VR SO GOOD, IT'S SICKENING

A lot can happen in six years.

It's been six years since I last spent any time inside a VR headset. That was the Samsung Gear VR; a colab between Samsung and Oculus that enabled you to insert your Galaxy handset into an Oculus headset to experience all the wonders of 360-degree gaming and viewing... well, all the wonders available back in 2015.

To be honest, there weren't many wonders.

It was fun to watch movies in a virtual, 3D theatre and there were a few purpose-filmed surround-videos to sample but any games on offer were super limited and it only worked with a few specific models of phone.

Since then, Oculus has been busy. Very busy...

I have to admit, I haven't really been paying attention. I was vaguely aware you could buy expensive Oculus headsets that plugged into even more expensive, high-powered gaming PC's. I assumed this was the niche realm of the ultra gamer geek and I left them to it.

But somewhere along the way, the Oculus Quest was born - no longer tethered to a PC, a standalone, totally self-contained device. Sadly, one I never took any notice of.

Now there's a new generation; the Quest 2 and believe me, Oculus, you've definitely got my attention now.

To start with, it looks more friendly than some of the all-black, multi-cabled options we've seen before. The Quest 2 headset and its Touch Controllers are an attractive off-white colour, with a comfortable, three-way adjustable, fabric head strap. There's really not much to see from the outside; other than the four small cameras, there's a power button with tiny status LED on the right-hand side, USB and 3.5mm AUX-in sockets on the left and a volume rocker underneath - all easily located by touch when wearing the headset.

The Quest 2 is one of those rare pieces of design excellence that just works like it should, straight out of the box, with virtually no setup required, short of signing in with your Facebook account. Some people go crazy about this, worried about having to hand over all their private details to Mark Zuckerberg just to play a few games. I don't get all the fuss; for starters, Facebook owns Oculus anyway so if you have an original Oculus account, Zuck's got your deets already. Secondly, it just makes logging into stuff and buying things so much more seamless - you need to pair the Quest 2 with the Oculus app on your phone for example - this happens pretty much automatically once you've logged in with your Facebook profile. What's more, you can actually use apps like Messenger inside the VR, so that's helpful, not harmful. Besides, if you're that worried about it, it's not exactly the hardest thing in the world to set up a separate, gaming-only Facebook account. People need to chill out.

Logging in really is the most complicated part - assuming you can get the headset to fit right in the first place. I found the combination of velcro and plastic sliders on the head straps simple to adjust to where I wanted them and the device feels perfectly balanced when in place. Apparently it's lighter than it's predecessor and I certainly found the foam padding comfy as. My issue is my glasses. While the Quest 2 ships with a glasses spacer in the box (again, easily attached) my glasses are too wide to fit in the headset. Although you can adjust the space between the lenses, glasses-wearers need to know it'll only accommodate your specs if they're less than 142mm wide and under 50mm tall. Elton John may be out of luck. Thankfully, I found an old (less fashionable) pair that just fit. I would have been screwed otherwise as the experience isn't calibrated for the shortsighted.

But what an experience.

Firstly you're asked to mark out your virtual Guardian boundary - you're shown your surrounds via the passthrough cameras and you paint where the clear area is with your touch controller - recalibrating the height of the floor if need be. You also have the option of a stationary Guardian if you prefer to stay seated. Ingeniously, you can choose to change to the passthrough view if you break through the virtual walls of your Guardian while playing, thereby avoiding smashing into furniture or real walls. But even more ingeniously, the Quest 2 remembers the position of your Guardian area between each session, so you don't have to mark it out again. See? Pretty clever.

Long gone are the handful of low-res, half-hearted, pretend games I first tried out six years ago. The Home screen is jam packed with game and viewing options, many of which you can jump straight into. That home screen is fully customiseable of course, with a choice of backgrounds to suit your tastes. I was really blown away by the explosion of content now on offer, with the promise of much more to come. There's an extensive library of games for sale, which we'll get into shortly but there's an amazing amount of viewing available, mostly free of charge.

In the last few days I've been swimming with sharks, ridden a rollercoaster while in orbit above the earth, hung out with elephants - even jumped out of a helicopter in a wing suit and flown over snow-capped mountains at breakneck speed - all in totally immersive, 360-degree wonder.

There are more and more live events to attend too, although my schedule didn't allow me to get to Snoop Dogg's live DJ Snoopadelic set the other day.

Oh, you can definitely spend a lot of time in here.

There are apps like Bigscreen and Venues where you can create your own avatar, meet other users and watch movies, concerts and seminars together. Bigscreen is particularly versatile. Here you can watch movies, either stored locally on the Quest 2 itself or via a DLNA media server on your Wi-Fi network, or even join one of dozens of live TV rooms - from Nikelodeon to Rocketlabs. You can also share your PC desktop to Bigscreen, potentitally meeting clients or work colleagues for presentations or to collaborate on projects.

