Posts from: December 2019

Smart home alarms have been gaining traction in the UK in the past year and I have reviewed both the Yale Home Sync and Simplisafe systems. Ring recently launched in the UK, and my review of the Somfy indoor camera can be part of a smart home alarm. Minut, formerly Point, is a new contender …

Smart home thermostats have come a long way since they first launched. Originally they were just a thermostat that controlled the on and off functions of your boiler. They promised various levels of savings compared to a traditional thermostat, but in reality, they were still quite inefficient in many areas. Then came zoned heating, Genius …

As much as I love my Garmin Fenix 6 and other multi-sports watches, the wrist-based optical heart rate monitoring is poor. The accuracy will vary a lot depending on placement and the activity. For me, with things like cycling and rowing, accuracy is poor to the point of being useless. Generally, for things like rowing, …

I have waxed lyrical about the benefits of mesh Wi-Fi systems for home users this year. When I first implemented a mesh system it resolved all the issues with black spots around my home and avoided the issues of running multiple routers from different brands. As much as I love mesh Wi-Fi, on the constant …

I have previously published several leaks of the benchmarks for both the Mediatek Dimensity 1000L and Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G which showed the Dimensity being more powerful than the Snapdragon in both Antutu and Geekbench. Those were early benchmarks, and the comparison was made against the Redmi K30. Now the OPPO Reno3 series has been officially announced, …

OPPO has officially announced its new Reno3 phones which have been heavily leaked the past few weeks. One of the most interesting aspects of the release is that the Reno3 will be the first phone to use the new MediaTek Dimensity 1000L SoC. It is also a little odd because on paper the Dimensity 1000L …

[Update May 2020] RadFan have been in touch unhappy with my comparisons. For clarification, I have not used RadFan, but when I reviewed the SpeedComfort, RadFan appeared to be the best-known name in the business. They are also the only company to do anything close to proving the energy-saving claims. My one comment that states …

While most of the specification has been previously revealed, Realme have no confirmed that the Realme X50 5G will launch on the 7th of January at an event in Beijing, China. This is the first 5G phone from the company and they have previously committed to only releasing 5G phones in China moving forward. The …

Mediatek is on a roll with their new chipsets, the new Dimensity 1000 looks to shake up the flagship market as we enter 2020. This will then be joined by the new Dimensity 1000L which is a lower specced version and will feature on the OPPO Reno3. Then Helio G90 will get a little brother …

Recently it was revealed that Xiaomi will be using a yet unannounced Mediatek Helio G70 chipset in the up and coming Redmi 9 phone. With the G90 being a gaming orientated chipset, and performing so well against the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730, I was left wondering what the Helio G70 might be like, especially when the …

With the OnePlus 8 not expected to launch for several months any leaked information is uncertain. The OnePlus 8 and Pro models are inevitable, but the most interesting details are for the new model in the series, the OnePlus 8 Lite. OnePlus Specification Comparison Apart from the obvious chipset upgrades, there are a few interesting …

WordPress has long had a reputation of being one of the easiest platforms to monetize. Recent changes have made it even easier to accept donations than before. Some of these changes have involved regulators, who’ve been increasingly friendly to charitable organizations. Tax policies have shifted somewhat as well, which is making it easier for nonprofit …

Back in July, the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) announced the newest iteration of DisplayPort technology: DisplayPort 2. This new standard will support resolutions up to 16K and use either traditional DisplayPort connectors or USB-C. PremiumTech is now the first company to offer cables supporting the new standard which will future proof your cables for …

The Xiaomi Redmi only launched in October but it looks like Redmi are working quickly to get a new model out, with a yet announced MediaTek Helio G70 chipset. The new MediaTek Helio G70 will be positioned beneath the Helio G90 & G90T which is used in the Redmi Note 8 Pro. The Redmi 9 …

Being in a house of two with no pets, I am not a big fan of indoor cameras, they are a bit wasted on me and there is always that creepy feeling of being watched. Then, of course, privacy concerns. The Somfy Indoor Camera hopes to address those concerns by utilising a physical shutter on …

Now all the desktop CPUs have been upgraded to Zen 2 it is time for the laptop and integrated graphics desktop chips to receive some Zen 2 love. The new CPUs move from the 12nm Zen+ core architecture to the 7nm Zen 2 cores and also feature a more modern Vega GPU with an enhanced …