superfast 4G LTE has long been a luxury feature only found on top-end phones with lofty price tags. It's steadily become more affordable over the past couple of years and is now beginning to be found at the budget end of the market as well.
The HTC Desire 510 is just such a phone. This 4.7-inch Android KitKat device doesn't have the most impressive specs around -- an 854x480-pixel display and 1.3GHz quad-core processor certainly won't spark much excitement among the tech elite -- but at only £90 on pay as you go with O2 in the UK, it's an extremely affordable entrance into the world of 4G LTE.
In the US, you can pick up the Desire 510 from BestBuy on the Sprint network for $1 up-front on a $9 per month contract. Australians can nab the phone for AU$179 on pre-pay from Telstra.
Design
If you've been eagerly eyeing the sleek metal curves of the HTC One M8 , but don't fancy its massive price tag, the Desire 501 won't be the affordable replacement you've been hoping for. It's a chunky beast, measuring 10mm thick and weighing a fairly hefty 158g.
Although the front has a speaker grille above the display -- reminiscent of the "BoomSound" speakers on much of HTC's pricier range -- it's generally a very uninspiring design. The back panel's matte plastic cover provides nothing of any interest, particularly in the black colour scheme I saw. The white versionyou can see on HTC's website looks a little prettier.
The PS Vita is the most powerful, dazzling and impressive handheld games console ever built.
It packs not one but two quad-core processors, a sparkling 5-inch touchscreen OLED display, dual analogue stick controls and games that go way beyond what any other portable device is currently capable of.
That includes the Nintendo 3DS, which may wield 3D optics as its trump card, but nonetheless simply cannot compete with the Vita in terms of graphical fidelity. What the PlayStation Vita offers is more akin to a home console experience on the move, and that puts it in an elite class of one.
Of course, whether or not there is a big market for such a device is an interesting question, and we're in the process of getting some early answers. A sluggish start in Japan has been followed by some less-than-stellar sales figures in the first weeks of its International launch. It doesn't come as much of a surprise.
After all, it's a luxury item launching post-Christmas into a Western world ravaged by financial floundering, and further hindered by Sony's desperate need to make money at a time when the strength of the Yen makes exported Japanese products very expensive.
Take a look at PS Vita gameplay footage, the new interface and touch controls in our video:
But we'll get to that a little later, and as far as this PlayStation Vita review goes, we're looking at the product as a stand alone piece of hardware, how it stacks up against the competition and whether or not it offers value for money.
The basics
In many ways, despite the new name, the PlayStation Vita is another revision of the Sony PSP legacy with plenty of much needed evolution on top.
The same basic form factor returns and it doesn't look too different from its predecessors. But this is a wolf in sheep's clothing. A beast among men. A veritable fire-breathing monster compared to those long-dead PSPs in the sky.
The curvy oval shape returns, and measures 7.2-inches (18.3cm) from end to end. So it's the biggest Sony handheld ever, with a height of 3.3-inches (8.4cm) and a thickness of 0.73 (1.9cm).
Sony's reasoning has clearly been: if we're going to make the world's most powerful handheld console, we might as well make it the best it can possibly be. That involves packing industry-leading visuals, hence the 5-inch OLED screen which on its own is as big as the entire PSP Go console was.
We think the enlarged size is a worthwhile compromise, and this Wi-Fi only model weighs in at just 260g which is 20g lighter than the original, smaller PSP 1000. So when you pick it up you'll react to its apparent lightness.
On the table
The front of the console is a smorgasbord of hardware delights.
To the left of the screen you'll find the classic Sony D-Pad, a left analogue stick, a left speaker and the PS Home button.
To the right you'll find your classic PlayStation triangle, circle, square and X buttons, as well as a right analogue stick, right speaker, a 0.3MP front-facing camera and the Start and Select buttons you're most likely very familiar with already.
On the top side of the Vita are left and right shoulder buttons - there are no trigger buttons like you'd find on a PS3 Dualshock controller. Between the shoulders you'll find the on/off button, volume controls, the PS Vita Card slot (which we'll discuss in a moment) and a terminal to plug in any number of as-yet non-existent peripherals.