There's a native Netflix app, complete with virtual home theatre or you can go online via the browser to access any other content out there.

Then there are the games. Oh boy.

Obviously, you can play sports. And because it's VR, you can do things like play tennis with a fish and a football. Yup, Sports Scramble is crazy... or you can just go bowling. Obviously you can scythe your way through floating targets with dual light-swords to a funky soundtrack in Beat Saber, or you can shoot cyborgs in the head while dodging their bullets in the arcade-style Pistol Whip.

It's hard to accurately describe just how intuitive using the touch controllers is playing these games; more than just a deconstructed gamepad, the addition of a side trigger on the inside of each controller handle means actions like picking things up, opening doors or taking items out of your backpack seem totally natural. In Population: One, a classic first person shooter, when you do things like climb up drain-pipes hand over hand, there's no learning how - you already know how.

Perhaps the most brilliant execution of a 360-degree VR gaming experience I've tried yet has got to be The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners. You have a torch in your harness which you have to grab and shake to keep charged. If you're lucky enough to find an axe, you'll need to hold it with both hands to kill the zombies. This game is unreal. No wait... it's seems really real.

All these incredible visual illusions are enhanced by the Quest 2's speakers, subtly built-in to the side straps on the headset. You can also choose to plug in your own headset via the 3.5mm jack or you can even pair bluetooth headphones or buds... the surround sound effects are spot on but be warned; once you're in this virtual world, it really is very convincing - and not just on an audio/visual level. Your whole body is fooled into thinking you're on the tennis court or fighting zombies for a gun on a boat in a flooded New Orleans.

On the bright side, this can be quite a workout - in fact, using Oculus Move, you can set up a virtual display to tally calories burned and time spent playing. On the downside, I've had to end several sessions using the Quest 2 due to motion sickness. I'm not making this up. Spend too long jumping off buildings and dodging robots and you might actually puke! Some games even let you adjust the "reality level" to avoid nausea, so if you have a weak stomach, this device might not be for you.

I've read people questioning the Quest 2's battery life; between two or three hours depending on how hard you're pushing it but take it from me, if you can last two hours of non-stop zombie stabbing, you deserve a medal.

As a standalone mobile device, the Quest 2 does not have the processing power or graphics ability of a dedicated gaming console or PC - this means some games are a little slow to start up and picture screen quality, while awesome, is far from 120Hz-4K-gaming-monitor awesome. However, the processor is among many other hidden upgrades from the original quest, a 90Hz screen refresh rate update is on the way and I found operation to be super smooth with very few stutters, lags or crashes.

None of those technical details matter much once you're using it, it's just so fun.

By the way, there's also an optional Oculus Link Cable available to connect you to a compatible PC. This opens up an even bigger world of more powerful VR games if you really want to get carried away.

At $569 for the 64GB version and $739 for the 256GB model, I think the Quest 2 is fantastic value. It's a unique, multimedia experience that's easy to set up, it's totally self contained and all for less than the price of a modern gaming console.

I'm sure the nausea will wear off eventually. Totally worth it. I wonder if motion sickness pills would work?

Click here for more information and pricing on the Oculus Quest 2.

NO FRILLS, JUST BIG SOUND

Speakers are smarter than ever.

No longer just the way we listen to music, they've become the centre of operations for the modern connected home. With a simple command, we can now fire off whole routines to activate air-conditioning, turn on lights... even water the garden.

Oh... and we can play music of course.

So where does that leave speakers that only play music? Is there still a market for them? And even if there is, why would you try and get into that market now?...

I've never met a Huawei I didn't like.

When it comes to delivering premium tech hardware, there are few other brands that do it as consistently. From enterprise infrastructure technology right down to developing some of the best performing smart phones the world has ever seen, Huawei usually gets it right.

More recently, we've seen personal audio products like true-wireless earbuds and frankly, stunningly good over-ear, noise-cancelling headphones.

Now it's time for a speaker, named simply, the Huawei Sound.

Initially I was pretty intrigued... I didn't really know Huawei had any kind of AI voice assistant to put into a speaker - then I realised that wasn't an issue; this isn't a smart speaker. (last year's Huawei P40 phones actually do offer a virtual assistant option named, Celia - but only in a limited number of countries)

That is to say, the Sound isn't particularly smart... but we'll come to its more clever features shortly. It certainly looks smart - similar in size and shape to other stand-alone bluetooth speakers on the market, about the size of a small indoor plant pot. It's all black - with a speaker grill circling the base and a super shiny cover on top that definitely does show the slightest fingerprint, so keep a soft cloth handy if you're moving it. The Sound's most distinctive feature is the pair of oblong openings on each side that let you see into the two SAM powered passive speaker modules that are key to the audio performance of this particular device.

