In today’s digital world, portable devices have become integral to our daily lives, especially smartphones, tablets and smartwatches.

With the rapid advancement of technology, such devices have become more sophisticated and powerful, enabling us to stay connected, productive, and entertained on the go. This increased functionality and usage have also led to a growing need for power on demand. No longer can we afford to be tethered to a wall outlet; our devices require a reliable and portable power source to keep up with our busy lifestyles.

I’ve been testing one such device for charging smartphones (and tablets) that stands out in a crowded marketplace – the Benks ArmorGo 5000mAh Power Bank. This compact, lightweight and durable charging solution fits the bill in terms of size, weight, portability, and convenience. It delivers power to keep your phone powered up and ready to go, whether you use it wirelessly or with the provided charging cable.

In this review, I’ll take a closer look at its features, performance, and specifications.

Design and Build:

The Benks ArmorGo 5000mAh Power Bank features a premium aramid fibre texture that gives it a durable and stylish design. Aramid fibres are used in aerospace and military applications and in various lightweight consumer items ranging from phone cases to tennis rackets.

Using lightweight aramid fibre provides reliable protection against accidental scratches and wear. Its resistance to abrasion and heat ensures that the power bank will remain in good condition even after prolonged use. The compact design allows it to fit easily in a pocket or bag, making it a great companion on daily travel.

I like the unique texture and appearance, which makes it look sleek and elegant. It matches the protective case on my Galaxy Z Flip 5 foldable smartphone (also a Benks product they sent me last year; read my review of the Benks ArmorAir Case for Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 published in September 2023).

Performance:

With a capacity of 5000mAh, the Benks ArmorGo Power Bank can charge most compatible smartphones to full capacity at least once. Its compact size and lightweight design make it a great option when you need a quick power top-up on the go.

The power bank features fast charging with low-temperature control, ensuring your device performs at its best when it matters most.

So, how much of a charge does the Benks ArmorGo Power Bank 5000mAh give you?

As ever, an answer will always begin, “It depends…” Benks says most modern smartphones have batteries ranging from 2000mAh to 4000mAh (my Z Flip 5 battery is 3700mAh). A 5000mAh power bank can fully charge a 2500mAh phone battery approximately two times. For phones with larger batteries, like 4000mAh, it can provide one full charge and perhaps some extra.

I have been using this power bank as a top-up charging device for my phone, not a get-from-zero-to-100% kind of resource. It’s a great solution when you just need some extra juice at a time and place when you can’t readily fully charge your phone from a mains supply or it’s not convenient to do so.

Wireless Charging and Magnetic Grip:

One of the standout features of the Benks ArmorGo 5000mAh Power Bank is its support for wireless charging, when you place your smartphone onto the power bank where a magnet grips it. This allows for seamless switching between wired and wireless charging, making power-ups even more convenient.

This brings me to an important note on the magnet and grip.

My experience with charging was excellent – when I place my Galaxy Z Flip 5 onto the power bank, it works readily and well, wirelessly charging the phone rapidly. I got accustomed to doing this frequently when away from the office (and even sometimes when in the office for the pure convenience).

But if I lift the phone, the power bank drops off, no matter how I place it. I suspect this is because I have a protective cover that, even as feather-light and slim as it is, interferes with the magnet’s ability to maintain a strong enough grip between the power bank and phone.

Only if I remove the protective case from the phone is the magnetic grip strong enough, as this short video clip shows (it has no commentary):

The phone weighs 187 grams and the protective case just a few grams. Perhaps those few grams make the total weight just too much? Or perhaps the magnet simply isn’t strong enough. Either way, I wouldn’t want to have to remove the protective case every time I tried to use the power bank; that’s hardly practical. I don’t have any other phone that enables wireless charging, so I couldn’t test it on a different device.

For me, this isn’t a show-stopper, as simply placing the phone onto the power bank is good enough. Plus, I can always use the cable for a wired connection and also take advantage of the power bank’s fast-charging capability. Still, the wireless charging feature and portability are convenient, so this situation is a bit of a niggle and adds a dent to my review score.

Incidentally, you can wirelessly charge a tablet with a power bank if your tablet supports Qi wireless charging. But just because you could, it doesn’t mean that you should.

Key Specifications:

• As Tested Capacity: 5000mAh
• Material: 600D aramid fibre, ABS, aluminium alloy, and magnets
• Weight: 113 grams
• Dimensions: 102mm (L) x 66mm (W) x 8mm (H)
• Charging Port: USB-C
• Wireless charging: Supported, allowing for seamless switching between wired and wireless charging 

Should You Buy One?

The Benks ArmorGo Power Bank stands out for its sleek and durable design, compact size and weight, and wireless charging capability.

It’s a great option if you’re looking for a slim and powerful charging solution. Its premium aramid fibre construction, attractive design, and lightweight build make it perfect for travel and use with your phone or tablet. Its 5000mAh capacity ensures that you can keep your devices topped up on the go.

While this capacity would be sufficient for most, you might want to consider the 10000mAh version: double the capacity for even more convenience and peace of mind. Also think just a year or two ahead where mobile device battery capacities are very likely to increase quite a bit beyond 5000mAh and so will need more powerful charging solutions. Check the Benks product page – the price differential between the two (on the UK website) is relatively small.

• 5000mAh model: £30.99
• 10000mAh model: £34.99

With the convenience of wireless charging and whatever capacity you select, in a sleek and attractive presentation, the Benks ArmorGo Power Bank is a great and affordable choice.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

(Disclosure: Benks sent me the ArmorGo Power Bank 5000mAh without cost so I could try it out and publish a review. I have not received payment for this review, and Benks has not influenced what I’ve written nor seen the content before publication. The links to their website in this article are clear links with no affiliate codes. Prices mentioned are as shown on the Benks UK website on 25/8/24.)

Over the past couple of years, I’ve tried out a variety of webcams that offer features to enable you to look the other person in the eye, at their eye level, when connecting live via Teams, Zoom, etc. They also let you look your audience in the eye, so to speak, if you’re making a group presentation via webcam or recording a video for later use.

Plenty of research findings have been published in recent years that set out the measurable benefits and advantages of making direct eye contact when engaging with someone in a video call.

Webcams that I’ve tried for direct eye contact do this mostly via stiff but flexible cables that drop the camera to eye level on your computer screen from its housing, which sits on top of the screen. Some others use a tiny camera on a thin cable that you stick to the actual screen at eye level with a suction cap. Some of these struggle to be HD, never mind 4K, with many maxing out at 720p resolution.

Enter iContact Camera Pro, which offers a new way of doing this that I find highly appealing. There are no cables or suction caps, just a device that sits on top of your screen, with a retractable rigid stalk at the end of which is a small 4K video camera. The stalk folds out to a 45-degree angle below the device; once you’ve finished your meeting or recording, you can fold it back up and out of the way. Highly practical!

This article isn’t a full review; it’s purely a first look and my immediate impressions of the hardware and the user experience. Read on or jump to the short video further down the page.

Top 5 things:

The camera sits perfectly on top of my Dell curved UHD 4K monitor. It has a thick, curved back, but this webcam sits on it very nicely.

It has a USB-C connector that comes with a USB-A adapter, so it’s ready for use with almost any widely-used USB port type.

It’s plug-and-play on Windows 11—connect the camera, the OS recognises it, and it just works. You can check the settings within Windows 11; if you’re using a Mac, iContact recommends downloading the MacOS settings app from their website.

It is 4K video! I tested it on webcamtests.com which showed the resolution at 3840×2160. I used the Windows 11 Camera app to record my video of first looks, embedded below, which shows video quality of 2448p at 30 fps. When I uploaded the video to YouTube, it created the 4K video version at 2160p (precisely double the resolution of 1080p HD, thus 4K).

Excellent design and build quality. It’s a very nice piece of kit. It looks smart and sits discreetly at the top of my screen. With this size of monitor, the retractable camera is positioned at just the right eye level for me when it’s folded out.

I have 2 small niggles:

First, the stalk on the retractable camera is slightly bent out of the vertical. So when it’s out and in position, the lens is looking slightly to one side. As the stalk is hard plastic, I’m reluctant to try to bend it. But it’s not affecting use – I shift my position slightly.

And second, the Windows 11 camera settings do not have an option for zooming in or out. There are third-party apps, though, to do that. iContact’s website suggests one called Camo, which has a free version (but it’s limited to 720p resolution). Much better is a tool like Xsplit Vcam, which I use, that lets you set a zoom setting without any limitations, among many other useful functions.

