03 May
Blog

Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro Review: Transform Your Tablet

Apple Magic Keyboard Review iPad Pro

Apple Magic Keyboard (11-inch iPad Pro 2020)

"For many users, the Magic Keyboard turns the iPad Pro into a real laptop alternative."

  • Tactile, precise typing experience

  • Responsive trackpad

  • Perfectly weighted for desk or lap

  • Productivity increases significantly on the iPad Pro

  • An expensive accessory

  • The screen angle setting is limited

These words are written on a magic keyboard that is connected to an iPad Pro. It is the third full product review I wrote using Apple's new keyboard accessories for the iPad Pro (2020). It has comprised at least 7,000 words since it arrived about a week ago. At the moment I am also typing with the iPad Pro and the magic keyboard on my lap and not at my desk.

Does this all mean that the iPad Pro has found the accessories that can really make it a laptop alternative? That may still be a stretch, but it was certainly never closer. I have been living with the iPad Pro with and without Magic Keyboard for a few weeks now and can say with certainty that this keyboard stands out from all previous competitors.

This is what it looks like. If you haven't decided to buy a new iPad Pro yet, check out our iPad Pro (2020) review.

design

You notice the weight of the Magic keyboard for the iPad Pro the second it arrives. Even in the box, it's a tough thing, and once it's unpacked, it's actually heavier than the iPad Pro itself. I used the 11-inch version with the 11-inch iPad Pro and together they weigh 2, 34 pounds, which is just a hair lighter than the 13-inch MacBook Air 2020. Don't buy this combination if you want to save weight in your pocket, as that's not really the case.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

This weight gives you security. It doesn't feel weak in any way, which makes it well suited for the round. There's no annoying flex that slows typing, and the heavily cushioned hinge holds the tablet securely in the position you choose. With the weight comes the air of quality, and while this would not be desirable in the iPad Pro itself, it is in the keyboard. When closed, the package is approximately 19 mm thick, while the 2020 MacBook Air is 21 mm thick.

Due to the current restrictions, I wasn't able to carry the iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard around in my pocket, so I can't judge their suitability as a pendulum tool, but I have no reason to doubt a convenient companion. What I know is the material from which the keyboard case is made – a pleasantly tactile plastic with a soft handle – that picks up all the fluff, dust and crumbs on the bottom of your bag. It already takes up enough dirt and fingerprints when sitting at home, and inevitably gets dirty when dragged around.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

The Magic keyboard is covered with magnets. A set in the top half holds the iPad Pro in place, and while it doesn't cover the entire back of the tablet, it does so with flaky enthusiasm. There is absolutely no risk of it slipping or falling, even with excessive shaking. Opening the case is easy and the top cover snaps into place quickly. Then set the viewing angle up to 130 degrees.

Once set, it doesn't go anywhere again, but I've found that I wanted it to go a little further back than it can take for a more dramatic viewing angle. There is also no way to use the iPad Pro "alone" with the Magic Keyboard case attached. It cannot be folded to become a 2-in-1 device. If you want to perform tablet tasks, you must first remove them from the case. The Magic Keyboard is designed to bring the iPad Pro as close as possible to a laptop, and it doesn't differ at all.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

The floating design of the Magic keyboard looks cool. Everything holds together as if it were a coherent product and not a hybrid of two. The solid body is also perfectly weighted and balanced for use in all seating situations. It is an excellent product, and to consider it a minor accessory is bad service for the work that has done all of this just right.

keyboard

Whether on your lap or on your desk, the Magic Keyboard is a pleasure to type. The keys have a spring travel of 1 mm. If that doesn't mean a lot to you, you just need to know that they feel great. I've managed to miss Apple's yearlong keyboard wilderness, and the Magic Keyboard types are similar to an evolution of the keyboard of my beloved 11-inch MacBook Air from 2014. It didn't take any customization time, I just sat down and typed right away at full speed.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

This is an essential part of the iPad Pro equipped with Magic Keyboard, which fits into your working life. I'm a "heavy guy" and found the keyboard to be quite loud, but not more than my MacBook Air. My wrists rest on the edge of the case, which is shaped so that it doesn't dig in or cause fatigue. The overall size is well judged, the keys are solid and responsive, and everything falls neatly on your fingers.

My entire Galaxy S20 test was written using the Magic keyboard on the iPad Pro. I had a deadline, so it was a risk to lock on a new device. I met the deadline and don't think I would have worked faster on my MacBook Air or desktop computer. I only wanted to switch once, and that was to edit and upload photos just because I was forced to learn a new workflow on the iPad Pro. However, I didn't give in and the iPad Pro worked just fine.

There were only a few minor irritations when typing on the Magic keyboard. The first is the placement of the alternate language button in the lower left corner. I lost the number of times I switched to a Japanese keyboard configuration instead of pressing the Shift key with my little finger. The little finger on my right hand also caused me some problems. Sometimes it extends as I type, and sometimes I accidentally tap the third suggested word in Pages on the screen, especially when it was set at its most extreme angle.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

After all, the arrow keys are quite small and cumbersome to press quickly, and there is no row of function keys. The way we type is often very individual, so the irritations I've had may not affect anyone and are relatively minor. The lack of volume or brightness function keys didn't bother me, as both are accessible via iPadOS or on the tablet body itself, but traditionalists may find this annoying. Eventually I had some keyboard issues that did not work after switching apps and forced myself to close the app to make it work again. This is not always the case and will likely be fixed in a future software update.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

The keys on the Magic keyboard are backlit and an ambient light sensor detects when they should be on or off. It is quite sensitive. On a cloudy day, they were lit in my living room when I don't think they're needed. The backlight was deactivated on brighter days to avoid additional stress on the battery. The last keyboard I used with an iPad was the Apple keyboard case for the first-generation iPad Pro, and the Magic keyboard is way ahead in terms of feel, ease of use, precision, convenience, and technology. Most of all, I didn't miss typing on my MacBook Air and didn't feel the need to come back to it.

Trackpad

The Magic Keyboard's trackpad is a headline builder, but has it changed the way you interact with the iPad Pro? No, and that's really intentional. Apple wanted the trackpad to expand the iPad Pro's touch-first operation, and that's exactly what it does. The 100mm x 50mm pad may not sound very large, but is well positioned and has the correct sensitivity for quick use. I haven't used it that often, but when I do, it speeds up my workflow a lot.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

Example? I'm having trouble positioning the cursor and selecting text quickly and correctly on iOS, and this issue is repeated on iPadOS. When I write and edit long pieces of text, it can slow me down a lot. The trackpad eliminates the need to touch the screen, and selecting, copying, pasting, and deleting text in Pages takes no longer than on my laptop. The keyboard shortcuts are also available so that my usual laptop workflow is repeated on the Magic keyboard.

It takes one click to position the cursor instead of typing, and the action is consistent across the surface of the pad. The screen cursor is an easy-to-spot blob, and everything that can be interacted with is clearly highlighted. I mostly use pages and the trackpad integrates very well, but some functions are missing in other apps like Google Docs. For example, you can't quickly click, select, and highlight text, just activate the usual iPadOS copy / paste menu. Oddly enough, however, you can do this in the Twitter app. The Magic keyboard is still new, so additional functions may become available in third-party apps over time.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

I never just relied on the trackpad and switched between use and the touchscreen to navigate and perform certain functions, just like a touchscreen laptop. However, because the screen is so close to your hands and the keyboard's space requirement is relatively small, the range is often minimal and therefore feels faster than a large laptop. Although the trackpad initially aroused the greatest interest in the Magic keyboard, it is only a small, albeit an integral part of what makes the product so good overall.

Connectivity

The Magic keyboard is powered by the iPad Pro and does not need to be charged separately. At the end of the main hinge is a single USB Type-C port that serves as a continuity for charging. This leaves the USB Type C of the iPad Pro free so that you can connect a USB hub or an external drive. However, you cannot do this at the connection of the Magic keyboard. Shame.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

I used a USB hub to extract all the photos from an SD memory card for my Samsung Galaxy S20 test and transfer them to the iPad Pro for editing and uploading. I used different apps during the process and it was seamless and fast. I had no problems with the USB Type-C hub at the time, but due to the short cable and the fact that it needed to be connected to the tablet, it wasn't lying flat on the table. I would also worry that it knocks because of the way it protrudes. I would not worry if it could be connected to the keyboard's USB port.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

It would also have been nice if Apple had included an extra long USB charging cable with the Magic Keyboard. Instead, it was decided not to include any cables at all. The tablet that came with the tablet is short and is not suitable for situations where a plug may not be near your work place. Yes, the battery life is long, but not infinite. Given the cost of the keyboard, this is pretty tight even by Apple's standards.

Price and availability

The Magic keyboard costs $ 300 for the 11-inch model and $ 350 for the 12.9-inch version. You can also buy it from the Apple Store and from various retailers. It is compatible with both the current iPad Pro Tablet 2020 and the iPad Pro 2018. If you have an iPad Pro 2018, there is no reason to update your tablet yet. This is great news for those who have just bought the previous model.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

You need an iPad Pro for your Magic keyboard. As a package, you pay at least $ 1,100 for the 11-inch iPad Pro and Magic keyboard and at least $ 1,350 for the 12.9-inch model. For comparison, a new 2020 MacBook Air starts at $ 1,000.

Our opinion

The hardware combination of the iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard makes it an effective laptop alternative, but the software will still be an obstacle for those who have more complex work requirements. It comes closer to real, complete business than ever before. If your work requirements like mine are relatively simple, you don't have to grab your laptop often, if at all.

However, the slight lack of versatility of the keyboard case and the initially high price can make a laptop the most preferred device for you personally. Think carefully about how you use the iPad Pro every day, because at this price, a laptop can better meet your needs for less money.

Is there a better alternative?

The most logical alternative is a new MacBook Air for $ 1,000. A laptop offers everything the iPad Pro / Magic Keyboard can do, and much more. It also avoids some of the versatility problems, as there are often more ports, a longer charging cable and compatibility with almost all file types. Even the price isn't much different, and if you're only able to buy either, the MacBook Air may be the better long-term purchase depending on your work schedules.

Another alternative would be to find a 2018 iPad Pro and buy one for the Magic keyboard. You save a little money and work the same way. Outsider alternatives that may better suit your needs include Microsoft Surface Go for more than $ 400, or Surface Pro 7 for more than $ 750, or even Chromebooks like the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook for $ 1,000 2-in-1 design and Google for $ 650 Pixelbook Go.

However, the laptop is the only alternative that meets all the criteria, and the other alternatives often have to make the same or greater compromises than the iPad Pro and the Magic Keyboard combination.

How long it will take?

The iPad Pro easily lasts three to five years or even longer, depending on what you use it for. Adding the Magic keyboard only increases the lifespan. However, the keyboard has no water resistance or special durability. You should therefore make sure that nothing is spilled or dropped on it. If you are careless, a big bill may be waiting for you.

Should you buy one?

Yes. With the Magic keyboard, the iPad Pro comes closer than ever to its promise as a laptop alternative.

Editor's recommendations




02 May
Blog

Sony PlayStation 4 Pro Review 2020: 4K at a Price

PlayStation 4 bundle

PlayStation 4 Pro 1 TB console

"PlayStation 4 Pro is the first console to take 4K UHD gaming seriously."

  • 4K games for less than $ 500

  • Improves the display of selected PlayStation VR titles

  • All games run a little better than the standard PS4

  • Also looks good on 1080p TVs

  • Supports all PS4 games

  • HDR can be very difficult to set up

  • Few titles offer 4K support at launch

  • No 4K Blu-ray player

Sony's PlayStation4 Pro was the first of its kind for game consoles when it launched in November 2016. Thanks to a better graphics card and other hardware improvements, she was able to process the gameplay with 4K UHD resolution and high dynamic range (HDR).

Unlike previous hardware leaps for game consoles, however, the Pro is still a PlayStation 4 at its core. Games or game modes that cannot be found on a standard start console cannot be played. Instead, the Pro gives players who care about graphics and resolution the privilege of knowing that their games are doing as well as they can.

The console doesn't offer everything you need to make it the heart of a high-end media system.

PlayStation 4 Pro has been largely successful in this regard. When played on a 4K TV, the PS4 Pro looks sharper and more detailed. The games also run more smoothly on a standard Full HD set. It's the best PS4 you can buy right now.

On the other hand, Sony's decision to give players the opportunity to maximize the performance of their consoles has opened Pandora's box. Outputting the console with 4K HDR is a complicated and expensive process that most people just won't do, at least not until 4K UHD TVs become cheaper and HDR becomes a widespread standard.

