Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025) - Minor Upgrade. Great Watch

Despite the pressure for tech manufacturers to update their products at least once a year, it's not compulsory. In fact, when you think about it, it's not even realistic.

Imagine coming up with something so ground-breaking, so innovative and so desirable it becomes one of the most coveted devices of 2024.

Now imagine being told you need to do it again 12 months later.

Why?

Has the competition suddenly replicated every design element? Every feature? Every function of the software?

Of course not.

I assume that's what Samsung was thinking when it unveiled the 2025 Galaxy Watch Ultra.

That's right. This year's Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra looks exactly the same as the 2024 version. Its the same size and weight. It has the same processor and even the same battery. 

Bearing in mind it's a very powerful processor for a watch and that battery will last more than two days, even if you're using all the features - up to 100 hours in power saving mode.

For once, Samsung has literally said, "If it ain't broke..." and you'd be hard-pushed to break this device of course. Titanium casing. Sapphire Crystal glass. Components cushioned against impact. This is the watch that meets so many military standards, it's not just water and dust-proof but also height, depth, heat, cold and pressure-proof. 

I don't ever want to be anywhere where it's minus 20° - or positive 55° for that matter. I doubt that I'll ever find myself 9000 metres up or 100 metres underwater - but it's good to know if I ever do, I'll still be able to tell the time and measure my stress levels. I imagine they'll be pretty high.

This is the watch that can track everything; your skin temperature, your blood pressure - even your heart-rate variation while you sleep.

Not to mention dozens of sports and exercises, including full dual-frequency GPS for accurate navigation and the ability to retrace your steps.

None of that is new. Doesn't mean it's not still pretty awesome.

And it's not like there are no differences at all.

The 2025 Galaxy Watch Ultra now comes in Titanium Blue, in addition to last year's choices of Titanium White, Titanium Grey and Titanium Silver.

And the new model has twice the built-in storage - 64GB rather than 32GB.

And that seems to literally be it.

Not that it isn't great to have another colour to choose from and if you're going to have phone-sized storage on a smartwatch, this is the one to have it on. That's because the Galaxy Watch Ultra is probably the most suited of any watch to be worn out and about without its paired phone.

The durability and good battery life are part of the reason but also the fact its large display makes tasks like replying to messages more practical. Most importantly, you can activate an eSIM on the Galaxy Watch Ultra so you can use it to its full functionality, even when you leave your phone at home.

That means you can load your favourite playlist or podcasts onto that 64GB, pair directly with earbuds or headphones and take your phone out of the equation while you're out and about heli ski-ing, base jumping or setting land speed records in the desert. All that sort of thing.

Obviously, all the sport and exercise tracking I've covered off numerous times before just keeps getting better and better - with significant improvements to the running coach options. But it's the enhancements and additions Samsung has made to health tracking that have really captured my attention.

By calibrating with a third-party blood pressure cuff, the Galaxy Watch Ultra can then keep an eye on things for you. Combine that with skin temperature readings, Heart Rate Variability during sleep and now the ability to measure vascular load - you'll receive plenty of warning if there's an uncharacteristic change you might want to consult a doctor about.

You can now even measure your antioxidant index based on the level of carotenoids in your skin. This is a somewhat cumbersome process though, as you have to take the watch off and press your thumb against the BioActive sensor, while following instructions from the Health app on your phone. Newsflash; I'm not eating enough fruit and veggies.

Perhaps the most depressing thing about reviewing a new Galaxy Watch is the results that appear in the Samsung Health app from my sleep tracking. The fast charging and good battery life of the Ultra make it a practical sleep tracker, although being such a large watch, some users may find it too bulky to wear comfortably all night. I've also had some negative feedback from the other person in the bed due to bright light leaking from the BioActive Sensor pressed against my wrist.

Combine that with my horrendous snoring and it's a miracle she puts up with me.

