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Pros

• Great Design
• Comfortable to hold
• Excellent Kindle Store integration
• Packed feature list

Cons

• Chunkier and heavier than rivals
• No EPUB support

Key Specifications

• Review Price: £109.00
• 6in E Ink screen
• 213g weight
• Whispernet book transfer
• 4GB internal memory
• Touchscreen with multitouch

The Kindle Touch is Amazon’s new flagship ereader, effectively taking over the spot of the keyboard Kindle. We say new, but it has been available in the US for some time. Has it been worth the wait? Yes it has, but unless you’ll actually use the additional features it offers, the cheaper non-touch Kindle is an excellent alternative.

Design
When the non-touch Kindle arrived last year, it set out its stall pretty clearly. It was the cheapest, thinnest, lightest Kindle model ever, boasting the same great E Ink reading experience in an extremely accessible package.

To drop the price and weight, it shed a load of features. MP3 playback, voice synthesis and the high-capacity battery went. But now they’re back in the Kindle Touch.

As a result, the Kindle Touch is significantly chunkier and weightier than the Kindle. It’s roughly 220g where its little brother is 166g, and the screen bezel sticks out from the paper-like screen more markedly.

Skipping between the two ereaders, you’re liable to ask the Touch whether it should think about laying off the carbs, but it is nevertheless wonderfully comfortable to hold. The extra weight doesn’t feel like an upgrade, but the more curvaceous body does. It sits happily in one hand, and its back uses the soft touch finish that’s become an easy-on-the-fingers staple of ereaders.

More important than the slightly chunky frame, the Kindle Touch has gotten rid of all front buttons bar an iPhone-like home button. It’s made up of four ridged bits of plastic, but is a singular control. This cutting back has let the front of the Kindle Touch keep extremely simple, making it arguably more of a looker than the cheaper Amazon ereader. Like Marilyn Monroe, it’s a bit chunky by today’s standards, but that doesn’t spoil its charms.

Built quality is – as ever in the Kindle range – excellent. A generous strip of dark grey metal covers the ereader’s edges and part of its back, while the main front and back panels are slightly lighter grey and plastic. Wondering why so much grey is involved? It helps to trick your eye into thinking the contrast of the E Ink screen is better than it actually is. Simple, but effective.

Connectivity
Other on-body features are decent by ereader standards. There are microUSB and 3.5mm headphone jack sockets on the bottom, alongside the power button. Although the Kindle is one of the more “closed” ereaders, relying primarily on its own ebook format, plugging it into a computer gives you easy access to its 4GB of internal memory. You can drag across an ebook library in minutes.

Internal memory is non-expandable, but 4GB is more than enough for most – hundreds of books will fit happily. If you’re desperate for a memory card slot, look to the Kobo eReader Touch or Sony PRS-T1.

The Kindle Touch does have one on-body feature they lack, though. On its back are two grills for the internal speaker. Also missing from the £89 Kindle, this lets you use the MP3 player and voice synthesiser functions without resorting to headphones. Predictably, though, its output is pretty quiet and lo-fi.

E Ink screen
Like every generation of Amazon’s Kindle ereader, the Kindle Touch uses an E Ink display. If you’ve used one before, its benefits will go without saying, but if not – E Ink offers a paper-like image that’s much easier on the eyes than LCD. It doesn’t use a backlight, instead relying on ambient light to keep text visible.

In direct sunlight, it’s a hundred times better than reading on something like an iPad, with virtually no screen reflection issues and superb clarity. In darkness, though, you won’t be able to see a single letter unless you use a light.

The Kindle Touch screen is 6in across and has a resolution of 600 x 800 pixels. In a direct comparison with the latest smartphone and tablet screens, this may sound woefully inadequate, but it’s like comparing apples to wicker furniture. An E Ink screen’s image is made up of microcapsules, either white or black, meaning it has none of the gappy look a similarly-specced LCD screen would have – where subpixels are surrounded by an expanse on black on (very) close inspection.

While reading, text looks fairly sharp and contrast isn’t too far off that of a printed page.

Touchscreen
This screen quality is nothing new, and is no upgrade over the £89 Kindle, but what you do get is a touchscreen. The Kindle Touch uses a multi-touch IR touchscreen, similar to that seen in the Sony PRS-T1. Teeny lasers are fired across the surface of the screen, and finger prods cut off their flow thereby letting the Kindle know where you’re pressing.

It’s accurate, quick and has no effect on the screen image, beyond making the screen bezel that little bit more substantial. The main function for the touchscreen is, of course, page turning.

The bezel is a little more raised than the non-touch version

A touch or a swipe works, and flicking through pages is roughly as quick as it is on the £89 Kindle. Due to the way E Ink works there’s a fraction of a second delay between turns, but unless you’re completely new to ereaders, it’s no turn-off.

By default, the Kindle Touch flushes its screen after every five page turns. This is where the screen flashes black in order to get rid of any afterimages left by previous pages of text. There’s also an option to make the screen refresh at every page turn, although some rivals like the Kobo eReader Touch give you much more control over the refresh cycle.

Using an IR touchscreen, it’s quite easy to turn pages accidentally – unlike a capacitive screen it’ll respond to any object big enough, rather than just conductive ones. However, we found that the chunky bezel made this less of an issue than in some touchscreen ereaders such as the Sony PRS-T1 and the capacitive-screened Bookeen Cybook Odyssey.

Pressing on a word brings up its OED definition, as well as options to highlight it, add a note, translate it into another language or search for it on Wikipedia. This is one aspect that benefits hugely from the touchscreen, making looking up words much quicker, taking you out of the “reading zone” much less than fiddling about with a D-pad does.

The touchscreen is also used to alter font size. A pinch gesture while reading lets you make fonts smaller and bigger on the fly, and resizing a book only takes a second or two. You are given some limited control over font style and spacing. While reading, you’re just a couple of taps away from the font menu, which offers three styles and three line spacing options.

Although we find this selection of options more than adequate, it is extremely limited compared to other big-name ereaders. Here you have eight font sizes and three fonts. The Kobo eReader Touch offers 24 sized and seven fonts. Would you want to use most of them? Probably not, but some people appreciate having the choice.

Interface
The Amazon approach to the Kindle Touch’s interface is identical to previous models. It tries to streamline your experience by keeping only the most central, most-often used features front and centre. The home screen is your book list, with just a thin nav bar up top. There are no book covers and no visible links to extra features like the MP3 player. It wants to get you reading as soon as possible.

The potential downside of this is that it can make the ereader slightly harder to get on with at first for those used to plain old main menus full of plain old options. For example, the web browser, MP3 player and the Text-to-speech options are all hidden away within the Experimental sub menu. Kindle veterans will know they’ve been snuck away in there for years (a long experiment, eh Amazon?) but others may get frustrated trying to find out how to do things.

As with self-consciously simple devices like this and Apple’s iPhone, though, once you learn to play its way, the Kindle Touch is blissful to use.

Amazon Kindle Store
There are two versions of the Kindle Touch, one with 3G and one without. Both have Wi-Fi, and simple, integrated access to Amazon’s Kindle Store book shop This is home to more than 1.2 million books, from the latest paperbacks by teenage vampire romance peddlers to cheap classics.

Relying on the Amazon infrastructure, the Kindle Store offers a better experience than any built into an ereader. Its interface is similar and familiar, borrowing its layout from the Amazon website, and you can easily order from a computer and have the book automatically sent over to your Kindle Touch using something Amazon calls. Whispernet. As simple as it sounds, you order online and the thing shows up on your Kindle automatically following an online sync.

The Kindle Store also offers a wealth of magazines and newspapers. Most UK broadsheets are now available, at around £10 a month, as are a bunch of magazines. However, the latter in particular fare better on iPad, often hampered by poor optimisation for Kindle and the lack of colour.  

Format support
A key limitation of the Kindle range is that it does not support EPUB, probably the most common format outside of the Kindle Store. If you’re planning on buying direct from Amazon, it’s nothing to worry about. Also, existing libraries can be reformatted to a suitable format easily enough and online resources like Project Gutenberg already cater for Kindles. So why is it still a biggie?

The issue is that in the UK, libraries now lend ebooks, and they do so using EPUB files loaded with DRM (digital rights management). Want to load books from libraries? Don’t buy a Kindle. Amazon has launched its own alternative, the Kindle Lending Library, for Amazon Prime members, but it’s not available in the UK at the time of writing.

The Kindle Touch can hack, TXT, MOBI, PRC, PDF and its native AZW (Kindle) format. The most notable of these is PDF, which ereaders often trip-up with.

Being able to navigate around PDFs using the touchscreen is an upgrade over the budget Kindle, but it’s still not perfect. Compared to the fairly slick Sony PRS-T1, zooming feels clumsy, limited to steps rather than giving you free rein, and re-rendering of the image is a little slow. If PDF-viewing is your main aim, you’re better off with the Sony rival.

Extra features and online functions
The Kindle Touch can do a few things the similarly-priced Sony can’t, though. Near the top of the list is text-to-speech conversion, which has been an “experimental” feature of the series since 2010.

This turns ebooks into audiobooks, using either a male or female synthesised American reader. It has that slightly “fake” sound, but is nevertheless a neat feature that lets you carry on “reading” while you’re on the move.

