PC Pro (Dec 2022)

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Reviews

11’s advanced window handling than glass, which is why Asus BELOW If you’ve ever fellow workers or commuters will
comes to the fore, with my favourite specifically mentions that it won’t
preset for the Zenbook 17 Fold being a repair damage by nail scratches. wanted a gigantic 17in gaze admiringly at a laptop that
dominant window on the left with a Sharp nails and plastic OLED panels
smaller reference window to the side. aren’t great bedfellows. tablet, the Zenbook 17 measures over an inch thick. Why so

There’s plenty of power here too, You’ll also notice that Fold could be for you thick? Because of the leather cover.
especially if you choose the colours don’t stay “true” if
“Performance mode” fan profile in you peer at this screen This sits protectively across the
the MyAsus software. You still won’t from the side, in
hear much fan noise, but it means contrast to the best IPS hinge, but rather than cover the
that the two Intel Performance panels. However,
cores in the Core i7-1250 are given a there’s no doubting whole of the rear of the
chance to properly shine; along with its vividness. This is
the eight Efficient cores, it hit a made clear by the screen, it’s roughly half
respectable 187 in the PC Pro screensaver that
benchmarks and 5,772 in the kicks into action the width. When you
Cinebench R23 multicore test. So after a couple of
in truth it’s more of a Core i5 than a minutes of bend the Fold, it slides
Core i7, but that’s plenty for most inactivity, which is
people’s needs. part of Asus’ efforts along. As a piece of
to avoid OLED
There is a smidgeon of gaming burn-in. By default, it protective design,
capability here, too, with the Iris Xe also hides the Windows
graphics returning an average of menu bar and activates it’s undoubtedly
51fps in Metro: Last Light at 1080p other technical measures to
and High settings. Admittedly, that avoid one pixel being on for very clever, but
dropped to 22fps at the panel’s prolonged periods.
native resolution. when in laptop
It hits a peak of just over 400cd/m2
Still, undemanding games should and covers 98% of the DCI-P3 gamut, mode it means the
be playable, and if you want more which are two reasons why it looks
you can always buy an external GPU so impactful. And whites look base alone is an
to take advantage of Thunderbolt 4. white thanks in part to a 6605K
One such port sits at the top (in colour temperature (close to the inch thick. It’s all
all-in-one PC mode), the other at the 6500K target).
left, and you can use either to power very 1980s.
the Zenbook. Unless you count the What you shouldn’t expect is great
audio jack, that’s it for ports. colour accuracy. In the default mode I Part of the
measured an average Delta E of 4.11,
Bend it like Asus when I have come to expect under 1 thickness is due to the
from premium laptop screens. And a
Now I need to bend the screen to worst result of 21.38 is nothing short keyboard, which sits
transform it into a different pose, so of woeful. Things improved when I
let’s address that most common of switched to sRGB mode (again using atop the bottom half of
questions: how visible is the fold? the MyAsus software), but an average
From the side, when it catches of 3.11 and peak of 8.04 are nothing the screen when in laptop
reflections, very obvious indeed. But to shout about.
when you look at it head-on, you mode. The magnets keep it
don’t notice it at all. I don’t think this A touch of lappy
will be a problem in general use. firmly locked in place, but the
Now let’s slip
Asus also claims that the hinge and into laptop arrangement doesn’t have the
screen are good for 30,000 bends, mode. Here, you
which translates to around five years bend the screen solidity of a proper laptop, as the
if you bend it 20 times per day. That’s at roughly 90˚
reassuring, as is the fact that Asus will and then place keyboard flexes in the middle as you
“offer free maintenance or swap the the keyboard
entire hinge +cable + panel assembly” onto the lower type. It’s bearable, and I can’t fault
for a “fault caused by a non-artificial half of the
reason” within the warranty period. panel. It stays “None of your fellow the amount of key travel,
in place bearing in mind the
But there’s a “but”: “Any courtesy of a
scratches caused by sharp items, nail couple of workers or commuters limitations Asus has to
scratches or dents caused by heavy magnets, and will gaze admiringly at a work with, but it’s no
forces are not included in the essentially you laptop that measures ThinkPad Z13 (see p56).
warranty policy.” I would feel more now have a
confident if Asus had bumped up the 12.5in laptop over an inch thick” The other oddity is
warranty from its single year of with a 1,920 x
return-to-base cover, because this 1,280 screen. that the bend of the
isn’t a laptop built for easy repair.
Only Asus engineers should get It works... okay. If screen is in the taskbar
involved, and I shudder to think about I had to use the
how much a replacement screen Zenbook in this area. This gives an unusual curvature
would cost out of warranty. formation then I
would cope, but to the icons, and makes hitting them
That screen is OLED, which is true none of your
of all bendable screens (never try to harder than on a conventional flat
bend an IPS screen). It’s plastic rather
screen as your fingertip falls into

the curve.

LEFT With the If I was to give the Zenbook 17

keyboard detached, Fold four stars out of five as an

the17Foldbecomesa all-in-one, as a laptop it scores only

prettydecentall-in-one two out of five.

Other
positions

You can also use
the Zenbook 17
Fold as a gigantic
tablet, but here
things become a
tad challenging.
For one, this
isn’t a tablet you
want to hold for
long. Not only
because of its
sheer bulk – and
manoeuvring a
17in tablet is no

small task – but
also because of
its 1.5kg weight.
That’s 300g more
than the X1 Fold Gen 2.
After a minute or
two of holding the
Zenbook freestyle,

51

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO

you’ll figures were in all-in-one mode with
definitely
need to find the whole display showing).
somewhere
to rest it. What holds me back from saying

Then there’s “everyone should buy it” boils down
the fact it runs
Windows rather to the fact that it feels like a first
than iPadOS. Yes,
we’re expecting attempt. For example, you need to
Microsoft to
imminently bring keep both the laptop and the
Android apps to the OS
via the Amazon Appstore, keyboard charged separately. And the
but that means you’re
getting a subset of the keyboard isn’t great at holding its
available Android apps. Which
are themselves, with a couple of charge or keeping you informed of
exceptions, a subset of the apps
available on Apple’s platform. its status, confusing me no end
And, let’s face facts, not always the
highest-quality subset. when it decided to switch off the

The third problem is that this first touchpad yet the keys stayed active.
iteration of the Zenbook 17 doesn’t
support styluses. Whether it’s Then there are minor irritations,
drawing, annotating or simply
writing notes, a stylus adds an extra such as the webcam only working in
layer of usefulness to any tablet, and
that’s one of the reasons I’m looking ABOVE From head on, landscape mode if you’re in the
forward to trying the X1 Fold (see
below) when it eventually comes to the fold in the middle is all-in-one position. Switch to laptop
the UK.
barely visible mode and it shoots in portrait. I’m
Theoretically you could also bend
the Zenbook 17 into a book-like shape software certain that this issue will be fixed in
and read, but in reality this doesn’t support – I
work. Perhaps that’s due to a lack of couldn’t persuade a coming update, perhaps before the
Amazon’s Kindle app to play nicely,
and it proved similarly clumsy when Zenbook Fold 17 is released, but it’s
viewing a Word doc across two
columns. I simply don’t think this not an indication of a mature product.
form factor will ever take off.
(On the plus side, it is a high-quality
Split decision
five-megapixel webcam.)
So, what about the Zenbook 17 Fold
as a whole? It does have a few things On top of the lack of stylus support
in its favour. The speakers are more
than good enough to watch films on “When on one occasion I’ve mentioned, there’s
the device, while battery life is one more key challenge
surprisingly strong at 10hrs 20mins
when playing back video and 8hrs the keyboard almost ran facing any prospective
49mins for office use (and both those out of power without me buyer: the price. Asus
spotting it, the touchpad will only sell one model
stopped working” of the Zenbook 17 in the
UK, and it’s asking

£3,300 for the privilege.

I genuinely love the Zenbook 17

Fold’s ability to switch between

laptop and all-in-one, and can only

applaud the fact that it’s powerful

enough to be a main computer while

offering ten hours of battery life. But

LEFT The leather unless you’re desperate to try out this

cover provides sturdy new form factor, I recommend you
protection, but at the hold off until the next iteration.

cost of portability TIM DANTON

Hands on: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2 SPECIFICATIONS
10-core (2 P-cores, 8 E-cores) Intel Core
Christian Guyton from our sister site techradar.com got his hands on the Lenovo i7-1250U processor 16GB LPDDR5-5200
ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2 at its IFA 2022 launch in early September. As the name suggests, RAM Intel Iris Xe graphics 17.3in 2,560 x
this isn’t Lenovo’s first attempt at a foldable laptop, but it’s a very different beast in 2022: 1,920 60Hz OLED touchscreen 1TB M.2
gone is the Gen 1’s 13.3in OLED, to be replaced by a 16.3in screen. Like Asus, Lenovo has PCI-E Gen 4 SSD 5MP webcam Wi-Fi 6E
opted for low-power versions of Intel’s 12th generation Core chips. Bluetooth 5.3 2 x Thunderbolt 4 3.5mm
combo jack 75Wh battery Windows 11
In fact, Lenovo’s approach is very similar to Asus’ throughout, although it opts for a Home unfolded, 379 x 288 x 8.7-11.7mm
kickstand that attaches magnetically. “The X1 (WDH) folded, 288 x 189 x 17.4-31.9mm
Fold Gen 2 feels very robust,” wrote Christian. 1.5kg (1.8kg with keyboard) 1yr RTB
“The exterior panels are made from a warranty
pleasant, grippy fabric which is made from
100% recycled plastics.”
He was similarly taken by the “gorgeous”
panel, with a promise of 600cd/m2 in HDR
mode. “Colours pop and blacks are deep and
sharp... It feels good to use the touchscreen
with either a fingertip or the compatible
Wacom stylus, potentially making this a

great option for digital artists.”
That stylus is one obvious advantage over the Asus, and Christian also praised the

keyboard for its plentiful travel. Less so its haptic trackpad, because it “doesn’t offer a
very sensitive click”.

The X1 Fold will go on sale in the US from November, with prices starting at $2,499.
We don’t yet have UK pricing or availability.

52

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Reviews

How we test

Laptops and PCs What our awards mean

We run a selection of benchmarks on all the RECOMMENDED Recommended
PCs and laptops we test. Where possible, we
use a cross-platform test so we can compare This, quite simply,
Windows and macOS machines, which is is a product we
where both Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R23 recommend
come into play. Both push the CPU to its you buy – if it meets
limit, exposing how well cooled a system is. your needs.

We run extra tests for Windows systems. ABOVE We put PCs A-List
We use our own benchmarks to test photo- and laptops through
editing, video-encoding and multitasking our intensive set of The best buy in its
speeds. We then switch to PCMark 10 to benchmarks category right now.
benchmark systems in office tasks, The product will also
content creation and basic tasks such as feature on our A-List,
web browsing and video calls. We also run 3DMark Time Spy and a selection of starting on p14. It’s
benchmarks in games such as Metro Exodus and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. updated each month.

For laptops, we test battery life with Wi-Fi on and the screen brightness set to
170cd/m2. We fully charge the laptops and drain them until they reach 5% using
two tests. First, PCMark 10’s battery life benchmark: this mimics light use with
tasks such as word processing, video chat and web browsing (plus idle periods).
Second, a video-rundown benchmark that loops a 1080p video in VLC Player.

Screen quality This is a good test of the LEFT We use a Display Labs Winner
processor and memory i1 colorimeter to
In each laptop, in particular, and measure sRGB gamut Each month we run a
phone, tablet and includes both a coverage and Delta E group test, or Labs.
monitor review, test for single-core This product has
you’ll see our and multicore BELOW We play a managed to beat all
conclusions about performance. See video with the screen others to top position.
the screen quality. below for a set to 170cd/m² to
Some of this will be selection of scores to test battery life The pcpro.link
subjective, but we also provide a reference of
test each screen using a what’s good... and Throughout the magazine you’ll see
Display i1 colorimeter. We pcpro.link shortcuts. Enter these into
measure maximum brightness, what’s not so good. the address bar of your browser and it
colour accuracy and consistency – We also run the graphics- will take you to a particular page, which
there may be a difference in, say, intensive GFXBench (gfxbench. will either be too long or awkward for
com) to see how well the us to publish or will take you to the
brightness from the phones and tablets are likely precise shop from which to buy. If it’s
middle and the edges to perform in games. Amazon, note that we have an affiliate
of the panel. As with laptops, we deal in place so we will receive a
We also measure test phone and tablet commission from each sale. This will
Delta E, which battery life by playing a never affect our verdict of a product,
gives a guide as to full-screen video until and if another reputable vendor is
how accurately the the battery runs out with selling the product cheaper then we
panel displays a the device in Flight mode. will use that instead.
colour. Anything We set the brightness to as
under 1 is excellent close to 170cd/m2 as we can
and likely to be difficult get in its settings.

for the human eye to GEEKBENCH 5 (MULTICORE) Prices will vary
distinguish; between one and two is
still strong; above this suggests a Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max 4,549 HIGHER IS BETTER Prices we publish are correct on the day
panel that you shouldn’t trust for Apple A15 Bionic 3,685 we publish, but we often see prices
colour-accurate photo editing. 3,440 change, especially on sites such as
OnePlus 9 Pro 2,850 Amazon. However, we do work with
Phones and tablets Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 2,760 British PC retailers to ensure the prices
2,696 we quote for their systems are correct.
We run a selection of publicly Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra If the price isn’t being honoured, contact
available benchmarks on all the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 us via [email protected].
phones and tablets we review. First,
we run Geekbench 5 (geekbench.com). Honor 50 53
Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G

Google Pixel 6 Pro
Google Tensor

Google Pixel 6
Google Tensor

Reviews @PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO

Huawei MateBook PC Pro benchmarks, 5,641 in
X Pro 2022
PCMark 10 and an exceptional
A sleek and powerful laptop
that’s as gorgeous to look at 9,648 in the multicore section of
as it is to use – and with a
price to match Geekbench 5. This machine will be

SCORE productive for years to come.

PRICE £1,500 (£1,800 inc VAT) from With so many positives, it’s a
consumer.huawei.com/uk
shame to bring down the mood

with some negatives. The first is

lack of repairability. The 16GB of

RAM is embedded onto the board,

and while I believe you can replace

the 1TB SSD, my attempts to remove

the base of the chassis (having first

removed six Torx screws) were

halted by two further screws

hidden under rubber feet that

refused to budge. It doesn’t

help that Huawei provides

Some laptops look only a year’s warranty.
great in photos, but
when you see them The second letdown
in the flesh you realise you’ve been
fooled by low angles and clever is the 720p camera.
lighting. The new MateBook X Pro
isn’t like that. If you think the photos matched with a superb action. ABOVE Clever camera Huawei was always going to struggle
here make it look good – and trust me Cushioned isn’t quite the right term;
when I say that its sleek lines and dark instead, it’s more like controlled angles don’t deceive to squeeze a high-quality webcam
powder blue finish will bring coos of resistance. It’s a firm feel that gives
admiration from onlookers – just wait you confidence to type at speed, and you: this is a gorgeous, into the tiny top bezel, but its fuzzy
until you hold its all-metal frame. without making much noise.
slim laptop results with poor colour accuracy are
Huawei’s first trick is to include a The large glass-coated touchpad
14.2in screen in the MateBook’s is fantastic too, and I was pleased to not the professional image you want
ridiculously slender dimensions. It’s see that it doesn’t rely on haptic
simply gorgeous, pushing up feedback. Instead, there’s the smallest to present. At least the mics are great.
to a peak of almost of movements when you press down.
600cd/m2 while But haptic technology is here. For Then there’s battery life. There’s a
covering 93% of the
DCI-P3 gamut. example, if you slide up 60Wh battery inside, so I hoped to get
Films pack a and down along the
proper punch, and left-hand side you can over eight hours from this laptop, but
it’s all delivered control brightness,
with accuracy: an while doing the my best result was 6hrs 41mins in the
average Delta E of same on the
0.83 is a fine right-hand side video-rundown test. This was with
result. Those who adjusts volume.
spend their time in And the early firmware, so I suspect these
Word and Excel can speakers on this
relax, as whites are crisp laptop are results will improve, but I recommend
and clean too. simply superb. I
test laptop speaker slipping the compact charger into
Crisp is an apt word, with quality by switching
3,120 x 2,080 pixels giving this 3:2 between my Echo and your bag – it took the MateBook X Pro
panel a 264ppi density. And just for
good measure it supports touch and the test device using a RECOMMENDED from zero to 95% in an hour.
can switch between 60Hz and 90Hz challenging set of tracks, and Let’s end with a positive, which is
refresh rates (press Fn+R). Björk’s detailed “All Is Full of Love” is
normally enough to crush the dreams that Huawei provides four USB-C
If anything, the keyboard is even of laptop speakers. But here it’s
better. Lenovo has some competition renditioned clearly. “Shake it Off” ports: two Thunderbolt 4, two USB 3.2
on its hands, with the clean layout sounds upbeat and punchy, and it even
managed to make the drum-based LEFT The powder Gen 2 (there’s a USB-C to USB-A
intro of “Tusk” sound convincing.
There’s also gaming potential here, blue, all-metal chassis adapter in the box). The two
with Huawei extracting the most from
Intel’s Iris Xe graphics. Even the makes this an object Thunderbolt ports are particularly
demanding Metro Exodus was
playable, albeit at 1080p with Low of desire good news, as they mean you can
settings, with an average of 41fps.
Huawei’s cooling system deserves connect two 4K monitors. With
much credit for pushing the Core
i7-1260P to its best performance yet, Huawei currently bundling its
with an excellent result of 237 in the
“The 14.2in screen is simply gorgeous MateView as a
sweetener for the £1,800
gorgeous, pushing up to a asking price, you then

peak of almost 600cd/m2 need to find £500 to buy a
while covering 93% of the second. Bearing in mind
DCI-P3 gamut” the power in the
MateBook X Pro, that

would give you an equally

attractive setup in the office as the

laptop is on the move. TIM DANTON

BENCHMARKS SPECIFICATIONS
12-core (4 P-cores, 8 E-cores) Intel Core
PCMark 10 i7-1260P processor Intel Iris Xe graphics
16GB LPDDR5-5200 RAM 14.2in IPS
0 2,000 4,000 5,641 8,000 10,000 touchscreen, 90Hz, 3,120 x 2,080 resolution
20,000 1TB M.2 PCI-E Gen 4 SSD Wi-Fi 6E
6,000 Bluetooth 5.2 2 x Thunderbolt 4 ports 2 x
USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports 720p webcam
3DMark Time Spy 10,000 15,000 BELOW The four 60Wh battery Windows 11 Home 310 x 221
1,875 USB-C ports include x 15.6mm (WDH) 1.3kg 1yr RTB warranty
two that support
0 5,000 Thunderbolt 4

BATTERY LIFE Office use Video rundown

7hrs 11mins
6hrs 41mins

0 5 10 15 20

54



Lenovo ThinkPad chose Best Performance mode
Z13 Gen 1 on battery it wasn’t quite as fast,
scoring 1,323 and 6,709 in
An executive laptop with Geekbench 5.
heaps of power and a
battery that will last Plugged in
beyond the working day The main thing to appreciate,

SCORE though, is that this is a truly

PRICE From £1,592 (£1,910 inc VAT) powerful machine. Not only is
from lenovo.com
the Z13 faster than many of the

hulking desktop beasts in this

month’s Labs (see p78), but it’s

also much quicker than its most

obvious Intel competitor, the

Core i7-1260P.

I say the i7-1260P rather

than the more powerful

i7-12700H because it,

Unlike any other laptop like the 6850U, is
brand, ThinkPads
have always had a designed for sleek
distinctive look. You can trace their
lineage back to the first IBM Portable pal laptops such as this.
ThinkPad in 1992, and Lenovo has
carried on its fine tradition since it This brings us to one of the laptop’s ABOVE An accurate Blow for blow, the AMD chip wins.
bought IBM’s PC business way back key strengths: portability. It isn’t the
in 2005. So it’s quite something to see lightest 13in laptop at 1.2kg, but a screen and quality In the PC Pro benchmarks, it scored
such a strikingly different design in 51.5Wh battery along with AMD’s
the Z13 (and its big brother the Z16). all-new 6850U Ryzen Pro processor keyboard add to the 273 compared to 220 for the
pushed it to an almighty 16hrs 11mins
I tested the most striking version in PCMark’s office productivity ThinkPad Z13’s appeal 1260P-powered LG Gram 16 (see issue
of all, with a vegan leather top test and an even more impressive
rather than the standard black 17hrs 36mins when playing back a 336, p46), and that was with the LG
aluminium. Personally, I like my video. Those results are both with
laptops to look like laptops, not Wi-Fi on, too, with the screen at a in peak mode with all the fans blaring.
Filofaxes, but the effect is respectable 170cd/m2 brightness.
professional rather than The Z13 also walloped the LG in
kitsch. The point is moot, Much of the credit for this must go
however, as this to AMD. The Ryzen 6850U has Cinebench R23’s multicore test, with
option isn’t power when you need it,
currently on sale as we shall see, but for 10,359 against 7,163.
in the UK, with a an eight-core chip
modest black with a base clock of That is a phenomenal set of results
aluminium top 2.7GHz (and boost
available instead. of 4.7GHz) to draw for AMD, and any corporate buyers
so little power is
Even without a staggering who are nervous about switching
it, the square- achievement. It
jawed Z13 will needs minimal from Intel should note this is a Ryzen
garner compliments. cooling, too, with
People may not notice the fan only kicking Pro rather than standard Ryzen chip.
the individual small in during our most
touches – the carefully hewn demanding benchmarks. This comes with extra protection,
edges, the rounded corners, the
two-tone bezel – but it all adds up to a Those battery life scores were in “The Ryzen 6850U has including a collaboration
machine with a unique look. And this “best power efficiency” mode, and
is one solidly built system without a while I didn’t notice any slowdown with Microsoft’s “Secured-
hint of flex or weakness, while its during web browsing and office tasks,
compact footprint means it will slip I did see a big drop-off in power in power when you need core PC” initiative to
easily into a bag. Geekbench: it scored 741 versus 1,467 it, but to draw so little shield Windows 11 Pro
in Best Performance mode in the power is a staggering from attack.
single-core test, and 3,855 versus
8,587 in the multicore test. So, There’s 3D acceleration
roughly half as fast as the Z13 when
plugged into the mains. The latter achievement” capability here, too. A
point is important, because when I
score of 1,876 in 3DMark

Time Spy is very similar to the result

LEFT A vegan leather we’d expect from a well-cooled laptop

version (as yet not on with Iris Xe graphics, so I wasn’t

sale in the UK) adds to shocked to see the Z13 average 48fps

the distinctive looks in Metro: Last Light at the laptop’s

native 1,920 x 1,200 resolution with

High settings. With Low settings, it

managed 28fps in Shadow of the

Tomb Raider.

BENCHMARKS BELOW The highly Screen facts
portable Z13 packs a
PCMark 10 powerful punch AMD doesn’t deserve all the credit
for this laptop’s battery life, as the
Overall 5,971 screen is also designed for peak
efficiency (Lenovo calls it “Low
Power”). This doesn’t mean it’s dim
– a peak of 420cd/m2 is great for a
business laptop – but it’s a far cry

0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000

3DMark Time Spy 10,000 15,000 20,000
1,876

0 5,000

BATTERY LIFE Office use Video rundown

05 16hrs 11mins 20
17hrs 32mins

10 15

56

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO SPECIAL
OFFERS

RIGHT The bump at HOWTOTURNYOURRASPBERRYPI INTOAVPN
the top of the screen WWIONRDKOSWTASTIONSSwmitahsohutrhtroopugphictkassks
houses a high-quality WORTH £159 see
1080p webcam CLAIM YOUR 6 FULL PRODUCTS p66

25
AGFEPOREPKSS
●●●GITnoisvotealsnytyootuiurmpnehesovaneveer rkssnufepowerrPypCoosuwanenerdsedMeadcs BONUS SOFTWARE CODE EBL9HLYM
from the OLED panel in the Asus music on them, but as soon as you
Zenbook 17 Fold (see p50). switch to a proper speaker or ISSUE 336AVAILABLELATESTREVIEWSM2Mvsa1c3BionoPkrso: LG Gram 16
headphones you’ll notice the Air The lightweight
Still, it covers 99% of the sRGB reappearance of drums. Banodrinings,aenxeplyenpsoivwee..r.ful laptop that
gamut and 81% of the richer DCI-3 does it all IN:
colour space, while its colour accuracy A 3.5mm jack sits on the right-
is superb, with an average Delta E of hand side of the chassis for just that Print
0.24. A high contrast ratio of 1,699:1 purpose (although how many people
adds extra punch to blacks. still use it is open to question), but Pay just £31.50 every
other than that connectivity is 6 issues
It’s a solid screen, but I’m more limited. One USB-C port on the left,
taken with the keyboard. Lenovo one on the right. No USB-A, no FREE PowerKick Wireless
extracts every last millimetre from the Ethernet. This is the way things are PowerBank worth £50
width of the chassis to ensure that all shifting, though, and the only time it
the keys are easy to hit, and its rivals becomes aggravating is when you Print + Digital
could learn a valuable lesson from the need to plug in a peripheral that AD herePay just £35.50 every
size of the huge Backspace and Enter demands USB-A.
keys. The only compromises are the 6 issues
half-height function keys and up/ New generation
down cursor keys, but I can live with Access to the digital
this. You don’t get the full cushioned Whenever I review a business laptop, I edition on your iOS
feel of the very best ThinkPad ask myself if I would be happy to be or Android device
keyboards, but there’s plenty of travel given this by my employer. Here, I
and it remains an enjoyable keyboard have no hesitation whatsoever: yes! FREE PowerKick Wireless
to type on. The backlighting is also Not only does it offer terrific amounts PowerBank worth £50
extremely effective. of power when you most need it, but
the battery life is so staggering that I YOURS
Lenovo squeezes its trademark red would sling it into my bag without
TrackPoint into the middle of the even thinking about bringing the FREE
keyboard, but the trackpad takes 290g power supply.
more getting used to. This uses haptic ORDER ONLINE AT:
trickery to make it feel like it moves IT teams who repair their own kit
when you press towards the bottom will also appreciate how easy it is to subscribe.pcpro.co.uk/offer
for left-click/right-click, but it remove the bottom cover, with only OR CALL: 0330 333 9493
simply isn’t as satisfying as a real, six crosshead standing in your way. QUOTE OFFER CODE: P338
movable button. It also makes You can’t upgrade the memory –
dragging files within Explorer that that’s soldered on – but it’s easy to O er closes 30th September 2022. O er open to new UK
fraction less natural. replace the SSD and battery. And it subscribers only. Please allow 28 days for delivery.
comes with three years of Lenovo’s
Hidden extras Premier Support package, too. Future Publishing Limited reserves the right to limit o ers of
this kind to one per household. For full terms and conditions,
One other aspect of the design is a The Z13 has taken Lenovo down a
bump at the top of the screen, which is different design path, but it’s visit magazinesubscriptions.co.uk/TermsAndCon5d7itions
where Lenovo houses a high-quality recognisably a ThinkPad and still
1080p webcam. This produces an exudes quality. Of course, it isn’t
image with plenty of detail and cheap. If you want the specification
accurate colours, and doesn’t try to do on test it will cost you £1,803 exc
anything clever like follow you round VAT. But Lenovo offers plenty of
as you move. customisation options if you need
to find savings and besides: sometimes
I don’t mind that at all; sometimes, it’s worth paying extra. TIM DANTON
simplicity is best. There isn’t a
physical shutter, but pressing F9 cuts SPECIFICATIONS
the feed and a white light then appears
on the button. You also know when 8-core/16-thread AMD Ryzen 7 6850U
the camera is active as a white LED
next to the camera switches on. processor 16GB LPDDR5-6400 RAM AMD

The mics pick up audio well, with Radeon 680M graphics 13.3in 1,920 x 1,200
no obvious echo, but don’t get too
excited about the speakers. They’re 60Hz IPS touchscreen 256GB M.2 PCI-E
clear and offer an effective stereo
soundstage, but the treble and mids Gen 4 SSD 1080p webcam Wi-Fi 6E
drown out the bass. You can listen to
Bluetooth 5.3 2 x USB-C 4 3.5mm combo

jack 51.5Wh battery Windows 11 Pro 294 x

199 x 14mm (WDH) 1.2kg 3yr Lenovo

Premier Support warranty

Lenovo ThinkBook 15 in the i7-1255U compared to four in
Gen 4 (Intel)
the Core i7-1260P.
Designed to hit a budget, and
it shows in several places, so One plus point is the sheer
we would only consider the
far cheaper Core i3 version number of ports that Lenovo fits

SCORE into the 18.9mm-thick chassis. A

PRICE £793 (£951 inc VAT) physical Ethernet port is always

from shop.bt.com welcome, while two USB-A 3.2

Lenovo’s ThinkPad range Gen 1 (5Gbits/sec) ports are solid
needs no introduction, but
this may be the first review companions to the two USB-C
of a ThinkBook you’ve read. That’s
despite the first ThinkBooks being connectors. Both the latter sit on
launched in 2019. The conceit behind
the range is to allow Lenovo to extend the left-hand side, with the
the “Think” brand to small businesses
with more competitive prices, shorter rearmost one supporting USB-C
product lifespans and lower prices.
3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbits/sec) and
The latter may not be obvious from
the £793 excluding VAT price of the DisplayPort out, while the other
system on review, but at the time of
writing the entry-level model – with supports Thunderbolt 4. The
a Core i3-1215U processor, 8GB of
RAM, 256GB SSD and Windows 11 latter is a great inclusion in a
Pro – cost £467 excluding VAT
from lenovo.com. Let me supposedly budget machine.
place my cards on the
table now: I don’t HDMI, a 3.5mm jack and a
think the ThinkBook
15 makes sense once full-size SD card reader
you go up the price
range, and for round out the connections.
two reasons.
The chassis is dressed in
The first is
the disappointing But you won’t need to put the ABOVE The Lenovo conservative “mineral” grey, with an
screen. I can live screen through a barrage of technical
with a Full HD tests to recognise that it’s below- ThinkBook 15 makes a aluminium alloy top and ABS bottom.
resolution across a average quality. Move your head
15.6in diagonal, but the slightly to the side and you’ll see an lot of sense on paper, It’s a sturdy machine that has passed
colour coverage is woeful. Lenovo obvious drop-off in contrast, so while
quotes this as 45% of NTSC, referring an average Delta E of 4.11 confirms but has flaws the MIL-STD-810H tests, but
to an American TV colour standard. that this isn’t a great panel, your eyes
That closely tracks DCI-P3, so it tell you everything you need to know. travellers beware: a 1.8kg weight and
was no surprise to see this panel
cover 44% of that gamut in my tests. Then there’s the keyboard, which bulky 357mm width mean you’ll
The 61% coverage of the conservative has a similar layout to the ThinkPad
sRGB gamut hammers home that this notice it in a bag. Worse, you can only
is no colour paradise. E15 opposite but none of its “feel”.
Press down on keys and you expect around six hours of life thanks
hear a rattle, there’s little
cushioning despite a decent to its miserly 45Wh battery.
amount of travel. It’s a
sign of cost-cutting, I wanted to end on a
which is fine in a “You won’t need to put the couple of positive points,
sub-£500 laptop but but the ThinkBook 15
less bearable when screen through a barrage makes this challenging.
you’re paying of technical tests to For example, a 1080p
almost £1,000. recognise that it’s webcam sounds great,
So, what do you
get for your money? below-average quality” but the results are grainy
Certainly respectable and disappointing. The
speed. The i7-1255U
isn’t Intel’s fastest Core i7 speakers suffer from distortion.
mobile chip by any means, but
with 16GB of RAM (8GB is Then there’s the woeful set of 3D

soldered on, the other 8GB via a scores, with 885 in 3DMark Time Spy
replaceable SODIMM) and a speedy
512GB Gen 4 SSD it scored 164 in the and 28fps in Metro: Last Light at
PC Pro benchmarks. Still, it’s hard to
get excited by a sub-5,000 score in 1080p and High settings.
PCMark 10, while 6,351 in Geekbench
5’s multicore test emphasises that But there is something to salvage.
there are only two Performance cores
LEFT An aluminium Lenovo’s excellent Vantage software

alloy lid gives the will help keep drivers up to date and

machine a touch of provides an easy way to upgrade your

class at certain angles warranty from the single year of

supplied, return-to-base coverage.

