Huawei MateBook X Pro, Sony Xperia 1 II, Moto G8 Power and G8 Power Lite, and more: ZDNet's reviews round-up

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  • Huawei MateBook X Pro (2020)

    Huawei MateBook X Pro (2020)

    For the most part, Huawei's MateBook X Pro (2020) is a high-quality laptop. But this makes its failings all the more notable, and two that really irk are the webcam positioning (much more of an issue today than it was at the beginning of the year) and the under-performing light sensor for the screen. We found the quad-speaker audio subsystem slightly disappointing, too. These drawbacks are a shame, because in all other respects this is a very impressive device. Let's hope Huawei finds a fix for these issues before producing the next version of its flagship ultraportable.

    For more see: Huawei MateBook X Pro (2020) review: An excellent ultraportable, with a couple of flaws

    Photo by: Huawei

    Caption by: ZDNet Editors

  • Sony Xperia 1 II

    Sony Xperia 1 II

    Sony's Xperia 1 II isn't for everyone -- and even those who are drawn to its features and can handle the form factor may be put off by the four-figure price tag (£1,099 or $1,199.99). After all, there are plenty of well-specified smartphones that cost half as much as this one. On the plus side, there's a superb cinematic OLED screen and a well-implemented triple rear camera array. Sony also provides a top-end 5G chipset, plenty of RAM and storage, and sleek industrial design. It's Sony's best phone for some time, but price is likely to be the main issue.

    For more see: Sony Xperia 1 II review: Cinematic 4K screen, 5G and better battery life, but the price is high

    Photo by: Sony

    Caption by: ZDNet Editors

  • Moto G8 Power and G8 Power Lite

    Moto G8 Power and G8 Power Lite

    Motorola's affordable Moto G8 smartphone family has four members. Previously we have evaluated the Moto G8 Plus and the Moto G8. This time, we found that the more affordable handset doesn't always come off worse -- if you need two SIMs and MicroSD expansion, then look to the £149.99 G8 Power Lite. But the Lite model's screen is disappointing and the processor is underpowered, and it's noticeably larger and more unwieldy. So if your budget stretches the extra £70, we recommend the £219.99 Moto G8 Power.

    For more see: Moto G8 Power and G8 Power Lite, hands on: Two long-lasting and affordable handsets, but the G8 Power wins out

    Photo by: Motorola

    Caption by: ZDNet Editors

  • Realme X3 SuperZoom

    Realme X3 SuperZoom

    Realme has delivered an impressive set of specifications in a sub-£500 handset, with compromises made in all the right places. A high-quality screen with a fast refresh rate, plenty of RAM and internal storage, good battery life, and a design that looks distinctive are all plus points. In fact, it's a shame that Realme puts so much store on the camera's 60x zoom capability, because this simply doesn't live up to the promise. SuperZooming aside, though, this is still a very capable smartphone for the money.

    For more see: Realme X3 SuperZoom review: 120Hz screen, 6 cameras, good performance and battery life

    Photo by: Sandra Vogel/ZDNet

    Caption by: ZDNet Editors

  • Sony WF-SP800N

    Sony WF-SP800N

    These headphones promise nine-hour battery life, active noise canceling, and IP55 dust/water resistance. Audio sounds excellent from the earbuds and one thing we typically see with truly wireless earbuds is weak bass. These earbuds actually might have too much bass, but you can easily set up the equalizer to match your music preferences. The earbuds stay in well while sitting at a desk and shaking your head, but when moving up and down during exercise the earbud weight and cantilever design quickly give way to gravity and dynamic movement.

    For more see: Sony WF-SP800N review: Nine hour battery, ANC, and water resistance, but poor active fit

    Photo by: palmsolo/ZDNet

    Caption by: ZDNet Editors

  • Fitbit Charge 4

    Fitbit Charge 4

    We've been using the Charge 4 for several weeks, and offer these observations as a follow-up to Matthew Miller's April review. Overall, the Fitbit Charge 4 has some excellent features and is a good step up from the Charge 3, while the Fitbit app displays a lot of quite complex information in an accessible way. Keen sports people will want a longer-lasting battery for GPS use and more granular metrics, but as a fitness tracker for general health the Charge 4 does very well. 

    For more see: Fitbit Charge 4 on long-term test: Good features, but battery life with GPS is an issue

    Photo by: Fitbit

    Caption by: ZDNet Editors

  • Meizu 17

    Meizu 17

    Meizu recently announced the 17 Series that includes both the Meizu 17 and Meizu 17 Pro. Both handsets offer 5G in China and are Meizu's first 5G models. Overall, the Meizu 17 looks to be a solid Android smartphone with high-end specifications available at a reasonable price. It's available now in China and will likely be available later in other countries. Americans interested in the phone may be able to import it later this year.

    For more see: Meizu 17 hands-on: High-end specs, mid-range price, and attractive balanced design

    Photo by: palmsolo/ZDNet

    Caption by: ZDNet Editors

  • OnePlus 8 Pro

    OnePlus 8 Pro

    We reviewed the OnePlus 8 Pro earlier this year and concluded that it was a worthy flagship handset. For £799/$899 you get 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, while £899/$999 gets you 12GB and 256GB respectively. On long-term test, we've found some drawbacks with the OnePlus 8 Pro, but it's still a top-class flagship phone.

    For more see: OnePlus 8 Pro on long-term test: Still a top-class flagship smartphone

    Photo by: OnePlus

    Caption by: ZDNet Editors

  • Imou Ranger IQ

    Imou Ranger IQ

    The Ranger IQ's £85.99 price is extremely competitive, but the poor language quality of the product's app is disturbing in a product clearly aimed at a professional market. There are cheaper products without the pan/tilt and colour night vision that are still useful. But if you want all these features and can put up with the confusing app, the Ranger IQ packs them in for a good price.

    For more see: Imou Ranger IQ, hands on: Good-value security camera features, lost in translation

    Photo by: Imou

    Caption by: ZDNet Editors

  • Intel NUC 9 Pro

    Intel NUC 9 Pro

    This is a relatively small 5-litre workstation that contains not only a Coffee Lake-based Xeon E-2286M processor, 1TB of Optane storage, and 32GB of memory, but also a full-sized Nvidia Quadro P2200. Intel has taken it's NUC a long way from the first Celeron version almost a decade ago. Now, it's entirely acceptable to be powering four displays while doing some machine learning with CUDA, and still have Xeon cores left over for whatever else you want to do. A lot of products use the Pro moniker nowadays, but the Intel NUC 9 Pro truly deserves it.

    For more see: Intel Next Unit of Computing becomes a workstation with the NUC 9 Pro

    Photo by: Sebaztian Barns/ZDNet

    Caption by: ZDNet Editors

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From Huawei's high-quality laptop to a collection of new smartphones and Intel's NUC workstation, here's the kit we got our hands on during June.

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Huawei MateBook X Pro (2020)

For the most part, Huawei's MateBook X Pro (2020) is a high-quality laptop. But this makes its failings all the more notable, and two that really irk are the webcam positioning (much more of an issue today than it was at the beginning of the year) and the under-performing light sensor for the screen. We found the quad-speaker audio subsystem slightly disappointing, too. These drawbacks are a shame, because in all other respects this is a very impressive device. Let's hope Huawei finds a fix for these issues before producing the next version of its flagship ultraportable.

For more see: Huawei MateBook X Pro (2020) review: An excellent ultraportable, with a couple of flaws

Caption by: ZDNet Editors

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