I can't argue about the snoring either - between the Galaxy Watch Ultra and the S24 Ultra phone I have it paired with, the evidence is there for everyone to see - and hear. Not only do I know I snored for 1h 22m last night, I can select from any of the ten recordings that were made to hear exactly how earsplitting it was.

I also know I'm spending too much time awake during the night (probably because of someone snoring) and that I'm not getting enough deep sleep.

On the bright side, my Sleep Latency is excellent. That's the length of time it takes me to fall asleep. I mean, I'm really tired.

So I've been assigned a sleep animal. I'm a shark, apparently. Sounds pretty cool but it turns out sharks never stop moving and as a "Shark Sleeper" I'm not getting enough total sleep time, I tend to wake up at night and I have inconsistent sleep times from day to day.

The frustrating thing about sleep tracking with the Galaxy Watch Ultra is I can take all the coaching advice it has to offer - the fact is, I do a job that requires me to get up at 2:50AM and I can't seem to get the Samsung Health app to take that into account.

Essentially, Samsung keeps finding new ways to tell my how unhealthy my lifestyle choices are. It sums all this up in an Energy Score at the start of each day, with some advice on what I can do to improve the next day's score.

For example, during the week when I get less sleep, my Energy Score tends to be fairly low and my watch tends to suggest I reduce my activity and up my rest. If only.

No wonder my AGE index is so high. Not my age - my level of Advanced Glycation End products. I think this means my body is older than it should be.

Unfortunately, I can't just press a button on the Galaxy Watch Ultra and magically fix all these worrying measurements - not even the "Quick" shortcut button can do that, although I do have it set to instantly commence my Outdoor Walk workout which happens to coincide with when the dog requires his daily constitutional.

However, forewarned is forearmed and now it's my challenge to see if I can influence some of the stats my watch has presented me with - more useful information than any other smartwatch I've worn to date. Maybe one day I'll no longer be a shark and I'll have morphed into a hedgehog, or perhaps even a walrus instead.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy Watch (2025).

HP EliteBook Ultra G1i - Ticking All the Boxes

I don't really know why it is but some devices just wow you from the moment you take them out of the box.

In fact, in the case of the HP EliteBook Ultra G1i, I wasn't even sure it was IN the box to start with.

It's actually not the lightest laptop in town - although at just 1.19kg, it's pretty light - especially for a device with a full 14-inch display. But when I picked up the box in the mail room, I wondered if they'd left something out. Like the 65W power adapter. Or the computer.

However, once I got it home and pulled it out I saw what I had here was a very classy - yet quite understated - piece of tech.

The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i has been manufactured in an "Atmospheric Blue" metal chassis and because of its spacious 14-inch, 16:10 display, there's plenty of room on the opposite half for a full-sized keyboard, including a complete set of function keys, and a touchpad that's about the size of a basketball court.

Okay, slight exaggeration there - but it's pretty big, which means you can be very accurate with your cursor placement on screen. Given the fact that it's a touch screen too, you might not even feel the need to pair a mouse with this device.

While we're talking accessories, I was most impressed to discover three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports at my disposal, all capable of 40Gbps transfer speeds, all DisplayPort 2.1 for connecting external displays and all able to be used for USB power delivery. The best thing about that is there are two on the right side and one on the left, which makes things far more convenient when it comes to plugging into different setups - be they at work, at home or on the road.

There's also a USB-A slot - one of those sneaky pull-down ones that keeps the design as slim as possible.

That's a lot. And I hadn't even turned it on yet.

After setting the HP EliteBook Ultra G1i up, the first thing I was pleased to see is the 9MP camera set into the slim top bezel is Windows Hello enabled - so not only can you log in using the fingerprint sensor under the power key but you can do it very quickly and reliably via facial recognition too.