Audio playback is also in, after being culled from the £89 Kindle, which lacked both a headphone jack and internal speaker. We don’t imagine many will turn the 4GB ereader into their primary music source, the Kindle Touch does let you play music files while reading. It supports AAC, MP3 and WAV formats – hardly a wide array, but enough for the purpose.

The Kindle Touch doesn’t shout too loud about its bells and whistles, preferring to keep an impression of simplicity, but the more you dig, the more you find. New to the Touch is X-ray, which packs books with information from online sources Wikipedia and Shelfari. This only works with books optimised for the feature, but is likely to become standard from now.

The “Experimental” features menu

Alternatively, you can search for any word or phrase on Wikipedia manually, and even translate between nine languages. Social network integration is also built-in. The Kindle Touch lets you share your highlighted bits of books over Facebook and Twitter. It’s the perfect way to lose followers and alienate your Facebook friends…

Value
The Wi-Fi edition of the Kindle Touch costs £109, and the 3G version £169. A 70 per cent price increase may be a little hard to swallow for the upgrade, but for frequent travellers it’s absolutely worth it. Amazon promises a global 3G service, with no hidden costs to pay once you’ve bought the ereader. With a web browser on-board, it’s an extremely handy way to check your emails without incurring huge roaming costs, too, without considering being able to snag books wherever you are.

But what about value versus the opposition? This is a worthy £20 upgrade over the non-touch Kindle, boasting double the battery life at one month with a half-hour’s use a day, and if you don’t care about PDF reading or book loans, it’s a better all-rounder than the Sony PRS-T1.

Similarly, the Kobo eReader Touch is much cheaper and boasts a touchscreen, but isn’t as well-made. There are good reasons to go for alternatives – EPUB support, better PDF handling and physical page turn buttons at the top of the list – but as an all-round device this is the one to beat.

Verdict
The latest Kindle has gained weight and girth since getting the touchscreen treatment. But it has gained a lot more besides, too – MP3 playback, voice synthesis, and a much larger battery. It is a fantastic ereader, with ease of use benefits that’ll outweigh the flexibility bonuses on offer from other manufacturers. However, we’re not convinced touchscreen operation is better than good old buttons here, and the Kindle Touch doesn’t eclipse the cheaper model.     

How we test tablets

We test every tablet we review thoroughly. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly and we use the tablet as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.

Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.

Used as our main tablet for the review period

Reviewed using respected industry benchmarks

Ongoing real world testing

Tested with various games, apps and services

Score in detail

• Value 8

• Design 8

• Screen Quality 9

• Features 8

• Battery Life 9

Vorteile

• Toller IPS-Bildschirm
• Hervorragendes Tipperlebnis
• Flexibel, erweiterbar
• Hervorragende Konnektivität
• Erstaunliche Akkulaufzeit

Nachteile

• Chunky Monkey
• Schwache Lautsprecher
• Minderwertiges Touchpad

Schlüsselspezifikationen

• Bewertungspreis: 829,99 £
• 12,5-Zoll-IPS-Bildschirm mit 1.366 x 768
• Bis zu Core i7, 8 GB RAM und 160 GB SSD
• Robustes und langlebiges Gehäuse
• Vollständig konfigurierbar/aktualisierbar
• Optionales TPM, 3G

Bevor es Ultrabooks mit hochwertigen PLS-Bildschirmen wie das Samsung Series 9 900X3B gab, stellte Lenovo bereits eine ultraportable Option mit Premium-IPS-Display zur Verfügung: das 12-Zoll-ThinkPad X220. Wir haben die Convertible-Tablet-Inkarnation dieses Laptops – das ThinkPad X220t – letztes Jahr getestet und es hat sich sehr gut gehalten. Aber ohne die Tablet- und Wacom-Pen-Talente des X220t und mit leichteren, dünneren Ultrabooks in Hülle und Fülle, kann das reguläre X220 seinen Preis von über 800 £ noch rechtfertigen?

Nun, es gibt viel zu mögen. Das X220 ist kein dünnes und leichtes Ultrabook, sondern ein klobiges und einigermaßen robustes Gerät. Dies bedeutet jedoch, dass es in viel mehr Konnektivität und eine der schönsten Tastaturen aller Ultraportables passen kann. Sie erhalten auch andere Vorteile wie einen herausnehmbaren – und daher austauschbaren oder leicht austauschbaren – Akku und vollständig konfigurierbare Spezifikationen. Sogar kleine Details wie dedizierte Lautstärkeregler tragen zur Funktion über der Form bei.

In Bezug auf diese Spezifikationen können Sie ein X220 mit einem normalen alten TN-Bildschirm, einer Core i3-CPU, 2 GB RAM und einer 320-GB-Festplatte erhalten. Oder Sie gönnen sich ein Modell mit einem Quad-Core-Core-i7-Prozessor, satten 8 GB RAM, einer 160-GB-SSD, dem Premium-Display und allem Drum und Dran. Auf der Lenovo-Website können Sie es so konfigurieren, wie Sie es möchten, oder Sie können sich für eines der vormontierten Modelle von Drittanbietern entscheiden. Trotzdem bleibt das 12,5-Zoll-IPS-Display des X220 sein größter Trumpf gegenüber den meisten anderen Laptops, und da kein neues Modell eingeführt wurde und es immer noch fast keine Konkurrenz gibt, dachten wir, dass es sich lohnt, es sich anzusehen.

Wie bereits erwähnt, ist das Design des Lenovo X220 reines ThinkPad. Es ist kompromisslos kantig und mit dem erweiterten Akku unseres Testgeräts etwas mehr als 3 cm dick. Im Gegensatz zum Samsung Series 9 900X3B unter 13 mm können Sie mit diesem Laptop keinen Kuchen anschneiden, zumindest nicht, ohne eine echte Sauerei zu machen. Es ist mit 1,66 kg für unser Beispiel auch ziemlich kräftig – bedenken Sie jedoch erneut, dass dies mit dem Akku mit der höchsten Kapazität ist.

Obwohl es für ein 12-Zoll-Gerät nicht besonders dünn und leicht ist oder sogar aus Metall besteht, hat das Lenovo X220 die klassische ThinkPad-Verarbeitungsqualität. Es fühlt sich nicht nur unglaublich solide an, sondern die charakteristische halbweiche schwarze Oberfläche, die auf allen ThinkPads zu finden ist, sorgt dafür, dass es sich angenehm anfühlt und bietet hervorragenden Halt beim Tragen. Besonders Straßenkämpfer werden viel zu lieben finden.

Die Konnektivität ist unterdessen ausgezeichnet und für einen 12-Zoll-Laptop leicht an der Spitze der Klasse. Auf der linken Seite haben wir einen einzelnen USB 3.0-Anschluss, VGA und DisplayPort für analoges bzw. digitales Video, einen zweiten USB-Anschluss der langsameren USB 2.0-Variante und einen praktischen Wireless-Schalter. Was das X220 jedoch von der Masse abhebt, ist der 45-mm-ExpressCard-Steckplatz, der sich auch hier befindet und für alle Arten von Erweiterungen und Zubehör verwendet werden kann, z. B. zusätzliche eSATA- oder USB 3.0-Ports oder externe Grafikkarten.

Auf der rechten Seite befindet sich ein SDXC-Speicherkartenleser, ein USB 2.0 Always-On-Anschluss (zum Aufladen von USB-Geräten, wenn Ihr Laptop ausgeschaltet, aber angeschlossen ist), ein Gigabit-Ethernet-Anschluss und eine Kopfhörer-/Mikrofonbuchse. Es gibt auch die Abdeckung für einen 2,5-Zoll-Erweiterungsschacht, den Sie mit einem Laufwerk Ihrer Wahl ausstatten können.

Wi-Fi N und Bluetooth 3.0 sind Standard, während 3G eine Upgrade-Option ist, die Ihnen zusätzliche 90 £ einbringt. In Anbetracht seiner geschäftlichen Neigungen ist es keine Überraschung, dass eine HD-Webcam für dieses ThinkPad ebenfalls eine Option für 11 £ ist. Ebenso gibt es für Geschäftsanwender optionales TPM, eine Schiffsladung an Sicherheitsfunktionen und Software sowie einen Fingerabdruckscanner. Last but not least erweitern die optionalen Dockingstationen von Lenovo die Konnektivitätsmöglichkeiten noch weiter und bieten Luxus wie mehrere Videoausgänge, eSATA und mehr.

Bei einem ThinkPad ist es ziemlich sicher, dass die Tastatur fantastisch sein wird, und Lenovos X220 ist keine Ausnahme. Für diejenigen, die Chiclet-Tastaturen hassen, ist das X220 eine großartige Wahl, da zwischen den Tasten in voller Größe kein Platz verschwendet wird.

Das Layout ist ausgezeichnet mit dedizierten Tasten für alle Funktionen, die produktivitätsorientierte Schreibkräfte benötigen, einschließlich spezifischer Bild-auf- und Bild-ab-Tasten in der Nähe der Cursortasten. Die einzige Layout-Eigenart ist das alte ThinkPad-Schrecken, die Fn-Taste außerhalb von Strg zu platzieren, obwohl dies im BIOS “umgeschaltet” werden kann.

Was diese Tastaturen wirklich zu einer Klasse für sich macht, ist, dass die Tasten eine leicht konkave Form haben, die sich Ihren Fingerspitzen anpasst, und eine knackige Aktion, die an die alten IBM-Tastaturen erinnert (eine sehr gute Sache). Es gibt viel Federweg und eine positive, federnde Aktion mit einem definierten Klicken auf jede Taste. Wir würden gerne den ganzen Tag auf dem Lenovo ThinkPad X220 tippen.