The base of the console houses the proprietary USB connector for charging and connecting to PS3 etc, as well as the headphone/microphone adapter and the Memory Card slot.
And finally, the rear of the PS Vita is home to the brand-new rear Touch Pad, a rear 0.3MP camera and a microphone.
Price
At launch the PS Vita will set back UK gamers around £209.99 (RRP £229.99), while the 3G version will launch a little later for £259.99 (£279.99). At the time of writing, the cheapest deal for the PS Vita is £197 at ASDA, while Amazon have matched that price.
There are bundle deals if you shop around, and these include different combinations of PC Sivta with memory cards and games.
While it's never the sexy side of tech (if there, really, ever could be such a thing), the low-end, basic phones are the bread and butter for most brands - and they need to make them well if they're ever going to hope to turn a profit.
Which is why the HTC Desire 530 is a curious phone - it seems to nearly sit in the right place, but misses on a few key areas that might irk even those that aren't willing to pay much at all for a smartphone.
Let's kick off with the design, and it's generally exactly as many would expect. It's got a lightweight plastic casing, an attractive speaker grill above and below the screen, and a nice enough feel in the hand. It's nothing special, but does the job OK.
The buttons are nicely machined, while still plastic - but the big thing that you'll be unable to take your eyes off is the new 'microsplatter' design on the back.
Previous Desire models had a lovely two tone 'double shot' look that a lot of people were really into, but this new splatter formation is meant to create truly unique phones, with no two designs the same.
That's because it looks like you've left your phone near the easel when you're trying to create something 'arty' during a time when you're 'finding yourself'... before realising you're 'rubbish at painting' and you've 'ruined your new phone'.
Maybe it's one to appeal to the younger generations, and could help explain the re-appearance of the lanyard clip to let you carry your phone around the neck or the wrist. It doesn't look amazing, but could just be another point that I'm getting older and further out of touch with today's youth. Sob.
The screen is a rather standard 720p HD affair, measuring five inches across, which is good enough while, again, not being mindblowing.
Battery and camera
The battery pack in the Desire 530 is a 2200mAh affair, which seems adequate for a phone that's not got a lot of hardcore processing going on - it should see you easily through a day, but it's not going to be long lasting and will mean you'll need a little bit of careful management on the apps you install (so it's not too hard on the data and battery.
The camera is 8MP, and in my tests, rather poor indeed. It's irritating we don't know the exact price for this phone, as it would really help inform whether this sensor is good enough, or sub par for a device that costs a little more.
It offered a little too much noise for my taste, even in brighter light, and will suffice as a camera to take average snaps - don't expect good low light performance or a lack of blur here.
Interface
One place that HTC does excel is bringing the same premium interface experience to its phones. The Sense UI, running on top of Android 6.0, is an impressive mix to offer to a phone of this calibre, and slips along acceptably when being caressed by your digits.
Blinkfeed is present and correct, and the new method of easy widget and folder management from HTC's Marshmallow-imbued interface is used once again - there's very little different here to the HTC One A9, and that's a great thing to offer good value for money to consumers.
It's getting hard to keep up with HTC's Desire range, with so many handsets arriving and just a three-digit number to tell them apart. The HTC Desire 626 is a successor to the HTC Desire 620, and while its forgettable name doesn't do it any favours there's a lot to like here, at least on paper.
For one thing the specs have had a significant upgrade, with a better camera, more RAM and more storage all included. Yet you won't pay much of a premium for the Desire 626, which comes in at £169.99 (US$179.99, around AU$257), making it just £20 (roughly US $30, AU$40) more than the Desire 620.
It ticks a lot of boxes too, from its 5-inch 720p screen to its 13MP camera and customisable interface. All of which marks it out as a clear rival to the similarly well-equipped and almost identically priced Motorola Moto G. Which is no bad thing, as Motorola's phone is one of the best budget handsets available.
But there's more to a phone than specs – it needs to deliver on those specs and come together as a cohesive whole, so does the HTC Desire 626 manage that?
