Table of contents for January 2021 in Tech Advisor

The first foldable PC, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, is available to pre-order from fave.co/3nGkePp. It’s due to ship in November with prices starting at £2,429. Perhaps not too much to ask for the right to be among the first – and the ThinkPad X1 Fold is really a long list of firsts. We’ll highlight just some of them here, and list the specifications at the end. Who needs a folding PC? You would be natural to question the need for it at a time when we aren’t travelling much. However, even in our current situation, we are experiencing the need for greater versatility in our PC choices – something that will work if our ‘office space’ has us perched on a bar stool at a kitchen counter or exiled…

AMD’s highly anticipated Zen 3 made its debut last month with four new Ryzen 5000 CPUs that aim to snatch the gaming crown from Intel. You won’t even have to wait that long, as AMD said the AM4-based CPUs would all go on sale on 5 November. The four models released are: Ryzen 9 5950X: 16 cores, 32 threads, 4.9GHz boost, 3.4GHz base, 105-watt TDP, $799 (around £603) Ryzen 9 5900X: 12 cores, 24 threads, 4.8GHz boost, 3.8GHz base, 105-watt TDP, $549 (around £414) Ryzen 7 5800X: 8 cores, 16 threads, 4.7GHz boost, 3.8GHz base, 105-watt TDP, $449 (around £339) Ryzen 5 5600X: 6 cores, 12 threads, 4.6GHz boost, 3.7GHz base, 65-watt TDP, $299 (around £172) At the time of writing UK prices had not been confirmed. Although the chips…

The Google Pixel 5, which was unveiled during the company’s recent Launch Night In event, was definitely a surprise – especially if you were paying any attention to the lofty rumours leading up to its debut. Rather than offering a giant screen, the latest Snapdragon processor, and state-of-the-art biometric security, Google’s new handset is surprisingly pedestrian. While we don’t mind that the Pixel 5 comes in with a lower price, if you start to compare it to the Pixel 4a 5G, the Pixel 5’s position becomes confusing. Google delivered on its promise to bring 5G to its affordable 4a phone back when it launched this summer. While it’s not shipping yet, it’s £200 cheaper than the Pixel 5 and has a display two-tenths of an inch bigger, with the same…

Meet the successor to the Google Home, with Google finally taking the wraps off its much-anticipated (and well-leaked) Nest Audio smart speaker, complete with a funky rectangular shell and upgraded audio quality. On sale now for £89, the same price as the discontinued Google Home, the Google Nest Audio had been rumoured, leaked and teased for months, with even Google circulating images of its yet-to-be-announced smart speaker back in July. Unveiled during Google’s virtual hardware event, the 6.89in-tall Nest Audio is the same speaker we saw in those teaser images earlier this summer. Arriving in a rectangular, rounded shape, complete with a familiar fabric covering and equipped with four tell-tale Google Assistant LEDs, the Nest Audio is the first new Google smart speaker since last year’s Google Nest Mini, and…

Price: £1,099 (inc VAT) from fave.co/32ZMK68 The Sony Xperia 1 II may have a confusing name but it’s a clear statement from the company that doubles-down on what its fans like and serves as the brand’s first step into 5G. Sony has cultivated a reputation of technical excellence and as experts in the realms of both media creation and consumption – thanks to the likes of its superb cameras, its TV and audio products, not to mention the PlayStation brand as a whole. Its smartphones, however, don’t neatly slot into either of these camps; serving as one of the few devices that encompass the entirety of Sony’s consumer efforts in a single product category – the problem is, they haven’t grabbed consumers in the way that the company has hoped…