There's a simple LED control panel on top, that only lights up when its nearfield detection senses your hand is close. This features just four touch controls, Mute, Play/Pause, Volume Up, Volume Down and Multifunction - or just hold your hand over the whole thing to play or pause - talk about a minimalist design ethic, which definitely resonates with my personal tastes.

While I'm sure the Huawei design team can take plenty of credit here, it's significant to note this speaker is in fact a collaboration with French sound engineering pioneers, Devialet; an innovative company with a guiding principle of providing distortion-free sound reproduction that looks pretty funky too.

There's certainly plenty of hardware packed into the Huawei Sound; three high-end, full-range tweeters in the base, pointing in every direction to capitalise on Devialet's SPACE technology and creating a 360-degree surround-sound effect if the speaker's in the middle of the room. This triple-tweeter array is teamed with a big 4-inch 40 watt woofer mounted right in the centre of the device. This really provides "punchy bass" as advertised, especially given it works in unison with those passive side units I mentioned earlier to suppress any distortion at all, no matter how loud you run the speaker. What's more, it's fun to watch the bass pulse in and out through those side cutouts.

The Sound definitely does pump out some serious volume for its size and thanks to all that Devailet tech inside, it truly is free of any rattle, vibration or buzz, even on the thumpiest of dance tracks.

While this isn't a smart speaker as such, there are three ways to connect. Yes, you can simply use the Sound as you would any other bluetooth device - it's easy enough to pair, either manually or via NFC. There's also a 3.5mm AUX-IN port concealed under a rubber flap at the back if you want to keep things old school and hard-wired. Interestingly, there's a third connection option - UPnP.

In theory, this means the Huawei Sound will appear on your Wi-Fi network as an available device for music streaming apps like Tidal, Deezer or Spotify. To set it up, you'll need to use Huawei's AI Life app, which also offers a few preset EQ effects and is how you install firmware updates. Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple, as you may also need to download a third-party plugin to stream from certain apps. For example, to use Spotify over UPnP there's an app called HiFy that shows the Sound as a speaker you can cast to. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to work. A bit frustrating as the full version of HiFy isn't free. I had more success with another app called Hi-Fi Cast. This one is free and lets you cast any music stored locally on your device directly to the Sound.

Is all this trouble worth it? In theory, yes - because streaming over Wi-Fi means higher quality audio than streaming via bluetooth. In reality though, no. It's too damn fiddly and to be honest, the Sound does a pretty decent job of reconstituting compressed audio and bringing it back to its original, room-filling glory. (Or close to it, anyway) It's a shame Huawei hasn't been able to develop its own universal plugins that download automatically when you connect the Sound to your home network. That'd make its UPnP functionality much more viable.

Not to worry, as I say, the bluetooth performance is excellent. In fact, it's so good, I came up with a little hack. Just because the Sound itself isn't smart, that doesn't mean you can't pair it with another smart device, say a smaller, cheaper smart speaker you might happen to have lying around to control things like your lights. That's exactly what I did and the bluetooth connection proved so strong and stable I never had any issues.

Of course, to enjoy the full benefits of the Sound's impressive 360-degree performance, it's best placed in the middle of the room. One problem; it still has to be plugged into the wall. On the bright side, the cable from the external power supply is quite long, very thin and plugs in as inconspicuously as possible, right underneath the base of the device. Technically, this means if you were prepared to drill a hole in your table-top, you could conceal the lead completely.

Priced at $399 and given its lack of smart abilities (and finickity UPnP), you'd want to be assured this speaker delivers audio-wise. It does. Its "upscaling" tech does a great job of recreating compressed audio and it's stylish to look at too. What's more, if you have another little $70-$80 smart speaker to pair it with, you can send it voice commands anyway. I'm surprised Huawei has entered the wireless speaker market in this somewhat limited way but it's possible this is just the first of many, bigger, smarter things to come.

As a collaboration with Devialet and as a standalone piece of high-end audio hardware, the Sound is a success.

Click here for more information on the Huawei Sound.

GOOD SOFTWARE. GREAT BRANDING

There's a whole virtual economy out there.

It's one built on skill, experience and reputation.

People have established significant careers over years, honing their talents, establishing networks and yes, making money.

Gaming.

Whether you're into it, or you've never really tried it, there's no denying gaming is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and depressingly, that's made it an attractive target for identity thieves and other cyber crime organisations.

Depending on which game or platform you're playing, you could be handing over a lot of private information for the privilege - from your unique gamer tag right up to your address, credit card or even your Facebook login. More worryingly for parents, your kids are probably doing this every day - perhaps without you even realising it.

Obviously, investing in a reputable suite of online security products is the best way to keep you and your family safe and sound.

