Honor 8 review

The Honor 8 has now officially launched in Europe and will cost £369.99 in the UK. The Honor 8 is also up for pre-order in the US at Amazon,Best Buy, B&H, Newegg and Honor's website. A $50 pre-order discount knocks the Honor 8's price down even further, an attractive offer if you're looking for a new, unlocked phone.

Honor, sister company to the more well-known Huawei, wants to make a name for itself outside of its native China.

It's had forays out west before, but now it's launched the Honor 8 in the US and the UK. At $399.99/£369.99, it's a device Honor hopes attracts users - millennials, in particular - with flagship-style specs without the price that usually goes along with the breed.

The Honor 8 is indeed a phone with some boast-worthy particulars. Its screen is a silky 5.2-inch Full HD, 1080p affair that's bright and crisp. A 3,000mAh battery, slightly smaller than the Honor 7's, is still respectable, at least on paper. It has a proprietary Kirin 950 processor, 4GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, which is expandable to 128GB thanks to a microSD card slot.

A fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C, some nifty if superfluous software tricks and dual 12MP rear cameras - the Honor 8's marquee feature - round out the phone's call sheet. It's a good Android phone, one that goes toe-to-toe with the likes of the Huawei P9 and OnePlus 3, the latter of which we dubbed a "genuine flagship killer."

But what keeps the Honor 8 from climbing higher into true flagship-killer country is that it doesn't offer much that we haven't seen before. Is a flagship wannabe with an affordable price enough to tempt phone buyers? That's an answer we're saving for our full review.

Design and features

What's obvious about the Honor 8 is that it feels good in the hand. It has smooth, rounded edges, so it feels like one solid piece. A pane of glass on the back keeps that cohesiveness going, and there aren't any bumps on the phone, save for buttons on the side.

At 7.5mm, it's thin, but has enough mass that it doesn't feel flimsy or cheap, like you might snap it in half at any minute. Available in white, sapphire blue and black, the Honor 8 is an attractive phone, though it's fairly nondescript unless its display is on.

The back is made up of 15 layers of glass, Honor says, which refracts light and gives the phone a shimmery look. It's a pretty - though fleeting - effect.

One glaring issue with the glass back is that it smudges easily, and while fingerprints aren't so obvious on the white model, the black and sapphire versions were visibly covered in prints after a short time. If you're bothered by a dirty phone, you may have a problem with the Honor 8.

The fingerprint scanner on the back is easy to access and fast, and it doubles as a "smart key" button that provides some useful functions. Giving it different presses - one, two or a long hold - will open various apps and shortcuts, such as pulling up Lyft or turning on your flashlight. It's easier than swiping through your phone to find what you're looking for, though it might take some getting used to.

The speaker and microphone are located on the bottom, which Honor warns not to cover up when you're using it. We've run into the issue of muffled speakers on other Huawei phones, so it doesn't seem like Honor saw fit to address it this time.

A curious feature of the Honor 8 is something the company calls knuckle gestures. You essentially rap your knuckle against the screen, then draw a letter or shape that are actually commands. Drawing an "m" pulls up maps, a "c" the camera, "e" the internet and "w" the weather. You can draw a square around your screen to take a screenshot, too.

It's an odd feature, and one we can't see a reason for. Why not just use your fingers to draw these letters and shapes? You have to hit your knuckle with enough force against the display to kick the gestures into gear, and it wasn't the most pleasant feeling knocking bone against a phone. Maybe it's useful if you have dirty fingers, but it's still strange, to say the least.

Camera

The Honor 8's calling card is that it has dual 12MP cameras on the back, though this is actually a holdover set-up from the Huawei P9. One sensor takes an RGB color photo, the other a monochrome photo, and together they form one cohesive image that apparently holds more detail thanks to this melding approach.

We found the Honor 8's camera as-is to be good, not great. The images were sharp and the color rich, but they weren't the best photos taken on a phone we've ever seen.

We say as-is because there are deeper settings, including a pro mode that lets you manually mess with things like ISO to take even better shots. You can tweak the focus in the standard mode, but if you really want to control how your photo looks, you have the option to do so.

Of course, this takes time and some experience using these type of settings, and it may not be for everyone to fiddle with focus and aperture before they take a snap.

The Honor 8's camera capabilities are above average, and we were impressed with its low-light image capture, though again we weren't blown away by the results.

During the day the Honor 8 camera seems to perform well.

Click here for the full resolution version

The low light camera on the Honor 8 is impressive so far - but it can be hard to get a stable image.

Click here for the full resolution version

Here's a version of the photo above but only using the monochrome sensor, and it's quite detailed.

Click here for the full resolution version

Perhaps if the screen was a higher resolution, the images would have truly popped, but on the Honor 8, they were good, but not something we'd be beaming with pride over.

Early verdict

The Honor 8 is a fine phone, one that does a lot of things right, particularly when it comes to its build quality and camera.

You get a lot of good phone for the price, but the problem for the Honor 8 is that it doesn't offer anything must-have against similarly priced competitors. There's nothing about it that makes you feel like you have to have this phone.

