Dell XPS 15 - Intel Evo Proves All Powerful

For an ordinary, everyday laptop user like me, it's getting more and more difficult to find anything wrong with the latest crop of Windows laptops.

This is mostly thanks to the chips driving them and Intel has once again proven it's up to the task with the latest 13th-gen Intel Core processors. I've tried a couple of Intel Evo-certified devices now and my overall takeaway is these laptops are now at a point where they're hard to criticise because they do exactly what you want them to, quickly, quietly and efficiently - becoming more of a natural extension of your work environment rather than a separate tool you have to learn to use in a specific way.

Once the barriers of connectivity, processing power and battery life have been overcome, that's where true productivity happens - and there's no better example than the latest Intel Evo laptop from Dell.

The Dell XPS 15 is a classy piece of kit right out of the box; slim as can be, tapering down to its very narrow, easy-open user-facing edge. It's constructed from Platinum Silver-coloured CNC machined aluminium with a contrasting black keyboard and carbon-fibre plam rest inside.

The 15.6-inch FHD+ display means this is not a particularly compact device - but that means more advantages than disadvantages as far as I'm concerned; plenty of room for a well-spaced and responsive full-sized keyboard, flanked by upward-firing speakers and a very large touchpad.

There's a dedicated fingerprint key for secure logins and there's also the Windows Hello camera for a face unlock instead - good to have options. Both work reliably and more importantly, swiftly. This is one of the first indicators of just how well the 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700H processor drives everything. Login is effortless, as it should be.

A screen and keyboard combo of this size means this is pretty much as close as you're going to get to emulating a desktop experience without connecting an external monitor - which you can do via USB-C or the external HDMI/USB-A to USB-C adapter included in the box.

The large, anti-glare display not only provides plenty of on-screen real-estate to work with, if you like to have multiple windows open simulataneously - but it also obviously makes the XPS 15 a fine multi-media device for streaming video or viewing online meetings.

And video doesn't just look amazing, it sounds phenomenal too.

From the first moment I streamed video on the XPS 15 I was stunned by the sound quality. I think this is the first time I've encountered a Waves Nx speaker array and if this level of performance is typical then I'm definitely a fan. As mentioned, there are two up-firing speakers on either side of the keyboard with another couple of tweeters in the base. Even when the computer was sitting on my duvet the sound was still clear, powerful and roomy - a bigger sound than pretty much anything I've experienced on any similar device.

Of course, this is so much more than a fancy way to watch movies in bed.

The XPS 15 is a great way to make movies as well.

The review device I've been sent is the base model; 16GB of RAM, 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD storage and a dedicated Intel Arc A370M video card. Yes, even the base configuration features a 4GB graphics card which not only means this computer is well capable of running most high-spec games but it also makes it a wonderful tool for audio and video production.

I edited the video at the bottom of this review without so much as a stutter or pause. Exporting, converting and saving files happens quickly and consistently. Oh... and games load pretty fast too.

There are two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports on the left side, a USB 3.2 Type-C with DisplayPort on the right, a headset port and an SD-card slot for easy transfer of large files. I really like having USB-C ports I can plug a charger into on both sides of the laptop - it makes things a lot more versatile. I also really like that the XPS 15 comes with a 130W charging brick - that means a fast charge of the 6-cell, 86 Wh battery which I've found lasts and lasts - it certainly coasts through a day's work for me before I have to plug it in again.

By now, you might be thinking this is pretty much the perfect laptop but I can't have that, so I've found one significant flaw just to prove this is a genuinely unbiased review. On a device where pretty much every component has impressed, the camera is decidedly average. I thought we'd left the days of sub-standard laptop cams behind us - I've certainly been more than happy with some of the higher resolution, light-correction and auto-focussing abilities of the webcams on several laptops I've used over the last year or two but sadly, not this time. The 720p image is grainy and although you have the option to remove background noise when using the dual mic array for voice calls, I wasn't overly wowed by the mic quality either.

This seems an odd shortcoming on a device otherwise tailormade for a WFH/Hybrid work environment - especially when the quality of both screen and speaker system is absolutely first-rate.

