Sony A7R II 4K Mirrorless Camera Review

Sony A7R II 4K Mirrorless Camera Review – Full Frame 42.4 MP 4k Movie Camera

With the Sony Alpha a7R II, we get another one of Sony’s superb full frame mirrorless cameras in all their photo and video-capable glory, except with this particular shooter, what you get your hands on is the very top of the Sony 4K mirrorless lineup. That’s right, the A7R II is pretty much the best of the bunch in the Sony compact mirrorless market and easily gives just about any other mirrorless shooter from any major brand a run for its money as well. Furthermore, with the A7R II, you get performance that leaves the few existing 4K DSLRs we’ve seen on the market to-date in the dust as far as photo and video quality go.With the A7R II, the quality of Sony’s already superb and high quality A7-series mirrorless cameras is taken to the next level with some very impressive specs and features which include a massive 35mm BSI CMOS photo sensor, powerful on-chip phase detection, five-axis body image stabilization and some impressive 4K and HD video capture capacity. Best of all, all of these features and many others are contained in one very nicely compact body that’s rugged and superb for field shooting.If what you’re looking for is a full-frame mirrorless camera that’s practically unbeatable for now and also offers extraordinary image resolution, high quality low light shooting and some very rich video recording capacity, the A7R II is just about perfect for your needs, even if it is one costly piece of technology.

THE GOOD

Where to start? Sony’s A7R II most superb features are its amazingly powerful image shooting capacity, thanks to a giant 42.40 megapixel Full-frame 35mm CMOS sensor, some remarkably great ISO performance for night shooting with very low noise levels, a lightning fast autofocus, lots of customization options, the excellent five-axis stabilization and one wonderfully compact mirrorless body.

Let’s begin with the image sensor on the A7R II. At 42.4 megapixels, this back-illuminated Exmor 4 full-frame CMOS arrangement is downright stunning in the quality of images it can capture. With the 35mm CMOS sensor, the camera is not only capable of some extraordinarily high resolution still shots and video footage, it also manages to offer these with the kind of speed and performance you often don’t even see in cameras with sensor that are half as large or less. The full-frame sensor also offer some remarkably good ISO sensitivity, which is boosted by the sheer number of megapixels and even more importantly, by the fact that this is the first Back- Illuminated full-frame CMOS on the mirrorless market. This means that the A7R II can manage an ISO that goes as high as 102,400.

This sensor is also packed together with a very impressive AF system that offers 399 embedded phase-detection AF points. This is nearly four times as many as one of Sony’s next best compact mirrorless A7-series models, the A7S II . These AF points can furthermore be exploited quite broadly for continuous AF via both E-mount and A-mount lenses if a simple adapter is included. Additionally, the built-in 5-axis sensor-shift image stabilization technology in the A7R II, which is identical to that of other Sony shooters like the A7S II, offers some fine counteraction for image and video blurring.

Then there’s the 4K video capacity in the A7R II. Unlike many other Sony mirrorless shooters, the A7R II records its 4K footage internally at an encoding rate of 100Mbps. The 4K footage capture is also available in two different formats, with the first being full-frame video and the second being cropped Super 35, both of which are encoded at the same above-mentioned bitrate and at either 30fps or 24fps. Additionally, the A7R II manages Full HD video at 60 frames per second and 720p footage at a speedy 120fps. These video resolutions can also be composed during shooting with the tilting 3 inch LCD screen or a XGA OLED viewfinder that comes with an impressive 0.78x zoom, making it into the largest EVF on the mirrorless market today.

Then there’s the body of the A7R II. It’s excellent and rugged, with a magnesium alloy design that is weather sealed and comes with one robust, durable lens mount that’s ideal for large lenses in the field. Furthermore, the camera’s shutter is designed for minimized vibration, being able to reduce said vibrations by as much as 50%.

And, as for processing of the A7R II’s massive images and video in all resolutions, the camera is equipped with Sony’s well-known BIONZ X Image processing engine, which as we’d already said, manages to handle the 42.4 megapixel still shots with the kind of speed and efficiency you’d expect from a camera with much smaller maximum photo resolution. The Image Processor and Exmor R CMOS sensor also allow for the A7R II to handle its 4K UHD video shooting needs quickly, internally and with wide dynamic range. And remember, this is full-frame XAVC-S video we’re talking about, meaning that it can be shot without pixel binning.

Going a bit further into the things we like about the A7R II’s 4K video shooting, the camera also allows for some fairly extensive customizable color and gamma controls for wide dynamic range in footage. A user can thus adjust black levels, color levels and a number of other video quality specs. The same S-Log2 Gamma Curve found in some of Sony’s top-shelf cinematic cameras is also found in the A7R II, letting it manage a hefty 1300% more dynamic range in its 4K or HD video signals. This is quite a bit more than REC-709 color space coverage allows for.

Finally, the A7R II is a solid piece of technology in all the essentials of modern mirrorless camera design, with full connectivity for wireless control and data transmission via both NFC and WiFi, letting you move non-4K video and photos directly online to social media sites or email inboxes, or perhaps to a cloud storage server. The camera can also be linked to mobile devices like smartphones through its NFC capacity. We should also note that the design of the A7R II is definitely a winner, with a firm grip, easy handling and the tough magnesium alloy body we already mentioned above. Like all Sony mirrorless models, it’s also one compact piece of technology without its lenses attached. This makes the A7R II all the more impressive given its capabilities.

