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LAST week StarTech brought you all the news from Mobile World Congress where a host of new smartphones were unleashed on the world.
LG, Huawei, Nokia and BlackBerry all revealed shiny new devices which means the competition for the space in your pocket becomes ever more crowded. These devices all have brighter screens, faster brains and new designs but, even with the updates, there’s still one area where their biggest rival comes out on top. Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus was unveiled last year and, although it didn’t include some of the upgrades many were hoping for, there is one big feature that still makes this phablet worth every penny – its dual lens camera. StarTech has been using the iPhone 7 Plus since it launched in the autumn and can’t help but be more and more impressed by its dual lens offering. Apple has long been a leader when it comes to phone photography and the shots taken on the iPhone 7 Plus continue to look sharp and brim with colour.
But the dual lens adds the ability to get closer to a subject without losing any image detail via its optical zoom.
A simple tap on the display instantly grabs a close-up and it’s a feature that we’ve found ourselves regularly calling on.
Although the 2X zoom is a hugely useful addition, it’s not the best part.
That accolade falls to the incredibly clever Portrait Mode which adds some DSLRstyle depth-of-field to images.
With Portrait Mode activated you get the ability to blur out the background on an image while keeping the main focus of the picture pin-sharp.
It’s all performed via the dual lens system and some clever software but the end results are nearly always perfect and mightily impressive.
Some devices, including the new Google Pixel and Huawei P10, do offer a similar feature but, in our opinion, none perform the task with such good results.
What also makes the iPhone 7 Plus’ camera so impressive is its ease of use.
With an on-screen guide showing you exactly how your Portrait Mode pictures will look, even a novice snapper can produce professional looking images.
So why do we think this is the best smartphone camera on the market?
Many firms are producing incredible cameras and Apple may have some serious competition from Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 which launches this month.
But, right now, nobody offers such impressive features in a smartphone that’s so simple to use.
And for that reason our top choice for smartphone photographers has got to be the iPhone 7 Plus. deals on cameras and equipment. Tickets to The Photography Show are on sale now at photographyshow.com THE audio experts at Sonos have just released a clever sound bar aimed at telly addicts who haven’t got their TVs stuck to the wall.
The Sonos Playbase has been inspired by the simple insight that up to 70% of all TVs stand on furniture.
Playbase is a thin, powerful speaker that sits discreetly under the TV and booms out sound like you’re at your local cinema.
This new speaker from Sonos will be available on April 4 and cost £699 – just warn your neighbours before buying one.