While it does beat the OnePlus 3 when it comes to microSD, that device has already made huge waves, and it's unlikely the Honor 8 will capture people's imaginations the same way. That's especially true in the US, where Honor is still relatively unknown, and the Honor 8 doesn't do much to put it in the map.

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Sony will reveal a new console this week

Sony Korea has confirmed the company's plans to unveil a new PlayStation console this week.

The report corroborates last week's reports about Sony's September 7 event. Notably absent from Sony Korea's blog post is any mention of whether the event will reveal the updated PlayStation 4 Slim, Playstation Neo or both.

The slimmed down version of the current PlayStation 4 has been all but confirmed, with crisp leaked images showing off the hardware. The Slim will allegedly come with a slightly tweaked controller that features a translucent light bar at the top of the touchpad.

It's still a mystery whether the PlayStation 4 Slim will allow 4K and HDR movie playback like Microsoft's already-released Xbox One S.

PlayStation Neo is expected to allow 4K resolution gaming and a better VR experience than what's currently capable on the PlayStation 4.

If Sony does announce its mysterious next generation console, the company will be the first to herald in a new era of consoles. Microsoft is expected to announce its successor to the Xbox One, codenamed Project Scorpio, before the holidays. Nintendo will be the last to reveal its next-gen NX console in March 2017.

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TomTom VIO review

Along with cameras, diaries, MP3 players and alarm clocks, most people can count sat-navs among those dedicated devices killed by the smartphone.

The response of TomTom, one of the world's biggest sat-nav manufacturers, has been to pour its energies into producing navigation systems for more niche users.

For example, TomTom's trucker lineup allows you to edit your route based on your vehicle's dimensions so you don't find yourself stuck down a small country lane. Meanwhile the TomTom Rider series are a line of devices specifically designed for motorcyclists.

Now TomTom has announced the TomTom VIO, its first navigation system designed specifically for scooters, and it certainly appears to address many of the issues we've had trying to use our smartphones for that same purpose.

Design

Naturally there's little in the way that separates the needs of a scooter rider from those of a motorcycle driver, but with the majority of scooter driving taking place in an urban environment, the VIO has been stripped of any features that are only necessary on longer journeys.

As such the VIO ends up being a relatively small device, which is fit into a circular housing in keeping with the design of most modern Vespa scooters.

It's also over £100 cheaper than TomTom's current cheapest motorcycle sat-nav.

The sat-nav is very style-focussed, and comes in a number of different colors to match your bike. It's also weather-proof, so you shouldn't need to put it in a waterproof sheath when the heavens open.

The thing that impressed us the most about the VIO was the mounting mechanism. It might sound boring, but this is the thing that harms the feasibility of using a smartphone as a scooter sat-nav.

You have two mounting options with the VIO. There's a small arm which attaches to your scooter's left handlebar, and a chunkier mount that fits around a wing mirror arm.

Once this mount is attached, the actual device itself attaches via a combination of a screw mechanism and a magnet.

It's not locked in place, so you can't leave it on your scooter overnight, but with just 5 hours of battery life you're going to be charging the VIO whenever you're not using it anyway.

The mount felt sturdy and secure, and this combined with the lightness of the device itself means it shouldn't swing around the handlebar too easily (which can be a problem if you're using a heavier smartphone).

Performance

The device's interface itself is colorful, bold and bright, but aesthetically is a step down from the likes of Google or Apple Maps.

For myself, the added functionality of the device makes up for this, but when a product is as style-focussed as the VIO, it's a shame the software itself can't keep step.

The screen technology means you can use the display with gloves on (which is another problem with using a smartphone on your scooter), and TomTom have also cleverly designed the interface with gloves in mind, by keeping the various buttons nice and large.

You can save a small number of favorite destinations on the device itself, but for anything more complicated you'll have to use a paired phone.

This is the single biggest issue with the TomTom VIO; it requires a phone to be paired to it in order to function.

This phone pairing makes sense in order to keep the VIO's screen clutter-free, but when you're using the VIO to select recent destinations it would be nice to be able to use it without your phone, especially since the VIO itself contains a GPS tracker.

Even if you're en-route to your destination when your phone's battery dies, the VIO will still not be able to complete your journey.

It's a really unfortunate omission. Limited phone battery is one of the main reasons why it doesn't make sense to use a smartphone as a scooter sat-nav, and it's a shame that this dedicated device doesn't solve that problem.

Early verdict

Phone pairing issues aside, we like the look of the TomTom VIO scooter sat-nav. The device itself looks well-designed, the mounting mechanism feels solid, and the ability to use it with gloves on is a simple but very useful feature.

The battery life could be better. 5 hours is more than enough for the kinds of journeys that you'd do on a scooter, but it would be nice to have the option of using the device for a few days without needing to charge it.

It's just a shame that the device needs to be paired with a phone to function. Its size and how easy it is to mount means that it could be a very easy sat-nav to throw on your handlebars for a quick journey, but needing to pair it with your phone is an additional annoying step that could harm its usability especially if your phone is low on battery.

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Sony Xperia XZ review

The debate over whether the Sony Xperia X, which launched in February this year, was a flagship phone or not, has finally been settled - it wasn't, but the Xperia XZ is.