THE BAD

There are also of course a couple of things we don’t particularly like about the Sony A7R II mirrorless. However, none of these come even close to being deal breakers as far as quality is concerned.

First of all, the camera is lacking in a few key features you’d think would be givens in a model with its price, especially considering that one of them is even available in far more economical Sony alpha models like the HD-only A6000. Thus, the A7R II lacks a built-in flash and this, while hardly being a major shooting obstacle, is just annoying. Furthermore, despite its massive photo resolution and 4K video recording capacity, this camera offers only a single card slot, somewhat limiting its storage capacity during on-the-fly recording. We should also note that the A7R II has no touch screen capacity, which slows things down when you want to move through settings and adjust them as needed while actually recording video or grabbing photos. Using the button controls to navigate the menu items and adjustments is definitely clumsier.

Next up, there is the simple fact that the A7R II is one very expensive piece of hardware. Yes, it delivers some spectacular specs but its price tag of well over $3000 dollars will turn off many potential buyers who will simply decide to go for something a bit more economical despite tradeoffs in specs.

Finally, start-up and shooting of photos is slightly on the slow side in the A7R II. This is nothing too serious but we’ve seen better performance in other mirrorless and DSLR models. This is also topped off by a somewhat slow buffer clearing capacity.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The A7R II from Sony was ranked by many to be the best 4K mirrorless camera of 2015 and at least for now, this ranking could easily be said to apply for 2016 as well. If not the best of its kind, it’s at least damn close. In any case, aside from some reservations about its distinctly steep price tag (especially for a Sony A7-series shooter), we love the A7R II and recommend it to both professional and prosumer photographers and videographers of all kinds.

SPECS

• Lens Mount: Sony E-mount (compatible with some Canon lenses through adapter)
• Camera Format: Full-frame mirrorless
• Max Photo resolution: 42.4 megapixels (7952 x 5304 pixels)
• Sensor Type/size: CMOS, 36 x 24 mm
• File formats:
Photo: JPEG, RAW
Audio: AAC LC, AC3, Linear PCM (Stereo)
Movies: AVCHD Ver. 2.0, MP4, XAVC S
• Supported memory cards:
SD
SDHC
SDXC
Memory Stick PRO Duo (High Speed)
Memory Stick PRO HG-Duo
• Image Stabilization: Sensor-Shift, 5-Way
• Video Resolution: 3840 x 2160: 30 fps, 24 fps, 25 fps
1920 x 1080: 60 fps, 30 fps, 24 fps, 50 fps, 25 fps
1280 x 720: 120 fps, 100 fps
• All video Formats and resolutions:
4K
XAVC S
3840 x 2160p / 29.97 fps (100 Mbps)
3840 x 2160p / 29.97 fps (60 Mbps)
3840 x 2160p / 23.98 fps (100 Mbps)
3840 x 2160p / 23.98 fps (60 Mbps)
3840 x 2160p / 25 fps (100 Mbps)
3840 x 2160p / 25 fps (60 Mbps)
High Definition
XAVC S
1920 x 1080p / 59.94 fps (50 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 29.97 fps (50 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 23.98 fps (50 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 50 fps (50 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 25 fps (50 Mbps)
1280 x 720p / 120 fps (50 Mbps)
1280 x 720p / 100 fps (50 Mbps)
High Definition
AVCHD
1920 x 1080p / 59.94 fps (28 Mbps)
1920 x 1080i / 59.94 fps (24 Mbps)
1920 x 1080i / 59.94 fps (17 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 23.98 fps (24 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 23.98 fps (17 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 50 fps (28 Mbps)
1920 x 1080i / 50 fps (24 Mbps)
1920 x 1080i / 50 fps (17 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 25 fps (24 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 25 fps (17 Mbps)
High Definition
MP4
1920 x 1080p / 59.94 fps (28 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 29.97 fps (16 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 25 fps (28 Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 25 fps (16 Mbps)
1280 x 720p / 29.97 fps (6 Mbps)
1280 x 720p / 25 fps (6 Mbps)
• Max video length in 4K: about 29 minutes
• Focus Type: Auto and Manual focus
• Autofocus points: 399 phase detection and 25 contrast detection points
• Viewfinder: electronic 0.5” OLED with 0.78x zoom
• ISO: 100-25600 (Extended Mode: 50-102400)
• Shutter: Speed: 1/8000 - 30 seconds, electronic and manual
• Flash: none, attachable via hot shoe
• Connectivity: WiFi, NFC, also includes 1/8" Headphone, 1/8" Microphone, AV / USB Multi, HDMI D (Micro)
• Weight with battery and memory card: 22.05 oz


ACCESSORIES

The Sony A7R II doesn’t come with much in the way of accessories despite its high price. In fact, unlike a number of other Sony mirrorless cameras, this model doesn’t even come with an included lens when you buy the base package. Instead, what you get in the box with the camera consists of base essentials like a power cord, rechargeable NP-FW50 X 2 battery, cable protector, AC Adapter, AC-UD10, a battery charger, shoulder strap, body caps, accessory show cap, Eyepiece cup and one micro USB cable.

