstations, servers and mobiles, while the Advanced version on review adds full disk encryption and advanced protection against zero-day threats with cloud sandboxing. Mail and MS365 protection appear in the Complete version but endpoint detection and response (EDR) is available only in the top-of-the-line Elite enterprise option. Installation is simple. After creating our cloud…

SCORE PRICE £649 exc VAT from cmwltd.co.uk EnGenius’ ESG gateway appliances complete the circle for its cloud platform. You can use them to front your network as well as manage WAN redundancy, firewall and VPN services along with all your other EnGenius network products from one portal. The family comprises four models and, in this review, we look at the entry-level ESG510. With a price of £649, the ESG510 costs nearly six times as much as TP-Link’s TL-ER7206 multi-WAN VPN router but is a lot more powerful. This fan-less desktop appliance is powered by a quad-core 1.6GHz CPU partnered by 4GB of 2,133MHz DDR4 memory plus 8GB of flash storage, while all four network ports are the 2.5GbE multi-gigabit variety. Even better, the fourth port delivers PoE+ power so it’s…

It was the siren call of the USB-C plug that did it. My trusty iPhone 13 Pro Max has been replaced by a new 15 Pro Max, but I sit here somewhat underwhelmed. Maybe it was the lure of New Shiny that clouded my judgement, or the thought that the USB-C port would be so much better than the older Lightning port. That’s despite me finding the older port to be perfectly useful in day-today operation. There are things I like, including the new camera technology. I’m intrigued by the multi-prismatic lens, while the ability to record in stereo depth using the two lenses side by side in portrait mode is fascinating to a nerd like me. This will come into its own next year when the Vision Pro arrives.…

There are those in the marketing world who seem quite irritated at the need to seek someone’s consent before bombarding them with unwanted emails. Or, rather, the need to check that the emails are not actually unwanted. On the other hand, there are those who have fully bought in to consent-seeking, and remain unconvinced when I suggest that, in a lot of cases, there are alternatives to consent for sending marketing communications. Before the GDPR came into effect in May 2018, there was widespread panic about new requirements to get consent for marketing activities. This was confusing for someone like me who had actually read the GDPR, and was also familiar with marketing rules under PECR (Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003), which remained largely unchanged. New rules…

Elsewhere in this issue you can find my confessions surrounding the use of enterprise-grade hardware in smaller businesses (see p102). Here I’m going to turn that whole idea on its head, and look at the use of consumer-grade gear in business. After all, no less eminent a commentator than Joe Baguley, then CTO of VMware in Europe, observed that it’s consumer kit rather than enterprise that’s expected to run for decades, 24/7. Enterprises can hot-swap entire data centres; your local greengrocer can’t live for so much as a day without its internet router. I was put in mind of this topsy-turvy view of priorities by a refreshing bout of banging my head on the desk in frustration, right in the middle of the hottest part of the summer. I swear,…

PLUS OFFERS ON BINDERS, GUIDES & SPECIALS See the entire range online at MAGAZINESDIRECT.COM/WINTER23 or phone 0330 333 1113 Outside of the UK? See our international offers online Offer closes 31st December 2023. Offer open to new subscribers only. Direct Debit offer is available to UK subscribers only. We will notify you in advance of any price changes. All gift subscriptions will start with the first available issue on-sale after December 2023. If you would like your gift subscription to start with an earlier issue, you can choose an earlier issue when ordering or you can contact customer services. Orders purchased for yourself will start with the next available issue - please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery (up to 8 weeks outside of the UK). Payment is non-refundable…

Lee Grant When laptops go wrong it’s tempting to retire them or opt for an expensive repair, but Lee finds a way to fix one errant machine for a mere six pence. Find out how from p111. Barry Collins Barry isn’t against the idea of giving houses a performance rating for their broadband and mobile data connectivity, but begs Ofcom, please, to make it meaningful. See p22 for why. Olivia Whitcroft There’s a whole lot of confusion about direct marketing, email in particular; our IP and data protection expert Olivia explains what you can and can’t do from p114. David Ludlow Arguably the foremost expert on smart homes in the UK, David explains what each of the main six systems have to offer – and reviews a bundle of smart…