And 1 observation:

I used the webcam’s built-in stereo noise-cancelling microphone to record the audio for my video. Usually, when recording video or audio, I use a Shure MV7 podcast microphone that’s pretty close to my mouth for the best audio quality and listening experience. The built-in microphone is not bad at all, capturing the audio in good enough quality that you probably won’t need to increase your listening volume by a large amount.

And, one more thing – it would be very helpful if the camera had something like an LED light to indicate when it’s in use. It actually has nothing visual that does that so you don’t know if it’s on or not. This is something for the developer to consider in the future.

I made a short – just under 7 minutes – video of my first impressions that you can view right here. If you don’t see it embedded below, watch it on YouTube.

Overall, on first looks, this is a super webcam! 4K video might seem like overkill for uses like conference calls, especially in low-bandwidth situations. But for recording presentations, or videos like mine above, etc, it’s brilliant. In terms of video resolution and quality, for whatever use, you’re set up for the immediate future.

More to come in a review once I’ve been using the iContact Camera Pro for a while.

I should mention here that iContact Camero Pro was a Kickstarter project I backed in November 2023. In return for my financial support, I would receive one of these cameras as a perk.

Backers like me were to receive their perks in December 2023, and mine was shipped at that time. It never arrived, and after some time, iContact and the courier DHL determined that my package had been “lost in UK customs.”

The period up to learning my shipment had been lost was one of nothing but disappointment with iContact and their dreadful customer service, such as no replies to emails, no outreach when it really mattered, and a lack of proactive communication overall. I wrote a long post about this on my Asides blog in January, with subsequent updates.

But in late January, I opted to receive a replacement instead of a refund, saying in a private message in early February to founder Stacy Nimmo:

[…] I’m sticking with it despite my misgivings from my experience with iContact so far. A good friend in the US backed you, and he received his perk. He’s told me it’s a superb product. So, I’ve accepted your support team’s offer to get a replacement shipped to me rather than take a refund. I cannot imagine a repeat of the customs fiasco.

Neville Hobson, 8 February 2024.

The replacement arrived this past Saturday, March 16. It arrived much later than iContact had told me.

Today, I’m keeping an open mind about iContact the company for now. As for the webcam, my initial view, as would be clear from my first-looks video, is that they have an excellent product.

When I started podcasting in January 2005, anyone’s expectations about audio quality didn’t matter much. Unless you were a radio station with a studio, what you could expect was pretty rough and ready audio quality, especially if you wanted to record remotely.

Nearly twenty years later, the picture could not be more different.

From its humble beginnings, where enthusiasts and amateurs alike shared their voices through rudimentary setups, podcasting has undergone a remarkable transformation. Today, it stands at the forefront of digital storytelling, with studio-quality audio no longer a luxury but a baseline expectation among discerning listeners.

This seismic shift in listener expectations has been driven by a confluence of technological advancements and cultural trends. As the world becomes increasingly connected, and the barriers to content creation are lowered, listeners are no longer just seeking content that informs and entertains; they demand an auditory experience that is immersive, crystal clear, and professional. This evolution mirrors the journey of other media forms, where quality has transitioned from a differentiator to a necessity.

In this context, podcasters, whether seasoned professionals or passionate newcomers, find themselves at a pivotal juncture. The imperative to ‘up their game’ resonates more profoundly than ever. This is not merely about keeping pace but about embracing the tools and technologies that transform good content into great experiences.

The Key Essentials for Podcasting

As a podcaster, I consider three things as essential for creating quality content where, in this context, ‘quality’ means an excellent listening experience:

1. Microphone: Once you have decided on which type of microphone you want to use – USB connected directly to your computer, or XLR connected to a mixer and from there to your computer – the most important attribute of a microphone for a podcaster is its sound quality. A high-quality microphone can capture clear and crisp audio, which is essential for a professional-sounding podcast, and for the listening experience.
2. Mixer or audio interface: If you use an XLR microphone, the single most important feature of a mixer for a solo podcaster (as I am, but connecting to others remotely via Internet-based recording methods) is the ability to control and adjust the audio levels for my recordings, especially the gain. This feature allows you to manage the volume and balance of different audio sources, such as your own voice, music, or sound effects, in real-time. It provides you with the necessary control to ensure a high-quality recording and a well-balanced final product.
3. Recording and editing software: The most important feature of audio-recording software for a podcaster is its ease of use and flexibility. The software should be easy to navigate and use, allowing you to focus on the content rather than the technicalities. It should offer flexibility in terms of editing, multitrack recording, and seamless integration with other hardware and software tools.

For many years, I used a Blue Yeti, a USB microphone that served me well. I’ve also acquired others such as Audio Technica AT2020 and Rode NT-USB Mini, all USB microphones. And all very good.

In August 2023, I bought a just-launched Rode PodMic USB (pictured at top), a new generation of dynamic microphones combining both USB and XLR connectivity. Initially, I used the USB interface as that had been my experience so far. However, I quickly concluded that XLR would be the better bet for what I wished to do to improve the quality of my audio recordings and increase my understanding and knowledge of audio editing and production.

The dual XLR and USB connectivity, shown in the photo below of the rear of the Rode microphone, allows the mic to be used in various setups, from traditional studio connections to direct computer or mobile device connections, offering flexibility and major convenience. It would give me the ability to use a USB connection if I wanted to record via my laptop, smartphone or tablet.

• To understand the differences between USB and XLR microphones, Rode has a good explainer.

So to use XLR, I needed a mixer or audio interface that would convert the analogue audio from the XLR-connected mic to the digital output the computer requires. After a little research, I settled on the Vocaster One audio interface, below, which has proven to be an outstanding part of my overall podcasting setup.

A standout feature of the Vocaster One is the auto-gain setting that you set via the three-bar symbol on the left in the row of three symbols shown in the photo. Once pressed, you then speak into the microphone for ten seconds while the mixer works out the optimum gain for you. It’s very good.

You can also set the gain this way via the Vocaster Hub companion app as well as enable one of four presets for voice enhancement. The Hub is actually your mixer where you can manipulate audio from multiple inputs if you desire. Focusrite, the maker of the Vocaster One, has a great video on YouTube with a detailed explainer of the Vocaster Hub and all its features and functions.

The Vocaster One is designed for audio podcasting, especially in a setup like mine: a solo podcaster. If you produce a podcast that, say, involves guests, both physically at your location and remotely connecting via the Internet or phone, and/or you live-stream a show, there are more suitable options you should consider. Worth considering are other mixers from Focusrite, especially their Scarlett studio range. Take a look, too, at Rode’s offerings, including the excellent Rodecaster Pro II. And if you have a large budget, consider newer wireless products such as the Nomono Sound Capsule portable podcast studio.

Finally, there’s the software I use for audio recording, editing and production – Adobe Audition, a powerful tool for audio podcasting and, in my experience, the best product of its type for Windows computers. I’ve been using this in its various versions for over a decade.

For one of the three podcasts I host or co-host, my prime role other than hosting is episode production. My two co-hosts and I typically record via Zoom. I use Adobe Audition to edit the three individual audio tracks, either from the Zoom recordings or from the local recording each of us makes, depending on which is the better quality and thus requires less editing or production processing. The multitrack mode in Adobe Audition is an essential tool for this; it is intuitive to use and quick in its processing on the highly-specified Dell XPS desktop PC I have.

In summary, I find the combination I’ve outlined is the best setup I’ve had as a solo podcaster + remote co-hosting with others.

In particular, I would highlight the Vocaster One mixer as a highly versatile and user-friendly solution for solo podcasters, offering high-quality sound, easy setup, and various features to enhance and customise audio for podcasting and streaming purposes. The auto-gain feature is brilliant, and the easy-to-reach microphone mute button is a boon!

If you’re a podcaster looking to up your game by making a reasonable and sound investment in studio-level hardware (and software), at a total cost of less than £600 (roughly €700 or $750), or if you’re looking to get started with a quality setup from scratch, a Rode PodMic USB/XLR + Vocaster One + Adobe Audition combination would be worthwhile.

Rode PodMic USB/XLR: Summary of key features

• Broadcast-quality sound: The PodMic offers a rich, detailed sound optimised for podcasting, live streaming, and other speech applications.
• Internal pop filter and shock mount: It comes with an internal pop filter to minimise plosives and an integrated shock mount to reduce vibrations, allowing for clear and professional sound quality. It also includes a studio-quality external pop filter specifically made for this microphone that fits it like a glove.
• Versatile connectivity: The PodMic USB model offers both XLR and USB connectivity, making it easy to connect to an audio interface, mixer, computer, or even iOS and Android devices.
• Robust construction: The microphone is built with a robust all-metal construction, ensuring durability and longevity.
• Optimized for speech applications: The PodMic is specifically tailored for speech and broadcast, with a dynamic capsule that minimises room noise and a tight cardioid polar pattern for superior room noise rejection.