There is no included lens of any kind and no included flash either since the camera lacks a built-in flash mechanism. Because of this, you’ll have to separately buy both as you need them (and you’ll need a lens immediately). As for those lenses, the A7R II is of course compatible with pretty much all Sony E-mount lenses and –with an adapter-- a wide range of the company’s A-mount lenses as well, giving users a potential pool of more than 13 full-frame lenses to choose from for this camera. Beyond Sony’s lenses, the A7R II can also be configured to fit a range of Canon lenses if a simple adapter is used and is compatible with third party E-mounts from brands like Sigma, Tamron and so forth.

Finally due to the lack of a built-in flash, users who want to get the most out of this outstanding 4K mirrorless camera will also have to buy a Sony HVL-F20M External Flash system that can be connected to the camera through a hot shoe. We’d also recommend the purchase of a large capacity SDXC U3 memory card, required for 100Mbps XAVC S video format

HIGHLIGHTS

The main highlights of the Sony A7R II involve its 4K video recording capacity, its superb full-frame sensor, the impressive 5-axis image stabilization system and the shooter’s massive ISO range. The A7R II also comes with a whole range of other features and superb specs but these above characteristics are the real winners of this outstanding 4K UHD mirrorless camera. Let’s look at each a bit more.

4K Video recording: The Sony A7R II not only captures 4K video internally at a smoothly fast bitrate, it’s also capable of doing it in a full pixel read-out mode that doesn’t require pixel binning or reduction. This is done in a Super 35mm format that gives even sharper quality to recorded content than what you’d get with other more compressed types of 4K in most cameras of this size.

Back-illuminated full-frame CMOS sensor : The 35mm full-frame CMOS image sensor on the Sony A7R II is the first of its kind in the world with a back-illuminated structure. This means the already mentioned massive 42.4 megapixel image resolution but it also, more importantly, means some greatly expanded sensitivity to low light conditions, allowing for low noise even at massive ISO levels. Sony has also added in an optical low-pass filter for balancing sharpness with low lighting for maximum detail across a frame.

5.axis image stabilization: The Sony A7R II’s image stabilization technology really does come in handy at crucial times and works wonderfully at reducing blur even to the massive high resolution photos of this shooter. In situations where the image stabilization is enabled, shutter speeds can be reduced by as 50% or more and create photo results that definitely look sharper under low light shooting conditions and other situations that don’t lend themselves well to stable photography.

Fast Hybrid AF: The Hybrid autofocus of the Sony A7R II is also a definite bonus of this particular shooter. It goes well beyond the bounds of any normal AF system in speed and responsiveness and the Sony A7R II’s capacity for 399 focal plane phase detection AF points is impressive. 25-point contrast-detection enhances the AF of the Sony A7R II even more.

OVERALL PERFORMANCE

Now however, after all the descriptions of its specs and capacities are done with, how well does the Sony A7R II actually perform? Quite simply, it does a fantastic job almost across the board. This is sort of to be expected in a mirrorless of this caliber and of course Sony didn’t disappoint. We’ve seen some great ISO performance in other Sony cameras but the Sony A7R II takes things to a higher degree of quality, with superb still shooting in low light conditions even at high ISO ratings.

What’s even more important than the truly spectacular low-light shooting chops of the Sony A7R II is the camera’s ability with photos caught under more normally lit and daylight shooting conditions. Since this isn’t just a low-light camera, it absolutely excels in daylight too, with superb dynamic range, extraordinary color vibrancy and pretty much no notable color saturation weakness. The giant image sensor ensure that a massive enough quantity of detail is captured for image cropping to use certain particularly well compose areas of a much larger photo. At least a couple of lenses would go particularly well when getting started with photo and video recording in the Sony A7R II. Some useful suggestions would be one of Sony’s own 90mm f/2.8 macro lenses, a FE 55mm f1.8, or possibly third party lenses like a Sigma ART 50mm f1.4 mounted to an adapter. The bottom line for lenses however is that there are many available for the A7R II and you can even use a number of A-mount and Canon models with the right adapter in place. It’s going to depend a lot on your specific shooting needs.

The A7R II also handles exceptionally well in terms of ruggedness, physical build and its general control/grip layout. For starters, the camera does a very decent job of managing humid conditions and dusty environments, and although it’s not as well sealed up like A7 cousins like the a7S II, it still seems to work fine and without problems even when exposed to a fair bit of moisture and grit in the field, as well as being bumped or even dropped in one incident. Furthermore Sony has modified the A7R II to be much sturdier in the quality of its lens mount. With a new metal construction, it can handle much heavier lenses like some of the A-mount series without worries about damage or tilting. The predecessor A7R camera of the A7R II was a weak performer in this regard, offering a wiggly mount that actually needed to be replaced with a third-party metal mounting bracket.

Furthermore, the overall button layout on the A7R II is highly usable for the most part and the extended hand grip definitely feels much sturdier in the hands. Again here we have a major improvement from that of the A7R, whose hand grip was blunted and easily slipped from the hands. In basic terms, the A7R II feels like a real and serious camera when handled and this is great for on-the-fly shooting under fast-paced conditions. Sony has also moved their shutter release button to the top of the hand grip, thus increasing the level of shooting comfort and ease, while also placing a second custom button on top of the camera, one which can be programmed for just about any function you might need from those available in this shooter.

On the other hand, we do have a minor complaint with how difficult Sony makes it to change focus points while shooting. Some custom modification might be necessary here for the sake of an optimal experience that could have been made so much simpler if Sony had simply allowed this crucial little feature to be adjusted with one of the multi-function dials that the camera has along its back.