Leider sind die tastenlosen Touchpads von Lenovo nicht so uneingeschränkt ein Erfolg. Obwohl es uns gut gefallen hat, als wir es zum ersten Mal auf dem ThinkPad X220t gesehen haben, lag das nur an den schrecklichen Beispielen, die es zuvor gegeben hatte. Jetzt, da Windows-Laptops endlich Apple mit den Mattglas-Pads wie der Samsung Series 9 anpassen, schneidet das Touchpad des X220 nicht ganz ab, zumal es dazu neigt, das Drücken seiner „Knöpfe“ mit einer Berührung zu verwechseln oder wischen Sie gelegentlich.

Zum Glück gibt es immer den traditionellen ThinkPad TrackPoint, auf den man zurückgreifen kann. Dieser Miniatur-Joystick ist ein winziger roter Gummiknopf, der sich in die Tastatur schmiegt. Er ist ein wenig gewöhnungsbedürftig, aber wenn Sie einmal fertig sind, ist er gut zu bedienen und verfügt über drei eigene physische Tasten.

Sein Bildschirm ist zweifellos der interessanteste Teil des Lenovo ThinkPad X220, zumindest wenn Sie sich für die Premium-Option entscheiden, die Ihnen ein IPS- statt eines TN-Panels einbringt – und für nur 33 £ müssen Sie schon schwärmen … Ja, nun, Sie sollten wirklich für das Upgrade gehen. Abgesehen von der Panel-Technologie und der schönen matten Oberfläche hat das 12,5-Zoll-Display eine Auflösung von 1.366 x 768. Manche finden das vielleicht etwas wenig, aber ehrlich gesagt ist mehr auf einem so kleinen Bildschirm nicht wirklich nötig.

Das Beste am IPS-Panel ist natürlich, dass die Betrachtungswinkel so gut sind wie bei LCDs, mit nur der geringsten Spur von Kontrast oder Farbverschiebung bei extremen Winkeln – obwohl die Kontrastverschiebung speziell in der Vertikalen etwas stärker ausgeprägt ist, als wir normalerweise finden mit IPS. Auch die Helligkeit leidet nicht unter der halbmatten Oberfläche, mit Farben, die wirklich knallen. Obwohl es sich um genau das gleiche Panel handelt, das im ThinkPad X220t verwendet wird, lässt die unterschiedliche Oberfläche (vielleicht aufgrund des Fehlens von Touch und Digitizer) alles etwas lebendiger aussehen.

Dunkle Details sind gut, selbst die subtilsten Schattierungen sind gerade noch sichtbar, sodass Sie in dunklen Filmen und Spielen nichts von der Action verpassen. Die Hintergrundbeleuchtung ist ebenfalls schön gleichmäßig, mit nur einem kaum wahrnehmbaren Hauch von Blutung von der Unterseite der Lünette. Es genügt zu sagen, dass der Bildschirm einfach schön ist und bei Ultraportables nur von dem der Samsung Series 9 übertroffen wird.

Leider lässt uns Audio zu wünschen übrig, insbesondere in der Lautstärkeabteilung. Die Lautsprecher des X220 hätten Probleme, eine Bürozelle zu füllen, obwohl zumindest das, was da ist, klar und detailliert ist, wenn Sie es hören können.

Die Leistung auf dem ThinkPad X220 ist deutlich besser als auf den meisten Ultraportables, oder zumindest kann es sein, wenn Sie die maximale Spezifikation erhalten. Unser Testgerät ist mit einem Dual-Core Intel Core i7 2620M ausgestattet, der standardmäßig mit schnellen 2,7 GHz läuft, aber bis zu 3,4 GHz turbotakten kann. Dieser Prozessor erledigt Ihre täglichen Arbeitslasten mit Freude, und selbst intensivere Kost wie HD-Videocodierung ist kein Problem.

Es wird von 4 GB RAM unterstützt, die, wie bereits erwähnt, auf 8 GB aufrüstbar sind. Lenovo bietet auch die Wahl zwischen einer langsamen 320-GB-Festplatte mit 5.400 U/min oder einer Auswahl von zwei SSDs: eine ein generisches 128-GB-Modell, die andere ein 160-GB-Intel-Laufwerk. Obwohl unser Testmuster mit Intel ausgestattet war, zahlen Sie über 100 £ für den garantierten Markennamen und zusätzliche 30 GB, was sich wirklich nicht lohnt. Sogar £ 267 für das Upgrade von einer Festplatte auf die 128-GB-SSD-Option scheinen lächerlich hoch, aber Sie können stattdessen immer Ihre eigene hinzufügen.

Gaming ist natürlich ein Schwachpunkt des X220, dank der Verwendung von Intels integrierter HD3000-Grafik. Obwohl es in TrackMania Nations Forever einen reibungslosen Durchschnitt von 59,4 fps schaffte, ist das ein älteres Spiel, und die Einstellungen waren mit 1.280 x 720 und mittleren Details moderat. Bei gleichen Einstellungen erreichte der anspruchsvollere Stalker Diashow-ähnliche 10,4 fps. Immerhin blieb Lenovos Premium-Laptop während unseres gesamten Tests kühl und leise.

Die Akkulaufzeit des optionalen erweiterten 9-Zellen-Akkus mit 7.740 mAh in unserem X220-Modell ist erstaunlich gut und schafft es, dieses ultraportable ThinkPad acht Stunden und 40 Minuten lang mit Strom zu versorgen, allerdings bei einer Bildschirmhelligkeit von 40 Prozent und ausgeschalteten drahtlosen Funkgeräten.

Das sichert sich leicht einen Platz an der Spitze der Langlebigkeitsklasse für unterwegs, und obwohl der Akku auf der Rückseite herausragt, bietet dies tatsächlich einen praktischen Griff, um das ThinkPad herumzutragen. Oh, und wenn Ihnen fast neun Stunden nicht ausreichen, ist auch ein optionaler Akku-Slice erhältlich.

Als letztes kommen wir zum Wert, und – wenn Sie mit dem Design des ThinkPad zufrieden sind – dies ist der einzige Bereich, in dem das X220 nicht sofort ein Erfolg ist. Der Preis beginnt bei sehr vernünftigen 829 £, aber das ist mit einem Core i3, 2 GB RAM, einer 320-GB-Festplatte und keiner der Premium-Optionen.

Unser Core i7-Testgerät mit 160-GB-SSD kostet satte 1.550 £, und das immer noch ohne HD-Webcam. Wenn Sie mit den Upgrades jedoch konservativer sind, können Sie einen Core i5 mit 4 GB RAM, einer 128-GB-SSD, dem Premium-IPS-Bildschirm und einem erweiterten Akku – mit allen wichtigen Highlights, die das X220 zu bieten hat – für 1180 £ erwerben .

Wenn Sie nach einem ultraportablen Gerät suchen und Geld übrig haben, gibt es derzeit zwei Hauptmöglichkeiten. Wenn Sie das eleganteste, sagen wir mal sexyste Ultraportable wollen, ist das 13-Zoll-Samsung Series 9 900X3B genau das Richtige für Sie. Es ist dünner und leichter als alles andere auf dem Markt, hat ein schönes Metallgehäuse und erstklassige Details wie eine Tastatur-Hintergrundbeleuchtung, hat gute Lautsprecher und vor allem einen wunderschönen 13,3-Zoll-Bildschirm mit einer Auflösung von 1.600 x 900 PLS, der einfach unübertroffen ist. Auf der anderen Seite ist es nicht ohne Einschränkungen, einschließlich eingeschränkter Konnektivität und durchschnittlicher Akkulaufzeit.

Wenn Sie Funktion der Form vorziehen und mit seinen klobigen Abmessungen leben können, ist das X220 eine großartige Alternative. Es ist unglaublich flexibel, vollständig aufrüstbar (einschließlich der Seltenheit von integriertem 3G), vollgestopft mit Anschlüssen, verfügt über das zweitbeste Display, das wir auf einem Ultraportable gesehen haben, und bietet das beste Tipperlebnis (obwohl es keine Tastaturhintergrundbeleuchtung hat) und mit erweitert Der Akku hält locker durch den Arbeitstag und darüber hinaus.

Urteil

Es ist vielleicht nicht elegant und sexy, aber das 12-Zoll-Laptop Lenovo ThinkPad X220 hat es, wo es darauf ankommt: ein robustes Gehäuse, eine erstaunliche Tastatur, vollständig flexible und aufrüstbare Spezifikationen einschließlich 3G, ein großartiger IPS-Bildschirm und – das i-Tüpfelchen – eine erstaunliche Akkulaufzeit . Wenn Sie mit seinen klobigen Abmessungen leben können, ein anpassbares Ultraportable benötigen und sich seinen geforderten Preis leisten können, ist das X220 immer noch eines der besten kleinen Laptops auf dem Markt.

Wie wir Laptops testen

Im Gegensatz zu anderen Websites testen wir jeden Laptop, den wir überprüfen, gründlich über einen längeren Zeitraum. Wir verwenden branchenübliche Tests, um Funktionen richtig zu vergleichen. Wir werden Ihnen immer sagen, was wir finden. Wir akzeptieren niemals Geld, um ein Produkt zu bewerten.

