The best tech of 2021 by Fru Glen and Jay The Galaxy S21 Ultra The display is brighter and adds S-Pen support It has a Wide Quad HD resolution and a variable refresh rate between 10 and 120Hz, which is determined by what's on the screen. The S21 Ultra has two telephoto cameras S21 Ultra has a Snapdragon 888 chip and 12 or 16GB of RAM Android 11 and 5G support Pixel 6 Pro The stepdown $599 (£599, AU$999) Pixel 6 packs the same Tensor processor and lovely Android 12 software for $300 less than the Pro, but there are a few compromises it makes in order to come to that cheaper price. A fresh design that stands out Three excellent cameras That big bar on the back hides three cameras: a 12-megapixel ultrawide; a 48-megapixel telephoto that offers 4x optical zoom; and a main camera that uses a larger 1/1.3-inch sensor, which Google says captures 2.5x more light than the Pixel 5. Does Google's Tensor processor make a difference? At the heart of the phone is Google's first home-baked processor, named Tensor. It's a significant move for Google to produce its own silicon and it shows a strong commitment to remain in the hardware game -- after all, you don't go to the effort of developing your own processors as a one-off experiment. Vibrant display, solid battery life and fast charging Jay iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max The iPhone 13 Pro gets beefier The phones have the same squared off look as the 12 series. The stainless steel sides are glossy and the back has one of four matte finishes: graphite, gold, silver or Sierra blue. In some lighting, the Sierra blue iPhone reads as light gray and in other lighting it looks like the Carolina blue of the UNC Tarheels. ProMotion on the iPhone 13 Pro is stellar The 13 Pro has a 6.1-inch screen and the 13 Pro Max a 6.7-inch one. In everyday use, the screens are noticeably brighter. The displays have what Apple calls ProMotion, meaning the iPhone, for the first time ever, supports a high refresh rate. The iPhone 13 Pro has a longer telephoto camera The main camera has a new sensor, the largest ever put into an iPhone. It has a faster f1.5 aperture lens, which equates to improved light gathering. I'm all about Cinematic mode on the iPhone 13 Pro All of the iPhones 13 get a new feature called Cinematic mode. It uses the rear cameras or the True Depth camera array to create a 1080p video at 30 frames per second. What makes the video compelling is that everything but your subject is out of focus. The iPhone can even execute a rack focus from one subject to another. The effect is dramatic and impressive. The iPhone 13 Pro Max has the longest battery life of any phone we tested Both the 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max have a larger battery. I didn't have any trouble getting through a day, even a hot and humid one where I captured a bunch of photos and videos. For me, the iPhone 13 Pro easily lasts a day on a single charge and the iPhone 13 Pro Max can go two days per charge. Computers, laptops, gaming Dell XPS 13 OLED (9310) Nothing but screen and keyboard With slim bezels on all four sides of the XPS 13's 13.4-inch, 16:10-aspect-ratio display, Dell wasn't left with a lot of room to play with for the keyboard and touchpad. Still, Dell managed to increase the size of the keycaps and touchpad. The keyboard is surprisingly comfortable to work all day on, especially given how little room there is for key travel. Dell even integrated a fingerprint reader into the power button in the top right corner of the keyboard. Growth potential One of the few shortcomings of the XPS 13 is its webcam. While Dell moved it from below the display (boo!) to above the display (yay!), it had to use a tiny camera with a minuscule sensor. It really needs a lot of light to get a good image regardless of Dell's advanced noise reduction. Also, although 720p is still the industry standard webcam resolution for video, on a premium laptop like this we've come to expect 1080p.