As is pretty much every other aspect of the XPS 15. Thanks in a large part to the sheer power and efficiency of that 13th-gen Intel Core chip, intelligent features like Adaptive Thermals - which senses if you're using the device on your lap or a desktop and adjusts the cooling method accordingly - work reliably and quickly, with no fuss. 

Linking your phone for easy file transfer and media management is another way a device like the Dell XPS 15 earns its Intel Evo certification. Again, this works effortlessly - not just with Android devices via Phone Link but using Intel's own Unison app, all the same features are accessible on iOS devices too.

Other than its camera performance, the XPS 15 has consistently wowed me at every turn; battery life, display performance, unblievable speakers and of course the power of the 13th-gen Intel Core chip combined with excellent graphics and fast DDR5 memory simply can't be faulted. If I didn't know this was the base-configuration I'd been using I would have assumed I'd been sent all the upgrades as well. Effortless computing.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Dell XPS 15.

Nanoleaf 4D - Taking Your Screen to Another Dimension

If you'd asked me what I thought of backlighting your TV before I tried it myself, I would have said it's a silly gimmick that's a bit of fun but probably only something nerdy gamers would be into.

The funny thing is, I've been using a smart LED system to mirror my TV's lighting on the wall behind it for a while now and I love it so much, I miss it when watching other TVs.

What's more, guests often comment on my TV - they'll say stuff like, "That's a really nice TV." Now admittedly, I do have a pretty nice TV but I think the thing that really catches their attention - often without them even really understanding what it is - is the backlighting.

It basically takes the colours on screen and extends them out onto the wall beyond, creating a thoroughly immersive viewing experience most people seem to find quite captivating.

But it's not cheap; my system requires not just the lights but a W-Fi bridge to connect them to the internet and another box to run the HDMI signal through to create the mirroring effects. All up, the entire system costs over $1300.00, which is obviously completely bonkers. You could buy a whole new TV for that price.

However, it turns out there's more than one way to light up your life...

There are many remarkable talking points around the Nanoleaf 4D Screen Mirror + Lightstrip Kit but perhaps the most remarkable is the price; this basic starter box is only NZD$189.99.

This kit includes camera, mount, controller, corner brackets and a 4-metre long self adhesive lightstrip. That's long enough for any screen up to 65-inches and there's a longer option for larger displays up to 85-inches.

So right off the bat you might be wondering why there's a camera; this is what differentiates the Nanoleaf 4D system from other screen-mirroring lighting solutions. Rather than receiving a digital signal from whichever source is providing the images on screen, Nanoleaf 4D looks at what's on screen instead, then sends that information to the lightstrip.

This approach has both pros and cons - the most significant disadvantage is there's no denying having a camera mounted on an arm that protrudes from the top of your TV is a little distracting and certainly takes some getting used to. The mount itself is very well designed, providing a stable, non-permanent way to position the small, hexagonal camera module above the centre of your screen without actually obscuring any of it - even on screens with very narrow bezels. The cable from the camera tucks into a channel along the top of the mount to keep it tidily out of the way.

But if you find you just can't deal with the sight of camera and mount hovering above your telly, the base of the camera module also folds out so you can position it on a shelf below the screen instead, although after testing it both ways I found the above-screen setup works a bit better - more on that shortly.

Some people are funny about cameras. They worry about privacy and are paranoid baddies will somehow hijack their camera to... to... well, I don't know what they think is going to happen actually - especially given this particular camera isn't pointing at anything but your TV or monitor, doesn't record anything and isn't really connected to the internet. However, for extra peace-of-mind, Nanoleaf includes a magnetic privacy cover in the box.

But before you even install the camera, you'll probably want to start by attaching the lightstrip to the back of your TV - this is quite straight-forward; the strip has an adhesive backing and there are four corner mounts to help you keep it in place. The best thing to do is start in one of the bottom corners and work your way around the screen, finishing up back where you began. You can then trim off any excess length to keep things nice and tidy.

