HTC One (M8)

TechCentral Christmas Gift Guide 2014

Life
The HTC One (M8) is our pick of the Android Smartphones

4 December 2014

 

PCs
HP Stream 14-z051sa 14” Laptop

HP Stream 14-z051saHP is doing for Windows 8.1 what Samsung is looking to do with the Chromebook – make cloud computing palatable to an audience that usually would have nothing to do with it. This 14″ laptop plays down the specs, playing up the benefits of going to the cloud and using services like Office 365.
Thin and light as a Macbook Air and with Beats Audio as standard and at just under €300 this could be the laptop you’ve been waiting for.
The Stream range extends to a line of Windows 8.1 tablets running starting at €129.99 for a 7″ model.

Price: €299

Smartphones
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 PlusiPhone 6 Plus

It’s no surprise that the iPhone 6 Plus has found a fanbase in enterprise, where the attractin of a larger screen won’t be offset by the much ghigher price point.

Price: From €749 (SIM free)

 

HTC One (M8)HTC One (M8)

Our pick of the non-iPhone crowd. The solid build quality, 5″ 1080×1920 pixel screen and magazine UI puts it ahead of the identikit Android crowd. The 5MP camera is a bit of a weakness, though.

Price: €509 (SIM Free)

 

Samsung Galaxy S5

Samsung Galaxy S5Yes, we like the One M8 but Samsung is still king of the Android smartphone heap and despite lacklustre sales the Galaxy S5 is probably the best in the field spec wise. Its 4G connectivity, 2Gb RAM, NFC and 16MP camera give it plenty of think about under the hood. It might feela bit too light and plasticky for some, though.

Price: €529 (SIM free)

 

 

Tablets
iPad mini 3

iPad mini 3The iPad remains the most iconic tablet in the world so we’re taking a step sideways to recommend its svelte little brother, the iPad mini 3. It’s hard not to want one after holding it in your hand for the first time. Finely balanced and well-made, if you have the money we recommend it.

Price: From €409

Lenovo A10Lenovo A10

From the smaller end of the tablet market to the larger, Lenovo’s A10 range of 10″ Android tablets run Jelly Bean and have mid-range 149ppi displays. Our heads were turned by Lenovo over Samsung or LG due to its price point, starting well below the €250, making it better value than its competitors.

Price: From €219.99

Amazon Fire HD 6

Amazon Fire HD6Amazon don’t make much of their sales of the Kindle Fire e-reader/media player as a standalone device but it’s hard to see why they wouldn’t.

The Fire HD 6 has a respectable 256ppi screen and runs the Android-based Sangria operating system.

As with all Kindles, the focus is on consumptionover productivity and the curated Amazon App Store will make sure you don’t get saddled with any dud apps. You can always go back to simpler times with more basic Kindles, starting at €79.

Price: €109.99

 

Cameras
Canon Powershot G1x MKIICanon PowerShot G1X II

Written about at length here by Paul Hearns, the G1X II is a 12.8MP bridge camera with a Type 1.5 CMOS sensor, DIGIC 6 processor and maximum ISO of 12,800. It’ll capture full HD video and at 558g weighs enough to let you know its there without bogging you down.

Price: €899

Sony DSC-QX10Sony DSC-QX10

We had a look at the DSC-QX10 on TechRadio last summer and it’s staying on our list of must haves at the business end of the year.

Use it either as a replacement for your smartphone camera by using its clip to fix it to your smartphone or – even better – attach it to a stand and use it as a Wi-Fi connected video camera.

Price: €179

 

 

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4If we had the money we’d be gifting ourselves with Panasonic’s first DSLR that can also film in 4K video. Built to be used in the field, the small body is surprisingly rugged and the view finder more than an afterthought.

As a system camera there are plenty of lens options. The question is does this become your new favourite DSLR or camcorder? Either way, we recommend buying plenty of SD cards to feed your picture habit.

Price: €2,179 (with 14-144mm lens), €1,599 body only

 

Gaming
Sony PlayStation 4

PlayStation 4We expected a neck-and-neck Christmas rush in 2013 between the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One but in the end the former comfortably won out. Microsoft has largely caught up this year but with most tentpole titles coming out on both platforms we’re more interested in the PS4 and Sony’s plans for original content, starting with an adaptation of the comic book series Powers.

Price: €399.99

 

Audio/visual
Amazon Fire TVAmazon Fire TV

Arriving just in time to beat the Christmas TV, Amazon’s Fire TV set-top box has access to its own catalogue of streaming movies and TV series in HD as well as connectivity to Vimeo, YouTube and Netflix.  If you don’t have/want an Apple TV this is probably your best alternative.

Price: €132.99

Energy BT8Energy Wireless BT8

This set of wireless headphone can connect to your audio source by Bluetooth or, a first for us, NFC. A sub-€100 price point marks this unit out as worth a try.

Price: €89.90

 

Wearables
Fitbit Charge rangeFitbit Charge

Fitbit’s charge range of smartwatches/activity trackers are our picks of the smartwatch bunch and comes in three models based on your demands.

It’s not going to dislodge the Apple Watch when that comes along, but in a field where the cometition from Sony and Samsung have underperformed, this is where we’d like to spend our money.

Price: From $130

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