It’s time for radical honesty in the IT industry

I’ll be honest: I haven’t read Dr Brad

CONTRIBUTORS

Les Pounder Les, who helped write and deliver

The A-List

The best products on the market, as picked by our editors

Readers’ comments

Your views and feedback from email and the web

Star letter

We hear you! I was perusing my latest

Readers’ poll

23% Google to de-integrate its products 57% Most

Gelsinger’s gone: what next for Intel?

Background and analysis on all the important news stories

AGI edges closer as o1 leaves preview

ChatGPT’s new reasoning model is unleashed in full

The space race for your phone

T-Mobile has teamed up with Starlink to eliminate mobile dead spots in the US. Barry Collins investigates whether it could take off in the UK, too

Is Amazon plotting a UK mobile network?

Starlink isn’t the only satellite provider with eyes

4 surprising things we learned from IBM Research

While AI and quantum computing were the two big themes at this year’s IBM Research Europe media event, Tim Danton reveals there was also one surprise lurking in the lab

Is that the final Trump of doom I hear?

What could possibly be convincing the once liberal owners of big tech, and now multi-billionaires, to switch their allegiance to the new president?

Gap between tech promises and reality is too wide

Technology has been saving us time and supposedly making the world better for decades, so how come it takes so long to book a GP appointment?

How I miss the missing manuals

Forget wikis, YouTube videos and Q&As, application support was so much better in the days of printed manuals

WINDOWS in 2025

With the new year bringing the curtain down on the most used version of Windows, Barry Collins explores where consumers and businesses should head next

INSTANT EXPERT DAVINCI RESOLVE

Edit and render videos like a pro. Nik Rawlinson shows you how to hit the ground running in the powerful free editing suite

EMULATION MAKING WINDOWS ON ARM GREAT AGAIN

HOW DO THE LATEST LAPTOPS AND MACS RUN INTEL SOFTWARE ON THEIR ARM PROCESSORS? DARIEN GRAHAM-SMITH EXPLORES THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF EMULATION

HP OmniBook Ultra Flip

A stylish 2-in-1 packed with the latest technology, and the local AI tool shows signs of promise, too

What our awards mean

Recommended This, quite simply, is a product we

How we test

Laptops and PCs We run a selection of

Dell XPS 13 (Core Ultra 200V)

Intel’s second-generation Core Ultra 200V chips prove an excellent fit for the ultra-compact XPS 13

Raspberry Pi 500

A brilliant update to the Pi 400, this “all in one” keyboard computer makes the most of the Raspberry Pi 5’s power

PCSpecialist Nebula Goliath

PCSpecialist gives the best possible platform for Intel’s Core Ultra desktop chips, and the result is a fine PC

Wired2Fire HAL 9000 Compact PC

Don’t be fooled by its size; this is a powerhouse for gaming and all-round tasks – and it runs quietly, too

Eizo FlexScan EV3450XC

A slick curved monitor that comes with all the docking features you need, but wait for the price to drop

Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024)

Genuinely useful AI tools make this update difficult to resist, even if the price diminishes its appeal

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (2024)

Minor upgrades add up to a big improvement, with a boost in performance and a brighter screen

Huawei Watch GT 5

Huawei’s best mid-range offering so far thanks to accurate tracking and measurements

Huawei Watch D2

Blood-pressure monitoring marks this smartwatch out from the crowd, but it’s bulky as a result

Xiaomi Mix Flip

Delivers for display and camera quality as well as performance, but the software offering falls behind rival flip phones

Oppo Find X8 Pro

An “ultra” phone in all but name, this is an excellent alternative to Apple’s and Samsung’s flagships

ThinkPhone 25 by Motorola

A great choice for a business phone due to its size and quality, and it’s reassuringly secure, too

Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro

A new chipset and excellent cooling make this the most powerful phone we’ve tested – it’s great for gaming

RedMagic 10 Pro

Only worth considering if your priorities are gaming and battery life, but you can’t argue with the price

Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W

A powerful, versatile board that brings Wi-Fi to the RP2350B while retaining the familiar Pico form factor

Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W

This drop-in replacement for the Pico W provides a higher-spec microcontroller for more demanding projects

Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2

A great upgrade to the original Touch Display, especially if you need five-point touch and an HD screen