From there it's simply a matter of mounting the camera and plugging it, the lightstrip and the power supply into the small controller box. Once powered on, you can use the Nanoleaf app to continue setting up. This entails assigning the Nanoleaf 4D to a room, just like you would with any other Nanoleaf smart light, then a guided calibration process; firstly designating above or below camera position, secondly identifying exactly where on the lightstrip each corner is and lastly tracing the edge of your screen on an image captured by the camera. This last step is crucial because as the camera is mounted so close to the screen, its wide-angle view of things is quite fish-eyed and warped.

When I tried the below-screen position for the camera, at first I couldn't figure out why I kept getting bright red colours reflected on the wall when there wasn't any red action on-screen. Eventually I realised the camera was picking up my TV's power LED situated at bottom right-hand corner of the screen - not an issue when the camera was mounted at the top.

Once everything is set up you can then activate the Nanoleaf 4D using the controller box, the Nanoleaf app or even using voice commands via Siri, Alexa, Bixby or Google Assistant. I tended to use the app on my phone given I was usually sitting across the room on my couch.

Like other Nanoleaf lights, this lightstrip can be set to any static colour and brightness of your choice. It can display dynamic, changing "scenes" - either from a selection of preset options or you can design your own. There's even a new feature called Magic Scene, where you type in a word or phrase - perhaps "birthday" or "mellow afternoon" and Nanoleaf will come up with a unique scene to match.

The Rhythm Music Visualizer is also on offer. This means the lightstrip will react in time to music or voices - great fun for a karaoke night.

But the main event is, of course, the 4D screen mirroring.

The 4Ds refer to four different levels of intensity - 1D = a very basic backlighting effect. 2D = still subtle but slightly more animated in relation to the action on screen. 3D = a much more accurate mirroring effect, closely matching the colours being played. 4D = an exaggerated, over-the-top, hyper-colourful effect.

I found I preferred the 3D setting, for a realistic enhancement of my TV, movie and sports viewing with 4D perhaps more suited to gaming. Even once you've selected a "D" you can customise things further - choosing between the slightly muted Cinematic setting or the more eye-popping but sometimes distracting Vivid mode.

At that point you can dive even deeper into the customisations, really fine-tuning the brightness and intensity of the colours.

And the result is pretty good. As I said - I found the 3D, Cinematic setting provided the most accurate mirroring experience - extending the green of sports pitches across my wall and making explosions seem like they were happening in my living room.

In all honesty, no amount of recalibration and settings-tweaks achieved quite the same mirroring effect of my previous lighting system but remember; that one costs more than a thousand dollars more and it definitely isn't a thousand dollars better.

What's more, Nanoleaf 4D has a distinct advantage over that other, HDMI-based system. My previous system only worked with external devices like streaming boxes and gaming consoles. Because the signal had to be received via HDMI cable, there was no way to use it with the native, built-in apps on my TV.

On the other hand, the Nanoleaf 4D camera simply mirrors anything playing on screen - from live TV to video games, making it much more versatile.

That versatility follows through to its ability to integrate with other Nanoleaf lights via the Sync+ function. This means you're not just limited to mirroring using the included lightstrip but you can expand the effect across other devices like Nanoleaf Lines and Shapes. I've had a bit of a play around with this feature but with limited success so far. As I discovered with my previous review of Nanoleaf's Matter-Over-Thread devices, getting multiple lights to play well with each other is often problematic and it's possible future firmware updates will smooth this process out a bit.

I've decided for now the best way to use Nanoleaf is set it and forget it - once it's working the way I want it to it works that way consistently, every time I turn on my TV. You won't find a more effective backlight mirroring system for the price.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Nanoleaf 4D Screen Mirror + Lightstrip Kit.

Samsung QN900C and Samsung HW-Q990C - Unsurprisingly, Still the Best

Look, I know I say this every year so let's just get it out of the way right off the bat; yes, the latest Samsung QLED 8K TV is phenomenally good and is probably the best TV money can buy right now. That's not news. The real surprise would be if it wasn't the best this year.