Erfahren Sie in unserer Ethikrichtlinie mehr darüber, wie wir testen.

Wird im Berichtszeitraum als unser Haupt-Laptop verwendet

Mindestens eine Woche getestet

Konsistente Benchmarks für faire Vergleiche mit anderen Laptops verwendet

Überprüft anhand anerkannter Branchen-Benchmarks und realer Nutzung

Punkte im Detail

• Leistung 8

• Gestaltung 8

• Bildschirmqualität 9

• Wert 8

• Funktionen 10

• Akkulaufzeit 9

Pros

• Picture quality of downloads is good
• More content and channels available than you might expect
• The service is available at no extra cost to Sky subscribers

Cons

• Presentation is cumbersome
• Programme catch-up service is inconsistent
• True on-demand content not available in HD

Key Specifications

• Mix of HD and standard def content
• Both pre-loaded and true ‘on-demand’ content
• Files download to HDD for viewing
• Content available depends on Sky sub
• Watch on-demand content while it’s still downloading

As of 21 March, Sky has finally opened up its Anytime+ on-demand service to all of its subscribers with HD receiver boxes. And frankly it’s about ruddy time.

Prior to that red letter day, the Sky Anytime+ service, with its extensive catch up functionality, was only available to Sky TV subscribers who were signed up to Sky’s broadband package. Even back in 2010 when the Anytime service first launched this situation seemed blatantly unfair; why should one Sky subscriber be able to get this extensive value-added service FREE so long as they changed their broadband to Sky, while other Sky subscribers paying the same subscription fees but using other broadband platforms weren’t able to get it?

Sky’s suggestion was that it had to be this way so that they could have complete control over the delivery of the service in its formative period. But it’s also hard not to think that Anytime was being used as a rather grimy marketing ploy to try and ramp up subscribers to the Sky broadband service.

Whatever the truth of the matter, though, the ironic thing has been that the longer Sky stuck to its ‘Anytime+ for Sky broadband users only’ policy, the more it’s seemed to us as if the policy has been hurting Sky rather than helping it. For while Anytime+ was ahead of the game in on-demand TV terms, but it quickly had the wind taken out of its sails by the growth of on-demand TV services from other sources – especially Smart TV platforms and, of course, Virgin’s TiVo receiver for cable subscribers. And with Anytime+ such a closed shop, many people have instinctively turned to these rival options for their rapidly growing on-demand needs.

Sky has certainly offered innovation elsewhere since 2010, especially with its rather brilliant Sky Go service. But nonetheless, for at least the past year, Sky not giving the majority of its subscribers a ‘proper’ on-demand service on even its most recent 1TB Sky HD receiver has started to really hurt the platform’s appeal – as well as its reputation as a technology innovator.

The arrival of Sky Anytime to ALL Sky subscribers with a Sky HD receiver and ANY broadband contract is long overdue. But is the service as it stands today really worth networking your Sky receiver for?

First, it’s pleasing to discover that the process for ‘converting’ your HD receiver to Anytime isn’t at all difficult. A quick phone call to Sky or visit to Sky’s website is all it takes yourself for the service, and aside from that all you have to do is connect your receiver to your broadband router via an Ethernet port or optional (£60) Sky Wireless Connector.

If even the above procedures have you shaking in your boots, fear not: for £40 a Sky engineer can be sent out to set things up for you, using a wired connection.

Having followed the above procedures and rebooted our Sky HD receiver for good measure, we were rather surprised not to find the Anytime service being shouted about by anything on the Sky Planner menu. There’s just the same Anytime menu entry as before.

The change when you select the Anytime option, though, is immediately obvious. For in place of the simple text lists of programmes Sky had previously ‘sent’ to the old Anytime section of your box’s memory in the hope you might want to watch them, you’re now greeted by five flashly presented ‘showcase’ programmes, accompanied by swish HD stills from the content they contain. You can scroll across the ‘Showcase’ list, with just over 30 titles available in this initial section at the time of writing.

Some of the programmes in this showcase are actually already installed to hard disk as part of the traditional Anytime service. But many others are truly ‘on-demand’; which is to say they’re stored on Sky’s servers, and have to be downloaded to your receiver when you want to watch them.

It’s worth noting here that some of the programmes available in Anytime are in HD. But these programmes are only those that were already uploaded to your box as part of the normal Anytime service. On-demand content to be streamed to your box is only available in standard definition. More on this later.

Just above the main list of programmes on the Sky Anytime+ screen are sub-category headers to help you find something you want to watch more easily. The categories on offer are: Sky Store, Movies, Entertainment, Docs, Kids, Sports, All, and Channels. And within each of these sub-categories you tend to get similar sets of sub-folders to delve into, usually based around All, Most Popular, Recently Added, Last Chance, and various genre definitions.

Not surprisingly, the free on-demand content available in these sections is largely dependent on the level of subscription you have. For instance, if you’re not a subscriber to Sky Movies, you won’t be able to access films on demand from the Sky Movies library. However, the Store section of Anytime lets all Sky customers with a Sky HD box choose from thousands of titles available to rent. Rental prices range between £1.49 and £2.00, the films take in anything from the latest blockbusters to smaller indie movies and back catalogue titles.

For us, the highlights of the Anytime proposition were the Entertainment, Docs and Sports sections. The Entertainment section, for instance, provides the facility to catch up with previous episodes of some quite high-profile programmes, such as Hawaii Five-O, Touch, Luck, Grey’s Anatomy, and Mad Men.

Some of these programmes have the past few episodes available to watch, some have just the most recently shown episode available to watch, and in a few cases you can even access an entire series.

This inconsistency in terms of how far back the on-demand episode lists go for different channels and programmes is potentially a bit annoying. But then it’s difficult to blame Sky for this situation; after all, different content providers have different rules about how far back they want ‘catch up’ services to go, and it’s actually fairly standard practice in the catch up TV world to only have a single episode of a series available on catch up at any one time.

So you could argue that having more than one episode of any series in the Entertainment section is a bonus. And by that reckoning, having full season collections of some series, such as An Idiot Abroad and Boardwalk Empire, could be considered a major result.

The problem is, once you have found some series available as full on-demand ‘boxsets’ or with a few catch up episodes, you can’t help but expect the same level of provision for every show – no matter how unreasonable such expectations might be.

As a perfect example of this, it’s hard not to feel annoyed that the full first series of Game of Thrones isn’t available to watch on Anytime+ ahead of the second series starting. But of course, the reality of this particular situation is that with Game of Thrones Season 1 recently launched on Blu-ray, HBO was almost certainly never going to give Sky the rights to make the first season available for free on Anytime+. At least for now. Once you give people a taste of something like Anytime+ does, though, it’s just human nature for those people to want more.

However, while issues over on-demand rights to different series will repeatedly cause disappointments for some viewers when they can’t find their favourite programmes available on catch-up, the reality is that the overall amount of content available on Sky Anytime+ is actually pretty high.

This is down in no small part to the high number of channels on-board the Anytime+ system. Look under the Channels banner and you’ll find the following list of on-demand participants: ITV Player, Sky1, Sky Living, Sly Atlantic, Watch, Gold, Dave, Comedy Central, FX, Challenge, MTV, alibi, Sky Arts 1 & 2, Home, bio, Discovery Real Time, Home and Health, Good Food, Sky Movies, Sky Sports, Sky Sports F1, ESPN Classic, Sky News, The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, National Geographic Channel, National Geographic Wild, History, Military History, Crime and Investigation Network, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, The Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Nick Jr, and Cartoonito. Oh, and the BBC iPlayer is also due to arrive on Anytime+ before the end of the year. Phew.

The amount of content available is arguably greater than the current Anytime+ interface is capable of comfortably handling. There’s certainly a persistent sense that the current presentation format for the Anytime+ listings doesn’t handle the amounts of content particularly effectively, making it a bit of a chore to track down programmes that might not be featured on either the Showcase or Most Popular categories.

To be fair, it’s not especially easy to see how Sky could change the
presentation radically while remaining within the established structure
of its current electronic programme guide. But maybe it’s time for this
while EPG to undergo a revamp? Also, we couldn’t help but think it would be hugely helpful if the Anytime+ content could be added to Sky’s excellent Sky listings app, as this would make finding desired content much easier.

When it comes to actually watching Sky Anytime+ on-demand programming, it’s good to discover that Sky doesn’t insist on making you wait for an entire programme to download into your box’s memory before you can start watching. As soon as you have enough downloaded to support uninterrupted viewing while the rest of the programme downloads in the background, the ‘play’ icon becomes available and you can start viewing.

This ‘viewing point’ is generally reached within just a few seconds of a download starting, even using our bog-standard 6Mbps BT Internet connection.

In terms of file size, this clearly differs radically depending on the running length of what you’re downloading. But as a basic guide, a 90 minute standard def documentary came in at 1.14GB. And you will be pleased to know that none of the on-demand content contains any adverts.

When it comes to the image quality of downloaded material, actually, while it’s a little variable, for the most part it’s not bad at all. Obviously the HD fodder pre-loaded via the standard Anytime+ service looks pretty much pristine. But the standard definition on-demand material also looks less compressed than we’d expected too. There are signs of compression, but they’re generally cleverly hidden away in dark areas or background areas of picture that you’re not really focusing on.