But if that software is going to get in the way of your ability to game uninhibited, forget it.

Well now you can join the melee and be cyber-safe at the same time...

When I first heard NortonLifeLock had released a gamer-specific version of its proven and popular Norton 360 security suite, I could immediately appreciate the goal of the exercise. Recent studies suggest up to two-thirds of New Zealanders are gaming and a Harris Poll commissioned by NortonLifeLock claims a third of those people have had a gaming account hacked - some more than once. 

Now, it's not just your high scores and game progress at risk here. As I've already highlighted, identity theft is a real threat but more specifically, for gamers, upgrades and addons you've paid real money for are up for grabs, not to mention the most fundamental threat of all; someone logging into your game, changing your credentials and locking you out. Bit of a bummer if you've just handed over ninety bucks to download Red Dead Redemption II and now you can't play it.

And yet many gamers opt to run the bare minimum of online security for two main reasons; connection slow-down and annoying pop-ups.

I've tested it. Using the VPN included with Norton 360 for Gamers seems to have little to no effect on my internet speeds - certainly I can't see any impact on the way any of my games operate, either on PC or my phone.

Of course, it's virtually impossible to assess exactly how effective the "less intrusive notification" thing really is - how do you measure something that literally isn't there? What I can tell you is I haven't been bothered by notifications at all. Remember though; I'm no professional gamer. I'm not spending hour after hour trying to level up or earn my next weapon upgrade - but from what I've experienced so far, Norton 360 for Gamers is going about its business quietly and effectively in the background - very quietly.

Unfortunately, there's no way to install Norton 360 for Gamers on a console - that'd be the ideal scenario. In saying that, Xbox and Playstation users haven't been left completely out in the cold, thanks to Norton's Dark Web Monitoring. I've been using Norton cyber security products for years now and I've found them to be totally effective, with the recent addition of features like Dark Web Monitoring offering even more peace-of-mind. This is where you can load in various pieces of your identity to see if you're being traded on the internet black market. From details like your email address and credit cards through to the answers to common security questions like your mother's maiden name, this is all stuff cyber-crims are looking to hoover up. Now, to make things more inclusive for gamers, you can also task Norton 360 to keep an eye on your gamer tags - up to ten different ones in fact. If someone in the virtual underworld has nicked your tag and is trying to trade it without your knowledge, Norton will let you know so you can take the appropriate action. (I guess that means coming up with a new name... glennzbII?)

The upshot of a feature like this is it protects you regardless of what device you're using - even if you're gaming using someone else's gear. It's your online identity and details being protected, 24/7.

Great. Except...

Most of this stuff is already available with a non-gamer subscription to Norton 360 and in fact, once installed, it's almost impossible to tell the difference. Remember, normal 360 still offers Dark Web Monitoring, even the Gamer Tag option. You also already have the ability to silence notifications in the original version with a right-click on the Norton icon in the system tray. Yes, Norton 360 Premium is a bit more expensive than the Gamer edition but it covers up to five devices while Gamer will only do three.

I'm not saying don't buy Norton 360 for Gamers - quite the opposite; I think it's an elegant and effective solution to keep yourself safe while gaming. I'm just suggesting if you're responsible for more than three Macs, PC's or phones, another few bucks for Premium is probably worth considering too.

Click here for more information and pricing on Norton 360 for Gamers.

SAMSUNG IS FIRST AGAIN

So far it looks like Samsung's early product launch strategy has paid off big time.

By all reports, pre-orders and sales of this year's Galaxy S21 range of handsets are outperforming those of both the S10 and S20 lines.

Given they're the only new flagship phones around, they're certainly getting all the press.

But phones aren't the only devices on offer...

Along with the S21 range, we got some new true-wireless earbuds too; the Galaxy Buds Pro.

Before we dive into the important features of these new buds, just a quick comment on Samsung's naming policy... The original Galaxy Buds? Simple, makes sense. Then came the Galaxy Buds+ - I can go along with the "Plus" up to a point - they were the same but different, better, so... plus. Then things get screwy - the Galaxy Buds Live??? As I pointed out at the time, they're beans, not buds at all. Why weren't they just called that? What's more, if Samsung is committed to bringing out new a generation of buds every year, surely we're going to have to go with numbers eventually.

Anyway, now we've ended up with the Pros.

This is a different form factor again; more like the first two models than the beanie versions from last year. More like but not exactly like. While the Buds Pro are definitely a return to the original sealed, in-ear design and a departure from the open-ear Buds Live, they're quite a different shape; more contoured and streamlined than the Buds and Buds+ although a similar size. Available in Phantom Black, Phantom Violet or Phantom Silver, they come with three ear-tip sizes to ensure a secure, comfortable fit. I've found all the Samsung Buds to be a great fit and although the Pros don't come with swappable fins this time, their new shape takes that into account and they're still super snug, even when exercising.