And this is an easy-to-repair laptop,

with just crosshead screws and a scary

“seal sticker” in your way. Finally,

don’t forget that all the models

include Windows 11 Pro, including the

BELOW We aren’t £467 Core i3 model currently available

complaining about the direct from Lenovo. With upgradable

generous helping of RAM, that at least is a good-value

ports on offer option. TIM DANTON

BENCHMARKS SPECIFICATIONS
10-core (2 P-cores, 8 E-cores) Intel Core
PCMark 10 i7-1255U processor 16GB DDR4-3200 RAM

Overall 4,965 Intel Iris Xe graphics 15.6in 1,920 x 1,080
60Hz IPS touchscreen 512GB M.2 PCI-E
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000
Gen 4 SSD 1080p webcam Wi-Fi 6
3DMark Time Spy 10,000 15,000 20,000 Bluetooth 5.1 HDMI USB-C 4 with
885 Thunderbolt 4 USB-C 3.2 Gen 2
2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 3.5mm combo
0 5,000
jack Gigabit Ethernet SD card reader
BATTERY LIFE Office use Video rundown 45Wh battery Windows 11 Pro 357 x 235 x
18.9mm (WDH) 1.8kg 1yr RTB warranty
5hrs 41mins part code, 21DJ000DUK
6hrs 15mins

0 5 10 15 20

58

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Reviews

Lenovo ThinkPad E15 You have a choice of navigation
Gen 4 (Intel)
aids, with the trademark red
A solid, mid-range business
laptop that won’t excite – but trackpoint in the centre of the
should easily fulfil all its
duties for years to come keyboard and a basic but responsive

SCORE trackpad below. The “basic”

PRICE As reviewed, £902 (£1,082 inc shouldn’t be seen as an insult. Sure,
VAT) from lenovo.com
there’s no luxurious glass coating,

but I prefer its mechanical click to

the haptic feedback of the Z13.

The 1080p webcam is similarly

prosaic – it isn’t great in low light,

for instance, with a lot of noise – but

includes a physical privacy shutter

and a white LED to show that the

camera is active. I’m more critical

of the speakers, which produce

an unattractive mushy sound.

So the 3.5mm jack may yet

In stark contrast to the come in handy, as should the
ThinkPad Z13 Gen 1 (see
p56), there’s nothing USB-A ports and HDMI
glamorous or exciting about the
ThinkPad E15 Gen 4. Instead, it’s a output. But the Thunderbolt 4
workhorse. It will give you or your
staff the tools they need to get work options such as three years of ABOVE The excellent port is the star attraction, due to its
done, and it will do so reliably and at a Premium on-site cover for an extra
price that won’t destroy your budget. £208. You may prefer to do repairs keyboard includes a huge transfer speeds and versatility.
yourself, and that is possible with
Direct from Lenovo, prices start at easy-to-access internals (eight large number pad It’s a shame that this is the only
£772 inc VAT. That buys you a basic crosshead screws are little opposition)
Core i3-1215U processor with 8GB of and upgradable memory – 8GB is USB-C port, which means it will be
memory, a 256GB SSD, 45Wh battery embedded, the other a SODIMM
and Windows 11 Home. But Lenovo socket – along with a replaceable occupied during charging, but the
also offers custom options: to upgrade battery and M.2 SSD. There’s even a
to our tested configuration with a second M.2 2230 slot. supplied 65W charger took the E15
Core i5-1235U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD,
57Wh battery and Windows 11 Pro will It’s possible for accomplished from zero to 82% in an hour, which is a
cost £1,082 inc VAT. technicians to replace the screen, too,
and hopefully that won’t be too fine result. And battery life is strong,
The downside is you’ll have expensive as it’s a basic 1,920 x 1,080
to wait two to three weeks affair. It has a truer white than the lasting for exactly nine hours in the
for delivery. If you want
it within one to two ThinkBook’s screen, which office test and 7hrs 9mins in our
business days, you has a yellow tinge, and
must order one of video-rundown task. Those scores
the fixed specs. No goes up to a respectable
matter which you 311cd/m2 brightness, are with the 57Wh battery, which
choose, the but vivid colours are
high-quality out: it covers RECOMMENDED adds a little weight over the 45Wh
chassis is the only 54% of the unit (1.7kg rather than 1.8kg), but not
same. Despite its sRGB gamut
affordable price, with a poor average enough to hamper portability.
the E15 has been put Delta E of 5.12.
through tough MIL-STD-10H The keyboard is Our test system included a Core
tests, and while the main chassis is excellent. Keys have
made of tough polycarbonate rather i5-1235U processor, which
than metal, the lid is aluminium alloy. plenty of travel and a “This isn’t a laptop to set is never going to set the
It all feels very well put together. satisfying, ever-so- world alight due to having
slightly cushioned feel. It the pulses racing. Instead, only two Performance
It comes with a one-year return- helps that, as ever, Lenovo packs in a it’s solid, well built and cores. Still, eight Efficient
to-base warranty, with upgrade huge Enter key, and even separates fast enough for typical cores mean that the
out the cursor keys. The number pad
is similarly big, with the only daily duties” ThinkPad never feels slow
downside being that your typing
position is shoved to the left. in general use. It managed

164 in the PC Pro benchmarks, a solid

5,305 in PCMark 10 and 6,871 in

Geekbench 5’s multicore test. There’s

LEFT The aluminium limited gaming ability too, with 1,258

alloy lid gives the E15 a in 3DMark Time Spy and a 36fps

tough, well-built feel average in Metro: Last Light at 1080p

with High settings.

As I said at the start, this isn’t a

laptop to set pulses racing. Instead,

BELOW This is a it’s solid, well built and fast enough

well-connected for typical daily duties. Its star

laptop, with inclusion is the keyboard, and if you

Thunderbolt 4 the star or your staff will take advantage of the

number pad then it’s an even more

BENCHMARKS compelling buy. TIM DANTON

PCMark 10

Overall 5,305 SPECIFICATIONS
10-core (2 P-cores, 8 E-cores) Intel Core
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000
i5-1235U processor 16GB DDR4-3200
3DMark Time Spy 10,000 15,000 20,000 RAM Intel Iris Xe graphics 15.6in 1,920 x
1,258 1,080 60Hz IPS touchscreen 512GB M.2
PCI-E Gen 4 SSD 1080p IR webcam Wi-Fi
0 5,000 6E Bluetooth 5.1 HDMI USB-C 4 with
Thunderbolt 4 USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 USB-A 2
BATTERY LIFE Office use Video rundown 3.5mm combo jack Gigabit Ethernet 57Wh
battery Windows 11 Pro 365 x 240 x
9hrs 0mins 18.9mm (WDH) 1.8kg 1yr RTB warranty
7hrs 9mins

0 5 10 15 20

59





Apple iPhone 14

It’s short on cutting-edge technology, and
the price has jumped from last year, but
the iPhone remains a great all-rounder

SCORE identical placement of buttons and ABOVE ThenewiPhone from 10Hz to 120Hz as needed. The
ports. The aluminium casing and the
PRICE 128GB iPhone 14, £708 (£849 inc Ceramic Shield covering the display comes ina range of regular iPhone 14 lacks the always-on
VAT); 128GB iPhone 14 Plus, £791 (£949 inc are unchanged, as is dust and water
VAT) from apple.com/uk resistance. However, at 7.8mm, it’s a tasteful colours display mode of those phones too,
hair thicker than the iPhone 13, and
If you want a new iPhone then, the camera array is slightly larger, since that feature relies on the
goodness knows, you have plenty meaning it doesn’t quite fit into an
of choice. Apple has blessed us official iPhone 13 MagSafe case. power-saving ability to stop the
with four new models this year,
namely the iPhone 14 and Plus, along The screen is unchanged too, and screen down to 1Hz.
with the iPhone 14 Pro and Max (see that’s a shame. It’s not a bad display
overleaf). The plain iPhone starts at a by any means: it’s impeccably sharp at Similarly, at the top of the screen
£849 for the 128GB model, a £70 460ppi, and it’s bright too, going up to
increase from last year, and comes in a 1,200cd/m2, with DCI-P3 colour and a the infamous notch is still present,
new range of tasteful colours: pastel superb 2,000,000-to-1 contrast ratio
blue and purple options, a dark navy courtesy of OLED technology. even though it’s been banished from
blue called Midnight, the pearl-like
Starlight and bold Product(Red). The refresh rate, however, is still the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. This
stuck at 60Hz, while even mid-price
Aside from the palette, the iPhone Android phones are offering 120Hz. doesn’t wreck the experience, but it’s
14 looks very much like the iPhone 13, The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models
with the same-sized 6.1in screen and feel much smoother thanks to their another way in which the iPhone 14
adaptive refresh rates,which scale
looks backward rather

“It’s now possible to shoot than forward.

in 4K video at up to 30fps, Talking pictures
and a new Active Mode
tries to remove the shake While the iPhone 14 has
from action videos” only two rear cameras,
they’re good ones. The

main sensor is a 12MP

module with an f/1.5 aperture, while

the ultrawide sensor has a 120-degree

field of vision at f/2.4. These are

improvements on the previous

generation, and the front 12MP

camera gains autofocus, which should

make group selfies somewhat easier.

All cameras benefit from a new

imaging pipeline, which moves neural

image processing to the fore so it can

work with uncompressed images. It’s

now possible to shoot in 4K video at

LEFT While it’s bright up to 30fps, and a new Active Mode

and sharp, the screen tries to remove the shake from action

is limited to a 60Hz videos by dynamically cropping the

refresh rate frame to keep the centre stable.

62

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Reviews

Inevitably, this means you sacrifice GEEKBENCH 5 (MULTICORE) 3DMARK WILD LIFE (UNLIMITED, FPS)
resolution, but the results look
impressively smooth. In all, the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max 5,333 HIGHER IS BETTERApple iPhone 14 Pro Max 74
iPhone 14 makes an excellent camera Apple A16 Bionic 4,553 HIGHER IS BETTERApple A16 Bionic 69
for both stills and video: my only 4,549 68
quibble is that, after trying the iPhone Apple iPhone 14 3,859 Apple iPhone 14 66
14 Pro, I badly miss that phone’s zoom Apple A15 Bionic 3,476 Apple A15 Bionic 51
and macro capabilities. 2,696 34
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
There’s no compromise on the Apple A15 Bionic Apple A15 Bionic
audio front, either. All four iPhone 14
models have loud stereo speakers that Apple iPhone 12 OnePlus 10T
sound clear and bright, while spatial Apple A14 Bionic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
audio adds a sort of surround-sound
effect to suitably encoded videos and OnePlus 10T Apple iPhone 12
music. I enjoyed this more than I Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Apple A14 Bionic
expected to; you’ll find a selection of
such titles on Netflix, Amazon Prime Google Pixel 6 Google Pixel 6
and so forth, and there’s an entire Google Tensor Google Tensor
spatial audio playlist on Apple Music.

Heading inside that can be forwarded to the it still has a notch, and it only
emergency services. It’s a has two rear cameras. By
Apple tends to move quite quickly significant upgrade that comparison, the iPhone 14
through processor generations, but could one day save your life Pro feels like a significant
the iPhone 14 uses the same A15 Bionic – but to reiterate, for now step forward.
CPU as the old iPhone 13 Pro. That’s it’s only available in Even so, there’s very
not a problem: it’s still a hugely Canada and the US. little about the iPhone 14
powerful chip, consistently beating that you can really
the best processors on the Android Battery and complain about: it’s a
side, with more than enough software well-rounded, reasonably
headroom to run mobile games priced and very capable
smoothly and even edit 4K video We’ve mentioned that the handset that raises the
directly on the phone. iPhone 14 promises 20 smartphone bar another
hours of video playback, notch. LANCE ULANOFF
The iPhone 14 also benefits from which is a small uplift from
an updated internal design that last year’s model. Obviously your ABOVE The 12MP rear SPECIFICATIONS
should help the chipset run cooler. experience will depend on what you cameras are an Shared: 6-core Apple A15 Bionic processor
I didn’t find that this gave a significant use it for, but I got more than a full improvement on the 6GB RAM 5-core Apple graphics 5G
performance boost compared to the day’s use off a single charge. The previous generation 128/256/512GB storage IP68 rating dual
iPhone 13 Pro, but the iPhone 14 does fastest way to recharge is via the 12MP rear cameras 12MP front camera with
promise better battery life (20 hours Lightning socket: Apple claims that its BELOW LEFT The bold depth sensor Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.3 NFC
of video streaming, as opposed to 19 20W charger will get you to 50% red colourway is hard Lightning connector 1yr RTB warranty.
hours for the iPhone 13), which might charge in 30 minutes, although to miss iPhone 14: 60Hz 6.1in AMOLED screen, 1,170 x
well be down to this efficiency there’s no charger included in the 2,532 resolution 3,279mAh battery 72 x 7.8
improvement. box. Alternatively, you can use x 147mm 172g. iPhone 14 Plus: 60Hz 6.7in
MagSafe or Qi wireless charging. AMOLED screen, 1,284 x 2,778 resolution
Coming soon? 4,323mAh battery 78 x 7.8 x 161mm 203g
All Apple iPhone 14 models ship
Not all of the iPhone 14’s new features with iOS 16, and this offers some of Hands on: iPhone 14 Plus
are available in the UK – at least not the most significant platform changes
yet. Handsets sold in the US will we’ve seen in a while. One obvious Apple has also announced the iPhone 14 Plus, which is
rely exclusively on eSIMs highlight is the new Lock Screen: essentially a large-screen version of the iPhone 14. You can
for connecting to the cellular instead of a static view, you now get see its main specs in the table overleaf. We’re still waiting to
network, but all models sold over multiple screens, which can be receive a review sample to test it properly, but Lance got his
here retain the customised with a range of widgets hands on a sample at the launch in Cupertino, California.
physical SIM slot. and personalised with your own
photos. Other cool features include “Like its 6.1in sibling, the iPhone 14 Plus owes much of its
The iPhone 14 editable and retrievable texts, design to the iPhone
also introduces a multi-stop directions in Maps and live 13,” he said. “It’s also
new satellite-based text in videos. It’s a solid update, a lot like the iPhone
SOS feature, which 13 Pro Max, at least
lets you send adding features without upending size-wise, but the
emergency text the user experience, and we think materials are all
messages even it enhances any iPhone iPhone 14 base
when you’re out of running it. model: instead of a
range of a regular polished stainless
mobile signal. Worth the steel frame, it’s
It’s neatly upgrade? textured aluminium.
implemented: an There’s also the glass back and a sexy new purple option.”
onscreen assistant The iPhone 14 is an
tells you which attractive phone, Lance added that “it feels considerably lighter than a
way to face to bringing real similarly sized iPhone 14 Pro Max”, despite there being only
connect to the improvements to 37g between the two, and described the “lovely” 6.7in display
nearest satellite, both the hardware as a “great canvas” for iOS 16.
then asks you a and software. If
series of questions you’re currently His early verdict? “This is a welcome tonic to the go big, go
rocking a 13 or even Pro Max or go home iPhone buying strategy of recent years.”
a 12, however, it Look out for our full review next month.
doesn’t feel like a
huge upgrade: it
lacks the latest
screen technology,

63

Apple iPhone 14 Pro of the island is touch-sensitive, you
and Pro Max can forget about the sensors and freely
tap and swipe over it. Rather than a
A new CPU and the “Dynamic workaround, it feels like a neat and
Island” are the big changes, natural upgrade to the interface:
but we wonder whether without a doubt, it’s the signature
they’re worth the price hike feature of this iPhone generation.

SCORE The island isn’t the only display
enhancement, however. The screen
PRICE 128GB iPhone 14 Pro, £916 (£1,099 also now supports adaptive refresh
rate. That means it can match the
inc VAT); 128GB iPhone 14 Pro Max, £999 120Hz rate of the iPhone 13 Pro when
you’re scrolling through text or
(£1,199 inc VAT) from apple.com/uk playing a fast-moving game, then dial
down as low as 10Hz to save power
While the regular iPhone 14 when the screen is more static.
doesn’t stray too far from
last year’s formula, the There’s an unusual 1Hz mode too,
iPhone 14 Pro is a more ambitious which is used for the new always-on
release. It comes with a bunch of fresh display feature. This kicks in
features that make the £1,099 price automatically when the screen goes
seem almost reasonable – until you to sleep, or can be activated with a
realise that’s a £150 jump from last press of the power button. To save
year and only buys you 128GB of energy, the static display becomes
storage. Those with big pockets and dim and slightly desaturated when
even bigger storage needs can pay in this mode, but it’s still perfectly
£1,640 for the 1TB model. There’s also clear – and the ability to see your
a larger Pro Max variant for £100 notifications and other widgets at a
more. Both are available in Deep glance is a revelation.
Purple, Gold, Silver or Space Black.
Shooting stars
Admittedly, when you first take The three-camera array on the back of
the phone out of the box there’s not
much innovation on display. With the iPhone 14 Pro and Max looks the
their stainless steel frames and
brushed glass backs, the two phones same as on previous models, but
look identical to the old iPhone 13 Pro
and Pro Max. At the front, the glorious they’ve been upgraded with new
shiny screen is once more protected
by Apple’s Ceramic Shield. The 14 Pro that Apple calls the Dynamic Island. ABOVE The 6.7in Pro lenses and larger sensors. The main
is actually a hair taller than its When not in use, this appears as a
predecessor, but it will still fit snugly small black oblong floating just below Max towers over its camera uses Apple’s first pixel-
into an iPhone 13 Pro case; the Max is a the top of the screen, where the notch
tiny bit shorter and narrower than the used to be on previous phones (and baby brother – and binning sensor, shooting at a native
last phone. The buttons remain in where it remains on the regular
their familiar places, as does the iPhone 14). Unlike the notch, the both look great resolution of 48 megapixels, then
Lightning port; even on its flagship island changes shape to show
phones, Apple hasn’t yet moved to notifications or interface elements: downsampling to generate 12MP
USB-C. for example, when you register for
Face ID, the Dynamic Island expands images. We’ve seen a few Android
Dynamic Island to display a live image of the face
being captured. When playing Apple phones use this technique to improve
The displays on these phones are Music, the island shows a live audio
among the best around. The iPhone 14 playback graph. If a call comes in, it low-light clarity and colour fidelity,
Pro has a sumptuous 6.1in OLED expands to show who’s calling. We
screen, while the Pro Max uses a look forward to seeing how app and it’s great that iPhone owners can
larger 6.7in panel, with a slightly developers take advantage of it.
higher resolution just to keep things now reap the same benefits; if you
sharp. Both look fantastic, with Of course, there’s a practical
DCI-P3 colour and rock-solid reason for the island’s existence: it “The Dynamic Island prefer to do the processing
contrast, and they can get conceals a new 12MP selfie camera yourself, you can also
blazingly bright: the with autofocus, an IR sensor and a
baseline brightness is flood illuminator. However, these are organically grows shoot and export raw
1,000cd/m2, but they can effectively invisible against the black
hit 1,600cd/m2 when surround, and since the whole surface and changes shape to images at the full
playing HDR media, and show notifications or 48MP resolution.
outdoors the screen can interface elements”
ramp up to 2,000cd/m2. The ultrawide camera
keeps the 120-degree
The real news, however,
is a brand-new element field of view of the last

generation, but now uses a bigger

sensor for better low-light

performance. This is good for all

types of image, but particularly

BELOW Both the 6.1in transformational for macro shots,

Pro and 6.7in Pro Max where its light-capturing ability

screens can get makes for breathtaking close-ups.

blazingly bright The only slight letdown is the 12MP

telephoto camera. Of course it takes

great pictures, but the 3x optical

zoom feels limited compared to the

10x reach of the Samsung Galaxy

S22 Ultra (see issue 331, p46). Even

an extension to 5x would have

made a big difference.

On the video front, Cinematic

Mode has been upgraded to

support 4K at 30fps, and as with

the standard iPhone 14 there’s a

64

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO

LEFT Whether same new software features as the
shooting or watching regular handset. Again, it’s possible
videos, you’re in for a to set up multiple, customisable lock
visual treat screens – each one linked to a
different focus setting – with a

Search button on the homescreen,

editable and retrievable text

messages, email unsend, multi-stop

directions in Maps, live text capture

from video, and image segmentation

that lets you grab the subject from

virtually any photo and drop it

into apps such as Notes and Messages.

new Action mode, which stabilises but it’s good to have headroom for There are tons of changes
your footage by tracking the centre of future apps and OS updates.
the frame and cropping away the “Apple’s new satellite SOS to explore and use, and
edges. It’s limited to 2.8K resolution In addition to the new silicon,
rather than 4K, but that’s still a whole this year’s iPhones include support feature can be used to relay together they really
lot of pixels, producing sharp and for Apple’s new satellite SOS feature, improve the iPhone
smooth action footage at greater than which can be used to relay a message a message to emergency experience.
HD resolution. to the emergency services when services when you’re out
you’re out of mobile coverage. At
All iPhone 14 models have stereo present the service only covers of mobile coverage” Push to the Max?
speakers, with one speaker on the Canada and the US, but hopefully it In some ways, the iPhone
bottom edge of the phone and the will come to the UK at a future date.
other along the top edge of the screen. 14 Pro and Pro Max are catch-up
These are capable of getting very loud Apple claims small battery
without noticeable distortion: believe improvements over the last products: we’ve already seen
it or not, there’s enough volume here generation: the 23 hours of video
to fill a small room and entertain playback for the Pro, 29 hours for the always-on displays, adaptive refresh
guests. Spatial audio works well, too, Pro Max – both one hour longer
creating a remarkably realistic than their predecessors. Based on our rates and pixel binning on numerous
three-dimensional soundstage for technical tests and my anecdotal
music and movies. The surround- experience, I would say that Android phones. However, this is the
sound effect made Stranger Things these figures are plausible,
even creepier. as long as you don’t turn up first time we’ve seen these
the brightness beyond the
Speed bumps default indoor setting. technologies on the Apple side, and

The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max both If you do run out of they’re all implemented brilliantly.
use Apple’s new A16 Bionic processor. power, recharging with
It’s built on a more efficient 4nm the optional 20W charger There are genuinely new features,
process than the A15, and has a is reasonably quick – I got
six-core CPU, a five-core GPU and a both phones to 50% in 30 too. The Dynamic Island is one of the
16-core neural engine. In the minutes, though that’s no
Geekbench 5 benchmark it outpaced better than the iPhone 13 smartest visual innovations I’ve
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to Pro. Both the Pro and Pro Max
prove itself the most powerful also support MagSafe and seen in ages, the always-on
smartphone processor on the market; Qi-based wireless charging.
in everyday use we doubt you’ll notice display a real quality-of-life
a difference between this and any Soft upgrades
other high-end mobile processor, improvement, and the
All iPhone 14 models come with iOS
16 preinstalled, so the Pro gets the satellite SOS capability

could be invaluable once it

reaches these shores.

Whether all these new

features can justify such a

big difference in price over

last year’s models (which

are still on sale from

retailers other than Apple) is

more questionable. Indeed,

that’s the main reason neither

phone walks away with a

ABOVE The three rear Recommended award.
cameras now have As for the choice between the Pro
new lenses and larger
sensors and Pro Max models, the feature sets
are identical, so it boils down to size.
The Pro Max’s bigger screen allows

iPhone 14 iPhone 14 Plus iPhone 14 Pro iPhone 14 Pro Max you to fully enjoy its striking colour
£849 £949 £1,099 and ultra-smooth motion, while the

Starting price £1,199 6.1in iPhone 14 Pro tucks perfectly
into a pocket. Whichever you choose,

Storage options 128GB, 256GB, 128GB, 256GB, 128GB, 256GB, 128GB, 256GB, you’ll get one of the best smartphones
Processor 512GB 512GB 512GB, 1TB 512GB, 1TB ever made. LANCE ULANOFF

A15 Bionic A15 Bionic A16 Bionic A16 Bionic SPECIFICATIONS
6.7in (120Hz) Shared: 6-core Apple A16 Bionic processor
Screen 6.1in (60Hz) 6.7in (60Hz) 6.1in (120Hz) 1,290 x 2,796 6GB RAM 5-core Apple graphics 5G
1,170 x 2,532 128/256/512GB/1TB storage IP68 rating
Screen 1,284 x 2,778 1,179 x 2,556 48MP triple 48MP/12MP/12MP rear cameras 12MP
resolution 6x front camera with depth sensor Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth 5.3 NFC Lightning connector
Main camera 12MP 12MP 48MP 1yr RTB warranty. iPhone 14 Pro: 120Hz 6.1in
2x 6x AMOLED screen, 1,179 x 2,556 resolution
Optical zoom 2x 3,279mAh battery 72 x 7.9 x 148mm 206g.
range iPhone 14 Pro Max: 120Hz 6.7in AMOLED
screen, 1,290 x 2,796 resolution 4,323mAh
All prices inc VAT from apple.com/uk battery 78 x 7.9 x 161mm 240g

65

sYoofutrwbaorneus £145tThoitsamlvoanltuhe

We scour the globe to negotiate the best software deals for our readers, from extended
licences to full programs you don’t need to pay a penny for. Here’s this month’s lineup

O&O AutoBackup 6

Automate the job of backing up Full product
your data to removable media
with this simple tool. It’s easy worth £20
to use, which can’t be said oo-software.com

about all backup software, and REQUIRES Windows

this version has a new tabbed 7 or later; 100MB

interface, which makes it even hard drive space;

easier to get started. online registration

Simply choose which drive

or folder you’d like to back up, then pick an external drive

to use as the backup destination. Once this has been done,

the program will sit quietly in the background and

automatically update the backup whenever the chosen

drive is connected.

You can use wildcards to specify which types of files

should be backed up – useful if your drive has limited

capacity and you need to focus on only the most

important files. AutoBackup also features real-time

synchronisation, so as soon as a file is created or changed

in your specified folders, it’s copied to the destination

drive. Alternatively, you can choose when to back up, with

options for daily, weekly, on device connection, and

real-time operation.

How to claim your bonus software

1Visit pcprodownload.co.uk. 2Once you’re in the download 3If the software needs 4Please be sure to install and
First, enter the issue number area, you can access this registering, click the purple register your bonus software
(338 this month). Next, enter your month’s bonus software by Register button, or follow before the date that’s specified
email address and the coupon code navigating to the relevant product the instructions on the left of the below. After this date, we can’t
printed on the cover’s spine (directly page and clicking the red Install product page (again, please read guarantee that it will still be possible
on the cover of digital issues). If button. For trial software, freeware these carefully). In some cases, you to download or register this issue’s
there’s no code on the spine, you and other downloads, click the may need to register for a PC Pro bonus software.
have bought the £4.99 version of PC Install button below the product software store account – if you don’t
Pro, which doesn’t include a code. description, or follow the onscreen already have one – and you might be Any problems?
We’ll then send an email to confirm instructions (please make sure to prompted to reenter the coupon If you need assistance
that your code has been registered. read these carefully). code on the spine or cover.

Remember to claim your software by 30 November 2022* with the coupon code or
have registration issues,
pcprodownload.co.uk
please contact us at
[email protected]

66 *Codes are sometimes limited, so please claim early to avoid disappoinment

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Bonus software

Cleaning Suite Pro 4

This versatile application does much more than its Full product
name suggests. It can help you clean up your hard
drive, reclaim wasted space, streamline the Registry worth £20
by deleting unnecessary entries and remove startup ascomp.de

items to improve general system performance. In REQUIRES Windows

total it brings together six different tools – Startup 7 or later; 50MB hard

Cleaner, Uninstaller, Drive Cleaner, Registry Cleaner, drive space; in-app

Recycle and RAM Cleaner – that work together to registration

speed up, optimise and clean your computer.

You can use these tools to put a stop to auto-starting tasks, uninstall

unneeded software and remove stubborn entries for applications you’ve

already installed that are still showing as resident on your drive. Claw back

gigabytes occupied by useless data, by quickly removing huge numbers of

temporary and other unnecessary files, clearing caches, removing internet

traces and tidying up after updates to Windows itself.

Worried something might go wrong? Cleaning Suite can back up your

settings before you change anything, so you can roll them back if the

unexpected happens.