Raspberry Pi SSD

If you want guaranteed SSD compatibility for your Pi 5, pay the premium for this speedy drive

Epson EcoTank ET-2865

Much to like, from the refillable ink tanks and thus low running costs to decent prints, scans and copies

HP OfficeJet Pro 9135e

INKJET PRINTERS

Canon Pixma TR7650

Canon’s Pixma TR7650 isn’t sure whether it belongs in the home or an office. Luckily, it will be fine in either

Epson WorkForce Pro WF-C4310DW

A single-function inkjet that doesn’t quite tick all the boxes, so we’d choose one of its rivals instead

Epson WorkForce WF-2960DWF

This cheap multifunction peripheral has its moments, but despite the low price it’s not great value overall

HP Smart Tank 7005

A great-value refillable multifunction peripheral that’s let down by its poor scan quality

Canon i-Sensys LBP243dw

Fast, high-quality prints and low running costs, this is everything you’d want from a mono laser printer

Kyocera Ecosys PA4000wx

LASER PRINTERS

Brother HL-L2865DW

A great mono laser if you churn out text, but it’s let down by poor graphical prints

Brother MFC-L2980DW

An MFP version of Brother’s HL-L2865DW laser printer above. We’re not sure it’s worth the premium

HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3302fdw

HP’s MFP 3302fdw produces fine prints, scans and copies, but it’s a little slow and expensive to run

Labs Printers

Lexmark MS331dn Lexmark’s compact mono laser is a

View from the Labs

Much has improved in the two decades that Simon has spent testing printers, but the testing process brings more frowns than smiles

Buyer’s guide Upgrade to Wi Fi7

Practical buying and strategic advice for IT managers and decision makers

EnGenius ECW536

A cloud-managed business Wi-Fi 7 access point that’s competitively priced and seriously fast

TP-Link Omada EAP772

Modest performance, but this slimline Wi-Fi 7 AP offers lots of features and great remote management at a low price

Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro Max

A great-value business Wi-Fi 7 AP with good performance and outstanding wireless management services

Zyxel NWA130BE

This affordable Wi-Fi 7 AP delivers a good feature set and cloud management but below-par performance

Barco ClickShare Bar Pro

A tad pricey, but this smart all-in-one VC bar delivers good quality and offers fast meeting creation abilities

Epson WorkForce DS-800WN

Wins for its speed, high-quality output and integration with Epson’s great document management platform

Printers for PROs

We put 14 inkjet and laser printers through their paces in our exhaustive tests for quality and speed so that you can buy with confidence

Buyer’s guide: how to buy the right printer for you

A printer should last you for years, so read this guide to make sure that you won’t pay the price – literally and figuratively – of making a rushed decision

Get ready for the biggest security threats of 2025

Forewarned is forearmed: Davey Winder explores the likely online risks of the year ahead

Post-quantum cryptography

Is all our sensitive data about to be blown wide open? Steve Cassidy discovers how quantum changes the game

“Being able to log in to your cloud VM session from a generic piece of hardware is a dream for IT managers”

Expert advice from our panel of professionals

“Someone at Microsoft is making decisions that are turning my customers pretzel-shaped”

After revealing the inner workings of a secretive Microsoft department, we explain how you – yes, you! – can become a repair hero in 2025

“The questioner and I were in the virtual room alone together. Or were we?”

We all have an implicit understanding of what “confidential” means, but in practice it’s open to misunderstanding – fortunately, the law can help

“I know what it’s like to fall victim to cybercrime. Even so-called professionals can get caught out”

Davey reveals one of the oddest cyberattacks yet and says that we all need to stop blaming users for cybersecurity failings

“Gritting your teeth now is going to be your last chance to make improvements”

If you’re wondering why phone calls are still so difficult in 2025, Steve – grand master of the VoIP upgrade project – has some answers

Apple’s big blues

Inspirational stories from computing’s long-distant past

AI agents: putting AI to work

We explore the trends and technologies that are set to shape the future

Next month ON SALE Thursday 6 February 2025

Features Best products of 2025! CES in Las

Ignore the hype around the Pi 500, says Jon Honeyball, and enjoy thehypermiling instead

It’s called hypermiling in the motoring world: squeezing