If someone had asked you early last year to predict the key figures in a hypothetical war between Russia and Ukraine, you probably wouldn’t have named Elon Musk. But as we’ve seen over the past 18 months, the world’s richest man and the mogul behind Tesla, SpaceX and now X, has played a surprisingly pivotal role in the war thanks to Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite broadband network. First deployed in 2019, the Starlink network now has more than 4,000 satellites in orbit around the Earth, and the company continues to launch a couple of dozen or so on a weekly basis. Unlike previous attempts at satellite internet, what makes Starlink unique is that satellites are much closer to the ground, in Low Earth orbit (LEO), which reduces signal latency and increases…

Dick Pountain is editorial fellow of PC Pro. He was recently disturbed to find that ChatGPT has better musical taste than many of his friends. Email dick@dickpountain.co.uk “Man told to kill the Queen by his AI girlfriend!” History may some day recognise that as the most perfectly formed tabloid headline ever, but right now it’s merely a symptom. To put it another way, it’s an answer to the question “what do you get if you cross a moral panic with a feeding frenzy?” I have to admit I hesitated before embarking on yet another column on AI, as I’ve been covering it for over 40 years, right from the days of Lisp, Eliza and “expert systems”, up to creating pictures of yucky seafood dishes with Stable Diffusion. A couple of…

As regular readers will know, the Excellence Awards winners are not chosen out of thin air. Nor are they decided by a “vote for me” contest, where all that matters is having the most customers. Instead, the awards stem from you, our readers. Every rating you see is based on what you said about your transaction with a company, good, bad and in between. Over 9,000 people took part in our survey this year, and that’s a voice worth listening to. In total, almost 50,000 buying experiences from people like you: technology enthusiasts who don’t make their buying decisions on a whim but after plenty of research. That’s why we urge you to keep this issue of PC Pro to hand over the coming year: it could be the difference between…

SCORE PRICE £1,208 (£1,449 inc VAT) from currys.co.uk We are spoiled for choice when it comes to gorgeous, thin laptops with big screens. Four months ago, for instance, I reviewed the LG gram SuperSlim (see issue 347, p58), which costs £1,549 from Currys, and while that has a 15.6in OLED screen to the 16in of Acer’s Swift Edge, it also weighs 990g rather than 1.2kg. But let’s not be unreasonable. The Edge is hardly portly, and its matte black aluminium alloy chassis will gain many admiring glances from passersby. One reason for this is a 12.9mm thickness, which is 2mm more than the SuperSlim but that only offers three USB-C ports: here there’s no such restriction, with one USB-A port on either side, two USB-C 4 ports on the left,…

As its “Raptor Lake Refresh” codename implies, Intel’s newest chips are a refreshed version of the 13th gen Raptor Lake processors that debuted last year (see issue 339, p54). While Intel’s refresh doesn’t provide the big gen-on-gen leaps we typically see with new core microarchitectures — there are no instructions-per-clock gains because the chips use the same underlying design as their Raptor Lake predecessors — Intel has optimised its chips to make them more attractive. Intel’s Core i7-14700K now has 12 E-cores, up from eight with the prior generation, leaving it a mere four E-cores shy of matching the Core i9 model. The Core i7-13700K provided almost the same gaming performance as the Core i9-13900K but for a significantly lower price, and that small gap between Core i7 and i9…

SCORE PRICE £483 (£580 inc VAT) from scan.co.uk The Intel Core i9-14900K is a hard chip to justify, which is a weird thing to say about a processor that’s arguably the best Intel has ever sold for desktops. It beats every other chip I tested in most categories with the exception of some multitasking workflows and gaming performance, in which it’s a very close runner-up. And at £580, it’s a full £120 cheaper than the i9-13900K on its release. What you don’t get is innovation, but that isn’t surprising when you consider this is the final flagship using Intel’s current architecture. It uses the same 10nm Intel 7 process node as its predecessor and with the same number of cores (eight P-cores, 16 E-cores) and cache, the only real improvement…

SCORE PRICE As reviewed, £833 (£999 inc VAT) from microsoft.com Four months ago, the Surface Laptop Go 2 (see issue 347, p89) earned five stars in our test of budget-friendly laptops. £565 inc VAT bought a stylish 1.1kg laptop with a superb 12.4in IPS screen, if rather poor battery life, a mere 4GB of RAM and a Core i5-1135G7 CPU. The Go 3 upgrades both the processor and the stamina, but at a price: £799 for a 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM, with the 16GB RAM option I tested costing £999. What makes those price jumps even stranger is that this laptop uses a 12th generation Intel Core mobile processor, not 13th generation. Even with 16GB of RAM in my test device it struggled at times. For example, when…