IObit Uninstaller 12 CleverPrint 2022

Six-month, one-PC Full product
licence worth £10 worth £40
iobit.com
abelssoft.net
REQUIRES Windows
7 or later; 100MB REQUIRES Windows
hard drive space; 7 or later; 150MB
online registration hard drive space;
in-app registration

Completely remove applications from your hard drive without leaving Slash your printing costs – and avoid running out of supplies – with this
behind junk files or Registry clutter simple tool that can save both paper and ink
Detected left-over files are listed before Uninstaller takes action, so you Print multiple pages on a single sheet of paper, and remove unwanted
can approve their removal pages from documents to reduce wastage
Filter applications by size, when they were installed, how often you’ve used Remove graphics and other elements, or skip the hard copy entirely and
them, and more export pages as PDFs

Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 8 Revo Uninstaller Pro 5

Full product One-year,
worth £35 one-PC licence
worth £20
ashampoo.com revouninstaller.com

REQUIRES Windows REQUIRES Windows 7
7 or later; 150MB or later; 100MB hard
hard drive space; drive space; online
in-app registration registration

Easy-to-use tool for tuning and fixing your digital images, with a mobile Free up hard drive space and improve system performance by uninstalling
app-like approach to tweaking programs you no longer use
Tools include crop, resize, rotate, mirror, sharpen, blur and straighten, Search for programs, or drag the target icon onto the title bar or icon of an
with automatic fixes for brightness, contrast, saturation and more application to remove it
Auto Optimize function can fix an entire folder of photos with a few clicks, A complete PC cleaning kit, which includes a file shredder that makes
and a smart preview feature lets you check the results sensitive data irretrievable

67

Reviews

RedMagic 7s Pro that fast-paced well with tricky lighting conditions.
gaming is slick
Power and an all-out gaming and responsive. Enabling night mode improves things
design, plus mighty
speakers, compensate for Inside, the considerably, but this doesn’t switch
the mediocre camera setup RedMagic 7s Pro is
powered by a on automatically, so it’s easy to forget
SCORE Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
chipset. This is the and end up with mediocre results.
PRICE 18GB/512GB Supernova, £674 most powerful
smartphone chipset Video capture is capable. The 7s Pro
(£809 inc VAT) from uk.redmagic.gg available today, and it
ensures that modern can shoot at up to 8K resolution at
Unless you’re an aficionado of games run fast and
mobile gaming the name furiously. In the 30fps, or 4K at 60fps, although I found
RedMagic might not ring any Geekbench 5
bells, but the bold design of the 7s Pro benchmark, the 7s Pro the digital stabilisation worked less
is hard to forget. At 10mm thick and achieved a tremendous
235g it’s a substantial phone, and it’s multicore score of well at high resolutions.
loaded with memory and storage. The 4,131; 3DMark scores
standard £669 model comes with 12GB were also strong, with The custom RedMagic OS 5.5
of RAM and 256GB storage, in a moody a Wildlife Extreme
Obsidian colour scheme; I tested the score of 2,763 rivalling system software is based on Android 12,
18GB model with 512GB of storage, the best gaming
which is available in shiny Mercury or phones I’ve tested. and while I noticed a few quirks – the
the darkly translucent Supernova.
But it’s heat app tray shows incongruously through
Whichever you choose, the entire handling where this
front face is covered by the screen. phone excels. Even the keyboard, for instance – it’s nice
There’s no notch or hole: the with the fan disabled,
front camera is wholly the phone wasn’t and clean, with few preinstalled
invisible underneath uncomfortable to hold
the display. This will after 30 minutes of widgets. These include a fan speed
probably be the
norm in a few years, Injustice 2 or control, a heart-rate monitor in the
but right now it Call of Duty at maxed-out
gives the 7s Pro an settings. Firing up the fingerprint scanner and a gameplay
arrestingly clean fan yielded a 2˚C drop
and expansive look. in temperature after clock, so you can see how many hours
ten minutes of
The sides are gaming. That’s not you’re spending in virtual worlds.
starkly flat, while the much, but it could
back is curved glass. The keep frame rates There’s also a gaming enhancer
512GB version of the phone more stable.
adds a window onto the internal For photography, tool, for customising how the phone
fan, which is illuminated by coloured the RedMagic 7s Pro
LEDs. At the top there’s the rare treat packs a high-resolution behaves while running different apps.
of a 3.5mm headphone jack – and, 64MP f/1.8 sensor,
even more unusual, a pair of touch- Obvious elements such as fan speed
sensitive shoulder buttons at the alongside an 8MP ultrawide
corners for added control in games. camera and a 2MP fixed-focus macro and power modes are supported, plus
Love it or hate it, it’s a unique design. lens. You can get great pictures out of
these, with punchy colours and more advanced features such as
The display is a 6.8in AMOLED respectable detail levels, and there’s a
panel with a Full HD+ resolution. decent portrait mode too with a nice mapping the shoulder buttons to
That’s a decent size and bit of bokeh.
resolution for gaming, commands. You can also disable
and while the The 7s Pro can’t compete with the
maximum 120Hz best camera phones, though: it has no charging when plugged into power,
refresh rate isn’t as optical stabilisation, and doesn’t cope
high as the 165Hz of the so as not to degrade the battery.
Asus ROG Phone 6 (see
issue 336, p68), it’s still On that note, the 5,000mAh
very smooth. Similarly,
the phone’s peak ABOVE A distinctive battery should get you through a day
brightness of 700cd/m2
is enough to make design helps the of regular duties with the fan off. The
games look bold and
bright, at least when RedMagic 7s Pro stand screen refresh rate makes quite a
playing indoors. A
high touch-sampling out from the crowd difference, though: with the screen set
rate of 960Hz ensures
to 60Hz the phone took 15hrs 14mins

to drop to 40% charge, but at 120Hz

LEFT A rear window that plummeted to 11hrs 26mins.

allows you to view the Since the phone doesn’t automatically

LED lights on the fan switch rates, you’ll need to keep on

top of it if you want to get the most

“It’s heat handling where from a charge.

On the plus side, the

this phone excels. Even battery refills in little
with the fan disabled, it more than half an hour
wasn’t uncomfortable to thanks to 65W charging;
there’s no wireless
hold after 30 minutes”
charging, as is the case

with most gaming phones,

but reverse charging is supported.

BELOW RedMagic’s The RedMagic 7s Pro won’t satisfy

overlay adds some photography enthusiasts, but if you’re

tools that gamers will mostly interested in gaming it has

grow to love plenty going for it. The price isn’t bad

by gamer standards, and it buys you a

beefy specification, a fine screen, a

relatively polished UI and a design

that certainly stands out from the

crowd. BASIL KRONFLI

SPECIFICATIONS
8-core (3.19GHz/2.75GHz/1.8GHz) Qualcomm
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC 12GB/18GB RAM
Adreno 730 graphics 6.8in 120Hz AMOLED
screen, 1,080 x 2,400 resolution 5G
256GB/512GB storage triple 64MP/8MP/
2MP rear cameras 16MP front camera
Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.2 NFC 5,000mAh
battery USB-C connector Android 12 with
RedMagic 5 77 x 10 x 166mm (WDH) 235g
2yr warranty

68

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Reviews

OnePlus 10T reduces distractions for a

An awkward sibling to the set amount of time.
OnePlus 10 Pro that’s
stronger in some areas Some customisations
but weaker in others
seem a little redundant,
SCORE though. The swipe-down
dashboard gives you lots
PRICE 128GB, £524 (£629 inc VAT) from of shortcuts, but some of
them are perfectly easy to
oneplus.com/uk
open by other means – do
The high-end OnePlus 10 Pro was
released back in April, but it you need a shortcut to the
wasn’t accompanied by a
regular, non-Pro version. Now at last Camera app when the
it has a mid-price partner. icon is right there on the
homescreen? – while
The basic model costs £629 for 8GB others just didn’t work
of RAM and 128GB of storage, or £729 for me, such as the
with twice as much memory and
storage. That means it competes with pedometer. OnePlus
the £599 Google Pixel 6 (see issue 328,
p70), but offers a bigger screen, more promises that the next
powerful chipset and faster charging.
version of OxygenOS,
The 10T comes in black and pale based on Android 13, is
green finishes; both are beautifully coming at the end of 2022,
shiny, though they quickly pick up so you can look forward to
fingerprints. The display is flat, which additional design and
makes the phone feel even larger than
its sizeable 6.7in frame. It runs at a function tweaks.
smooth (but fixed) 120Hz, and with
wide colour support and HDR10+ it As for the battery,
looks great. At the top of the screen
there’s a punch-hole cut-out for the OnePlus has pulled out all
camera, but as the display is slightly the stops to create one of
taller than Full HD, this won’t the fastest-charging
interfere too much with apps. phones on the market: the
in-box charger supports
The ports and buttons are as
expected, with USB-C on the bottom, ABOVE While the 150W charging, which can power the
a power button on the right edge, a display is decent, phone from empty to full in about 20
volume rocker opposite and a the cameras are a minutes. That’s amazing.
fingerprint scanner embedded in the disappointment
screen. However, unlike previous Unfortunately, once charged up
OnePlus phones, this one doesn’t decent for low-light photography, but battery life is poor. Despite a sizeable
have an alert slider to toggle unimpressive for the price. 4,800mAh capacity, I found it
between silent, vibrate and struggled to get through a day of
volume-on modes. There’s also It’s joined by an 8MP ultrawide and
no 3.5mm headphone jack, a 2MP macro sensor. The former takes typical use, including the odd spot of
though that’s less of a surprise. fine-looking pictures, albeit with a
rather low resolution, but I found the social media, music streaming and
The 10T is as powerful as any latter basically useless: close-ups
Android phone around, thanks came out so grainy and dim that I maybe a quick photo shoot. Heavy
to a top-end Snapdragon 8 Plus preferred to use the main camera for use, like gaming, naturally drains the
Gen 1 chipset. In fact it’s faster such shots. The lack of zoom is battery even faster.
than the original 10 Pro, which disappointing, too. With no telephoto
had the non-Plus variant. The lens, you’re wholly reliant on digital However, OnePlus does offer some
phone gets hot under intensive convenient tools to extend the
load, but it’s by no means the zoom, which quickly loses
worst I’ve seen. As you’d expect, quality as you move inward. phone’s battery life,
there’s 5G support too, so you
can connect to an ultra-fast For selfies, the 16MP camera “The 10T is as powerful including convenient
network if you have coverage on the front is fine; my test shots as any Android phone toggles for dark mode and
and a suitable contract. had lots of detail, but suffered around, thanks to a 5G connectivity.
from too much sharpening. I top-end Snapdragon 8
The one area where OnePlus also noticed that in Portrait Plus Gen 1 chipset” In all, the OnePlus 10T
has clearly made economies is mode the phone sometimes had is a worthy mid-range
the camera: I’ve tested budget difficulty accurately separating Android phone. Its
phones with the same sensor the subject from the background. good-looking screen,
array. The main one is a 50MP
Sony IMX766 sensor, which is Overall it’s clear this phone powerful chipset and fast charging
isn’t aimed at photography
enthusiasts. It’s fine for social make it a tempting buy for the price.
media, but I wouldn’t go any However, corners have clearly been
further than that. It’s notable cut in the camera and battery-life
that previous OnePlus phones departments. Google’s Pixel 6 isn’t
had specialist Hasselblad- as big or powerful, but it makes a
branded shooting modes, which
are absent from this model. more rounded mobile companion.

The 10T comes with OnePlus’ TOM BEDFORD
own Android variant, OxygenOS.
This includes full access to the LEFT The flat screen SPECIFICATIONS
Play Store, and adds a few extra makes the 10T feel 8-core (3.19GHz/2.75GHz/1.8GHz) Qualcomm
features over stock Android, even larger than its Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC 8GB/16GB RAM
including a Zen Mode that 6.7in frame suggests Adreno 730 graphics 6.7in 120Hz AMOLED
screen, 1,080 x 2,412 resolution 5G
128GB/256GB storage triple 50MP/8MP/
2MP rear cameras 16MP front camera
Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.2 NFC 4,800mAh
battery USB-C connector Android 12 with
OxygenOS 12.1 75 x 8.8 x 163mm (WDH)
204g 1yr warranty

69

Matterport Pro3 the photos are impressive, I did

If you need to produce pro- notice a clearer shot in the
level 3D images, this camera
hits the sweet spot between portions where I had chosen
quality and ease of use
three paces over five.
SCORE
Right away, in the companion
PRICE £4,995 (£5,994 inc VAT)
RECOMMENDED app, I could see the rough
from matterport.com outline of where everything was

When you pull the Matterport in the building I was imaging. I
Pro3 from its box, there’s a
disconnect: how can could clearly see depth drop-off
something so expensive be so simple?
The package is essentially a case with down hallways I hadn’t captured
a camera inside, a charger and an
adapter to mount the camera to a yet, areas a little outside of
tripod or stand. How fortunate, then,
that when you pick up the camera it where I had just imaged, and in
has a reassuring heft, a reflection of
the premium build quality behind it. mirrors and windows.

The reason it costs so much is that For this test, I ended up
the 3D images the Matterport Pro3
shoots are a world away from the taking about an hour and a half
fuzzy results seen with consumer-
level equipment. You invest £5K in to image everything I wanted.
this because you want every image in
the 3D render to have 4K While the app gave me near-
quality. Little wonder
that estate agents and immediate feedback, the
architects are two of the
prime target markets. rendering for the 3D-imaged

I tested the camera final product took hours to
by bringing it to a
large building that complete. According to
offered all of the
necessary elements Matterport, 200 photos takes
to test the Pro3’s
capturing abilities upwards of 48 hours to fully
in a single area:
stairs, windows, render and process. Thankfully,
doors, multiple
floors, open concept I took just north of 50 photos, so
spaces and closed-off,
smaller spaces. it took around eight hours.

Ease of use is crucial – an estate Once I instructed the app
agent will want all its staff to be able
to use it – so it’s worth going through available, ranging from that I had finished imaging,
the process step by step. First, I set up full scans to simple 360°
my tripod, then screwed the images. I hit “scan” on the it prompted me to mark and
mounting piece to hold the camera phone and let the camera begin.
onto the tripod, took the camera out To avoid being in every image, I label all windows and mirrors,
of the case, put the fully charged shuffled slowly behind the camera
battery in, and placed the camera in a circle while it spun around on as well as exterior “trim” to help
on the mount. Next, I turned the
camera on with a simple press and the tripod stand. ABOVE The camera’s identify the proper and appropriately
short hold on the one button on the Each photo took less
entire device. Once the camera was basic controls make it marked areas. There’s also an option
up and running, per prompting in than 15 seconds to
the companion app, I connected a complete a full rotation. incredibly easy to use to blur post-imaging, to block out
phone to the Wi-Fi signal being
broadcast by the camera and Once the image or any licence plates, faces or sensitive
returned to the Matterport app. rotation was
completed, a prompt data you may have captured while
My next challenge was to choose on the companion
the settings for the kind of photos I app instructed me taking photos.
wanted to take. Several options are that it was time to
move the camera to “Just about anyone can This camera hits a
the next spot. For
testing purposes, I sweet spot in the 3D
first took about three
paces between each pick up this device and imaging space. Just about
camera shot, before start using it, because anyone can pick up this
you’re simply following device and start using it
later on choosing to try confidently and
five or so paces between each shot to
see if I could spot a significant instructions in an app” accurately, because
difference in image quality. While all
you’re simply following

instructions in an app. And the final

3D image quality was sensational,

LEFT The box contains and remarkably detailed, considering

everything you need how quickly I covered such an

to shoot 4K 3D images expansive space.

Who should buy it? While the

Matterport Pro3 could be invaluable

for a wide range of use cases, this is

clearly best suited to spaces where

you want a walkthrough or to

showcase a space. With even Google

Maps having the ability to upload and

utilise 3D images/walkthroughs of

buildings, this could be beneficial for

any business that wants to show what

their building looks like to others.

And if the price is too high, bear in

mind that Matterport Pro cameras are

often rented out. COLLIN PROBST

LEFT The camera SPECIFICATIONS
exudes premium Lidar Pro3 camera tripod mount 360˚
build quality horizontal and 295˚ vertical field of view
5GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE requires
Matterport Capture App on Apple or
Android)  181 x 76 x 161mm (WDH) 2.2kg
1yr warranty

70

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Reviews

Huawei MateView SE horrible contrast ABOVE A sleek design of these monitors
drop-off you and above-average it allows you to set
A highly competent 24in sometimes see in panel make this an them up just so.
monitor with solid colour lesser monitors, attractive proposition You could even
coverage and a handy where you have to have one screen in
adjustable stand look dead-on to LEFT The adjustable portrait mode
enjoy the view. stand and support for and another in
SCORE It’s a shame, portrait mode add landscape, as
though, that the extra flexibility shown in the
PRICE £150 (£180 inc VAT) from backlight doesn’t photo below.
consumer.huawei.com/uk push higher than What that photo
276cd/m2, while doesn’t show is
Huawei is slowly adding to its its matte finish emphasises that this is that you’ll need to find a hiding space
roster of screens, with the a monitor designed for work rather for each monitor’s external power
23.8in MateView SE the baby than film-gorging HDR pleasure. supply, with no room in the sleek
brother to the glorious MateView (see design for a PSU.
issue 326, p86). The SE also impresses With only two inputs (HDMI and There's plenty of choice when it
with an above-average IPS panel that DisplayPort), the MateView SE isn't comes to 24in Full HD screens, and the
covers 100% of the sRGB gamut and the most well-connected of screens, MateView SE sits towards the top in
85% of the more vibrant DCI-P3 space. but its secret weapon is a height- terms of quality and price. That
adjustable stand. That’s useful in adjustable stand also lifts it above the
That’s if you slip it into “P3 color” general, but if you decide to buy two otherwise strong £130 Iiyama ProLite
mode using the simple but responsive XUB2492HSU-B1 (see issue 326, p85),
OSD, with options including “sRGB so buy the Huawei if you’ll take
color” – this successfully locks it down advantage – otherwise save £50 and
to that gamut, with 96% coverage out choose the Iiyama. TIM DANTON
of 99% volume. Add an average Delta E
of 0.6 and a peak of 1.39 and you have SPECIFICATIONS
a colour-accurate screen. Whites look
great and there’s no sign of the 23.8in 1,920 x 1,080 IPS panel 8-bit 75Hz

refresh rate response time not stated

DisplayPort HDMI -5° to 18° tilt 110mm

height adjustment 539 x 182 x 362-472mm

(WDH) 4.5kg external PSU 1yr warranty

NR5101

5G

Always-on connectivity
superfast speeds.

Indoor 5G Router with WiFi6

LEARN MORE

71

Reviews

Samsung Galaxy automatic detection firing up reliably
Watch5
after ten minutes of walking, and
Demure and stylish with
heaps of impressive manual workouts delivering heart-
features, but the nightly
charge is a big downside rate measurements that matched my

SCORE chest strap relatively closely. GPS

PRICE From £224 (£269 inc VAT) was also accurate – great for

from johnlewis.com runners and cyclists. There’s no

Samsung’s new smartwatch integrated workout programme to
looks and feels a lot like last
year’s Galaxy Watch 4 (see issue rival Apple Fitness Plus, but it
326, p68). It does bring some changes
that set it apart from its predecessor, works perfectly well with
starting with a small price hike: the
basic Bluetooth-only 40mm model third-party workout apps such as
now costs £269, up from £239, while
the model with cellular connectivity FIIT (fiit.tv), and popular apps
is £319. Larger 44mm models cost
£289 and £339 respectively. such as MapMyRun and Strava

There are new colour choices, too. are downloadable through the
The 40mm watch comes in graphite
(black), silver or “pink gold”, while Google Play Store.
the larger version replaces the latter
with a muted sapphire. Additional The Samsung Health app
colours are available at Samsung’s
“Bespoke Studio” website, with a wide also offers body-composition
range of strap styles at various prices.
In all variations, the watch is measurement and sleep monitoring.
IP68-certified against dust and water,
with a MIL-STD-810H rating I found this tracked my rest more
reflecting its ability to
withstand knocks and accurately than the Withings
drops. Even so, it
doesn’t feel chunky ScanWatch HR, and I like the way the
or unwieldy to wear,
and the matte app gamifies sleep, awarding badges
texture of the
standard strap stops for consistent bedtimes.
it tugging on the skin.
If you want to use the Watch5 in
The screen is a high
point. It’s a circular this way, however, you’ll need to keep
Super AMOLED panel
that’s slightly sharper than the an eye on its charge level. While the
Apple Watch at 330ppi, and it goes up
to 1,000cd/m2, meaning it looks bold battery is 13% bigger than the one in
and clear in bright sunshine. There’s a
good selection of smart and fun watch the Watch 4, it still struggles to get
faces included, all of which look lively
and punchy. While the display is the features tied to Samsung hardware. ABOVE The Super through a second day of use, especially
same as on the Watch 4, it’s covered One is the camera app, which lets you
with a new sapphire crystal face that’s use the watch as a viewfinder and AMOLED panel is if you’re using it as a pedometer and
60% stronger. remote shutter for your phone’s
camera; the other is the Health slightly sharper than regularly tracking exercise sessions.
Interacting with the watch is Monitor app, which is needed for ECG
intuitive, with two physical buttons at and blood pressure measuring. the Apple Watch’s To be fair, you could say much the
the side and a virtual bezel that lets Everything aside from that should
you navigate by drawing a finger work on any Android phone. same about the Apple Watch.
around the screen. It’s perfectly
responsive: I experienced no The partnership between Google And there is some good news: the
glitches or slowdowns, in the and Samsung results in some slightly
system or in third-party apps. new USB-C charger can charge the
confusing duplication. The
The underlying software is Watch5 uses Samsung’s Watch5 30% faster than the old one,
Google’s Wear OS 3, with a few Bixby voice assistant by
default, but you can “It’s stylish and smart, and will also charge from
optionally select the
Google Assistant a smartphone – so it’s
instead. And for NFC
payments you have it’s loaded with fitness quicker and easier than
the choice of either features, and – outside of before to top it up. There’s
Samsung Pay or also now the option of
Google Wallet. It’s Apple’s ecosystem – it can’t paying extra for the
good that Samsung
doesn’t lock you into its be beaten for app support” longer-lasting Watch5 Pro

own services, but the (see opposite).
experience feels fragmented
compared to Apple’s watchOS. If you’re looking for a more

It’s a similar story with biometric mid-price wearable, however, the
tracking: although the Watch5 will
sync with Google Fit, the default is the Galaxy Watch5 has a lot to
Samsung Health app. The watch does
a good job of tracking exercise, with recommend it. It’s stylish and smart,

ABOVE Two physical buttons at the LEFT A good selection it’s loaded with fitness features, and
side of the Watch5 make it easy to
of attractive watch – outside of Apple’s ecosystem – it
interact with the device
faces are available can’t be beaten for app support.

Samsung is even offering a £100-off

trade-in deal against older watches,

although for Watch 4 owners it won’t

feel like much of an upgrade. If you

can handle a daily charge and want a

tasteful but highly versatile digital

timepiece, you won’t find a better

smartwatch. BASIL KRONFLI

SPECIFICATIONS
40mm: 1.2in 396 x 396 AMOLED display
284mAh battery 39.3 x 9.8 x 40.4mm (WDH)

29g. 44mm: 1.4in 450 x 450 AMOLED
display 410mAh battery 43.3 x 9.8 x
44.4mm (WDH) 34g. Shared: Samsung
Exynos W920 processor 1.5GB RAM 16GB
storage GPS NFC Wi-Fi 5 Bluetooth 5.2

optional 4G Samsung BioActive sensor
gyroscope accelerometer barometer
5ATM water resistance Wear OS 3.5
Powered by Samsung 1yr RTB warranty

72

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Reviews

Samsung Galaxy days between charges. That’s a real
Watch5 Pro quality-of-life improvement, but it’s

A fine rough-and-tumble naturally activity-dependent: my
watch, but it will struggle
to lure away existing fans experience involved using near-
of Suunto and Garmin
constant activity tracking with
SCORE occasional GPS, plus regular
notifications from WhatsApp and
PRICE £358 (£429 inc VAT) other apps. If you’re on a

from johnlewis.com weekend adventure, hiking,

While the regular Galaxy cycling or running for long
Watch5 (see opposite) is
largely an incremental periods, I’d expect battery life
update to last year’s model, the new
Watch5 Pro takes things further. It’s a to drop to 40-50 hours. That’s
bigger, more rugged device with a few still great for a smartwatch, but
high-end enhancements. far short of the dedicated fitness
watches the Watch5 Pro wants
The most obvious is the casing. to compete with: the Garmin
This is made of titanium, rather than
the aluminium of the standard Forerunner 745, for instance, lasts
Watch5, and it includes a solid raised
surround for the display. This makes around three times as long.
it quite a bit heavier at 47g, and it feels
more chunky and substantial on the two All of this leads to the inevitable
wrist. An IP68 rating provides physical question: is the Galaxy Watch5 Pro
reassurance that the watch can be buttons at impressive enough to tempt outdoor
submerged for over 30 minutes at once, and enthusiasts away from their specialist
depths greater than one metre. when you’re brands? Samsung is clearly
running it can measure your vertical
The silicone strap gets an upgrade oscillation – in other words, how positioning it as a rugged accessory,
too, with a hinged D-buckle much you bounce up and down, based
that’s exclusive to the Pro. It on the Watch’s internal gyroscopes. but the construction isn’t much
looks sleek in the Black
Titanium colour scheme we On top of all this, the Watch5 Pro ABOVE The titanium different to the Galaxy Watch5 – aside
tested, but not exactly has enhanced GPS capabilities, which casing makes the Pro from that raised bezel, which doesn’t
upmarket; leather bands are on enable a new “route workout” function version heavier than do an awful lot to protect the screen.
their way soon. for sharing running or cycling plans the standard Watch5
with friends. It’s a nice idea if you’re Nor is the price persuasive, as the
Naturally, the Watch5 Pro active in a sporting community, cost of the Galaxy Watch5 Pro is
matches the smartwatch broadly comparable to existing
capabilities of its cheaper though it does involve creating outdoor wearables. The basic
sibling. The interface is just as your own GPX files and
smart and colourful, and the uploading them into the app; Bluetooth model is £429, while the
Super AMOLED screen looks Garmin allows you to generate
every bit as super. The Wear GPX route files inside the app, cellular variety is £479, which makes
OS core gives you access to a which is a lot more convenient.
wide range of third-party “It’s the best fitness- it a pricey upgrade option
apps via the Google Play The Watch5 Pro also
store, plus your choice of supports turn-by-turn for anyone who’s not
Samsung’s or Google’s navigation with haptic
voice assistant and vibration cues – so you orientated Wear OS watch satisfied with the battery
payment platforms. don’t need to keep around; if you can stomach life of the standard Watch5.
looking at your watch the price, it’s the best
All the same fitness during runs and That doesn’t mean you
features are here, with shouldn’t buy the Galaxy
automatic detection of cycles – and a Track Wear OS watch, full stop” Watch5 Pro. It is without
various types of workout, Back capability that question the best
plus more unusual things guides you safely
such as sleep tracking – fitness-orientated Wear
which doesn’t just tell you to your starting
how many hours you slept, but point should you OS watch around; if you can
offers coaching programmes to get lost on a
help you get better rest. The wilderness trail. stomach the price, it’s the best
watch can even calculate your Features such as this
body composition, by passing a aren’t exactly Wear OS watch, full stop. Its
low-voltage current through innovative – they’ve
your body when you touch the been implemented metrics and fitness tools
are accurate and easy to
before on various use, the display is big and
dedicated sport bands – but beautiful, its battery life is
this is the first time we’ve seen unbeatable within its
them on a Wear OS watch.
There’s one other major category, and it has all the
improvement, and that’s
battery life. The Galaxy Watch5 everyday features you
Pro’s internal battery is rated at
590mAh, versus the 410mAh of could want from a
the regular model, and I found smartwatch. Just be clear
this allowed it to go a full three that this isn’t a professional
tool for dedicated adventurers
– more a general-purpose wearable

ABOVE The watch that, quite literally, goes the extra
can calculate your mile. MATT EVANS

body composition

SPECIFICATIONS

1.4in 450 x 450 AMOLED display Samsung

Exynos W920 processor 1.5GB RAM 16GB

storage 590mAh battery GPS NFC

Wi-Fi 4 Bluetooth 5.2 optional 4G

Samsung BioActive sensor geomagnetic

sensor temperature sensor gyroscope

accelerometer barometer 5ATM water

resistance Wear OS 3.5 Powered by

Samsung 45.4 x 10.5 x 45.4mm (WDH) 47g

1yr RTB warranty

73

Reviews

HitFilm 2022.2

Easy to pick up and learn, but
not a big improvement on its
predecessor and you’re
always pushed to upgrade

SCORE

PRICE Free from fxhome.com

You may already be familiar that you should be sending FXHome ABOVE The interface effects will be watermarked. This isn’t
with HitFilm Express, but this some money every month.
2022 update heralds a rebrand: has been updated to a an unusual sales tactic: free video-
it’s now simply called HitFilm. It’s still If you’re new to video-editing
free, but you’ll find yourself software, launching such an app can more modern, dark editing software without watermarks
constantly pushed to upgrade to feel daunting. So many windows or
FXHome’s two subscription tiers. panels, so many options, where to grey colour scheme hidden somewhere in the app are rare.
start? That’s why I applaud the new
Creator costs £10 on a month-by- Sidebar, simply called Learn. You can Still, at least you can try such features
month subscription or £75 if you pay toggle it on and off through a simple
annually, and includes the HitFilm button, to the right of the top menus. before you buy.
Creator and Imerge Creator apps;
Imerge is FXHome’s photo-editing Here, you’re graced with three You’ll find that most of the other
software. HitFilm Creator allows you videos explaining the basics: the
to export footage at up to 4K (the free lowdown of the interface, how to improvements for this version are
edition limits that to HD), includes manage your media and how to export
100 songs, 100 sound effects and 25 your finished product. Click on All under the hood. For instance, HitFilm
templates from the Artlist library, and Categories to see 39 available videos
offers “premium support”. designed to teach you about aspects of now supports a wider range of TIFF
filmmaking, including green screen
The Pro subscription costs £16 a work, changing the pitch of audio and images, and there’s a new user
month or £120 a year, and comes with tweaking colour balance. These
HitFilm Pro, Imerge Pro, Mocha bundled tutorials are sure to rapidly preference to enable or disable
HitFilm, BorisFX 3D Objects and improve a new editor’s abilities.
Foundry 3D Camera Tracker. You can mouse wheel scrolling in dropdown
export up to 8K, and the subscription Or you can learn about HitFilm
includes 200 songs, 200 sound effects 2022’s new additions: stroke and menus. Recent MacBook buyers will
and 50 templates. Perpetual licences vector stroke effects. These allow you
for HitFilm Pro and Imerge Pro are to essentially paint lines along a path, also welcome extended support for
also available, with 12 months of using points that you can easily turn
updates and technical support for a into curves to give a more organic feel “Videos teach you about Apple Silicon.
price of £309 and £176 respectively. to what you’re drawing. They’re easy If you pay for one of the
For this review, however, I focus on to use and are a nice addition to your
how the free version stacks up. editing and compositing arsenal, but aspects of filmmaking. subscription tiers, you’ll
there’s a catch: although you can use These bundled tutorials are find direct access to
Most notable is that the old them with the free version, those sure to improve a new Artlist’s music, sound
software’s off-white look has been editor’s abilities quickly” effects and templates via
replaced with a modern, dark grey the Creative Library Panel
design. It looks great on Windows, but
Mac users will be annoyed to see (you have limited access
that Apple’s interface guidelines
aren’t respected, with the Menu Bar to it with the free HitFilm, and no
ignored in favour of a Windows-style
interface; there’s access from the perpetual Pro licence,
an option to
turn this off and but there are numerous free
return the menu
back where it alternatives online).
belongs, but why
is this “feature” Other features have disappeared,
not on by default?
The most likely such as integration between HitFilm
answer is that
the Windows and Vegas Pro. Adobe After Effects
interface allows
for a giant plugin support is no longer there, nor
Upgrade button,
top right, is the ability to import and export AAF
constantly
reminding you files. FXHome has narrowed down OS

support: if you’re using Windows,

HitFilm will now only work on

versions 10 and 11, while Catalina

(macOS 10.15) is the oldest for Macs.

All told, this update is disappointing.

HitFilm is still excellent video-editing

software and it packs numerous

powerful features for free. It’s also far

less intimidating than rival free video

editor, DaVinci Resolve, which has

just been updated to version 18 (we

hope to include a review next month).