Right now, the most comfortable, convenient way to take advantage of Microsoft’s new Xbox cloud gaming is on... a Chromebook. On 15 September, Microsoft formally unveiled cloud gaming for Android phones and tablets, in the form of an add-on to its Xbox Game Pass app. Cloud gaming, formerly known as Project xCloud, had been in trials for months, designed as on-the-go option for gamers to squeeze in a bit of Sea of Thieves during downtime waiting for a train or plane. Part of the appeal of Xbox cloud gaming was its convenience. Another was the fact that cloud gaming runs remotely on Microsoft’s servers, allowing the relatively anaemic CPUs found within phones and tablets to run a powerful, top-tier game. But wait – we’re in the middle of a pandemic,…

Microsoft is taking the unusual step of refreshing its existing Surface Pro X tablet line-up by adding premium options built upon a second-generation Microsoft SQ2 ARM processor. In addition, Microsoft has reworked some of its key applications, delivering more performance and longer battery life on Windows on ARM. Microsoft’s SQ2 will be featured in the new, high-end Surface Pro X options. Besides the new CPU, there are no significant changes to the Surface Pro X design, save for new cosmetic options: a new Platinum finish, and three new Surface Pro X Signature Keyboards in Platinum, Ice Blue and Poppy Red. Microsoft’s nifty, rechargeable Surface Slim Pen, which resides within the Signature Keyboard’s cubby, will still be sold separately. The Slim Pen and the Surface Pro X Signature Keyboard are currently…

Intel has confirmed that its 11th-gen next-generation desktop processor, Rocket Lake, will ship during the first quarter of 2021, and with PCI Express 4.0, to boot. John Bonini, Intel’s vice president and general manager of Intel’s Client Computing Group for Desktop, Workstations and Gaming, confirmed Rocket Lake’s existence and shipping date in a company blog post. “I’m also happy to confirm that the next generation 11th Gen Intel Core desktop processors (codenamed “Rocket Lake”) is coming in the first quarter of 2021 and will provide support for PCIe 4.0,” he wrote. “It’ll be another fantastic processor for gaming, and we’re excited to disclose more details in the near future. There’s a lot more to come, so stay tuned.” Rocket Lake is said to be yet another holdover of Intel’s legacy…

Google has unveiled a 5G version of its Pixel 4a smartphone. Priced just £499, you can pre-order it now from fave.co/2EODdph. It’s due to be released on 19 November. FEATURES Although you might think that the Pixel 4a 5G is simply a version of the regular 4a but with added 5G connectivity, you’d be wrong. And not just slightly wrong, the phone is considerably different. You could think of it as the Pixel 4a XL or even, in some ways the Pixel 5 XL. That’s because it has a much larger 6.2in display, still OLED with a 60Hz refresh rate for those interested. Although it looks visually similar (beyond the larger size), the 4a 5G shares some specs with the Pixel 5 starting with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G and also…

Price: £749 (inc VAT) from fave.co/3iRX1WS Huawei’s smartphone struggles are well publicized, but the firm’s tremendous success in the laptop space sometimes goes unnoticed. Ever since the first MateBooks arrived with strong specs and an attractive – if familiar – aesthetic, Huawei has been steadily refining the design and building up a range of laptops that are competitive at almost every price point. So we come to the MateBook 14, which looks much like last year’s model but packs in more power, jumps from Intel to AMD, and improves Huawei Share support. Oh, and in case you were worried: yes, it runs Windows 10 and you can access Google just fine. DESIGN Huawei has stuck to its tried and tested design language with the 2020 MateBook 14, which is basically…

Price: £539 (inc VAT) from fave.co/2RV5vRY Five months after its release, the Red Magic 5G is still sporting the joint-highest refresh rate of any phone currently available and its Snapdragon 865 processor is still the greatest around. Why, then, has Nubia already decided to launch a follow-up in the Red Magic 5S? Upon hearing of its launch, that was the exact same question I was asking. The minuscule changes don’t justify a new release, so this review has to be approached without leaning on its predecessor too much. Is the latest Red Magic phone still among the best gaming handsets you can buy, or has the competition caught up? DESIGN Before you even open the packaging, it’s clear that the Red Magic 5S is a gaming phone through and through.…