Of course, the quality of on-demand image Sky can deliver is probably helped by the fact that it downloads programmes to hard disk for playback, and so can risk/cope with less compressed data streams than services which have to stream video for viewing completely live.

That the on-demand stuff on Anytime+ is stored to HDD (downloaded programmes appear in your main Planner alongside ‘normal’ recordings made through the EPG) is also beneficial because it means you can watch the download when you like – and pause and restart it when you like.

Given that Sky’s on-demand approach doesn’t require your broadband connection to handle live streaming, though, it’s perhaps a pity that Sky doesn’t provide you with at least the option to download HD versions of its film and TV series if they’re available. Also, none of the standard def downloads appear to ship with Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks when maybe that too could be provided as an option for enthusiasts patient enough to wait for a longer download.

Sky might argue here that it doesn’t have much of a choice where HD and Dolby Digital audio are concerned. After all, there are still some HD receivers out there with pretty puny amounts of memory built-in, and these could quickly completely run out of recording menu if they suddenly find themselves downloading large amounts of on-demand HD content. But for us, at least having the option to downloaded HD versions of suitable programmes would have been appreciated.

As we draw to the end of this review, it occurs to us that you might be thinking that when you already have 200 channels of TV to watch on Sky as it is, it surely isn’t necessary for Sky to add a bounty of on-demand services. But our personal experience is actually that the sheer amount of TV stuff to try and keep up with on Sky means we routinely miss shows. In fact, the lack of any on-demand catch up service on Sky has been a source of irritation for longer than we can remember. So actually Anytime feels like a modern necessity rather than a rarely used luxury.

Verdict
There’s no doubt that Anytime+ has its faults. It should have been made available to all Sky HD box owners regardless of broadband provider a long time ago. Its interface doesn’t do a great job of streamlining the quest for on-demand content. And the rather hit and miss nature of what’s available to watch will inevitably cause irritation from time to time.

But if our experience is anything to go by, for all its flaws Sky Anytime+ overall delivers one of the better-quality on-demand services around, and has enough content available on it to quickly become a big part of your viewing life.

Let’s not forget, either, that if you’re already a Sky subscriber with a Sky HD receiver, Sky Anytime+ is actually free. And the hefty sums you have to stump up for your Sky subscription each month certainly feel substantially easier to live with once they’re also bagging you the Anytime+ service.

Basically, while we’re not sure the new, ‘universal’ availability of Anytime+ will necessarily lure in millions more subscribers to Sky’s platform, it’s an undeniable fact that if you’re already a Sky user with a Sky HD box and broadband connection and you haven’t yet availed yourself of Anytime , then, well, you’re a bit daft, frankly.

Score in detail

• Value 9

• Features 8

• Performance 9

• Design 7

advantages

• Spectacular hack and slash action
• A more approachable Ninja Gaiden
• Fun co-op mode

disadvantage

• Not enough challenge or variety
• Button mashing battle
• Nonsensical story

Available for Xbox 360, PS3 (verified)
You used to know where you were with Ninja Gaiden. A crazy ninja-style hack-and-slash epic awaits you in Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden 2, with some acrobatic platforms, copious amounts of blood splattering everywhere, a slightly incoherent storyline, some vicious bosses and – vitally – one of the most challenging combat systems ever seen in a mainstream action game.

Ninja Gaiden was happy to humiliate his fans. Casual gamers found the initial Ninja Gaiden virtually impossible, and while the Sigma update for PS3 introduced a somewhat ‘easy’ mode, it only did so after telling you exactly how pathetic you found it. On the one hand, the level of difficulty has put many players off, on the other hand, it’s what the fan base is now expecting.

For them, Ninja Gaiden 3 will be a terrible disappointment. With their infamous leader, Tomonobu Itagaki, the series developer, Team Ninja made a firm decision to expand the appeal. The result is a game with simplified combat mechanics, a weapon set containing only swords and throwing knives (not the sickles, scythes, shuriken, claws, and tonfa sticks of previous outings), and a whole load of quick-time events. If the old-school Ninja Gaiden was all about precision, timing, and expert blocking and dodging before unleashing a vicious attack, then the new Ninja Gaiden is, frankly, a bit of a button press.

Since most encounters involve swarms of enemies attacking from all sides, and auto-aim that doesn’t leave much room for real strategy, the biggest decision you’ll have to make most of the time is whether to hit your enemy with the triangle button (or Y) or the square button (or X).

If you’re not an existing fan, this isn’t as much of a disaster as the series’ hardcore fans would have you believe. Combat in Ninja Gaiden 3 still has a comfortable rhythm, and while you rarely feel like you’re in full control, the bloodletting is nothing if not spectacular. While Ninja Gaiden II’s limb slamming and decapitation seem to have been cut down, there’s still some mind-boggling kill-bill-style hack-and-slashery, and when you throw in dash moves and jumps, then there’s something fairly satisfying to send the ninja hero Ryu Hayabusa on his deadly deals.

And if you just want an exciting ride, then Ninja Gaiden 3
has its moments. The boss fights a massive spider tank, a wriggling,
mask-wielding madman, an attack helicopter and a giant cyber dinosaur
well directed and entertaining, and it’s possible to forgive an over-reliance on it
Quick-time events when the on-screen effects are that horrifying or impressive. the
Graphics have their downsides as many characters are under an outdated,
Plastic in appearance, but the rich scenery and scope of the spectacle more than make up for it
high. As much as die-hard Ninja Gaiden fans might not want to hear, Ninja Gaiden 3
can be a fun game – as long as you’re willing to enjoy it in miniature
cans.

You see, the problem is that there aren’t very many
variety here. The lack of alternative weapons doesn’t help, and neither does it
Fact that the number of Ryu’s special attacks was reduced to two: one big
Dragon attack that cleans and heals the area and one that sees you cocking
some high damage attacks together for a limited time. There isn’t enough
different types of enemies that require different types of strategies, and if more
difficult enemies appear, like the creepy robed wizards and gunman
Mutants that appear mid-game are more annoying than
actually challenging.

In the end Ninja Gaiden 3 is a bit of a one trick pony and
The only sure way it knows how to make things harder is to overwhelm you with it
Masses of enemies, some of which are equipped with ranged weapons or increase their toughness
Enemies to give them a greater chance to wear you down. The combat system is one
Problem, but what’s really holding Ninja Gaiden 3 back is that after God of War and
Bayonetta, it just isn’t inventive enough. Team Ninja really should have done it
also something about the vocal samples during the fight. As soon as you “Get
ready for the main course”, “Goddamn that Ninja” and some other variations
a thousand times, it’s really starting to get on my nerves.

The plot, meanwhile, is the worst of all Ninja Gaiden
nonetheless – a challenge if that of the second game was so incoherent that you ended
just trying to ignore the plot. It’s obviously meant to explore the darkness
side of the ninja lifestyle and what it means to be a guy who kills
20 people before breakfast, but it’s terribly clumsy and uninteresting with numerous
stupid twists and actors like a little wordless orphan who you will fight with
don’t care about anything.

If you enjoy the game, you might be able to squeeze out a little more lives
bolstered by a decent co-op challenge mode that balances some cameras
Issues with some cruel ninja laughs. PS3 owners also get Move support,
However, as it is difficult to set up and impractical in practice, it is
questionable whether this is an advantage at all.

verdict

Ninja Gaiden 3 is doing its best to reach a wider audience
alienate the existing fans of the series and prove too repetitive and
frustrating to acquire many new ones. It
is more accessible and there’s enough hack-and-slash extravaganza to keep you entertained
bite-sized chunks, but the latest Ninja Gaiden is far from the best.

advantages

• Robust credentials, quad display performance, manual mode expansion

disadvantage

• General lack of updates for the previous iteration, poor LCD screen, rather high price

Panasonic Lumix FT4 review – features and design

It’s a difficult trick to balance robust credentials with a level of usability you’d expect from a regular compact camera. It is not uncommon for manufacturers to achieve the former at the expense of the latter, or even at the expense of image quality. A line of life-safe compact cameras that has recently managed to combine a life-safe specification and good image quality while maintaining a level of usability that is similar to a standard compact camera is Panasonic’s FT series.

The FT4 is the latest model at the top of this range and features characteristic robustness. The compact one can withstand water to a depth of 12 m, survive a fall of up to 2 m, works in temperatures as low as -10 °C and is also dustproof.

It’s not just the tough credentials that will appeal to the active photographer, as the FT4 also features a range of indicators aimed at aiding budding explorers. The FT4 features a “quad display” that combines GPS tagging, compass, altimeter and barometer, the data of which can be displayed on the model’s LCD screen for reference. GPS functionality has been improved over previous models and now not only labels latitude and longitude but also provides landmark information from over a million locations for easy labeling.

The good news is that the stringent specification and various features tailored to the outdoor photographer are accompanied by an image specification that rivals many conventional compact cameras. The model features a 1/2.33-inch CCD sensor with an effective resolution of 12.1 MP, accompanied by Panasonic’s Power OIS stabilization technology. As is often the case with Panasonic compact cameras, the FT4 features a Leica-developed lens with a 4.6x optical zoom, covering a focal range of 28-128mm in equivalent terms. A disappointing feature of previous FT models, although likely a compromise given the compacts’ life-safe attributes, was the 2.7-inch, 230k-dot LCD screen – this is on the lower end of the LCD quality scale and unfortunately remains.