I still recommend you download a

copy and try it yourself. But after two

years, I was expecting more than a

new look and overly prominent

requests to upgrade. STEVE PARIS

74





@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Reviews

WinZip PDF Pro

A simple interface combined
with plentiful features make
this a fine alternative to
Adobe Acrobat Pro

SCORE

PRICE £65 (£78 inc VAT) per year
from winzip.com

WinZip has been a popular selection of templates, insert new ABOVE The Read tab complex editing tasks. Actions such as
tool for compressing and images or drop in attachments.
decompressing files since offers tools to rotate, adding page numbering, password-
long before Windows came with Zip The Edit tab is of most interest, as
support. Now from the same stable this is where you can manipulate the delete, insert, reorder protecting a document, applying
comes a fully featured PDF editor. content of your PDF. When you start
editing, you’ll see a warning that your and extract pages digital certificates and filling forms
It doesn’t make the finest first changes might not precisely match
impression as the app opens with a the formatting of the original content were all easy to figure out and execute.
conspicuous “Make WinZip PDF Pro – that’s a risk with any PDF editor, and
your default app” banner along the I appreciate the honesty as I’ve seen That makes it a good alternative to
upper part of the screen. I dismissed plenty of other packages screw up the
this, as I find it more convenient to layout without any warning. Adobe Acrobat, which might
open PDFs in my browser, but it kept
popping up each time I opened the The text-editing process is overwhelm non-expert users.
application, and I couldn’t find a way different to other PDF tools. Rather
to disable it. than typing directly onto the page, However, there’s one unfortunate
you double-click on a paragraph to
By default, PDFs open with the bring up its content in a popup similarity between the two packages:
Read tab active. As the name suggests, window; any edits are made here, and
this isn’t designed for major when you’re finished you can click just like Adobe’s offering, WinZip PDF
manipulations, but it includes tools Apply to update the document. It’s a
to rotate individual pages, delete little convoluted, but it sidesteps Pro is only available as a subscription,
existing ones, insert new pages, problems that can arise from the way
reorder the document or extract PDFs treat each line of text as an costing £78 per year. That’s much
selected pages as a new PDF. You can individual object. The downside is
also highlight sections of text and that you can’t see your changes on the cheaper than Acrobat, which costs
mark them for redaction. page until you’re done.
£158 per year for the Standard edition
Next to it, the Comment tab lets You can also resize and move the
you add notes to PDFs, which I found boxes that contain text and images, or £240 for the Pro suite, but there’s
useful for online collaboration with although I found this a pain, as the
colleagues. A list of comments is document kept scrolling as I dragged a “Actions such as adding no good reason why a
shown to the side of the PDF, and you box, making it hard to place it
can click to jump instantly to the accurately. Alternatively, you can standalone application
relevant part of the document. delete existing boxes and add your
own. Once you get the hang of it, it’s page numbering, password- such as this shouldn’t be
For more advanced annotations not hard to get the desired results. available as a one-off
you can also attach sticky notes in protecting a document and purchase: Foxit PDF
various colours, or add rectangles, Indeed, overall I found WinZip PDF
ellipses, lines and arrows of various Pro helped me achieve even quite filling forms were all easy Editor Pro offers a
colours and thickness. Freehand
drawing tools are on hand too, to figure out and execute” perpetual licence for £146.
while the Insert controls let you If the subscription-
rubber-stamp a document from a
only model is acceptable to you,

however, then WinZip PDF Pro makes

PDF editing about as effortless as it

can be. The process is never going to

be perfectly smooth, because PDFs by

their nature aren’t designed for

BELOW LEFT Freehand seamless editing, and I did run into a

drawing tools let you few irritations while using the

highlight parts of a PDF software. Ultimately, though, it’s

cheaper and more user-friendly

BELOW RIGHT You than Acrobat, and it will allow you

can rubber-stamp to edit and update PDF files in any

your documents way you want. STEVE PARIS

77

WINDOWS

EVERY SIZE.
EVERY SHAPE.
EVERY BUDGET.

Not all desktop PCs are born the same, with variations in size,
budget and design obvious from this month’s wide selection

78

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Labs Windows11PCs

11PCs CONTENTS
W hen we first sent out invites for this
Labs, we focused on two things: price ALL-IN-ONE PCs
and size. With cost being a bigger focus
than ever, it made sense to go low and Acer Aspire C24-1651 .............................................................84
to consider mini PCs with their inherently lower running HP Envy 34 All-in-One..............................................................84
costs. All was going well. Huawei MateStation X............................................................85
Then Acer hit us with a wild card. Do we want to
review its latest all-in-one PC rather than a conventional MINI PCS
desktop? We like to think ourselves as open-minded
folk here at PC Pro, so said yes – and then expanded our Chillblast WAP Ultimate AMD 3500U Micro System......86
invitation to others with an all-in-one PC they were HP Z2 Mini G9 workstation.................................................... 87
willing to submit to our unique form of torture.
The end result is a varied mix of systems. Three DESKTOPS
all-in-ones, two mini PCs and six traditional desktop
designs. With prices ranging from £400 right up to Palicomp AMD Cobra.............................................................88
£2,300, we think there’s something for everyone. Palicomp Intel Hellfire............................................................89
Chillblast Fnatic Boost Gaming PC.......................................90
CONTRIBUTOR: Tim Danton Cyberpower Ultra 45 Radeon Next Day PC .......................90
PCSpecialist Aurora Spark R.................................................91
PCSpecialist Aurora Pro R......................................................91

Feature table............................................................................80
11 things to look for when buying a PC.................................82
How we test..............................................................................92
Graphs.......................................................................................92
View from the Labs..................................................................93

79

Acer Aspire C24-1651 Chillblast Fnatic Boost Chillblast WAP Ultimate Cyberpower Ultra 45 RECOMMENDED
Gaming PC HP Envy 34 All-in-One

AMD 3500U Micro System Radeon Next Day PC

Overall rating £749 (£899 inc VAT) £833 (£1,000 inc VAT) £383 (£460 inc VAT) £466 (£559 inc VAT) £1,917 (£2,300 inc VAT)
currys.co.uk chillblast.com chillblast.com cyberpowersystem.co.uk hp.com
Information DQ.BG9EK.00A N/A N/A SY1584 4Z862EA#ABU
Price 1
Supplier website 1yr RTB 5yr (2yr C&R parts & labour, 3yr 1yr C&R 2yr C&R 1yr C&R
Part code RTB labour-only)
Service and support 78% 94% 94% 90% 85%
Warranty 2 86% 96% 92% 89%
85% 96% 94% 92% 88%
Customer support rating 3 94%
Reliability rating 3 Intel Core i5-1135G7 AMD Ryzen 5 4600G Intel Core i7-11700
Overall rating 3 2.4GHz/4.2GHz Intel Core i5-12400F AMD Ryzen 5 3500U 3.7GHz/4.2GHz 2.5GHz/4.9GHz
Processor & memory 2.5GHz/4.4GHz 2.1GHz/3.7GHz
Processor
Base/boost frequency

1 Prices correct at time of going to press but are subject to change. 2 Includes parts and labour unless stated. 3See p26 for full results. N/A means not enough feedback from readers for reliable results. Cores/threads 4/8 6/12 4/8 6/12 8/16
CPU cooler Integrated Integrated AMD stock cooler Integrated
Chillblast Centurion Direct Contact
Supplied RAM 8GB ARGB CPU Cooler 8GB DDR4 2,400MHz 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 16GB DDR4 2,666MHz
3,200MHz 2/4
RAM slots (free/total) 0/2 16GB DDR4 3,200MHz
Motherboard/rear 0/2
Model 2/4 0/2
PCI Express x16 slots (spare/total)
PCI Express x1 slots (spare/total) Acer custom Gigabyte B660M DS3H AX D4 Custom MSI A520M-A Pro HP custom
M.2 slots (spare/total) N/A 0/1 0/0 1/1 N/A
USB-A ports N/A 2/2 0/0 0/1 N/A
0/1 1/2 0/0 0/1 1/2
USB-C ports 3 (2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 1 x USB 3.2 5 (2 x USB 2, 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1) 2 (2 x USB 2) 6 (2 x USB 2, 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1) 4 (4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2)
Ethernet Gen 1)
Graphics 1 (USB 3.2 Gen 2) 1 (USB 3.2 Gen 2) Gigabit Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet 2 (Thunderbolt 4 with USB4)
Integrated or discrete? Gigabit Ethernet 2.5Gb Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet
Make and model
Video memory Discrete Discrete Integrated Integrated Discrete
Outputs Nvidia GeForce MX450 Asus Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 AMD Radeon Vega 8 AMD Radeon (seven cores) Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (mobile)
Display 2GB 8GB GDDR6 Shared Shared 6GB
Size (diagonal) HDMI in and out 3 x DisplayPort, HDMI 2 x HDMI DVI, HDMI 3 x DisplayPort, HDMI
Resolution
Technology 23.8in N/A N/A N/A 34in
Touchscreen? 1,920 x 1,080 N/A N/A N/A 5,120 x 2,160
Storage IPS (60Hz) N/A N/A N/A IPS (60Hz)
Primary drive N/A N/A N/A
Drive technology and interface
Nominal capacity SK hynix BC511 Samsung 980 Samsung 970 Evo Plus MSI Spatium M390 WD Black SN810
Secondary drive M.2 NVMe PCI-E Gen 3 M.2 NVMe PCI-E Gen 3 M.2 NVMe PCI-E Gen 3 M.2 NVMe PCI-E Gen 3 M.2 NVMe PCI-E Gen 4
Wireless 512GB 500GB 250GB 500GB 1TB
Wi-Fi 1TB WD Blue SATA
Bluetooth
Chassis Wi-Fi 6 Wi-Fi 6 Wi-Fi 5 Wi-Fi 4 Wi-Fi 6
Model name Bluetooth 5 Bluetooth 5.2 Bluetooth 4.2 Bluetooth 5.2
Glass side?
Size (WDH) Acer Aspire C24-1651 Chillblast Fnatic custom Chillblast WAP Ultimate Micro PC Cooler Master MasterBox MB311L HP Envy 34
Front/top ports N/A N/A N/A
210 x 373 x 403mm 218 x 436 x 410mm
Power 380 x 37 x 490mm USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x USB-A 2, 3 x 130 x 128 x 52mm 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x 3.5mm 817 x 223 x 368mm
Power supply USB-A 2, SD card slot 3.5mm 3 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x 3.5mm 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, USB-C 3.2 Gen 1
PSU wattaage
80 Plus Rating Chicony A18-135P1A Chillblast CWT KPL-060F-VI InWin A45 HP integrated
Software & extras 135W 600W 60W 450W 330W
Operating system N/A (external supply) Bronze N/A Basic Platinum
Bundled software
Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Home
Bundled hardware
CyberLink PhotoDirector 8, HP wireless mouse and keyboard,
CyberLink PowerDirector 14 magnetic 3MP webcam

Wireless keyboard and mouse, HD
webcam

80

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Labs Windows11PCs

RECOMMENDED LABS WINNER RECOMMENDED PCSpecialist Aurora PCSpecialist Aurora
HP Z2 Mini G9 workstation Huawei MateStation X Palicomp AMD Cobra Palicomp Intel Hellfire Pro R Spark R

£1,262 (£1,514 inc VAT) £1,500 (£1,800 inc VAT) £333 (£400 inc VAT) £833 (£1,000 inc VAT) £583 (£699 inc VAT) £449 (£539 inc VAT)
box.co.uk consumer.huawei.com/uk pcpro.link/338cobra pcpro.link/338hellfire pcspecialist.co.uk/reviews pcspecialist.co.uk/reviews
5F0H4EA#ABU N/A RYZ10 ALD1 N/A N/A

3yr RTB 2yr RTB 3yr (7 days C&R, 1yr RTB parts & 3yr (7 days C&R, 1yr RTB parts & 3yr (1mth C&R, 11mth RTB parts & 3yr (1mth C&R, 11mth RTB parts &
labour, 2yr RTB labour only) labour, 2yr RTB labour only) labour, 2yr RTB labour only) labour, 2yr RTB labour only)
85% N/A 81% 81% 90% 90%
89% N/A
88% N/A 88% 88% 91% 91%
86% 86% 91% 91%

Intel Core i7-12700 AMD Ryzen 7 5800H AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Intel Core i5-12400F Intel Core i5-12400F AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
P-cores: 2.1GHz/4.9GHz, E-cores: 3.2GHz/4.4GHz 3.9GHz/4.4GHz 2.5GHz/4.4GHz 2.5GHz/4.4GHz 3.9GHz/4.4GHz
1.6GHz/3.6GHz
12/20 8/16 6/12 6/12 6/12 6/12
HP custom Integrated AMD stock cooler Intel stock cooler PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 AMD stock cooler

16GB DDR5 4,800MHz 16GB DDR4 3,200MHz 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 16GB PCS Pro DDR4 2,666MHz 8GB PCS Pro DDR4 2,666MHz
3,200MHz 3,200MHz
0/2 0/2 0/2 2/4 2/4 3/4

HP 89SE (W680 chipset) Huawei custom Asus Prime A520M-K Asus Prime B660M-A WiFi D4 Gigabyte B560 HD3 Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2
0/1 N/A 1/1 1/2 1/2 1/1
0/0 N/A 2/2 0/1 1/2 3/3
1/2 N/A 0/1 1/2 0/1 1/2
3 (3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2) 2 (2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1) 6 (4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x USB 2) 6 (2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 4 x USB 2) 6 (2 x USB 2, 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1) 6 (1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 3 x USB 3.2 Gen
1, 2 x USB 2)
Gigabit Ethernet 2 (2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1)

Gigabit Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet

Discrete Integrated Integrated Discrete Discrete Integrated
Nvidia Quadro T1000 AMD Radeon (eight cores) AMD Radeon (seven cores) Palit GamingPro Nvidia RTX 3070 Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 Radeon (seven cores)
8GB Shared Shared 8GB 2GB Shared
2 x DisplayPort, 4 x mini-DisplayPort D-SUB, HDMI 3 x DisplayPort, HDMI DVI, HDMI DVI, HDMI

N/A 28.2in N/A N/A N/A N/A
N/A 3,840 x 2,560 N/A N/A N/A N/A
N/A IPS (60Hz) N/A N/A N/A N/A
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Micron 2450 Not stated Samsung 980 WD Black SN770 PCS G939E PCS G939E
M.2 NVMe PCI-E Gen 3 M.2 NVMe PCI-E Gen 3 M.2 NVMe PCI-E Gen 3 M.2 NVMe PCI-E Gen 4 M.2 NVMe PCI-E Gen 3 M.2 NVMe PCI-E Gen 3
512GB 1TB 1TB 1TB 1TB 512GB

Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi 6 Wi-Fi 6 Wi-Fi 4 Wi-Fi 4
Bluetooth 5.2 Bluetooth 5.1 Bluetooth 5.2
PCS 3601
HP Z2 Mini G9 Huawei MateStation X 1stPlayer DK D3-A GameMax F15M Corsair Carbide 200R
N/A N/A 180 x 365 x 410mm
230 x 400 x 375mm 215 x 401 x 465mm 210 x 430 x 497mm USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x USB-A 2, 2 x
211 x 218 x 69mm 614 x 187 x 530mm 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x 3.5mm 3.5mm
USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, 2 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 3.5mm jack USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x USB-A 2, 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x USB-A 2, 2 x
2x2, 3.5mm 3.5mm 3.5mm Corsair CV450
450W
HP M52947-002 Huawei custom Fractal Design Essence EVGA 650 GQ Corsair CV450 Bronze
280W Not stated (integrated) 500W 650W 450W
N/A N/A Bronze Gold Bronze Windows 11 Home

Windows 10 Pro Windows 11 Home Windows 10 or 11 Home Windows 10 or 11 Home Windows 11 Home
HP Wolf Security
Huawei wireless keyboard and
HP wired mouse and keyboard mouse, 720p webcam

81

11 things to consider when
buying a Windows 11 PC

Whether you intend to buy one of this month’s systems or not, it’s worth finding out the
traps you can fall into – and that could cause you severe problems in the future

RUNNING COSTS ABOVE The HP Z2 Mini having more to hand simply makes
G9 can sit behind life smoother. Gamers in particular
How quickly things change. Two years suitably equipped will want 16GB. Unless you’re
ago we barely mentioned PCs’ running monitors working with huge files, such as
costs; now they’re an important high-resolution photos and videos,
factor in a buying decision. Even with the top, Core i9 and Ryzen 9 at the few people will push their computer
price caps, a power-guzzling PC could
cost you well over £100 a year to run. pinnacle – but there are pitfalls. so hard that they will need 32GB or
We print the idle and peak power 64GB of memory.
consumption in the graphs on p93, For example, the Core i5-12400F in Then there’s the question
along with an estimated annual of DDR5 versus DDR4. We
running cost based on the October the Palicomp Intel Hellfire completes covered this topic in more
price cap of 52p per kWh. detail in a previous edition
some tasks almost twice as (see issue 337, p44), but
SIZE VERSUS SPACE Not all SSDs are the same. fast as the Core i5-1135G7 we’ll boil it down to the
in the Acer Aspire C24. fundamentals here: DDR5
We review two “mini PCs” this month: For the very fastest That’s for two reasons: one is a tad faster in Windows
the Chillblast WAP Ultimate and HP’s transfer rates, you want is that the “12” indicates a 11, but 16GB of DDR4 RAM
Z2 Mini G9 workstation. And most PC a Gen 4 SSD based on the 12th generation Core chip will always trump 8GB of
makers offer similar machines. While M.2 format to the 11th generation of DDR5. And DDR4 is much
they tend not to come with the most cheaper, for now. In terms
powerful components, which need the Acer, but also because of value for money, DDR4
plenty of cooling, both are fast enough
to be used as daily systems. If you the latter includes a mobile processor still makes a lot of sense.
currently use a laptop, a new mini PC
will probably be faster. built for efficiency rather than all-out STORAGE GENERATIONS

A mini PC will also likely use less speed. It pays to find out exactly what The days of mechanical hard disks
electricity than a beast of a PC, and you are largely in the past, but not all
may even be able to attach it to the rear chip you’re getting before you buy. SSDs are the same. Annoyingly
of your monitor (the HP has an option for the casual buyer, the clues are
for this with suitable HP monitors). This BELOW M.2 SSDs are THE RAM QUESTION usually hidden in the details. For the
makes mini PCs a more expandable now the standard, but very fastest transfer rates, you want
option than all-in-one PCs. a new and faster Windows 11 is happy with 8GB of a Gen 4 SSD based on the M.2 format
generation has landed memory, but if you can afford 16GB (this looks much like a stick of
TIME FOR AN ALL-IN-ONE? then it’s worth doubling down: some memory, rather than the cuboid
software chews up memory and shape of a 2.5in SSD).
After years of stagnation, we’re finally How to tell one generation from
seeing some interesting all-in-one PC another? Well, that’s trickier. This
designs. As you will see if you turn to may appear in the specifications as
the reviews from p84, the Huawei and PCI-E 4.0 or PCIe 4x or PCI Express
HP systems are fast, luxurious and Gen 4 or any variant thereof. But
innovative. Ignore them at your peril. often it’s not mentioned at all. You
either need to ask the manufacturer
NUMBER OF CORES of your PC, do some Google-digging
or find out the model number of the
All of the computers in this test are SSD in question.
more than powerful enough for most The only good news is that Gen 3
people’s daily needs. Still, there’s drives are still extremely fast, and
something to be said for more cores. similarly to RAM you’ll find greater
We notice the sheer nippiness of Core benefit in capacity versus speed. We
i7 models versus cheaper counterparts, recommend 250GB/256GB as a
for instance. Naturally, they will also minimum, 500GB/512GB as a solid
tear through demanding tasks that
much quicker. Each machine’s score
in Cinebench R23’s multicore section
and the PC Pro benchmarks are an
excellent indication of this (see p92).

What if you’re buying off the shelf,
not one of the tested systems? Trickier.
AMD and Intel use similar naming
conventions to show their chips’
relative speeds – Core i3 and Ryzen 3
at the low end, Core i5 and Ryzen 5 in
the middle, Core i7 and Ryzen 7 near

82

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Labs Windows11PCs

choice for non-gamers, and 1TB or BELOW Nvidia’s RTX 3000 series
more for those who know they will is about to be usurped by RTX
consume lots of storage. 4000 cards, and that means
bargains could abound
EXPANSION OPTIONS
real-world difference if you’re trying A QUESTION OF SUPPORT
This brings us to expansion options. If
you run out of storage space the easiest to drag a few gigabytes worth of files PC Pro is in the fortunate position
route is always to add a second drive, so of running an annual survey that
a second M.2 slot on the motherboard from an external drive. provides a breakdown of our readers’
is ideal. But even the smallest system experiences with computer
here, the Chillblast WAP Ultimate, The fastest USB standard is the manufacturers. Even more
has room for a complementary 2.5in fortunately, if you turn to p28 of this
SSD in its chassis. latest, written USB4. This has a month’s magazine you’ll see the latest
results. We summarise these results
For gamers, the bigger question is 40Gbits/sec bandwidth. Next up is – for customer service, reliability and
whether there will be space in your one overall rating, with a higher
PC’s case for your preferred graphics USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, at 20Gbits/sec. number being better – on the feature
card and that the power supply has table on p80. If a company has N/A, it
capacity to run it at full pelt. For These are rarely seen on desktop PCs. simply means we didn’t get enough
example, an RTX 3050 card is quite feedback in our survey to give a
compact and draws up to 130W, However, you may hope for USB 3.2 statistically valid result.
while an RTX 3080 draws over
300W and is a big old beast. Gen 2 and its 10Gbits/sec, Also check what’s covered by the
If you’re keen to upgrade which is twice as fast as warranty and whether it includes
If you will be adding a graphics USB 3.2 Gen 1. USB 2 is the return-to-base cover (RTB, where you
card in the future, invest in a power in the future, you should old standard and very are responsible for shipping it back to
supply that can handle it. Compare consider British slow (480Mbits/sec) by the manufacturer or retailer) or
the peak power draw on p93 to the manufacturers ahead of comparison. collect and return (C&R), where the
rating of the power supply unit (PSU) their international rivals company will bear the cost and
in the feature table on p80, but make Some manufacturers organise the collection. The best cover
sure you adjust it based on efficiency. is on-site, where the company sends
As a rule of thumb, a PSU is 80% use colour coding to help an engineer to fix the problem, but
efficient, so a 500W will comfortably always check the small print to see
deliver 400W of power (the rest is identify USB ports. Red is often used what is and isn’t covered by this.
dissipated as heat).
for 3.2 Gen 2, blue for 3.2 Gen 1, and WHAT’S ROUND
If you’re keen to upgrade in the THE CORNER?
future, you should consider British black for USB 2. But not always.
manufacturers ahead of their It’s always worth keeping an eye on
international rivals. Not only can you Ideally, all the PCs here would roadmaps from the likes of AMD, Intel
phone them and discuss your and Nvidia. Later this year, AMD will
expansionist plans before you buy, include USB-C ports as well as the be bringing out its Ryzen 7000
but they will use fully featured desktop chips, with support for DDR5
motherboards, whereas the likes of venerable USB-A ports, but that isn’t memory and a new socket design.
Acer, Dell and HP customise their Nvidia is also introducing, at long last,
own, and that sometimes leads to the case. This means that you may RTX 4000 graphics cards. And we
cost-cutting decisions such as expect Intel to start shipping high-end
providing only two DIMM sockets. BELOW Look out for end up buying a USB-C expansion versions of its 13th generation Core
chips from November.
THE GAMING QUESTION red USB-A ports as card to slot into a spare PCI Express
However, as ever in the computing
Graphics cards have dropped in price, that indicates faster slot, as they are handy for the new world, if you wait for the next big
as demonstrated by the RTX 3070 card thing to arrive then you’ll never
in Palicomp’s £1,000 Intel Hellfire PC. data transfers breed of external drives. commit and buy.
This is partially due to the imminent
arrival of RTX 4000 cards, with ardent
gamers holding off on their purchase
until they see the price and
performance of these new arrivals.

If you’re not a gamer, and don’t
need GPU acceleration for specific
tasks such as high-end photo editing,
then it makes zero sense to spend
money on a graphics card now.
Especially when the processor’s
integrated graphics are capable of
running less demanding games
such as Minecraft.

KNOW YOUR PORTS

Regular readers will know our
frustration with the USB
Implementers Forum and the hash
it has made of naming its standards
over the years. Especially when the
standard involved makes a big

83

ALL-IN-ONE PCs Acer Aspire C24-1651 LEFT The display isn’t terrible,

With a nicer screen this would it didn’t perform terribly in our technical but it could be brighter
be a terrific little all-in-one, tests: an average Delta E of 1.31 is okay, as is
but it’s still excellent value for 87% coverage of the sRGB gamut and a 1,342:1 designed for end users to
money as it stands contrast ratio. It would have been nice to access, although your
push it brighter than 256cd/m2, though. local IT repair shop
SCORE will be able to help once
We have no complaints about speed. The you go beyond the
PRICE £749 (£899 inc VAT) from currys.co.uk Core i5-1135G7 may be a last-generation one-year warranty.
chip, and a mobile one at that, but four cores
Acer takes a very different approach and eight threads are plenty to keep everyday There’s even bonus
to HP and Huawei with their tasks such as office apps running smoothly. gaming ability here,
all-in-ones. With the C24, it The Aspire would never be our top choice for courtesy of Nvidia’s
focuses on compactness and value for photo or video editing (the screen again GeForce MX450 chip. It
money, delivering on both. counts against it), but you’re unlikely to ever won’t cope with AAA
want to upgrade the 8GB of RAM. Which is games, but if you
The bezels at the top and bottom are fortunate: this isn’t a machine with innards sacrifice some quality
chunky by modern standards, while the settings then you should find most other
plastic feet and unconvincing silver effect titles will be playable. For example, at
around the edges make it obvious that this 1080p and with Low settings, it
isn’t a luxurious machine. But it also takes averaged 34fps in Metro Exodus and 49fps in
up barely any space on a desk, while the Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
surprisingly decent wireless keyboard and And it does so without consuming huge
mouse mean you’re wire-free other than amounts of electricity. Bearing in mind that
the external PSU. its 25W of idle power draw and 113W also
include the screen, it’s the second most
It’s only a shame that Acer didn’t spend efficient choice here behind the Chillblast
more on the 23.8in panel. We can cope WAP Ultimate Mini PC.
with the 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, even if it There are a trio of “bonus” features worth
lacks sharpness compared to the HP and mentioning. First is the 720p webcam that
Huawei with its 93dpi pixel density, but sits in the top bezel, with a cheap but
colours look slightly off. That’s a shame, as effective privacy shield (aka a piece of
plastic) you can slide across. The webcam is
above average, with well-balanced colours
and just enough detail, although you’ll want

HP Envy 34 All-in-One RECOMMENDED LEFT The 34in widescreen

A stunning piece of design that one edge to the other, so we found ourselves display is sharp and accurate
matches on-tap power with taking advantage of Windows 11’s split-
top-quality components – screen view with a big central window (such resolution with Low
including the gorgeous screen as Excel) and a smaller window (such as settings. And Shadow
Outlook or Twitter) on either side. of the Tomb Raider
SCORE returned a playable
HP ensures the display is super-sharp by 38fps with High
PRICE £1,917 (£2,300 inc VAT) from hp.com packing in 5,120 x 2,160 pixels for a density settings, again at the
of 163ppi, but we also grew to love this detail native resolution.
The HP Envy 34 is awesome in the when gaming. That’s made possible by a
truest sense of the word. It GeForce RTX 3060 “card”, and even though Fan noise kicks in
dominates a desk, in part due to its it’s a mobile version we still saw some tasty when you push the
angular industrial grey chic but primarily results: 59fps in Metro Exodus at a Envy 34 this hard, with the hot air venting
due to that magnificent expanse of glass. A 1080p-equivalent 2,720 x 768 with High from the top of the frame. That’s reflected in
34in widescreen is quite something to settings, and the same result at the native a peak power consumption of 293W, and it’s
behold, even more so when it can hit a pretty greedy at idle with a 74W
blazing 533cd/m2 at peak. draw. That made this PC the
equal most expensive to run,
It’s a superb panel, too, with lovely, so we recommend setting it
clean whites. At its Default setting, it to sleep after a few minutes of activity.
covers 97% of the DCI-P3 gamut with a The good news is that it will bounce back
triumphant average Delta E of 0.4, and the to life incredibly quickly, with a desktop
only reason we can see to switch gamuts – Intel Core i7-12700 and 16GB of RAM helping
it’s precalibrated for sRGB, Adobe RGB here. Other systems are faster, but this is a
and DCI-P3 – is if you’re a print designer snappy machine that was always in the top
wanting the accuracy of Adobe RGB. half of our performance tables, and it will
quite happily tear through demanding
Our only possible criticism is that it’s applications thanks to the chip’s eight
too wide. A 34in diagonal means your neck Performance cores (with four Efficient cores
has to do some proper work to move from for background duties).
HP provides a Gen 4 1TB SSD with
exceptional read speeds. It’s easy to replace
this, or add a second M.2 SSD, by simply

84

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Labs Windows11PCs

Huawei MateStation X ABOVE Huawei includes a wireless keyboard and mouse ALL-IN-ONE PCs

Very nearly the perfect all-in-
one PC, with a stunning 28.2in
screen matched with powerful
components inside

keyboard and mouse. There’s no wired

SCORE Ethernet here, so you’re reliant on Wi-Fi 6.

PRICE £1,500 (£1,800 inc VAT) You’ll also notice the speaker grille

from consumer.huawei.com/uk built into the front of the unit, which

packs in a pair of 5W speakers and a 10W

subwoofer. Little wonder that this

ABOVE The C24 takes up little space on a desk Drop. Dead. Gorgeous. Those are the all-in-one pumps out music with excellent
three words that struck us after depth and clarity, and at volume, too.
to boost the sensitivity of the mics as switching on the MateStation X,
they’re quite as standard. The speakers… Few will complain about this PC’s
let’s just say that they’re better suited to
talk radio than music playback. with pure whites and rich colours speed. An eight-core AMD Ryzen 5800H

The second bonus is that the screen streaming out at a sunglasses-inducing processor is in charge, and although this is
supports touch, which comes in handy on
occasion, and we’re also pleased to see a 504cd/m2. But it’s not merely the quality a mobile chip, the “H” at the end indicates
Thunderbolt USB-C port at the rear. This
ties in with the third bonus, which is that of the touch-friendly screen that strikes that it’s a powerful one. The MateStation
you can use this as a screen via an HDMI
input, and an HDMI output and Ethernet you (it covers 95% of the DCI-P3 gamut consistently sits near the top of our
port are also worthy additions.
with a superbly accurate average Delta E performance charts this month, despite
It’s a real shame about the screen
quality, because otherwise this would be a of 0.56), but the size and shape of it. the presence of many desktop processors.
clear recommendation. But that aside, this
is the clear winner for value for money Displays with a 3:2 aspect ratio are hardly It’s incredibly responsive, and boots from
across our trio of all-in-one PCs.
a new idea, but to see it writ large across a cold to fully working in under ten seconds.
ABOVE There are a wealth of useful ports on the rear
28.2in diagonal is something to behold. That’s good news, because keeping a
unclipping a panel at the rear, which will
also give you access to the two DIMM Its design surely takes inspiration from powerful system such as this running
sockets. It’s great that upgrades and repair
of these vital components is so simple. Apple’s displays, with the slender black comes at a cost. With the screen at full

HP also packs in the ports, with Gigabit bezel, rounded edges and slick chrome brightness it draws around 62W when idle,
Ethernet, four USB-A and two Thunderbolt
4 USB-C ports at the rear. There’s also an finish exuding class. Even the power lead dropping to 50W if you take it down to a
HDMI output, but no input so this can’t act
as a standalone monitor. There’s one final plugs in perfectly, with no gap, while an still bright 80%. When pushed to the max,
trick: a magnetic webcam that you can
place wherever you like. It’s a high-quality all-metal chassis adds to its aura of it consumes 260W. That leads to a £156
1080p affair, and together with excellent
mics and speakers makes this a supreme quality. If we have one criticism, it’s that annual running cost in our calculations,
choice for video conferencing. HP even
includes a light-enhancing app that uses the display stands tall. Most people will almost three times that of the Aspire C24.
the screen to light your face (with
adjustable colour temperatures). need to look upwards to see the top of the Unlike the HP Envy, Huawei relies on

Add a top-quality stand with adjustable screen; we hope the next iteration of the integrated graphics. But it will play less
height and HP has produced something
truly exceptional. If you want a widescreen MateStation X offers height adjustment. demanding titles. For example, Metro: Last
all-in-one, it’s a brilliant choice.
While we’re nitpicking, it would have Light averaged 44fps at 1080p High

been more aesthetically pleasing for the settings, and we eked out 27fps in Shadow

ports – two USB-C on the left, two of the Tomb Raider at 1080p by

USB-A on the right – to be tucked switching to the Low preset.

away at the rear. It’s almost a HP’s machine also wins for

shame to plug anything in, so it’s webcam capability, as the

fortunate that Huawei includes MateStation relies on a grainy

such an excellent wireless 720p camera built into the top

RECOMMENDED of the unit (with no
privacy shield). Also

note the Huawei’s lack

of repairability. Again,

Huawei could learn from

the HP Envy, which

makes it easy to replace

the RAM and the SSD.