Nothing prevents you from buying a PlayStation 4 Pro and taking advantage of the performance advantages that it naturally offers. However, these improvements are minor: you may see more pixels and save a few seconds less load time, but the cost is an additional $ 100 to $ 150 that is missing in your pocket. More importantly, the complexity of setting up the PS4 Pro (which is not always easy) means that you are giving up the greatest strength that video game consoles have over PCs: the ability to plug and play.

We need a bigger box!

Physically speaking, the PS4 Pro does not differ significantly from its new counterpart, the PS4 "Slim". It has the same sharp, sloping design, but with three "slates" instead of two. The pro is not as big as you can imagine. At 295 x 327 x 55 mm, it's two inches wider and two inches lower than the original PS4. At 7.3 pounds, it's also a pound heavier than the original PS4 and almost three pounds more than the Slim. On the other hand, it's a console that just sits under your TV most of the time. Who cares?

It also has some additional ports: the optical drive and two USB 3.1 ports on the front are standard PS4, but the Pro has an additional USB 3.1 port on the back, which is useful if you have a PSVR headset . To record the 4K signal, the HDMI port of the Pro is HDMI 2.0. The Pro also has an optical port that was included in the original PS4 but was removed from the "Slim".

Interestingly, the PS4 Pro's optical drive is the same as the PS4's, which means that unlike the more powerful Xbox Series X, it doesn't support 4K Blu-ray. The console can stream 4K HDR content from apps like Netflix and Hulu, but lack of support means the console doesn't do everything you need to make it the heart of a high-end media system.

When played on a 4K UHD TV, the PS4 Pro looks sharper and more detailed.

The real changes are inside. The PS4 Pro has an AMD Radeon graphics card with 4.20 teraflop (TFLOP), which is a serious improvement. Like the standard PS4, it has an 8-core AMD x86-64 Jaguar processor, but the clock speed has been increased to 2.1 GHz. Like the original PS4, it has 8 GB of DDR5 RAM, but also has an additional gigabyte of DDR3 RAM to manage temporary memory states for open games and apps. The Pro comes with a 1TB hard drive that, like the PS4, can be replaced with any 2.5-inch SATA hard drive.

The bottom line is that the technical upgrade of the Pro is more than just cosmetic. Even without software support from individual developers, games and apps run more smoothly and loading times can be shortened. Some games that push the game hardware to its limits (or have been poorly optimized) stutter less or see less frame rate losses. At the same time, this isn't the kind of leap that a new generation of games like the PS5 will allow later this year with far more powerful specs than the PS4. Even if Sony allowed PS4 Pro exclusively, these games would not be much bigger or more content than what we are now playing with the next generation on the way to release. The improved graphics card could lead to sharper, more detailed games over time, but that's it.

Radiant happy people

The main advantage of the PS4 Pro is the ability to play games with 4K UHD resolution. Games look better in 4K UHD than standard 1080p Full HD games. The 4K advantage increases the details of every wall, every face, every weapon, every vehicle – everything looks sharper. Even older games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, one of the few 4K-compatible games before Pro launched, look much better. This detail mostly comes into play when you see objects up close – you can stare at a close-up of a person's face and see every pore – but you will still see less detailed textures if you are vigilant.

As long as you have a 4K UHD television, playing a game in 4K is very easy: the console automatically scales your resolution to 4K when connected, as does your resolution on the standard PS4.

Each game also requires a patch that enables 4K support. Before the console launched, there were minimal 4K-capable games, less than 10. This number has increased significantly in the years since the Pro launched, but the changes are not consistent at all levels.

PlayStation 4 Pro test "data-image-id =" 1076712Julian Chokkattu / Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu / Digital Trends

When it comes to 4K support, every game is different. Although many suggested 4K patches just seem to activate high-resolution mode, some games offer new setting options. With The Witness, for example, you can choose to run the frame rate at 4K at a frame rate of 30 frames per second (fps) or 1440p at a scaling of 4K and a frame rate of 60 frames per second.

Xbox One S can also scale up games to 4K. However, there are currently no 4K native games, and most games continue to render at or below 1080p, just like the original Xbox One. Skyrim: Special Edition is rendered at 4K on the PS4 Pro, and other games like Titanfall 2 and The Last Of Us get a resolution boost.

In many cases, the increase in resolution increases the image quality to a certain extent in 4K and 1080p devices. When using a 4K set, the increased render resolution means less likelihood of softness or upscaled artifacts. And if you have a 1080p TV, the game can “Super Sample”, which means that it will be rendered at a higher resolution and then scaled down to 1080p. The result is a sharper and cleaner picture.

Of course, this is all a bit confusing. While many games “just look better” when you connect the PS4 Pro, you may have to tweak the settings to make the games “work properly”. This is not a problem – more choice is generally a good thing – but like adding patches and other PC-style system functions to consoles, the function transfers more decisions to you and you need to do more research on the technical aspects of games . After launch, Sony also added a “boost mode” to the Pro that supports games with no special support for the Pro with higher frame rates. Unfortunately, the function is far from perfect: the results of “boosting” vary from game to game, and Sony has recognized that there may be unforeseen errors that add more trial and error to your console. This is a blessing on the PC, where you can use these distinctions to customize your hardware, but on a console it feels more like a burden.

Shinier, sadder people

Both the PlayStation 4 and PS4 Pro support a high dynamic range, so this is not just an advantage of the PS4 Pro. However, since HDR is only available in a subset of 4K televisions and the PS4 Pro was originally shown with 4K and HDR to improve the picture consistency of the console, this is an important and very questionable aspect of the possibilities of the console.

With HDR support, Sony has led players into the complicated world of competing, unregulated software standards. HDR is a separate feature from 4K, which is largely unpublished and is difficult to identify when buying a TV. There are also different forms of HDR: The PS4 Pro requires HDR 10, which differs from "HDR Premium". There's also a competing standard, Dolby Vision, that is similar, but doesn't work with a PS4 Pro.

Even if you buy a compatible TV, there is a good chance that there will be frustrating technical issues that can affect or prevent your ability to play games with HDR. Although it varies from model to model and from brand to brand, it seems that models can have compatibility problems. Some of them seem to be related to the firmware. In November 2016, LG released a firmware patch for some of its TVs that specifically addressed issues with the PS4 Pro.

For this test, we tested the PS4 Pro with a set of Samsung 8 that meets the specifications of the console. The TV was able to register 4K and HDR in other devices. With the PS4 Pro, however, the device recognized the HDR connection, but was unable to maintain it properly. The problem was partially fixed when Samsung technicians replaced the TV's motherboard, but HDR was still not compatible with every setting.

All of these roadblocks render HDR practically unusable, which is a shame.

While it would be easy to attribute this to a defective TV, it should be noted that the problem would not have occurred without the PS4 Pro's technical eccentricities. While TV manufacturers have been working to make their HDR devices PS4 Pro compatible, it can be rightly said that each person has their own problems pairing the console with a television.

In addition, the PS4 Pro must be connected directly to your TV to support HDR. HDR content cannot be viewed through a switcher, receiver, or pass-through. This limitation, which I believe is rare, if not unprecedented, will be a serious barrier to entry for anyone using surround sound or other high quality home theater equipment. Given the specialization of technology, it's not crazy to think that many people who can use HDR want to use it in conjunction with a speaker system.

Even in ideal circumstances, enabling HDR can be more complicated than setting up 4K. Although the PS4 Pro makes it as easy as possible, enabling the feature on your TV may require a deep dive into the settings and a lot of trial and error. TV manufacturers seem to combine 4K UHD (Ultra HD) and HDR. This varies from sentence to sentence, but is complicated and there is no intuitive roadmap to get it going.

All of these roadblocks render HDR practically unusable, which is a shame. Based on what we saw at the PS4 Pro reveal event, where we saw the PS4 Pro along with 4K and HDR, and our review unit, where we only played in 4K, HDR is certainly the more impressive of the two upgrades. The more dynamic lighting allows you to see over long distances and see subtle details in light and dark places that would be hidden in standard HD.

Become "Pro" in VR

The PlayStation 4 Pro can also improve the way PSVR games work, regardless of what TV you have. According to Sony's Mark Cerny, the PS4 Pro does not automatically lead to technical improvements without special support that is integrated into individual games. Based on our testing, we have generally found that this is the case. Although games may try to use PS4 Pro to improve PSVR in different ways, the additional graphical performance seems to allow the headset to display more detailed renderings at a higher resolution.

Warranty information

The PlayStation 4 Pro comes with a one-year limited manufacturer warranty.

Our opinion

Before you buy a PS4 Pro, you have to ask and answer a lot of questions if you want to get the most out of the console. Do you have a 4K HDR 10 TV? Does this TV have an HDMI port on the physical device? Are you using a receiver or switcher for audio? Are you interested in 4K Blu-Rays? Do you own or plan to buy PSVR? Is it better to just wait for the PS5 to be released later this year?

If you don't answer all of these questions correctly, the improvements you'll see on the PlayStation 4 Pro can be costly. The PS4 Pro is undoubtedly the best version of the PlayStation 4, but it's not that much better that you should feel compelled to upgrade when a better new console is on its way soon.

Is there a better alternative?

It depends on your situation. The standard PS4 can play all games, so you won't miss any titles with the cheaper price. In this case, the Pro is only intended for those who want to get the most out of their 4K TV. Otherwise, the only alternatives at the moment are the Xbox One X or a gaming PC, but you'll miss out on amazing exclusive products like Persona 5 Royal and Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

How long it will take?

Not at all for very long. The release of the PS5 is planned for this holiday, provided there are no problems with the production or the start. Therefore, the clock on the PS4 Pro and this generation generally runs out. There will probably be some intergenerational games at the beginning of the next generation, but it will only take that long.

Should you buy it

Maybe if you don't have a PS4 yet and want to experience the huge library of excellent games. Otherwise, just wait for the PS5, which is backward compatible with many PS4 games and has its own set of exclusive games.

This article was last updated on April 28, 2020 by Cody Perez, a Digital Trends employee.

Editor's recommendations




22 Apr
Blog

Apple iPad Pro (2020) Review: The Definitive Tablet

Apple iPad Pro 2020 review back

"The iPad Pro 2020 is the best version of the best tablet you can buy, and no task will impress you."

  • Amazing screen

  • Versatile, easy-to-use software

  • Packed app store with tablet-specific apps

  • Neat, comfortable and light design

  • Good performance

  • Perfect for work or leisure

  • Important accessories increase costs

  • The LiDAR sensor currently has no advantage

  • Expensive against competitors

The Apple iPad is the most popular tablet in the world and that we would recommend to anyone buying a new tablet. There's a brand new version of the top iPad Pro for 2020 now, but does that mean you should buy it?

Oh well. Of course. The iPad Pro has dominated the tablet market since its launch. The 2020 iPad Pro is a small update, but it's still way ahead of its rivals.

design

I purchased the 11-inch iPad Pro for review. The only difference from the 12.9-inch version is the screen size. Even the pixel density is the same for both models at 265 pixels per inch. Quite simply, one is bigger than the other and you have to decide which one best suits your needs. The larger model is probably better for artists and anyone who is serious about working with the iPad, but it may also feel a bit too big to watch videos in bed or for general home use, which I think is great for 11- works better. Inch version.

Apple iPad Pro 2020Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

The tablet is super slim at 5.9 mm and light at 471 grams, and I've never felt tired when I propped it up or put it on my lap. The weight and dimensions are exactly the same as the iPad Pro 2018, and the overall design is similar. The back of the tablet is flat, as are the sides, which are only interrupted by perforations for the quad speakers, the USB charging port type C and three buttons. It's all very industrial, especially in space gray. It cannot be called beautiful, but there is no doubt that much has been thought about doing it just right.

For example, you would think that the flat edges would feel sharp after a while. You don't. The slightly beveled edge provides comfort and the curved corners fit exactly in the palm of your hand, so you can hold the iPad Pro for hours without digging into your hands. The matte metal case has a lot of grip and doesn't draw many fingerprints, which spoils the screen and puts it in a terrible state. The narrow 6mm bezels are just the right size to hold the tablet without accidentally touching the screen.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

The camera with two lenses on the back separates it from the 2018 model and brings it stylishly closer to the iPhone 11. It gives the design of the tablet character, does not protrude too much from the surface and means that the camera is more powerful here than on anyone iPad previously. Since the selfie camera is very well hidden in the thin screen bezels and the buttons are almost flush on the sides, the feeling for the camera shock is the best way to determine which end was "up".