Finally, we need to briefly mention the EVF (electronic viewfinder) in the A7R II. It offers the same high resolution OLED display as other Sony viewfinders but in this case, what you also get the benefit of is a massive 0.78x internal viewfinder magnification. This is better than anything we’ve yet seen in any of the best DSLRs on today’s market and is matched only by the same 0.78x magnification in Sony’s other compact mirrorless, the A7S II.

IMAGE QUALITY AND RESOLUTION

As we have explained many times throughout this review, the Sony A7R II simply excels at creating superb high resolution still photos and does a fantastic job of delivering 4K ultra HD video with excellent levels of binning-free detail. We almost can’t emphasize the quality of both video and photo shooting enough in this camera.

As far as video goes, the switch over from AVCHD to 4K XAVC-S high bitrate recording was a true winner and any footage you capture in this format will look downright spectacular on a large 4K TV screen, especially one with high color quality and contrast , for maximum appreciation of what the A7R II can pull off. Furthermore, the future-proofing options of the A7R II’s 4K video recording are superb even if you don’t actually watch the video itself in UHD resolution. In other words, since Full HD video is generally much more practical to manage, you can actually shoothigh quality footage in 4K resolution at 100Mbps and then downscale it to some truly stunning HD resolution that’s at its maximum sharpness.

For photos, the still image samples we’ve included in this review pretty much speak for themselves. This is a camera that takes shooting to exceptional levels in both low light and daylight conditions, with rich color saturation, vibrancy and great light capture. Furthermore it’s low light capacity and quality at high ISO levels stands out particularly well.

At 6,400 ISO, the camera still created completely excellent shots and even much larger ISO ratings of above 8,000, 12,800 or above 25,000 delivered either excellent or very good photo quality with low noise and great sharpness. These are seriously stunning results for a camera of this size and the truly enormous sensor size only augments photo quality even further at both high and low ISO. The 5-axis image stabilization also reduces blur in these sorts of low light conditions fantastically, even with shots that involve movement, though particularly fast-moving subjects in a poorly lit space can start to blur even with the image stabilization activated.

The A7R II’s autofocus is also seriously noteworthy, offering up more phase-detect AF points than any other camera we’ve seen and spreading them across a broad area of the image space. With this, the A7R II can track shots and focus points over a much broader area whether you’re composing your shot through the viewfinder or the tilting LCD lens at the back of the A7R II. Managing so many AF points is also made easier by the availability of several focus settings, including Wide, Zone, Center, Flexible Spot and Expand Flexible Spot. All of these settings work in both phase AF and Contrast AF with its much narrower range of AF points.

PRICING

The Sony A7R Mark II 4K Full-frame compact mirrorless camera is not at all cheap by mirrorless camera standards and the base model without lenses included will cost you $3,198.00, with only the basic camera accessories such as battery charger, body cap and basic cables included. One of Sony’s 55mm F1.8 Sonnar T* FE ZA Full Frame Prime Lens, which would make a decent base lens, will also cost an additional $898.00 if bought new from a site like Amazon.com.

Humax HDR-1000S review

Introduction

Humax recently unleashed the first YouView PVR in the form of the Humax DTR-T1000 which seamlessly blends Freeview TV and on-demand content from the main terrestrial channels within a single EPG. Not to be outdone, Freesat has launched its own version – Free Time – which marries broadcast and catch-up TV in a similarly user-friendly fashion. Its flashy new ‘backwards EPG’ allows you to go back over the last seven days and watch on-demand content from the main channels, alongside common PVR functionality like series recording.

Free Time is making its debut inside the Humax HDR-1000S, a Freesat receiver with a capacious hard-disk drive, twin tuners and loads of bonus multimedia functionality including DLNA media streaming.

HUMAX HDR-1000S DESIGN

The box itself is gorgeous, dressed in gloss black bodywork that eschews the straight edges of most PVRs for more elegant curvy lines. A silver ridge runs along the front panel, which houses five buttons (power, volume, up and down). Below this you’ll find a USB port concealed by a protective flap. You can’t see it when switched off, but there’s a comprehensive LED panel on the front, which gives channel names and other pertinent info in large, bright letters.

HUMAX HDR-1000S CONNECTIVITY

On the back are two satellite LNB inputs (one for each tuner), HDMI and optical digital audio outputs, an Ethernet port and a second USB port. Scart, composite video and analogue stereo outputs are also provided, useful if you want to make copies of anything you’ve recorded. A Common Interface slot is found on the side.

HUMAX HDR-1000S FEATURES

Free Time is of course the Humax HDR-1000S’s key feature. All of the past week’s programmes from the various online streaming services are available for you to watch, all accessed from the central EPG. At present, only BBC iPlayer and ITV Player are available, but Freesat hopes to add 4OD and Demand 5 later this year.

The Humax HDR-1000S’s hard-disk capacity is 500GB, which is enough to hold 125 hours of high-definition programmes or 300 hours of standard definition. An alternative 1TB version, the Humax HDR-1000S/1TB, is also available for £299.

There are twin Freesat tuners, giving you the flexibility to record two channels simultaneous while you watch a third, or record one channel while watching another. Freesat’s range of channels is wide and varied, but of greatest interest are the hi-def channels – BBC One HD, BBC HD, ITV1 HD, Channel 4 HD and NHK World HD.