What’s the best CPU to get in your next laptop? That question became a lot harder to answer earlier this year when AMD unleashed its Ryzen 4000 mobile CPUs, finally bringing some real competition against Intel’s Core product line. If that weren’t enough, Intel has multiple generations of Core mobile CPU on the market, each with specific strengths and weaknesses. We’re here to help you navigate this chaotic landscape, but without thousands of words and stacks of charts. We’ll start with a quick primer on the strengths and weaknesses of each chip, then we’ll discuss how to pick the right one for you. To keep this from getting too overwhelming, we’ll stick only to the CPUs that typically go into 1.25kg, thin-and-light laptops, rather than get into thicker and heavier…

Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Go finally looks like the Surface that everyone can buy. It’s a smaller 12.5in notebook PC that retains the high points of the Surface line-up, at just £549 from fave.co/2GX0juC. Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Go fits within the niche between the 10.5in Surface Go 2 tablet, and the 13in versions of the Surface Laptop 3. Inside lies a 10th-gen Core chip, though Microsoft has made some compromises, too: a return to Windows 10 S and a display that doesn’t quite reach 1080p resolution. We haven’t seen this product in person yet, but we already have a lot of information about it. Keep reading to learn more about this affordable Surface. SPECIFICATIONS 1245in1536x1,024; 148 ppi) multitouch PixelSense display Windows 10 Home in S Mode Core i5-1035G1…

The Pixel 5 arrived at Google’s recent Launch Night In event, a few weeks earlier than expected in a year when the pandemic is delaying smartphone launches left and right. But the September launch isn’t the only thing that’s different. With the Pixel 5, Google is redefining what it means to be a flagship phone. This latest iteration isn’t the most premium and definitely not the most expensive. But it is the most Google-y, and perhaps that’s exactly what Google intended. A FLAGSHIP THAT ISN’T PREMIUM The Pixel 5 goes against the ‘flagship phone’ trend in some fundamental ways. It’s cheaper than the Pixel 4. It’s even missing some of the next-gen features that made the Pixel 4 interesting. It has the same Snapdragon 765G processor that’s in the LG…

Google’s new 4K Chromecast comes with a voice-enabled remote control, but the best feature will likely be the new Google TV user interface that sits atop Android TV. Rather than focus on apps and services, Google TV is designed to help you find content you want to watch on the streaming services that you subscribe to. Old timers – that is, tech enthusiasts whose memories date back to about this time in 2010 – will remember Google TV as an epic misfire that cost Logitech a ton of money. I’m sure Google figures people have forgotten all about that Google TV. In any event, the company didn’t give us a lot to go on at its 30-minute announcement event, but it did demonstrate how voice – using Google Assistant on…

Price: £849 (inc VAT) from fave.co/3jTMX0H The HP Envy 13 is a true all-rounder laptop with a slim design, large display and lots of storage space But while these figures look good on paper, how do they match up in real-life performance? I spent some time with this laptop to see how it performs in everyday use – working from home, gaming and doing creative tasks such as video editing. Find out how the laptop holds up below. DESIGN The best thing about the HP Envy 13’s design is undoubtedly the 13.3in Full HD (1,920x1,080) IPS LCD screen, which comes with slim bezels that provide an impressive 88 per cent screen-to-body ratio. It’s enough to make this laptop perfect for anyone looking to stream Netflix or watch YouTube videos. The…

Sometimes, you get what you pay for. Outfitting your computer with useful software doesn’t have to cost a penny, but paying up for programs often gets you perks you won’t find with freeware, from smoother interfaces to more plentiful features or even customer support if you need help. Some of the most useful software is available only in premium form. Freebies tend to get the headlines, but today we’ll shine a light on some programs and services that are worth paying for, drawing on both our extensive testing. Break out your wallet, you won’t regret it. 1. GROUPY Price: £4.99 from fave.co/2VbeMHX Groupy lets you group your various open windows and programs in a single window, essentially treating them like browser tabs. That makes it easy to manage the…