An ergonomic problem related to Face Unlock occurs occasionally. The camera setup is in the narrow bezels. If you hold the tablet in landscape format, you can easily hide it. It is not uncommon for the tablet to accidentally go to sleep by pressing the button. You may also need to use Face Unlock to make purchases, and you'll need to readjust your grip for the cameras to work. Fortunately, there is an arrow on the screen that points to the camera location. Like the 2018 model, the iPad Pro 2020 unfortunately does not have a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

I haven't updated my iPad since the first generation iPad Pro 12.9 released in 2015. It is a tablet that I liked very much, but was often perceived as unwieldy. Switching to the 11-inch iPad Pro 2020 is like traveling back in time, as the tiny victim of 1.9-inch screen space is nothing compared to the benefits of improved design, weight reduction, and reduced space requirements. By comparing like this, you understand how slim and user-friendly the new iPad really is and how far Apple has gotten in design in a few years.

display

The iPad Pro's Liquid Retina IPS screen measures 11 inches and has a resolution of 2388 x 1668 pixels, Apple's ProMotion 120Hz technology, true tone colors and 600 nits of brightness. The iPad Pro was the ideal video partner not only thanks to the wonderfully calibrated screen, but also thanks to the abundance of available media apps.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

Although the iPad Pro doesn't show 4K video, the quality above 1080p is absolutely wonderful. The colors are perfectly coordinated – lively, bright and dynamic in equal measure, but never exaggerated or too saturated. Of course, the quality varies with the video content itself, but provided it has been filmed competently, it looks great.

The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime usually looked stunning – crisp, sharp, and full of detail. Watching Wheeler dealers via the Dplay app is not quite as nice, but not with the iPad. However, this doesn't make it any less pleasant. In contrast to a foldable smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy Fold or the Huawei Mate Xs, the aspect ratio of 4: 3 is better for watching videos, as the black bars are minimized. I preferred to watch videos on the 11-inch iPad Pro over my older 12.9-inch iPad Pro. It's just easier to use without compromising the screen size.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

One of the most striking aspects is the ProMotion 120Hz screen. If you're like me and you're from a first-generation iPad Pro or other tablet without a high-refresh screen, it's amazing to look at. There is no blurring at all, and this makes viewing menus about surfing the Internet and playing games more enjoyable. It is a wonderful addition to this stunning screen.

Disadvantage? It's a shame that the screen gets pretty greasy and doesn't clean very effectively even with special cloths. If you don't buy a case or stand for the tablet, you have to hold it or pry it against things to watch videos for extended periods of time. The compatibility of video files can also be incomplete, especially if they are run from external drives. Otherwise it is error-free.

Software and productivity

IPadOS 13.4 is installed on the iPad Pro 2020. This brings with it various improvements for iOS 13, which were published at the end of 2019 and brought the tablet closer to a laptop alternative for the first time. When used normally, it feels like the iOS it is based on, and is more suitable for the larger screen with the slide-up dock menu and other improvements. Multitasking has been significantly improved, and there are now two ways to use more than one app.

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Apple iPad Pro 2020 review slide about "class =" m carousel - picture dt-lazy-no "src =" https://icdn3.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/ipad-pro-2020-slide-over- 640x640 .jpg "srcset =" https://www.digitaltrends.com/data:image/gif;base64,https://www.digitaltrends.com/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAASlide over floating apps Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

Apple iPad Pro 2020 review reveals "class =" m-carousel - image dt-lazy-no "src =" https://icdn4.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/ipad-pro-2020-expose-640x640.jpg "srcset =" https://www.digitaltrends.com/data:image/gif;base64,https://www.digitaltrends.com/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7Slide over exposure Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

Apple iPad Pro 2020 Review Dock "class =" m-Karussell - picture dt-lazy-no "src =" https://icdn5.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/ipad-pro-2020-dock-640x640.jpg " srcset = "https://www.digitaltrends.com/data:image/gif;base64,https://www.digitaltrends.com/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7dock Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

Both are easy to use and logically set up. The first is split view, where two apps, or in some cases two views of the same app, appear on the screen at the same time. Once you've learned the swipe and tap combination to make it work, it's easy, but it's a shame that not all apps work with it. For example, you cannot open a browser window next to Autotrader. If you are swiping too fast to access the dock, you can simply exit the app instead.

Slide Over fixes the problem that not all apps work with Split View and instead hovers other app windows over a main full screen app. This is helpful because you can open many windows at the same time and then switch between them in the synopsis view. This is very helpful. I have found that using pages to write an article with a research browser window open has speeded up my workflow.

The new software also introduces USB device management. The iPad has a single USB Type-C port to which I connected a hub to provide USB Type-A ports and an SD card reader. It worked fine, read and played compatible video files from a USB stick and imported pictures and videos from an SD card. However, I found that the hub – a Vava multiport model – was drawing a lot of power from the tablet. Therefore, please note that the battery will discharge faster if you use it to work or play videos.

I like typing on the glass screen of the iPad during work. The size is correct so I can still touch the guy quickly, and the software's automatic fix is ​​activated when I make mistakes. I use Pages anyway and the quick sharing between the tablet and my Mac is very helpful. At the time of writing, I hadn't tried the new Magic Keyboard with the trackpad, which promises to really improve productivity. Without a case, the iPad Pro must be on your lap to type, which is not the most ergonomic solution. If you want to use the iPad this way, invest in a case or stand that tilts the tablet toward you.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

What else? Having widgets on the home screen is nice, rather than swiping in the left view as is required on iPhone. This leads to an excellent Apple News experience on the iPad. Here too, the 11-inch model is more suitable for reading in bed than the 12.9-inch tablet due to the space requirement. Books and comics can also be read excellently on the tablet. I could keep talking about iPadOS 13.5 and all the things I like about using the iPad Pro 2020. It's quick and easy to use, animations are nifty without being intrusive, and the app store is packed with apps optimized for tablets.

The iPad Pro 2020 without a keyboard case is a fabulous all-rounder that can play beautiful videos in one minute and is suitable for some quick e-mails and basic work tasks in the next. You can later read or play games. To use it seriously for work, you need a keyboard, but even without it, the way it is recorded and used for everything is appealing and practical, supported by the clever software and this amazing screen.

Performance and games

One of the most important changes compared to the 2018 version is the new Apple A12Z bionic processor with octa-core graphics, which focuses on hardcore work tasks such as 4K video editing. Apple claims it is faster than most PC laptops. We ran a benchmark test to see how it works:

The latest Samsung tablet, the Galaxy S6, does not even come close to this score and underlines the incredible performance of the new iPad Pro. Perhaps the least pleasing thing about the iPad is that holding the tablet is painful compared to a phone or console controller. How this affects you depends on the games you enjoy. Games that rely on swiping, like Asphalt 9 Legends, Minecraft, and Bullet Hell Monday, are better than others. Asphalt 9 also looks fantastic and the performance is undoubtedly excellent.

There's not much else to say, and that's proof of the iPad Pro's flawless performance. It undeniably beats any other tablet and is not even close. If you need a device that is faster than an iPad Pro, you need something that is not a tablet.

camera

There is a double camera on the back of the iPad Pro 2020, which is one of the most important hardware updates compared to previous models. The main lens is a 12 megapixel sensor with an aperture of 1: 1.8 and the other is a 10 megapixel wide angle lens. You get the Smart HDR function, 4K video recording at up to 60 frames per second in standard and wide angle, and five microphones. In addition, the iPad Pro has a lidar sensor for measuring distances, which currently has only limited functionality. On the front is a 7 megapixel TrueDepth front camera with face unlock.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

The lidar sensor is not much help at the moment. There's no obvious advantage to using the main camera, and Apple doesn't go into great detail outside of the Measure app for what you should use it for. In this way, you can quickly measure objects in the real world with the camera on the iPad. Basic shapes and elements can be recognized quickly. I think it's great that the closer you move the camera, the more detailed measurement data you can see. However, I'm not sure how often I would use it.

The camera is acceptable for a tablet and takes decent photos, but can't keep up with the iPhone 11 Pro or similarly powerful Android camera phones. The color balance is pleasant, the blue sky appears natural, the definition is good in cloudy conditions and the level of detail in close-ups. I felt that the tablet was too big to use as a camera on a regular basis. Since many tablets don't leave the house, the camera of the iPad Pro is perfectly acceptable, especially the video camera for taking quick pictures of your children or pets. However, don't be too excited about the wide-angle camera as the field of view is narrower than that of the iPhone 11 Pro and is only slightly different from the main lens.

battery

The battery in the iPad Pro lasted approximately five days with moderate daily use of approximately two hours. Charging with the included 18-watt charger took an hour to reach 47% and reached 100% in about two and a half hours. With Apple's 29W fast charger, which has to be purchased separately, the battery reached 68% in one hour and it took another hour to reach 100%.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

How quickly the battery drains depends on what you do. Of course, video requires a lot of power, and at least 35% of the battery energy is used for two and a half hours. This corresponds to about seven to seven and a half hours of total video playback, which is less than the 10 hours of video usage Apple has specified. Otherwise, after two hours of general use a day, the tablet lasted five days before it needed to be recharged.

Like the last iPad Pro, the charging port is a USB Type-C port, so the Lightning cable used for the iPhone doesn't work. The included charging cable has a USB Type-C connector at both ends and not a USB Type-A connector, which may limit the wall charging blocks you use. This means you may have to carry multiple chargers around or invest in a single new charging block.

Price, guarantee and availability

The iPad Pro we spent time with is the 11-inch version with 128 GB of internal storage. It costs $ 800. If you want the same version with a 12-9 inch screen, it costs $ 1,000. Choosing more storage increases the price to a maximum of $ 1,500 for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 1 TB. If you want a cellular connection, the total cost of your new tablet will increase by $ 150.

Apple grants a 1-year basic warranty against manufacturing and material defects. You can also pay for the extended AppleCare warranty, which also covers accidental damage and the battery, and provides technical support for two years. The prices vary depending on the coverage and product. The iPad Pro 2020 is available from Apple's own online shop and retailers such as Best Buy, as well as from mobile operators.

Our opinion

It's not often that a product meets the criteria for being "expensive but worth it", but the Apple iPad Pro 2020 does just that. It's the best version of the best tablet you can buy. If you already have version 2018, you don't really need to update it. This underscores the fact that there is nothing drastically new here, other than more power and the promise of augmented reality functions that will be activated with the lidar sensor in the future version.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes, but it depends on how you imagine using your iPad in the next few years. There's no question that the iPad Pro 2020 is the best tablet you can buy today because it's so versatile – but it's expensive. If you want a very similar experience at a lower price, you might want to look around for an iPad Pro 2018. which can still be found for less money. The simple 10.2-inch iPad only costs $ 330 and is also ideal if you don't expect a lot of work.

However, if you want to switch from a laptop to an iPad, the extra performance is worth it in the long run. If you want an Android tablet, we are fans of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 worth $ 650 and the media-oriented Galaxy Tab S5e worth $ 400. Although we haven't tested it for a long time, the Huawei MatePad Pro 5G impressed during our practical time and certainly has an enormous amount of technology, including wireless charging and a 5G connection.

You can find more recommendations in our favorite tablets from 2020.

How long it will take?

The replacement of your tablet is not carried out as regularly as with your smartphone. Depending on how often you use your tablet and what you use it for, up to five years are roughly correct. If you plan to use the iPad Pro for work, it may need to be replaced earlier, depending on your needs. If you buy a model with more internal storage, it will last longer.

The iPad Pro 2020 is not waterproof and although it has a metal back cover, the screen is still made of glass, so it can easily break when dropped. As iPad tablets focus more on productivity, they spend more time outdoors making a case and Apple's extended warranty investments. Apple regularly delivers software updates and the iPad will be supported for a few more years. For example, iPadOS 13.4.1 is also running on my original iPad Pro 12.9 2015.

Should you buy it

Yes absolutely. It is difficult to find a common entertainment or productivity task. The iPad Pro 2020 doesn't work very well, but you'll need to buy a few accessories to get the most out of its talents, and there's little reason for last-generation owners to upgrade to it.

Editor's recommendations




14 Apr
Blog

OnePlus 8 Pro Review: Everything You Want

oneplus 8 per evaluation bag

OnePlus 8 Pro Review: Everything you want

"The OnePlus 8 Pro meets all criteria."