The FT4 offers HD movie recording at 1920 x 1080p resolution, recording movies in either AVCHD or MP4 format. One feature that will be welcome for those looking to capture video in potentially difficult conditions is that the FT4 has a dedicated video capture button on the camera’s top plate.

The FT4 has a variety of shooting modes. An intelligent automatic settings function that selects from a range of scene modes to suit the subject, while allowing photographers to choose from these scene modes themselves when required. A welcome introduction to the FT Series with the FT4 are the new Program and Manual shooting modes, giving the photographer greater control over camera settings. Another new capture mode is a time-lapse capture – the setting allows the photographer to capture images automatically and in a timed sequence to combine them in the future. This time-lapse mode, while good in theory, is limited to a maximum duration of just 60 shots at a minimum one-minute interval.

If you’re familiar with the design of previous models in Panasonic’s FT series, the design of the FT4 will surprise you in a few ways. In fact, there is very little evidence that the FT4 differs in any way from the previous model in the range, the FT3 – the model bears exactly the same dimensions as its predecessor and accordingly shares the same styling. That’s not necessarily a bad thing: as mentioned, one of the key aspects of designing a rugged compact is that it remains operational in tough conditions, and that’s something the FT4 achieves. The function keys on the back of the camera are all comfortably raised and are easy to use even with cold or wet hands. The same goes for the shutter button on the camera’s top plate, although unfortunately the power and dedicated video capture buttons are built into the camera to most likely prevent accidental actuation.

The body isn’t the lightest of compacts, although that weight definitely gives the FT4 a solid and reliable feel that will no doubt stand up to a decent brawl. A raised section on the right side of the camera body helps provide a sure grip, although the body’s smooth stainless steel finish could benefit from some sort of contouring to provide a more secure grip.

The model’s menu system is kept rather simple, although again this is no doubt intentional to allow for easy operation in difficult conditions. Basic shooting functions are easy to adjust, advanced settings are easy to find.

Performance, Image Quality and Judgment

Panasonic Lumix FT4 review – performance and picture quality

As with previous models in the FT range, the FT4 performs well in the field without reporting any real problems or performance issues. The compact benefits from two of Panasonic’s leading high-end performance tools – the Venus Engine and Sonic Speed ​​AF. The latter of these technologies offers excellent focus speeds that also have a dependable level of accuracy.

As already mentioned, cameras with robust characteristics often have to make compromises in other areas, which in turn can lead to problems with image quality. However, the FT4 largely avoids most of these problems and the camera is capable of taking some good pictures. The first thing to notice is the overall tonal range – images show great balance between shadows and highlights, with exposure generally being even. While exposure is consistent, the camera’s dynamic range has difficulty managing highlight detail, and a tendency for highlights to blow out is evident.

Another problem with image quality is lens flare, which can blur image details in difficult lighting conditions. Lens flare issues aside, the Leica optics do a good job, with no general distortion in most shots and maintaining sharpness even towards the edges of the frame. Colors, while generally a pleasing neutral palette, can appear oversaturated in bright lighting.

Image quality at high ISO settings is also pleasing – noise is treated fairly aggressively by the camera’s in-camera noise reduction, albeit not at the expense of fine detail, with images up to ISO 800 being usable without too much loss in quality.

Panasonic Lumix FT4 review – conclusion

The world of rugged compact cameras has changed from where it once was and as such the consumer has the right to demand far more performance, both in harsh conditions and in general use. Panasonic’s FT series was one of the first to really manage to combine ease of use with a robust specification, and the same goes for the FT4.

That’s not to say the FT4 is flawless though – improvements over the previous model in the range, the FT3, are conspicuous by their lack. As a result, you must really want the changes to justify paying the premium for the new FT4 as opposed to the FT3. All in all, however, it remains a worthy showcase for Panasonic’s impressive FT series and one of the best life-safe cameras on the market.

points in detail

• value 9

• draft 9

• functions 9

• picture quality 9

• performance 9

Pros

• HDMI output
• Good low-light performance
• Suitable for camera beginners

Cons

• Average speed performance
• Some loss of sharpness at edges

Key Specifications

• Review Price: £170.00
• 12.1-megapixel sensor
• HDMI output
• Full-HD video capture
• Stainless steel body
• 5x optical zoom

In many ways the new Canon IXUS 220 HS is about as close to the definition of a standard point-and-shoot camera as you can get, but with high-end build quality and a thickness of a mere 19.3mm it still stands out from the crowd. Canon sent us a vivid scarlet review sample, against which the black top plate shutter release and power controls stand out very clearly. With large backplate buttons to match, it’s a very approachable camera for first-time users.

Not much wider or taller than a business card, the IXUS 220 HS is an easy fit for the trouser pocket or clutch bag. Like the IXUS 310 HS model we reviewed recently, this IXUS boasts a resolution of a modest 12.1 megapixels from a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor. Its low-light shooting credentials are suggested by the ‘HS’ suffix, standing for ‘high sensitivity’, delivered here by a back-lit sensor and Digic 4 image processor. It supplies 60% lower noise levels at high ISO speeds, according to Canon – a claim we’ll test in due course.

Under the IXUS 220 HS’s shiny casing lurks an optically image-stabilised 5x zoom, starting out at a usefully wide 24mm and running up to an equivalent 120mm at the telephoto end. Rather more of a surprise is that the camera captures full-HD video clips of 1920×1080 pixels at 24 frames per second with the benefit of stereo sound – the dual microphones are located on the top plate. We also get a dedicated video record button to the top-right of the back plate LCD.

Press this and video clip recording commences no matter what mode the camera is currently set to. There’s no optical viewfinder, as we’ve come to expect of point-and-shoot compacts, and the screen is a modest 2.7in in size, offering a run-of-the-mill 230k dot resolution.

What do you get for your £170? Decent build, a dose of style and a better-than-average feature set, including HDMI output alongside standard AV/USB output.

The IXUS 220 HS’s stainless steel body lends the camera a sturdy yet lightweight feel, but there’s no hand grip here. Coupled with the camera’s smooth-as-a-pebble surface, this makes it hard to get a firm grip when shooting handheld. As a result, the rear LCD quickly becomes covered in fingerprints as you try and steady the IXUS with both hands instead – so you’ll be constantly rubbing the screen clean.

On the IXUS 220 HS’s back is a simple slider switch allowing you to alternate between standard Smart Auto mode, which uses face and subject detection technology to compare the scene to 32 on-board presets and selects the most fitting for optimal results, and Program Auto. The latter allows a greater degree of hands-on control – a press of the ‘func/set’ button to the right of the camera’s backplate providing access to a much wider range of manually selectable options. Manual control is welcomed, but this remains a camera for those who want to point and shoot and achieve respectable results with the minimum of fuss. Photo enthusiasts wanting a more feature-packed portable model should direct their gaze towards the Canon PowerShot S95 and G12 cameras.

The Canon IXUS 220 HS does offer a few advanced skills that will be of interest to casual snappers though. Among these is a high-speed burst shooting mode for action fans, which captures up to 8fps at a lower three megapixels. If you’d rather stick at full 12 megapixel resolution then speed drops to 3.4 fps.

Speed also adds to creativity when filming video clips, thanks to the 240fps Slow Motion movie mode – although footage is shot at a low-quality 320×240 resolution. When played-back, it produces footage an eighth normal speed, giving that The Matrix-style bullet time effect. Higher-definition 640×480 pixel clips 120fps can also be captured. As in the new 310 HS model, there’s an esoteric Movie Digest mode on the camera too, which records a short video burst at the point a still image is taken and then automatically stitches these clips together to form a little movie to tell the backstory of your day.

This feature of the IXUS 220 HS may appeal to travel snappers wanting to record a bit more of their surroundings, but the camera doesn’t feature the latest must-haves of GPS, nor is it moisture resistant. However, Canon offers a couple of waterproof cases for the 220 HS, recommended pricing ranging between £55 and £225 (dearer than the camera itself!) dependent on which option you go for.

This IXUS 220 HS, like the rest of the Canon compact range, provides the ability to adjust colour tones via the function toolbar. Tucked away beyond the shooting modes, there’s also a range of digital effects that mirror those on its pricier 310 HS, taking inspiration from the ‘creative studio in a box’ Art Filters and Magic Filters of the Olympus Pen and Tough compacts.

There are the usual fisheye and pinhole camera style effects, plus a super vivid setting and monochrome for those who want to inject an artistic moodiness into shots. Our favourite was the miniature effect, which apes the result from a specialist tilt and shift lens, narrowing the portion of the image in-focus to give the illusion that you’re looking at a photograph of a model rather than an actual building, car or landscape. This can be applied to video clips as well as stills, at 1.5, three or six frames per second to provide a time-lapse movie style effect, further extending the camera’s creative uses.

The Canon IXUS 220 HS’s power switch is slightly recessed into the top plate to prevent accidental activation when handling the camera. Give this a press and with a sprightly chirp the camera almost instantly bursts into life, LCD switching on and lens defaulting to its maximum wide angle setting. The controls are well-labelled and larger than average for a camera of this size. The IXUS isn’t daunting for first-time users.

A thumb-operated slider switch swaps between Smart Auto and Program Auto capture – the latter mode providing a greater range of image tweaking options. With playback of captured snaps given its own dedicated button, a half-press of the shutter button will have you right back in shooting mode, without needing to mess around with any other dials or switches. In fact there’s no bottle top style shooting mode dial here at all – controls have been pared-down to the essentials to allow users to take and review shots quickly.

