Technology Simplified

Two-minute review You may have been drooling over RGB TVs such as those available from Philips , but these TV sets come with a hefty price tag. Want a similar viewing experience with your current TV without breaking the budget? Then the Govee Immersion TV Backlights should be your next purchase. It’s very hard to describe the effect that comes when your TV is surrounded by ever-changing lights, but it’s a viewing experience that you truly have to see in person in order to appreciate. The Govee Immersion does a very good job of adjusting to what’s on screen, and despite the very minor delay in reaction time, it’s still very enjoyable to see swathes of color wash up against your walls during a particularly colorful scene. Gaming is also similarly affected – whether it’s subtle blues and purples in Ori and the Blind Forest, or a flickering fireplace in Assassin’s Creed, there’s an added sense of depth that changes how your favorite games look and feel. Of course, there are moments wh...

Two-minute review The handstick vacuum market is becoming a very crowded place, and LG is keen to give Dyson a run for its money with its range of CordZero A9 Kompressor vacuum cleaners. Other than the base model in the A9 Kompressor series, all the other models come with a mopping attachment – something you’re not going to get with any Dyson vacuum cleaner. Jump to Price Design Handling Performance Should I buy? The convenience of having a handstick that can both vacuum and mop is immense, and the best part about LG’s Power Drive Mop attachment is it allows you to do both at the same time – it sucks in from the front and spits out water from the back. And while some hard, caked-in dirt might require some elbow grease to get them off your hard floors, we found the LG A9 Kompressor capable of handling most tasks except for the hardiest of grime. Another thing that’s quite impressive about the A9 Kompressor is the battery life: while LG promises that you’ll get up to 60 min...

Two-minute review The Arlo Ultra is Arlo’s first home security camera that records footage in 4K, and also one of its most expensive devices. If you want to keep an eye on your home when you’re not there, and have highly detailed and easily accessible footage of any intrusions or incidents, this could be the home security camera for you.  As well as alerting you via the smartphone app when it detects motion, so that you can login and view what’s happening at your property in realtime, the Arlo Ultra also stores a video of the incident in a secure area online (providing you’ve subscribed to an Arlo Smart plan), and this footage can be viewed back at any point over the next 30 days. Jump to Price and availability Design Performance App Battery life Should I buy it? Arlo Smart doesn’t just cover video storage, it also enables a number of smart features. Among other things it can identify whether the motion was created by a person, animal, vehicle, or some other source, ...

Two-minute review The iLife A10 is the company’s first foray into adding laser navigation to its cleaning robots , and it’s an addition that certainly pays off. The A10 is quick at scanning rooms to create maps, and then figuring out the best way to clean them. The trouble is, the A10 needs to work harder than most robot vacuums in order to clean just as well. On average, we found that it would pick up about 90% of dust and debris in its path, with the other 10% being left behind because of poor navigation, or the side brushes flinging things out of the way. It’s also strange that most of the A10’s alternate cleaning modes can only be operated from the physical remote control. There’s no additional physical buttons on the A10, nor are these options available in the companion app, so in theory if you break or lose the remote control, you won’t be able to access any of these other cleaning modes. Map management can also be a frustrating experience to master, and it’s one that you’re...