SCORE PRICE £42 (£50 inc VAT) from cherry.co.uk It’s hard not to fall in love with the Cherry KW 7100 Mini BT, in part because it’s so wee and in part because you get to choose from two eye-catching pastel colours: Cherry Blossom (pink) or Agave Green as pictured. Or you can opt for boring black. Despite its attractive price, the KW 7100 Mini comes with a travel pouch (made from recycled plastic), although it’s only offered in dark grey. Build quality is up to Cherry’s usual high standards, with its SX scissor mechanism delivering a shallow but satisfying typing action similar to a good-quality laptop. It isn’t up there with mechanical keyboards, but it’s also much quieter. With big Enter, backspace and space keys, I don’t think you’ll struggle…

The iPhone 15 range has landed, and we’ve had a few weeks to test them. Our aim here is to explain what’s new and interesting about the phones, accompanied by a mini review of each on the final page. As ever, the rumour mill was in overdrive before the phones’ launch, and some were disappointed that the iPhone 15 Ultra never made it into reality. Instead, the lineup is identical to previous years: the compact iPhone 15 and its larger but otherwise identical brother, the iPhone 15 Plus. Or you can opt for the Pro range, with the Pro Max sitting at the summit in terms of features thanks to its 5x optical zoom. Normal vs Pro We’ll start at the top with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, as this…

SCORE PRICE 128GB, £833 (£999 inc VAT) from apple.com The iPhone 15 Pro is a stellar flagship phone for the price, offering the fastest performance around, a lighter and more compact titanium design and an Action button that’s easy to customise. I just wish the Action button could do more than one thing at a time. The cameras also perform very well, with welcome Portrait mode enhancements and even better low-light pics. The A17 Pro chip is a revelation, especially for keen gamers (who will also benefit from the 120Hz screen). This phone won’t only be fast on the day you buy it, but for years to come. However, I wish Apple could find a way to squeeze the same 5x optical zoom from the iPhone 15 Pro Max into…

1 Visit pcprodownload.co.uk. First, enter the issue number (351 this month). Next, enter your email address and the coupon code printed on the cover’s spine (or directly on the front cover of digital issues of the magazine). We’ll then send an email to confirm that your code has been registered. Follow the instructions in the email to access the download area. 2 Once you’re in the download area, you can access this month’s bonus software by navigating to the relevant product page and clicking the red Install button. For trial software, freeware and other downloads, click the Install button below the product description, or follow the onscreen instructions (please make sure to read these carefully). 3 If the software needs registering, click the purple Register button, or follow the instructions…

SCORE FROM amazon.co.uk/alexa When you think of Amazon Alexa, chances are you think of the voice assistant that powers the company’s popular line of Echo smart speakers. That’s a large part of Amazon Alexa, but there’s also the software that sits behind it, which allows smart devices to be controlled by voice, by app and by routines. One of the best things about Alexa is the range of device support. Amazon made it easy for developers to create their own Alexa Skills, so almost every single smart device you can think of will work with Alexa. This is the biggest system, with the widest range of control available. Adding devices is simple: just add the Skill, log into the account and let Alexa discover the linked devices. With Matter devices,…

SCORE FROM home-assistant.io Home Assistant is an open-source smart home platform, which you need to download and install on a suitable server. You can download a virtual machine for Windows, Mac or Linux, but there’s also a Raspberry Pi version, so you can have a low-power server. With basic hardware, only cloud connections are supported, but the SkyConnect USB dongle adds Zigbee support. In the future, a firmware update will add Thread to SkyConnect, making it possible to connect Matter-certified devices. The main advantage of running Home Assistant is that it’s secure and built to keep your privacy. For anyone who’s worried about sharing their smart home with a large multinational company, then this is for you. Once installed, the server can be accessed via the web interface or the…

SCORE PRICE £33 (£40 inc VAT) from heyimhome.co.uk The Hey Smart Power Bar has three individually controlled power sockets and six standard USB-A ports, which can be turned on and off as a block in software. There’s a sole power button on the front, which turns everything on and off; not great if you want granular control. It’s also annoying that there are no mounting anchors on the strip’s rear. If you want to attach this power strip to a wall, you’ll need strong double-sided tape. This smart power strip connects to any 2.4GHz network, so the only real requirement is that you have a strong enough signal where the device is located. Hey recommends using its own app for the Smart Power Bar, but this is actually a Tuya…