  • Amazing battery life

  • Fast wired and wireless charging

  • Breathtaking screen

  • Great photos from the camera

  • Slick software

  • The response to screen touches must be adjusted

  • Odd Color Filter is a misstep

  • Fast wireless charging is proprietary

The OnePlus 8 Pro is the final OnePlus smartphone. It has everything you want, plus bonus features like wireless charging that enthusiasts ask for. However, OnePlus has tackled a strange feature that nobody is asking about. It's a great phone that's just a hair behind the best.

design

At first glance, the OnePlus 8 Pro does not differ significantly from the OnePlus 7T Pro in terms of design. However, there are some minor changes that make the OnePlus 8 Pro a better phone to hold and use. The phone is a few millimeters longer, not quite as wide and a bit thinner. The corners have a slightly different degree of curvature and are 7 grams lighter at a total of 200 grams.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

I prefer the OnePlus 8 Pro at a distance from the OnePlus 7T Pro. It doesn't feel bulky or bulky and is generally more comfortable to use and use. The changes also mean that it doesn't burrow into my palms as much when I've used it for a while, and the reduction in mass allows one-handed, if not preferable, use. This is still a big phone, and the pages taper to a point. If it can be uncomfortable if you hold it from certain angles.

While it is a significant advance over the OnePlus 7T Pro, the 8 Pro ranks the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus and the Huawei P40 Pro as competitors and cannot quite take the title of the most ergonomic phone in 2020. The competition feels lighter and quicker in the hand. OnePlus has followed Huawei in using a matte finish on the back, and it's a great move. Fingerprints are not easily displayed, and the curved 3D glass looks fantastic in the glacier green shown above, which shows aquamarine in some lighting conditions as shown in the photos. Nice.

For the first time, OnePlus is using a punch-hole selfie camera on the front. As with most examples, this is something you will not notice after long use of the phone. Tearing out the OnePlus 7T Pro's motorized pop-up selfie camera helped make the entire 8 Pro more compact and easy to use. This also means that the phone can be sealed and has an IP68 waterproof rating, although the company has had an extremely negative stance on this feature in the past.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

Perhaps the only disappointing feature of the OnePlus 8 Pro design is the size of the camera hump on the back. It sticks out far more than the 7T Pro, maybe twice as thick as the Galaxy S20 Pro's bump, and has sharp edges that can scratch other objects when rubbed against them in a pocket. This trend continues with the thin and sharp volume rocker, although the slimmed-down slider that changes the notification alert status has a wonderful texture. Despite these nitpicks, the OnePlus 8 Pro is one of the best looking phones you can buy.

screen

The 6.78-inch Fluid AMOLED screen has a resolution of 3168 x 1440 pixels for an excellent density of 531 pixels per inch and offers excellent details. It also offers a wonderful refresh rate of 120 Hz for smooth scrolling and reduced eye strain, as well as 240 Hz touch sampling for faster reaction times when playing. Some other software optimizations are definitely required to achieve touch accuracy in the operating system, especially at the very edges. It feels sluggish in some moments and overly sensitive in others.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

OxygenOS provides options to improve color and enable motion smoothing. When color enhancements are enabled, the screen stays natural, but has slightly more vivid colors. It never reaches the saturation level of the Galaxy S20 Plus. I like the crisp white tones on the screen of the OnePlus 8 Pro that outperform those of the S20 Plus and even the Huawei P40 Pro. Outside in bright sunlight, whites still look like freshly washed sheets. Motion smoothing is less successful because it is rather inconsistent, looks great in one minute, and looks artificial in the next. I switched it off at some point – it is activated by default.

With color enhancement turned on and motion smoothed, the screen appears just right for my eyes and I loved watching movies on the OnePlus 8 Pro. The bezels are minimal and although the pinhole camera easily breaks up the all-screen look, it never gets intrusive. The screen is one of the outstanding features of OnePlus 8 Pro.

camera

The OnePlus 8 Pro's camera is a bit strange. At first glance, everything seems normal. The 48-megapixel main camera has the new IMX689 sensor from Sony with optical and electronic image stabilization as well as a 48-megapixel wide-angle and an 8-megapixel telephoto sensor. This means 3x zoom, 4K video recording and various modes including night mode and super macro.

Normal, right? Wait, I'm not done yet. The fourth sensor of the OnePlus 8 Pro is a color filter camera that inverts the colors in your images. Why? I really have no idea.

Even OnePlus is not sure. In the press details, the color filter camera is described as a way to stand out from the crowd and express your unique style. You can also do this by standing in the street and howling at the moon, but that doesn't make it a good idea.

OnePlus 8 Pro color filter image Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

Photos taken with the color filter remove shades of green, red, and blue, leaving muted shades of brown, black, white, and beige. Do you find that ugly? Most of the time you're right. It's not that the color filter doesn't make interesting pictures because it can do it in some kind of nuclear wasteland. I'm just not sure how often I want to use it. It's hidden in a menu, so it's not even visible and is therefore forgotten – and maybe that's a good thing. It's not always a disaster, and shooting in the sun can lead to some atmospheric shots. Otherwise, my local park looked like a bizarre alien landscape.

When I saw the OnePlus and McLaren concept phone at CES 2020, I hoped the electrochromic camera function would make it to the OnePlus 8, but instead we have the color filter sensor and it's definitely not a worthy replacement. Calling it quirky fun would be a nice description, but more specifically, it would be a gimmick added to obscure the fact that there is nothing really new here outside of the improved main sensor.

Otherwise, I like the photos taken by the OnePlus 8 Pro. The dynamic range is great, the saturation is just at the right level and I was very impressed with the effectiveness of the night mode. It brightens scenes very effectively and also works with the wide-angle camera. I don't understand the inclusion of the color filter and if it is removed from the equation, the camera will be exposed as relatively normal for a flagship Android phone (no pun intended).

Software and battery

The OnePlus 8 Pro's 4,510 mAh battery is a superstar. Granted, I've only used Wi-Fi most of the time at the moment, but that doesn't make performance any less impressive. The moderate use of a whole day from 8 a.m. to midnight consumed only 25% of electricity, which I couldn't quite believe. I didn't charge the phone and it went into "sleep" mode by itself overnight, where it minimized power consumption, so that only 4% of the battery was used during sleep. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. the next day it was 53%. After several voice calls and at least one hour of video calls, I ended the day around 5:00 with midnight.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

This is an excellent achievement, and charging is also extremely fast. The supplied Warp Charge 30T charging stone and the cable bring the empty battery to 55% in just 24 minutes. The battery will be fully charged in one hour. A new feature of the OnePlus 8 is the possibility to optimize the charging time overnight, by getting to know your habits and only fully charging the battery shortly before normal waking up. It worked very well for me and should lead to less deterioration of the battery over time.

OnePlus added wireless charging to the OnePlus 8 Pro, a welcome addition that should have come a long time ago. It breaks to 50% in about 30 minutes. Although it supports the Qi standard, for OnePlus wireless fast charging, you'll need to buy the OnePlus wireless charger, which costs $ 80 or $ 70. Granted, it's very nice, but that's a significant surcharge. If you don't buy it, other Qi wireless chargers will work, but will only offer slow charging speed.

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This quick charging is associated with additional costs: The OnePlus charger has a built-in fan that buzzes on itself when the phone is set up. It's acceptable enough if it's on my desk, but I'm not sure if I'm the same if I try to sleep.

The OnePlus 8 uses OxygenOS 10.5, which is based on Android 10, and it is almost identical to OxygenOS 10 on the OnePlus 7T Pro. There are some changes in dark mode as well as support for Google One. A number of dynamic background images have been added that look really great. OxygenOS is one of the best interfaces you can get, and reusing it reminded me why I like it.

It is very fast, is not flooded with senseless apps and is attractively designed. The plug-in screen controlled by Google Assistant is useful and offers news updates, weather information and quick access to your own assistant page with personal updates. I like the sensitive haptic feedback, which feels a lot better in quality than almost any other phone that I test, to the cute little vibration when someone answers a call.

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However, it is not perfect. The lack of a constantly active display is a disappointment, although you can tap the screen to see information. According to OnePlus, a constantly active feature is under development, but it's confusing why it takes so long. I also had some issues with the edge of the screen that was oversensitive. A software update has improved things considerably, but the sensitivity is still not correct. Finding settings isn't smart either, so it's hard to find hidden features like dark mode, which she calls sound.

However, these are only minor annoyances, and like the rest of the phone, the battery life and software experience are some of the best you can find at the moment.

Performance and games

The OnePlus 8 Pro has a Snapdragon 865 chipset and the X55 5G modem as well as 12 GB RAM. Due to social distance measures, I was unable to test the 5G component, but I used 4G and made calls as usual. The calls are clear and it's easier to place the speaker on your ear than the Galaxy S20 Plus. Here are the benchmark results before we start playing games.

  • Geekbench 5: 3,352 multi-core / 890 single-core
  • 3DMark: 6,589 (volcano)

These are higher results than a Galaxy S20 Plus with a Samsung Exynos chip inside and only slightly higher than the Oppo Find X2 Pro with similar performance. The OnePlus 8 Pro has two game modes, a standard mode and a hardcore Fnatic mode (so-called because it was developed with the E-Sports team of the same name), which increases CPU, GPU and RAM and at the same time switches off all unnecessary time.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

When playing Asphalt 9 Legends, DariusBurst SP and Vectronom with Fnatic mode on and off, I didn't notice anything else. The 120 Hz refresh rate made Asphalt 9 Legends look great. The 19.8: 9 aspect ratio of the screen means that you have to play DariusBurst in a smaller window if you want to see everything that is going on. This is a problem for many phones with a similar screen size and shape. The phone stays completely cool during the game.

How about the OnePlus 8?

OnePlus 8 Pro (from left) and OnePlus 8 Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com

The OnePlus 8 Pro is the new flagship for 2020 and will be released along with the OnePlus 8, which is cheaper and smaller from $ 700. The phone has a 6.55-inch fluid AMOLED screen with a refresh rate of 90 Hz, a three-lens camera without a color filter sensor, a smaller battery, no wireless charging and basic splash resistance. The design is very similar, although it is lighter and slimmer, which makes it easier to use with one hand. Check out our full review

Price, guarantee and availability

The OnePlus 8 Pro costs $ 1,000 for the 12GB / 256GB version or $ 900 for the 8GB / 128GB model in our test. In the UK, the 8 GB / 128 GB OnePlus 8 Pro costs £ 800, while the 12 GB / 256 GB model costs £ 900. OnePlus grants a one-year guarantee on its phones, which only covers the hardware in the event of a defect.

This makes it more expensive than the OnePlus 7T Pro for $ 850.

Our opinion

The OnePlus 8 Pro's best features are the ones that really matter: the screen is stunning, the battery life is amazing, and the software is nifty and attractive. The camera works well and the design is great. It also has wireless charging and IP68 protection. As much as OnePlus wants the color filter to be a differentiating factor that really pushes people to buy it isn't. However, take it away and you still have a state-of-the-art smartphone that doesn't miss a beat.

Is there a better alternative?

We recommend everyone to take a closer look at the $ 1,000 Apple iPhone 11 Pro and the $ 1,200 Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, as they both offer the best technology currently available, from screen to camera, and excellent Offer software experiences.

Although Google Pixel 4 is also recommended for $ 800, the battery just can't keep up with the OnePlus 8 Pro. Keep this in mind when you are seduced by the Pixel 4's amazing camera and slick software. We were also impressed with the Oppo Find X2 Pro for $ 1,300, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus for $ 1,100 is still a brilliant all-rounder.

How long it will take?

When you buy a OnePlus 8 Pro with a two-year contract, it lasts at least as long in terms of performance and the technology it contains. The 5G function is also future-proof, and OnePlus is good at keeping its software up to date on time. OnePlus has an IP68 protection rating for the phone, which means that it is waterproof. However, the rest of the phone is made of glass, so it can break if dropped. One case helps avoid expensive glitches.

Should you buy one?

Yes, but it is not quite the mega smartphone we are used to from OnePlus.

Editor's recommendations




04 Apr
Blog

Oppo Find X2 Pro Review: Oppo Finds the Sweet Spot

oppo find x2 pro review camera lenses 3

"The Oppo Find X2 Pro is a beautiful phone with the latest hardware."

  • Stunning OLED screen

  • Quick charge

  • Versatile camera that takes great photos

  • High-performance SoC with 5G

  • Expensive

  • Phone software seems unreliable

How do you follow the Oppo Find X? It was ahead of its time in design, gave us an innovative and unusual motorized camera, and even had a completely crazy version of Lamborghini. It seems that Oppo himself wasn't entirely sure what to do since it took 20 months for the company to develop a sequel.