This is a Copilot+ PC of course, so you can access all the AI options Microsoft has to offer but there's a lot of HP-specific software pre-installed too. Whether you consider this to be "bloatware" comes down to how useful you find utilities like HP Assistant and Wolf Security Suite. Some users are irritated by how many of these apps double-up on certain tasks Windows was already taking care of but I've always considered the HP tools to be the best way to keep your drivers up to date - relying solely on Microsoft to keep an eye on 3rd-party updates can be somewhat time-delayed.

You'll certainly want to check out the pre-installed Poly Camera Pro to access enhanced video settings for the camera - there are a few extra tweaks available here on top of what Windows Studio Effects has to offer. You can virtually adjust lighting and skin tone and even take a screen grab of your usual office background to use if you're joining an online meeting from somewhere else but you don't want to let on where.

Video quality is top rate as is mic quality - although you may want to tweak the settings here too to get the best out of the dual mic array.

The 2.8K OLED display is simply sublime. Sure, this kind of panel is slightly more reflective than other IPS options might be but I'll take that in order to enjoy more vivid colours and popping contrast. This is also an HDR-capable display - just like a flash telly - and you can calibrate the HDR settings to your preference.

The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i is one of the best laptops I've used for just plain old streaming - be it Netflix or Apple TV+, everything looks bright, clear and has genuine depth to it, enhanced even further by the quad stereo speaker system, tuned by Poly Audio

Battery life is one area where I was somewhat underwhelmed. Until quite recently I'd grown to expect the worst from Windows laptops when it comes to battery life but that all started to change with the introduction of more efficient chips, especially from AMD and even more recently, Qualcomm. Suddenly, you could literally leave your charging brick at home, with enough charge to see you through a whole working day.

The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i will probably get you through too - but only just. And it depends greatly on what you're doing. For instance, while playing the new release of Grounded 2, I watched the battery percentage gurgle down the plughole pretty quickly.

But HP never suggested this was a gaming rig. It's a business rig and the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V chip was born to deliver where it matters; multiple windows running different apps simultaneously - including documents, presentations and browser windows. And because it's an Intel chip, I haven't experienced any of the compatibility issues that seem to pop up with other systems, especially Qualcomm-based ones.

What we've got here is not a beast; it's a thoroughbred. 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage might seem like overkill but with a machine like this, it's more like future-proofing. And it means you can access all the AI tools you need (be they pre-installed or otherwise) without missing a beat. Physically, the HP EliteBook Ultra G1i looks exactly like the high-end business tool it's proven to be. Using the well-spaced and responsive keyboard and touchpad is a joy and the mic and camera setup brings an instant professional edge to your online meetings and videos.

And as for the 14-inch touch display, I couldn't really ask for more.

This laptop really does mean business.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the HP EliteBook Ultra G1i.

Bissell PowerClean FurFinder 200W - The Stick That Stands Up for Itself

I never thought I'd end up being an expert on vacuum cleaners.

Who knew when I started reviewing gadgets, vacuums would often be at the cutting edge of new technology?

But just as I've found with so many tech devices, not all new features are worth having and sometimes, the less complicated a gadget is, the easier it is to use and the better it actually works.

Which is why I've gone from never having heard of Bissell to being a Bissell fan, in just a matter of weeks.

The PowerClean FurFinder 200W might be one of Bissell's latest floor cleaning devices but that doesn't mean Bissell is new at this - far from it.

The company started in 1876 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and when Anna Bissell took over the reins in 1889, she became America's first female CEO. Although I'm late to the Bissell party, Queen Victoria certainly wasn't - in fact she insisted her staff use Bissells to keep the palace clean.

Talk about pedigree.

On the other hand, I've definitely reviewed my share of stick vacuums over the years and I've come to appreciate what makes a good one.

A lot of it is about balance - and I don't just mean how balanced the vacuum feels when you're using it - although that's important too.

I'm talking about the balance between suction power and battery life. Dustbin capacity versus sheer size. Technical features against ease of use. The PowerClean FurFinder 200W gets a lot of those equations exactly right.