Design
I received two versions of the HTC Desire 626 for review: one with a funky light blue edge sat between a dark blue front and rear and another slightly more understated model, with a light brown edge sandwiched between a shiny white front and back.
The two-tone colour scheme is nothing new for HTC, which rolled out a similar design on the likes of the HTC Desire Eye, and a more premium metal-clad version for the HTC One M9.
It's not a bad look for a budget phone, especially the blue version, but the soft-to-the-touch plastic feels smooth to the point of being a little slippery and doesn't provide a huge amount of grip, while both colours pick up visible fingerprints and smudges.
The phone also feels slightly creaky. Not like it's going to break, but as though there hasn't been a huge amount of care and attention put into its construction, as it flexes slightly and makes creaking sounds when it does.
Still, the rounded corners and soft-touch feel ensure it sits fairly comfortably in the hand. It's also possible to reach all the buttons without having to adjust your grip much – and I say that as someone with quite small hands.
I found the button placement took some getting used to though. Both the volume and power buttons are on the right edge, but the volume buttons are above the power key, which never feels natural to me.
They are at least very different sizes, so your fingers can easily find the right one, and after a couple of days I started to get used to the position, but it never quite felt right.
While the Desire 626 is small enough to hold one-handed it's not as compact as you might expect for a 5-inch phone, as there are large bezels above and below the screen. These are necessary in part to house the speakers, but as with other HTC phones there's also a black strip just below the screen that has no obvious function.
Don't be fooled by those speakers either. They might look like BoomSound ones, but only the bottom one is actually used for media, and while it can pump out a decent amount of volume there's none of the crispness you get from HTC's pricier handsets.
Unlike with some plastic phones you can't remove the back of the HTC Desire 626, which means there's no getting to the battery. There's a cover on the left edge which can be slid away to access the microSD and SIM card slots.
As the Desire 626 has been upgraded from the 8GB of storage in the Desire 620 to 16GB here a microSD card isn't quite so vital, but it gives you a lot more room to manoeuvre.
The 5S was an expensive smartphone, even on monthly plans, although thankfully the price has fallen as the handset has gotten older.
You'll still be looking at around £20 a month to get one without an upfront fee, but Apple has dropped its SIM-free prices for a second time following the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus releases. The 16GB model is now £379 (US$450, AU$749), while the 32GB version will set you back £419 (US$499, AU$829). The 64GB variant has vanished as an option.
This means if you want a larger capacity iPhone, you'll want to either look for second hand models of the iPhone 5S, or make the leap to the iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6 Plus or iPhone 6S Plus, all of which go up to 64GB in size and in the case of the 6S / 6S Plus go up to 128GB.
For its time though, the 5S was a big jump forward, and it's still in credit now: whether it's the Touch ID home button (which is excellent, more on that later), the jump in CPU power over its predecessor, the fact the camera was, once again, improved, or the new iOS 9 software it's now running, the iPhone 5S saw Apple attempting to bring as much as it could to the party without having to redesign the whole concept all over again.
There are many that think releasing the same design twice is cheeky, and there are others who realise that sometimes there's no need for change. It's easy to fall into the former camp, and while Apple will happily point out it's not forcinganyone to buy its phones, it's acutely aware the competition is now scarily strong and it needed to bring its best to stay relevant.
Design
The iPhone 5S represented the pinnacle of that particular iPhone design for Apple, before it went thinner and more rounded with the iPhone 6; it was certainly very difficult to tell the 5S apart from its predecessor, the iPhone 5.
Perhaps that's less of an issue now that the iPhone is becoming something of a commodity, a device that is so oft-used by the middle-aged generation that it no longer carries the lustre that the exclusivity of the earlier models emanated.
That's not necessarily a bad thing either; just because it's not an 'exclusive' design that doesn't make the iPhone 5S any less premium. The danger is that it's starting to look a bit old-fashioned up against the handsets from 2014 and 2015.
That said, it's still a stunning phone to hold in the hand, coming with the all-aluminium-and-glass chassis. There's no doubt Apple had a look at the way the iPhone 5 range (well, black and white) chipped so badly around the edges.