The Humax HDR-1000S isn’t merely a conduit for viewing TV though. Thanks to the network connection, you can access music, video and photos from servers on your home network, as well as a range of internet content from Humax’s TV Portal (more on this later). You can also connect a USB memory device and play media files from there.

HUMAX HDR-1000S SETUP

If you already have a Sky dish installed, setup of the Humax HDR-1000S is easy, but if not you’ll need to pay to have a dish installed. Another obstacle is the network connection – with no built-in Wi-Fi, the box relies on its Ethernet connection, which is fine if your router is near your TV but if not you’ll need an extra long cable or a set of Homeplugs. If you really want Wi-Fi, you can purchase Humax’s USB LAN dongle, which will set you back an extra £29.

That aside, setting up the Humax HDR-1000S is child’s play. Hook your satellite dish up to the satellite LNB inputs on the back of the box, and connect an HDMI lead to your TV. Freesat newbies will be pleased to find a Setup Wizard that fires up when you first turn the box on. The onscreen displays communicate in friendly, well-written English and lead you through key settings like aspect ratio, display format, resolution and audio type.

It then performs a signal test, checking the strength and quality of the two satellite feeds, and carries out a channel search after you’ve punched in your postcode. It then completes the process by checking for an internet connection and asking if you want to enter a parental control PIN. After that, you’re good to go, without the need to visit the setup menu at all.

Next you’re plunged straight into live TV, and straight away the onscreen presentation is stunning. When you turn to a new channel, a Now and Next banner appear at the bottom of the screen using snazzy, modern fonts. It uses the actual logos for each channel rather than text, which is a stylish touch.

HUMAX HDR-1000S MENUS

The rest of the Humax HDR-1000S user interface is responsive and easy to navigate. The Home menu is particularly well designed. Live TV plays in a large box, with the menu options to the left. When you scroll through the list, the information below the screen changes – so when you select TV Guide you see a scaled down version of the Now and Next EPG, for example.

From here, you can also visit the Settings menu (which is thorough and incredibly easy to follow), check hard-disk recordings, consult the Help section or search for programmes in the EPG by keyword. You can also explore On-Demand content from a dedicated menu if you don’t fancy searching through the EPG.

The Showcase section picks out a selection of recommended programmes, split into various sections – ‘Watch Tonight’, ‘Don’t Miss’ and ‘On-Demand’. This isn’t based on your viewing habits like Virgin Media’s TiVo box – it’s simply a collection of programmes that Freesat thinks you’ll like, like the first incarnation of Sky Anytime.

Another section worth checking out is simply labelled ‘Humax’, where you can explore the TV Portal’s range of apps. Currently the line-up is limited to Wiki@TV, Flickr, Picasa, Teletext Holidays and Humax Support, although YouTube will be added soon. You can also watch videos, photos and music from the hard-disk or a connected USB device, or stream media from DLNA devices.

The list of supported video formats is excellent. The Humax HDR-1000S tackles AVCHD, XviD, DivX, hi-def AVI, MKV, MP4, and WMV HD, although playable music formats are limited to MP3 only. The media playback menus are superb, displaying logical lists against sophisticated background graphics.

The Recordings also looks terrific. You can filter your list in different ways – ‘HD’, ‘Most Recent’, ‘Still to Watch’ and so forth. You can also view programmes you’ve kept and ones that will be deleted first when you start to run out of space. A series of icons denotes the status of each recording, and you can manage them using a menu that pops up when you hit OK. It’s remarkably thorough yet intuitive.

HUMAX HDR-1000S REMOTE

The Humax HDR-1000S remote is designed with similar attention to detail. First up, it’s the perfect shape for the hand with its inward curving sides, plus the glossy black finish makes it a coffee table triumph. We love the large rubbery buttons with their clear labels, and the layout is perfectly intuitive with the menu controls directly under the thumb. It doesn’t feel cluttered, but all of the key functions are covered – there are buttons for Recordings, Settings, Search and the EPG of course, plus the red Record button is impossible to miss.

Samsung Gear VR review

Samsung Gear VR (2016) review

There's a new Samsung Gear VR in town. If you're keeping count, this is now the fourth iteration of the Korean company's Oculus-powered VR headset.

Revealed alongside the new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, the latest Gear VR is the same price as its predecessor – that's $99. In short, though, this is an extremely similar headset to last year's consumer Gear VR.

Price when reviewed:$99

It's wireless, using your phone to power the VR, comfortable to wear, easy to set up and now has an even larger library of – free and affordable – apps, games and videos to try in VR.

In this review we'll let you know our experiences with the differences and additions in the new model, rather than rehash our original Gear VR review.

Reviewer's note: On account of the Note 7's current exploding problem, we largely tested the new Gear VR with a Galaxy S6 Edge, which is obviously not the best resolution you can get.

Samsung Gear VR (2016): Design tweaks

Side by side, the new Gear VR looks almost identical to last year's headset. But there are some noticeable differences – the most important of which in our book is the fact that there's more room inside the headset and some new vents on the side.

This means we haven't experienced any lens fog so far with the Gear VR (2016), which was one of our main bugbears with the original. Samsung also says it has made it more comfortable and it might be ever so slightly nicer on-face, but the first one was fine so this is pretty minor.

It's now an all-black plastic affair and there's a new Oculus Home button next to 'Back' above the trackpad which takes some getting used to, if you've been using the old model and assume there's only one button you can press. But once you're used to it, it's super handy. The trackpad is back to smooth, doing away with the experiment with arrow-like indents. As ever, we'd recommend grabbing a Bluetooth gamepad to use with the headset.