There’s no obvious need

to upgrade these,

though, with a generous

16GB of RAM and 1TB

SSD supplied, and at

least Huawei provides a

two-year warranty. If

the worst happens, you

can use the MateStation

as a standalone monitor

ABOVE Pure whites and by connecting your laptop via USB-C.

rich colours stream out All this versatility and power for a

of the 28.2in screen reasonable price makes

the MateStation X our

favourite all-in-one PC.

85

MINI PCs Chillblast WAP
Ultimate AMD 3500U
Micro System

A truly tiny computer that
draws minimal power,
and it might just fit your
needs perfectly

SCORE

PRICE £383 (£460 inc VAT)
from chillblast.com

The Chillblast WAP Ultimate is, This is also why graphics card show – including
in some ways, a product built we’re not overly
for our times. Not only is it the concerned by the Chillblast Chillblast’s own Fnatic Boost on p90
smallest computer here by some sitting at the bottom of almost
distance, with roughly the same every performance benchmark – the WAP Ultimate is anything but.
footprint as two iPhone minis placed graph (see p92). For office-based
side by side, but it also survives on a tasks, it will be more than fast ABOVE USB ports are Another area where this PC
tiny 11W trickle of power when idling enough thanks to the four-core
along. Even at 54p per kWh, and AMD Ryzen 5 3500U processor. limited to the slower falls short of ultimate status is
assuming you push it to the max for This is a chip designed for laptops
90 minutes per eight-hour day, that rather than PCs, and is now over USB-A connections connectivity. It’s great to see a
works out at £29 per year. A pittance three years old, but we think it’s got
compared to all the other computers many years of life in it yet. Just don’t physical Ethernet port, but Wi-Fi 5
in this Labs. expect it to race through demanding
tasks such as 4K video editing. and Bluetooth 4.2 are both one
Its one drawback is that when it
does require more processing power What’s perhaps most surprising generation behind the latest and
(which is often when about this chip is that it’s
Windows 11 decides to faster in games than the far greatest. Nor is there a USB-C port.
embark on some more modern Ryzen 5
mysterious 5600G in the Instead, you’ll rely on five USB-A
errand of its PCSpecialist
own) the Aurora Spark ports, with the front three offering
fans kick in, R. Where that
and you PC scraped to a You can access this PC’s 5Gbits/sec transfer
will notice 19fps average speeds but the rear
them. Not in Metro: Last
because they’re Light at 1080p innards for repairs and two stuck at USB 2’s
obnoxiously loud, High settings, upgrades – great news decrepit 480Mbits/sec.
simply because they the Chillblast reached for IT departments and
switch tone. This is one of a very nearly playable end users alike But there is good news
the drawbacks of such a small 27fps. Undemanding games for people who like twin
design, with no space in the chassis displays, with two HDMI
for bigger and thus quieter fans. such as Minecraft will be that much
smoother on this PC. ports at the rear. You may
What’s perhaps surprising is that
you can access this PC’s innards for Our only raised eyebrow is at even decide to completely hide the PC
repairs and upgrades. Four crosshead Chillblast’s choice of name. WAP
screws stand in your way, and then stands for “Work And Play”, which it away by attaching it to the monitor
you simply pop the top off. Great can just about get away with, but then
news for IT departments and end it doubles down with “Ultimate”. As via its VESA 100 mounting slots,
users alike. all three PCs in this Labs with an RTX
although you’ll need to buy the
For instance, if you decide the
250GB M.2 SSD doesn’t offer enough mounting kit yourself.
capacity or speed (it is one of the
slower drives here), then it’s easy to Doing so will edge you that much
replace. Or you might decide to
supplement it with a 2.5in SATA closer to a perfectly clean desktop,
drive, because there’s a handy
mounting slot built into the lid. You LEFT The small case but beware that there’s no space
can also access the two SODIMM
sockets, but 8GB of RAM seems plenty has no room for inside the chassis for a power supply,
for a PC like this, which is unlikely to
be pushed too hard. bigger, quieter fans so you will need to find room on your

desk (or tucked away somewhere) for

the external PSU. It’s a similar size to

a laptop’s power supply, so hiding it

shouldn’t be too onerous a task.

One reason to hide it away is that

BELOW It’s not the this isn’t the most beautiful of

most attractive systems, with a shiny black top and

system, but its bottom to complement the obviously

footprint is tiny faux metal sides. The HP Z2 Mini G9

opposite is far more striking.

Then again, it’s also far more

expensive. At £460 inc VAT, the WAP

Ultimate is the second cheapest PC

here, along with being the

cheapest to run. And though

we’re a little disappointed

that the warranty is for one

year compared to the five

that Chillblast offers on its

full-size desktop PCs, it does

at least provide lifetime

technical support.

86

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Labs Windows11PCs

HP Z2 Mini G9 MINI PCs
workstation

Industrial chic matches
this mini PC’s aspirations,
with plenty of power
despite its compact size

SCORE

PRICE £1,262 (£1,514 inc VAT)
from box.co.uk

The HP Z2 Mini workstation may twice as fast as the integrated ABOVE The versatile replace the supplied 512GB SSD, and
not be quite as miniature as the graphics we see elsewhere, and it
Chillblast WAP opposite – in returned a creditable 37fps in Z2 Mini can be placed there’s a spare M.2 slot available, too.
fact, it’s twice its size – but this is still Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p
a beautifully small machine. It’s with High settings. horizontally, vertically With corporations one likely
versatile, too. You can stand it
vertically where it will consume the But the silicon star is surely the or attached to a display destination for this machine, HP
same footprint as a hardback book, sit Core i7-12700, a 65W processor that
it horizontally – a solid metal chassis provides 20 threads via eight places a heavy emphasis on security
means it will easily support a 27in Performance cores (P-cores) and four
screen – or attach it to the rear of a Efficient cores (E-cores). Little and manageability. Its Wolf Security
compatible monitor using a VESA 100 wonder that it topped all the tests
mounting kit. where splitting the tasks over system comes as part of the package,
multiple threads had an advantage,
HP’s designers have been with a three-year licence, and that
clever enough to ensure with a stunning 15,999 in
that all the ports Cinebench R23 and an will help protect you against
will remain equally strong 11,858 in
usable in such Geekbench 5. It’s firmware attacks that can bypass
a situation, worth noting
with one that the Core software-only security suites. Invest
USB-A port, i7-12700’s 20
two super-fast threads made The silicon star is the in an HP ZCentral 4R Rack
USB-C ports and a much less
3.5mm headphone difference in Workstation and you can
jack at the top (or PCMark 10, which
the side if positioned leans towards more Core i7-12700, a 65W even tap into its power
horizontally), plus a day-to-day applications processor that provides 20 remotely if the T1000
further dollop of ports on such as office tasks. threads via eight P-cores graphics don’t offer
the left-hand side (or rear). All three Our system included 16GB and four E-cores enough rendering grunt.
USB-A ports support USB 3.2 Gen 2 It’s also reassuring to see
for speeds of up to 10Gbits/sec, and of DDR5-4800 RAM split across two
there’s a Gigabit Ethernet port, too. DIMMs, with no further sockets a three-year warranty
Nor is there any shortage of display available. You can access this to
outputs, with full-size DisplayPort replace the DIMMs – there’s a catch here, although you will need to
connectors and four micro- that unlocks the case so you can
DisplayPort outputs. slide the top off – but space is cover courier costs when shipping
naturally at a premium. HP provides a
The extra four outputs come comprehensive maintenance guide, the unit to HP for repair.
courtesy of an Nvidia Quadro T1000 complete with instructions on how to
card, which is what lifts the Z2 Mini Of course, all of this comes at a
G9 from a desktop PC into a
workstation. In particular, its ISV cost. The model we were supplied
certification will make niche
professional applications such as LEFT You can slide (part code 5F0H4EA#ABU) is sold for
AutoCAD run that much more quickly
and reliably. Or at least, that’s the the top off to access over £1,500 inc VAT, and the
theory. In truth, Nvidia’s Studio
drivers mean that many professional the internals cheapest version we could find on
apps run extremely well on consumer
Nvidia cards too, but ISV certification sale was still £1,283 direct from HP.
certainly adds to peace of mind.
That’s for the same specs other than
This cuts both ways, because the
T1000 also offers some gaming the graphics card, with Nvidia’s
potential. That’s emphasised by its
3,392 score in 3DMark Time Spy, over lesser T600 included (part code

5F0J3EA#ABU). And while we would

like to say that HP’s bundled

BELOW The ports keyboard and mouse add value, we’re

include USB-A, USB-C, not at all convinced they do: the

Ethernet and plenty of keyboard is fine if rattly, but the

display outputs mouse proved surprisingly jerky.

The good financial news comes

via running costs, with the G9

consuming a minimalist 24W at idle.

It’s much greedier when pushed to

its maximum, with the 250W we

measured giving a calculated

running cost of £105, but that power

consumption was when gaming and

with all the CPU’s cores maxed out.

For a system like this, we think the

real cost will be much lower as it will

rarely be pushed to that extent.

We like the HP Z2 Mini G9

workstation. It’s compact, extremely

quiet in operation and there’s so

much power on tap that it should

keep plugging away for years.

87

DESKTOP PCs Palicomp AMD Cobra

Quite simply a bargain, with
staggering power for the
money and all wrapped up in
an attractive chassis

SCORE

PRICE £333 (£400 inc VAT) from
pcpro.link/338cobra

Cobra is an apt name for this 2,499MB/sec writes. A 1TB capacity is ABOVE You can add see that the Cobra is in the top five,
system. It’s poised, ready to extremely generous too, and there are your own LED lighting often the top three, in many of our
strike in an instant and with two mounting slots for 2.5in SATA to supplement the tests, with an excellent 307 in the
lethal speed, but there’s a sting in drives, plus a 3.5in bay for a hard disk RGB case fans PC Pro benchmarks and similarly
the tail: if you want gaming power that is revealed if you unscrew the stellar results in PCMark 10. Perhaps
you’ll need to add a separate right-hand side of the chassis. BELOW The Cobra what’s most important is that it feels
graphics card yourself. is built around the so snappy in general use, and that’s
No screws are in the way if you powerful AMD Ryzen whether you opt for Windows 10 or
That’s because Palicomp wisely want to access the motherboard. 5 5600G processor Windows 11, both of which Palicomp
builds the system around an AMD The tempered glass side sits on a is happy to supply.
Ryzen 5 5600G processor, which is hinge, so you simply pull it open
effectively a Ryzen 5 5600 (see issue when you want to have a fiddle. In our ideal world, the warranty
335, p82) with built-in graphics. For example, you might want to add would be more generous. You have
A score of 1,375 in 3DMark Time your own LED lighting to supplement three years of cover, but aside from
Spy indicates that its seven-core the RGB case fans, with different the first seven days it’s all return-to-
Radeon chip offers respectable 3D colours available by cycling through base (so you cover courier costs) and
acceleration, roughly on a par with them using a button that sits next to only the first 12 months includes
Intel’s Iris Xe graphics: if you want the USB ports on the case top. parts. The rest is labour only.
to play older titles such as Metro: Pressing the button for a second Cyberpower’s cover for the Ultra 45
Last Light (where it averaged 45fps switches off the lights entirely. (see p90) may be two years but it
at 1080p High settings) or less covers parts as well, and the company
demanding games such as Minecraft The fans make a consistent low also performed better in our survey
then it will be fine. whirr, but you won’t notice them for customer satisfaction (see p26).
if you’re playing music or games.
If the time comes that you want And it’s worth In terms of
more, then a PCI Express slot sits emphasising that, hardware and
waiting in the Asus Prime A520M-K as supplied, the outright value
motherboard. You could even include Cobra is one of the for money,
an RTX 3070 or RTX 3080 card thanks cheaper systems to however, there’s
to the plentiful amount of physical run: £76 using our no contest. The
room and equally generous electrical cost calculator Palicomp AMD
headroom: at peak the Cobra based on 54p per Cobra comes
consumed 141W, and with a 500W watt hour and packed with an
power supply that gives you almost eight hours of extremely capable
300W to devote to a powerful card. usage per day. processor, a fast
(Our maths hasn’t gone haywire; the 1TB SSD, 16GB of
Fractal Design power supply is 85% That’s all the speedy RAM and
efficient, so 500W translates into more impressive offers room for
425W of actual power.) when you consider expansion if
the processing you desire. It’s
Two PCI-E x1 slots also lie empty power on offer. that rare thing: a
here, but only one will be usable if Turn to the graphs true bargain.
you add a double-height graphics on p92 and you’ll
card. You may well decide to fill it
with a wireless card to supplement
the Ethernet port, with no Wi-Fi built
in, or perhaps a USB-C expansion
card as only USB-A ports – six at the
rear, three at the top of the chassis
– are otherwise on offer.

Both of the motherboard’s DIMM
sockets are full, but we won’t
complain about that: 16GB of Corsair
Vengeance DDR4 memory should be
more than enough for the lifetime of
this system. And at this price we can’t
complain about storage, either. The
Samsung 980 SSD is one of the fastest
on show, with 3,083MB/sec reads and

88

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Labs Windows11PCs

Palicomp Intel Hellfire DESKTOP PCs

Hellfire might be slightly
overstating it, but this is an
incredibly powerful gaming
PC considering its price

SCORE

PRICE £833 (£1,000 inc VAT) from
pcpro.link/338hellfire

Palicomp only missed one trick the Hellfire the edge in PCMark 10, ABOVE The sizeable the most efficient here, with a Gold
when submitting this PC: if where it topped all of the tests. And it chassis holds some 80-Plus rating, and we can’t see any
you’re going to call your system was in the top three in benchmarks mighty components, reason you’ll ever need to upgrade it.
“Hellfire” surely you need to set the that eke the most of every available including an RTX 3070
fan colour to angry red? Instead, it thread, with fine scores in Cinebench One minor criticism of the Hellfire
comes with the standard preset that R23, Geekbench 5 and PC Pro’s own RECOMMENDED is that the motherboard is microATX
cycles through different colours, so benchmarks, where it scored 318. rather than ATX, which means there’s
you’ll have to press the LED button at BELOW The two huge only one PCI-E slot available for adding
the top until the appropriate hue Should you need more than the front-mounted RGB peripherals. But then again, what do
blazes through the two huge front- supplied 16GB of DDR4 RAM, two fans give the Hellfire you need to add? Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth
mounted RGB fans and the single sockets lie empty on the Asus Prime an imposing look are both integrated on the board, so
120mm fan at the rear. B660M-A WiFi motherboard, but it’s the most obvious addition would be a
more likely you’ll want to add to the USB-C expansion board – all six of the
Whether or not you notice the fan storage quota. There is an M.2 socket rear-mounted USB ports are Type-A,
noise depends on two things. First, if empty, which is simple to access once with a peak transfer rate of 5Gbits/sec.
you choose to place this system – and you remove the bulky graphics card.
it’s a big fella – beside you on the desk Alternatively, you can use the two It’s worth asking Palicomp about
or tuck it away underneath. Second, 2.5in SATA mounting points at the extending the warranty. There are
whether you like to work in silence or bottom of the chassis or remove the three years of cover, but only the first
have music blaring away. We’re of the right-hand side of the case to access year includes parts, with the final two
latter persuasion, so it was only between the single 3.5in hard disk bay. being labour-only, and for all of them
tracks we noticed the Hellfire’s you will need to pay the courier costs
consistent if low-level whirr. All these extras will push up your to return the system (except for faults
electricity bill, and if
Palicomp needed a sizeable chassis you turn to p93 you’ll found in the first seven
– a well-made GameMax F15M – to fit see this is the one set of days). Compare that to
all the components in. By far the most the results where the Chillblast’s five-year
important is the Nvidia GeForce RTX Hellfire sits at the warranty, where it will
3070 card, which would have been bottom. Other than the cover courier costs and
unthinkable in a £1,000 PC just a few all-in-one PCs from HP parts for the first two
weeks ago. The premium on such and Huawei, it’s the years. Chillblast also
cards has come down to reasonable greediest system at idle, took our top accolade in
levels, and in partnership with Intel’s where it consumes 56W, this year’s Excellence
12th gen Core i5-12400F CPU this is a and at peak it gobbles Awards (see p26).
fearsome gaming PC worthy of its name. through 368W. We
estimate it will cost you Still, there’s no
The graphs on p92 tell most of the £181 to run per year if getting away from the
story here. The Hellfire was almost a you’re paying 54p per ridiculously good
third faster than the Chillblast Fnatic, kWh and using it for value for money on
with its RTX 3050, in 3DMark Time eight hours a day. The offer here. If you have
Spy, with 12,596 result versus 8,854. good news is the 650W £1,000 to spend on a
The gap narrowed to almost nothing power supply is one of gaming PC, then the
in the CPU-limited Metro: Last Light, Palicomp Intel Hellfire
with both hitting around 240fps at is the obvious choice.
1080p High settings, but switching to
Metro Exodus emphasised all the extra
power on tap. A result of 126fps at
1080p versus 86fps tells its own story.

However, this system is better
suited to 1440p gaming. Sticking with
High settings, it averaged 192fps in
Shadow of the Tomb Raider, 110fps in
Metro Exodus and 108fps in Dirt 5.
You can even play games at 4K, with
that same trio of games returning
167fps, 58fps and 64fps.

The graphics card, along with a
fourth-generation WD Black SSD with
a generous 1TB capacity, helped give

89

DESKTOP PCs Chillblast Fnatic Boost firepower came to Palicomp’s aid in
Gaming PC PCMark 10’s tests, but all the signs are
that Chillblast’s gigantic cooler and
Expensive compared to the fan squeeze more out of the Core
i5-12400F that both machines have in
Palicomp Intel Hellfire, but common. That’s despite it being
quieter in general use.
there’s enough quality and
You can also put together a better
support to turn heads light show with the Fnatic as its RGB
fans are addressable using Gigabyte’s
SCORE RGBFusion software, and we like
the motherboard’s easy expansion
PRICE £833 (£1,000 inc VAT) from offerings too: two DIMM sockets
chillblast.com sit free, alongside two PCI Express
x1 slots and one spare M.2 slot.
Chillblast is the official PC the two is made clear in our gaming ABOVE The Fnatic puts Although Palicomp supplies a 1TB
maker of Fnatic – who the tests, with the Fnatic averaging 86fps on a great light show SSD to Chillblast’s 500GB offering.
BBC described as an esport in Metro Exodus at 1080p High Unpeeling the right-hand side chassis
“equivalent of football super-team settings, compared to 126fps for the reveals two caddies for 3.5in drives,
Real Madrid” – and offers six PCs in Hellfire. The gap was smaller in and the 600W power supply won’t
its lineup. We reviewed the £1,700 Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but still need to be replaced even if you opt for
Victor three months ago (see issue significant: 158fps versus 182fps. an RTX 3080 or similar at some point.
335, p48), which paired a Core
i5-12600K with a GeForce RTX 3060 Move away from games and the The plus side to the RTX 3050 as
Ti, but for £1,000 you can buy the Fnatic fights back. Chillblast supplied is that it doesn’t require so
same customised chassis with a Core walloped its rival in Cinebench R23’s much power, with our estimated
i5-12400F and GeForce RTX 3050. multicore test, with 12,448 versus annual running costs showing £148
11,529, and it also topped the Labs against the Hellfire’s £181. And also
That’s instantly more attractive, in the PC Pro benchmarks with a note the Chillblast’s far superior
but we can’t ignore the elephant in result of 330. The RTX 3070’s extra warranty, with five years of cover and
the Labs: Palicomp’s Intel Hellfire the first two including parts, labour
costs the same but offers an RTX 3070. and carriage costs, not to mention
The difference in firepower between Chillblast’s win in our annual awards
(see p26). But there’s no arguing with
the winner for value or gaming
performance overall.

Cyberpower Ultra 45 comes with a compact remote control ABOVE The three RGB little between them in PCMark 10
Radeon Next Day PC that allows you to set the colours. We fans are controlled by – but the Cobra pulled significantly
settled on a solid white for a classy a compact remote ahead in the single-core Geekbench
It misses out on an award, effect to reflect the quality of the and Cinebench tests.
but this solid office PC has compact Cooler Master chassis.
gaming potential, and every Cyberpower gained some measure
component is high quality There is a fourth fan, on the AMD of revenge in our gaming tests, and if
stock cooler, and with all their noise you stick to 1080p then you may well
SCORE added together this is one of the get playable frame rates in your game
noisier systems on test this month. of choice, but this is a system better
PRICE £466 (£559 inc VAT) from It’s never annoying, just there in the suited to office tasks – until you
cyberpowersystem.co.uk background. The AMD processor decide to slip a graphics card into
being cooled is the Ryzen 4600G, the sole empty PCI Express slot
If you want a new PC right now, which is one generation behind the (the other is occupied by an 802.11
then the Cyberpower Ultra 45 5600G in Palicomp’s AMD Cobra. We add-on card). There’s plenty of
Radeon Next Day PC makes an doubt many people would notice the “power headroom” too, with a 450W
excellent choice. It’s fast, it’s different in day-to-day use – there’s supply compared to this system’s
affordable and it includes high- current peak of 113W.
quality components that should keep
you productive for years. And because Elsewhere, it’s tougher to
it’s a “Next Day PC”, if you order it by upgrade. Both DIMM sockets are full,
2pm on a weekday then it should be but 16GB of 3,200MHz Corsair
delivered to you the following day. Vengeance memory is plenty, while
the motherboard’s only M.2 socket is
As ever with Cyberpower systems, occupied by a 512GB SSD. If you want
it’s extremely well put together, more then you’ll need to add 2.5in
with neat cabling throughout. Three SATA SSDs or 3.5in hard disks, with
120mm RGB fans add a splash of room for up to four in total.
colour through the front of the mesh
grille or when you gaze adoringly Cyberpower has produced a
through the tempered glass, and it solid PC here, and backs it up with a
two-year collect-and-return
warranty together with a fine set of
results in our annual awards (see p26
for full details). The trouble for
Cyberpower, and PCSpecialist, is
that Palicomp’s AMD Cobra offers
that bit more oomph for only £400.

90

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Labs Windows11PCs

PCSpecialist Aurora with the one in the Spark R below, DESKTOP PCs
Pro R with fewer upgrade routes. There’s no
the point, as like its sibling the Aurora ABOVE The large second M.2 socket, and if you ever
A high-quality expandable Spark R this back-to-basics PC will Corsair chassis offers decide to upgrade the graphics card
chassis gives this budget gorge its way through almost any plenty of room to grow then it will almost certainly block one
Intel PC some appeal, but other task you care to throw at it. of the two spare PCI Express slots.
its sibling is better value The motherboard’s other PCI Express
That’s down to the 12th generation slot is filled with an 802.11n card.
SCORE silicon inside, with six Performance
cores and 12 threads. These pushed it PCSpecialist chooses a rather large
PRICE £583 (£699 inc VAT) from to mid-table respectability in many Corsair Carbide Series 200R case to
pcspecialist.co.uk/reviews of our benchmarks (see p92), and house all these components, with its
while it was never threatening for top twin selling points being build quality
The Aurora Pro R is one of three place you’ll notice a big leap if moving and expandability. You can even add
systems based around Intel’s from older silicon. It helps that three optical drives via the 5.25in
Core i5-12400F processor, and PCSpecialist includes 16GB of RAM bays, with a four-disk bay for 3.5in
the least expensive by some distance. and a respectably quick 1TB M.2 SSD. hard disks and space for two 2.5in
That’s primarily down to the choice of SATA drives, too. PCSpecialist has
accompanying graphics card: where We’re not as much in love with the even pre-routed the power cables to
Chillblast and Palicomp opt for Gigabyte motherboard here as we are make the job easier.
powerful RTX units in their systems,
PCSpecialist chooses the much more You have a little less power
modest GeForce GT 1030. So modest it headroom than its sibling, with the
doesn’t even have an X in its name. Pro R peaking at 164W to the 111W of
the Spark R. It also consumes more
This means the Aurora Pro R is electricity at idle, which is why its
better suited to office tasks than estimated running cost is quite high
gaming: it came bottom in all of our at £97 a year. The 450W Corsair power
gaming tests, refusing even to run supply will be enough to cope with a
Shadow of the Tomb Raider. But to mid-level RTX card, but an RTX 3070
criticise it for this would be to miss or 3080 will be pushing your luck.

We like this PC for much the same
reasons as we do the Spark R, but
unless you’re an Intel loyalist or
need all those extra hard disk bays,
we can’t see a compelling need to
spend another £160 on it.

PCSpecialist Aurora it’s simplicity itself to add your own ABOVE The Spark R is 2.5in SATA mounting points and a
Spark R card. A lovely full-size Gigabyte board easily upgraded 3.5in bay sitting vacant.
sits ready and waiting, along with a
A great choice for people further three PCI-Express slots and Nor will you need to replace the
looking for an expandable three empty DIMM sockets. Filling the 450W Corsair power supply, even if
system for tomorrow that’s latter with another 8GB stick of you choose a high-end graphics card,
fast in everyday tasks today DDR4-2666 memory is another because as things stand this PC
obvious upgrade. consumes 111W at peak and 22W at
SCORE idle. That gives it one of the lowest
Unlike the Palicomp AMD Cobra, running costs here at £61 per year.
PRICE £449 (£539 inc VAT) from you can add another stick of M.2
pcspecialist.co.uk/reviews storage, although the Aurora Spark R The case itself is extremely basic.
includes 512GB to the 1TB of its rival. There’s no tempered glass side to peer
The moment you switch on the There’s plenty of room in the through, just blackened steel, but
Aurora Spark R, one thing Aurora’s sizeable chassis, too, with then there isn’t much to see. An AMD
becomes obvious: this is a stock cooler dominates, with a small
speedy machine. Much nippier than but quiet fan at the rear – the Spark R
you might expect for its modest price. is a fine desk companion as it makes
That’s all down to the AMD Ryzen 5 minimal noise even when pushed –
5600G processor, which is a fabulous and nary a hint of RGB lighting
choice for a system such as this despite the “Gaming” in the
thanks to its six cores, 12 threads and motherboard’s name. In fact, the only
seven Radeon graphics cores. lights are a red LED flashing on the
M.2 SSD to show that it’s working and
Integrated graphics means that a green glow from the 802.11n (Wi-Fi
PCSpecialist need not waste any 4) card that PCSpecialist thoughtfully
money on a discrete card, but if the slips into the motherboard’s bottom-
Spark R’s performance in your games most PCI Express slot.
of choice isn’t enough – take heed of
its 22fps average in the aged Metro: It’s a well-built, back-to-basics
Last Light benchmark at 1080p – then PC, and unlike the Palicomp AMD
Cobra it’s extremely expandable.
That rival system, however, includes
1TB of storage while costing over £100
less. PCSpecialist scores better in our
reader-voted awards (see p26), but
there’s no arguing over which system
wins for value.