Yes - they're IPX7 water resistant so they'll endure sweaty workouts with no harm done.

The big benefit of a tight fit is passive noise cancellation, something we missed out on with last year's open-ear Buds Live. They did offer active noise cancelling though and now the Pros capitalise on both, taking it a step further again with two levels of noise cancelling, depending on your preference. Set to high, the ANC does a fine job of blocking out most things, especially mechanical hums, transport noise and other annoying sounds like construction and your kids. Actually, voices still cut through to a degree, which isn't the worst thing if someone more important (like your spouse) is trying to attract your attention. Just as an example, I was using my waste disposal just now while listening to Spotify and I could hardly hear the orange peel gurgling away at all. Of course, you can set the Buds Pro to Ambient Mode for when you want to hear the outside world and now there's another feature called Voice Detection, which automatically turns your music down and activates Ambient Mode when you start talking, so you can have a conversation without having to remove your buds.

There's certainly a lot of tech packed into these tiny things - microphones of different kinds inside and out. Not only does this help make the active noise cancelling so effective, voice calls and video chats also sound super clear to whomever you're speaking with. In my testing the difference in the amount of room / background noise between, say, my laptop's built-in mic and using the Buds Pro is remarkable. This makes them a great option to use as your default mic when videoing with your phone too.

There's also a mesh covering over the exterior mic cavity to reduce wind noise as well.

It's not just about microphones, of course. The Buds Pro pack a 6.5mm tweeter and a grunty 11mm woofer in each ear. This means powerful, clear performance with plenty of low-end kick.

"Private Show" by Pink sounded punchy, bassy - but not too much - and lots of space for the interplay between lead and backing vocals. Jamie Cullum's "In the Wee Small Hours" is a much more personal, acoustic jazz number - yet the Buds Pro bring you right into the same room with Cullum - to the point you can easily hear the breath flowing through the saxophone as well as the notes. Some of the more full-on, sonically-crowded rock tunes seemed slightly flat and less lively to my ear but overall there's a warmth and intimacy to the sound I really appreciate. I'm a massive podcast consumer so anything that puts me in the studio with the hosts is a winner for me.

I've also been most impressed with the lack of lag, given these are only bluetooth earbuds after all. Watching movies on my smart TV is completely immersive, with dialogue totally in sync. Paired with my laptop, I was able to edit audio effortlessly - most other bluetooth buds and headphones frustrate with half-second delays when playing and pausing making editing impossible.

The case looks identical in shape and size to 2020's Buds Live - on the outside, although this year it's a matte finish so it won't get so fingerprinty. Open it up and you'll see the Buds Pro don't actually use all the space. I assume the rest is filled by battery, as these buds definitely last a long time on a single charge; up to 5 hours with ANC turned on and another 13 hours in the case - more than you can possibly use in a day. Like previous Samsung buds, you can charge the case wirelessly and now they charge quickly too; a five minute boost will provide another hour's listening.

As usual, settings like the Equaliser, control customisation and firmware updates are accessed through the Galaxy Wearable app. Here you can adjust ANC levels, set which apps you want to hear notifications from - even block touches if you're finding the touch controls a bit sensitive. I really like the touch controls though, yes they are very responsive but that means you're not pushing the buds into your ears, just the lightest touch will do the trick.

The Buds Pro are probably the most feature-packed earbuds I've used to date - certainly in the Samsung line. They look great - compact and subtle, the mic performance is right up there and the sound quality is definitely deserving of their premium price tag. Battery life is first rate too, with convenient fast charging and wireless charging capabilities. In fact, it's hard to see how Samsung will top this effort... or indeed what the next Buds will be called if they do.

Click here more more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro.

NOW YOU'RE COVERED. SO COVERED

Technology really does move pretty fast.

It seems like only yesterday I was reviewing my first mesh home-networking system. This was ground-breaking stuff; no more under-powered extenders with their own, different network names. Mesh technology meant you could stay connected to the same network anywhere around the house - as long as you had enough remote routers to cover the space.

Amazing.

Then...

Obsolete.

Wi-Fi 6 really is a leap forward - especially when it comes to your IoT devices at home. While not necessarily faster per se - that's mostly dependent on what kind of connection you have up to your house - what Wi-Fi 6 does really well is handle many devices at once. And now, more than ever, most of us need to connect many devices at once.

So...

Even if you have a mesh system installed in your home, if it isn't Wi-Fi 6, you're missing out...

The COVR-X1873 is a pack of three AX1800 dual-band mesh Wi-Fi 6 stations from D-Link. We've seen similar offerings from D-Link before but not Wi-Fi 6 in this form-factor.