Unlike before, the fascia seems designed to only be put in place when there's no phone slotted into the headset. Not that you'd notice but there's also now a thin strip of plastic in between the two lenses on the side of your phone display. The straps are pretty much identical and easy to adjust and the focus wheel remains on top.

One more thing – the Gear VR does feel ever so slightly heavier than the first and it's also bigger, particularly wider in front to accommodate Samsung's larger Galaxy phones. Neither of these are noticeable enough to be a mark on the Gear VR's score though.

Samsung Gear VR (2016): VR experience

The actual visual experience of using a Gear VR will depend on which smartphone you use, with Samsung, of course, nudging you towards the big and sharp Note 7 screen.

But there are some improvements to the actual headset no matter which phone you've got – specifically Samsung has widened the viewing angle to 101 degrees (from 96 degrees) and darkened the colour tint to reduce glare and reflections.

The new field of view is a welcome addition – it puts the Gear VR on a par with the Vive and Rift for this spec at least. But while this and the tint help with the immersion, it's not a real step up. And frankly, it doesn't need to be. This isn't a perfect picture, this is mobile VR and with these small upgrades Samsung still has the best mobile VR headset around.

Samsung Gear VR (2016): USB-C friendly

Another big new feature the Gear VR (2016) packs is a USB Type-C adaptor so in theory you can plug Sammy's newest handset straight in (if you ignore the current warnings from Oculus et al not to go near it in case of explosions).

That doesn't mean that owners of S7 and S7 Edge phones are going to miss out on the improved virtual reality action. You can pop the USB-C adaptor out and swap it for a regular old Micro USB one.

It's easy enough to do, a little module just pops out in the front compartment and you can slide it along (between A and B) to account for phone size. Just don't lose the adaptors.

The full list of compatible Samsung phones are the following: Galaxy Note 7, S7, S7 Edge, Note 5, S6, S6 Edge and S6 Edge+.

Samsung Gear VR (2016): Which headset?

The 2016 Gear VR is – as before – well worth the extra money over a Cardboard viewer, mainly down to the app and video library. The only caveat now is that Google Daydream is about to drop and Samsung is involved, so perhaps wait until early October to make your decision.

It's the one you'll no doubt end up buying if you don't own a Samsung mobile headset already, as the first one is showing as out of stock on Samsung's site. Which essentially means Samsung is replacing its first mainstream model – and in our eyes, that's no bad thing.

If you own the first one, there's no essential reason to upgrade unless you get a USB-C phone or really want to say bye-bye to that fog issue

Apple Watch review

Apple Watch review

It's sometimes easy to think of Apple as a miracle worker – the brand with a Midas touch. There's nothing the company can't turn to gold. But with the Apple Watch – its first foray into wearables, two years after Pebble smashed the market wide open – Apple faces its toughest challenge yet.

Apple has the opportunity to define the smartwatch – something that Android Wear, Pebble and Samsung have largely failed to do. But it's faced with the same challenges of screen size, battery life and user experience as everyone else – so can it work another miracle?

Essential reading: Best Apple Watch apps

Price when reviewed:$349.99Check current priceRead our definitive Apple Watch review to find out.

Apple Watch: Design

Whether you find the Apple Watch a terrific example of fashion blending with tech, or a square boxy abomination is a question of taste. But for our money, it's the best looking smartwatch made to date.

The build quality is superb, and the footprint of both the 38mm and 42mm watch is much smaller than you'd expect – and it goes some way to excuse the thickness of the design.

We tested a 38mm watch with a green silicon band – noteworthy because it's the cheapest of the line-up at $349. At 38mm the watch is rather dainty, and most men will certainly prefer the 42mm band, which also benefits from a larger battery.

Read this: Every Apple Watch design in one place

The main elephant in the room is that price tag. With a basic 42mm Apple Watch Sport clocking in at $399 and the main Apple Watch $599, it's a staggering premium even for Apple. And when you compare the price of thebest Android Wear devices – $299 for the Sony SmartWatch 3 in Steel or $349 for the LG Watch Urbane – it's hard to qualify exactly what you're getting for the extra money.

Part of the appeal is the 340 x 272 pixels, 290 ppi screen (390 x 312, 302ppi for the 42mm one), and while it's not quite as sharp as the Samsung Gear S, it's one of the most vibrant we've seen from any smartwatch to date and shows off the deep colour palette of watchOS 2.

The bands themselves are the first true indicator that you have an Apple product on your wrist. The silicon feels reassuringly weighty, and the unique design means the excess strap slips through a hole, so you don't get that accidental flapping that's all too common with cheap watches. What's more, the extra straps feature the same attention to detail. The Milanese number, which has been much lauded, fixes magnetically with a pleasing snap.

The straps are easily changeable using a typically Apple proprietary mechanism, but that means you can't use any old 22mm strap off the shelf – and Apple's straps are eye-wateringly expensive.

Essential reading: The best unofficial Apple Watch straps

Underneath is an optical heart rate sensor, which bulges from the rear, just out of sight. The whole thing is IPX7 rated, which means it's splashproof, but not waterproof – meaning you can shower with it if you must, but don't take it for a swim.