SCORE PRICE £23 (£27 inc VAT) from amazon.co.uk The first thing you need to know about TP-Link’s Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip is that it uses the Kasa app, rather than the company’s Tapo app. It’s confusing, but TP-Link bought Tapo and still runs it as a different company. This distinction is worth bearing in mind if you’re going to buy any smart home products from TP-Link. This particular smart power strip has three individually controllable power sockets, each with its own physical power button. That’s great for manual control if you don’t have handy access to the map. This is also one of the few smart power strips that have mounting anchors, so it can be mounted on a wall using screws. Its dual USB-A sockets are permanently powered…

SCORE PRICE £13 (£15 inc VAT) from humaxdirect.co.uk Humax is best known for making set-top boxes, with the Humax Wi-Fi Smart Plug marking its foray into the world of smart devices. This Wi-Fi smart plug is actually based on Tuya Smart, so it can be integrated into the Smart Life app. We recommend doing this, as there are a lot of Smart Life products that you can mix and match. We’re a fan of the funky round design of this smart plug. Little bigger than a standard UK plug, the Humax Wi-Fi Smart Plug can sit in a plug socket without obscuring its neighbour. There’s a manual switch on the left-hand side, although this can be hard to reach if there’s another device plugged in next to the Smart Plug.…

SCORE PRICE Two-pack, £17 (£20 inc VAT) from amazon.co.uk Sold as a two-pack, the Meross Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini (part code MS110) is exceptionally good value. Externally, the Mini smart plug looks much like the Matter version of the product. Both are small plugs that don’t block a second plug socket, and both have manual override buttons on the side. There are two main differences between the Mini and its big brother. First, the MS110 can’t monitor energy usage; not a deal breaker if you only want a smart plug for controlling a device remotely. Second, the Meross Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini isn’t Matter-compatible, and we don’t expect it to receive a firmware update. However, this smart plug is very well supported. Once connected to your Wi-Fi network using the…

SCORE PRICE £8 (£10 inc VAT) from amazon.co.uk The TCP Smart WiFi Plug is yet another product based on the Tuya Smart platform, which means that the plug can be used with TCP’s app or the Smart Life app. Again, we recommend using Smart Life, as you can then add in other products from other manufacturers, and control and manage them all from one place. Both apps have the same interface and features, with schedules and timers plus simple on/off control. Of course, you can rename the plug and change its icon so you can see, at a glance, the type of device that you’re controlling. The smart plug will also connect to IFTTT, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, although not SmartThings. Even so, this collection of third-party integrations should…

Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean cybercriminals aren’t interested in you. Far from it: a lack of security makes you a prime target for easy pickings. The numbers back this up. The UK government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey for 2023 (pcpro.link/351breaches) revealed that 32% of smaller firms that responded experienced a breach and/or cyberattack during the preceding 12 months. This is a drop from 39% in the 2022 survey, but the report worryingly concludes that in these times of economic challenges, senior managers in smaller organisations may be placing less priority on cybersecurity and not monitoring or logging attacks and breaches. Clearly, small and medium businesses (SMBs) that want to survive and prosper must take cybersecurity seriously. One key area to focus on is their endpoint devices, as…

SCORE PRICE List, 500-999 users, 1 year, £36.50 each exc VAT from enterpriseav.co.uk Sophos offers an impressive portfolio of security services and, as an early adopter of cloud management, it’s ensured everything can be accessed from its Central administrative portal. Along with the Intercept X Advanced workstation and server endpoint protection on review, you can use Central to look after Sophos’ Mobile threat defence package along with its XGS firewalls, Wi-Fi 6/6E access points, 100 and 200 series network switches and zero trust network access service. That’s a lot to pack into one management portal, but Sophos has done a fine job of keeping it simple. The main dashboard provides an overview of your company’s security posture, and all endpoint protection services are neatly separated into three sidebar menu categories…

