2016’s funky Windows 10 Mobile phone has evolved into 2017’s funky $440 Android phone

Why it matters to you

The most unique-looking phone from 2016 retains its looks and embraces the more popular Android instead of Windows 10 Mobile.

NuAns’ Neo was not only notable for its failed Kickstarter campaign in 2016, but also because it looked different than any other smartphone. Fast forward to 2017 and the Japanese firm hopes that latter point is enough to draw folks to its Neo Reloaded.

In terms of looks, you will struggle to find much of a difference between the original Neo and the Neo Reloaded, which is a good thing. What set the Neo apart from its contemporaries was its design DNA — the Neo was sold as the “Core,” or the phone itself without a panel. You can cover up the rear with either the Flip, which is a wallet case that doubles as a kickstand, or a pair of two-tone panels that use materials like wood and leather.

More: A pretend Pornhub app is infecting Android phones with malware

That intriguing decision to go with swappable rear panels set the Neo up for some funky designs, a welcome respite from the familiar-looking smartphones we have grown accustomed to over the years. This welcome respite has thankfully been carried over to the Neo Reloaded, which is positioned as more of a side-step than a true successor to the Neo.

The differences end there, however, as just about every other aspect of the Neo has been overhauled. For example, the 5-inch, 1,280 x 720 display on the Neo has been upgraded to a slightly larger 5.2-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 resolution IPS panel. The battery also sees a modest improvement to 3,450mAh from the 3,350mAh power pack found in the original Neo. Thanks to the Neo Reloaded’s octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, you can charge up the larger battery for five minutes and get up to five hours of use through Quick Charge 3.0.

The biggest change between the Neo and Neo Reloaded is in software — the former runs Windows 10 Mobile while NuAns opted for Android 7.1 Nougat for the latter. In theory, the change allows the Neo Reloaded to appeal to a wider audience than the Neo was able to, and the phone will have the distinction of being one of the few to come with Android 7.1 pre-loaded.

However, to appeal to that audience requires having an enticing price tag, and given what the Neo Reloaded offers on paper, the phone’s $440 price tag might be seen as a bit high when compared to what the likes of the Axon 7 and OnePlus 3T offer. If that price does not scare you away, and you either live in Japan or want to import, the phone is now available for pre-order through March 31.

Grab this great battery pack for under £17 right now at Amazon UK

In need of keeping your phone and tablet topped up while you’re away from home? How about this whopper from RAVPower, available from Amazon UK for one day only at £16.49. The battery pack comes with a substantial 16750mAh capacity with a pair of 2.1A USB outputs. That’ll be enough to charge most phones about four times.

Despite its capacity it’s still a fairly portable battery pack with a neat power level meter and, as ever, an included flashlight. It comes in either white or black and as it’s a deal of the day the price will go back up real soon.

Grab it while it’s hot!

See at Amazon

Using an Android watch with multiple Google Accounts

People with multiple accounts have some extra steps in Android Wear now.

Where previous versions of Android Wear acted as an extension of your phone, anything running Wear 2.0 is designed to work like it’s a standalone Android device. A big part of setting up this experience is moving your Google Account over to the watch from your phone.

This is a fairly trivial thing to do with a single account, but if you use multiple Google Accounts on your phone and need information from multiple accounts to live on your watch, there’re a few new things you’re going to need to know about using Android Wear.

What does it mean to use multiple accounts on Android Wear?

When you move more than one Google Account to the watch, each becomes an option for Google’s core services in Android Wear. For starters, it means you can install apps as either of your accounts from the Google Play Store app on the watch. Like the Play Store on your phone, this affects how you manage your apps, as well as where paid apps live when you buy them. Only one account exists at a time in these Wear apps as the “primary” app, allowing you to switch back and forth as you need.

It’s important to make sure you have the right account set as your default.

The good news is notifications works seamlessly once you’ve moved your accounts over. If you get a notification from an account that isn’t set as primary, you still receive it like you would any other notification and can interact without needing to manually switch between those accounts. This setup is a little more complicated than what was previously available for Android Wear, but it gives you a lot more flexibility and control regarding the notifications that show up on your watch and the things you can do with apps on your watch.

A good example of why you would need to switch accounts on a regular basis is Google Assistant. Even with multiple accounts available on your watch, you only want to use Assistant with a single account. Additionally, Assistant settings on your watch can only be adjusted on the phone with whatever account you currently have enabled on the watch. Since Google pulls data from the account you currently have selected, it’s important to make sure you have the right account set as your default.

How to switch accounts on Android Wear

Most Google Apps on your phone have the ability to quickly switch between your Google Accounts. Watch apps aren’t quite as functional, especially those that have not been updated to Android Wear 2.0. For all of Google’s core functions, including Assistant, the default account is whatever you currently have enabled in the Play Store on your watch. This means, in order to set the correct Assistant for your watch, you need to have that account set on the Play Store.

Making the switch is simple.

Go to the Play Store on your watch.
Swipe down to access the Play Store settings.
Tap the Accounts icon, and whichever account has green text next to it is the default account.
To switch accounts, tap the account you want as the default, and you’ll be returned to the Play Store.

Anything connected to Google on your watch will now use that account as the default.

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below!

Android Wear

• Everything you need to know about Android Wear 2.0
• LG Watch Sport review
• LG Watch Style review
• These watches will get Android Wear 2.0
• Discuss Android Wear in the forums!

Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 shows up wearing an iPad Pro-like keyboard

Following a previous leak of a manual that showed the Galaxy Tab S3 with a keyboard dock akin to those on the iPad Pro and Microsoft Surface tablets – smart connectors that power draw power from the tablet to power the keyboard to save it relying on Bluetooth – a rendered image of a Tab S3 connected to a keyboard has appeared online.

• Samsung Galaxy Tab S3: What’s the story so far?

The image, courtesy of usually reliable tipster Evan Blass, shows a keyboard that appears to have taken design cues from Apple’s Smart Keyboard. They key layout and spacing is near on identical, as is the angle it looks to be keeping the tablet at.

It’s not obvious from the image if the keyboard is a folio style case for the tablet, or simply an attachment. It does look as though it’s made from plastic, rather than the soft material of Apple’s keyboard dock, so we’d wager it’s a separate accessory.