91

How PC Pro overall 330330 330 PCMark 10 overall PCMark 10 Essentials 11,41513,45311,453
we test
ChillbClhaisltlblaCsthillblast IntePlIaHnlietcelPollfiamHrliepcIlonlfimterPpelaHliecRlolfimercpeommended8,2184,2148,214 IntePlIaHnlietcelPollfiamHrliepcIlonlfimterRPpelaeHlieccloolfimmrpe mended
FnatiFcnBaotiocsBtFonoasttic Boost

PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp Recommen3d1e8d318 318 ChillbClhaisltlblaCsthillblast 7,6470,6407,640 AMPDaAlCicMoPobDamrlCipacooAbmMrPLpaDaalCibcoosbmrWpa inner 11,0131,003011,030
IntelIHnetelllfiHreIlnlfiterel Hellfire FnatiFcnBaotiocsBtFonoasttic Boost
330330 330
Details of the tests we ChillbClhaislltblaCsthillblast Recomme3n1d0e3d10 310 PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp 8,2814,2148,214 PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp 11,41513,45311,453
FnatHiFcnuBaaotwiHocesuBitFaonwoaesttiiHc uBaowoseti Winne6r,7569,7596,759 PInCtSeplPIeHnCcteSielaplfilHeisrceteIPilnalCfitliSerslpetHeceilalfilirset 10,910,490140,904
IAntMePDlaIHAnlCitceMeoPollbDafimHrlrCipaeceIolonAlbfimtMerrPpaleDaHlCiecLloolfibamrrbpaes
put each PC through, MateMStaatteiSontaMXtiaotneSXtation X SparSkpRark RSpark R
IFnntaePPCtlaIaihFHnclliniitcelBclaePoblPCooltafimlaihmHoaclrliisspielcpeBcIFlttblononolfilmtmaoaeCrPPtssplpeihaattcHillliiBelccblooollfioammrssppett MaIFntnetMaSeCPtltaIHihFaacHntnilutleitBelaciaebCSolPotowllntihfiHaomcHaMeirlssXultiBeIpliecttFiaabnlooonltwltfineoamaePCreSssXtlpeattiihtHHclaiieluBtclRlbiaoloofilwmoenarssepcXettiommende7d,6864,72,,04681464,29,041746,869,4620,14469 InAtMCePhlDIaHniAllCilteMcbCeoPlollhDabfiamHisrllCietlIpacebnolAolltbfiamMePrCsPlpateaDhaHlliiCeilccllboolofilbmmarrspepat
along with our AMDACMobDrCaoAbMraD Cobra 331380331380 331380 FnatiFcnBaotiocsBtFonoasttic Boost 111,011,3411,05013,34105113,10,43503
calculations for Labs Winn3e0r7307 307 10,81075,87150,875
determining the
MPIaCntteSMeSPpPlIataeHHnCatlcuiteScieiaaSlPooplwlfitanHmeiHMasrlecuiXettIpePcaiiinalaooCltwtfilenmeiSPsrSelXppteatHiHelaiecutcliiaoloafiwmnlirsepXeti 331013831018 331108 PFCAnSMapPCPtDeaihFCcAclniCiSliBMclaaboPCpootlDlbaeiihmoascrlcissCtilPpaBciFlttaboCAonollbmiSaoaMsCrPtssptpaihDattecilclCiBlciboaoolbloamisrssptatt 6,7576,96,7457,09664,7075,6940 MaPtACeMMSSPptPaHSDaaeAtCpluteCciMciSaaSiooPaorwpntSDbHalkmeaMieprlsXuCtciRpaiPctiaaiAooaorCtwbneMlkmSiRPreSsXRpDaatSiteHelapCicuctcaoiiaoooarbwmnlkmirsepXaRti mended 1101,9011031,40900311401,,093004
Pro RPro R Pro R 280280 280 SparSkpRark RSpark R 6,0678,0786,078 10,61063,66130,663

annual running cost MCayAtbeMMePSCrDaatHApyaltCibuoetMcioPewaSooDbwarmtnHMeparlCieruXpatocCaiioaAowtoybwembnMerSPeerXpaDtaHrialpuCitcoiaooowwbnmereXpari 330107330107 330107 MCayAtbeMeSPCrDataHpyAatlCuibeotMciaSeoPwowDrbtanHmeMaprleCruiXtopCacaiiaAowoytwbeMnmbePrSeeXrDpaatirHlapCiutcooiaoowbwmnreepXari 6,7569,765,9466,79,456996,469 PFnCaSCtpPihFSceniCplcBlaSabCiotarplihSoalckeipsslcBRPlttFabioCanrloalSkaiCsstpRSttihecpiclBalibaorllkoaisssRttt 10,981075,49807115040,,980754
UltraU4lt5ra 45Ultra 45 279279 279 UltraU4lt5ra 45Ultra 45 5,8855,8855,885 HP Z2HMP Zin2i MGH9inPiZG29Mini G9 10,41403,44130,443

First, we run the PC Pro PACMSPpPDaeAClCciPMcSioPaorpDbalomeirlsCciRpPaPctiAoaorCbMlomSiPrsRpDaatelCiccPoioarbmloirspaRt 283020873007283007 MPaCtSeMSpPSateHCaptcuSetaiiaSporSlwteknHiMsapceRPuXttaaiiiaCtorlweSknisSpeRXttSHeiapcutaiiaaorwlnkiseXRti 6,0678,0786,406789,4696,469 MCaFytnbeMaeCStCratihFHcpyatniulbeotBlaibaCSewotwlrtihnHoaceMapiessrulXtBoCFlttaiibaownytwlenaobaeCStesseXrihttircHaiplButlobiaoowlwoanesseXrtti 1100,6,1810607,356,867113050,,686735
suite of benchmarks to HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy 34 Recommen2d5e12d51 251 HP Z2HMP Zin2i MGH9inPiZG29Mini G9 5,7854,7845,784 UltraU4lt5ra 45Ultra 45 10,01011,0110,011
test each system’s image- CPyCbSepCUPreyCpltcboPSriewaarpUrloe4ieplstc5RPCroPtriCywaarblSo4iesep5RrUtreplctPoriarwaloi4esR5rt
HP Z2HMP Zin2i MGH9inPiZG29Mini G9 2879028790 228709 PCCybSepPCUSreCyplpctbSoariaepwarUSlreki4esplpcPt5RtCroariCaywarlSbki4espe5RtrSUerpcpltaiorarwalkis4eRt5r 56,8,05867,588,0875586,8,08758 MHPPaCtZSeMH2SpPPaeMtHCatcZueitSin2iaaSpoilwMteinHMGsaHceu9tXitPaPiniiaatoCiweZlnGiSSs2ep9XttHMieautciinaioawinlGiesX9ti 1100,4,16104063,4,3646113030,,464633
238238 238 Pro RPro R Pro R 9,9897,9879,987
editing, video-editing and HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4EnvRye34commended5,7853,7835,783
multitasking capabilities. This
PCCHySbPpPeECeUrCHcnyplStivbPoarpyewlaEUeir3sn4ceplt4PtCv5iroraCyyHwalbiS3Ps4eep4tU5Errenplctvoriaywali34es45rt 2792257192521 79251 HPCPCyZSbH2pePCUPeMrCycplZtiSbionr2aepwailUMreiGs4HeplctC9ti5ProPinrayCwaiZlbGiS4se2ep9U5trrMepltciorniwaailG4ies5r9t 5,878584,58788455,,878854 HCPyZbH2eCUrPMypltZbiAorn2ewacUirMeG4Heplrt59CrioPArnywaciZbGe42eer59rUMrpltionrAwaicG4ee95rr 1010,01,041014,03,411140130,0,41413
SparSkpRark RSpark R 233233 233 Pro RPro R Pro R 5,1656,1665,166 AspirAesCp2ir4e CA2s4pire C24 8,5785,5758,575

provides the overall score we HPHZPH2EPMHnZivPn2yiEMG3Hn49ivPnHyiZPG3249EMnvinyi3G49 238238252123581 251 HPHZPH2EPMHnZviPn2yEiM3GHn4v9iPnyHiZ3PG249EMnivnyi G349 5,7854,7854,57,85738,74835,783 PCCybSCephPCUreiCylplcltPbbSoCriaelrpwahaUloreiis4eplslcRtCtl5PPrtobriyarCwlaabloSi4CseesRpU5trthreplitlcolPrbiwaarlalo4iess5Rrtt 190,,9019801,71,908117109,,908117
WAPW35A0P03U5W00AUP 3500U 7,5471,541 7,541
show in the graph on the right. AcerAcer Acer 172172 172 AcerAcer Acer 5,1052,1025,102
AspirAesCp2ir4e CA2s4pire C24 AspirAesCp2ir4e CA2s4pire C24
PHCAPSsEppPnHieCrAvcPePSsAyiarpECpc3loine2ie4rscv4RPrePtAiyCHarCAc3lSoPR2ies4sp4RprEteeinrccPveiAayroCclo3im2es4R4rt mended8,587975,,,4590798759,,74890,8597975,,948079
We also run PCMark 10. Along HPWPCAZSCHP2phPWSPeiM3Clpcl5AZbSCiain0a2lPprhaiSl0ekMiisG3HslpUctlRP5t9biPaiWna0ClraiZl0SkAiGCss2UpPtRth9SMei3plcli5bania0rlial1kG0iss2U9Rtt4124 223338223338 223338 WPHCACSPPhpPWEi3elHCnl5cAbCPvSPi0lPyarhpaE0loise33ilnUstlc4R5bPPvtWi0HlyarCa0loAP3SCsisUP4tRphEtein3lclv5Pbiy0arla33lo0iss4UR,tt88353,8,1865363,1,6868553,,1768563,7835,783
with its overall score, we print 124
the results in the benchmark’s
PCASspPpSeiCrApcSeaisAaprpCcSlekii2esrpcP4RtreaiAC0arCAclSki2essp4RptrSe0ipcraieAarClckis2e1Rt40r0 110702172202130030221037032 233 43000400 400 PCASsppPieCrAcePSsAiarpCpcloie2iersc4RPrePtA0iCarCAclSo2iessp4Rprte0ircPe2iAar,C0cloi20esR4rt020,005540,,0,110026505,4026,,,011006602,605504,,0,6110,06006280,0060,80,0010,0801,0,00000 10,000 WAACsPphWi3irAlA5lebCsA0PplChca0i32iesrlU54lrteWbA00AlCcaA0s2CesUPp4rthi03r2ile5,lA0b0C0lca02e02sU4r,t0040,00042,0607,0,05806447,,01,5850,870450,1508677,0,1508,040,0511807,,0501200,0001002,000 12,000

320000300

Essentials, Productivity and WAACsPhpWii3lrAlA5bCesA0PlhpCac0ii3s2elrUlt54rbeWA0lACacA0Css2eUPpth4rii3rlle5bA0lCca012esU24rt 411274217124 172 WAACsPhpWii3lrAlA5bCesA0PlhpCac0ii3s2elrUlt54rbeWA0lACacA0Css2eUPpth4rii3rlle5bA0lCca032esU4rt,8385,38,1805323,1,082853,102 WHAPCPEhWHn3ilvA5PlbCy0PElha30n3is4lUv5lWtbyH0lAa30PCsP4UhEt3inl5lvb0yla03sU4t 7,5471,574,1470,75,94401 97,409
Digital Creation sections. We
also run the single-core and PCMark 10 ProductivityPalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp PCMark 10 Digital Creation Cinebench R23InWteAPClPIahHWnli3ieltclA5elbCPoll0fiPlhamaH0rli3silepUcltI5Wblonl00lfimtaAC0ersPPpheUltaHi30lllie5bc2l0olla,fi00ms3r0Utpe,0280,0380,4038,0820,043,0,08608,0340,06,00010280,,00601,082,08,00102,1088201,00,00,00200810,000 HPHZP2HMPEHnZinvP2yiEMG3Hn94ivnPHy0iZGP3294EMn02vi,n0yi03G0429,0040,00024,060,000406,080,007,04608,001710,,994(0,0s00i01n180,91g,970,l0,1e00240c0,001o0r1119e02,9),00001 12,000
multicore tests found in
Geekbench 5 and Cinebench InWteAClPIhHWni3eltlA5elbCll0fiPlhaH0ri3sleUltI5Wblnl00lfitaAC0ersPheUltHi30lle5bl0llafi01srU1t2e0040112040
R23. Together, these results 122100400200 10320,0901001380,09118403000,0941080 400
400
FnaCtihFcinlBlabCotlihoacisslBttlFbo0nloaaCsstttihc0ilBlboloass1tt000 100 210000 20100,3312000007,33000170,433000007400 FnaCtihFcinlBlabCotlihoacisslBttlFbo0nloaaCsstttihc0ilBlb2ol,oa0ss0tt020,0040,020,0040,00060,0401,00600,0,00718090,086,07,00890,01800010,,07809,10080,000010,000 FnaCtihFcinlBlabCotlihoacisslBttlFbo0nloaaCsstttihc0i2lBl,b0ol0oass02tt,0040,00204,0,00600,00406,0,00800,0106,087,0,02100120,0,0702810,20,0011200,,0701210022,,000000 12,000

PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp Recommend10ed,91018,91180,918 IntePlIaHnlitecelPolfiamHrliepecIlnolfitmerPlpeaHliecRlolfimerpce ommended 12,012,802182,028 HP ZH2PMZin2iMGH9iPniZG29Mini G9 1,901,19011,901
IntePlaIHnlitceePollafimHlripeceIlonlfimterPpleaHlieclolfimrpe 10,11309,13910,139 8,1483,1438,143 PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp 1,7212,722 1,722
AMDACMobDrCaoAbMraD Cobra HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy 34
IntelIHnetelllfiHreIlnlfiterel Hellfire
PIFCnntSaeCPptPlIihFaecHnCnilclitBeSlaciebCalPotoplllihfiaomeicHsirlsscliBetIplePcttFibnlaooCnlltfiloamaeiSPCsrsstlppteattihHceliielcBcllbioloafilmoalirssspettt IFnntaeCPtlIHihFacHnnilulitBelacaebClPotowllihfiHaomcHeirlssuliBeIpliecttFabnloonlwltfioamaePCresstlpeattiihHHcliieluBcllbaolofilwmoarssepetti
give an at-a-glance indication SparSkpRark RSpark R 101,0310,91,703180,9170118,03,09718 MateMStaatteiSontaMXtiaotneSXtation X 10,171290,80,1729,818002,17829,0828 HFPnZaCH2tihFPMcnilZBlaibCn2otliihoaMcGHisslB9liPttFbnonliZoaaG2Csst9ttihMciliBlnboiloaGss9tt 1,7121,29,7012,12910,7112,9201
of how quick the machine will 9,9196,9169,916 6,965,9656,965 HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy 34 1,4916,4961,496

be in everyday use. FAnMaPCtDHaihFcAlniuCilBMclaaboPCootwDlbaHihmoacrleissuCilpaBciFlttaboAonowlbmaoaMCrPetsspaihDiattcHillCiBulcboaoolwboamrssepatti Labs Winn1e0r,131309,71330191700,,313097 FAHnMPaPCtDaEihFAclHnCiniclMBvPlaoPobCyotbDaEmlihoa3crlniCissp4alcBvFlttoboyAHnoblmaoaM3PrCPtss4paihEDattcinllCiBlvcbRooyolboame3rss4pcatt ommende6d,1908161,1,7194908138,1176491,389081,,1714938 IFAnntMaePPCtDlaIaihFHAncllCiniitcelMBclaeoPoblPCooltbDafimlaihmHoacrlrliCisspiaelcpeBcIFlttoblonAonolbfilmtmaoaMerCrPPRtsspalpeihDaattcHeilllCiiBelcccbloooollofiboammrrssmppaett mended1,4318,4113,,7782211122,,,74722322811,,772222
Along with 3DMark’s Time MateMStaatteiSontaMXtiaotneSXtation X 9,893,8939,893

Spy test, we run a series of PACMSPpPSDaeACplCciMcSaioPaorpSDbalkmeiprlsCciRpaPctiAoaorCbMlkmSiPrsRpDaatSelpCiccaoioarbmlkirspaRt 910,9,191360,9,1136190,9,11369 MCayHtbeMPeSUCrEatHpylaHnttubeotrvPiaSewaoyUwErtnH43eMaplnet5ru4XtoCvraiiaHowayytwenbP34eSee45XrEUtirHnapltuvtoriRayowaw3ne4e4eX5cri o6m,3m96e6,3n9d6e66d,,399866,,1594863,1564,3986,1543 InHtPePlEIHaHnHnluitevPcaelPyowlEfiHamH3nerlu4ieIvpiecanlyHolwtfim3ePPrRe4lpeaEiHHelnieucvclaoylfiowm3rme4pei mended 1,49116,4,792162,17,242916,722
1,4317,437 1,437
HP Z2HMP Zin2i MGH9inPiZG29Mini G9 9,7397,7379,737 MateMStaatteiSontaMXtiaotneSXtation X

gaming benchmarks at 1080p: MPatCeMSSpPaStHeatCpuectSaiaiSoarpwStnHlkMeaipesuXctRPatiiaioCatrwenlSkiSespXRSttiHeapcutaiiaaorwlkniseRXti Recomme9n9,d,89e991d,36,89913699,,899163 MPaCAtSeMMPSpSPDaaetHApCaltcCiuaetMSciioParaSopoSDlbkwamteinHMsparlRcCieutXpatcaPaiiioaaAortoCbwelkmnMiSrSsPRepXpatDtSaHiealpuCitccaiaLioooarwbnamlkiresXbRpati5s,6W35i5,n6n3e55r,663,95611,59611566,,996115 PCAHSMPpPPDeEaCAcHlnCiSiMcvPaoPpoylDbEaeims3rlncCti4PpacivaoHCAoylbmiSPM3srPLp4tpaEDaeanlcCivbcioayosblm3isrW4pta inner 1,14,3418,9146,348916,14,43986
Metro: Last Light Redux, HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy 34 8,7080,7008,700 1,4213,4231,423
SparSkpRark RSpark R
Metro Exodus and Shadow of MHPPaCtZSeMH2SpPPaeMtHCatcZueitSin2iaaSpoilwMteinHMGsaHceu9tXitPaPiniiaatoCiweZlnGiSSs2ep9XttHMieautciinaioawinlGiesX9ti HPCAyZbM2HPeCUMPDarAypllZiCtibnMcor2oPeiowaUDMbaGrm4eHplrl9Ctii5pCraconrPAooywaibZMGmb4Pe2re95DpraaUrMlplCitciornoowaibmG4re5pa95r ,16654,,31696,64359,16666,43,996161,9116,911 MPaCAteSMSPpPDataeHCAatlcCuiPetSMciiaaSorPopwloDbtanHmeiMasrlRecCuiXttPpaPcaiiiaAoaroCtwbloeMnmiSPsrRSeRXpDptaatiHeelaCicutcPcoiiaooarobwmnloirmsepXaRti mended1,13,48138,138,4838181,14,,3431837,488371,437
the Tomb Raider. We put the Pro RPro R Pro R 99,,87939,73,87937399,8,79337
8,6480,6408,640

more powerful systems HPHZPH2EPMHnZviPn2yEiM3GHn4v9iPnyHiZ3PG249EMnivnyi G349 Recommen9d,7e398d7,,77308709,7,073087,700 PCACybsSpepPCSUirerCAypplcetbASasoriCaerppwacSUlkr2ieei4rpepls4crRtCe5PratoAriyarCCwaAcblkS2ie4sees4RprUp5rtSreiplprtcoeraAiwaarCclk4ie2e5s5Rr4rt5,1,065653,,13,506963,635559,1,6606,633596 MPaCtSeMSpPSateHCaptcuSetAaiiaSporcSlwteknHiMesapcerRPuXttaaiAiiaCtorclweSkniesSpeRrXttSHeiapcutaiiaAaorwlcnkiseeXRtri 1,4213,4213,14,34172,43371,437
CybeCrpyboewreproCwybeerrpower AspirAesCp2ir4e CA2s4pire C24 1,301,43041,304
through additional tests at UltraU4lt5ra 45Ultra 45 8,6387,6378,637

1440p and 4K settings too. PHCSPpPEeHCncPvASPiyarpcEloe3einscr4RPPvtAiHyarCcloP3Sies4RprEtencvPAiyarc3loies4Rrt 8,684,064808,7,60840,70008,700 HPPPCCZSSH2pPpPPSeMeCCcpZPciSiSan2airparpiloSMeilkGesiHpRcsc9tPRPiPatPiniarCaCriZlolSkGiSis2sRpp9RtStMeepcciaPini4ararilkloG,iiss3RR95tt534,17,,6355343,1,576434,3553,1,766345 CPyCbSepCPrSepyCpcboSPaiewaprrSloekiepspcPrRotCPPaiCawryClSobkiSespeRprtSerepcpcaPioairarwlkilosiesRtRrt 11,3,48121,83,4828311,,348283
To give an idea of annual AspirAesCp2ir4e CA2s4pire C24 8,1088,1088,108 UltraU4lt5ra 45Ultra 45 1,2419,2491,249

running costs we measure the CPyCbCSehpCUPrieyCplltlcbboPSrCielwaarphUarloe4isiepllstctl5RPCroPbtriCywaarlablSo4ieCssep5RrtUhtreiplcltPloribarwalloai4essR5rtt 8,6843,076430788,,664307 HWPAAZCsHP2hpWPM3iilrA5lAZiebCsAn02PlpChiac0MG3iHi2serUl5tl49riePbWAn0lCAiZca0AG22esCsUP4p39rthMi3i,rli55lenbA0i0Cl3caG02es,45U94r55t ,1,0106545364,1,,1506064554,,110664 PCACSshppPiieClrAlcebPSCsAilarpCphacloiei2sierlsctl4RPrePbtAiCarlCAcalSo2iesCssp4RprthteiirclPleibAarClcloai2essR4rtt 1,31,031,4831,8034818,13,03848
WAPW35A0P03U5W00AUP 3500U 6,0618,0186,018 WAPW35A0P03U5W00AUP 3500U 880880 880

idle and peak power draw of CyAbsepCUriyrApltbeorsAewapCUcri24erpltC4r5eorA0ywaCAcb24ese4Upr5r0ipl2rto,er0AwaC0c40e2e25r4r,0040,00042,060,0808,0164,,00868088,,30107,0608683,081708,,010,006108083,,0071200,0001002,000 12,000 PCASsppPeiCrAcPSeisAarppCcloeii2esrcR4PPrteiA0arCACcloSis2esRpp4rtie0rcePA2iar4C,c5lo2ie0,s453Rr0t203,4,157,0053056,3,01070240,56,,0530,3107,0750650,07,5000100,0071,0500,000120,510001,20,0500 12,500 CyAbseCpUriyplrAtboersAewapCUcr4ie2plrt5Cr4oerA0ywaACcbs4e2ep5r4Uri0rplteoArwaCc2e4e54r5r00 500 11,10,52,003040110,19,02,4034009141,151,,0,2304100,59040 2,10,500020,000 2,000
all the systems. We model a

year’s usage based on an WAACsPphWi3irAlA5lebCsA0PplChca0i32iesrlU54lrteWbA0AlCcaA0s2CesUPp4rthi3rile5lAb0Clca02esU4rt 6,0618,081,81608,80,101888,108 PWCASCPpPhWe3iClcA5lPSbCi0Parplha0loe3islUcRP5lPtWbi0CarlaA0lSoiCsUpPRth3e3icl,P5l5iba0r4l03loa0is,sR,U43tt53407,4333,5740,3437 CWyAbCePCUhWr3iyplltA5lborbC0ePwalUhar034ieplslUtC5lrtoWrb0ywalbaA04CeesUPU5rthr3plitl5olrb0wala04esU5rt 880881,024189,284091,249
eight-hour day where two HPWZA2HCPMPhW3iZilAn5l2bCi0PlMhGa03His9liU5lWntPb00ilZAGa0C2sP9UhtM30il25lib,n00li0a0Gs0U29t,0004,600,0024,601068,0,000104686,0,080,00108068,0110500,0,90118095,0,09,109200,0901191025,0,0909192,000
hours would be spent of HPWZA2HCPMPhW3iZilAn5l2bCi0PlMhGa03His9liU5lWntPb00ilZAGa0C2sP9Uht3M30il,5libn520li,a0305Gs0U,94t0520,0504305,,05020,05,0040007,5050,07,050110,08,02701,1501,08,00201021,5110,108,02,025010 12,500 HPWZA2HCPMPhW3iZilAn5l2bCi0PlMhGa03His9liU5lWntPb00ilZAGa0C2sP9UhtM30il5libn0lia0GsU59t000858000881,0050081,08000 11,5,000001,500 21,0,500020,000 2,000

11,81518,85811,858

intense usage and six hours 0 02,0002,0004,00204,0,00600,00406,0,00800,00608,0,001000,00810,0,001200,0011002,0,00000 12,000 0 0 2,50002,5005,020,5050,00007,550,0070,500100,070,5100,000102,5100,10020,5000 12,500 0 0 5000 500 1,5000001,000 11,,5000001,500 21,,0500002,000 2,000
closer to the idle rate. This Cinebench R23ChillbClhaisltlblaCsthillblast Geekbench 5ChillbClhaisltlblaCsthillblast Geekbench 5ChillbClhaisltlblaCsthillblast
12,41428,44182,448 (multicore) 1,7014,704(s1in,7gl0e c4ore) 8,8586,8568(,m8u5lt6icore)
FnatiFcnBaotiocsBtFonoasttic Boost FnatiFcnBaotiocsBtFonoasttic Boost FnatiFcnBaotiocsBtFonoasttic Boost
15,9159,999195,999 1,821,18211,821 11,8151,885811,858
assumes a 54p per kWh HP ZH2PMZin2iMGH9iPniZG29Mini G9 11,51219,52911,529 HP ZH2PMZin2iMGH9iPniZG29Mini G9 HP ZH2PMZin2iMGH9iPniZG29Mini G9
charge, the domestic price PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp
cap that will land in October. 12,41428,414518,291,594,49989195,999 PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp 1,6911,691 1,691 PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp 8,6986,6968,696
IntelIHnetelllfiHreIlnlfiterel Hellfire 10,91063,96130,963 IntelIHnetelllfiHreIlnlfiterel Hellfire IntelIHnetelllfiHreIlnlfiterel Hellfire

HFPnZaCH2tHihFPMcniulZBlaiabCn2otwliihHoaMcGHeissulB9liiPttFabnonwliZoaaG2Cesst9ttiihMHciluiBlnbaoilwoaGsse9tti HFPnZaCH2tihFPMcnilZBlaibCn2otliihoaMcGHisslB9liPttFbnonliZoaaG2Csst9ttihMciliBlnboiloaGss9tt 1,710,184,7210,18421,1710,8421 HFPnZaCH2tHihFPMcniulZBlaiabCn2otwliihHoaMcGHeissulB9liiPttFabnonwliZoaaG2Cesst9ttiihMHciluiBlnbaoilwoaGsse9tti 8,885,6851681,8151,8685181,858
MateMStaatteiSontaMXtiaotneSXtation X HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy 34 1,6216,6261,626 MateMStaatteiSontaMXtiaotneSXtation X 8,0852,0528,052

IFnntaePPCtlaIaihFHnclliniitcelBclaePoblPCooltafimlaihmHoaclrliisspielcpeBcIFlttblononolfilmtmaoaeCrPPtssplpeihaattcHillliiBelccblooollfioammrssppett 12,41428,4114,1582121,49,5428911,529 IFnntaePPCtlaIaihFHnclliniitcelBclaePoblPCooltafimlaihmHoaclrliisspielcpeBcIFlttblononolfilmtmaoaeCrPPtssplpeihaattcHillliiBelccblooollfioammrssppett 1,760914,176094111,,760941 IFnntaePCtlIaihFHnclniitelBclaeblPCooltfilaihmHoacrlissielpeBcIFlttblnonolfiltmaoaeCrPtsslpeihattcHilliBelcbloollfioamrsspett 8,885,685868,6,8895,666968,696
AMDACMobDrCaoAbMraD Cobra 10,71900,79100,790 AMDACMobDrCaoAbMraD Cobra 1,4519,4591,459 HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy 34 8,084,50458,045

MPIaCntteSMeSPpPlIataeHHnCatlcuiteScieiaaSlPooplwlfitanHmeiHMasrlecuiXettIpePcaiiinalaooCltwtfilenmeiSPsrSelXppteatHiHelaiecutcliiaoloafiwmnlirsepXeti Recommende10d11,,91506121,39,562131091,,956239 PICnHtSPePpPlEIaeHnCHnlciPtevSPciealrPyoplElofiameiH3nsrlRc4ietIPvpePcinlayrHoCltfilom3eiPSPsr4RlppteaEHelnieccvPliRoylarfimlo3eirs4peRct ommend1e,4d4118,,614,24616,89611,126,469411,816,62691 MIantteMPeSPalIataHHlnatilcuitecePioaSlPoolawmfitanHmHMlarliepuiXetcIpecaiinaolooltwtfimenmePRrPSelpXpeaatHiHelalieiutcccliaolooofiwmmnrmepXepi mended 8,80,856,2890,6562986,80,56296
SparSkpRark RSpark R 10,0106,206120,062 7,7576,756 7,756
AMDACMobDrCaoAbMraD Cobra
MPaCAtSeMMPSpPDaaetHACaltcCiuetMSciioPaaSopoDlbwamteinHMsarlcCieutXpatcPaiiioaaAotoCbwelmnMiSrSsPepXpatDtaHiealuCitcciaioooawbnmliresXpati MPaCHtSePMSpPEaetHCHnatcPuetvSPiiaraSypoElowteinH3MnsaRc4eutXPtvPaiiiaayrHtoCwelon3iPSRSs4RepXtEtHieeanutccvPiaioyarownlo3imesX4Rti me6n,d9e86d6,9866,898,8,0068485,5,200455288,,004552
Pro RPro R Pro R Recommend1e100d,7,19190060,7,3996101030,,799603 MatAHeMMPSPtDaHEaaAtHlnutCieMcviPaSooPoywDntbEaHm3aMrlenXuCit4paciviaaooHAoytwbnemPM3rPeSX4paEDiatHnalCiuvtcioaRyoowbm3ner4eXpaci ommend1e,d4511,9,642151,6,9461221,34,6415,2693216,423
9,9292,9229,922

CPyACbMSePCpPrSDaepyACplCciboMcSaieoPwaorpSDrbalkmeeipprlsCcriRopCaPctiAowaoryCbMlkmbSiePrseRprDaatSrelppCiccoaoioarwbmlkirespaRrt Lab1s0W,010i6n,20ne61r2010,0,7619020,79100,790 PPCACSMSPppPPDaeeCAClcCciSPMcSiiaoPaoprplDbalomeieisrlscCciRtpPaPPctiiAoaaorCCblMlomiSSiPsrsRppDtaateelCicccPoiiLoaarbmlloaiirsspaRbtt s Winner11,,4445118,9,44458911,,444589 CyAHbMPePUCrDEaApylHlntCiboMrcvPoPewaoyUDbEarm43eplrlntC5ir4paocCvroHAowayybmbPM34erRPe45rpaEUDarenlplCitvccoroyowaobm34mer4p5ar men6d,7e76d5,77567,8,77,7505768,47,55064758,7,05645
UltraU4lt5ra 45Ultra 45 9,2597,2579,257 1,3517,357 1,357
PCSpPSeCpcPSaiarpSlokeipscRPPPtaiCarCloSkSispRpSteepccaPiiararlkloiissRRtt SparSkpRark RSpark R
ABOVE Cinebench’s multicore test HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy 34 190,,90192062,,2902612029,,902622 MCPaytCbeMSeSCprPatHpeyatCubecotPSiaiSewoarpwrtnHloeMeapiesruXctRPoCPtaiiaiowCyatrwenblSoeiSesepXrRttirHeapcutPoiiaaorwwlonieseRXrti PPCACSMSPppSPPDaeepCAClcCciaSPMcSiiaorPaoprpSlkDbalomeieisprlsRcCciRtpaPaPPctiiAoaraorCCblkMlomiSSiPsrLsRRppDtaatSaeelpCicccbPaoiioaarrsbmllokiirWsspaRRtt5,i1n7n556e,1,r79568,569,187656,79,785676,7567,756
separates the men from the boys 8,8830,8308,830 UltraU4lt5ra 45Ultra 45 1,4418,441,8412,143,448231,423
1,1810,180 1,180

CPAyCbsSeppCUPrieryACpltecbAoPSsrieCwaparcpUrlo2iee4ierpls4rtc5RPeCroPAtriCywaaCrAcblSo2e4iessep4r5RprUtreiplrctPeoriAarwa5Ccloi42ee,sR745rrt 357,73979,52,,957927,322,79527929,2,95272 MPaACtesSMSppPSatiHerCaAptceuetASasiiaSCaorppcSwtlknHM2ieeiarps4ecrRuXetPaatAiiaatorCCAcwelknS2iesSse4RprXpttSHieaiprutceaiaAiRoarwCcnlkei2eesXR4rcti omm1,e14n112d,,13e45d127,315,17411,24,32153,47 231,423 CPAyCbsSeppCUPrieryACpltecbAoPSsrieCwaparcpUrlo2iee4ierpls4rtc5RPeCroPAtriCywaaCrAcblSo2e4iessep4r5RprUtreiplrctPeoriA4arwaCclo,i42ee1sR54rrt544,1564,497,678155,697478566,,978756
WCHyAbPCPehECWUr3iHnylpl5lAtvbPboCr0yPelwahEaU0r33ins4eUpll45tCtlv5robWr0yyHwal3ab0A3P4Csee,U4PU5t4Erhr3npli0tl35volrby0w5a,l4a034es04U5rt 53,409,52597,285,78983,2,0853708,830 CPyCbCSehpCUPSrieyCpllptlcbboSarCielwaarphUaSrlke4isieplplstctl5RPCrobatriCywaarlablSk4ieCssep5RrtSUhtrepiplcltaloribarwallkai4essR5rtt WPCCyAbSCPephPCWSUr3eiCyplpl5clAtbbSaoCri0PaelrpwahaSU0lkre3iis4peUplslcR5tCtl5PratobWri0yarCwlaab0lkASi4Cse3esUPRpU5trtShr,e3plip0tlc5olrabi380waarlalk04,2iess0U5Rrtt58,21375,506,1,87752765,7,177556,775
HAPspEiHnrAvePsAypCEc3i2enr44rveA0HyCAcP32es44pEr0inrveAyC5c342e,4,04r7003504R7,,07e03c07o854,m0,,070m03080,780e0,n80d18328e,,00,80d0013020,0800,8013612,00,0010060,000 16,000 WAPW35A0P03U5W00AUP 3500U 1,18110,,3185107,315,1781,0357
857857 857