I've reviewed Wi-Fi 6 routers and compatible extenders and to be sure, they're fantastic products in themselves. But the COVR-X1873 is definitely one of the most user-friendly, comprehensive, powerful and versatile home Wi-Fi systems available right now.

To start with, if you're going to compete in this market, you need to offer a foolproof, straightforward setup process. Using the D-Link Wi-Fi app is exactly that, walking you through the handful of steps required to get your primary COVR-X1871 router up and running step by step. Then, when it comes to powering up your second and third stations (or fourth or fifth, if required) there's not really any more setup involved - the secondary units pair themselves automatically meaning your new mesh Wi-Fi 6 network can literally be up and running in minutes. In fact, my only real gripe with the setup process is the app forces you to wait for an arbitrary amount of time between certain steps - like saving your configuration and rebooting the device. This actually seems to have nothing to do with how long it takes to reboot - in fact, the COVR-X1871's fire up extremely quickly, much faster than the two minutes the app makes you wait before moving onto the next step. Perhaps this is something D-Link will address in a future app update.

Meanwhile, the app experience is almost identical to using it with any other D-Link Wi-Fi device - you can fire off firmware updates automatically or manually, change the network name and password, set up a temporary guest network, and manage and any connected devices, even assigning them to different users with different parental controls. None of this is particularly new and most modern routers offer similar functionality via their apps.

I've always appreciated the fact D-Link lets you deactivate the status LED on its routers via a simple toggle in the app - if you've read my reviews before you'll be well aware how much I'm against unnecessary lighting displays. Unfortunately, while you can still do this on the primary unit of the COVR-X1873 set, for some reason, that option isn't available on the two remote stations. Super weird... but super unimportant - after all, it's only a little white light.

In fact, physically, that little light is probably the most eyecatching thing about these units. They're almost featureless, white rectangles other than a small D-Link logo in one bottom corner. They're not quite as small as some other, similar devices I've tried, although I think it's unlikely they'd be too tall for the vast majority of shelves if that's where you're wanting to fit one.

Of course, I've been rabbiting on about the wonders of W-Fi 6 - and that's not the only thing working to keep all your smart devices online and running to full capacity; smart roaming, MU-MIMO and smart steering all combine to prioritise which devices need access to the most amount of your available bandwidth, even saving battery on some devices if they only need to be connected some of the time.

I've surely saved the best for last though - in fact, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the rear input panel on each of these units. Each one has four gigabit LAN ports... that's on top of the input for the ethernet connection to your modem. That means you have the option of hardwiring another four devices at the site you've positioned each station. This is a massive plus for those of us using smart TV's, set-top boxes, gaming consoles and the like in multiple rooms around the house - until now I've been relying on multiple internet switches to do the same job. This is the first time I've seen this kind of versatility built into devices like these and I absolutely love it.

What's more, the COVR-X1873 offers maximum coverage - a single unit will cover up to 275sqm on its own - this pack of three will take care of a massive 740sqm. In my case, that means my whole section as well as my house. Boom.

At just under $600, this is not a budget solution but then, there are plenty of high-end modem/routers out there that don't offer anything like the coverage and versatility this system does. If you're not onto Wi-Fi 6 yet, this is a great way to do it. I've found it to be one of the most powerful, stable and user-friendly networks I've used to date.

Click here for more information and pricing on the D-Link COVR-X1873 AX1800, dual-band, seamless mesh Wi-Fi 6 system.

PEOPLE WILL ACTUALLY BE JEALOUS OF THIS LAPTOP

When they asked me what I wanted when it was time to upgrade my work laptop, I had one main task in mind; audio editing. I work at a radio station. That's my main thing.

Did that mean I wanted a PC that sounded great? Don't be silly. A computer only sounds as good as what you plug it into - sound desk, headphones, on-air studio - so no, sound wasn't my priority. I wanted a nice big screen.

You see, even if there's no video, when it comes to editing, being able to zoom in with precise detail is about the most useful feature you can have... and plenty of grunt for handling large files of course.

As it turned out, I got the same laptop as everyone else. Nice of them to ask, I s'pose. That was a few years ago now - surely it's time for an upgrade?...

The HP Envy 15 really is a creative's dream - which is kind of unexpected given it's HP's mid-range device. I think they may have made a mistake though. I think they accidentally put heaps of really cool stuff in it pushing it's performance well up into a more premium space.

The variant I've been sent to review runs on a 10th Gen i7 processor, with 16GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 dedicated graphics card and 1TB of NVMe SSD internal storage. If it had double the RAM, you'd be well on the way to a pretty decent portable gaming machine - not just reliable, powerful business tool.

Shame they still have to advertise all those bits and pieces with little stickers on the palm rest. Presumably you know those chips are in there - that's why you bought it in the first place. At least stick them on straight! Why are they crooked? You just shelled out more than three-grand for this machine, the least they can do is stick the stickers on neatly.