Get to know the Oppo Find X2 Pro, a phone that isn't as visually striking as the Find X, but is even more powerful.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

I've spent a few weeks on the phone since it was unveiled, and it has impressed me more than any other Oppo phone before. This is due to advances in software and design. It's not perfect, but it's the first Oppo phone that I can confidently recommend. Here's why.

design

Oppo's decision to make the Find X2 Pro more conventional is the right one. I miss the madness of the Find X and other Find series phones as much as the next tech fan, but they weren't always practical. The Find X2 looks normal, maybe to the point where it feels derived from the front. However, the orange vegan leather back wall and gold accents prove that Oppo's design department still knows how to party.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

The beautifully curved 6.7-inch OLED screen falls off to the side, but not to the extent that you see on the Huawei Mate 30 Pro. It's a more subtle, shallow drop that still offers an impressive viewing experience. Oppo's light effect notifications use the curved glass to warn you and display colored light when you receive a call or new message. It stands out, keeps you up to date and looks cool.

A golden aluminum case is located between the front window and the vegan leather back. It's smooth and gently curved so it won't get into your palm while the leather back feels warm. The Oppo Find X2 Pro is a pleasure to hold.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

The leather has no heavy grain and only the slightest texture, but it is easy to grip. The phone never feels like it's slipping out of your hand. Whether the gold and orange color scheme is appealing depends on your personal choice. If it is too gaudy, a black ceramic model is available. Personally, I love the orange leather, but I don't like the chintzy gold, and the Oppo badge looks like an afterthought.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

The leather model is slightly thicker and heavier than the black ceramic Find X2 Pro. With a thickness of 9.5 mm and 200 grams, it is a fairly large phone, especially compared to the feather-light Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus with a thickness of 186 grams and a thickness of 7.8 mm. It's still pluggable and never feels unwieldy, but is slightly top-heavy. The design, the high-quality materials and the processing as well as the excellent comfort in the hand make the Find X2 a mature and desirable phone.

screen

Oppo has put a lot of technology into the Find X2 Pro's screen, and it really pays off. The 6.7-inch OLED offers a refresh rate of 120 Hz, a resolution of 3168 x 1440, 240 Hz touch sampling, 10-bit color and HDR10 + support as well as the so-called O1 Ultra Vision Engine to optimize the Video performance. The Oppo Find X2 competes strongly with the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro, two powerful mobile phones with breathtaking screens.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

The Find X2 offers numerous options for changing the screen, including adjusting the color temperature and color mode, as well as the ability to turn off the O1 Ultra Vision Engine if you don't like motion smoothing or HDR upscaling. If the color temperature is set to the standard setting, the O1 Ultra Vision Engine and the color mode to Vivid, it hardly differs from the S20 Plus in direct comparison. Black is deep, shadows look perfect, colors are vivid and strong and details are sharp. It is a stunning screen with numerous adjustments if you wish.

The Find X2 Pro, which is also equipped with Dolby Atmos support, features two full-range stereo speakers. The speakers have a lot of volume, and Atmos also adds an extra dimension, but the phone lacks bass and can sound harsh when you turn up the volume.

The Oppo Find X2 Pro (top), Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus (bottom left). and iPhone 11 Pro (bottom right). Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

During the first few days of use, I was concerned that the screen was not responding slightly, which was contrary to the 240 Hz touch sampling function. On my early test model, a screen protector was attached that was lifted up at one corner, eliminating the feeling of lag. I should also mention the phone's haptic feedback, which is wonderfully soft and tactile and comes very close to the excellent vibrations of the OnePlus 7T Pro.

Camera quality

The oversized camera on the back of the Find X2 Pro, which is held in gold, has a 48-megapixel Sony IMX689 1 / 1.4-inch main sensor with an aperture of 1: 1.7 and a second 48-megapixel -Sony IMX586 ultra-wide sensor and a 13 megapixel telephoto lens for a 2x optical zoom as well as a 5x and 10x hybrid setting and up to 60x digital recording. There is double optical image stabilization, live HDR for video and a macro mode as well as an auto focus with laser and phase detection.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

The camera app looks familiar if you've recently used a Huawei phone. From the zoom controls to the menu selection, the layout of the app is strikingly similar. I took pictures before and after an important software update and liked a lot of pictures of both. The camera takes colorful and detailed photos that approach a cooler palette than a Samsung camera. The atmosphere of mobile phones like the Huawei P40 Pro can also be missing.

There's a noticeable difference in dynamics between the standard 48-megapixel lens (Sony's new IMX689 sensor) and the wide-angle IMX586, which weakens the colors. However, if you enable Oppo's "Dazzle" color mode, which uses artificial intelligence to enhance your images, the level of saturation will be increased to compensate for this. Edge detection in portrait mode is average and sometimes difficult to recognize even the simplest shapes. However, the large sensor creates a decent natural bokeh when there is an object nearby.

On the front is a 32 megapixel selfie camera in a small hole that offers both a beauty mode and a night mode. This unusual addition to the selfie camera is surprisingly effective and does a good job of reducing noise in low light, but processing time is long. However, I can see that it is useful for many people. Otherwise, the selfie camera has numerous filters and a decent portrait mode.

The Oppo Find X2 Pro's camera is excellent. It's versatile, has great zoom and lots of useful features, and delivers strong photo results whether you're using the front or rear camera. It is reliable and capable.

Software and performance

Software is a traditional weakness of Oppo phones, and previous versions of ColorOS (the company's Android user interface) were filled with frustrating changes to normal Android features.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

Fortunately, Oppo changed course. The Oppo Find X2 Pro ships with ColorOS v7.1 via Android 10. It is more modern and uses clean storage much better to improve usability. The user interface is similar to Android on a Google Pixel 4 phone in that menus and icons look consistent and are where you expect them to be. Thanks to the screen with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, it is also quick and smooth.

The importance of this cannot be overstated. Daily use of the Find X2 Pro is more of a pleasure than a duty, since almost no matter which phone you come from, no steep learning curve is required after switching. The constantly active screen is helpful and clearly shows notification symbols. I also like the system-wide dark mode.

It's not all good news, and the problems I've had with the Oppo Reno 3 Pro are present, e.g. B. the useless Smart Assistant that you wipe from the home screen. However, since Oppo fixed other issues, these are disappointments in an otherwise solid user interface.

The phone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor and an X55 5G modem as well as 12 GB RAM and 512 GB storage space. Going through two benchmark tests gave these results.

3DMark: 6.523 (volcano)

Geekbench 5: 901 single-core / 3266 multi-core

This is the fastest Qualcomm processor available and has a large amount of RAM, so the Find X2 Pro never lacks the performance. The results have driven it forward in tests with the Exynos-based Galaxy S20 Plus and with phones with the Snapdragon 855 Plus such as the Asus ROG Phone 2.

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I had some problems with calls. Although the reception was strong according to the symbol and was not technical, I often had problems hearing the caller and vice versa. It seemed like I was in an area with poor coverage and disruption before I reconnect. The problem only occurred with Find X2 Pro. It was intermittent, so not every call was affected, suggesting that it was a software problem.

Battery life

The Find X2 Pro has a built-in fingerprint sensor and a face release, both of which work very well. Face recognition usually beats faster than the fingerprint sensor. A 4,260 mAh battery, which is actually two 2,130 mAh cells that work together, provides the juice. This setup helps the Oppo SuperVOOC Flash Charge 2.0 fast charging system to work and keep temperatures low.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

The battery is quickly charged with the supplied 65 W charger. In just 30 minutes in my repeated tests, it shot from 0 to 100%, which essentially makes overnight charging unnecessary. Charge the phone when you get ready in the morning, and it's done before you're done. Unfortunately there is no wireless charging.

I watched approximately 3.5 hours of 1080p video, which drained about 35% of the battery, and the phone took a day of moderate use.

Price, availability and guarantee

The Oppo Find X2 Pro costs £ 1,100 and can currently be ordered from Amazon in the US for $ 1,300. It will be released in May. You can register interest on the phone through the Carphone Warehouse retailer website. However, there is no information yet about which network operators will sell the phone. Oppo does not sell its devices in the United States, but it may be possible to import one. Oppo grants a two year warranty on the device and the battery.

Our opinion

The Find X2 Pro is Oppo at its best. It offers the performance we expect from a flagship phone, without the inconvenience of previous Find models and yet enough individuality to respond. The screen is stunning, the camera is excellent and the software has improved a lot compared to old models.

All of this at a high price that puts Oppo in the same space as Samsung, Apple and Huawei. That is rightly so, but it remains to be seen whether Oppo has the brand name to attract at this level.

Is there a better alternative?

There are a lot of phones out now, and some will be coming very soon to take on the Oppo Find X2 Pro. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus for $ 1,000 is strong with very good software, a great camera, and one of the best screens available. However, the design is boring compared to the Find X2 Pro. The $ 1,400 Galaxy S20 Ultra and its 108-megapixel camera also come into play at this price.

The Huawei P40 Pro costs £ 900, which is about $ 1,115. Therefore, it will be offered at a competitive price when it is released in April. The design is more mature than that of the Find X2 Pro, and the camera has great potential, but the lack of Google Mobile Services puts it at a disadvantage in the UK. If you're not fixated on buying an Android phone, the Apple iPhone 11 for $ 1,000 Pro is our top choice for the year to date.

I also like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus for $ 1,100, which is a little older, but is still an excellent smartphone. One to watch out for in the near future is the OnePlus 8 series. OnePlus is part of the same business conglomerate as Oppo and will launch its new phones on April 15th. There is every chance that OnePlus 8 Pro will take over the Find X2 Pro at a cheaper price.

How long it will take?

With IP68 water resistance, the phone stays relatively safe in the wet, and the version with leather back should stay attractive longer because it has no fingerprints or can break like a glass back. Ceramic is tougher and more scratch-resistant than glass if you choose the black version.

Oppo's track record with Android updates isn't great. The original Find X, the RX17 Pro and the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom are expected to receive ColorOS 7 and Android 10 in summer 2020. Android 10 was released in September 2019. If you buy the Find X2 Pro, you can wait a while for an update to Android 11.

Should you buy one?

Yes. The stunning screen, excellent photo functions, fast charging and 5G for future security ensure that the Find X2 Pro will serve you well every day for several years.

Editor's recommendations




02 Mar
Blog

Blackmagic Design Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K G2 Hands-on Review

blackmagic design ursa mini pro 46k g2 rating 5

Blackmagic Design Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K G2 to touch

"The hardware is great, but Blackmagic RAW is a game changer for indie and small budget productions."

  • Blackmagic RAW codec

  • 120 fps 4.6K

  • Accessible user interface

  • Built-in ND filters

  • Cumbersome placement of the iris dial

  • Some nickel and diming for accessories

"Bear" is a fitting name for the beast that is Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K G2 from Blackmagic Design, the flagship of the company's cinema camera. But it is a well-trained bear. The Ursa is docile where other such machines appear fearsome in their complexity. I've never been so amazed at how easy a camera is to take professional pictures.

It really feels like cheating. Turn it on, point it at something, press record, and there will be a picture for the big screen. If you know how to use a DSLR, you can find out the Ursa in minutes.

Okay, it takes a bit more work. You first need to decide which record button to press – there are approximately four of them. But once you've chosen your favorite, there's nothing standing in the way of making your director's dreams come true. At least from a technical point of view.

Despite my love of techno, the Ursa remains outside my league – and yet not alien to my budget. I won't buy one soon for a five under $ 6,000, but it's a lot cheaper than comparable movie cameras from other manufacturers.

I'm not sure why a Red or Arri, the camera of choice in Hollywood, is worth tens of thousands more. But as someone who shoots video with a mirrorless hybrid camera, I can see the value of climbing to Ursa. Six giants are a lot of money. But here, with the Ursa, it feels like a bargain.

Design and user interface

The original Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K was the first Blackmagic camera to feel ready. After a few years of eye-catching and bizarre designs, Blackmagic landed on a familiar shape that bridges the gap between a cinema camera and an ENG camcorder.

The G2 refines the formula with small but important improvements to the electronics without changing what has already worked. The result is not only a professional video camera that shames my aging but trustworthy Fujifilm X-T2, but also the best value in the cinema world.

Blackmagic gets a low price by selling you a bare bones camera. A viewfinder, a battery and a handle are add-ons that can add hundreds or thousands to the price. This can make cameras like the Canon C200 cheaper for $ 6,500 with viewfinder and battery. However, the Ursa has a hardware advantage: 15 levels of the announced dynamic range compared to Canon's 13, higher frame rates and a more versatile RAW format.

Although not new, the built-in filter control with neutral density is a key feature of the Ursa – and many dedicated video cameras. You can select 0, 2, 4 or 6 stops by turning an adjustment wheel so that you never have to deal with a screw-on lens filter. Think of sunglasses for your camera. ND filters reduce light and allow you to keep a slower shutter speed for smooth movements and / or a larger aperture for a shallower depth of field when shooting in bright environments.

The viewfinder may not be standard, but a touchscreen monitor is the most accessible user interface you can get with a camera. Blackmagic has set itself the goal of standardizing the user interface for all camera models. So if you have a pocket cinema camera, you will feel at home with the Ursa. The user interface is easy to learn if you have not used a Blackmagic camera before.