Vocaster One: Summary of key features

• High-Quality Sound: The Vocaster One provides broadcast-quality sound, offering studio sound in seconds from its high-quality mic input, with over 70dB of gain, suitable for any XLR mic.
• Enhance Edit: It allows greater control of compression, EQ, and rumble reduction for each preset, providing the user with the ability to enhance their sound with one click.
• Vocaster Hub: This feature allows users to set levels, enhance their sound, route audio from their phone and computer, and hear their show mix. It also works with screen readers, allowing control of Vocaster’s key features.
• Phantom Power: If you want to use a condenser microphone that requires power to work, the Vocaster One can deliver the required 48V power.
• Simple Setup for Podcasting and Conference Calls: The Vocaster One can be connected to a computer through USB-C to record into podcast recording software, such as Adobe Audition, which can be used to customise sound. It also allows users to select Vocaster as the audio input on Zoom and Teams. Skype, too.
• Complete Setup for Podcasts and Streaming: The mixer offers various connectivity options, including a headphone output, speaker outs, phone input, and camera output, making it suitable for professional podcast audio recording and streaming.
• Auto Gain and Enhance: The Auto Gain feature sets the correct audio level with the click of a button, and the Enhance button brings out the best of the user’s voice with a choice of four voice presets.
• Mute Button: It allows users to quickly mute audio to avoid interruptions.

Adobe Audition: Summary of key features

• Multitrack, Waveform, and Spectral Display: Adobe Audition provides a comprehensive toolset that includes multitrack, waveform, and spectral display for creating, mixing, editing, and restoring audio content.
• Recording and Mixing Capabilities: It allows users to record and mix live through a computer microphone and studio recording equipment, or work with recorded tracks. This is essential for podcasters who need to create live narration, edit and enhance sound, or mix several tracks dynamically.
• Audio Mixing and Mastering: Adobe Audition is suitable for mixing and mastering audio content for podcasts. It offers over 50 effects and analysis tools, customisable controls, and the ability to remove background noise, making it ideal for refining and polishing audio content.
• Metadata editor: This allows you to enter the texts for ID3 tags and add cover art directly to your output MP3 file from within the program.
• Integration with Adobe Creative Cloud: Audition integrates efficiently with Adobe Creative Cloud, allowing for seamless collaboration and the easy addition of mastered audio to other projects in, for example, Adobe Premiere Pro.
• Free Trial: Adobe offers a free trial of Audition, allowing users to explore its features and capabilities before making a purchase.

In July I bought a new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 foldable phone. Since it arrived at the beginning of August I’ve been delighted with it and enjoy using it daily. At the time, I said it was a giant leap forward in foldable smartphones. I still hold that view, perhaps more so, especially because of its large front cover screen, the Flex Window, and what you can do with it.

Today, though, I want to talk about protective cases.

If ever an expensive mobile device needed protection from damage, accidental or otherwise, it’s the Z Flip 5. It’s lovely to hold in your hand, but it’s very slippery indeed with a high risk of damage through accidental drops. So a protective case is a must.

But when it comes to protective cases for the Z Flip 5 – indeed, for all flip phones – the market is flooded with options. There’s one case I’ve tried, though, that really does stand out from the crowd, and that’s the Benks ArmorAir Case for Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, pictured here.

Here’s why:

1. Sleek Minimalist Design: In an era where most cases are bulky and overly decorative, the ArmorAir case offers a refreshing minimalist design. It’s simple, yet sophisticated, ensuring that your phone looks elegant without compromising on protection.
2. Kevlar Material: The use of Kevlar in its construction is a game-changer. Not only does it add to the case’s durability, but it also gives it a unique texture and appearance. Kevlar is known for its strength and resistance, so you can be sure that your phone is shielded from potential damage.
3. Snug Fit: One of the most impressive features of this case is its precise fit. It hugs the Z Flip 5 perfectly, ensuring that every corner and edge is protected. The case aligns seamlessly with the phone’s ports and buttons, providing an uninterrupted user experience.
4. Excellent Feel in the Hand: A protective case can often change the way a phone feels in your hand, but the ArmorAir case enhances it. The case is smooth and silky to the touch, and its ergonomic design ensures a comfortable grip, reducing the chances of accidental drops. With this case on your Z Flip 5, you’ll have a protected foldable phone that is what I describe as ’eminently grippable’.

To give you a good visual tour of the Benks case in action, as it were, I recorded a short video that you can watch right here or on YouTube.

So, if you’re in the market for a protective case for your Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, the Benks ArmorAir case should be at the top of your list. It’s not just a case: it’s a statement of style, durability, and functionality.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

• Related reading – Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: A giant leap forward (15 August 2023)

(Disclosure: Benks sent me their ArmorAir case without cost in the expectation that I’d review it, which was my intent anyway. I have not received payment for this review. The links to their website in this article are clear links with no affiliate codes.)

It’s hard to avoid the hype and buzz about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 foldable smartphone that’s been building over the past few months. It reached a crescendo before, during and in the days following Samsung’s huge “Galaxy Unpacked” launch event in Seoul, South Korea, on July 26, when it went on pre-order in a dozen countries.

That buzz is building again now that the device went on general worldwide sale on August 11.

I pre-ordered a Z Flip 5 in July and I’ve spent the past ten days experimenting and test piloting as I got to know the new device that arrived on August 4.

You can read many, many articles, reviews and more on every aspect of this new fifth-generation model that have already appeared worldwide since the July launch announcement.

As part of my own research leading up to deciding to trade in my Z Flip 4 and buy the new Z Flip 5, these are the top features described by Samsung that I see making this model pretty compelling:

• Flex Window: Probably what most people will see as the standout feature of the new Z Flip 5 is the Flex Window, the large 3.4″ interactive and responsive cover screen pictured at the top of the page, and almost twice as large as the 1.9″ screen on the Z Flip 4. It lets you interact with the device even when it’s folded, eg, reply to messages, make and receive calls, take selfies, and access various apps and available widgets. You can customise it with video wallpapers, different clock faces, and more. I’ve included further comment, below, about my experiences so far.
• Design and Innovation: The Z Flip 5 is a marvel of modern engineering, combining the nostalgia of flip phones with cutting-edge technology. Beautifully made, charmingly compact, and far easier to carry in your pocket or purse, it’s available in eight unique shades plus a selection of street-art design cases that enables the Z Flip 5 to make a statement and cater to individual styles. And there’s the huge after-market industry that has many other options to personalise the appearance of your phone.
• Performance and Durability: Powered by the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform, Samsung says that the Z Flip 5 promises smoother graphics, faster AI, and improved battery performance. Its 3700mAh battery supports up to 57 hours of listening and 20 hours of watching. The device’s latest foldable technology includes a new tear-drop hinge mechanism that will ensure durability (and no hinge gap).
• Camera Capabilities: The camera system is designed for stunning selfies and wide, bright low-light videos. The Wide Camera brings more of the scene into the frame, and with Nightography video at 60 fps, you can capture quality content even in low light.
• Ecosystem and Sustainability: The Z Flip 5 can be paired with other Galaxy devices like the Galaxy Watch 6 for a seamless experience (I have a Galaxy Watch 4 that pairs as well). Samsung also emphasizes its commitment to sustainability, with components made from recycled materials.

There is a huge amount of information about the Z Flip 5 that I could dissect and comment on in this article. I’m resisting that idea as I want to focus on just a couple of the things that resonate most strongly with me and which validate for me my act of upgrading to this latest model.

Z Flip Comparisons

Any of the links above will take you to some of that huge amount of information about this phone. Two things I will share. First, this specifications comparison between the Z Flip 5 and Z Flip 4 by GSMArena. I found this most useful in understanding what really is different between the two and what that meant when deciding whether to buy the new model.

The screenshot below gives you an idea of what you’ll discover on the website. Much of it is quite technical, but all of it will illustrate precisely what’s different between the two where most of the differences are technical.

Finally on the Z Flip 5 and Z Flip 4 comparison, I recorded a short video of the two devices just after I received the 5 and had spent 24 hours getting to know it. Seeing both together, the different cover screens are apparent. I also showed the difference between the two when you fold them shut – no more gap with the 5 because of the new hinge.