Blass hasn’t said if the keyboard will be bundled with the tablet either. Samsung did bundle a keyboard with the Windows-toting Galaxy TabPro S, although the price and marketed use of that model are notably different to the Tab S3. We’d therefore assume Samsung will sell the keyboard separately.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is also expected to be able to support an S Pen stylus, according to the same leaked manual. There won’t be a port on the tablet to house it though, so it will be a separate accessory, again, much like Apple with the Apple Pencil.

• Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 3 could be a true iPad Pro rival with S Pen stylus and keyboard dock
• Galaxy Tab S3 leaks reveal Samsung’s next iPad rival

Samsung has sent out media invites for an event on the 26 February, this coming Sunday, so we’ll find out exactly what Samsung’s new tablet will look like and feature then.

For Honor review: The must-have multiplayer for 2017

Swordplay has long been a staple of videogames, but primarily on the PC: it’s much easier to emulate fencing-type skills with a keyboard and mouse than a typical console gamepad.

However, For Honor – a bold new mediaeval-style IP from Ubisoft that pitches Knights, Vikings and Samurai against each other in an eternal battle-royal – has a mission to rectify that situation, with a control system designed specifically for console gamepads.

And it has succeeded so impressively that we will surely see copycat efforts in the future.

For Honor review: Apocalyptic premise

For Honor even starts with an apocalypse of sorts: the mediaeval world in which it is set is devastated by a natural disaster, and remains of the three great civilisations – Knights, Vikings and Samurai – regroup, initially with one representative from each skirmishing over a rare water-source, before they engage on centuries of war.

This allows For Honor to purvey a three-part single-player game: in the first campaign, you play as various Knights, then Vikings and finally Samurai.

The Knights campaign builds from tutorial-style beginnings, pitching you into some agreeably diverse situations like sieges and introducing the control system in all its considerable depth.

Plus there are boss-battles and short gameplay-varying sequences in which, for example, you man fixed projectile-shooters. Across the three campaigns, the difficulty level ramps up smoothly, so that by the end of the Samurai campaign, you routinely encounter foot-soldiers who are as difficult to dispatch as bosses were in the earlier stages, and the bosses themselves require some major tactical head-scratching.

For Honor review: Unconvincing campaign

A level-up system – which is augmented by power-ups you find on the battlefield – brings perks, two of which can be equipped at a time. The ability to heal yourself, for example, has a pretty glacial cool-down period so that, along with the presence of collectables, there’s the incentive to crank up the difficulty level and have more passes at the single-player campaign.

Ubisoft

However, that campaign doesn’t entirely convince. It’s pretty short, and while developer Ubisoft Montreal strives manfully to give it an epic, 300-style storyline, its narrative arc utterly fails to engage.

But that doesn’t really matter, since there’s plenty of thick-of-the-battle action to keep you engrossed: atmospherically, For Honor is superb – you can almost smell the sweat of your opponents.

The control system and general structure of the gameplay, however, is exemplary. Once you focus on a particular opponent with the left-trigger, you default to blocking mode, and can pick three directions – left, right and up – with the right stick. The right trigger and bumper launch heavy and light attacks. You must block and attack in the correct direction – an arrow shows your opponent’s attack/block direction, so it works like a sophisticated rock/paper/scissors. And if you time an attack correctly, it becomes a parry, staggering your opponent.

The ability to launch attacks in which you rush at enemies and push them over (or into spiked traps or off cliffs) adds more depth (although it can be an annoyance in some multiplayer maps), and the various heroes you play as have wildly differing levels of mobility and attacking or defensive effectiveness.

Ubisoft

Sequences in which you’re swamped by basic troops – who can be dispatched with a single swipe or, preferably, a chain of attacks triggering special moves – prove pretty satisfying, while at times you’ll find yourself beset by more than one proper enemy, which again brings extra tactical considerations.

For Honor review: Multiplayer mastery

For Honor really comes into its own when you dive into its multiplayer. Ubisoft clearly wants that element of the game to develop into a full-blown e-sport, and it has a chance of achieving that aim.

First, you must pick your faction – you can change later, but you get penalised in certain ways if you do so. The whole multiplayer world has an overarching, board game-style state of play, which monitors the progress of each faction against the other; as you progress in the game’s multiplayer, you earn war resources which can be deployed to help your faction in an attacking or defensive manner.

Ubisoft

That gives you a sense of participating in a rumbling, ongoing war, in which the participants are real humans, rather than AI bots (although you can opt to play most multiplayer modes against the AI, rather than humans – we’re not entirely sure why).

Some of the modes reinforce that impression, most notably Dominion, a four-versus-four mode, bulked out with AI bots, in which two teams battle to dominate three designated zones. It’s fairly familiar stuff, but works well in the context of a mediaeval sword-fighting game, and rewards teams that take a co-ordinated tactical approach, but is also fun to play with a team of randoms.

Skirmish is 4v4 Team Deathmatch, and when one team reaches a certain number of points, the spirit of the other team is deemed to be “broken”, so its members will no longer respawn; the winning team must kill them all in order to win the round.

Elimination is similar, except no respawns are allowed, so tactics come very much to the fore – it’s much easier to take out good players if you gang up with someone else to take them on.

Ubisoft

Perhaps the most interesting multiplayer modes are Duel and Brawl. The former is pretty self-explanatory: you take on one other player, in a best of five rounds format – obviously with no respawns. Brawls are exactly the same, except with two teams of two players. Both modes test your true skill at playing the game – luckily, the opponent matching seems to be pretty good.

As you progress in the multiplayer, you can unlock (or buy, using the in-game cash) new Heroes with different attributes, and there’s plenty of loot, including upgrades for things like the hilt of your sword, to be had.

Verdict

For Honor is great fun and deeply satisfying to play – far more so than we thought when originally seeing the game at E3 2015.

You can pick holes in the single-player campaign though. It’s full of ideas which briefly crop up and are then abandoned (such as poison-traps) – but in the end, that single-player campaign merely constitutes window-dressing for the excellent control system and the multiplayer.

While multiplayer doesn’t possess any radical new modes which feel unlike anything that has gone before, it stills feels distinctive, and the sense of participating for the good of your tribe makes For Honor even more compelling.

As long as you bear in mind that, at its core, For Honor is a multiplayer game, you should find it deeply enjoyable.

For Honor is available now for PC (£39.98), PS4 (£42 / $59.15) and Xbox One (£42 / $59.15).