Ranged around the dial on the back are exposure compensation options (a modest /- 2EV), flash settings, display settings and focus adjustment between infinity and macro. If you’ve opted for the simpler Smart Auto instead, the focus point is decided by the camera. Pressing the exposure comp option calls up an AF tracking point instead, for those who want to maintain focus on a particular subject – for example children or pets who won’t stay still.

A press of the ‘func/set’ button in Smart Auto mode brings up a toolbar on the left side of the screen with a very limited array of options: self timer, the ability to control image aspect ratio, plus a choice of JPEG image size (Large, two Medium options, Small) and compression level (Fine or Normal) depending on how many shots you want to squeeze on to your SD, SDHC or SXHC memory card – there’s no internal memory supplied with the camera.

Flick the switch to Program mode instead and a press of the function button opens-up a rather more extensive array of options. Metering can be controlled, with the choice of flitting between evaluative, centre weighted average and spot, and it’s here we get access to the ‘My colors’ colour tone options. You can leave this set to ‘off’ whereby the camera deploys its factory presets for naturalistic results. Or alternatively you can select vivid, neutral, sepia, black and white, our favourite ‘positive film’, darker skin one, and bias individual red, green or blue colours in the frame. There’s also a further custom colour option. White balance and ISO speeds can also be adjusted, with options ranging from ISO100 up to the maximum ISO3200 setting. An auto setting is also on-hand.

The rest of the shooting modes are hidden within this same toolbar, including Movie Digest mode, dedicated portrait and “kids and pets” scene options, smile shutter, high speed burst shooting, best image selection (the camera choosing the best representation of a given scene from a sequence of shots), handheld night scene, Low Light (three megapixel resolution), plus fisheye, miniature effect, toy camera, monochrome, super vivid and poster effect. The slow motion movie clip option is also squeezed into this long list of possibilities.

While the autofocus is not lightning fast, it’s fast enough for this class of camera. Press down fully to take the shot and in single shot mode the camera takes around three to four seconds to write a maximum resolution JPEG to memory. Again, not the fastest ever but neither is it something you notice holding you up as you progress from one shot to the next.

We were very pleased with the image quality of the IXUS 220 HS. Sure, like any compact camera it has its issues with pixel fringing and loss of sharpness towards the corners of the frame heightened by that wider than average 24mm equivalent wide angle setting. But most of us will be looking dead centre at our subject, which is generally well-exposed and crisp. The camera obviously functions at its best in good daylight conditions, so is an ideal sea and sun holiday companion in that respect. However, its performance in lower lighting impressed us too, with its top ISO3200 actually being usable rather than just there to bump-up the spec list. It’s a better-than-expected result from this relatively low cost Canon IXUS.

Verdict

The Canon IXUS 220 HS continues Canon’s run of sleek, attractive pocket models and at under £200 it’s not going to break the bank. That may sound like feint praise, and indeed it is – there’s little here that we haven’t witnessed before from the range. That in itself doesn’t of course make the IXUS 220 HS a bad camera, it’s just not an especially exciting one.

It does, however, stand out from the crowd by virtue of its noise-free results at higher ISO settings, Full-HD video, HDMI output, and fun digital effects filters. It may lack the 3D mode found on Panasonic Lumix and Sony Cyber-shot models for £100 more, but in truth most of what anyone would require from a snapshot pocket camera these days is present and correct. It’s not revolutionary in any particular way, but the Canon IXUS 220 HS is a competent, consistent performer.

A selection of images taken at the camera’s incremental light sensitivity settings, using only available daylight. The IXUS 220 HS ISO range is relatively modest and straightforward, starting out at ISO100 and working its way up to ISO3200, though Canon does throw in an additional Low Light shooting mode for fully auto snapping, the caveat being that resolution falls then falls to three megapixels. Let’s see how well the Canon copes…

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With the camera’s Auto ISO setting choosing the lowest manually selectable option of ISO100, as expected detail is good, the shot is crisp overall and there’s no noise to report in shadow areas; pretty much as expected then.

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Same lack of noise to report at ISO200, if we’ve lost a tiny bit of contrast over ISO100.

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We’re at ISO400, usually the setting at which noise begins to creep in on cheaper compacts. But again here even when zooming in close on detail we’re hard pressed to witness any degradation in the image from the Canon.

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The same test subject at ISO800, and overall the image is still fairly clean if we’re slightly losing edge definition on close inspection.

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Slightly softer again when it comes to detail examining our test image at ISO1600. But again most would be hard pressed to spot any deterioration when viewing the full frame.

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More soft at ISO3200 but not a pronounced jump in terms of noise over ISO1600. Overall the Canon 220 HS has performed very respectably in this task, giving an identical showing to the marginally pricier 310 HS which boasts the exact same ISO range.

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…And so we’ve tried shooting our test image with Low Light mode selected, which effects an image drop to three megapixels. Here the camera has itself chosen a setting which equates to ISO400, so again, no apparent noise.

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A more general selection of test shots are revealed on this page and next to act as an evaluation of the IXUS 220 HS in a variety of shooting conditions.

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This unadulterated wide angle shot at 24mm equivalent setting and straight from the 220 HS reveals a good grasp of detail centre of the frame, getting progressively softer toward the corners. Some quite alarming pixel fringing is noticeable top left of frame on the upper tree branches, even without the need for close inspection.

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By contrast a handheld maximum 120mm equivalent telephoto setting shot from the same vantage point. Detail is noticeably softer centre of frame and could do with contrast being tweaked to add some missing definition, but on the whole not at all a bad result from a pocket point and shooter.

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Another maximum wide angle shot of a closer subject with plenty of inherent detail which will give a better impression of the crispness captured in the 220 HS’ 12 megapixel shots. We’re not seeing obvious barrel distortion at this range, but corner detail is again softening.

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Our rusty gate shot reveals more detail than we might expect from a humble 12 megapixel snapper with a physically smaller lens.

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Here are some general test shots taken with the IXUS 220 HS to give an idea of performance ability when it comes to image quality, dynamic range, colour rendition and focal range.

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Lovely natural colours from the Canon in this extreme close up shot; those who do purely want to point and shoot and get decent results without spending a lot up from could do far worse than consider the Canon IXUS 220 HS.

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No we haven’t deployed the fish eye digital effect here; the illusion is merely due to the subject’s proximity to the lens at the 220 HS’ maximum 24mm equivalent wide angle setting.

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Again, when faced with plenty of colour in the frame the Canon comes up trumps in this wide angle snap. Yes, the buildings do appear to be leaning slightly, but we were shooting from a low-ish vantage point.

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By contrast a shot taken handheld towards the telephoto end of the zoom; again natural colours and a decent level of detail.

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Features

advantages

• Cheap
• Good call quality
• Attractive design

disadvantage

• Touchscreen is not very responsive
• Software is a little rough around the edges
• Bad camera

key specifications

• Touch screen
• 2 megapixel camera
• FM radio
• dual band.

The Orange Miami is a basic touchscreen phone available from Orange for just £30, but you’ll also have to pay for a £10 minimum top-up when you buy the handset. Although the phone is Orange branded, it’s actually a facelifted version of the ZTE G-N281, so it might be available on other networks in countries other than the UK.

The Miami is available in either pink or black and the design looks pretty snazzy for a budget model. The battery cover is tastefully rounded which, combined with the handset’s smaller size and light weight, makes for convenient handling. We also like the chrome effect used on the band that runs around the front edge of the phone, as well as the hardware buttons for power, volume control and camera. Complementing these physical buttons are two touch buttons at the bottom of the screen for call control functions, with the on-hook button also acting as a back button when navigating through the phone’s software.

Unfortunately, there’s no dedicated headphone jack – instead, the included headphones plug into the micro-USB port on the bottom of the phone. At least Orange included a short adapter cable with the box, which you can use to connect your own headphones to your cell phone – but then you don’t need the hands-free microphone built into Miami’s own headphones.

The phone’s software is mainly controlled via the small 2.75-inch touchscreen. But unlike most smartphones today, the Miami uses a resistive rather than an older-style capacitive display. Capacitive displays are generally much more sensitive to touch input than resistive displays, and that’s certainly the case here. In fact, the screen turns out to be one of the phone’s biggest weaknesses, as it responds inconsistently to finger presses. At times it feels quite responsive, but other times you have to press the screen multiple times to make it respond.

The handset’s user interface is similar to that of Samsung’s older mid-range touchscreen phones like the Tocco Lite. There is a single home screen with a column of quick launch icons on the left for quick access to features like phone book, text messaging, camera and internet. Tapping it will open a small submenu giving you more options. For example, when you tap the phone icon, you have the option to view call history, missed calls, received calls, or recently dialed calls. It’s a quick and effective way to jump to the types of features you’re likely to use on a daily basis.

Alternatively, you can press the soft menu button at the bottom of the screen to bring up the phone’s main menu. Here you’ll find some extras like the widget player, which is really a very basic RSS news reader, alongside an FM radio, image and video viewers, FM radio and some basic games.

Overall, the Miami’s software feels a little rough around the edges and some of the menus are difficult to understand at first. For example, we had to wonder why there are three different ways to access the music player when they all lead to the same app.