However, there are some interesting developments to discuss and even more excitingly, Samsung sent me a whiz-bang sound system to pair it with for this review so we'll have a good listen to that as well.

The Neo QLED 8K QN900C is the culmination of years and years of Samsung's determination to produce the best display possible. Many of its features are refinements of relatively new technologies while some are more of a heritage thing - the One Connect box for example. 

This is key to the QN900C's ability to be one of the slimmest TVs I've ever set up. the One Connect box moves all the ports, processing and power supply away from the panel and puts them in a separate unit - connected to the display by a single cable. Although these days, if you prefer, you can still attach the One Connect box to the back of the TV, out of sight, clipped to the stand included in the box. There's even a special clip-on cover to keep any cables as concealed as possible.

Yes, other than the picture itself, perhaps the most striking thing about a Samsung Neo QLED is the "Infinity One Design." Not only is the stand-alone panel a mere 15.2mm thick but the screen is virtually borderless - only the thinnest of metal bezels to hold the glass in place. This has led me to comment negatively about other excellent televisions when they don't have quite the same borderless abilities. The Infinity illusion is now further enhanced with the integration of the Philips Hue app. This means you can add Hue lighting behind the TV and it will match the on-screen action colour-for-colour; the green of a sports pitch now extends across your walls while movie explosions don't just happen on-screen but beyond it as well.

Another added, integrated feature in recent times is the Xbox app, giving Xbox Ultimate Game Pass subscribers access to the Cloud Gaming library with no console required. Assuming you have a bluetooth controller and a decent internet connection, this works brilliantly and I've spent way too much time playing the Lego Star Wars "Skywalker Saga" over the last week or so.

Samsung TV Plus is yet another added extra - dozens of live TV channels featuring news, sport, comedy, movies, kids entertainment and more - all for free, no subscription required. This service has improved markedly in terms of content since I first discovered it last year and I assume it will continue to get better.

Addons like Hue, Xbox and Samsung TV Plus are not unique to this particular telly of course - most late-model Samsungs have them too, including the new OLED model I reviewed recently.

As I mentioned at the time, some people seem determined to choose OLED over QLED (or Neo QLED) and it's great Samsung now offers the choice. However, I've seen both TVs in the same room and there's something about the 8K QN900C that gives it a significant edge as far as I'm concerned. Since the advent of Samsung's first 8K QLEDs, some years back, I've found the depth of image to be quite mesmerising. I've often described this effect as being the closest thing to 3D you can get - that feeling you can almost reach into the screen and become part of the action, Tron-style. This sensation, this sense of depth has only intensified over the years, becoming even more tangible once Samsung moved from QLED to Neo QLED, due to the dramatic increase in resolution.

And it's not just native 8K content that provides this magical, 3D-like experience - which is just as well because right now the only place you're likely to find anything in 8K is the occasional YouTube video. No, thanks to the QN900C's Neural Quantum Processor lesser content is upscaled to 8K and looks sumptuous. There are several clever HDR tricks going on here to enhance brightness and make colours pop under any lighting conditions and Samsung has now even been validated by Pantone for its colour accuracy.

Make no mistake, it's an incredible picture.

And if it's a miracle Samsung manages to carry all that off on a panel less than 2cm thick, how on earth do they fit all those speakers in there too?

In another evolution - more than a brand new innovation - OTS Pro has been refined even further. This is the audio technology that tracks the action across the screen, although I can still only really appreciate the full effect when sitting very close to the TV. As good as the speakers are, there's still no substitute for an external Dolby Atmos surround sound system - especially one that can work in tandem with the QN900C's own speakers to provide the most immersive soundscape possible.

This TV/Soundbar/Subwoofer/Wireless Surround speaker combination is called Q-Symphony - again, not a new feature but one that now works better than ever thanks to SpaceFit Sound Pro. This automatically calibrates the Samsung TV and its connected speakers to your room, ensuring convincing height effects and optimising bass.

The HW-Q990C soundbar comes with a pair of pre-paired surround speakers and a massive subwoofer unit (weighing in at almost 12kgs). 