Neato Botvac D5 Connected review: A Dyson 360 Eye competitor?

Robot vacuum cleaners are becoming more popular with several big players now in the market, including Dyson. Some are great, others not so much, but all of them are pricey, typically costing upwards of £600.

Neato brought the cost down a little with the introduction of the D3 Connected and D5 Connected at the end of 2016 though, both offering Wi-Fi connectivity for a starting price of £399. We’ve been living with the D5 Connected for the last month to find out if it’s a robot we can’t live without.

Neato Botvac D5 Connected review: Design

• D-shaped design for accessing corners
• Easy-to-remove dirt bin & filter
• No display, two info lights

The Neato Botvac D5 Connected features a familiar design and form factor. Unlike many competitors, Neato’s D Series models are D-shaped allowing them get right into corners, something circular models like the Dyson 360 Eye and LG Hom-Bot rely solely on their brushes to do.

The D5 Connected sits in the middle of Neato’s Connected range. Above is the Botvac Connected with its more premium look and finish; below is the D3 Connected with a lower price point and a more plasticky finish.

Pocket-lint

Opting for an all-black finish like the Botvac Connected, the D5 Connected has the same apparent joins between panels and the raised circular disc with the centralised Neato logo sitting on top, housing the LaserSmart Mapping and Navigation technology that figures out the best way to clean your home.

There is no display next to the raised disc on the D5 Connected as there is on the Botvac Connected, though, reducing functionality through the robot itself and transferring it to the app instead – but more on that later.

The dirt bin is also different, featuring a textured matte finish over the smooth, glossy finish featured on the 2015 model. Despite a difference in appearance, however, the same principal applies for emptying it and cleaning the filter. As per the Botvac Connected, the D5 Connected has the same filter design making it easy to pop out, as well as a mesh screen to keep dirt from accumulating.

To the left of the dirt bin handle is a start button, which has been subtly integrated into the design rather than outlined in chrome like the function buttons on the Botvac Connected. A pairing button is also subtly integrated into the right-hand corner on the D5 Connected, keeping things plain and simple.

Pocket-lint

Two small lights sit next to the start button in the form of a battery indicator and information indicator. The lights will appear in different colours depending on the message. For example, if the battery light is green, the robot is charging; if the information light is blue then the robot is in pairing mode.

Turn the D5 Connected over and you’ll find Neato’s Combo Brush that encompasses the entire width of the robot, unlike some cleaners such as the LG Hom-Bot. The D5 Connected misses out on the Spiral Blade Brush, which is present on the Botvac Connected and the D Series, but it has a side brush for getting deeper into the corners.

As with previous Botvac models, the D5 Connected has a magnet positioned on its rounded edge that will connect to the relatively small and discreet docking station. This is the D5 Connected’s home, where it will return after a clean to recharge ready for the next cleaning session.

Neato Botvac D5 Connected review: Features

• Smartphone control
• House cleaning mode, two spot cleaning modes and scheduling
• No Amazon Alexa compatibility, yet

The Neato D5 Connected offers many of the same features as other models within the D Series, while also incorporating a few extras, such as the obvious Wi-Fi connectivity. It misses out on a few from the Botvac Connected, however, like Amazon Alexa compatibility and the manual cleaning mode.

Pocket-lint

House cleaning mode and two spot cleaning modes are on board. The former uses the Botvision laser navigation technology to plan the best route, day or night. The D5 Connected will scan and analyse the area surrounding it, plan an efficient path, and then clean in 15 x 15-inch square segments until the entire room is clean.

Another technology called SLAM is on board to help the robot work out where it has and hasn’t cleaned so if the battery runs out, the botvac will recharge and then return to where it left off.

You can schedule the D5 Connected too, as you can with most robot cleaners, with its Wi-Fi connectivity makes scheduling very simple. You can set various times and days for the vac’s cleaning routine using the app, as well as set repeat cleaning days, such as every Saturday at 9am.

Pocket-lint

Notifications are also sent to your smartphone when the D5 Connected finishes its clean, as well as when it is stuck. Unfortunately, if the D5 Connected gets stuck when you aren’t home, it will be waiting until you get home to free it before it can resume its cleaning routine. It’s worth putting down the boundary markers included with the box to ensure it avoids things such as cat bowls or stairs.

The boundary markers are black, around an inch wide and they are simply cut and placed where needed. They aren’t the subtlest, but they are less fiddly to setup than LG’s ‘light houses’.

Neato Botvac D5 Connected review: Performance and battery

• Great cleaning capability across multiple floor surfaces
• Occasionally gets stuck; no manual control to set free
• Excellent battery life

The Neato D5 Connected performs very well most the time, though not quite as well as the Botvac Connected and its turbo mode. That said, the D5 dealt very well when moving from wood floors to tiles to carpet, including the high-pile rug we have in our living room (which has been an issue for some other robot cleaners).

Pocket-lint

After the D5 Connected finishes its clean, our floors were almost spotless. It occasionally missed a few bits here and there and there were times when that living room rug was just that little bit too much for it, but these were rare occurrences. Robot cleaners don’t have the same suction power as traditional vacuum cleaners and they can’t handle stairs so while the D5 Connected won’t be replacing your Henry or Dyson any time soon, but it will make sure your home stays looking tidy in-between big cleans.

Like the Botvac Connected, the D5 Connected struggled with the base of our bar stools, however, often finding itself stuck in between them and in need of rescuing. This wasn’t a problem when we were home and able to free it upon receiving the “I’m Stuck” notification, but it’s a little more annoying when out. As was the case with the 2015 model, the D5 Connected has no cameras so you can’t tell where it has got itself stuck, nor does it offer remote manual control, meaning there is nothing you can do to free it until you get home.

It’s certainly not a deal-breaker, unless of course you get home to find the robot stuck on your cat, but we’d love to see a solution added for future models, especially as its more convenient to have the D5 Connected go about its cleaning when you aren’t home. It isn’t overly noisy but you certainly know it’s there. There’s no eco mode on this model, so no option for a slightly quieter clean.

Pocket-lint

We also had a couple of issues with connectivity. Occasionally our robot would go offline, which meant the app was entirely useless and the only way to start and stop a clean was to push the button on the D5 Connected itself. Without the app, it’s not possible to schedule or send the robot back to the dock. Reconnecting is pretty easy, though, and only takes a couple of minutes when the robot is back in pairing mode.