This brand new flagship is the highest spec device in the growing Sony Xperia X range and it offers a lot of what we've seen before, but in brilliant new packaging.

Sony has been refining its iconic boxy phone design for seven generations now, ever since the Xperia Z back in 2013, and that process has led to the XZ, which whether you opt for it in deep blue, black or silver is by far one of the best looking phones the Japanese company has ever produced.

• Want to see a video of how good this phone is in action? We've got you covered:

The sharp edges of the Xperia Z range have disappeared, replaced here by more rounded ones in a conscious change to help the Xperia XZ sit better in the hand.

It's a reasonably minor change, but it makes the experience of holding an Xperia phone much more comfortable. This is a problem Sony should have solved long ago and is a big improvement for the company's latest handset.

Not only is the look refined, but also the feel, as the back of the Xperia XZ is made of a new metal material from Sony called ALKALEIDO, which doesn't feel slippery in the hand. It gives the phone a premium finish and is a big step up from the glass-backed Sony Xperia Z5, although the new material does still pick up fingerprints quite easily.

The top and bottom edges of the Xperia XZ are completely flat, which is another design change and allows you to stand the phone up on its end. The flat design is reminiscent of the top edge of the Obi MV1, but executed much better.

There's a fingerprint sensor hidden away in the power key on the side of the phone. This positioning makes the sensor easy to hit when the XZ is in your hand, but the button can be a bit of a pain to reach when the phone is sat on a flat surface.

Perhaps the biggest design change is the inclusion of IP68 waterproofing - that's the same rating given to the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Sony Xperia Z5. This means you can dunk your Sony phone once again without having to worry about it breaking – a feature many missed in the original members of the Xperia X series.

Screen and camera

You may be disappointed to learn Sony has stuck with a Full HD display for the Xperia XZ, especially as this is the firm's most premium handset – but it's still a great screen. Some were expecting the Xperia XZ to come with a 4K display like the Xperia Z5 Premium did, but that was mostly a gimmick and your battery will thank you for sticking to 1080p.

The screen is 5.2 inches and 424 pixels per inch, and, while sharp, doesn't touch the likes of the QHD Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge or HTC 10, so while 4K would have been unnecessary a 2K resolution would have been nice to see.

On paper the Xperia XZ's main camera looks quite similar to previous iterations, but minor improvements should make the XZ's snapper much more enjoyable to use.

The camera uses the same 23MP Sony sensor as the Xperia X, with all the tech you've seen in the past, but it now includes a laser autofocus.

Working alongside the predictive hybrid autofocus technology this should make it even easier for the phone camera to focus your shots – though how well it works remains to be seen.

The 23MP sensor also comes with new white balance technology to help enhance the color of your photographs and improve fine detail (a common problem with Sony's sensors). In a smartphone first the XZ also uses 5-axis stabilization tech to ensure your video doesn't come out blurry.

Flip around to the front and you'll be greeted by a 13MP sensor, allowing for detailed selfies. It looks to be the same camera as the selfie shooter on the Xperia X, which worked well.

Performance and battery

Under the hood the Xperia XZ sounds suspiciously like the Xperia X Performance. The XZ boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor along with 3GB of RAM, and in our hands on time the phone felt as speedy as you'd expect a flagship to be. If you're looking to run Pokémon Go or any other mobile game, you'll be able to with this phone.

Storage-wise you have 32GB of internal space and 256GB microSD storage to play with. There's no word on microSD support yet, but Sony usually includes a card slot, so we'd expect to see one in the XZ.

On the battery front there's still no sign of wireless charging – but Sony has improved the juice pack in other ways, as the 2900mAh cell will recharge at different speeds depending on your charging habits.

If you often take your phone to bed at midnight and unplug it at 7am, the Xperia XZ will charge to 90% as quickly as possible but then pause the charge until just before you wake up.

The idea here is that leaving your phone on charge can damage the battery over time – so by predicting when you'll need the XZ charged up, Sony should be able to preserve your battery for longer.

Since there's no wireless charging you'll be using the USB-C port on the bottom edge of the phone. This is the first time Sony has embraced USB-C, and although the change may mean updating a few of your accessories USB-C is a lot more convenient, as you can plug your charger in either way around.

This charging tech is sure to become the industry standard soon, so it's great to see Sony preparing for that, rather than getting left behind.

Sadly, the Xperia XZ runs Android 6 Marshmallow, but a Sony representative assured TechRadar that the company would be working hard to bring Android Nougat to the phone as soon as possible.

Early verdict

The Sony Xperia XZ feels a little lost in the mix, with a very similar spec list to the Xperia X Performance and Xperia Z5 series, but the design tweaks have made a major difference to the appearance of the phone, making the Xperia XZ one of the best looking handsets of 2016.

New camera technology shows the company is trying to improve its 23MP sensor too, while extra innovations such as the USB-C tech feel like a step forward, but a small step and not a reason to buy a brand new Sony phone.

If you own a Sony handset from the last year there's no key reason to update to the Xperia XZ, but if you're after a top of the line device and like the look of the XZ's refined design, this is going to be a great choice for you.

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