The new hinge mechanism really is an excellent improvement on the Z Flip 5 compared to the Z Flip 4 (which itself was an improvement over the Z Flip 3). Samsung has pulled off quite an engineering feat to ensure that the hinge on the 5 is more robust and reliable than before. This enhancement not only provides a smooth and effortless folding experience but also offers increased durability, addressing issues about the hinge on the Z Flip 4 that some users had experienced.

I said earlier that the Z Flip 5 is beautifully made and charmingly compact. Indeed, it’s something to admire and get appreciative comments from your friends about your great choice :) But there is a flip side (poor pun, sorry) to this glamour.

The Z Flip 5 is very slippery in your hands. As you’ll know if you own any recent high-end smartphone, protecting your investment from accidental damage through being dropped, for example, is an essential task from the start. This is no different so a good protective case is a prerequisite.

There’s quite a marketplace for cases, not only directly from Samsung but also from Amazon and Etsy to name but two markets so you have plenty of choices. Expect to pay a premium price to protect a premium device.

The Flex Window and the new UX

And now let’s talk about that new large cover screen referred to by Samsung as the Flex Window. Did I mention it’s extraordinarily immersive and versatile?

When I had the Z Flip 4, I really did try hard to make the most of the small cover screen that was, at best, not bad for showing a couple of lines of notifications. At a pinch, you could install some widgets with a workaround to run apps but what a process and on such a comparatively tiny screen it was hardly worth it.

In reality, I found the small screen of little use or value, so I ignored it for the most part other than as a clock with a date that also popped up calendar reminders and app notifications. Then, I’d open up (unfold) the phone to read them fully.

With the Z Flip 5 we now have something of genuine utility and value, a tool that makes this device truly an interactive means of communication: you don’t just receive content to view and dismiss it, you can also engage with that content on the cover screen in the same manner as you would when the phone is unfolded and you have the full 6.7″ screen to use.

And therein lies the beauty of this setup. Already this has changed my behaviour in how I use a foldable smartphone.

Now, I do message-checking activities only on the cover screen. I don’t unfold the phone at all unless some activity needs me to do something on the phone that is best done with it unfolded.

The cover screen does much more, though, than simply let you engage with messages, etc. For example, you can run apps on the small screen as you would on the full screen. The image at the top shows one of the available widgets that I’ve configured with the primary social networks I use – I can interact with content there on the cover screen, perfect for quick reading and posting messages or replying to them. You get a small but full keyboard on the cover screen that is surprisingly good, not the hunt-and-peck experience you might have expected.

One of the most useful cover screen features is also one that isn’t yet fully supported by Samsung – the means to use installed full apps on the small screen, not just widgets, such as the example I mentioned that’s in the photo at the top. To enable this, you must use a workaround via an add-on app called Good Lock that you get from Samsung’s Galaxy Store. It enables a separate widget called CoverScreen OS that lets you deploy apps directly on the cover screen.

Check the image carousel for photos I’ve taken of my Z Flip 5 showing examples of the different ways you can use the cover screen. There are many customisation options to explore.

I should also mention the fact that not every app you can install on the device has the ability to be used on the cover screen.

I see all this as steps in the overall evolution of this device and what it lets you do, in some areas in a rather kludgy way at the moment. In the context of running apps more seamlessly, this would be version 0.9. I would expect software improvements from Samsung and app developers in the coming months as being able to run regular Android apps this way is something competitors already have enabled on their foldable devices.

Looking to the Future

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 represents a significant step forward in the foldable phone market. Its large Flex Window cover screen adds a new layer of functionality, making the device more versatile, user-friendly and very compelling.

The design improvements, including the new hinge and the enhanced cover screen, make the Z Flip 5 an irresistible choice if you’re interested in a contemporary flip phone. The device’s performance, battery life, and storage options further solidify its position as a strong leader in the foldable phone category.

As for how the Z Flip 5 succeeds and what it means for Samsung’s overall success, three key points arise in my mind:

1. A New Era of Foldable Phones: The Galaxy Z Flip 5 represents a significant step in the evolution of foldable smartphones. How will this innovation impact the broader mobile industry, and what can we expect from future iterations of foldable technology?
2. Sustainability in Tech: With components made from recycled materials, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 aligns with a growing trend towards sustainability in the tech industry. How will this commitment to environmental responsibility influence other manufacturers and the industry as a whole?
3. The Return of the Flip Phone: The Galaxy Z Flip 5’s design harkens back to the era of flip phones but with a modern twist. What does this say about consumer nostalgia, and how might this design influence and shape the future of smartphone aesthetics?

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is not just a device but a statement of style, innovation, and sustainability.

“Today we deliver the future of foldables”.

TM Roh, President and Head of MX Business, Samsung Electronics, July 26, 2023.

It is at least a very clear glimpse into the future of mobile technology, where the lines between form and function continue to blur, and where the past and present converge in a sleek, foldable design.

Related reading:

• How robust will the screen be in the next-gen Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone? – April 24, 2023
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3: making foldable phones mainstream – June 13, 2022

[Disclosure: My research into the subject for this article was ably assisted by ChatGPT 4 and Claude. Their AI-generated output to my prompts was reviewed, edited and rewritten, and added to in parts by me for factual accuracy and to improve the story. I added links to relevant online sources where such links to related information would aid the reader. Note also that none of the URLs on this page contain any affiliate links so feel free to click/tap away in confidence!]

In mid-May, I got a new phone, a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3.

Launched in August 2021, this device bolstered Samsung’s reputation for innovation and leading-edge technology where they succeeded in bringing to market a smartphone with ‘flexible glass‘ that clearly was ready for the mainstream.

Since then, Samsung has gone on to grab a commanding share of the overall foldable-smartphone market where sales of the Flip 3 accounted for 51% of all foldables shipped during Q1 2022. Overall, Samsung currently controls 74% of the foldables market worldwide, a market that also includes devices like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 foldable tablet, the Z Flip 3’s bigger sibling, along with foldable devices from other makers such as Huawei, Honor, and Xiaomi.

Over the past month the Flip 3 has been my primary smartphone replacing the Samsung Galaxy S20 I’ve been using since buying one a couple of years ago.

Is the Flip 3 a worthwhile device? How does it stack up compared to other premium smartphones? How is battery life? What about the fold when you bend it – how robust is that and does it interfere with your use of the device?

I talk about these points and more in a 20-minute video review I recorded that I posted to my YouTube channel, and which is embedded below.

If you just want the headline view, here’s the concluding summary:

Overall Verdict

Specs Overview

Foldable 5G flip-phone, dual-SIM (nano and e-sim), 8Gb RAM, 128Gb main storage (can also have 256Gb). No SD card slot. Octa-core Snapdragon CPU, Adreno GPU.

• As shipped in mid-May 2022: Android 11, One UI 4.0.
• Mine now running Android 12, One UI 4.1.

Dimensions:

• Open: 6.7” full rectangle Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 16M colours, 120Hz refresh, HDR10+ (slightly larger than Galaxy S22+ 6.6”, much larger than Galaxy S20 5G 6.2”)
• Closed, front screen: 1.9” full rectangle Super AMOLED, 16M colours.
  • It’s half the size of a normal phone when closed.

Some Initial Impressions

General:

• Excellent build quality, weighty feel and comfortable in your hand, open or closed.
  • It’s difficult to open the clamshell single-handed. Let me go further – it’s impossible without contortions!
    • Two handed is good, reducing risks of drops and damage.
  • Essential to have a protective case as risk of dropping device very high, it’s very slippery.
• Like all smartphones today, what comes in your package is quite minimalist – just the phone and a data/charging cable, USB-C at one end and USB-A at the other.
• If you migrate to this phone from another recent Samsung phone, it’s extremely easy and simple to move everything from old to new via Samsung’s Smart Switch app.
• Clear and bright screens, main and front, with each individually adjustable for brightness.
• The front 1.9” mini-screen is great for seeing up to 4 single-line notifications that you can scroll through or dismiss.
• The front screen also doubles as an always-on time and date display, familiar if you have a recent Samsung Galaxy phone.
  • You can set a visual indicator for new messages.
  • If you have a Samsung smartwatch like the Watch4, all this will be very familiar.
• The main 6.7” screen is bright and shows everything crisply and clearly. Colours are vibrant with blacks truly black rather that dark grey as you see on some phone screens. Typefaces are clear and easily readable.
  • The phone comes with a good screen protector fixed to it by Samsung. Essential to have this.
• Opening and closing the phone is a smooth experience. The act of folding and unfolding requires some effort which is a very good thing as it increases your confidence in the build quality and that it will work as expected.
• The fold is evident when you look at the screen when the phone is switched off. Of course you see it. But when you look at the screen with the phone on, it’s barely noticeable. When you stroke the screen across the fold, you can feel it. But it does not interfere at all with your use.
  • I got used to this very quickly so it’s not a distraction.
• When folded, the phone fits perfectly in any of my pockets and doesn’t give me heart palpitations when I sit down forgetting I have a phone in my trouser pocket.