SCORE PRICE £280 exc VAT from ballicom.co.uk Epson’s WorkForce ES-C380W targets home workers and small businesses with shared workspaces that want to liberate their desk space. This ultra-compact desktop scanner has a tiny 296 x 104mm footprint, its U-turn paper path does away with the need for a front paper tray and integral wireless services minimise cable clutter. Epson’s U-turn range of scanners comprises four models, and the ES-C380W is the only one to sport a colour LCD touchscreen. This gives it membership to Epson’s ScanWay club, which means it can function as a completely standalone solution. The ES-C380W is no slouch, either, with claimed scan speeds of 30ppm at 300dpi and duplex single-pass scanning. The rear telescopic paper holder has a 20-page capacity, although the high 3,500-page daily duty…

If I were to be a presenter of the much missed TV series MythBusters, then it would have to be Jamie Hyneman. I mean, the magnificent facial hair is reason enough, right? I mention this because I sometimes feel that a similar TV series is needed to dispel the myriad myths of information security. Not least, he says getting to the point at last, that nothing is “unhackable” or “100% secure” – and that includes such timeless favourites as macOS, iOS and, yes, dear reader, even Linux. If threat actors were vampires, then Linux is not a garlic-flavoured crucifix; it’s more an elderly Peter Cushing playing Dr Van Helsing, a good act but unlikely to deter a determined group of folk after your blood. There, I’ve said it, but just…

Nicole Kobie is PC Pro’s Futures editor. Her first draft of this column was 300 words too long, but she managed to edit it down without crying at the software. @njkobie Most of the documents I write and edit are relatively short: this column is about 860 words, online news stories tend to be 1,500 or so, features are 3,000 and up. As my editors will tell you, likely with a look of exhaustion on their faces, I tend to file more words than requested. But the document I edited over the past few weeks was something else. I’ve written a book, a fact I will mention frequently ahead of its release next summer, slipping in important details such as the title and link to pre-order. First, though, there’s plenty…

If there’s one clear message that comes from this year’s survey – in relation to desktop PCs, at least – it’s that British companies continue to stand out. Reading through people’s responses, it’s screamingly obvious why: the level of customer support you receive, whether working out your perfect spec or troubleshooting problems, is second to none. While CyberPower is a brand born in the US, it’s the British arm of the company that wins this award, and Andrew Small’s story is a great example of why. “As a gaming PC luddite, trying to choose the right computer for my daughter was a challenge. I found CyberPower to be excellent in explaining the key choices and options to meet the brief set by my daughter,” he wrote. “The PC arrived and…

We can no longer consider Amazfit a challenger brand: this is the second year in a row that it has taken the top award in this category, with a huge lead over Apple for value for money. “A steal at the sub-£100 price,” said Stephen Mahoney, whose views were echoed by Lee Poppett: “I have the original Apple Watch and battery life [of my Amazfit T-Rex] was a major improvement,” he said. “Support for apps is limited but it costs 25% of [an] Apple Watch.” AMAZFIT While Apple Watch owners continue to be underwhelmed by battery life (“shocking” said Joe Henstridge), people love them nonetheless. “Old one broke,” said Lewis Craik, “missed it so much I had to buy another Apple Watch on the same day.” Or consider this from…

While public AI tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney have grabbed the headlines in 2023, we expect to see personal AI rise to the fore in the next few years. This is where you take advantage of pre-trained large language models, parsing them down to fit on a local device such as a phone, tablet or PC. There are two obvious advantages to this: one is much-reduced power demands, the second is that no-one else sees the data you share with the AI. To do this, we need AI built into our processors. This isn’t exactly new: Apple has its neural engine, Google builds AI into its Tensor chips. However, AMD is the first to build AI hardware into an x86 processor via two members of its Ryzen 7000 series:…

SCORE PRICE £271 (£325 inc VAT) from scan.co.uk First, the good news. In terms of performance, this isn’t a bad chip at all. It can easily handle everyday duties, is consistently faster than the Ryzen 7600X (see issue 339, p48) and is a solid gaming chip thanks to its strong single-core performance. So, on paper at least, the Core i5-14600K is the best Intel processor for the mainstream user. The problem for the i5-14600K is that its performance is tragically close to the Core i5-13600K’s. As long as that chip is on sale, it will be better value, and you won’t notice a difference between the two in terms of day-to day-performance. That’s because they have identical specs, other than a slightly faster turbo clock speed for the 14600K’s six…