Battery life was impressive. The li-ion battery within the D5 Connected is said to be capable of covering 4500sqm before it needs a recharge, which was plenty in our experience, even if it is 500sqm less than the Botvac Connected.

Neato Botvac D5 Connected review: App

• Available for iOS and Android
• Offers scheduling, start, stop and docking

The Neato app is available for iOS and Android devices and is more pertinent with the D5 Connected than it was with the Botvac Connected. The lack of screen on the D5 Connected means all the control, except start and stop, is actioned through the app.

Luckily, navigation is very simple. When your robot is online a large start button will allow you to start a house clean and if you want to stop the clean or send the robot back to its dock before it is finished, both options sit below the start icon.

Pocket-lint

You can add another Neato robot by tapping the “+” in the top right corner, or change the associated email address and login password by tapping the option menu in the top left. This menu also features scheduling. It’s also possible to change the name of your cleaner here.

Verdict

The Neato Botvac D5 Connected is a good little cleaner, it’s just not as good as the Botvac Connected, which is now cheaper and therefore around the same price as this newer model.

Battery life and cleaning performance are both great on the D5 Connected and the intuitive app makes this connected robo-vac a pleasure to use. Scheduling is easy, app response is quick and while the D5 Connected needs a little more babysitting than the Botvac Connected, it crosses between varying floor surfaces with ease.

A few features are lacking, however, such as manual control, Amazon Alexa compatibility and the ability to free the D5 Connected when it’s stuck, but this robot cleaner does what you need and does it well.

As a top-up vacuum, the D5 Connected is a great option to consider and one we will miss when it gets returned to its makers. That said, the Botvac Connected makes better sense to buy with its extra features, premium design and (now similar) price tag.

• Buy the Neato Botvac D5 Connected from Amazon.co.uk for £600, or Amazon.com for $599

The alternatives to consider

Pocket-lint

Dyson 360 Eye

Some 16-years in the making, Dyson has concentrated on making a robotic vacuum cleaner that is a cleaner first and a robot second. For all its good though, the 360 Eye is pricey. Its £799 asking price is more than most other robo-vacs even if it is better than most of its competition. That said, for what it is designed to do, the results are impressive, making it one of the best robotic vacuums on the market.

• Dyson 360 Eye: Finally a robo-vac that really works
• Buy the Dyson 360 Eye from Amazon.co.uk for £789, or Amazon.com for $571

Pocket-lint

Neato Botvac Connected

The Botvac Connected is Neato’s more premium robot cleaner and it is an excellent one at that. It not only manages to seamlessly cross between varying floor surfaces, but it leaves them clean and it’s able to cope well enough without being babysat. Its controllability also goes hugely in its favour with a fantastic app that makes this robot cleaner a delight to use and a drop in price that makes it a definite alternative to consider.

• Neato Botvac Connected review: Will Dyson get dumped?
• Buy the Neato Botvac Connected from Amazon.co.uk for £603, or Amazon.com for $571

LG Hom-Bot

The LG Hom-Bot Square is a great looking robotic vacuum cleaner that is packed full of features and offers a decent performance and battery life. It’s very easy to use and the charging dock and remote control all offer a seamless design that we were happy to have on display in our home. If you have a house that features more deep-piled carpets than any other surface, you will probably be better off with a different solution, but if you have a relatively clutter-free house with either laminate flooring, tiles, or normal carpets, the LG Hom-Bot Square is a great addition.

• LG Hom-Bot review
• Buy the LG Hom-Bot from Amazon.co.uk for £454, or Amazon.com for $610

Wileyfox Swift 2 series review: Affordability upgraded

British smartphone brand Wileyfox came onto the scene in 2015, kicking things off with two distinct devices. Of these, the Swift turned out to be one of the best affordable handsets you could buy — quite the achievement for a new, unknown company. Since then, though, Wileyfox hasn’t done anything particularly exciting, but now it’s back with a follow-up, or three. The recently launched Swift 2, Swift 2 Plus and Swift 2 X are all slight variations of the same core device, offering a few different options while sticking to the affordable end of the smartphone spectrum, where the original Swift excelled.

Hardware

While the Swift was an all-plastic affair, Wileyfox’s new family of smartphones are encased entirely in aluminium. Indeed, this change is easily one of the headline upgrades. When I reviewed the original Swift, I thought it slightly generic but charming all the same. I have similar feelings about the Swift 2, 2 Plus and 2 X, since there’s nothing notably fresh about their design. And yet, they look and feel like a completely different class of device compared with their predecessor.

This is down primarily to the use of more premium building materials, of course, like the contrast between an Ikea coffee table and a hardwood antique. The move to aluminium brings some side effects with it too. The Swift 2 and Swift 2 Plus are basically the same size as the first Swift but roughly 20g heavier and appreciably more robust — not surprising given the upgrade from plastic to metal. There’s no more pulling off the flimsy back plate to get at the necessary slots either. Instead, you plug your SIM (or two) and microSD card into drawers tucked neatly into the sides of each handset. This does mean, though, that the batteries are non-removable.

I enjoyed the subtle, quirky design touches Wileyfox included on the first Swift: The circular earpiece, for example, and orange accents here and there. Some of this character has been lost between the generations, making the three new phones a tad blander. The round earpiece has been faithfully preserved, though, and it makes sense that Wileyfox would gravitate toward a more serious design. The company’s fox-face logo is now a simple mirrored-effect badge, as opposed to the textured, busier icon on the first Swift, and the main camera border is less prominent this time around.

The minimalist approach to branding complements the aluminium build, with its finely textured power key and volume rocker, neat loudspeaker grilles and Torx screws. The quieter design also frees up space for the new fingerprint sensor found on the back of each handset — as responsive as any I’ve tried and a welcome feature you might not expect in this price bracket.

My review units are all what Wileyfox calls “Midnight,” which is something like a deep gunmetal grey with a hint of blue mixed in. If you’d prefer something a bit more adventurous, gold, pink and mint green tints are also available, depending on the variant.

The Swift 2 series feature USB-C ports for data transfer and fast charging (Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, to be precise), but, importantly, they don’t oust the standard 3.5mm headphone jack. The only other visible element of note is the multi-colour notification LED on the top bezel of each handset — a useful little light I miss when I’m carrying a phone without one.