Apple Watch: Features

Two schools of thought have emerged in smartwatch design: less is more, which means filtering out digital noise; and more is more, which means giving you access to every conceivable feature.

The Apple Watch is all about more.

Answering the question "what does it do?" is a little like defining the iPhone. Yes, the Apple Watch is a smartwatch, but with the addition of its app store, it can do anything developers decree. And that's really exciting.

Watches for women: Sophie Charara, Wareable contributing editor, gives her verdict

The Apple Watch is one of the most "feminine" smartwatches I've used, and while it's still a bit fatter than I'd like, the 38mm model goes unnoticed on my normal sized woman wrist - a Sony SW3 or even the Moto 360 never could.

One caveat - if the main appeal is health and fitness, it has some way to go. Activity tracking isn't always accurate (see our main review for details), there's not much in the way of food apps yet and Apple Health doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the reproductive cycle. Built by men, for men but a worthy accessory for early adopting women.

Read more: A straight up Apple Watch women's guideBut for the benefit of the uninitiated, the Watch connects to your iPhone, and is effectively impotent without it. It uses that wireless umbilical connection to display any notification from your phone, flashing up anything from texts to WhatsApp messages, tweets, Instagram likes, Gmail alerts, calendar reminders, annoying SkyBet notifications and pointless push messages.

You can trim notifications and stop the less relevant ones from being displayed on your watch using the iPhone companion app, so in some way there is a filter. However, you can't dig further in and only allow messages from certain people or conversations onto the wrist.

The missing manual: Apple Watch super guide

You can also make calls from the Watch (the leg work done by your paired iPhone, although you'd never know) and reply to messages using your voice.

Other key features include tracking steps, standing time and daily activity, prompts to remind you to stand up regularly, and of course, the tracking of sports.

In short, Apple has built in all the features you'd expect from a smartwatch and let its developers create the experiences that give the Watch the opportunity to define the market. So far so good, but does it do those core things well, how good are its apps, and is it the best smartwatch to date?

This is where the test really begins.

Apple Watch: UI and interface

The joy of Apple's previous successful products, and the reason it's been so successful is simplicity. Your mum can use the iPhone. Your three year old can rack up thousands of dollars in micro-payments. It's so easy to use.

The Apple Watch? Not so much.

To conserve battery the screen turns off when the watch isn't in use. This is a common feature most smartwatches, but unfortunately, Apple hasn't nailed the gesture of turning on the screen when needed. It works okay when standing, but if you're sitting or lying down, the watch often fails to illuminate, which is pretty frustrating.

The long and short is that occasionally it's difficult to tell the time.

The control system also takes getting used to. The watch face is the main screen, as you'd expect and a tap on the Digital Crown takes you to that iconic spread of apps – just like the home button on the iPhone. You twiddle the crown oh so gently to zoom in and out of those apps.

Must have extras: Best Apple Watch accessories

Within apps, you can scroll through options and lists using your finger or the crown, and you tap to make choices. A long press (Force Touch) will bring up a context menu – it's a feature that's been lauded on the Apple Watch, but frankly has been a part of Android for years.

Using the Apple Watch requires a deft touch. The more apps you have, the more cluttered your screen will be, and that it requires concentration to hit the right one. Your finger will never feel so large and ungainly when trying to pick out that app you need. There's also strange lack of standardisation across the apps. Some have a long press option, some don't.

The most useful information is held in the Glances section, which is accessed by swiping up from the bottom when you're on the watch face screen. Here you can see battery life, calendar alerts, progress towards move goals among other things. You have to swipe through the cards to find the one you need, which can be a bit of a faff. What's more, if you're in the apps screen, you have to return to the watch face to use your Glances. Annoying. However, you can add or remove Glances and reorder them from within the iPhone companion app.

Apple Watch: Notifications

When notifications land on the watch, they're stored in a list, just like on the iPhone. Swiping down from the top enables you to recall them, and tapping one will open it up in full.

Smartwatch showdown: Apple Watch v Android Wear

This works well, but again, there's discrepancies in notifications. For all the 3,000 apps made for Watch, there are no dedicated ones (yet) for Facebook, Gmail or WhatsApp. That means for some notifications – Facebook in particular – alerts just tell you something has happened. Gmail and WhatsApp messages can be read, at least in part, but you can't read messages in full or reply.

More on that later.

While Apple has nailed the relatively easy task of getting notifications to your wrist, it does lag behind Google when it comes to preempting the information you need. We missed Google Now's cards, prompting you to go to your meeting, or telling you there's disruption on your way to work without you having to check manually.

You can reply to text messages and emails, using either stock replies or voice. Now watchOS 2 has enabled apps to use the microphone we wouldn't be surprised to see similar features come to Whatsapp and co soon.

Apple Watch: Taptic engine

One of the triumphs of the Apple Watch's design is the Taptic engine, which enables a different feeling for notifications. Rather than just buzz when notifications come through, the Apple Watch uses a series of different digital taps.

A notification feels like someone tapping your arm, rather than a dull buzz. And there's different feelings depending on the type of alert: left and right turns during walking navigation, move goals, standing prompts and of course Digital Touch. The latter is Apple's feature enables you to send heartbeats, sketches and taps to other Watch users – which is obviously a gimmick, but good fun for your first day with the Watch.

See also: Apple Watch v Pebble Time

The reality is however, that the Taptic engine is a huge part of the experience, and makes the watch feel so much more personal. The taps are much more pleasant to experience than a series of motorised buzzes you'll find on every other smartwatch out there, and it's the Watch's best example of that hallmark of Apple quality we've come to expect.