Meanwhile, back in reality, the Envy 15 is actually an extremely classy looking laptop. Silver aluminium everywhere, crisp corners and angles, robust and durable feeling, very solid and secure hinge mechanism.

The keyboard is nicely spaced-out with a satisfyingly clicky response. There are dedicated home, end, page-up and page-down keys along with a set of cursor keys. Some key placements have me scratching my head though; there are both camera shutter and mic mute keys - that's great as far as privacy goes, especially when you urgently need to scratch your nose during that important Zoom meeting... but why are they in two different places on the top row? Even more confounding is the position of the power button; not top right as on most keyboards but one step to the left of the delete button and just above the backspace button. Better make sure your auto-save settings are on before you accidentally power the Envy off halfway through reviewing it. (That is so going to happen now I've said it!) 

Also, the fingerprint sensor, although extremely fast and reliable, is on the bottom row, randomly squished between the cursor keys and the right-hand Alt button. Ideally, it'd be incorporated into the power key itself, as on many other laptops, tablets and phones but not here. Small niggles though and ones muscle memory soon takes care of with use.

The trackpad is faultless - the glass finish means it's comfy to use. It's accurate and again there's good click-response there.

There's a commendable number of ports here too - that's becoming a rarity for many laptops these days. Headphone/mic jack of course, two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, two full-sized USB-A's, an HDMI slot and a microSD reader. Some people have complained it's not a full-sized SD reader. Some people are never satisfied.

The display is also hard to criticise - a generous 15.6" 4K UHD AMOLED touch screen that has got to be one of the brightest I've come across on any laptop I've used. Plenty of room for my editing, not to mention a bit of sneaky Netflix. In fact, as I hinted at before, the Envy is perfectly capable of running many high-resource, new-release games as well, perhaps not at their absolute maximum settings, but close to it. That'll certainly get the laptop running pretty hot though - in spite of its built-in vapour cooling system, dual 12-volt fans and plenty of ventilation underneath and along the right-hand side.

Luckily, you can easily adjust the Envy's resources to divert more to cooling, performance or keeping fans quiet - thanks to HP Command Center, one of a suite of pre-installed HP utilities that are actually all pretty useful. HP QuickDrop is another good one, helping you quickly transfer files and images between laptop and phone.

I'm impressed with the speaker array too. Because of the Envy's wide screen, there's plenty of room opposite for the Bang & Olufsen upward firing speakers. Although there are only two speakers, not four, I definitely prefer this setup to the downward-facing arrays found on many other devices. It makes dialogue and stereo effects seem much more like they're emanating from the screen itself than somewhere else.

In terms of battery life... I give up. Honestly, is there anything more meaningless than trying to tell you how long the battery will last on a laptop? Are you gaming? Are you streaming? Are you editing? Are you just browsing? Do you have the HDR settings wound up? Or the brightness right down? There are seriously so many variables that can make not just minutes of difference to your power consumption but in many cases, hours. What I can give you is my general impression after using this thing for a week or so; the battery life is surprisingly good. Surprising, because the screen really is massive and 4K UHD AMOLED displays are notoriously power-hungry. Luckily, the 6-cell, 83Wh battery is up to the task. Look, I'm not suggesting you'll cruise through your work day with juice to spare, far from it. This isn't a little tablet that'll crank out 10-15 hours on a single charge. I'm saying instead of the almost two hours my current work laptop can just about manage under normal conditions, the Envy 15 will hum along for at least five hours, no problem.

Unfortunately, the charging brick is particularly brick-like - a huge, heavy thing that'll definitely add noticeable extra weight to your briefcase which will already be straining at the handles due to the Envy's 2.14 kilos. On the up side, that brick will get you to 50% in around forty-five minutes, which is pretty good for a laptop.

There's no getting around it, the Envy 15 is not perhaps the most portable of portable computing devices, being so big and weighty. But then, that's exactly why I love it; awesome computing power to spare and an enormous, high-end display that's simply stunning to use. It's far from the cheapest laptop on the market but it's just as far from the priciest too - yet some of its best bits are among the best bits around.

Click here for more information on the HP Envy 15.

HEADPHONES FOR WORK, NOT PLAY

Things have changed. Regardless of whether you're still working from home or you've been back in the office for months - or a bit of both - remote meetings are obviously here to stay.

Over the last year most of us have become completely familiar and comfortable with video-calling online, in many cases superseding even conventional phone conversations.

Given this new reality, it could well be time to upgrade some of that hastily thrown-together, lock-down, home-office tech for one or two more purpose-built devices.

Let's start with your headset. After all, if you can't hear or be heard, there's not much point being in those meetings at all...