The Ursa has numerous physical buttons and toggle switches for access to frequently used functions such as ISO, shutter angle / speed and white balance. A complaint? The iris dial is hard to reach when the monitor is open, a design flaw that Blackmagic may have missed because cameramen who use real cinema lenses use the iris ring on the lens.

Not me. I used standard Canon EF lenses. Apart from the bizarre iris control, I love that about the Ursa. Camera lenses are much cheaper than their cinema counterparts, but often of no less optical quality. (However, the Ursa's autofocus features aren't good – stick to manual focus.)

For this test, Sigma lent me its 18-35mm and 50-100mm f / 1.8 lenses, a pair of zooms that make a strong case for being the only lenses you need. Together, they're worth about $ 1,900. Sure, that's a bit of a change, but it's a far cry from the $ 8,000 required for theatrical versions of these lenses. (In truth, this is still quite affordable in the field of cinema glass.)

In addition, the Ursa Mini Pro has interchangeable lens mounts. In addition to the active Canon EF mount, you can use PL (the standard for cinema cameras), B4 for broadcast lenses, or even a passive Nikon F mount. The latter opens up the Ursa to a decade-long legacy of photographic lenses. I have a small collection of Nikon glass from the film era that I would like to have tested on the Ursa. Next time.

Of course, cinema lenses have some advantages – mostly they make you look like an ass – but Blackmagic's willingness to let you mount any old DSLR lens natively is a big plus for the indie and student filmmakers. From news gathering to film production, the Ursa Mini Pro can be configured to fill a variety of roles. The Digital Trends video team even used it on the floor at CES 2020.

Performance and picture quality

The updated electronics of the Ursa Mini Pro G2 are all about speed. Above all, this means new slow motion HFR (High Frame Rate) options. 4.6K footage can be captured at up to 120 frames per second, while 1080p can reach 300 fps. The 4.6K / 120 film material is recorded across the entire width of the sensor and automatically played back in slow motion (up to 5 times with 24p pictures).

It looks absolutely awesome. I also appreciated how the camera records audio in HFR mode, which many smaller cameras don't. This way, you can either slow down the audio in the mail to adjust it to the footage (think of the dramatic “Noooooo!” Shouted by a character approaching a certain doom) or the footage back to real-time speed boot up and use it more or less -less like a normal clip if you have to.

The updated electronics increase the maximum ISO by 3,200. That's nothing compared to modern still cameras with ISOs by the hundreds of thousands, but it makes the Ursa usable indoors. It is important that this high ISO value is useful when shooting HFR footage. This requires a faster shutter speed and requires compensation by either opening the iris or increasing the ISO.

Footage shot with ISO 3,200 can look grainy, especially when you try to lift the shadows in the post, but I never thought it would look bad. It's what it is, and you should try to stay at lower ISOs if possible, but I appreciate having that extra stop when I needed it.

Thanks to faster processing, the readout time of the sensor is shortened and the "Jello Cam" effect of the electronic roller shutter is controlled. In practice, I didn't notice it at all, except in very fast pans where I specifically searched for it.

File quality and flexibility

When I tested the first generation Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K, it was before Blackmagic released its RAW video format. It could record Cinema DNG, an open RAW format from Adobe, but I didn't have the storage or processing power to handle it. With the G2, I have finally experienced the power of Blackmagic RAW first-hand and it is absolutely revolutionary.

This is a RAW video format for the rest of us. With selectable compression levels up to 12: 1, .braw clips can be recorded on standard SD cards. In fact, the bit rate at 12: 1 compression is lower than the 400 megabits per second non-RAW codecs in cameras like the Panasonic Lumix GH5s and the Fujifilm X-T3. You still want a fast V90 card to be safe, but you don't have to be a professional studio or have a big budget to work with RAW video. That's great.

Sample material taken with the Ursa Mini Pro G2 Daven Mathies / Digital Trends

I recorded all of my test material in .braw with 12: 1 compression and it looked great. I edited and colored the clips in Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 16 on my eight year old iMac and it worked. Performance was problematic after adding more than the most basic color adjustment, but the fact that it worked at all is impressive.

If you're concerned about editing performance, Ursa can record proxy files in addition to RAW footage, so you don't have to create proxies when importing.

I am not an experienced colorist or even an experienced DaVinci Resolve user, but I come from the world of still photography, where RAW files have been common for many years. Working with RAW videos seems familiar to me. In some ways, it is easier to work with other codecs like h.264 or even ProRes, which are often recorded with a flat logarithmic tone curve to maintain dynamic range and look like garbage before color correction is applied.

In contrast, Blackmagic RAW material can be used directly from the camera. It is also flexible. Even at 12: 1 compression, I was amazed at how many details I could pull out of the shadows.

Not everyone needs RAW video, but as Blackmagic explained to me, Blackmagic RAW offers the best quality-to-file ratio at any compression level compared to non-RAW formats. There is no reason not to use it. Well, unless you want to import directly into Final Cut Pro X, which currently doesn't have a plugin to support .braw files. (There is a plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro.)

Conclusion

The Ursa Mini Pro G2 is proof that we are living in an incredible time for photo and video equipment. I am jealous of today's film students who may have access to it. They can produce large-screen films in their dormitories and never know how difficult it is to record and edit standard-definition footage on MiniDV tapes.

Of course, for many of us, $ 6,000 could just as easily be $ 60,000. If it's out of your budget, it's out of your budget. However, some of the Ursa's most important functions – such as Blackmagic RAW – are available in the cheaper Pocket Cinema Camera series. The Ursa Mini Pro may still be a desirable product for people like me, but unlike a Red or an Arri, it's not a dream. I can at least afford to rent it.

Editor's recommendations




01 Mar
Blog

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm F4.0 Pro Review: Size Hardly Matters

Olympus OMD E M1

Olympus M.Zuiko ED 12-45mm F4.0 Pro Test: Small but robust

"The Olympus 12-45 mm 1: 4 is the smallest in its class and a breeze."

  • Built to last

  • Very compact

  • Macro focus

  • Sharp

  • Affordable

  • F / 4 is limited to Micro Four Thirds

  • No manual focus switch or focus scale

  • Some barrel distortion

When you take the mirror out of the camera, a smaller housing is created. With lenses, however, nothing needs to be removed to achieve a smaller look. While some brands have been able to save a few ounces, lenses still lag far behind in portability. However, the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45 mm F4.0 Pro is the most compact and lightest of all lenses in this class.

Part of that is thanks to the smaller Micro Four Thirds format, but this new 12-45mm is still impressively small. According to Olympus, there are almost 190 precision-made parts in the 2.76-inch long housing of the lens. Despite the size, Olympus managed to achieve the highest level of macroeconomic ability, excellent sharpness and weather protection.

The question is whether the smaller size and lower price can offset a narrower aperture compared to Olympus' existing f / 2.8 option. We combined the lens with the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III to find out.

Design features

Weighing just under 9 ounces, the Olympus 12-45mm 1: 4 Pro is a lens that feels well balanced on the front of a mirrorless body. Olympus says it's the most compact and lightest in its class, but the Four Thirds sensor with its 2-fold crop factor already gives it an advantage as the lens is compared to 24-90mm full frame lenses.

While the lens is light, Olympus hasn't left out the weather seal. My test device survived accidental dousing by an ocean wave and was no worse for wear.

The Olympus 12-45 mm 1: 4 consists of 12 elements in nine groups, including the optical Zuiko extra-low reflection coating to combat flares and ghosting.

The lens is made of metal and lies well in the hand. However, the smaller size leaves less space for controls, just the zoom and focus ring. Both are smooth and easy to adjust.

In contrast to many other Olympus lenses, the focus ring is not retracted to switch to manual focus. There is also no place for a focus scale.

The Olympus 12-45 mm 1: 4 Pro not only covers a decent zoom range, but also offers almost macro levels with a 0.5x playback ratio (35 mm equivalent) over the entire zoom range. This creates a high degree of versatility with such a small lens, so you can switch from wide-angle to medium-telephoto to macro without having to change the lenses.

The autofocus was able to keep up with the subjects quickly and accurately. It didn't seem to struggle or hunt back and forth even with limited lighting, a good sign of a relatively slow lens.

Image quality & examples

This pro in the name is small, but it brings the 12-45 mm in the high-end lens family from Olympus – and it shows. Overall, the lens takes some sharp, colorful pictures, while most distortion remains low.

The sharpness is excellent in the entire zoom range, even when the shots are wide open. There is a subtle difference between 1: 4 and 1: 5, but with such a small amount, this is probably not important for real recordings.

The lens has a slight vignette on the corners at 12 mm and 45 mm. Both are small enough to undo post-processing.

At 12 mm there is a noticeable barrel distortion, which decreases as you enlarge it. With a wide-angle zoom, the distortion is not out of the norm and can be corrected with a few changes afterwards. As soon as machining programs support the lens, a quick profile correction should be an even faster solution.

Overall, Flare is well controlled. At the wrong angle, the light creates a small green torch. Smaller light sources also tend to starburst.

Chromatic aberration was also difficult to find. I spotted some light purple and blue edges along high contrast objects on the edge of the frame, but I really had to look for them.

While the image quality is solid, the 1: 4 aperture is not very bright for a pro lens. In combination with the Micro Four Thirds format, it is therefore more difficult to obtain smooth, creamy backgrounds. It is also a bad combination for shooting in low light. Given the lens' focus on portability, these are compromises that customers are likely to accept.

Our opinion

The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm F4.0 Pro, available for around $ 650 from April 7, is a solid little lens that lets you take great pictures. The robust construction and small size mix with the almost macro-capable functions and the long range to create a lens that is likely to spend a lot of time on the camera.

However, the smaller size eliminates some common design elements, such as simply switching from automatic to manual focus and a focus scale. The narrower aperture of 1: 4 is also not ideal in every scenario.

How long it will take?

The metal construction and weatherproofing should help this lens be used for several years and is unlikely to be replaced for many years.

Is there a better option?

Yes – if you have a larger budget and a little more space in your camera bag. The M.Zuiko ED 12-40 mm 1: 2.8 Pro has the same robust construction and is also designed for high-end image quality. However, it's 4.5 ounces heavier and about $ 350 more.

Should you buy it

Yes. Buy the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm F4.0 Pro if you need a compact wide-angle zoom that delivers excellent image quality but doesn't require a large aperture.

Editor's recommendations




26 Feb
Blog

Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch Review: The Best Mac in Years

MacBook Pro 16 inch (2019)

"Apple's MacBook Pro 16 is a much-needed return to the glory days of the MacBook."

  • The best keyboard on a Mac

  • Excellent performance for content creation

  • The 16 inch screen is beautiful

  • Incredible speakers

  • Touch bar is still not useful

  • Size can be unwieldy

This review was updated on January 24, 2020, with new competitors and rumors about an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Complain. Emergency Repair Program. An infinite flood of online criticism. That's the last three years of the MacBook Pro, in short.

The PR nightmare had just started when I requested a Mac as a work laptop. The MacBook Pro was my standard choice at home and, despite its small size and long battery life, took care of music production and games. My 2015 MacBook Pro never let me down.

However, my experience with the MacBook Pro 2016 was very different. On my desk next to the stack of excellent Windows laptops, I found the keyboard frustrating. The design looked dated. Even his performance felt limited.

Mac fans, including myself, want Apple to bring the MacBook Pro back to its former glory. The MacBook Pro 16 offers the first glimmer of hope in years. Is this the laptop I've been waiting for?

The Mac Apology Tour

The new 16-inch MacBook Pro is not revolutionary. It wasn't presented at a glittering press event. It is not a leap forward in design and certainly not innovative. It is a patch.

At its core, the design of the MacBook Pro is retained. The unibody aluminum case is still a strength, and Apple didn't dare to touch it this time. The same applies to the Thunderbolt 3 port selection and the massive Force Touch trackpad.

However, once you've got the space gray behind you, small changes show the desire to please fans.

Even the thin frames around the new 16-inch screen show that Apple is hearing criticism. The chunky boundaries of other MacBooks have been looking dated for years. However, shrinking the bezels would have meant a smaller footprint, a smaller touchpad, and less space in the case for components.

Instead, Apple added an additional 0.6-inch display, which results in a resolution of 3,072 x 1,920. The massive screen provides a more complete view of your work, ideal for multitasking or working in a complex application like Adobe Premiere. It's not quite the 17-inch laptops it used to be, but it's close.

This is the best Mac keyboard ever released.