Apple Watch: Fitness, sports and heart rate

A big push for the Apple Watch is in fitness and sports, and Apple has been keen to market the device to the millions who are interested in fitness trackers and sports watches.

As a general fitness tracker that counts steps and pushes you to your daily goals, the Apple Watch superb. The built in Activity app is one of the best we've seen in terms of design, and you can look at results on the Watch and iPhone app quickly and easily. Progress towards your Move Goal is clearly shown by coloured circles – one for standing time, one for activity and the other for movement.

Sports watch showdown: Apple Watch v Fitbit Surge

Unlike a Fitbit, the 'move goal' is measured in calorific burn rather than the number of steps, which is a sensible move, as it rewards you for getting out for a short run or more intense bursts of activity. You can change your goal from the Watch, and set a higher number of calories to try to burn off.

There's no sleep tracking built into the Apple Watch, presumably because you need to charge it nightly, but there are already third party apps in the App Store ready to fill this void.

While the Apple Watch is certainly somewhat of a Fitbit-killer, it's far from a complete sports watch.

Firstly, there's no GPS, which is a problem. You cannot accurately track runs without it. However, the Apple Watch can steal GPS data when running with an iPhone, so if you're willing to take both out, you're good to go.

Of course, there's hundreds of running apps for iPhone, and more on that shortly, but the Apple Watch has its own Workout app, that tracks runs, cycles, walks, indoor gym work and free exercise. When you start a session, the Watch will keep tabs on your heart rate, pace, distance and time, just as a running watch would do.

When you finish your run, it provides a simple text summary of the workout, but without any maps of your route, graphs of your heart rate zones, breakdowns of your pace. It's beyond basic. Your workout sits within the Activity app, the metrics are stripped out and it's not possible to compare sessions at all.

To illustrate the fact of how totally unfit for purpose the Apple Watch's Workout app is, we turned on a free workout, and sat at our desk for an hour. It reported that we'd burned 600 calories.

That said, the only really accurate part of our run tracking was the heart rate data, which stacked up against a Garmin chest strap admirably. While neither are scientifically accurate, both came back with similar data.

Apple Watch: Apps

Apple's selection of apps will arguably make or break the Apple Watch, and like so many products before it, Apple has provided a platform for developers to run with. And with the new watchOS 2 operating system in place which enables standalone apps that can access all the sensors and hardware in the Watch, it's in a strong position.

The line up of apps is now 10,000 strong although big name apps are only slowly filtering through. Google Maps has only just landed and features seriously limited functionality.

Our top picks: The best Apple Watch apps

Unfortunately it seems that Apple Watch apps are not made equal. Apple based apps work well on the Watch, and third party ones simply don't.

An example is Apple Map's walking directions, which use the Taptic engine to guide, which is a genuine wow moment. And despite the Workout app being flawed, it stays illuminated so you can check your run stats on the go.

On the other hand, CityMapper directions don't update live on the Watch screen and if you accidentally tap on the map shown within the app, you're whisked off to the Apple Maps app, with no way to return.

That isn't an isolated incident, and apps like Runkeeper – which basically just fire up the iPhone app and provide a mirrored display of the data – suffer the ignominy of the screen turning off and disappearing off into the background while running. A double tap of the Digital Crown will retrieve it.

Apps have improved under watchOS 2 both in terms of the variety and the speed in which they load. There's still a lot of work to do here, and developers aren't jumping on board as quickly as they have in the past.

Apple Watch: Siri and calling

Like Android Wear, voice is a big part of the Apple Watch, and of course, Siri is on-board. You press and hold the Digital Crown to summon Siri, and then ask questions, schedule meetings and the like. It works well, and the voice recognition works a treat – although the movement of bringing your Watch closer to your mouth can annoyingly dismiss Siri again.

Voice calling from the Apple Watch is also impressive, and in our test calls, recipients had no idea the call was made from the Watch. The only complaint was that the built-in speaker wasn't loud enough, which made calls in the car – an ideal time to use the Watch – hard to hear.

However, it's supremely easy to make a call by using the second button that brings up your regular contacts – and in select situations, wrist calling can be genuinely useful.

Apple Watch: Battery life

Battery life has been widely panned on the Apple Watch, and of course, it depends on your expectations. Definitively, the battery life is one single day. In our testing we had no problems getting through the day, and generally went to bed with at least 20% of charge remaining.

We also tested the 42mm Apple Watch with its bigger battery and found that we could just make it last two days, but no longer.

Of course, that means taking your proprietary charger away for weekends, which is really annoying. We're a bit miffed that Apple didn't opt to integrate iPhone charging somehow, perhaps with a double USB plug. Now we must use up another socket next to the bed for the extra device, which could have been avoided with a little consideration.

For anyone to buy a first generation Apple product, you have to be a big enthusiast with money to burn – and the Apple Watch is no exception. If you're looking for the best smartwatch, this is certainly a front-runner along with the Sony SmartWatch 3, which boasts great sports features, the best of Android Wear but a distinct lack of X-factor.

Read this: The best Android Wear smartwatch you can buy

Sports fans should avoid the Apple Watch for now, or risk serious disappointment, but if you love your iPhone and want some of the best looking wearable tech on offer today – the Apple Watch is for you.