Sennheiser is a name you already know, with an established reputation for high-end consumer audio products. Demant is perhaps less well-known but it's been successfully developing communication solutions of all kinds all over the world for some time. So it stands to reason, when those two brands have a baby, good things are probably going to happen.

The EPOS Adapt 560 is one of those good things; an on-ear headset specifically designed for you to make the most of your newly developed online networking skills.

Aesthetically, the Adapt 560 is no fashion statement. My feeling is the design effort was much more focussed on practicality and functionality than making these cans look pretty. There's a bunch-of-different-components-joined-together kind of a look going on here, rather than the more streamlined, brightly coloured headphones you might choose to wear on the bus or to the gym.

Look a little closer though and you realise this is a very well-engineered, durable piece of kit constructed from high quality materials. Personally, I find the on-ear form-factor less comfortable than a larger, over-ear design. This is mostly due to my massive head and the fact I wear glasses. In saying that, the ear-cushions on the Adapt 560 are lovely, plump, squishy things that do a good job of relieving that on-ear pressure. Obviously, because they're small, they're light too. The headband is narrow but also well padded and although the headset looks kind of clunky when you're wearing it, it feels comfy and breathes well, even after periods of prolonged use.

Not only is the device already small anyway but it folds up even smaller - to fit into a plush carry case. This is a lot flatter than other headphone cases out there which makes it easier to stash in a handbag or briefcase although its velvety surface does tend to pick up fluff, hair and other little bits and pieces.

Speaking of bits and pieces, the Adapt 560 comes with a USB-C cable and a bluetooth dongle, adding up to three different ways you can connect to your computer.

Oddly, when I went to plug the Adapt 560 into my laptop, I discovered the supplied USB cable, although high quality and a good length, was a USB-A to microUSB lead - not much use given the headset connects and charges via USB-C. I'm assuming this is just some weird, one-off anomaly with the review headset I've been sent. No matter, I have a few adapters lying around.

Obviously I've tried connecting both via bluetooth and via the cable - it seems to make very little difference to the all-round audio experience so I'd just go with whatever's most convenient for your setup, bearing in mind the headset will keep charging if connected via the cable. Not quickly though - you're looking at over three and a half hours for a full charge. You'll get about week's worth use from that single charge though (approximately 40 hours-ish) so that's the big payoff.

In terms of the listening experience, I found this varied wildly depending on which paired device I was listening to. I was just enjoying John Mayer's theme from "The Search for Everything" on my phone, a masterfully played and produced acoustic guitar instrumental. Every note rang true, there was a good depth and warmth, it was full and pretty. Then I swapped to the same track playing from my work laptop. The good news is, the Adapt 560 can connect to both devices simultaneously - even if I'm connected to my laptop via the USB cable, I can still listen to playlists from my phone over bluetooth.

As soon as a new audio app becomes active, it takes priority, be it a streaming service, audio editor or a softphone like Teams or Zoom.

The bad news is, the sound quality from the laptop is flat and dry, with no sense of space to it at all. I assume this is more to do with the way my laptop processes things than the way the way the headset does but still something to bear in mind if you listen to a lot of Spotify while you work. Weirdly, Netflix sounds a lot better - good stereo effects and a much more dynamic contrast.

What isn't up for debate is the microphone quality. It's truly excellent. So clear, with little or no background noise. This is no cheap gaming headset with a tinny, add-on mic that makes you sound like you're coming through a phone speaker in another room. This is crisp audio quality that'll ensure no misunderstandings at your next video conference.

Best of all, the mic-boom rotates snugly away when not in use, almost flush and and barely noticeable on the right-hand earcup.

In fact, the everything happens on the right ear-cup -that's where all the control buttons are too - sorry, lefties. There's a power/mute/pairing button, a volume/skip toggle, a hook button which answers and ends calls as well as firing off Microsoft Teams and a settings button that turns voice prompts on and off, tells you how much charge is left and most importantly, turns ANC on and off. To be honest - that's way too many buttons... who can possibly remember what they all do? Better to have too many than not enough I guess. I just wish there was an AUX-in socket for a standard 3.5mm plug - after all, why have three ways of connecting when you can have four?

ANC is perhaps the most impressive feature of the Adapt 560; the active noise cancelling may not be the best I've ever tried but it's certainly up there, with four ANC mics working in concert to ensure all you hear is what you want to hear and the only thing people you're online with hear is you.

The $513 price-tag seems a little steep to me although the Adapt 560 definitely delivers on every promise it makes; audio clarity, comfort, battery life, versatility - what's more, if you're looking to kit out a whole office with them, you can request a trial from EPOS directly.

No, this headset might not win any beauty pageants but in terms of getting the job done, consider it done.

Click here for more information and pricing on the EPOS Adapt 560.