CyAbsepCUriyrApltbeorsAewapCUcri24erpltC4r5eorA0ywaCAcb24ese4Upr5r0iplrtoerAwaCc4e2e55r4r00 50011,11,,104580102100,011,1,0480200111,,,1115,40802010,500 2,10,500020,000 2,000 PCASsppPSieCrApceSasAiarpCpcSlkie2ierpsc4RPreatA0iCarCAclSk2iessp4RprSte0ip2rc,ae0iAar4C0clki02,es21R4rt,05504404,,0,11075505424,,104670,,051055064,41,07805,00086,010,000180,,001200,0001002,000 12,000

WAACsPphWi3irAlA5lebCsA0PplChca0i32iesrlU54lrteWbA0AlCc3aA0s2CesUPp,4rth4i3ril03e5lAb0C,5lc54a02es,U40rt753537,7430755,737 WAACsPphWi3irAlA5lebCsA0PplChca0i32iesrlU54lrteWbA0AlCcaA0s2CesUPp4rthi3rile5lAb0Clca02esU4rt 85781,514712,1845271,142 WAACsPphWi3irAlA5lebCsA0PplChca0i32iesrlU54lrteWbA0AlCcaA0s2Ces3UPp4rthi,3ril0e5lAb03C84lca02e,2s01U4rt5844,2315,0448,2154
WACPhW3ilA5lbC0Plha03islU5lWtb00lA3a0CsPU,ht430il50l3b0l,5a044sU,0t005304,,04000584,0,000080,000 128,,00001020,0001612,0,0001060,000 16,000
ABOVE Shadow of the Tomb WACPhW3ilA5lbC0Plha03islU5lWtb00lAa0CsPUht30il5lb0la0sU5t000850507815,0570018,05007 11,5,000001,500 21,0,500020,000 2,000 WACPhW3ilA5lbC0Plha03islU5lWtb00lAa0CsP3Uht30i,l205lb,003l8a00,s202U0t,00840,2030,0024,08602,000406,080,000608,0100,00180,0,010200,001102,000 12,000
Raider tests gaming prowess 0 0 4,00004,000 84,,0000080,000 182,,00001002,0001162,,00001060,00016,000
0 0 5000 500 1,5000001,000 11,,5000001,500 21,,0500002,000 2,000 0 02,0002,0040,00204,0,00600,00406,0,00800,00608,0,010000,00810,0,001200,0011002,,000000 12,000

92

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Labs Windows11PCs

3DMark Time Spy overall Metro: Last Light Redux (1080p High fps) Metro Exodus (1080p High fps) View from
the Labs
PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp Recomm1e2n,5d19e2d6,59162,596 IntePlIaHnlietcelPollfiamHrliepcIlnolfitmerPpelaHlieclRolfimerpecommended 243243 243 IntePlIaHnlietcelPollfiamHrliepcIlnolfitmerPRpelaHeliecclolofimrmpe mended 126126 126
IntelIHnetelllfiHreIlnlfiterel Hellfire

ChillbClhaislltblaCsthillblast 8,8584,8548,854 ChillbClhaislltblaCsthillblast 238238 238 ChillbClhaislltblaCsthillblast 86 86 86 Why spend hundreds
FnatiFcnBaotiocsBtFonoasttic Boost 12,5192,659162,596 FnatiFcnBaotiocsBtFonoasttic Boost 243243 243 FnatiFcnBaotiocsBtFonoasttic Boost 126126 126 of pounds on top-end
components and then
PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp ruin people’s day with
IntelIHnteellfiHreeIlnlfiterleHellfire IntelIHnteellfiHreeIlnlfiterleHellfire IntelIHnteellfiHreeIlnlfiterleHellfire low-quality mice and
keyboards?
HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy 364 ,4868,4886,488 Recommended HP EnHvPyE3n4v*yH3P4E*nvyR3e4c* ommended 163163 163 HP EnHvPyE3n4v*yH3P4E*nvy 34* 59 5R9eco5m9mended
IFnntaeCPtlIihFacHnnillitBelacebCPlotollihfiaoamcHirlssliBeIplecttFbnloonlltfioamaePCrsstlpeattihHcliielBcllbolofilmoarsspett IFnntaeCPtlIihFacHnnillitBelacebCPlotollihfiaoamcHirlssliBeIplecttFbnloonlltfioamaePCrsstlpeattihHcliielBcllbolofilmoarsspett IFnntaeCPtlIihFacHnnillitBelacebCPlotollihfiaoamcHirlssliBeIplecttFbnloonlltfioamaePCrsstlpeattihHcliielBcllbolofilmoarsspett Considering everything
8,885,4851248,5,18925,6549162,596 223482323483 223483 86 86 18266126 126 else that’s going on in the
world, the reason for my
HP Z2HMP Zin2iMGH9inPiZG29Mini G93,3932,3923,392 HP Z2HMP Zin2iMGH9inPiZG29Mini G9 94 94 94 HP Z2HMP Zin2iMGH9inPiZG29M2i8ni G298 28 occasional moans of
FHnPaCtEihFcHnnilBvPlabCyotElihoa3cniss4lBvFlttbyHnolaoa3PCtss4ihEttcinlBlvboyloa3ss46tt ,468,8488,88685,,4885848,854 FHnPaCtEihFHncnivlPBlaybCotElih3oanc4issvlBFl*ttybHnol3PaoaC4tssEih*ttcnilvBlbyoloa3ss4tt* FHnPaCtEihFHncnivlPBlaybCotElih3oanc4issvlBFl*ttybHnol3PaoaC4tssEih*ttcnilvBlbyoloa3ss4tt* 59 59 865896 86 frustration when testing these
16316238213683 238 machines may seem trivial.
But why, oh why, do PC
HPAHZsPH2pEPMirHAnZeivAPsn2yCpciEMi2G3eHrn4r49eivAPnHyCAicZPG32es244r9pEMinrvienAyCic32G2e49,46r43,442,3968,493,8442,3892986,243,44,839982 HPAHMZPPH2aDEPMlAHniCcZvMPiPoon2yambEDiM3lGrniHpC4cav9i*PnoHoyAimbPZ3MGPr24pEa9aD*MnlivCciynooim3bG44rp9a*594459L4a4b5s9W4in1n6e3r163 163 MHaPHteZPMSH2EtaHPMaHntuteZvPiianSo2ywEintHM3GManHe4Xutv9ii*aiPnHayotwiPZne3G2Se4XE9i*tMHna2vuti18yniao5iw3nG24eRX9*18i e5c5o29m8155m9en5d9ed makers often bundle such
poor keyboards and mice
MHaPtAeZMSsH2HptaPMaiturAteZaieisASno2wpCHintcMMaGieH2eurXti49riePaaiAnowtCAiZcneG2e2seSX4pi9rHMtiarui1tenaAi,owiC5cnG22ee19X41ri,44,3542,139,4493412,,395291,24434,R39e9c2ommended MHaPtAeZMMPSH2atDaHPMaAltiutCecZMiiaPSnooo2waDimntbHMMalGHreiXuCptca9iiPaianoooAtwiZmbneMGP2rSeXpaa9DiMtHlaiCucitniooaoiwmbnG4r4ep9Xa4i59444459R4e44c45o9m4mended CybeUCrypltborewaUr4eplt5rCorwayb4ee5rUrplt1or4wa 4e51r4 14 with their machines?
MCaytAbeMesSUCprHatyplaitturAbeotreaisASewaowUpCHrtcn4eMaipl2eeurt5rXtCo4irreaaiAowayAtwCcenb4se2eeSe5Xpr4UirHtriarplu1tte1oAra,io4,waCwc5n2e442ee141Xr5ri16,,4,4542419,64114,,495241,4649 MHaPteZMHS2atPHMatueZtiinaS2oiwtnHMMGHaeuXt9iPaiinaotiwZenG2SeX9MtiHa2uitn18iaoi5wnG2e9Xi185 2815
MCaAytMebMPSeDaCUHratAlyaCpiltuctMebtoorPaoiSeowabDwaUmHrtnMrl4aepleCiupatcX5tCraoiroaioAtoywawbembMn4reSPeepaX5rHUDtiaraluplCit11cao1iro,,oowa,43bnm54er74X1p5i1ar156,4,,43547156411,,453417465 Labs Winner Take the HP Envy 34. A
WCAyAMbCPPehCDWUar3AilylplCi5lAtMcbboCr0PoPoelwahDabUa0mr3is4lreUpllCi5tCltpac5robWro0Aoywalbab0mAM4rCsePUPpUa5tDrha83pllitCil915oclrbo,o0wa6l4b3ma804ers47U5rp19at56,64347856191,,4634765 MCayAtbeMMPeSUCarDatHyplAlattiCubecotrMPiaSeoowaoUawDrmbtHn4eMlaplriet5CurpXctCoaraiiaAooowaytwmbeMnbP4erSeep5XarDaUtirHlaiplCctutorooiaowambwn44re4p4eXa5r3i45444345 43 MCaAytMebMPSeDaCUratHAlyaCpiltctMuebtoorPoiaSeowabDaUmwrtnHMrl4aeplCipaetucX5tCraoroiioaAtoywabwembMn4reSPeepaX5rUDtaHrialpluCit1c1oira1o4oo4waw5bnm4ereLXp51ar1i1a445bs W14inner top-quality, hugely premium
PWCASAMCPpPSPhDWaepCA3ilclCiaA5SlMcibCaPor0opPSllkhDbaame0i3spilrsRclCUit5aplPactWibAoa0roClblkMaAm0iSPCsrsRUPpDptaatSh88el3ipCilc7c5l9a1obio03ar,bl6m3alk808irssUp7aR79tt153,637885197,36375 454 145 system. And yes, its bundled
PPWCCSASCpPpPPSheWeCC3piccPlSA5SlaiibCarap0rPpllSohlkeai0eis3pisRcsclRUtPPP5lWattiib0ara0CCrlloAlka0iSSiCsssPRRUpp7thtSt8ee034iplcc5lP73a59bii0aa,rr3l706a0llok8ii40ssURRt7t930503,6006708,409730536,600,0090,060,900,00120,0901,02,001050,00011250,0,00000 15,000 wireless mouse and keyboard
MCaAytebsMSepCUratiHryaApltteuebtAosriaSeCowpacUwrtHnMi2e4arepl4etruX5etCraoAriiatoywaCAcwebn2e4seSee4rX5prUtHriaiplruteoiraAowawCcn4442ee4eX45rr2i34 42 42 CAAyMbsPpeCDUairArlAyplCietMcbAsorPooCepwacDbUamri2e4rlreplC4irtCpeac5roAroAoyCwaAcbbmM2e4sreP4rpUpa5Draipll1rtCioc1er1Aoowa4Cbcm4e2er15rp4ar114 11 look fantastic in photos thanks
4434 443 14 to a faux metallic grey. But
once you’re using them, you
WCyAAbCsPehpCWUr3iiylrApl5lAtbeboCrsA0PelwapChaUc0r3ii2s4eerUpll5tClt4r5erobWrA0ywalCAcab0A24seCseUP4Upr5trhi3plirtl5ole2rbA0waCl7ca04e24sU5r4t2237423 27 WAAAMCsPPhpWDa3iiAllrA5CliAMebcCsA0PoPolpChaDc0bam3ii2selrrUlCi5lt4praecbWAA0oolCAcba0MAm2PseCsrUP4pDprtaah8il3irCil1c5le1obA1o04Cblcma08r2es1Upa4rt114 8 don’t care how they look. You
432 1114 want a cushioned feel, a
responsive mouse, maybe
PWCASACpsPPSpehWCpi3cirAlSaiA5leabCsApr0PlSplCkheica0si3p2icesrRtlUP5a4lirteWbaAC0rAllCkciSaA0ssC2espRUPtp4rtShei3ripcl2e5laiA2ba02rClcl7ak0i2es4sU42Rrtt222742222742 PWCASACspPSPphWepCi3icrAlaA5SliebCsAar0pPSplClkhcae0ii3sp2iesrRclUt5a4lPrteWibAa0rCAlClkcaA0iSsC2sesRUPpp4trtSh7ie83riplc1e5laAbi10arClc7alk02ie8ssU41Rrtt1 7 – heck, why not? – a couple of
811 extra programmable buttons.

PPCWCSSApCpPPPeShWeCCc3picSPlSiA5laiabCaprp0rPllSoleihekai0ss3cpicRstlPPRUPti5lWaitab0aCCr0rllloAiSSkai0sCssPppRtRUthStee03i1pccl5l29Paiib2aa0rrl25lla0ok7ii0ss1URRtt29202570 19 150101050 2001520 0250220500 250 PPWCCSASCpPpPPSheWeCC3piccPlSA5SlaiibCarap0rPpllSohlkeai0eis3pisRcsclRUtPPP5lWattiib0ara0CCrlloAlka0iSSiCsssPRRUpp6thtSt7ee03i8pl2cc5lPab0ii0aarrl6a0llok7ii8ssU2RRtt0400 6 640800 8610000 10810200 1214000 141020 140 The same is true of the HP Z
2227 78 workstation, only this time the
mouse and keyboard were
10051000 420600 wired. Now, HP, ask yourself: if
you’re selling a PC costing over
PPCCSSppPPSeeCCpccPSSaiiaraprpSlolkeeiipsscRcPRPtatiiCararloSlkiisspRRSt7te8p4caP7i5ar37lkoi84sRt753 784753 PPCCSSppPPSeeCCpccSSPiaiaapprrlSleoeikisspccPRtRtPiaiCaarrlSloikisspRtRtSepc1aP2i9ar2lkios1Rt292 1292 PPCCSSppPPSeeCCpccPSSaiiaraprpSlolkeeiipsscRcPRPtatiiCararloSlkiisspRRStt6*e7pAcaPitar6leko7isqRtuiva67lent widescreen resolution £1,000 to a creative agency,
won’t they want something
Shadow of the Tomb RaiderIPnCteSPlIapPHnleCietccePSlPoillafirpamHloreliisepccPRIPtlinolC0arfitmSloeriPsppelRat7He0l4ciePci3l5aorl,filo70mirs40Rpet3050,007604,0530,60,0090,060,90,001201,08901,200,01081005(20,0110012850,100,080p020H0ig15h,0fp0s0) Primary disk read Primary disk writeIPnCteSPlpIPaHnelCietccSePliPolalpfiramlHeoirlsicepPcRItPilCnoal0rfitmSloiersPppelRtaeH0lc1iePci9alorllfio5misr01Rtpe9050 1109051000 1501010540,520(24A013S,5250S02S0D3245M0,B2520/s250e03c) 250 IPnCteSPlIapPHnleCietccePSlPoillafirpamHloreliisepccPRIPtlinolC0arfitmSloeriPsppelRat6He0lcieP2cil0aorlfilo6mirsR2pet0040 6420600 640800 486,10(20A40S5,1S20S8104D0205M4B112,1/024s00e4c5)141020 140 more than a basic, plastic
horror show? Something that
FnaCtihFcinlBlabCotlihoacisslBlttFbon0loaaCsstttihc0ilBlb3ol,oa0ss0tt30,0060,030,0600,00090,060,09010,500081201,5090,810200,00101550,0180215,00,0000015,000 HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH03P4En0vy5304 050 10050100 15014010,5203422,0201532020402,25032022500 250 CybeUCrypltborewaUr4eplt5rCorway0b4ee5rUr0plt2or0wa 4e52r040 422006,704216,47008401 28610,0074011081020 112104000 141200 140 is at worst going to be thrown
PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp Recommended182182 IntePlIaHnlitecePlolfiamHrliepecIlnolfitmerPlpeaHlieclRolfimerpecommended 4,5243,5234,523 IntePlIaHnlitecePlolfiamHrliepecIlnolfitmerPRlpeaHeliecclolofimrmpe mended 4,245,2454,245 in the bin, at best shoved into
IntelIHnteellfiHreeIlnlfiterleHellfire 182 the spares cupboard?

HP Z2HMP Zin2iMGH9inPiZG29M3i7ni G397 37 158115882181528182 IAnHMtPPePDalEIaHAlnHnCilcitMevPcoePoPlyolbDaEmfiamH3rlnrlCip4aiecIvpeconolAyHolbtfimmM3ePrPPr4lpapeaEDaHlnliCeicvcloRoylofibmm3err4pepacommended34,0,243834,5,32,02483,532342,3,042,8352323 HuawHeuiaweiHuawei 2,5723,5732,573 Both Acer and Huawei get it
158158 158 MaCIntyetbMSePelCtUaIaraHntyplltetitebcioreSoPleowalUntfiarmHMa4eplrlXttieI5Cprecoairnlooywatltfinebme4PerSeXl5preaUtHrlapliettcorliolowafimnr4epXe5r 2,7421,74142,724415,2454,245 half right. The Aspire C24 is a
IFnntaeCPtlIihFacHnnillitBelacebCPlotollihfiaoamcHirlssliBeIplecttFbnloonlltfioamaePCrsstlpeattihHcliielBcllbolofilmoarsspett 21 budget all-in-one, so while I’m
37 HP Z2HMP Zin2iMGH9inPiZG29Mini G9 3,0735,0753,075 PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp 2,4929,4992,499 no fan of the keyboard I’ll
MHaPFtneZMaSH2CttaHPihFMactniuteZlBiilaanSo2bCotwintlHihMoaGcMaHeiXusstl9BiiFlaiPttnabonotwilZneaoaGC2SetssX9ihitttMcHai3lButli2bn7iaooli1woanG3sseX9tt2i71 AHMPPDEaAHlnCiMcvPPooyDbEam3lrnCi4pacvoHAoybmPM3rP4pEaDanlCivcoyoLbm3ar4pabs Winner 34,,023834,32,02833234,023823 MCaAtyMebMSeDCUatHrAatyCplueMttbooriaSoebwaDwUtnHrMra4epCleauXtCt5roaioriaAyotwabwbenMr4eSeXaU5DrtiHapltCutorioaowawbn4ere5Xrai 2,5272,73,45217,R734e21c,25o,7m734m1 ended concede that it sits in the
“good enough for the price”
AspirAeAsCpci2er4reACAc2es4rpir2eA0Cc2e24r0 20 CybeCrypboewreprCowybeerrpower 2,9722,9722,972 PCSpPeCcSiapleisctPiaCliSsptecialist 2,4526,4562,456 category, and the mouse is
MHaPteZMHS2atPHMatueZtiinaS2oiwtHnMMGHaeuXt9iPaiinaotiwZenG2SeX9MtiHa3uitn2i7aoiw1nG3e9Xi271 3721 Recommended HPAZMH2PUDPaMlAltZCiirMcn2PoaoUiDbaMm4GlHlrt5Ci9ipacrPnAoaoiZbMmG4P2r59DpaaUMllCitcirnooaibmG4rpa95 3,0375,07353,0,038,730583,083 MaAteMMPSDaatHAaltCiPueMtciPoraSooDboawtmnHMalrRCieuXPpatcaiioaAortobweomMnrSPReXpaDtaHialuCitcPiaoorwbnmoreXRpai 22,4,592729,34,59L793a22b,,45s97W93inner genuinely nice to use. And
Huawei produces a lovely
MCaytAbeMseSUCpratHiyplatrAtbuoetresAieawaSoUpCrwctHnM4ei2plaert5eruX4tCorearAiiawatoyCAwecbn4e2seSee5rX4prUtHriaiplru2tt2eoiraA2o0wa0wCcn142eeeX2245rri2001 20 PCSpPeCcSiapleisctPiaCliSsptecialist 2,9527,9572,957 PPCACSMSPppSPPDaeepCAClcCciaSPMcSiiaPoraoprpSlkDbalomeieisplrsRcCciRtapPPPactiiAoaraoCCrblkMlomiSSiPsrsRRppDptaatSeelpCiccPaoiioaarrbmllokiirsspaRR2tt ,1226,2,444,5129266,9,4445296,92126,,4445969 keyboard and a decent mouse,
2201 Pro RPro R Pro R 23,,9072372,5,90772523,,907725 if you don’t mind its lack of
shortcut buttons.
HCPyZbH2eCrPMypZbion2ewirMGHepC9riPonywiZbG2ee9rMrpionwi Ge9r
UltraU4lt5ra 45Ultra 45 But here’s my challenge to
all the PC makers. If you’re
CAyAMbPseDaCpUrAliyCpilrActMboeorPosAewabDpaUCmcrrl4ie2pleCirpatc5Cr4roeroAoAywaAbCmcbMs4re2ePeppa5r4UDrarirlplCit12ecoAro9owaC0cbm2e4r41r2p5a90 19 HuawHeuiaweiHuawei 2,9426,9462,946 FPPnCCaSCStpihpPFPSceienCCplBclcabSPaSCioitalraprpihoaSclkloeeiissipslsBcRclttPRPatFbtiioCaranrloalkSloaiiCsssstpRRtttSihtecipclBPlaibaorllooakisssRt2tt2,,11206,22414,,1512066,4415226,,21160,44156 selling a premium computer,
20 MaPCtCyeMbSSeptPCaUraetCypltectbPiSorSioaerpwantUlroeMai4eplsXctRtC5PPrtoairioyaCrtwanbeloSi4eSsXRpU5rtteapltctoPriiowaarnlo4ies5XRrt 22,,992572,72,9957722,95727 and you’re bundling
peripherals, then why not go
WCAyAMbCPPehCDWUar3AilylplCi5lAtMcbboCr0PoPoelwahDabUa0mr3is4lreUpllCi5tCltpac5robWro0Aoywalbab0mAM4rCsePUPpUa5tD1rha3pl1litCil5oc12lrboo0wa90lb1ma04er1sU5rpa12t 90 11 MFPantCaeMCStSihpFPactHienatClBulectabPSCioaSitolarpihwoatcHnloMeaissilesBuXctlttPRPFbatiiaioCoantrlwoaenSloaiCssSestpXRttihttiHecaicluBtPlibiaRoorlwloonaiessseRXtctti om2m,27e,692n1,25d7,7e69d15227,2,97,9246,56197462,946 HP Z2HMP Zin2iMGH9inPiZG29Min1i ,G79415,745 1,745 crazy and include a truly
2190 Labs Winner PFnCaSCtpPihFSceniCplcBlaSabCiotarplihSoaclkeiipssslcBPRlttFatbioCanrloaSlkaiCssstpRSttihtecpiclBalibaorllkoaissRtt2,106241,106412,16041 premium keyboard and
mouse to go with them?
PWCASAMCPpPPhDWaeCA3ilclCiPA5SlMcibCaPor0opPllohDbaame0i3silrsRclCUitP5plPactWibAoa0roClbloMaAm0iSPCsrsRUP8pDptaath1el3iCi1lcc5lP1obio0ar98blm1alo0irss1UpaR1tt 9 8 PCSpPeCcSiapleisctPiaCliSsptecialist 2,7024,7042,704 HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy13,74116,716 1,716
1119 MFanteaMCStSihFatHcpanitluBaetlabCiraSotoSlikhwtoaHnMcpaissRleuBXtalattFbiiaortonlwekoanaCSsstReXttSihHicaipultBlaiaborwlnoakessXRtti 2,7621,76122,,97624,169462,946 HPFnZaH2CtPihFMcniZlBilan2bCotilihMoaGcHissl9BiFlPttnbnoilZaoaGC2tss9ihttMcilBlibnoli1oaG,ss79tt4215,,1704215,101,1724,5101

HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3WP4EonvWuyl3do4unloWdtnoroutnldrunnot run ChillbClhaislltblaCsthillblast 2,6826,6862,686 HWPHAZPCHP2hEWPM3iHnl5lAZviPbCn02yPlhEia0M33GHinsUl45ltv9iPbWn0yHliZa0A3PG2CsU4P9tEhM3nili5vlnb1y0il11,aG037,,s4U9770t4111126,5,,777041R265e111,,c,777o401m562 mended
PWCASCPpPhWeC3iclAP5SlibCa0rPplhloa0ei3issclRUPP5lWttiba0CrlAloa0SiCssPRUph8tt1e3il1c5lPbi0arl8a0lo1isU1Rt 811 WPFCnASaCPtpPWSihF3ceCnpi5clABSlaai0bCPaotrplS0ihlkoace3ipiUssscl5RBPFlatttWib0naoCrl0lkaAoaSiCstUssPRpihtSttcei3plBcl5abio0arloalk0issURtt 22,7,702624,17,7064122,,770641
PPCHCSPSpSPpEPeepCHnCccavSPPiSairyparpSElkeilo3enspiRcs4ctPRvaPPtii0ayCrHCarlkWSlo3PiSWiss4RppRtES8tee0onopccPvWauWiuiayrarl8lollk3idiodoss4R5Rttuun0n0lloWWodd58ttn0noorroouuuttnll1ndd0rr50uunn0nnoo10tt0rruu1nn51000R15e0co2m0150m020e0nde2d00
PWACAsSCpPpPhWSier3AiCplecA5lASsabCi0CPparcplhSa0lki2ee3iripss4lUrcPRe5ltaAtWbi00CaCrAlcaA0Slk2eisCsspUP4rRpSthte0i3pircl5ale1ibA1a0,r0C,lclka06i20esRU4rt60110,05,6022602,0,5,60711,02280,26,0,64,660738005,064202,30,067,00804406,003,400,050,000450,0,00000 5,000 WAHAsPCpPhEWir3HAnileA5lvAPsbC0yCPpclhEa0i23e3rnis4lUr4e5lvtAWb0H0yCAlcaAP0329esCsUP44rpEth10in3ir9lv5le19bAy0,10Clc1a310,20e,7s49U74r0t0110,10126,0,9772001,10926011,02,,700013602,002,300,0040,003,400,050,000450,0,00000 5,000

PHCSPpPSEeHCnpcvSaPiyarpSElke3inpsc4RPvatiHyaCrlkP3SWiWs4RpEtSenopocvaWWuiuyar3llklidodos4RtuunnllWooddttnonrrououutltnndrrnuuonnt run WAAsCPphWi3irAlA5elsAbC0PpClcha0i2e3irslU4r5elWtAb0CAlcAa0C2sesPU4prht3iirl5lebA01lCca,026esU4rt61,5626,56128,6,668562,686 WAAsCPphWi3irAlA5elsAbC0PpClcha0i2e3irslU4r5elWtAb0CAlcAa0C2se9sPU4prht13iirl95lebA90l1Cca01,2es7U94rt012,9701921,702

WPCACSPhpWPS3ieClp5lAcbSaC0iPlarpha0Slk3eisiUpls5cltPRbatWi0C0arla0ASlkW1iCsUspPRtS1hte03piocl5aliWb1ua0rl1lka0lisdosRUt5tu0nlWod151t0onruoultnd1r05n0uon10t0run115000150 201500200 200 WAACsPhpW3ilrA5lAbeC0sAPlphCa0c3is2eUrl5lt4rebWA00AlCac0AsC2seUPp4trhi03rile5lAb1015C,lc0a,022e60sU4rt061105,0,5260206,05110,5,02062,00600350,020,30,0040,030,40,005,000450,0,00000 5,000 WAACsPhpW3ilrA5lAbeC0sAPlphCa0c3is2eUrl5lt4rebWA00AlCac0AsC2se9UPp4trhi103ril9e5lAb190C£,lc0a012e20sU49rt0910,£09202019,9010,£020,02000930,020,30,0040,030,40,005,000450,0,00000 5,000
210500200 200
0 0 500 50 15000 100 15000 150 0 0 1,00010,0020,010,0200,00030,020,0300,00040,030,0400,0005,00045,00,00000 5,000 0 0 1,00010,0020,010,0200,00030,020,0300,00040,030,0400,0005,00045,00,00000 5,000

Power consumption, idlePCSpSPepCcaSiarpSlkeispRctaPiarClkiSsRptS2epc2aiarlk2isR2t 22 (watts) Power consumption,PCSpSPepCcaSiarpSlkeispRctaPiarClkiSsRptSepcaiar1lki1sR1t 111 1p1e1ak (watts) EsAtsimpirAaeAstCpcei2er4dreACaAc2esn4rpnirue£AaCc52el74rr£u5n7ni£n5g7cost

WACPhW3ilA5lbC0Plha03islU5ltWb0laA0Cs1UPth13il5lb10l1a0sUt 11 WACPhW3ilA5lbC0Plha03islU5ltWb0laA0CsUPth3il5lb05la02sUt 52 52 WACPhW3ilA5lbC0Plha03islU5ltWb0laA0CsUPth3il5lb0l£a0s2Ut9£29 £29

HP Z2HMP Zin2iMGH9inPiZG29M2i4ni G294 24 PWACAsSCpPpPShWierCA3picleA5ASlasibCCa0rpPpclShlkai20eeir3piss4crlRUeP5lWatAtiba0CrCAclAlka0S2ieCsssP4RUprphtSte3iiprlc5leabAi0ar1lC5ca01lk1i2es21U3R4rt115112131 113 PWCASAsCpPSPpheWipC3irAclaSA5elisAbCarp0PpCSllkcheai0i2spe3irRcslUt4arP5elWtiAbar0CCAlclkAa0iSC2sessPRUp4prthSte3iiprlc5leabAi0£arlC£c£a0lk5i2essU62R4rt7t£19££526791 £61
PWCASCPpPShWeC3piclA5SlaibCa0rPplShlka0ei3pissclRUP5lWattiba0CrlAlka0SiCssP1RUphtSt12e3iplc5l2abi01arla01lk2isURt2 1122 51211 ££5279

HPPACZsSH2ppPPSMierACpZeciASsan2iCparcpiSMlki2GeeiHrps4rc9PReiaAPtniCaCrAicZSlkG2eis2sp4r9RpStMe2i2prcia5e24inAarCiclkGi222esR94rt254 25 CPyCAbSseUCpprPSiypelCrAtpbcoreSasAiewaarUppCrcS4lkeie2plierpts5rcP4RCoreratAiCwayarCAcbSlk4e2isesep5r4RprSUtreipplrctaeoriAarwa1C1clk11i421ees1R345rrt31111111331 113 CPyCAbSesUCpPprSeypliCptrAcborSaeisAewaarpUpCSrclk4eeiipl2pesrt5crRCo4PrrateiAwaayCrACclkbS4sie2ese5pRpr4UrtSrierpplcteoaAri£arwaCc£lk£25ie4es4R6r56rt7£19££566719££5£67619
2224 1131