The Swift 2 and 2 Plus are both 5-inch devices, which means they’re verging on small by today’s standards. That kind of size perhaps isn’t great for enjoying a full-length film, but the compact frame makes them very comfortable in the hand. That’s partly due to the lack of sharp corners, with the flat back curving smoothly round to meet the sides at a neatly chamfered edge. The same can be said for the 5.2-inch Swift 2 X, which is identical, save for being a fraction bigger and thinner — almost imperceptibly so — due to its larger screen.

If there’s one downside to the new Swift design language, it’s that Wileyfox’s engineering tolerances are just a tad lax. The circular earpieces, for example, are all ever-so-slightly off-centre. Similarly, the two seams cutting across the aluminium bodies could be tighter and more consistent in places. You have to examine the devices pretty closely to notice these little hiccups, though, and I’d rather they exist than Wileyfox avoid the material upgrade because of them. The metal cladding really elevates this generation above the last, and it’s something you won’t find on many devices starting at £159.

Dimensions	141.2 x 71 x 9.4mm	143.7 x 71.9 x 8.6mm	143.7 x 71.9 x 8.6mm	143 x 73 x 8.2mm
Weight	135g	155g	155g	152.8g
Display	5″ IPS LCD (720p)	5″ IPS LCD (720p)	5″ IPS LCD (720p)	5.2″ IPS LCD (1080p)
Glass	Gorilla Glass 3	Gorilla Glass 3	Gorilla Glass 3	Gorilla Glass 3
Processor	1.2GHz quad-core	1.4GHz octa-core	1.4GHz octa-core	1.4GHz octa-core
RAM	2GB	2GB	3GB	3GB
Storage	16GB (expandable)	16GB (expandable)	32GB (expandable)	32GB (expandable)
Primary camera	13MP	13MP	16MP	16MP
Secondary camera	5MP	8MP	8MP	8MP
Battery	2,500mAh (removable)	2,700mAh	2,700mAh	3,010mAh
OS	Cyanogen OS 13.1	Cyanogen OS 13.1	Cyanogen OS 13.1	Cyanogen OS 13.1
Cellular	Cat 4 LTE	Cat 4 LTE	Cat 4 LTE	Cat 4 LTE
WiFi	802.11b/g/n	802.11b/g/n	802.11b/g/n	802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.1
NFC	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fingerprint reader	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

Display

Both the Swift 2 and the Swift 2 Plus carry 5-inch, 720p IPS LCD displays, representing no upgrade (on paper) over the first Swift. On the one hand, 720p is a perfectly acceptable resolution for this size of display, and more pixels would have a negligible impact on your enjoyment of YouTube clips and Twitch streams. Also, it’s an understandable compromise that helped the company hit that sub-£200 price point. On the other hand, though, Motorola’s first affordable Moto G device launched with a 4.5-inch 720p screen in 2013, and I’d expect to see some progression in this area, just as flagships have made the jump from 1080p to Quad HD over the past few years.

That said, the Swift 2 and 2 Plus do appear to have marginally better panels than their predecessor. They’re just that little bit more vibrant, though I have noticed a slight inconsistency between the new handsets. On my review units, at least, the Swift 2’s display is a hair richer than the Plus’ where colours are concerned, even though the hardware is supposed to be identical.

This is compounded by the fact the screens on all the devices, the Swift 2 X included, have slightly different colour temperatures. Observed in isolation, the white balance on each is accurate. Only when put side by side can you see the variations, which are minor enough that I couldn’t tell you what tinge is creeping in (red, blue, yellow, etc.). You can always manually adjust colour temperature using the LiveDisplay feature buried in device settings, which also allows you to set different day and night profiles — say, if you want less blue light (the kind that can mess with sleepiness) in the evening. Blacks are deep on all Swift 2 models — as deep as you’ll see on any backlit LCD panel, anyway.

The Swift 2 X distinguishes itself from other members of the family, as it’s the only one with a 1080p panel, though this resolution is stretched over a slightly larger 5.2-inch display. I’d be lying if I said you couldn’t tell the difference between 720p and 1080p at this size, because you’ll struggle to pick out individual pixels on the Swift 2 X, while on the Swift 2 and 2 Plus, you can spot them if you look closely at skinny fonts, like the app names sitting beneath their icons. Personally, I don’t feel like the 1080p display of the Swift 2 X elevates the user experience, but you might feel differently if you frequently watch shows or play games on your phone.

The 1080p panel of the Swift 2 X goes that bit brighter than the 720p displays of the smaller models, eliminating more glare when you look at the phone in direct sunlight. But this is barely noticeable, and all three devices are perfectly usable on a nice, sunny day, with glare having minimal effect.

Software

Out of the box, the Swift 2 range runs Cyanogen OS 13.1, a customised version of Android that uses 6.0.1 Marshmallow as its base. Without going into minute detail, the elevator pitch for Cyanogen OS is: It’s similar to the stock experience, but enhanced with a few extra features and apps. These include small visual tweaks like the vertical, scrolling app drawer and bonus settings like LiveDisplay for adjusting screen colour temperature. If security is important to you, the PIN scramble feature randomises the number layout on the lock screen and access to individual apps can be managed by creating pattern-protected folders on the home screen.

Cyanogen OS carries a few additional preloaded apps, such as “Themes,” which allows you to change almost every aspect of the UI, from fonts to icons to the appearance of the navigation bar and boot animation. AudioFX lets you tweak sound output so you can get the most out of your headphones, manually or via various preset profiles, and Truecaller integrates a special caller ID service into the regular dialler.

Cyanogen’s browser and gallery apps offer alternatives to Google Chrome and Photos, respectively. I’d call these bloatware, since they duplicate much of the functionality of Google’s services, but the gallery app lets you pull images from several popular online services into one place, and some people might prefer to avoid Google’s apps for legitimate reasons.

The latest version of Cyanogen OS includes what are called MODs, which are value-adding features created by others. Microsoft in particular has taken advantage of this program. Microsoft’s Hyperlapse camera mode is built into the Swift 2 family, for example, and you can make Skype calls from the stock dialler, provided you have the app installed. There’s also a Twitter lock-screen MOD that keeps you on top of trending topics without your needing to fully wake your phone.