Compared to some stick vacuums I've trialled, the main body of the PowerClean FurFinder 200W seems quite long and I was worried that might make things a bit clumsy, especially when using it in close quarters - when cleaning my car, for example. That wasn't the case though and using the combination crevice tool I was able to get into most nooks and crannies easily - on both hard and soft surfaces.

Although, that's not really what this particular vacuum was designed for. As the name suggests, this is supposed to be the go-to cleaner for pet owners and as such, it boasts a "tangle-free" main brush roll. While this is a claim I've seen from many others in the past, often the reality of cleaning up after my shaggy dog and hairy housemates results in a brush head disappointingly snarled up, even on the first clean.

Not this time. I don't know how Bissell has done it - the brush roll doesn't look wildly different from any other I've come across but I can't argue with the results; it truly is tangle-free. 

For anyone who's ever had to hack and pull away at a mess of hair and fur clogging up your vacuum, knowing that won't happen with this one might be a compelling reason to upgrade.

However, that's not the only thing the main brush head has going for it. Despite the PowerClean FurFinder 200W's considerable suctionpower, there are two sturdy wheels to keep it rolling easily over any surface, and there's also the the built-in combination of warm and cool LED headlights so you won't miss a speck of dust or a single strand of hair - even in the darkest corners.

But it's the self-standing abilities of this main brush head that have really won me over. Simply click the PowerClean FurFinder 200W into its vertical position and you can leave it standing there - no need to lean against a wall. What's more, there's also a convenient foot release so you can remove the head without bending over. Lazy? Maybe. Helpful? Definitely.

Unfortunately, a lot of the convenience and ease-of-use presented by the no-bending-down design of the main brush head is somewhat undone by how difficult the other accessories are to swap out.

In some ways, this is actually a positive. It means when you attach the combination crevice tool or the smaller FurFinder head, there's a satisfying "ker-chunk" when it clicks into place. This solidity is evident over every inch of the PowerClean FurFinder 200W and its tools - there's no snapping, bending or denting these.

But that super-secure connection definitely comes at the cost of being able to easily slide the attachments on and off. There's a small locking rocker at each connection point that needs quite a bit of brute force to click in and out. Perhaps I just have a weak grip? Maybe things will loosen up a bit in time?

Either way, let's turn our attention to the secondary brush head, the smaller FurFinder Upholstery Tool. This is a powered roller - just like the main one - but the brush cylinder is quite different, rows of longer, strong bristles alternating with solid silicon "de-furring" strips, rotating in a spiral. This means no particle of fur, dander or anything else is safe on your couches, armchairs or even your duvet cover. What impressed me even more was I could run this tool over my duvet without sucking up the fabric itself, thereby clogging up the works. Even better; The upholstery tool also has FurFinding headlights - just like the main brush head - making this so useful for darker areas like stairwells and car floors.

As you would expect from any decent vacuum these days, there's a HEPA filtration system so you're not just recycling dust and other allergens back into the air around you. It's also worth noting the dust bin is very easy to remove for fuss-free emptying and like everything else on this vacuum, it snaps back into place with another one of those satisfying "ker-chunks."

I just wish that dirt tank was a little more capacious. At just 400ml, I often find myself having to empty the PowerClean FurFinder 200W before I'm finished cleaning the whole house - a bit frustrating given the 40-minute battery life (in Eco Mode) is enough to get me through. (Even if it wasn't, you can buy a spare battery and leave it charging while you vacuum)

At the end of the day, that small tank is only an issue because the PowerClean FurFinder 200W does such a great job of sucking everything up in the fist place. The powerful lighting on both powered heads means you won't miss a thing and there's no trigger so you won't end up with a tired index finger. Instead, just switch it on and choose Eco, Medium or Turbo.

It's simple but strong and most importantly for me, it never tangles. It's a real stand-up kind of vacuum.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Bissell PowerClean FurFinder 200W.