Usage:

• Battery is rated at 3,300mAh, a little less capacity than some comparable premium smartphones. Battery life is good although much depends on what you use the phone for. My experience so far is that at the end of each day I’m down to about 40% battery. That’s perfectly fine and I tend to leave the phone charging overnight.
  • It supports wireless charging so my current Samsung fast Qi charger that I bought a while ago for my Galaxy S20 is proving its good value.
• If I was using this phone for doing a lot of mobile gaming or getting into online places in the embryonic metaverse, or doing lots of video and audio, I would not expect the device to last all day without having to charge the battery.
  • If these were my main uses, then I wouldn’t buy this device at all – there are others with better battery life and also with specs designed for such uses.
• It’s very responsive: everything from opening apps to navigating menus feels super-fluid and fast, with the high-refresh 120Hz display making everything buttery smooth.
• Streaming HD video is smooth with good audio. YouTube no problems, neither with streaming from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
  • In common with an industry trend, there is no 3.5mm audio jack, only a USB-C port.
• Photos are good. The phone has twin 12 megapixel front cameras, one of which has widescreen capability. These are what you see in many smartphones and so are quite typical.
  • I’m happy with the photos I’ve taken that stand good comparison with what I’ve been taking on my Galaxy S20 over the past couple of years although that has a 64 megapixel camera. Video shot in HD is also very good.
• The selfie camera, at the top centred in the main screen, is 10 megapixels which is perfectly fine in my experience.
• This is a great device if you want to do all the things that many people typically do – social networking, watch streaming video, listen to and watch audio and video podcasts, take selfies, do messaging, shopping, even make phone calls – on a device that’s powerful, performs very well and is capable of making use of 5G cell networks and fast wifi.
  • It’s also great to sync with your computer, works very well with Windows 11. And important for me, it works very well indeed with Android Auto in my car.

A final thought.

Until the Z Flip3, you would be right at the bleeding edge in buying a foldable Samsung smartphone, very much an early adopter. This one, though, is at the leading edge and shows it’s ready for the mainstream, something we might see even more evolved with the Z Flip 4 coming soon.

But, if you want a foldable and powerful Samsung smartphone that ticks all your boxes such as I’ve outlined here, and you can find a really good pricing deal, then this is definitely worth getting, never mind what’s coming in the next version. Unless Samsung surprises the entire mobile industry, Z Flip 4 will be broadly similar in terms of overall tech and the user experience.

Z Flip 3 product page at Samsung UK: https://www.samsung.com/uk/smartphones/galaxy-z-flip3-5g/

Additional reading:

• Leaked Galaxy Z Flip 4 photos show a potentially less noticeable crease – Verge, 11 June 2022
• This one Samsung foldable is more popular than every other folding phone combined – TechRadar, 1 June 2022
• Why it’s time for you to switch to a Samsung foldable smartphone – SamMobile, 21 May 2022
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review – TechRadar, 8 April 2022
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Review – 6 Months Later – 6 Months Later Review on YouTube, 4 March 2022
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G review: Finally, a foldable worth buying – expertreviews.co.uk, 1 December 2021
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 – FIRST 25 THINGS TO DO! (That No One Will Show You) – sakitech on YouTube, 28 August 2021

(Picture at top: that’s me showing the Flip 3 to my podcasting partner Shel Holtz who grabbed a screenshot from Zoom when we were recording the May monthly edition of the For Immediate Release podcast.)

[Update 1 Oct 2022:] In August, I bought a new Z Flip 4 in a compelling offer from Samsung, part of which was trading-in the Z Flip 3. A very good deal.

I’ve not written a full review of the Z Flip 4. Broadly, it’s like the 3 only even better! Especially notable for me are faster processor so speedier actions, much-improved battery, and faster charging times. Samsung posted a useful comparison guide. And here are initial impressions I recorded in August.

For more than twenty years, Microsoft Outlook has been the primary software tool I use for email and calendars on Windows PCs, for both business and personal uses.

On New Year’s Day, I switched my personal email accounts to Mailbird, a software tool that lets me manage my email and calendars on my Windows 11 PCs.

Even only four days into my use, I’m already well impressed with Mailbird, how easy it was to install and set up, and the fast way I get things done that took much longer with Outlook.

So far three things stand out for me about Mailbird:

1. Unified mailbox. I can set up multiple email accounts within Mailbird, all of which can appear in a single unified mailbox that contains emails from all the accounts. Each account is colour-coded so I can see at a glance which email account a message is in. This is ideal when you have multiple email accounts.
2. Integration with Google calendar. This is a breeze to set up compared to Outlook which requires a third-party bridging app to synchronise Google calendar with Outlook calendar. With Mailbird, it just connects to Google and brings in your calendar. This makes things very straightfoward when you have Mailbird installed on up to three devices where your Google calendar is accessible by all.
3. Retrieving account settings and synchronising for email is fast and works every time. This behaviour is refreshing compared to Outlook. In setting up, Mailbird grabbed the server settings for each of the email accounts I wanted to add (Gmail and Yahoo accounts plus a domain email), set up access and started bringing in email. Couldn’t be simpler.

Mailbird offers much more with the Personal plan if you want it including integration with a wide range of third-party apps and services such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Telegram, Facebook, Discord, and more. If you go for the Business plan, you can also integrate others like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Trello, and more.

I’ve not integrated anything other than Google Calendar, as I want to keep this tool minimalist and just focus on my email and calendar. I really like the easy-to-use interface and simple layout.

See the full range of features Mailbird offers. You can compare that with Outlook’s offering. And take a look at this comparison of Mailbird with other platforms.

That said, there are a couple of things I don’t like much about Mailbird compared to Outlook, or wish I do could do them differently.

The Calendar, for instance. Like Outlook, I can display a summary of calendar events in a vertical panel at the right of the app window. But the design shows this app’s heritage as an app originally for macOS as the panel looks like you see it on an iPhone screen. I don’t like it much! And I wish the calendar in the panel would display events for a week in addition to the current day or month setting.

Also when replying to email, the procedure when you have lots of names in the address line and maybe a few cc’s isn’t as clear and simple as it is with Outlook. Or maybe it’s because I’m so used to Outlook it will take a while longer to adjust.

Such things aren’t show stoppers for me, just illustrative of the fact that no software application is wholly perfect.

One thing to note as well: the Personal plan does not let you add email accounts that use Microsoft Exchange. For that, you’ll need a Business plan.

When thinking about moving away from Outlook, I did also consider just using the native approach to my personal email accounts , mostly on Gmail. But I don’t want to have to check it via a browser with multiple logins to multiple email accounts or granting calendar access to different accounts. No to that faffing about!

I decided to give Mailbird 30 days to help me decide whether to make the switch permanent or not. I have bought a license for the Personal plan and the price is low enough that I’m willing to experiment even if the result is that I don’t continue using it.

Mailbird Personal supports IMAP and POP3 accounts and has versions for Windows and, soon, macOS.

Based on my experience so far, I see a future for Mailbird.

Today, October 5, Microsoft makes Windows 11, a new version of Windows, publicly available. Over the coming nine months or so, it will be available as a free update in Windows Update on computers everywhere running Windows 10.

Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows 11 has taken only three months to go from first public announcement about a new version coming today to public availability and access to it.

In those intervening three months, Microsoft has run a community testing programme called Windows Insider that enabled anyone to test drive Windows 11 in development to see what the early-development versions and progressive beta versions look like, get early access to much of the new software’s features and many of its functions, see how other programs work on it, and add their voices via the feedback channels with opinions and reports of issues to address.

This army of informal beta testers (for want of a better description) has been key to enabling Microsoft to proceed with its desire to release Windows 11 on schedule. I’ve been one of them, testing Windows 11 since July.

My experience has been overwhelmingly good on the computer I installed it on, a Dell XPS 8930 tower system with an 8th-generation Intel Core i5 8400 processor and 16 gigs of RAM that I bought in 2018. I installed the first public beta version as an upgrade to Windows 10, installing each subsequent build via Windows Update as it became available.