This is what the Swift 2 software experience looks like at the moment, but that could all change in as soon as a week or two. You see, as of last October, Cyanogen abandoned development of its custom OS. Nevertheless, Wileyfox intends to update the Swift 2 devices to Android 7.0 Nougat before the end of this month. While the plan is to keep as many of the neat, extra features of Cyanogen OS as possible, Wileyfox has no choice but to align itself with stock Android to keep its new devices up to date.

Camera

The new devices carry one of two different primary cameras. The Swift 2 carries a 13-megapixel sensor, whereas the Plus and 2 X boast 16-megapixel shooters. The first Swift also played host to a 13-megapixel main camera, but dig into the spec sheet of the Swift 2 and you’ll see the model number of the Samsung sensor used this time around has changed.

When I reviewed the first Swift, I wasn’t overly impressed with its primary camera. I have similar feelings about the Swift 2, though the sensor swap has improved things somewhat. The resolution might be the same, but in good conditions, the Swift 2 produces moderately more vivid, saturated images. That said, it can be inconsistent. Unlike Google’s super-simple camera app, the Cyanogen OS version offers many more settings and modes. That means you can play around with all the standard values, like white balance, ISO, exposure compensation and metering, among many other things. But I prefer to leave everything on default and let the phone do all the work for me.

Unfortunately, though, it doesn’t do the best job. White balance isn’t particularly problematic — the Swift 2 reacts to artificial light pretty favourably, for instance — but auto-exposure adjustments tend to be unnecessarily severe. You’re more likely to get a washed-out (overexposed) image or a dull and lifeless (underexposed) photo than an accurately saturated one. Perhaps it has something to do with the time of year here in the UK, where grey overcast day follows grey overcast day, but there feels to me to be something inherently lacking in what the Swift 2 spits out, as if it’s looking at the world through a clouded eye. And the HDR mode doesn’t bring a great deal of additional colour pop and contrast to photos, in case you were thinking that might solve the problem of flat images.

Low-light performance on the Swift 2 also leaves something to be desired. In fading light, grain quickly becomes apparent as the phone ups the ISO and exposure values to compensate. Shutter speed and phase detection autofocus (which are rapid in good conditions) also start to falter, increasing your chances of a blurry image unless your hands are as steady as a tripod.

Moving up to the Swift 2 Plus and 2 X doesn’t just get you bigger pictures, but better ones. I needn’t comment on each phone individually, since there are no perceptible differences between the output of the 16-megapixel Samsung sensor across devices. It’s just an all-around superior camera. Colour saturation is improved, automatic exposure is more consistent and the HDR mode heightens contrast in pretty much the way you expect an HDR mode to (though colours can look a little glassy and fake). I still don’t use the HDR setting all that often, though, since these photos take a good two seconds to process on all the Swift 2 devices. An extremely minor inconvenience, I’m aware, but it still feels like wasted time.

Low-light performance is also a bit better on the 2 Plus and 2 X. The bigger sensor is capable of picking up more light (duh), which results in less grain and less aggressive exposure compensation. While images are clearer and more saturated than those of the Swift 2, I still wouldn’t say the 16-megapixel camera excels in low light by any stretch. The 2 Plus and 2 X still sport a pretty mediocre camera in the grand scheme of things, which isn’t really a complaint considering their affordable price points. And if you tend to use your phone camera frequently, going with either 16-megapixel option will certainly make you a happier snapper.

Video output is more or less comparable across all the Swift 2 devices, regardless of sensor size. Clips filmed at 1080p/30 fps are clear, detailed and colourful enough, though audio is a tad muffled screen-side. None of the handsets present with overly fidgety white balance, exposure or focus, which are the kind of inconsistencies that can ruin even the clearest of videos. In low light, neither of the two sensors is particularly strong, but the Swift 2 definitely struggles with noise and maintaining focus a little more than the 2 Plus and 2 X.

All handsets share the same 8-megapixel front-facing camera, which is good enough for a selfie or video call, but colour saturation is again an issue here. Selfies are also not as detailed as I would expect from an 8-megapixel front-facer (just look at the shots you get from Google’s Pixel smartphones, for example), but then, at least you can’t see every pore and flaw.

All things considered, the Swift 2 family cameras are serviceable enough for devices at these price points; they just aren’t particularly strong. I much prefer the 16-megapixel shooters of the 2 Plus and 2 X to the Swift 2’s 13-megapixel sensor, but I could see why some people might not want to pay at least an extra £30 for a slightly more consistent experience. It’s a matter of priorities, really.

Performance and battery life

Wileyfox has kitted out all the Swift 2 handsets with the same chip: a 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 430 with an Adreno 505 GPU. The regular Swift 2 pairs that with 2GB of RAM and 16 gigs of internal storage, whereas the 2 Plus and 2 X push those to 3GB and 32GB, respectively. Storage isn’t much of a concern, as all the handsets accept microSD cards as large as 64GB — though you’ll have to forgo dual-SIM functionality (the tray takes either one micro-SIM and one nano-SIM, or the former plus a microSD card).

The original Swift was working with a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410, and I had few qualms with that device. No points, then, for guessing that the Swift 2 performs even better. All right, so the user experience isn’t as slick and polished as it is on, say, a Galaxy S7 Edge, but in terms of responsiveness, we’re mostly talking differences in fractions of a second.

Besides, considering the Swift 2 family starts at £159, you’re not being asked to compromise too much on the performance front. Sure, the devices occasionally freak out (show me a phone that doesn’t), but these episodes are infrequent enough not to be frustrating. The vast majority of the time, the user experience is fast and fluid, provided you don’t overwhelm the thing with too many commands at once.

The general standard of performance is reflected in how the Swift 2 handles resource-intensive games. After waiting out the 10 seconds or so of loading time, Real Racing 3, NBA Jam and Asphalt 8: Airborne all ran smoothly on the device, and I was particularly impressed with the high and stable frame rate of the latter on the maximum graphics settings. Unkilled, a relatively new first-person zombie shooter from the developer of the Shadowgun titles, started to drop frames only on the highest graphics setting (though the game did warn me that I was pushing the limits of the hardware beyond what it recommends).