But that same issue was apparent already in my iPhone sample within a week, so it looks like you're going to quickly need to stuff your new iPhone 5S in a case the second you release it from its box, lest you leave it in a pocket or bag with change and keys and it comes out looking like it's gone a few rounds with a randy cheese grater.
The new colours, introduced with the 5S, which include champagne and space grey are a little odd, but at least promise to show up the scuffs a little less prominently.
The way the iPhone 5S feels in the hand is something impressive though, coming with the low, low weight of 112g and dimensions of 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6mm.
It's still got that almost too-light feeling, that the premium metal finish is somehow diminished through the lack of heft, but it's a long way from feeling cheap.
Compared to something like the Galaxy S5 or LG G3, the iPhone 5S is miles ahead when it comes to design, although less so than the HTC One M9 or One Mini 2 which have repeated the aluminium-clad trick.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge demonstrate that Samsung has got its design mojo back, and both handsets give the iPhone 5S a run for its money in the looks department.
It's got a slightly sharper edge than other models on the market, which can make it a little uncomfortable when being pressed to the ear. But I'm not going to quibble too much there lest it makes me seem a little wimpy.
There were only a couple of real design differences compared to the iPhone 5, and one of them really is minuscule: the camera module is flanked by a dual-LED flash, which I'll talk more about later (it's a really rather nifty piece of technology, trust me).
The other was a lot more substantial and impressive: the home button got a redesign which has been carried over to the newer handsets of today.
Yes, it doesn't sound like much, but consider how iconic the Apple home button has been over the past half-decade, and you'll see why I'm holding the change in such high esteem. The visual effect is impressive, taking the square off the button and putting a fancy silver ring around the key.
The effect isn't only aesthetic either, as this area serves as the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, now well established in Apple's iPhone range. It's good to know that even on this older handset you've got the benefits that Touch ID brings.
Having bought two separate biometric security firms, Apple was likely to do something like this, but the implementation and visual effect is really something that Apple does well, and has done so here too.
Beyond that, the iPhone 5S is identical to the 5, even down to the rattle in the power button. We're still a little confused as to why a device with such a high build quality has a slightly loose part with it, but shake the iPhone 5S gently and you'll feel the key moving around.
It's not a big deal, but every so often you'll note the motion, and it does detract somewhat.
Thankfully the rest of the phone is built impeccably. The round volume keys are easy to hit. the switch to enable volume on or off has the same sturdy feel that I've come to enjoy, and the headphone port is still welded to the bottom of the phone.
The Lightning connection port is here as well, along with the stereo speakers on the bottom of the phone. I wish these were placed somewhere else, as when cupping the phone in landscape mode it's far too easy to cover these with palms or digits, and there's not really any way to shift around them.
You can always use headphones, but that kind of negates the point of the speakers for gaming completely.
The right hand side hasn't been left completely alone on the 5S, with Apple choosing this surface as the location for the SIM card tray – the iPhone 5S was one of the first handsets to rock the tiny nanoSIM technology.
The iPhone 5 and 5S design was such a hit that you can still get a bunch of cases for the phone, including a variety of styles and shapes direct from the Apple Store on the web.
But beyond that I'm still impressed with the design of the iPhone 5S. It's hard not to be, as if there's one thing that Apple gets totally right it's the way it assembles its devices.
The metal and glass combination does feel a little fragile, and I'd recommend a case (perhaps a third-party option) to protect the aluminium, but the design is something that at least helps mitigate the higher price.
Of course, good as the design is, it's now up against the iPhone 6S / iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S Plus / iPhone 6 Plus: sleeker, thinner, and rocking much larger screens. Whether or not these changes are for the better is up to you – you might be really attached to a phone screen that you can get your thumb comfortably across.
Prices - Apple iPhone 5S:
PRODUCT FEATURES
Built-in Memory : 64 GB
Rear Camera Resolution : 8 Megapixel
Battery Talk Time : 10 Hour
Screen Resolution : 1136 x 640
Processor Core : Dual-core (2 Core)