There is only about 19MB of free space in the phone’s internal memory. So if you want to use the music player, you really need to insert a microSD card into the slot under the battery cover. However, the music player is very basic as it’s really just a file browser and lacks niceties like the ability to show album art.

Predictably, the included headphones aren’t great, as they have poor bass response, but if you swap them out for your own cans, you’ll find the Miami puts out good quality audio.

Although there’s a web browser on board, we wouldn’t recommend this handset for internet use. This is not only because the web browser is rudimentary and renders pages slowly, but also because the phone lacks 3G and Wi-Fi support, so even simple web pages take ages to load.

The cameras on most budget phones are paltry, and unfortunately, the Miami’s is no different. It’s a very basic 2-megapixel shooter that lacks a flash or autofocus, but at least the camera app offers a few extra features, including a night mode, white balance presets (tungsten, daylight fluorescence, etc.), continuous shooting, and a delay timer . However, none of these extras can get over the fact that the results are poor even by budget cameraphone standards. Images tend to look quite dirty, especially around the edges of the frame, and highlights often look very burned out. Also, the shutter is slow to respond and you’ll have to hold the phone very still if you don’t want the result to be a blurry mess.

Call quality is pretty good, it’s both clear and accurate, but battery life is disappointing. It is only designed for three hours of talk time. So if you like long chats with your friends, it’s not the right phone for you.

verdict

At £40 including the £10 top-up fee, the Orange Miami is very cheap for a touchscreen phone. But even at this low price we find it difficult to recommend it, mainly because the touchscreen just isn’t responsive enough to provide a satisfying user experience. Factor in the phone’s rough and finished UI and second-rate camera, and we’d recommend looking to something like Samsung’s Toco Lite – it costs around £20 more but is a lot more user-friendly.

How we test phones

We put every cell phone we test through its paces. We use industry standard tests to properly compare features and we use the phone as our main device during the review period. We will always tell you what we find and we never accept money to rate a product.

Learn more about how we test in our Ethics Policy.

Used as our main phone during the period

Verified against respected industry benchmarks and real-world tests

Always has a SIM card installed

Tested with phone calls, games and popular apps

points in detail

• performance 5

• design 7

• value 6

• functions 5

advantages

• DAB, FM, CD and iPod all in one box
• Simple, muted design
• Great sound quality

disadvantage

• Chunky remote control
• Not the most elegant design
• Limited auxiliary inputs

key specifications

• Evaluation Price: £249.99
• DAB, FM, CD, USB and iPod playback
• Separate stereo speaker layout

For some reason, the term iPod dock has become synonymous with compact all-in-one sound systems. While, of course, a dock is simply the part where your phone or MP3 player sits, and the rest can be any type of sound-making machinery. So while the Pure Contour, B&W Zeppelin and Arcam rCube have a lot to offer for their compact size, if you’re short on space and looking for a more expansive sound, the Onkyo CS-545UK should tick all the boxes on the road.

This very conventional looking mini hi-fi system may seem unassuming, but it packs a CD player, FM and DAB radios, an iPod dock and USB playback into its body and comes with a quality set of stereo speakers, so that both features are packed and ready to go right out of the box.

The central unit, which is available in either silver or black, measures 300 x 215 x 90mm and should therefore easily fit in most TV cabinets and Hi-Fi shelves, or next to your TV. It’s a bit deep for just snuggling up on a windowsill or bookshelf, but you should probably try to give a system like this a better home anyway.

The main chassis is all metal with a high quality finish in the case of the black model and a brushed aluminum finish for the silver model. Everything feels very good, and its rather heavy weight of 4.2 kg only adds to this feeling. The hole for the USB port on the front panel is a little noticeable, but nothing to worry about. Insert a USB stick into this port and you can play MP3 files on it.

Also on the front panel, from top left to bottom right, are buttons for power, input, tone/balance, eject, track skip/preset skip, stop, and play/pause, as well as controls for adjusting tone/balance and volume. All are milled from aluminum to match the chassis and anodised in the black version. They all feel securely mounted and exhibit a slight but defined click as the key drops. The tone/balance control is a notched infinity spin affair that’s wonderfully accurate, while the large volume control has a stiff but smooth infinity spin action.

Hidden behind a chunky plastic flap on top is the iPod dock, which uses standard Apple dock inserts to attach various types of iPods, as opposed to the ingenious universal docks of the B&W Zeppelin and Fatman iTube ValveDock. A choice of black ones are included, but as we’ve gotten used to, none seem to fit the latest iPods and iPhones, so you’ll need to source the correct dock adapters yourself – and an iPad won’t fit at all. It’s fully compatible with iPhones and we didn’t notice any squeaks and beeps when a phone was docked.

Other connectivity is very limited with only a headphone jack on the front and line in, video out, antenna, subwoofer pre out and speaker connections (both banana clip and bare wire are compatible) on offer. The video output is designed to send video from your iPod to your TV, but since it’s only a composite connection, the quality is so poor it’s not worth bothering with. While this system is ideal for a living room sound system, you’ll have to rely on other means to manage everything as it’s easy to set up the speakers on either side of your TV and offer most of the basic sound sources through your AV connections from sources such as Blu-ray players and Sky boxes (one solution is to connect the Onkyo to your TV’s stereo audio output and let the TV do the rest).

If you look a little closer, the 250 x 225 x 150mm speakers are sturdy constructed of fibreboard with a black textured veneer covering the top, bottom and sides. This could be mistaken for a faux wood effect but is more of a brushed metal style that looks very attractive. Each contains a pair of drivers with a 12cm woofer and 2.5cm tweeter in the front, a bass port in the back and of course the connections too. Standard fabric covers are included which can be removed if you want a slightly edgier look. All in all, they look classy and feel well made.

The power cord for the amp is hardwired so cannot be swapped out for a longer or shorter one at will, but at around a meter long it seems sufficient for most people’s needs. The same applies to the supplied speaker cables, which are quite thick and made of pure copper. They don’t have any proper connectors (although that’s typical of hi-fi gear) but are a decent 1.5m in length. You can of course easily and cheaply replace these if you need extra length.

Turn on the device and the two-line display will appear. It shows basic track, station, time and song information and is clear with good viewing angles. Some of the finer text can be a bit difficult to read in a modest living room, but general navigation is easy.

Pop a CD into the drive and the unit works as intuitively as you’d expect, with front panel controls letting you navigate to the right input, start playback, navigate through tracks and adjust the volume. However, turn on the radio or dock an iPod and you’ll be stuck without the remote.

Unfortunately, the remote control isn’t the most elegant or intuitive design we’ve come across. The angular edges, stubby shape, plastic construction, and rubber buttons all combine to make it feel a little cheap, while the layout is perfunctory at best and a bit unwieldy at worst. For example, you’re basically unable to properly control iPod playback other than skipping tracks and starting/stopping – navigating albums is a nightmare – while there are seemingly unnecessary dedicated play/pause buttons for USB, iPod and CD there. In the meantime, you’ll have to resort to the fast-forward buttons to skip through radio stations (again, something you can’t do without the remote).

You get to know its quirks over time, but how a company that makes such high-quality products in terms of performance can still come up with such a rudimentary remote control is something we don’t know. It would be nice to have backlit keys too, although that omission is more understandable given the price of this device.

Luckily, what the Onkyo CS-545UK lacks in usability (and inputs), it more than makes up for in performance. From classical music to the latest dirty beats to the most bombastic movie soundtracks, this device’s all-round sound lets it shine.

We started our test with a quick spin of our favorite CDs and were quickly impressed with its immersive stereo reproduction and warm, even tone. The lack of a dedicated subwoofer means some dance music won’t be as boomy as some might like, but twice the 40W output is more than enough to fill a house with loud, undistorted music when party time is the order of the day.

You won’t be surprised to hear, given the price of this device, that detail levels don’t quite reach truly mesmerizing levels, with the top end feeling a bit flat, but there’s more than enough to make for a very engaging and enjoyable listen.

As mentioned, navigating through radio stations can be a bit of a headache, and handling presets is almost a complete waste of time. As long as you tend to listen to the same station or two you shouldn’t fret too much, but other than that this might not be the system for you.

Moving on to movies and TV via the line input, the lack of a center channel means you don’t get the perfect dead-centre reproduction of dialogue that a surround set would give you, and again the lack of a dedicated sub results in less as defecation rumbles during explosive scenes. However, the overall experience is very enjoyable with again a warm and steady tone meaning you’ll never have trouble hearing dialogue or defending yourself when the action begins. This is certainly a great upgrade for the vast majority of standard TV speakers.

If you’re looking for alternatives, you could opt for a dedicated surround system and just plug in an iPod dock, but of course you lose the CD and radio functionality. There are a number of alternative mini systems too, but few have the built-in iPod dock or offer the same audio quality for the price. Compact all-in-one systems like the Pure Contour can’t be set up around your TV and tend to offer less impressive overall sound.

“‘Verdict”‘

While the Onkyo CS-545UK isn’t a super-slick all-in-one iPod dock, a bombastic high-end hi-fi, or a mega multi-channel surround system, it’s a great all-rounder. With DAB, FM, USB playback, an iPod dock and a CD player on board, it covers most music listening needs, while the line input and separate stereo speaker array mean you can use it as an easy upgrade to your TV’s audio can provide a complete living room audio solution. However, a somewhat cumbersome user interface prevents it from getting a higher score.