There was no such deterioration on the 2 Plus and 2 X, though, which is the only time I’ve noticed the extra 1GB of RAM coming into play while testing the three devices. That’s not to say extra RAM is unnecessary if you don’t play 3D games. You’re buying a buffer — a reserve that can be tapped during heavy multitasking sessions. You’re also buying time: going some way toward future-proofing your device against more demanding OS and app updates.

Further to the standard connectivity options, like WiFi (single-band, 802.11b/g/n) and Bluetooth 4.1, the Swift 2 range adds NFC to the mix. It’s another important addition to this generation, since it opens the door to Android Pay and any other mobile wallet or payments system that might make your life easier.

The Swift 2 and 2 Plus are outfitted with a 2,700mAh battery, while the slightly larger 2 X gets 3,010mAh to work with. I’ve run the standard Engadget battery drain test — looping a 720p video at 50 percent brightness — several times on all three devices. The Swift 2 performs the best, lasting between eight hours and 25 minutes and eight hours and 40 minutes. The 2 Plus is the most consistent, staying alive for eight hours and 15 minutes or thereabouts (the shortfall gives you an idea of what toll on battery life that additional gig of RAM has). The 2 X produces the most erratic results, ranging from seven hours and 47 minutes to eight hours and 27 minutes.

I can’t tell you why there’s such a gulf between the best and worst counts, because the whole idea of the rundown test is to produce consistent results. All I can say is the bigger battery doesn’t equal a longer lifespan when it’s powering the more pixel-dense 1080p display. Scores in between the eight- and nine-hour marks aren’t impressive by any stretch, but they’re exactly what I’d expect at these kind of capacities.

Of the three phones, I’ve spent the most time carrying around the standard Swift 2, and battery life is better than the rundown tests might suggest. Don’t get me wrong — it isn’t a two-day powerhouse, but it has gotten me through many a busy day and halfway through the next without begging for a wall socket. And I’m not just talking about a few emails, but calls, texts, maps, browsing, social stuff, YouTube, Spotify and a few hours of downtime in the evening.

When any of the phones do give up the ghost, Qualcomm’s Quick Charge tech promises 25 percent charge in 15 minutes and 75 percent in under an hour. You only get a USB-C cable in the box, though, and I don’t seem to have the right wall plug adapter (I’ve tried ones from Amazon, Apple and others). While the lock screens of the phones do announce that rapid charging is in effect, I typically get a slower rate from zero to hero of roughly two to two and a half hours.

The competition

You can’t really argue with the price of any of Wileyfox’s latest handsets. The Swift 2 is obviously the cheapest, at £159, while the 2 Plus and 2 X cost £189 and £219, respectively. Ever since the first Moto G launched in 2013, the fact you can dodge subsidised contracts and buy something outright that not only is affordable but does everything you need it to is a constant source of comfort (yeah, I’m weird like that).

There’s just one problem: Wileyfox isn’t the only company making smartphones for contract-averse, budget-savvy consumers. In fact, you could say Wileyfox got lucky with the first Swift, because it launched in something of a vacuum. With a launch price of £129, it undercut every comparable (or lesser) device on the market. But times have changed.

The Swift 2 range has many more competitors, and the situation may get worse when the Mobile World Congress conference kicks off later this month. Motorola’s G4 range offers an alternative at every Swift 2 price point. The £130 G4 Play is specced similarly to the original Swift, while the £169 G4 is closer to the new Swift 2, albeit with a 5.5-inch 1080p display instead of a 5-inch 720p panel. At £229, the G4 Plus adds a 16-megapixel camera and a fingerprint reader.

None of these devices are notably better than their Swift 2 counterparts on paper, but they do come from a trusted brand you’d hope would keep the Android updates flowing. The two pricier handsets, though mostly plastic, can also be heavily customised through Moto Maker.

Leaks point to Motorola updating its G line in the near future. The G5 is thought to have the same Snapdragon 430 chip as the Swift 2 family, as well as a 5-inch, full HD display. The G5 Plus is rumoured to carry a beefier Snapdragon 625 and a 5.2-inch, full HD screen. These could end up being much more serious threats to Wileyfox’s smartphones than Motorola’s G4 trio, but that will depend primarily on pricing.

The new £225 Honor 6X is also a candidate at the top end of the price bracket. Powered by Huawei’s octa-core Kirin 655 chip, the device boasts a 5.5-inch, 1080p display and dual rear cameras for playing around with focus and background blur. Alternatively, you can pick up an HTC One A9s for the same price, or a Huawei P9 Lite for roughly a tenner less, which is getting on a bit but still offers good specs for the price.

Then there’s the LG Stylus 2 and HTC Desire 650 and LG X Cam and Blu Vivo 6 (et cetera), all of which can be bought for under £200. In short, there are plenty of options in the £150–£200 range, and there will likely be a few more incoming once Mobile World Congress has been and gone. Wileyfox’s trio of devices are still competitive, mind, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find something that’s more your style, or more focused on one feature that’s important to you (like the camera), if you shop around online.

Wrap-up

As far as next-generation upgrades go, Wileyfox has done an admiral job of maintaining affordability amid several significant improvements. The use of aluminium, a new fingerprint sensor and the NFC chip are all good decisions on Wileyfox’s part, with the company doing more than just beefing up the spec sheet.

There is one downside to these improvements. The first Swift launched at £129, and it’s this bargain price that made it stand out from other affordable smartphones at the time. This generation, pricing starts at £159 for the basic Swift 2, and each time you go up a model, you’re being asked to pay another £30. I don’t think this is unreasonable, as such, and I’d opt for the more expensive Swift 2 Plus if I had to make a choice. But paying another £30 for the 2 X, just to upgrade the display to 1080p? I wouldn’t say that’s worth it, but if you watch a lot of media or play games often, you might think differently.

As you go up in price, more potential competitors emerge, especially when you break the £200 barrier, as the 2 X does. Features begin to become ubiquitous, and so you’ve more chance of finding a handset from another manufacturer that might suit you better, for any number of reasons. And that kinda sums up my overall feelings about the new Swift 2 family. They are all good smartphones for their respective price tags, but that’s where the first Swift was distinct: It was better than its price tag.

The Morning After: Wednesday, February 22 2017

Welcome to your Wednesday. And maybe the future. NASA has a big announcement today, Qualcomm is promising phone chips that’ll gulp down data faster than your current fiber connection, and more immediately, your next iPhone might pack a depth-sensing camera. Yes, we all find excitement in different places.