While the new display looks great, the keyboard is the most drastic change. Apple tried to corner itself in an attempt to modernize the keyboard. The company calls the new inputs a “magic keyboard” that matches the still popular iMac accessories. Its full millimeter of travel feels like an ocean compared to the previous design. The physical escape key and the inverted T arrow keys return.

This is the best Mac keyboard ever released. It's a step further than the 2015 model, with its larger keycaps and faster mechanism, and it's head and tail above the MacBook Pro 15's butterfly switch keyboard.

The touch bar remains and still feels useless. I accidentally mute my music and wonder why it's not more useful. On the other hand, it usually stayed out of my way. I will endure the touch bar as long as the keyboard sniffs.

When every millimeter counts

The new MacBook Pro offers more than a fixed keyboard. In fact, an additional thickness of 0.03 inches in the case has allowed Apple to add Significant quality improvements such as larger battery cells and a newly designed thermal system.

The larger battery is an important upgrade. Larger laptops with high-resolution screens often have battery life issues, as does the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The larger battery cells of the MacBook Pro 16 Increase total watts of juice from 83.6 to 100, the largest battery you can clog in a FAA approved laptop.

However, larger batteries do not always mean more time away from a socket. In the case of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, powering the extra pixels seems to steal the extra juice that the MacBook Pro 16 contains. The new model couldn't drive me through a whole working day.

Under my standard workload, which includes dozens of tabs, streaming music in Spotify and Slack, the 16-inch MacBook Pro lasted about five and a half hours. In other words, this 16% larger battery doesn't produce a 16% longer battery life.

If you sit under bright office lights all day, be careful. I kept the screen brightness constant above 75%, which explains why the overall performance dropped. It's not as long as I want, but it matches Windows options like the Dell XPS 15 with 4K display.

A video editor's best friend

Inflating the case doesn't mean better battery life, but it does contribute to performance. The ultra-thin design of the 15-inch MacBook Pro performed reasonably well in 2016. However, the first Core i9 processors were announced in 2018 and suddenly introduced new functions for laptops. Content creation. Video editing. Creative work. It has always been possible, but now it is much easier.

Apple threw them into the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The result was severe throttling. It was so bad that the Core i7 in a MacBook Pro 15 could often keep up with the Core i9. unless you have operated the Core i9 in a freezer.

The updated 2019 MacBook Pro 15 with a newer Core i9 that added two more cores to the mix improved the situation. Laptops like the Dell XPS 15 still handled the chip better.

With the 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple returned to the drawing board to redesign the thermals for this new class of high-end processors. Thinner fan blades, larger heat sinks, additional ventilation slots. It's a complete makeover.

The difference is amazing. Although the 16-inch MacBook Pro uses the same processor with the same 32 GB of RAM, it leaves its predecessor in the dust in every benchmark and real-life test I've done.

I rendered a two-minute 4K clip in just 4 minutes and 41 seconds in Premiere Pro in ProRes 422. The same clip on the 15-inch MacBook Pro? It took twice as long. The MacBook Pro 16 is now as fast as the Dell XPS 15 as it should always be. I shudder when I think about how quickly this clip could be rendered in Mac-optimized software like Final Cut Pro.

The fantastic performance offers more than just increased airflow.

These fantastic results offer more than just increased airflow. The latest software optimizations from Adobe play a major role, as does the new onboard graphics.

As with all newer MacBook Pros, the 16-inch model uses a custom card from AMD. However, the Radeon Pro 5300M and 5500M are not an average update compared to last year's graphics. These are based on AMD's next generation Zen 2 7nm graphics architecture and help make the MacBook Pro 16 a powerful video editing device.

Who is it for again?

The sparkle of a new MacBook Pro can seduce you in a number of ways, even if it's not meant for you. IIf you don't have to run intensive applications in your everyday life, you can hardly use an 8-core (or even 6-core) laptop.

For example, the new graphics indicate better gaming performance. The MacBook Pro 16 does not meet these expectations.

The MacBook Pro 16 is fast, but not a gaming laptop.

Games like Fortnite and Rocket League are smoother than before and run consistently at frame rates of around 60 FPS in medium settings. You always have to pay attention to the graphics settings, especially due to the unusual resolutions that the 16-inch Pro can display natively.

Civilization VI had this problem because it refused to run in full screen mode and only achieved 53 FPS at medium settings. The Dell XPS 15 with its Nvidia GTX 1650 is always a better choice for gaming. It offers a more conventional resolution and enough power to improve the settings a bit. It can reach 50 FPS in Epic settings in Fortnite and 82 FPS in Civilization VI in Medium.

You can also consider it for simple everyday tasks, but again it is more powerful than you need. Unlike Dell or Microsoft, Apple doesn't offer a larger MacBook Pro without a six- or eight-core processor, discrete graphics and 16 GB of RAM.

The sheer size of the 16-inch MacBook Pro is also cause for concern. With a footprint of 14.09 x 9.68 inches, it's not a laptop you want to take on a plane, and it will take up most of the table at your local cafe.

However, there is a case for someone who wants to spend a high-end media experience on their laptop. Apple has tuned the speakers well and claims an additional half octave of bass. These are by far the best speakers you can find on a laptop, and you can feel it in the rumble of an explosion in The Mandalorian or in the kick drum in a song.

This display is also beautiful, although this is to be expected. It is bright, the colors are accurate and the contrast is high. The best displays from Dell and HP can keep up with the MacBook Pro 16, but this huge screen offers an impressive movie experience. However, the 16:10 aspect ratio means that you will always see mailboxes.

Our opinion

For the first time in years, I can breathe a sigh of relief and recommend a MacBook Pro. It does what Apple needed it to do and resolves all the complaints I've had against the MacBook Pro. That lifts it back to the top row of premium laptops.

Are there alternatives?

If you're not using your laptop for content creation or other tough tasks, you probably don't need a laptop that is that big or powerful. Choosing a 13-inch laptop like the Dell XPS 13, HP Specter x360 or Surface Laptop 3 will save you hundreds of dollars. If you have to choose a Mac, the 13-inch MacBook Pro should get an update in the first half of 2020.

However, the best real alternative to the 16-inch MacBook Pro is the Dell XPS 15. When configured with similar specifications, the XPS 15 is over a thousand dollars cheaper than the 16-inch MacBook Pro. That's a lot of savings with performance, an OLED 4K screen, and better port selection.

Another option for content creators is the Asus ZenBook Duo Pro. In addition to the unique second screen of this laptop, the Duo Pro has an OLED 4K screen and fantastic Core i9 performance. It is still one of the most powerful implementations of this chip for video editors and content creators.

How long it will take?

Reliability has become a problem for Apple. The new keyboard is unlikely to have many of the same problems as before, and the laptop is no longer part of the emergency repair program. Given how well these laptops are built and fully loaded, they should last for at least five years.

The MacBook Pro offers 90 days of technical support and a standard one-year warranty. Of course, you can extend coverage with AppleCare + and in-store repair to up to three years.

Should you buy it

Yes. If you've been waiting for a powerful MacBook you can rely on, this is the one.

Editor's recommendations




25 Feb
Blog

MacBook Pro 13-inch Review: Why We Can’t Recommend It

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch review: why we don't recommend it

"The MacBook Pro 13 with touch bar is beautiful, but flawed."

  • Exquisite appearance

  • The screen is among the best we've tested

  • Loud, pleasant speakers

  • Spacious, responsive touchpad

  • Excellent hard drive performance

  • Adapters are required to connect most devices

  • The keyboard is below average

  • Touch bar has no obvious purpose

  • The battery life takes a step back

This review was updated on January 23, 2020 with the context of the 16-inch MacBook Pro and rumors of an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro.

The MacBook Pro 2016 redesign was, to put it lightly, disagreed. With its chic new touch bar, reduced connectivity, and sticky keyboard, the new model's reception wasn't as warm as Apple had hoped.

Many of these issues have been resolved with the new 16-inch model, which is the best Mac product in years. The problem? The 13-inch MacBook hasn't solved the problem yet, and not everyone needs the performance and size of this larger MacBook.

Fortunately, Apple lowered the price of the 13-inch MacBook Pro in mid-2019 and lowered the base model (which now includes the Touch Bar) to $ 1,299. These include an 8th generation Intel Core processor, 128 GB SSD storage and 8 GB RAM. Is the current 13-inch MacBook Pro worth your money with an update coming soon?

Still the most luxurious laptop

A look at the MacBook Pro 13 is enough to know that it is a Mac. Despite the many imitators, the MacBook Pro design still stands out. This was all the more impressive when Apple decided to avert attention from its branding and paint the bright white apple in favor of a sleek, subtle glossy logo that resembles that on the MacBook, iPhone, and iPad.

As always, the MacBook Pro 13 has an aluminum unibody design with no visible seams other than the bottom seams. It is sturdy like a stone without a hint of bend in one corner of the device. That remains true even though it's only 3.02 pounds and only 0.71 inches thick. It's not as extreme as in 2016, but the MacBook Pro remains a very portable laptop to travel with.

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpad

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpad

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpad

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpad

  • 1.
    Someone who wears the original Macbook like this

When this design was originally launched in 2016, the bezels looked slim and modern, although they weren't as aggressive as Dell. We noticed that users with the older Pro model appreciate the improvement.

The MacBook Pro is available in space gray or silver. The new MacBook Air also has the gold option in the mix. The color selection may seem petty, but it does add a touch of personality, and we hope Apple brings some of it to the MacBook Pro. Even Dell has expanded the XPS 13's conservative color scheme, and the HP Specter x360 also offers some fancy color options.

Regardless, there is no argument about the elegance of the MacBook Pro. The beauty of Apple design has always been subtle, which is why the company is sometimes accused of being safe or boring. The professional doesn't even try to avoid this criticism. It is neither the smallest 13-inch laptop nor the lightest. There's something to be said for design that works, even if it's not innovative, and the MacBook Pro remains the most luxurious laptop there is.

Although the MacBook Pro 13-inch has a headphone jack, it makes another connectivity option that is equally controversial and functionally more important. Apple has decided that USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 are the future, and has thrown every other port overboard.

Yes, USB-C is all you get. The MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar has four of these ports, two on each side. Even the card reader is missing. The decision has advantages. The ease of port selection is difficult to dispute, and each port is a charging port, so you can connect the wall adapter to any port. The ports are also fast, so you can connect multiple displays or use fast external SSDs without worrying about connectivity bandwidth.

You need adapters, and you may need many of them.

Now for the bad news: you need adapters, and you may need many of them. Are you using an external display? That is an adapter. External hard drive? Adapter. Any kind of wired input? Adapter. Ethernet? Adapter. SD card? Adapter. At best, you need to buy one or two dongles. In the worst case, you need a dock solution that can add another $ 100 to $ 200 to the price.

The greatest irony? Even Apple's iPhone cannot be connected to a MacBook Pro 13 without buying an adapter.

Thanks to Apple's lead, however, this has increasingly become the norm, whether good or bad. Laptops like the HP Specter 13, the XPS 13 and the Huawei MateBook X Pro now have similar connectivity options – and this will still only be the direction in which things are going.

At least it can communicate wirelessly. Speaking of which, the new Pro 13 has the usual 802.11ac WLAN adapter, which is now coupled with Bluetooth 5.0.

The keyboard of the future is not very good

The 12-inch MacBook released in 2015, which has since been discontinued, first introduced a brand new "butterfly" switch that is much thinner than any previously used in a laptop keyboard. Although Apple found it great, we complained that "(our fingers) were typed with a dull ache for more than an hour" because the keyboard feels stiff and can only be moved to a limited extent.

This keyboard is now also on the MacBook Pro. Well, not exactly the same thing. When launched, the Pro's keyboard was a "second generation butterfly mechanism" with slightly more travel than the first. And it is an improvement.

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpadBill Roberson / Digital Trends

Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

That doesn't mean that it will serve you well. While travel has improved, the keyboard continues to suffer from a stiff, abrupt ground movement that can tire long typing processes. To what extent this will bother you is a matter of preference. Some Digital Trends authors thought this was perfectly acceptable and most thought they could learn to live with it. Nobody said they preferred the older MacBook Pros.

And it is not clear why this sacrifice was made. The new MacBook Pro 13 is thin, but just as thick or thicker than many competitors with better keyboards like the HP Specter x360, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the Dell XPS 13. Whatever the reason, Apple had to compromise on size , Performance and keyboard quality, with the latter getting the bad end of business.

The increasing complaints (and complaints) about sticking keys doesn't help either. Even with Apple's latest keyboard update, the third-generation butterfly, it was clear that the problem with sticking the keyboard wasn't fixed. We expect Apple to use the new "Magic Keyboard" of the 16-inch MacBook Pro when the rumored 2020 update for the 13-inch model comes on the market.