From my first hands-on experience, I realised that Windows 11 is an evolution of Windows 10. It’s not ‘new’ in the sense of ‘brand new,’ but in the sense of improving and extending what came immediately beforehand in many ways focused on the user experience. It builds upon Windows 10 and shifts the philosophy behind a computer operating system – you can read about the thinking behind the design of Windows 11 – towards a tool that offers an aesthetic and presentation that emphasises appearance, functionality, and experiences.

The two most obvious examples are the changed taskbar on the Windows desktop, now centred on screen rather than ranged left as in every previous version of Windows – you can see it in the image of my full Windows 11 desktop at the top of this page – and the new Start menu that pops up from bottom centre on your screen, as the screenshot here illustrates:

Of course, not everyone likes these changes. But I think the centred taskbar and Start menu offer a far better user experience and just look more pleasing than the aligned-left ones in previous Windows versions. If anything, they’re conceptually (and visually) like what you see on an Apple machine which I think is a good thing (others will disagree!).

Should you upgrade to Windows 11?

I’d say yes, based on my good experience with pre-release versions. But it’s more than that. This is a version of a computer operating system designed for today, what’s ahead, the changing ways we now use computers, and how our multiple devices connect with each other more seamlessly to enable us to be better connected and more engaging. This is very different even to how we started using Windows 10 in 2015, six years ago. A lot has happened in that time.

That said, there are some major considerations. To start with, you need to have a computer that’s able to run Windows 11. Microsoft published a specification list which is a good reference. A quick analysis would be running the Windows 11 PC Health Check app, a simple program you can download from Microsoft. It will tell you at a glance whether your computer can run Windows 11 or not.

I ran it on my Dell XPS 13, a new laptop I bought a few months ago, running Windows 10. It passed. In fact, Dell published a guide to upgrading, saying ” All new Dell PCs are upgrade-ready to Windows 11 when available” and it published a lengthy list of current Dell machines that can upgrade. Many other PC makers have published similar guides as the overall market gears up for Windows 11.

In addition, know that Windows 11 is still a development project: not all bugs will have been fixed when it starts appearing in your Windows Update. Expect to see a stream of updates in coming months as bugs are squashed, security beefed up, and features and functions developed more. We’re used to this, though, aren’t we? You know it from your Windows 10 experiences! And think about how you get software and updates over-the-air on mobile devices. It’s how the tech landscape looks now.

If you’re working in a large organisation, such an upgrade most likely will be centrally organised and controlled probably by your IT department. But if you make such decisions yourself, you can just do it.

The risks associated with upgrading a modern computer operating system are low, in my view, all else being equal. Naturally you’d take steps to backup beforehand anything you value that’s on your computer. Make sure you have a USB recovery backup to hand, too, just in case you need to restore Windows 10.

And speaking of Windows 10, what happens if you don’t want to upgrade to Windows 11? No worries, Microsoft says it will continue support for Windows 10 until 2025.

Additional reading:

• Microsoft: Introducing Windows 11
• BBC News: Windows 11 launches with redesigned start menu
• The Verge: Windows 11: A familiar home that’s still being renovated
• Windows Central: Windows 11 review: The start of a new era
• Mashable: 5 things to know before jumping into Windows 11
• How-To-Geek: Should You Upgrade to Windows 11?
• Tom’s Hardware: Windows 11 at Launch: You Don’t Need to Upgrade Yet
• CNET Tech: Windows 11 download: How to skip the wait and get Microsoft’s free update now

#Windows11

Last month, Microsoft announced Windows 11, the evolution of and replacement for the six-years-old Windows 10. The new version will be released later this year (some reports speculate it might be in October) as a free upgrade to Windows 10.

Panos Panay, Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer and the executive in charge of Windows, posted a narrative of features to expect in the new OS. He speaks of “simplifying the design and user experience,” noting:

It’s modern, fresh, clean and beautiful. From the new Start button and taskbar to each sound, font and icon, everything was done intentionally to put you in control and bring a sense of calm and ease. We put Start at the center and made it easier to quickly find what you need. Start utilizes the power of the cloud and Microsoft 365 to show you your recent files no matter what platform or device you were viewing them on earlier, even if it was on an Android or iOS device.

That’s a good scene-setter to understand how the new OS is evolving especially from a UX point of view. I see this as confirming what I observe – Windows 11 is a re-imagination, if you will, of Windows 10, taking something familiar and improving it in meaningful and useful ways. It’s not a completely new product.

Many mainstream and social media sites have posted their opinions on what’s to like and what’s not so you can explore many different views. In this post, I’ll share some of what I’ve focused on in my first experiences in using the software.

Microsoft is busy working on the new version and released the first test build in late June to anyone who signed up for the Windows Insider programme. This is the public community of users who want to try out the OS before it’s final and provide Microsoft with feedback and suggestions during the testing period.

I’m in this programme (as I was for testing Windows 10 in early 2015). A few days ago, I installed the first update to the test build, version 22000.65, on my customised Dell XPS 8930 desktop computer. The update fixed many bugs in the first version and added some significant new features. My Dell PC is ideal for testing the new OS as it’s typical of many such computers in use running Windows 10. Importantly, it passed Microsoft’s hardware requirements test as being capable of installing and running Windows 11.

That hardware test, though, has received a great deal of criticism for the superficial way it tests a given PC and comes up with a pass or fail result. Microsoft withdrew it and will release a better version at some point. There is a third-party tester now available called WhyNotWin11 that I see getting a lot of positive mentions.

Microsoft published an overview of specifications, features, and computer requirements so you can see at a glance if your PC should be able to run Windows 11 preview.

The minimum requirement hardware item that is getting a lot of critical attention is the one about the Trusted Platform Module version 2.0. A TPM chip is designed to provide hardware-based, security-related functions on your computer. If your PC doesn’t have it, Microsoft says you won’t be able to run Windows 11 preview. It’s doubtful you would be able to run the released version when it appears as I can’t see a hardware-based system requirement so focused on crypto-security being removed.

The look and feel

Once you’ve signed up to the Windows Insider programme, installing the preview software is as simple as enabling a setting in the Windows Update > Windows Insider Program in Settings in Windows 10 and choosing the Dev channel (if you want the preview right now) or Beta channel (if you want to wait a bit for safer, more reliable, versions). You can also choose the Release Preview channel which will give you the software close to when it’s ready for general public release later this year.

The update to Windows 11 is quite quick: in my case, from starting the process to a number of system restarts to seeing the new desktop at the end was less than 30 minutes in total. I experienced no issues at all, as was my expectation.

The first thing you notice is the new look and feel to the Windows 11 desktop. You can see it in the screenshot at the top of this page. As Microsoft’s Panay says, it is beautiful.

And then there’s the Start button and program icons in the taskbar, all centred and no longer ranged to the left. Visually, this is a huge treat! And just look at the new Start menu:

If you wished for a day without the tiles of Windows 8-10, this is your day! Before, you had few good choices if you wanted to get rid of those, from the clunky to the great alternative of Stardock’s Start10 (I use this on all my Windows 10 computers).

Now you have an aesthetically pleasing, native, and useful method of keeping your Start menu in order. The display you first see shows apps you’ve pinned to the menu with latest-opened or -run content appearing below. You can search for, add, or remove apps at will. I find this highly complementary to apps you pin to the taskbar, especially ones I use most frequently.

All of it is very pleasing to view and use. I do love the centred appearance of taskbar icons and the Start menu.

In the few days I’ve had since installing the preview, I’ve used many of the business apps I use daily without any issues of any type as I noted in a post to friends on Facebook. No crashes, freezes, anything weird. A good start.

Yesterday I used Adobe Audition 2021 extensively without any issues. Most of my apps were already installed under Windows 10 so it’s good to see that the new OS – and a developer beta at that – runs them all without issues. It bodes well for the apps most of us use day to day on our computers.

I’ve not yet played any games because I have none installed on this PC (well, apart from Candy Crush Friends and that works well on the preview). I doubt I will install many or even any so if gaming is something important for you, look at some of the reporting out there.

Connecting Android

For many people, one of the biggest things about Windows 11 will be its ability to install and run Android apps. Microsoft has forged a deal with Amazon to offer Android apps via a new app store that Amazon will run. You will be able to install those apps on your Windows 11 PC.

The Verge noted that it was “a surprise addition to Windows 11”:

Android app integration directly into Windows is a significant shift, especially as the company has been favoring Your Phone as the method to bridge the gap between Android and Windows. Microsoft has been embracing Android as the mobile version of Windows for years, and now those same mobile apps will run directly in Windows 11.