HPAAMZPsH2DapPMAliCirAcZMieoPsAno2bpDCaimcMrGiHl2erCipac49riePoAnoACAbiZcmMGr22sePpa4p9rDaMi22lrCiicen754AooiCbcmG222er9p4ar574 27 CAyAMbPseDaCpUrAliyCpilrActMboeorPosAewabDpaUCmcrrl4ie2pleCirpatc5Cr4roeroAoAywaAbCmcbMs4re2ePeppa5r4UDrarirlplCitecoAroowaCc1bm2e41r4rp5a1341113141113141 CPAyCMbSPeDapCUPSrAleyCCpilpctMcboSoarPoiewaarbDpaUmSrlkrel4ieplpCispatccP5RCroartoioACywaarbmbMSlk4riePseppa5RrSUDatreplplcCitcaorioaorwablkm£i£4ersRp5a6rt6£197££666£1976££66£1976
245

CyAAbMesPUCprDaAypliltrACiboMrcesAPoewaoUpCDbarcm4eipllr2ertC5irpaCoc4rreAoAowayACbcmbM4ser2ePe5prpa4UDrarirl22pl2CitecoAr857oowaCcbm2e4er2224rp5ar578 28 PCCAySMbPpePCDUaerAClycplCiPtMScbiorPoaroepwaDlboUamreis4lreplRcCitCtPpac5ProiroaAoyrCwablobmMiS4rsePRppUa5tDraeplltCicocPrioowaarb1mlo4ier1s5Rrpa3t141161131441611413141164 PCCAySMbPpePCDUaerAClycplCiPtMScbiorPoaroepwaDlboUamreis4lreplRcCitCtPpac5ProiroaAoyrCwablobmMiS4rsePRppUa5tDraeplltCicocPrioowaarbmlo4ie£rs5Rrpat6£97£66££99776££96£7976£97
2257

FCnAyabMCtPeihCFUDcarinAyplllBCtliabMbcorCoPoteolwaihUoaDbarcm4issepllrlBCtiltt5CpracoFbrAoooywnalobaMbma4PeCssret5DprttaaUihrcliplC2iltBc3lorob7o8owa7blmoa4re2sspa5r3tt787 37 250250 250 HP Z2HMP Zin2iMGH9inPiZG29Mini G9 £10£5105 £105
2278Labs Winner Lower is better HP Z2HMP Zin2i MGH9inPiZG29Mini G9 PACMSPpPDaeAClCciPMcSiPoaorpDbalomeilrsCciRpPPactiAoaoCrbMlomSiPrsRpDpaatelCicPoioarbmloirspaRt £76££97L76a£b9£s77W6£i9n7ner
Lower is better
PACMSPpPDaeAClCciPMcSiPoaorpDbalomeilrsCciRpPPactiAoaoCrbMlomSiPrsRpDpaatelCicPoioarbmloirspaRt14161144161 4L1a41b16s4Winner

PCFCnySbaCptePCiUhFercCniycpllPtBSlbaiorbCarotepwalloiUhoareics4ieplssRcltBCtP5lPrttFoirbaoyrCnwalloboaaiS4CsesstRpU5trttihceplitl2cB3olPr3bio8waar8l7oalo4iesss25Rr3ttt3887 38 HuawHeuiaweiHuawei 260260 260 ChillbClhaislltblaCsthillblast £14£8148 £148
2387 MaPtCeMSSptaPaetCteciSSoiapntlMaeiXstcPaitioCatneSliSsXptteactiiaolnisXt 164164251062450 250 FPnCaStipFPcenCBcaSoitapioclesisBctPFtioCanoSlaisstptiteccBiaoloisstt £9107£59107 5££91705
HP ZH2PMZiPn2riMoGH9RiPnriZoG29RMPinrioGR9 HP ZH2PMZiPn2riMoGH9RiPnriZoG29RMPinrioGR9

IPnFCnteSaPCltpIaPHihFncelCniietcclBPeSlalPiobCllaotrfipamlihHlooacerilisissepclRcBIPPFltttlibnolnaoCrfiltmloaoaSeirCPstsspeRlpihtattcHeilliBcelcP3bilooalr5lfi8oa7mloi6rssRpett35876 56 HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy 34 293293 293 HuawHeuiaweiHuawei £16£7167 £167
378 MHaPteZMHS2atPHMatueZtiinaS2oiwtHnMMGHaeuXt9iPaiinaotiwZenG2SeX9MtiHauitniaoiwnGe9Xi 250250262025600 260 MateMStaatteiSontMaXtaiotneSXtation X £10£510£51£41£801548 £148
HFPnZaCH2tihFPMcnilZBlaibCn2otliihoaMcGHisslB9liPttFbnonliZoaaG2Csst9ttihMciliBlnboiloaGss9tt

MaIPntCetMeSSPlptIaHPaHanetlCutietecciPeSaSoPliolawrpfintaHmHloMaeirleXusitecPpRecIiPaitalinooClatrwfitnemSloeirPSesXplpReiattHHealciuetPci3ilaaoorl5wfilo8mni7rs6eRXpet03i 58760 70 MFanHtaePCMtSihFEcatHiHnnaltBluaetvPbCoitaSyolihEoawtcHnM3inssal4eBulttXtvaFbiioayHtonlweoan3aPCSsst4eXttEtihHicaniultBvliabRoyowlnoa3eessX4ctti ommended292332639029336302992363309 HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy 34 £18£1181 £181
3856 MaFtneMaCStaithFHcatniuletBlaibCaSootwlithnHoacMaiessulXtBFlattiibaonotwlenaoaCStessXihttticHailButlbiaoolwoansseXtti £14££81146£871£6174£8167

HP EnHvPyE3n4vyH3P4Envy 3744 74 74 IFnHnteaPPCltIaHihEFnclHnniietlcBlaevPlPbColotlyfilamihEHoac3rlnissiepl4BcIlvttFlb0noHloynfiltmoaPa3erCPsst4pelEttihaHc0nliilevBclblyRoollfioma3er1ss4pe0ctt0om100me2n010d00e20d2093323209303009363308323099643803300330490608 400 PalicPoamlipcomPpalicomp £18£1181 £181
MIantteMeSPlIataHHnatluiteetceiaSPloolwfitaHnmHMarleuiXetIpecaiina0lootltwfienmePrSelXpeatHiH0laieutcliaolofiw5mnr17e6pXe0i005716000 £1£6£1781£61178£116£7181
5670Recommended 400 MInaHtteePMSlIEHatnHHnatetuetvePlilaSylofiEwHtnHM3rnae4euXtvIalii0naylHtofiwetn3PerSR4eelXEtHHiea0nutevcialoylowfin3rmeX45ei00m5e0nde10d500 100 200
151000150 201050200
201000200 320000300 403000400

MaHtePMSEatHHnatuetvPiaSyoEwtHnM3na4euXtvaiiayHtowen3PS4eXEtHianutviaoywn3e7X4i04 704 7704Recommended IFnntaePCtlIaihFHnclniitelBclaebPlCooltfilaihmHoacrlissielpBecIFlttblnonolfiltmaoaeCrPtsslpeihattcHilliBelcbloollfioamrsspett 333963833968333968 InHtePPlIEaHnHlnitecvePPloylfiEamH3rlnie4pecIvlnHoylfitmP3erPR4lpEeaHenlievcclyolofim3rm4pe mended £18£1181 £181 Editor-in-chief Tim Danton is
probably just grumpy after
HP 00 34170400 17040 27100400R20e0co3m2000m030e0nd4e030d0400 400 IntePlIaHnlitecePlolfiamHrlieIpecnl0oltfimePrlpeaHl0ieclRolfimer1pec00o0m10m0 e2n100d00e2d00 32000303608036480303046008 400 IntePlIaHnlitecePlolfiamHrlieIpecnl0oltfimePrRlpeaHel0iecclolofimrmpe50me50nde1d050 100 115£0001815£101821015£00128001 200 spending too long testing PCs.
EHnvPyE3n4vHyP34Envy

0 0 1000 100 2100 200 3200 300 430000400 400 0 0 1000 100 2100 200 3200 300 430000400 400 0 0 500 50 15000 100 15000 150 210500200 200

93

The Network

Practical buying and strategic advice for IT managers and decision makers

Buyer’s guide

Business Backup 2022

If you haven’t implemented a detailed backup regime then you
may be putting your entire business at risk. Dave Mitchell
explains what to look for and reviews four software solutions

S mall and medium businesses you to create a fully fledged hybrid BELOW Arcserve’s cloud-based solutions. For a start,
(SMBs) need all the help they backup strategy that combines UDP software shows you don’t need an internet connection
can get to bounce back from on-site and cloud destinations. the status of all to access data for recovery purposes
the impact of the pandemic, protected systems and, as it’s stored at an in-house
and having a sound data protection This month, we’ve tested on- primary location, you have more
strategy in place will avoid being premises backup software from control over access security.
tripped up by an unforeseen disaster. Arcserve, Nakivo, Retrospect and
Data backup is a fundamental part Veritas. Aimed squarely at SMBs, Operational costs can be much
of this plan, and SMBs that don’t do they’re all very affordable, and we lower as you won’t be paying monthly
this could be putting their very put them through their paces in the cloud storage subscription fees.
survival on the line. lab to help you make the right data Backup and restore operations over
protection decisions. the local network will be faster, and
Disasters don’t occur on a you get to choose which type of
schedule and can seriously Backup is in the house storage you want to use.
disrupt businesses on the road to
recovery. There are many other On-premises backup software offers Some upfront expenditure is
threats that can have a a number of advantages over necessary as a host system will be
major impact on
productivity as well, such required to run the
as an accidentally deleted software. For our lab
report or, even worse, a tests, we use Synology
ransomware attack. NAS appliances and
entry-level Dell
Data protection doesn’t PowerEdge 1U rack
have to be challenging, servers, which are
however. There are plenty affordable options for
of top quality on-premises SMBs and can be easily
backup products on the upgraded to keep in
market that are suitable step with demand.
for a wide range of IT
environments and budgets. You’ll also have a
Along with all the tools much wider choice
needed to manage a for primary backup
complete strategy, they locations. All four
support all popular client products in this test
platforms and applications, support local and
with the best ones allowing network shared
storage, NAS
appliances and IP

94

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO The Network BusinessFocus

ABOVE Backup Exec The latest ransomware attacks
supports staging and attempt to infiltrate the software
can back up data to itself, and before encrypting the
multiple destinations source data will delete all backups to
stop you recovering it. A good defence
ABOVE LEFT Nakivo’s against this is immutable storage that,
software can be once written to, cannot be changed,
hosted on a range of overwritten or deleted.
NAS appliances
All good cloud storage providers
LEFT Retrospect offer immutable storage, which turns
Backup can alert them into WORM (write once read
you to potential many) devices so existing data can’t
ransomware attacks be modified or deleted until the set
retention period has expired. This is
BELOW A dashboard often called a “3-2-1-1” strategy,
utility allows you to where the fourth step is backing up
monitor all Retrospect data to immutable cloud storage.
Backup host activity
For even greater protection against
SANs. However, that doesn’t mean ransomware, consider making the
cloud storage is off the agenda for fourth step “air-gapped” so there’s no
secondary backup storage; all the physical connection to the backup
products we’ve selected support a media. It’s easier than you might
range of cloud providers, including think; tape can have a role to play here
Amazon S3, Backblaze, Google Cloud as, once a cartridge is removed from
Storage and Microsoft Azure. the drive and placed in secure storage,
it’s immune to tampering.

When disaster strikes
Don’t think that once your backup

system is in place you can sit back

and take it easy. Make sure you set

the backup software to provide

Parts of the process notifications and alerts by email

A sound backup strategy is a simple or SMS and, if you receive warnings
one – the easier it is to understand
and administer, the more likely it is that a backup job has failed, find
to succeed. Try to use a single backup
product to protect all your systems out what the problem is and do
and apps, as multiple products can
increase cost and complexity. something about it.

Virtualisation is very popular You must regularly test all restore
for SMBs that want to save on
hardware costs, so you should look facilities for files, applications and
for backup products that have
built-in protection for host platforms systems so all unforeseen problems
such as VMware and Hyper-V. Most
include this as standard, but one are rectified before you need to use
product in this guide requires a
completely separate product to offering a staging feature that allows “Ransomware attacks them when a real disaster
secure virtual hosts. one job to manage backups to all strikes. In fact, there’s now a
these destinations.
The most common practice for a are now so common that new strategy for just this
reliable backup strategy is “3-2-1”, Pay dirt businesses of all sizes situation. Called 3-2-1-1-0,
where you retain three up-to-date need to take precautions this calls for all the standard
copies of your data, back it up to Ransomware attacks are now so copies of data maintained in
two different types of storage common that businesses of all sizes to mitigate them”
media and keep one copy off-site. need to take precautions to mitigate different locations,
It sounds complicated, but all good them and avoid paying for data to be
backup products can manage the decrypted. Backup software can’t additional immutable or
whole thing for you, with some protect against these attacks, but
those that offer file versioning allow air-gapped storage and zero errors for
you to retain multiple copies of files
going back days, weeks and months all your recovery processes.
so if you get hit by a ransomware
demand, it’s possible to browse All four products in this guide are
them and restore files to a state
before they were encrypted. available as free time-limited trials so

you can try them out before buying.

SMBs on the road to recovery are

facing enough problems already and

don’t need to compound them by

failing to protect their data. Read on

to see which on-premises backup

product will keep your business safe.

95

Arcserve UDP 8.1

Thisistheperfectsolutionfor
securingphysicalandvirtual
systems,withexcellent
ransomwareprotection

SCORE

PRICE Premium, 1 socket, £1,311 exc VAT
from arcserve.com

Arcserve UDP offers total data and has its own data block location, ABOVE TheCyber and a schedule. Arcserve’s infinite
and ransomware protection hash database and index. Protect portal provides incremental strategy runs a full
for a wide range of business everything you need to backup followed by incrementals that
sizes and is available pre-installed on You can add other backup storage know about security only copy changed blocks, and the plan
high-end turnkey appliances or as a locations such as NAS shares or can run as often as every 15 minutes.
software-only option. The latter is the cloud storage; for the latter, UDP
best choice for SMBs with smaller supports no fewer than 18 providers. Support for Microsoft 365 (MS365)
backup demands as they can choose Ransomware protection comes into
their own host system. play here; UDP supports Object Lock Exchange Online, OneDrive and
storage for most of the providers so
A range of licensing options are data backed up to the cloud can be SharePoint is a new feature, but the
available. We’ve shown the price for read but not modified or deleted. authorisation process is frighteningly
a UDP 8.1 single socket licence, with complex. After a few stumbles, we
the Premium edition enabling every The price includes one copy of ended up getting Arcserve support to
feature. Socket licences apply only to Sophos’ excellent Intercept X go through the whole process with us.
the systems being protected, support Advanced for Servers endpoint
unlimited virtual machines (VMs) and protection software for protecting RECOMMENDED Fortunately, this is a one-time
have no restrictions on the amount of the UDP host. This is customised for
back-end storage used. the host and includes a personal procedure, and we were able to
Sophos Central account for cloud-
For testing, we used a low-cost Dell managing the software. re-use the tenant information and
PowerEdge 1U rack server equipped the same private certificate for each
with a 3GHz Xeon E3 CPU, 32GB of You can add nodes manually, Microsoft 365 component. Once we
memory, a total of 16TB of available discover them from Active Directory had authentication configured
storage and Windows Server 2022 at or import them from a file. Adding correctly, we could then browse our
the helm. A wizard-driven installation VMs is even easier; we used the import
routine takes care of all the essentials option to browse our Hyper-V and Exchange Online and OneDrive users
by guiding you through setting up VMware hosts and add selected VMs.
protection plans, adding nodes, and groups and select those we
creating a backup destination and Protection plans contain selected
scheduling your jobs. nodes, a backup destination, the “Data recovery services wanted to protect.
number of recovery points required are outstanding: we had no Data recovery services
A key feature of UDP is its recovery problems recovering file
point server (RPS), which defines the and folders, databases or are outstanding: we had
location on the host to which data is MS365 user data” no problems recovering
backed up and provides AES-256 file and folders, databases
encryption, deduplication and on our SQL Server host or
replication services. The RPS can MS365 user data. The
contain multiple data stores where
each performs global deduplication

Instant VM feature creates
on-demand VMs from node recovery
points and you can add an Assured
Recovery task to a plan that loads a
temporary VM on the virtualisation

host to confirm it will work correctly

in an emergency.

Arcserve UDP 8.1 simplifies data
backup strategies immensely. It’s swift
to deploy and easily managed from a
single console. MS365 authentication
is laborious, but UDP supports just

about any business workload, offers

enterprise-class data backup and

LEFT Thecloud recovery services and includes
valuable ransomware protection.

version includes

mobile device REQUIREMENTS

backup Backup host: Windows Server 2012 upwards

96

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO The Network BusinessFocus

Nakivo Backup &
Replication 10.6

The backup host with the
most – ideal for SMBs that
want the best features and
host platform support

SCORE

PRICE Enterprise, 5 servers, perpetual
from £525 exc VAT from nakivo.com

There’s a huge choice of backup DSM 7 Package Centre app to install it ABOVE The intuitive we then created a single scheduled job
products suited to SMBs, but in two minutes. NBR comprises three
Nakivo’s Backup & Replication service components: a Director for web console allows to protect our MS365 Exchange Online
(NBR) stands out as it supports more browser-based management, a
host platforms than any other solution. Transporter to handle all backup, you to create multiple and OneDrive user accounts.
As well as versions for Windows, Linux, replication and recovery operations,
VMware, Nutanix and AWS EC2, there and a repository to store backups. protection plans Backup jobs cover all protection
are packages for all the big NAS vendors
and even one for Raspberry Pi. We used the web console to add essentials. You choose systems from
protected systems to its inventory,
Client support is good. Although and our physical Windows servers and your inventory, select a repository,
macOS support is missing, NBR can workstations had the Transporter
protect Windows and Linux servers service pushed to each one. For our apply a schedule and set the number
and workstations, VMware, Hyper-V VMware vSphere host, we provided
and Nutanix hosts and business apps admin credentials and its VMs were of daily, weekly, monthly and yearly
including Exchange and SQL Server, presented ready for agentless backup.
with NBR 10.6 adding Microsoft 365 recovery points you want retained.
(MS365) Exchange Online, OneDrive A default local backup repository
and SharePoint Online (Teams support was created on our NAS during When creating jobs for our VMware
will be in version 10.7). Choices for installation, and we could easily add
backup destinations are equally more local, network or cloud stores vSphere host, we selected the host
impressive: NBR supports any local and enable data reduction, encryption
storage on the host, CIFS/NFS and self-healing. Ransomware system itself so any new VMs would be
network shares and tape plus Amazon protection is provided for Amazon
EC2/S3 and Wasabi cloud repositories. cloud storage, and NBR had no automatically protected.
problems using our S3 buckets with
Licensing looks complex, but Object Lock enabled. RECOMMENDED File and folder recovery is simple.
Nakivo provides a handy calculator on
its website. We’ve shown the price for Securing our MS365 account You select a recovery point and choose
an Enterprise 5-server perpetual required a special SaaS repository to
licence. You can opt for ones based on be created on the NAS appliance. The the data you want restored. MS365
workloads or virtual host sockets, authentication process is pleasantly
while MS365 licensing is separate, can swift, requiring only three steps, and granular recovery allowed us to select
be combined with any other licence
and costs £96 per year for ten users. Exchange Online or OneDrive accounts,

We tested NBR on a Synology choose items and restore them to their
DS1621+ NAS appliance and used the
original location or to another user

Application-aware backups ensure

hosted SQL Server and Exchange

apps are automatically included, and

“It’s remarkably easy to recovery services extend
to restoring SQL databases

deploy and use, client and Exchange objects.

support is extensive and the Disaster recovery features
are excellent and include
licensing plans mean you replication of VMs as

only pay for what you need” clones and using a Flash
VM Boot recovery job to

quickly create a new VM directly

from the backup repository without

restoring it first.

Nakivo Backup & Replication 10.6

is remarkably easy to deploy and use,

client support is extensive and the

various licensing plans mean you only

pay for what you need. Furthermore,

support for all the key players in the

NAS appliance market will appeal to

SMBs as they can create a centralised

data protection and disaster recovery

solution at an affordable price.

LEFT NBR

maintains an REQUIREMENTS
inventory of Backup host: Windows 7/Server 2012

protected upwards, Linux, supported NAS appliances,

systems Raspberry Pi

97

Retrospect Backup 18.5

No virtualisation host or
MS365 support, but a good-
value choice to protect
servers and workstations

SCORE

PRICE Multi-Server with 1yr support,
£2,167 exc VAT from retrospect.com

R etrospect Backup is exceptionally doesn’t take long, and the host’s ABOVE Retrospect including Amazon S3, Backblaze,
good value. A range of licence discovery service spots the clients as
packs covers the needs of single soon as they have been installed. provides a local Google Cloud Storage, Microsoft
users right up to large businesses, with
the Multi-Server edition on review A big shortcoming is the lack of dashboard for Azure Blob and Dropbox.
costing £2,167 for a perpetual licence support for agentless backup of
that supports an unlimited number of virtualisation hosts so you’ll have to the host You can run immediate backups or
server and workstation clients. treat their VMs as physical systems
and load the client inside each one. use scripts to automate them and
The software can be hosted on You can use the separate Retrospect
Windows or macOS systems and client Virtual solution, but businesses with a select sources such as local disks and
support extends to Windows servers mix of physical and virtual systems
and workstations plus macOS and won’t be impressed as this increases remote clients, assign a backup set
Linux endpoints. Optional agents for costs and management complexity.
SQL Server and Exchange are available and apply a schedule. The anomaly
for £829 each, and the Multi-Server Microsoft 365 (MS365) backup is
Premium version adds open file also only available with Retrospect detection threshold requires you to
backup and Windows bare metal Virtual. Most competing products in
recovery to dissimilar hardware. the SMB space provide a single swap to the advanced script setup and
solution for protecting physical,
Backup 18.5 supports Windows 11 virtual and MS365 environments. enable it from the options panel.
and Server 2022 as hosts or clients and
has a focus on ransomware protection. Protection strategies are easy to set SMBs with a mix of local and
Retrospect already supports Amazon up. You create backup sets to define
S3 cloud storage with user-definable destinations, which can be a local remote users will like the automatic
retention periods, and has now added disk, tape, DVD, removable drive or
Microsoft Azure version-level locking. NAS share. Plenty of cloud storage onboarding feature as this creates a
destinations are on offer, with support
An anomaly detection engine helps custom client that links up with the
Retrospect sniff out ransomware
attacks. Enabled on selected backup host and backs up their systems.
jobs, you set a percentage threshold
and if the number of new or changed Configured from the Retrospect web
files in the backup set exceeds this, it
alerts you to a potential attack. management console, you create a

Installation on a Windows 10 Pro “You create backup sets package, assign it to a
workstation took five minutes but the backup host, share the
client component must be manually
installed on each protected system. It to define destinations, link with users, and
which can be a local disk, backups start with no
tape, DVD, removable further intervention.
drive or NAS share”
Data restoration is
swift. A wizard guides you

through choosing a backup

set, selecting drives, folders or files

and deciding where to restore them.

Users can restore their own data from

the client interface and, if you need to

recover an entire system, the host

console creates a bootable flash drive.

Requiring a separate product to

secure virtualised environments and

MS365 accounts adds a lot of cost and

complexity, but Retrospect Backup is

a solid choice for SMBs that want to

protect physical systems. It provides

smart job automation tools and stiff

ransomware protection, and flexible

licensing plans make it great value.

LEFT The web

portal and mobile REQUIREMENTS

app provide a Backup host: Windows 7/Server 2012, macOS

useful overview 10.8 upwards

98

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO The Network BusinessFocus

Veritas Backup Exec 22

An easy choice for SMBs
that want total on-premises
data protection with good
Microsoft 365 support

SCORE

PRICE Simple Core Pack, 5 instances, £616
per year exc VAT ($745) from veritas.com

B ackup Exec is a great on-premises to BE22, a remote agent was pushed ABOVE The dashboard location or another user’s account.
data protection solution for out automatically, while for our keeps you posted on Likewise for OneDrive, where we
SMBs, combining extreme ease VMware vSphere host we only had to instance usage for chose files from the list presented and
of use with a wealth of backup and provide its IP address and credentials. your subscription restored them in seconds.
restore services. Backup Exec 22
(BE22) adds even more appeal as it Veritas receives tumultuous To protect our physical systems we
introduces a raft of new features and applause for its slick MS365
Veritas’ BE Simple pricing structure. authentication process – it’s one of used the BE22 wizard to select sources
the easiest we’ve yet seen. To add a
Microsoft 365 (MS365) support tenant, all we had to do was copy the and choose a predefined strategy from
allows BE22 to protect Exchange unique device code generated by BE22
Online and OneDrive user data and enter it using the link it provided its menu. These include backup to
(SharePoint and Teams will be added for our account – simple.
soon), and Windows Server 2022 is disk or cloud, and you can add
supported as a host and client. BE22 MS365 backups require a
uses a 64-bit SQL Express database for deduplicating store, which we quickly multiple stages for local and offsite
improved host performance, while created on our BE22 host using the
ransomware protection gets a boost as storage wizard. It’s possible to protect backup, migration to tape drives and
it can now back up data to Amazon S3 both Exchange Online and OneDrive
buckets with Object Lock enabled. with one job, and you can choose all or replication to other disk stores.
selected users, groups and public
The Bronze, Silver and Gold folders and decide whether to secure There’s plenty of choice for
options have been replaced with a users’ mailboxes, archive mailboxes
Simple Core Pack yearly subscription and OneDrive data. backup storage; BE22 supports
service, which does away with any
backup capacity restrictions. It’s Recovery doesn’t get any harder, physical and virtual disks, cloud,
based purely on compute instances, either: we chose Exchange Online
which can be a physical system, a from the wizard, browsed recovery tape, deduplicating stores and
virtual machine or ten MS365 users, points, selected items and could
and you can quickly increase the restore them back to their original network shares. We used a large-
count by purchasing extra Simple
AddOn packs. capacity NAS share on our Synology

Installation is a breeze. We loaded DS1621+ appliance and presented it
BE22 on a Windows Server 2019 host
in 20 minutes and used its console to to BE22 using its UNC path.
deploy agents to our physical servers
in the lab. Adding our Hyper-V host “Backup Exec 22 is a Data restoration is
was equally simple; after declaring it another winner. We could

well-rounded solution view files, folders and
offering complete volumes on selected
protection for physical and sources, pick a recovery
virtual environments” point and decide where to
send them. There are lots

more choices, as Instant

VM Recovery uses an existing backup

to create a new VM on the same host,

Microsoft Azure Site Recovery services

replicate VMs to the cloud for

super-fast recovery and BE22 offers to

create a disaster recovery disk for

bare-metal system restores.

Backup Exec 22 is a well-rounded

data-protection solution offering

complete protection for physical

and virtual environments plus a

wealth of recovery services. It’s easy

to manage, integration with MS365

is seamless and the new BE Simple

LEFT MS365 licensing options make it particularly

Exchange Online appealing to SMBs.

and OneDrive

protection are REQUIREMENTS

included Backup host: Windows Server 2012 upwards

99

The Network Reviews @PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO

Barracuda Cloud-to- You don’t have
Cloud Backup
to wait for the
This easily deployed and
affordable cloud-hosted backup schedule to
solution takes care of all
your MS365 backup needs kick in, as you can

SCORE select each MS365

PRICE £36 per user/year exc VAT component from
from barracuda.com
the console’s
Microsoft 365 (MS365) is an
incredibly popular cloud Protect tab and run
collaboration platform but,
as with any other business asset, it on-demand backup
needs protecting with regular
backups. Microsoft won’t do this jobs whenever you
for you, however, as its service
availability agreement expressly want. Recovering
recommends that you regularly back
up your content and data using a data is another
third-party application.
simple task: you
There’s certainly no lack of choice
in this department, but most cloud select an MS365
and on-premises backup products
only support MS365 as an additional component from
component, so if you only want this
service then you could end up paying the same tab and
for more features than you need.
Barracuda’s Cloud-to-Cloud choose what you
Backup (CCB) stands out, however,
as it has been designed specifically want to restore.
to protect Exchange Online,
OneDrive for Business, SharePoint For Exchange, a
Online and Teams in a single,
easily managed software as a service list of protected
(SaaS) solution.
users is presented,
CCB will appeal to SMBs as it’s
designed to go from account First, we selected our cloud storage ABOVE The CCB cloud and selecting one provides a view
configuration to first backup in only region, with Barracuda offering ten
five minutes. This is no idle claim, choices ranging from the USA and portal provides easy of all data sources including their
either; the cloud console’s wizard Australia to Germany, France and the
guided us swiftly through an eight- UK. MS365 authentication is a piece access to your inbox, sent items, drafts, calendar,
step configuration process. of cake: we provided details of a
global admin account, reviewed and MS365 account contacts and so on.
approved the application access
permissions and selected our We had no problems recovering
Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint and
Teams accounts for backup. sent and received emails back to

It defaults to backing up everything, their original location, and sending
but you can customise these settings
by creating exclusion lists for selected them to another user creates a new
user accounts and groups. A smart
daily backup schedule is applied Outlook “Restores” folder so the
where the runtime is regularly
adjusted using information supplied recipient can easily locate them.
by Microsoft’s API, so it knows when
the tenant is the least busy and can The same procedures are provided
deliver the best backup performance.
for OneDrive files, while SharePoint
Barracuda support staff can set a
custom schedule for you, with a communication, publication and
planned future version providing
options to change the schedule team site content can be browsed and
yourself. CCB currently defaults to
unlimited retention of all cloud data, recovered just as easily.
but facilities for creating your own
retention policies are also planned RECOMMENDED Items can also be exported where a
for a future release. downlink link is provided in the

Reports page, with Exchange emails

exported as EML files and OneDrive

files provided in their original format.

For all restore operations, the console

offers full search and filtering facilities

for quickly locating specific items.

“CCB will appeal to SMBs Ransomware protection
is a high priority. Along

as it’s designed to go from with encryption for data
account configuration in flight and at rest, CCB
to first backup in only maintains it in immutable
cloud storage. This is
five minutes”
air-gapped, with the

backend system totally

separate from your local network and

only accessible from the management

interface, which supports multi-

factor authentication and role-based

access controls.

Even if a hacker does gain entry,

they won’t be able to delete anything

as the console doesn’t permit purges

of cloud data. CCB also uses individual

cloud containers for customer data

and it stores backups as three separate

copies for additional protection.

Barracuda’s Cloud-to-Cloud

Backup is ideal for SMBs that want to

protect their investment in Microsoft

365. This very affordable and secure

backup solution is a breeze to deploy,

LEFT Barracuda very simple to manage and provides

offers plenty of search plenty of valuable data recovery

and recovery facilities features. DAVE MITCHELL

100