I use Samsung's SmartThings app to set up their review TVs as it remembers previous settings and generally speeds up the process. This is also the best way to add the HW-Q990C sound system too - here you can adjust EQ, choose from different sound modes (surround, Adaptive Sound etc) although don't get too excited about being able to tweak the settings of the wireless rear speakers - while some systems will let you manually configure how much level and balance the rear speakers will pump out, you'll have to trust Samsung's automated SpaceFit Sound function for that. To be fair, it does a fine job - I've just been watching the final season of Barry and there's a lot of off-screen action mixed into the soundtrack. This effect comes across brilliantly, causing the dog to be seriously confused about who else was in the room on a number of occasions.

Everything about the HW-Q990C is big; as I've mentioned, the sub is enormous. The surrounds are not too oversized, although the do feature up-firing speakers so they'll need a bit of space and the soundbar itself is also quite intrusive - almost as wide as the 65" TV above it, quite deep but luckily, not so high as to obstruct any of the screen when it's on its relatively low stand.

One weird anomaly; the small, rubber row of physical controls in the centre of the top of the soundbar wasn't glued on straight - see the picture. It still seems to work okay and to be fair, the only time I touched this was to pair the soundbar with my phone but I'd expect a little more attention to detail from a NZD$2,500.00 sound system. Perhaps this was a pre-consumer review model, rushed out to me in a hurry.

Not to worry - the way it sounds is the important thing and it's pretty much perfect - the sound is also big. Plenty of power to spare and lots of space for dialogue, music and sound effects. There is an Active Voice Amplifier toggle if required but I certainly haven't felt the need to activate it - thats the advantage of the vast soundscape the HW-Q990C seems to create - there's plenty of space for everything to be heard clearly.

One other small thing - the remote for the soundbar is not solar-powered like the remote for the TV is. This seems strange given Samsung's proud commitment to reducing its carbon footprint. perhaps they'll figure this out next year. Again, not a major issue for me because I have the system connected to the TV via eARC HDMI, so the Q900C's One Remote controls everything.

All in all, this is a sublime home entertainment experience - the near perfect images the Q900C produces are further enhanced by the Q-Symphony combo of buit-in speakers and the convincing surround punch of the HW-Q990C sound system.

Added extras like Philips Hue integration and Xbox Cloud Gaming make this such a total package you may never leave the house again.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900C.

Click here for more information and pricing in the Samsung Q-series soundbar HW-Q990C.

NETGEAR Orbi 860 - Probably All the Mesh You'll Ever Need

Assuming you have a stable, powerful fibre connection to your home, what you do with it after that can either make or break the way you access the internet. The wrong router setup can cause an unfathomable chokepoint and any money you're paying an ISP for high-speed service will be immediately wasted.

When I reviewed the Orbi 960 mesh Wi-Fi system from NETGEAR late last year I had no doubt this was the best home Wi-Fi solution I'd ever tested. A quad-band network based on the very latest Wi-Fi 6E protocol, the Orbi 960 router and its satellites were so powerful it was, to be quite honest, overkill. Like running my house's electricity requirements off its own, dedicated nuclear reactor.

Not that I'm suggesting it isn't great to have access to more Wi-Fi than is required but not only was the 960 the best system I'd used, it was also easily the most expensive - probably pricing itself out of the budgets of most "average" users.

So it seemed like a good idea to give something else a go - perhaps I don't need to wear a three-piece business suit around the house 24 hours a day when some smart, comfortable casualwear might be more appropriate.

That doesn't mean Orbi isn't still the solution though...

NETGEAR'S Orbi 860 AX6000 Wi-Fi 6 mesh system offers much of what the 960 series does but at a much more affordable price. Yes, there are some compromises to be made but they're compromises I'd suggest the vast majority of consumers wouldn't even be aware they were making. I knew I was making them and it didn't seem to make any difference at my place.