If you have a Samsung (Android) smartphone, you already have a means of connecting your Samsung phone to your Windows 10 PC and showing Android apps on your PC screen via the Your Phone companion app. I believe it will work on Android smartphones from other manufacturers too. This app also offers a lot more functionality including using your PC to make and receive phone calls.

There’s one big difference, though.

The Your Phone setup lets you see, on your PC screen, what’s running on your phone. So you run the Android app on your phone and see it on your PC screen, and you can interact with it on your PC with your mouse and keyboard, and touch screen if your monitor has that capability. But the app is not installed on nor runs from your PC.

Here’s what that looks like on my PC:

On the left is the live screen of my phone, a Galaxy S20 5G, with the My Phone app on the right. All this is showing on my PC running Windows 11 and works as well as it does on Windows 10. It might suffice until the complete Android experience is up and running for Windows 11, or at least more information from Microsoft appears as to how it’s going to work.

Feedback to the development team

A key thing with testing beta software is providing feedback to the developers. While you’re not obligated to, it’s good practice to offer your experiences, suggestions, and reports to the Windows 11 team, and Microsoft makes it easy to do this via the Feedback app that comes with Windows 11.

Via the app, you can offer suggestions and requests, report problems, and generally provide your feedback directly to Microsoft. You can filter what you see in the app, sorting feedback from the entire Windows Insider community in various ways, and upvote feedback you like. You can also see a record of your own feedback and any responses you get from the developers.

I think Microsoft has made a terrific start with Windows 11. The first preview update is nice work. It looks and feels excellent – I would dare say ‘beautiful’ – reflecting a compelling visual style that Microsoft clearly has invested serious time, energy, talent, and money in developing.

As this is preview software still in development, it’s not perfect. While I’ve yet to encounter major imperfections, I can see from the Feedback app the many suggestions, reports and requests from other testers that do point out some things not working properly or at all. Over time, much of this will be addressed as successive updates are rolled out during the coming months. I suppose it’s inevitable that at some point, something will happen that trashes a PC requiring a quick fix release. I recall that happening for me once with Windows 10 preview testing.

So, keep in mind that if you do join the Windows Insider programme, this is beta software and things can upset your apple cart.

And what if you don’t want to upgrade from your Windows 10 setup when Windows 11 is released? You don’t have to if you’re happy with 10. I’d argue, though, that the latest version will offer you more in terms of UX as well as the latest developments and innovations in tech and security protections. Still, Microsoft says it will continue supporting Windows 10 until October 2025, so you have four more years of life yet.

Further reading:

• Inside Windows 11
• Announcing the first Insider Preview for Windows 11
• Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22000.65
• How to Prepare Your Computer to Install the Windows 11 Preview
• Find Windows 11 specs, features, and computer requirements
• Windows 11 – Wikipedia

Also:

• Microsoft’s new Windows 11 opens up a new era of OS design (Wallpaper.com)
• How to boot Windows 11 into Safe Mode for troubleshooting (XDA Developers)
• How to find and enable your TPM chip for Windows 11 (Reviewed.com)

[Update 18 July:] A week on from installing the second Windows 11 preview, I’m pretty impressed with the stability and robust functionality of the software given it’s an early testing version. It’s a great deal more stable than I had expected.

I’ve experienced no issues that would produce a blue screen of death. Or would that be a black screen of death now? The only issues I have run into concern some software already on the system (installed under Windows 10) that didn’t behave well after updating the OS to the 11 preview. Uninstalling and installing those apps again fixed all those problems.

There was one new preview released a few days ago in the Insider Dev channel, version 22000.71, providing a good number of new features and quite a few fixes.

Over the past week I’ve been gradually exploring aspects of the new OS version, discovering features and functions that mostly delight, with ‘delight’ being a highly subjective emotion.

For instance, I love the new Start menu and centred taskbar icons (something I do mention a lot). I know others who say they really do not like it at all, preferring the range-left of Windows 10 and every previous version since Windows 95. I discovered you do have a choice in this.

The default is centred:

You can also range them left via a selector in Settings > Personalisation > Taskbar:

Like it? Well, I’m not enamoured with it. I’m accustomed now to centred. Aesthetically, centred is delightful and fits well with the emerging new software design ethos that Microsoft is developing. But remember that this is preview software and Microsoft may remove or change the range-left choice in the release version.

You can also select a different theme that can change what the Windows desktop looks like. Like this, for example, which gives a dark mode view:

This one’s called Captured Motion and has four different backgrounds. Quite attractive, subjectively speaking. You will find it at Settings > Personalisation > Themes.

I mentioned feedback earlier and I’ll note it again as being useful to tell the development team what you think. I’ve shared some feedback myself although not on the Start menu and taskbar centred or not topic.

As you can see, much of this relates to functionality in the desktop environment, the taskbar, look and feel of the Settings menu, the kinds of things that do matter but do not affect the use of the software in material ways. Microsoft are highly responsive to this, and I can see they have addressed several points in the latest update, along with acknowledging some issues so we know they’re on the developer team’s radar.

We’re currently in mid-July and, if some reports are accurate, it’s just three months -12 weeks – until the release version appears.

Overall, though, it looks like so far so good.

If there were a product available right now that lets you connect your phone to your car to use Android Auto without a USB cable, would you go for it? I would, and did, with a simple yet powerful device called AAWireless that does just that – lets me use Android Auto in my car with the phone being connected wirelessly.

I’ve been a huge fan of Android Auto for some years as the primary method of planning car journeys with Google Maps and navigating to where I want to drive: I follow the planned journey in Android Auto that’s paired to my Android smartphone, with the map displayed on my car’s head unit.

Not only that, Android Auto also fulfils a key role in managing my in-car entertainment such as listening to music via Amazon Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, etc. Via the head unit touchscreen or voice commands, I can use many other apps installed on my smartphone such as PockectCasts or Google Podcasts for listening to podcasts.

It also provides the means for voice-activated communication such as sending and receiving WhatsApp messages or SMS texts, all via the Android Auto home screen displayed on the head unit and with the ability to talk to the Google Assistant.

In sum, Android Auto replaces the car’s own navigation and entertainment system. Overall, it is far superior and intuitive to use – how much more intuitive can you get than with conversational English? There’s also live traffic information, increasingly important these days and probably more so than using a map on a familiar route. Google’s offering is more accurate than what you typically get on any car manufacturer’s system with third-party software that you usually have to pay for.

It’s four years on from when Google first made it possible to use Android Auto with cars’ head units. As more cars come to the market with more sophisticated technology and functionality aboard, consumer demand will increase for highly useful built-in features that just work. And consumer demand is also a driver, so to speak – people want to be able to interact with their cars as they do with their mobile devices, using touch screens and talking to an AI.

The time for wireless Android Auto

Already, some cars manufacturers offer the ability for compatible smartphones to connect wirelessly with compatible head units in some markets, thus enabling Android Auto without a cable.

But this is far from universal, and far from a seamless, intuitive experience.

Until the time comes when wireless connectivity within a car is a seamless experience even if not universal (and it surely will be – recent versions of Android Auto are wireless-connectivity enabled), you want something that just works every time you start the car (or, in hybrid and EV terms, turn it on) without you having to plug in a cable each time.

Today, you can get Android Auto to work wirelessly with your smartphone even if you drive one of the majority of cars where wireless connectivity doesn’t work. And even if new cars in the next few years make wireless connectivity seamless, there’s still current and recently-previous cars that won’t be able to do that without head unit firmware upgrades if that ever would be an option.

All you need is AAWireless, a small plug-and-play device available today that enables your smartphone to use the device’s internal wifi module to connect to your Android Auto-compatible head unit instead of connecting the phone to your car with a USB cable.

This is what you need to make this work:

1. A smartphone running Android 9 or later with Android Auto installed.
2. A car with a head unit – either the built-in one from the manufacturer or an aftermarket unit – that supports the display of Android Auto.
3. A USB cable that will let your phone talk to the car (not all USB cables are equal to this task).

You connect the AAWireless device to your car via the USB cable. Yes, there’s still need for a cable but in this case, it’s plug-in-and-forget with the device and not your phone.

Your phone then pairs with the AAWireless device via Bluetooth that provides the necessary credentials for the device to enable a wifi connection for your phone. Once that’s done, the Bluetooth connection disconnects. From then, it’s wireless all the way.

At the time of this review, AAWireless was a start-up project that had attracted nearly 25,000 backers on Indiegogo. I discovered it in early September 2020 when there were around 2,500 backers, and backed it. Backers had contributed more than £1.4 million ($1.9 million or €1.6 million) at the date of my review.