Tune in to NASA TV at 1PM ET
NASA has a new discovery to announce

This afternoon, scientists will reveal a discovery “beyond our solar system.” The new findings have to do with exoplanets, aka planets that orbit stars other than our own. We don’t know what they’ve found — if it’s Earth 2 then can we all promise not to tell Mat Smith? — but all will be revealed in a live streamed press conference at 1PM ET, followed by an AMA on Reddit.

This plan doesn’t use them to replace drivers
UPS tests drone/truck delivery combo

The FAA still needs to approve the system before it can roll out, but UPS just showed off an idea to use drones to deliver packages. Using tech we’ve seen before from the Workhorse Group, flying machines take off from a delivery truck. While the driver continues to their next stop, the drone delivers its package and returns to the truck autonomously.

1.2Gbps, to be exact
Qualcomm’s new LTE chip is faster than gigabit fiber

The X20 chip is capable of simultaneously receiving up to 12 streams of LTE data. That’s good for bandwidth as high as 1.2Gbps for your phone or tablet when it arrives in 2018. Bonding 4G streams together (it can also upload at up to 150Mbps) is the best we can hope for until proper 5G tech arrives, assuming you can find a tower nearby ready to deliver that speed (and bandwidth caps it won’t instantly exceed.)

After losing a speaking gig and book deal
Internet troll Milo Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart News

There’s no need to waste any more of our valuable ink on the details. Wait, this newsletter isn’t printed in ink? It should be.

It could power a car while also capturing carbon dioxide.
Tiny ‘engine’ turns natural gas into hydrogen

The dilemma with hydrogen is that while fueling your car with the stuff is faster than charging an EV, making and distributing it is inefficient and polluting. A team from the Georgia Institute of Technology has created a four-stroke “engine” that converts natural gas (methane) into hydrogen from just about anywhere, while capturing the CO2. It could one day hook up to your natural gas line, letting you fuel your car from home in a non-polluting way like you can with an EV.

More G.Intel and Qualcomm are steadily gearing up for 5G

There’s still no unified 5G standard for the next generation of mobile communication, but boy, do some companies have plenty of ideas. Qualcomm and Intel are hoping to play essential roles in the 5G ecosystem, which is poised to be at least ten times faster than existing networks and offer features like near-zero latency.

Apple owns the company that helped build the original Kinect.
The next iPhone might have depth-sensing front camera

Rumors of what the next iPhone will be like are coming in hot and heavy. Last week, well-connected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo noted that the new handsets would nix the home button for a touch-friendly “function area.” Now, a KGI Securities report says that the upcoming OLED iPhone will feature a “revolutionary” front camera that’s capable of sensing 3D space via infrared. Intrigued?

Nothing is sacredThe Etch A Sketch got an LCD screen

So many feelings.

But wait, there’s more…

• The reborn ‘MST3K’ will stream on Netflix April 14th
• Alienware 13 Kaby Lake review
• SodaStream recalls 51,000 bottles because they might explode
• New brain-computer interface technology delivers faster and more accurate typing

Valve launches SteamVR support for Linux

Valve has been giving Steam users Linux love since 2012, and it’s not stopping with VR. The company just launched SteamVR for Linux, letting developers create Linux content for the HTC Vive VR headset, trackers and other hardware. The program is in beta, meaning developers must use an NVIDIA developer beta driver that’s built on “Vulkan,” the successor to OpenGL. You’re limited to “direct” mode, meaning you can only display images on the headset and not a desktop display at the same time.

We’re now live with a developer build of SteamVR for Linux! https://t.co/UbsEC01eDh

— Pierre-Loup Griffais (@Plagman2) February 21, 2017

Developers can also use an AMD card, but it requires more futzing and is limited to secondary “desktop” display mode. Intel graphics aren’t yet supported, and Linux OpenVR game development requires the Unity version 5.6. There are a few other known issues: Base station power management and headset audio device switching aren’t yet implemented, and as mentioned, you can’t switch between direct (headset) and desktop display modes.

So why is Valve doing VR for what is clearly a very niche market? Valve’s SteamOS is Linux-based, and it has hardware partners like Alienware and Maingear that sell Linux machines with the software pre-loaded. There’s also a decent library of SteamOS and Linux games, so it makes sense to extend the platform to VR. The company is developing three new VR-specific games itself (using Unity), and it’s very possible it will make those available on Linux (and possibly OSX) as well as Windows.

On top of that, Valve programmer Joe Ludwig recently said that developers are demanding SteamVR for multiple platforms and that the company is trying to limit “gatekeepers.” That could be a reference to Windows 10 and its UWP apps, which developers worry Microsoft will use to cut off third-party markets like Steam.

Via: Pierre-Loup Griffais (Twitter)

Source: Github

China Mobile to Begin Large-Scale 5G Testing This Year

Qualcomm, ZTE, and China Mobile have announced plans to start interoperability testing and outdoor trials for the new 5G radio specifications being developed by the 3GPP group (via DigiTimes).

The interoperability testing and trials will launch in China starting in the second half of 2017, with the goal of the trials being to showcase how 5G NR technologies can efficiently achieve multi-gigabit per second data rates at lower latency and better reliability than today’s network, Qualcomm stated in a company release.

After large-scale testing of 5G networks in 2017, China Mobile aims to continue with deployment testing in 2018, and commercial operations starting in 2020, according to the report. The trials will use device prototypes from Qualcomm and base station solutions from ZTE, and follow guidelines from China Mobile.

The announcement indicates an acceleration of China Mobile’s schedule for 5G development in the country, as the company looks to keep abreast of mobile carriers in the U.S., Europe, Japan and South Korea.

Earlier this month, AT&T announced it would begin trialing 5G wireless technologies in the U.S. this year and said it anticipated 5G speeds to be 10 to 100 times faster than average 4G LTE connections. However, widespread rollout across AT&T’s network isn’t expected until 2020.

There’s no information as yet on Apple’s plans for 5G uptake. Appl supported LTE-Advanced – a faster standard of 4G LTE – fairly rapidly with the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, but the older 3G and LTE wireless technologies were both available for years before Apple adopted them. Going on AT&T’s and 3GPP’s timelines, a 5G iPhone is unlikely to be released for at least another three to four years.

Tags: China, China Mobile, Qualcomm, 5G
Discuss this article in our forums