SCORE PRICE As reviewed, £2,808 (£3,369 inc VAT) from microsoft.com The original Surface Laptop Studio (see issue 332, p50) was a 2-in-1 like no other. Its sliding display gave a new spin to the idea of a convertible, and it worked so well that Microsoft hasn’t changed the mechanism one iota with the Surface Laptop Studio 2. This means that, as before, it’s a 14.4in IPS touchscreen with a smooth 120Hz refresh rate and 2,400 x 1,600 resolution, but it’s not the specs that make it interesting. That’s due entirely to the horizontal hinge built into the laptop lid. This lets you slide the display forward over the keyboard, with the trick being to place one hand on the upper half of the laptop display while it’s open, then use…

SCORE PRICE 128GB, £400 (£480 inc VAT) from meta.com Apple’s Vision Pro (see issue 347, p46) reset expectations for mixed reality, but two big things stand in its way: a likely price of £3,500 and uncertainty over the release date in the UK. Until now, your best mixed reality choice was the Meta Quest 2 – but the Meta Quest 3 improves on it in just about every way. For a start, the visor is 40% slimmer than its predecessor, which makes the Quest 3 far more comfortable to wear. I felt a noticeable difference from the top-heavy Quest 2. Meta has also ditched the spacer for glasses wearers. Instead, you adjust the “facial interface” using two black buttons inside the headset, which will give you more space if needed.…

SCORE PRICE 1TB, £95 (£114 inc VAT) from store.ee.co.uk The T9 is Samsung’s update to the T7 (see issue 324, p89), but unlike that metal-bodied drive this external SSD includes a rubber cover to absorb the knocks this type of device can suffer. Samsung says its drop tests used steel plates as the impact surface from heights of up to three metres, which is excellent, but this drive isn’t IP-rated. I must also mention that Samsung’s five-year warranty doesn’t cover falls from any height. This drive’s second notable feature is its USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 connection. With a USB 3.2 Gen2 port, the best speeds available are around 1,000MB/sec, but with Gen 2x2 both reading and writing can be elevated to 2,000MB/s. Samsung uses a caching system to maintain writing…

SCORE PRICE 128GB, £666 (£799 inc VAT) from apple.com Don’t let its compact design fool you, because the iPhone 15 is densely packed with features that make it a potential flagship killer. Its £799 starting price is much easier to swallow than the £999 or higher cost of most of today’s best phones, but the combination of its charming design, excellent main camera performance and respectable battery life make the iPhone 15 a formidable phone worthy of your attention. Compared to its predecessor, the iPhone 15 has been given hearty upgrades that make it vastly superior in every way. I’m astounded by the performance of its new 48MP main camera and, while the 2x telephoto is nothing more than a glorified digital zoom, the results look very good. The iPhone…

SCORE PRICE 256GB, £999 (£1,199 inc VAT) from apple.com For a change, this year’s Pro Max isn’t merely an iterative upgrade. You get a stronger and lighter design from titanium that makes a big difference in everyday use, as well as a smart replacement for the ringer switch in the Action button. It adds up to a phone that makes a great first impression, especially if you’re upgrading from an iPhone that’s a couple of years old. Based on my extensive camera testing, the iPhone 15 Pro Max offers the best photo quality around — especially in low light — and the bigger 5x zoom is the upgrade I’ve been waiting for. Finally, Apple has a camera setup to rival the Samsung Galaxy Ultra series. I only wish that the…

SCORE PRICE £666 (£799 inc VAT) from apple.com Last year’s Watch Ultra (see issue 339, p76) was Apple’s most innovative wearable since the original Watch, with a bigger, rugged design aimed at outdoorsy users. The Watch Ultra 2 looks almost exactly the same, but introduces a few upgrades that make Apple’s top-end wearable more tempting than ever. There’s only one model of the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and it’s a chunky thing with a jumbo 49mm face. It comes in a single titanium finish with 4G cellular connectivity. Your only meaningful choice is which strap you want. As with the original, three bands are available, each in a selection of three colours: depending on your activities, you may prefer the nylon Trail strap, the tough Alpine strap or the stretchy,…