Reviewing AAWireless

Since I received my device in late March – the ‘perk’ I chose as a backer – I’ve been using it in my car, a 2020 hybrid Toyota Corolla Excel hatchback UK model.

The device comes in a small box containing the device itself, plus a short USB cable with USB-C at one end and USB-A at the other that you use to connect to your car.

For a first-hand look at what you get, here’s a short video I made of my unboxing experience.

There’s a companion app you can get from the Google Play store; the box has a handy QR code on the underside that you can scan to get the app.

The Settings function is useful for help with resolving any connection issues, and OTA Update is for any configuration you may need to do when an update for the device firmware is pushed out by the developers. There is a also a link to product support pages on the website.

For most people who have reported their experiences in the comments section of the Indiegogo funding page, it has been a breeze to set up. Others, though, haven’t found it so easy with reports of no or intermittent connections, dropped connections, cables not working, etc.

If you think about it, it’s quite something that so few have had issues in set up. This is a ‘version 1.0’ device and the developers are learning from user feedback so far where problems may lie that may require help from support and even fixes via a firmware update. In the latter case, the developers recently discovered a bug in their code causing issues for some users, mainly affecting Mazda owners. It’s been fixed and an OTA firmware update is coming imminently.

There are also production issues that the developers have communicated about via their regular updates to users – 28 such updates so far – with the most significant being a change in CPU chip for upcoming manufacturing driven by the global chip shortage that’s affecting wifi chip availability too. It’s had an effect on product shipping and dates.

But it’s very good to see the high level of acceptance by backers of such issues where frequent, open, proactive communication from the developers has helped everyone stay on board with their commitment knowing that problems can happen and are being addressed by the developers.

After all, backing a start-up like this isn’t the same as buying a retail product from a store. Backing a product on Indiegogo typically means you give your financial support to its development and, maybe, a finished and usable product will emerge.

And so, to using AAWireless in the car.

If you want a rapid overview of my experience so far, this six-minute video has it.

I’ve been using AAWireless almost daily these past few weeks. It works every time although I had some thorny configuration issues on first use.

You may not encounter this at all and be one of the lucky ones who literally plug and play. If so, you can jump ahead to the concluding Pros and Cons section.

But if you do, this next section may be helpful.

As I explain in the video, it turned out that my issue that prevented the device connecting and was in a reboot loop instead was resolved via two steps on my phone, a Samsung Galaxy S20 5G:

1. Unpair every device connected via Bluetooth. Then shut them down or otherwise remove them from the phone’s detection range. The only device you should have in range is AAWireless in a usable state (either connected to your car or plugged in to a separate power source, eg, a computer or backup power pack). Then reboot the phone. Check Bluetooth pairing – the only device you should see discoverable is AAWireless.
2. Reset all network connections on your phone. This means removing every network connection including the wifi your phone is already connected to. Then reboot the phone.

With these steps done, follow the setup instructions in the companion app. In particular, check the Settings option for ‘AAWireless device’ – it should show a device with a check mark if connectivity is configured correctly. You can do the Bluetooth pairing manually via your phone’s connections settings if you wish.

What should happen to get you connected is this:

• When you plug in the AAWireless device to the car’s USB-A port, you’ll get a solid-green LED in the indicator area next to the USB-C port in the device (the other side of the ‘Reset’ hole). If you get a solid red LED, you’re not correctly set up.
• Within a few seconds the solid green LED should change to rapidly-blinking green LED.
• Next, that should change to rapidly-blinking blue LED.
• Finally, solid blue LED and you’re connected.

This whole sequence shouldn’t take longer than what you’ve experienced previously with a cable connection from your phone to the car. In my case, it takes about 15 seconds.

Then you should be able to open Android Auto from a menu choice in your car’s head unit, not your phone: where that is in the head unit and how selection works will depend on your car brand.

And with that, you’re wireless-connected to Android Auto!

AAWireless: Pros and Cons

Remember – this is a product being developed by a then-startup and was still in preview stages at the time of this review (April 2021).

Pros:

• No cable connection required from your phone to the car.
• I get in the car, power it up, and wireless Android Auto just works.
• The barriers to use are low: Android phone running minimum Android 9, Android Auto installed on phone, car head unit that supports Android Auto.
• Every app installed on my phone that’s available within Android Auto works with AAWireless: not only maps for navigation but also music apps such as Spotify, podcasting apps such as PocketCasts, messaging such as WhatsApp. I can use most via touch screen taps or – my preferred use method – via talking to the AI (Google Assistant).
• Product support is good in my experience, with prompt engagement from the development team and responding to support tickets.

Cons:

• If you do have any connectivity connection issues, troubleshooting and finding a solution can be a convoluted process.
• Being wirelessly connected, your phone won’t charge its battery as it would likely do when directly connected to the car via a USB cable. If you have a car that has wireless-charging capability, this isn’t an issue for you. For everyone else including me, it is a mild one. I tend to bring along a portable battery pack now.
• While support is good in these early stages, I doubt the service is scalable in its current form. Maybe the developers have plans to further build out a support function.
• Determining whether your car’s head unit or an aftermarket unit supports Android Auto can be frustrating at a time when detailed info is not readily available from manufacturers or dealers. Luckily, AAWireless has a growing database of manufacturers and car models whose head units do support Android Auto (you can find this on the product website).

As a final thought, I wonder what’s likely to happen with Android Auto in the coming months and years and how Google is developing Google Assistant Driving Mode. With wireless connectivity built-in coming to more cars, will we see Android Auto and Apple CarPlay sort of merge or morph that brings some kind of singular navigation and info-tainment product for every car and every mobile device? What will that mean for third-party enabler products like AAWireless?

Big questions that form part of broad discussions and debate about cars, the auto industry in general and the future (McKinsey’s industry look-ahead is a good reference point).

Further information about AAWireless:

• Primary website – https://https//aawireless.io
• Product website – https://www.cpeb.it/
• FAQ – https://cpeb.freshdesk.com/support/home
• (The Indiegogo backer page closed in August 2022 following the end of the startup phase – see update at end of this article.)

(Note: I wrote this review without any request to do so either from AAWireless or Google. No one has paid me to do it and there are no affiliate links in this article.)

Update May 2, 2021: A few things have happened since this review.

The first firmware update was released over-the-air (OTA) on April 20, version 1.2.0. It fixed some known connectivity issues in certain Mazda cars; plus updated the Android Auto protocol messages and fixed bug report functionality.

At the same time, the developers announced that an imminent updated version of the companion Android app would bring a number of new features to the device, one of which is the ability to have AAW make Android Auto automatically display on the car’s head unit when starting it instead of you having to manually select AA from a menu on the head unit to show it on the car’s display.

This is a very useful feature that makes the whole process seamless – you start or power on your car, the AAW unit connects to your phone to start AA, which then displays on your car display screen. No intermediate steps by you needed to make that final stage happen.

The updated AAWireless app version 1.7.1 was in the Google Play store on April 30. I updated the version on my phone on May 1 and got the new functionality as the short video shows.

With this new feature and the seamless start-up experience, this device becomes even more useful.

The various updates and issues arising for some users also highlight a reality that much depends on your car and model, the brand of phone you use, which version of Android it’s running, and probably a host of other tech issues that determine whether it will all work well on your particular car, or at all.

I’m impressed with the developers’ responsiveness to issues raised by users and the communication transparency. This is a start-up product in ongoing development as I mentioned earlier – all the backers are part of the experiment that led to product launch of the MVP, the minimum viable product, and that now leads to fixes, major enhancements and improvements and gaining more knowledge of what works with which car and model, in which country.

Not only that, the developers are heads down in addressing ongoing component supply issues related to the global chip shortage as well as manufacturing quality problems at the Asian factory affecting some batches of product. You can read the details in the frequent update reports to backers from the developers.

Speaking of backers, the total number as of today is now 27,395 – up almost 3,000 since I wrote this original review a few weeks ago. The total amount backers have pledged is now more than £1.6 million, up more than £200K.

A lot of people around the world like Android Auto and being able to use it wirelessly. As new cars are coming to market with wireless connectivity for software like Android Auto built in – apparently Toyota is one from 2022 – owners of cars built in the past handful of years will also be able to enjoy this experience with a tool like AAWireless.

Update December 12, 2022: In August 2022, after achieving pledges from backers of more than £5.7 million, AA Wireless closed its Kickstarter fund raiser. From then, buyers could purchase the product directly from the website aawireless.io.

I’ve updated some links in the review but not changed any of the review content.