The keyboard suffers from a stiff, abrupt movement of the ground, which can tire long typing processes.

A revised oversize touchpad is located under the keyboard. In contrast to the keyboard, this is an absolute plus. The spacious surface improves the usability of multi-touch gestures that work well throughout. While the new, larger surface means constant contact between it and your palms, we haven't noticed a single unintentional input during our tests. Windows touchpads have improved significantly in recent years, but are still not as luxurious as Apple's.

And don't forget Force Touch. The haptic feedback system, which uses vibrations to simulate a click, can emulate real motion so well that most users won't notice a difference. It is quieter than before without affecting the satisfactory clarity of the click. The touchpad also offers sensitivity to force, which can enable special interface functions – just like the iPhone. The feature isn't widely accepted even by Apple's own software, but is great when it is offered.

The touch bar searches for the purpose

If nothing else, the Touch Bar is great to look at. It has a retina-equivalent pixel density, which means that symbols are rendered with crisp, vivid graphics. And because it is OLED, black tones look so dark black that it is often difficult to find the limits of the touch bar.

So it stops as a conversation starter. As a functional tool? Fewer. Apple tries to integrate the Touch Bar in such a way that it is also relevant in everyday web browsers, when taking notes and when viewing photos. The display changes constantly when new apps are opened and old ones are closed. It works well and keeps pace, no matter how quickly apps are switched or how many are open.

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpadBill Roberson / Digital Trends

Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

However, it is rarely used a lot. At best, it offers a quick way to scroll through lists like your photo stream. This can also be useful if you want to scroll through a video. It's great for capturing such content and activating a scroll bar, even when you're surfing YouTube.

In other cases, however, it is clearly a solution that looks for a problem. Immediately take the input. As you type text in Safari, Word, and other apps, the touch bar keeps flashing suggested words. This feature works well on iPhone, where typing is often slow and cumbersome.

It's not that easy on a laptop. For example, type "office" and the touch bar will suggest alternatives. Did you mean "officers"? Or maybe "off season"? This happens regardless of whether a word is spelled correctly or not. Even if you make a typo, it is hard to imagine why a user would look for help on the touch bar when MacOS is already showing a correction on the screen and in most cases will automatically correct the spelling.

Since its release, more and more apps have been offering touch bar support – including Evernote, Microsoft Outlook and LastPass. But even with more developer support than at startup, the touch bar isn't quite as important to the MacBook user experience as Apple would like it to be.

If nothing else, the Touch Bar is great to look at.

Even though it could be useful, the size of the touch bar is limited. Automatically opened Safari tabs with thumbnail content previews appear, a feature that may prove helpful. However, the thumbnails are so small that it is often difficult to distinguish the tabs from each other, even if only three or four are open. If you open six, eight, or ten tabs, the previews get even smaller until they are so small that it is difficult to guess which one is right. Similar problems affect the photo preview and video preview functions.

In theory, you can scroll through photo collections. In practice, this is more difficult than with the touchpad. Asus has developed a competing idea with the ZenBook Pro 15's ScreenPad. While this is not perfect, it does offer an enticing insight into something better than the Touch Bar. In the future there will even be fully equipped dual-screen laptops like the Surface Neo or the ThinkPad X1 Fold.

In short, the touch bar is not great. However, transferring the function line to an OLED display offers an important advantage called Touch ID. Yes, you can now log in with your fingerprint and it works just as seamlessly as on the iPhone. Fast and secure login authentication methods are an excellent way to improve security for the average user. Windows users have been enjoying this for several years thanks to Microsoft's Hello functionality. Touch ID is built into Apple Pay, so you can securely shop online – in stores that accept Apple Pay.

The most powerful function of the MacBook Pro: the display

A quick glance at the technical data could give the impression that the new MacBook Pro 13 from Apple had an old display. It's still retina, which means that the resolution is still 2,560 × 1,600. That was breathtaking in 2012, but today it seems mediocre alongside QHD + (3,200 × 1,800) and 4K (3,840 × 2,160) screens.

But don't worry, loyal to Mac. You can remove all concerns about the display from your head. It's awesome.

We measured a maximum brightness of 548 lux. This is ridiculously brilliant and a complete overkill for indoor use, but it can help the screen, which is still very shiny, can be used in extreme situations. In comparison, the Dell XPS 13 with QHD + display only achieves 278 lux and the HP Specter x360 355 lux. Both systems can have a problem with glare in bright lighting conditions. However, Dell gives you the option to combat this with a matte display option.

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpadBill Roberson / Digital Trends

Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

Brightness is only important in a bright room. What will amaze you no matter where you use the MacBook Pro 13 is its color. The display can achieve 100 percent of the sRGB color space and 91 percent of the AdobeRGB. It also delivered an average color error of 0.72 (lower is better). Everything under one is generally imperceptible to the human eye, and this reading is among the lowest we have ever recorded on a laptop. Only the XPS 15 from Dell with its excellent 4K IGZO ID display had a better average error value of 0.6.

The contrast ratio of 1,200: 1 is also excellent. The Pro can easily deliver dark blacks alongside brilliant colors.

The only error we found is gamma, which occurred at a value of 2.3. The ideal curve is 2.2, and the MacBook Pro 13's result indicates that the content is displayed slightly darker than it should. However, this is a very slight fluctuation that many competitors miss.

The retina display may not be the title of this professional, but it remains the most attractive feature.

When the numbers are counted, the new Retina display wins. It defeats the Dell XPS 13, the HP Specter x360 and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and surpasses them in terms of color gamut, color accuracy and contrast ratio.

But that doesn't mean that there is a lack of competition. Microsoft's Surface Book 2 can be used from head to toe in some categories. Our tests showed that the surface book had an even better contrast ratio of 1,460: 1 and that the gamma curve display was the correct 2.2. But they also don't quite match in terms of color accuracy and brightness.

There are also a small handful of Windows systems like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga that are available with OLED displays. These affect the high contrast ratio of the MacBook Pro 13 and offer an even wider color gamut with precise gamma. However, they don't match the Mac's ready-to-use color accuracy.

Aside from the numbers, the MacBook Pro 13's display is excellent and looks like this in everyday use. Games and movies are crisp and vivid, and high-quality photos are rendered with such detail that you may think your screen has been replaced by a canvas print. The retina display may not be the title of this professional, but it remains the most attractive feature.

Sound quality is another important multimedia feature, and Apple has always shown an affinity for audio quality that is rarely found elsewhere. Simply put, the MacBook Pro is no exception. In fact, the speakers are the best we can remember in a 13-inch system. That says a lot, because some newer laptops in this category, like the Asus ZenBook 3, surprised us with their quality.

The MacBook Pro 13 offers a wide range of volumes and is at most much louder than most people need for normal use. It can fill a large room with music. The bass is there and is taken into account in minimal but noticeable amounts – the beat can be felt at higher volumes via the keyboard. The sound in the high and middle range remains clear and distortion-free.

External speakers are an improvement as always, but the audio quality here is surprising and can convince you that you don't have to connect anything to the headphone jack.

A fast processor that faces tough competition

Specifications have never been Apple's focus, but this was more of a marketing problem than an indication of the company's preference for hardware. However, this has changed in recent years. The MacBook Pro fell behind and took over new Intel processor lines late.

When it was updated in mid-2019, we were happy that the MacBook Pro 13-inch was updated to the 8th generation Intel processors. Intel now has 10th generation processors in most new laptops, which means the 13-inch MacBook Pro already looks out of date.

Drive performance is often overlooked by consumers, but is important to the overall performance of a system. Apple knows that and has been a leader in storage performance for years. The new MacBook Pro range is no exception. Read speeds of 3.1 gigabytes per second and write speeds of 2.2 gigabytes per second are specified.

We can't do an apple-to-apple comparison with Windows competitors here because the tools we normally use to test performance aren't compatible with MacOS. However, we tested two benchmarks that only run on Apple's operating system.

In the first place was Blackmagic, a test to inform experts whether a drive is suitable for processing content with certain frame rates and resolutions. A write speed result of 1,348 megabytes per second and a read result of two gigabytes per second were achieved (annoyingly, this seems to be the maximum result that the benchmark can show). This is a big improvement over the MacBook Pro 13 with Retina (2015). It achieved a write speed of 647 MB ​​/ s and a read speed of 1,056 MB / s.

It is clear that the MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar offers excellent drive performance and can handle all the workloads you want.

We also launched DiskMark. The sequential read performance was 1,826 MB / s and the sequential write performance 1,289 MB / s. We had never tested with this benchmark before. So take the numbers with a grain of salt. Still, they're good numbers and they pretty much match Blackmagic.

These benchmarks also do not run on Windows, so we cannot compare the hard drive performance from apple to apple. However, the numbers from CrystalDiskMark, our Windows test, indicate that Apple is at the top.

The Dell XPS 13 with 512 GB solid-state drive achieved a read speed of 1,893 MB / s and a write speed of 475 MB / s. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, on the other hand, could keep up better with 2,121 MB / s and 1,832 MB / s.

If all of this sounds confusing, don't worry. Although the numbers are excellent, you don't have to think about them. It is clear that the MacBook Pro 13-inch offers excellent drive performance and can handle any workload that you ask of it. This is possibly the most future-proof component in the entire system.

Mac games are still a bad idea

As in most previous incarnations, the Apple MacBook Pro 13 is based on integrated Intel graphics. If you want a more powerful discrete graphics solution, you have to accept the MacBook Pro 16's larger footprint.

We launched Civilization VI and tested it at 1440×900 resolution on the MacBook Pro 13 and at the same resolution on the HP Specter x360, with a minimum of detail and memory usage selected.

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpadBill Roberson / Digital Trends

Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

The game was identical on both sides – and bad – and delivered 21 frames per second over the in-game benchmark. However, the HP was the better experience because the Mac had graphics errors that were not present on the HP Specter x360.

If you're curious as to why the game is performing poorly despite more technical skill, blame Apple's OpenGL support, which hasn't been updated significantly in years. Instead, the company prefers Metal, its own API that can be used on both iOS and MacOS devices. The problem? Porting a game from the popular Windows DirectX API to Metal is unknown. Windows PC game developers don't have a good option for porting to Mac. The result is often an accomplishment that is less impressive than expected.

With games ported from iOS, like CSR Racing Pro 3, Super Octagon and Limbo, you're lucky. There is a fair selection of such games in the Mac App Store. You can also play some games that are available in Apple Arcade, but the Mac doesn't get the full library.

A smaller battery leads to sufficient endurance

While the MacBook Pro 13 has significantly improved processor performance, it has also significantly improved battery capacity. The previous model had a 74.9-watt-hour battery, but the 2016 MacBook Pro 13-inch was launched with a 49.2-watt-hour battery (the model without a touch bar has a slightly larger 54.5-watt-hour -Battery pack). That was a capacity reduction of almost 35 percent. In the 2018 update, the battery was increased to 58 watt hours, although Apple's lifespan estimates have remained unchanged.

If you want excellent portability, you should choose the Dell XPS 13 with 1080p display and Core i5 processor, the Asus ZenBook 13 UX333 or the HP Specter Folio. The best of all battery life options is the Surface Book 2 13, which had an amazing 17 hour battery life in our video playback test. The MacBook Pro 13 used to be the last word in battery life, but the new model – or at least the Touch Bar version – has lost the crown.

Our opinion

Apple's new MacBook Pro 13-inch is a gorgeous device, but it has some flaws that make it difficult to recommend. It doesn't have the performance of the MacBook Pro 16-inch or the new keyboard. Despite the recent price cut, it's a little too expensive for what's on offer, especially if you consider the other alternatives.

Is there a better alternative?

Both of the other MacBook options offer better values ​​for what they are. The MacBook Air isn't that powerful, but it's great for students and affordable for just $ 999. The 16-inch MacBook Pro offers content creators fantastic multi-core performance.

If you are open to choosing between Windows 10 and MacOS, there are numerous competitors. The best is the Dell XPS 13, which is faster and cheaper, and includes an option for a 4K display. It also includes much better battery life as long as you stay at 1080p. The 13-inch Surface Laptop 3, the HP Specter x360 13 and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon are all good rivals.

How long it will take?

Apple has control over the life of each Mac by determining which systems receive MacOS updates. A new MacBook Pro 13-inch should last as long as any Mac currently available.

Especially with this MacBook, the real danger is in the keyboard, which has encountered significant reliability problems. There's no way around it.

Should you buy it

No. The MacBook Pro 13-inch isn't a bad laptop, but you'll be disappointed with the outdated design, faulty keyboard, and high price tag.

Editor's recommendations




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