Best of all, unlike the 960, the 860 router and any satellites you add don't just come in white but also in fashionable (and patriotic) black. This may seem like a trivial distinction but compared to many other Wi-Fi devices, the Orbi 860 stations are quite large; 25cm tall and 19cm wide - so they're not the kind of thing you can easily hide away out of sight behind a vase of flowers. Therefore, if you can choose between black or white, you'll be much more likely to fit the 860 system in with your decor.

But enough of such trivialities! Let's talk performance - surely that's all that really matters when it comes to suping up your home network? Well, sure - sheer download speed and reliable streaming is what you want at the end of the day but there's an all-important and potentially frustrating step in the middle; setup. Unless you can configure your network correctly (and easily) what's the point?

The Orbi app makes this a foolproof process. You can't really go wrong as long as you identify which device is the router and which is the satellite (or satellites). This is something NETGEAR does slightly differently to some other manufacturers when it comes to mesh Wi-Fi; often all the stations in a pre-paired pack are basically interchangeable but with an Orbi system there's a "master" unit with the crucial 10 Gig WAN port - this means if you're lucky enough to have access to a Hyperfibre plan like I do, you can funnel all of that fat, juicy, high-speed connectivity directly into the router from your modem so you can then spread it liberally around your home, either via Wi-Fi or through any of the four 1GB ethernet LAN ports. (There are four gigabit ports on each satellite as well as on the router itself)

The Orbi 860 system comes in a 2, 3 or 4 pack - with the satellites all pre-paired and ready to go as soon as you power them up. Additional satellites can be added with a simple press of the physical Sync button but with 360 square metres coverage from the 2-pack I was sent to review, I don't think I'll need to be adding on any time soon. More on that later.

The Orbi app is very clearly set out - once you've done the obvious things like name your network and assign passwords you can easily access a list of connected devices, activate a guest Wi-Fi network, view usage data and check your internet speed - although this last tool only confirms the speed between the internet and your router. This is useful for confirming you're getting what you're paying for from your ISP - but it's not the tool I'll be using in the video below because I'm more interested in the coverage the Orbi 860 is providing around my house.

There are also some paid features you can try through the Orbi app; my 860 2-pack comes with a year's free subscription to NETGEAR Armor; a full-featured cyber security suite that scans any connected devices for vulnerabilities and lets you download Bitdefender Security to your connected phones, tablets and computers. A 12-month trial is pretty generous and will  give you plenty of time to decide if you think it's working for you and worth the paid subscription afterwards.

What I think is less of a good deal is the 30 day trial of premium Parental Control features. As with most home Wi-Fi systems you can create profiles for each user, assigning connected devices so you can see who's logged-on, when and for how long. For a month you can use the Orbi app to closely monitor what your kids are accessing online and you can restrict certain sites, set time limits and all that other mean stuff parents have to do to turn their kids into normal human beings. I think these features should be included free permanently - especially on a premium device like this.

However, at my house this isn't really an issue because as much as I'd like to be able to tell the users what they can access and for how long, the youngest of them is almost 20 and I don't think that would go down very well.

What does go down well is the amazing speeds and coverage we're getting from the Orbi 860 all over my house. Although the more expensive 960 system I reviewed last year offers quad-band Wi-Fi 6E as opposed the the tri-band Wi-Fi 6 from the Orbi 860, I have to say I can't really tell the difference. As my video clearly demonstrates, I'm getting blistering performance everywhere I need it and what's more, so far the reliability has been totally bulletproof.

The fact is, the extra bandwidth and connectivity options the higher-specced 960 system offers probably won't be fully utilised until some time in the future. Right now, most of my devices are still not Wi-Fi 6E compatible - it's likely only the latest phones and computers at your place are and from what I've seen the real-world benefits of the newer 6E protocol just aren't there yet.

Don't get me wrong here; I'm not trying to dissuade you from splurging on the awe-inspiring might of the Orbi 960 - and at around NZD$1600.00 for the 2-pack, the Orbi 860 is far from a budget option either. However, given I've tried both and found the results at my place to be very similar, I'd suggest if you decide to save hundreds - and go for the black option - you'll be very happy with your Orbi 860 system fo some years to come.

    

Click here for more information on the NETGEAR Orbi 860.