SCORE PRICE 128GB, £583 (£699 inc VAT) from store.google.com The Pixel 8 is Google’s affordable alternative to the Pixel 8 Pro on the previous pages, and it’s also cheaper than its immediate rivals – namely the £799 iPhone 15 (see p62) and the £849 Samsung Galaxy S23 (see issue 343, p70). That makes it an attractive choice whether you’re looking for whizzy AI features or simply a decent mid-sized phone. It certainly qualifies as the latter, with rounded corners and a contoured design that’s comfortable to hold. The back is polished, rather than matte as on the Pixel 8 Pro, but it does a fair job of resisting fingerprints and comes in a choice of black, white or tasteful rose finishes. The Pixel 8’s screen is slightly smaller than its…

SCORE FROM apple.com/homekit Apple HomeKit is the underlying technology for smart home control in the Home app on iPad, iPhone and Mac devices, or through HomePod smart speakers. It started life as a niche system, with extremely limited hardware support, as Apple required hardware encryption to be used. It has since relaxed this, and software updates can be applied to make devices compliant with HomeKit. That has improved device support to a degree, but HomeKit still lags behind its rivals for compatibility. And, as it only works on Apple devices, it limits its use in households where some members of the family use Android phones. That’s not to say it should be ignored, as the system is exceptionally powerful and clever. Most importantly, the way that Apple HomeKit works is…

SCORE FROM homey.app If you don’t want to put all of your smart devices under the control of a massive multinational corporation, then Homey may well be the system for you. It can be used in the cloud, at a cost of £2.49 a month, but is you prefer you can choose one of its smart home bridges instead. Buy the Homey Bridge (£90) and you get local support for Zigbee, Z-Wave and IR devices, although you still have to pay the £2.49 a month if you want to support more than five devices. Upgrade to the Homey Pro (£399) and you get unlimited devices and no monthly fees. That’s because all device controls and routines are handled via the Homey Pro itself. There’s one other big difference: Homey Pro…

SCORE PRICE £58 (£70 inc VAT) from shop.meross.com If you’re looking for a smart power strip to sit on a desk, Meross’ Smart Fast Charging Power Strip could be for you. It includes four individually controlled power sockets plus a bank of USB ports: one fast-charge USB-A, two USB-C. The latter output up to 65W each, enough to power a laptop, cutting down on the number of adapters you need. There’s a single power button on the power strip, which turns all sockets and the USB ports on and off. It’s a shame there isn’t individual control here; that’s available only through the Meross app, which is the default place to add this power strip to your Wi-Fi network. Once connected, the app lets you rename each socket and the…

SCORE PRICE £8 (£10 inc VAT) from amazon.co.uk Small, simple and with a wide range of supported smart home systems, TP-Link’s Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Slim (the KP105) is a useful little smart plug for basic jobs. It’s relatively small, taller than it is wide, which means it can be plugged into a socket without obscuring a neighbouring socket. A manual override button on the left-hand side is on hand if you can’t reach the app or use voice control, but this button would be better off on top to avoid the frequent issue of access being blocked by something plugged in next to it. As with other Kasa devices, the KP105 is only compatible with the Kasa app, not the company’s Tapo app. Fear not, however, as the Kasa…

SCORE PRICE Starts from £16 per workstation per month exc VAT from acronis.com Acronis’ Cyber Protect Cloud (CPC) amalgamates cybersecurity, data backup and disaster recovery into one easily managed product. Available from a choice of Acronis MSPs, it delivers a raft of protection measures, and the entire suite requires only a single host agent installed on each endpoint. On the security side, you get advanced malware protection using Acronis’ AI-based behavioural detection engine, web content filtering, patch management, vulnerability assessments and device controls. We’ve reviewed the Cyber Protect cloud backup service previously and have been impressed with its excellent data protection and recovery tools. Acronis offers a range of optional packs for CPC so you can keep costs under control by adding only those you need. The advanced security pack…

SCORE PRICE 100-499 devices, £37 each per year exc VAT from withsecure.com Finnish company WithSecure offers a complete suite of security solutions all easily managed from its Elements Security Center cloud portal. Its Endpoint Protection (EPP) module provides a firm foundation and a modular approach allows you to enhance it with other WithSecure components as required. In this review, we test EPP and take a closer look at the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) module. EDR takes a proactive stance on cyberattacks, providing advanced threat detection capabilities, full attack analysis and automated responses for isolating compromised systems. EPP offers great platform support, too: it protects Windows and macOS workstations, Android and iOS mobiles and Windows and Linux servers, and includes patch management for Windows OSes as standard. Workstation deployment is…