Friday 19 September 2014

Life is Strange

Life is Strange

Life is Strange is one of the most surprisingly fresh and engaging games we’ve come across for some time. Based around the increasingly troubled and complicated life of 17-year-old max, the themes and ideas here centre on the difficulties of growing up, not fitting in and struggling to come to terms with the uncompromising reality of the situations around you.

Max has returned to her home town after a five-year absence, a period which has seen her best friend, Chloe, change dramatically. Once the quintessential promising student, Chloe is now a renegade with a love of blue hair dye, smoking weed and general rebellion. It’s implied that this new demeanour is a direct result of the feelings of abandonment and loss she felt at max’s initial leaving.

Dell Venue 8

Dell Venue 8

A cheap 8in Android tablet, but it's no bargain.

The Venue 8 is Dell’s latest Android tablet. If it looks familiar that’s because it comes wrapped in exactly the same hardware as the Dell Venue 8 Pro, but runs Android 4.4 KitKat instead of Windows 8.1.

From the outside both tablets look identical, cased as they are in the same sturdy, black plastic. The narrow borders to the right and left of the screen (when held vertically) make it somewhat tricky to hold and use with one hand, though the ribbed rear compensates for this somewhat with its easy-to-grip texture.

At 338g, the Venue is virtually the same weight as the metallic iPad Mini 2, so it’s light enough to carry around without difficulty. The Venue is a tad thicker than Apple’s 8in tablet to accommodate a handy microSD card slot for adding more storage to the built-in 16GB. One design improvement would be to raise the power and volume buttons (which are flush with the casing) to make them easier to press.

Toshiba Satellite Click 2

Toshiba Satellite Click 2

A cheap laptop-tablet hybrid, but you get what you pay for.

The Satellite Click 2 is the latest in a line of Windows 8.1 laptops from Toshiba that double up as a tablet. This two-in-one hybrid seems very reasonable at a shade under £500, but look closer and the Click 2 isn’t as good value as it first appears.

As a laptop, the Click 2 weighs 2.1kg, which is light enough to be carried around without much effort. Just over half of this weight is in the screen, so when it’s detached to use on its own, you’re carrying a hefty 1.1kg tablet. This is very heavy for a tablet and - combined with its chunky dimensions - makes it awkward and uncomfortable to hold and use.

Motorola Moto G 4G

Motorola Moto G 4G

The cheapest 4G Android phone available.

The original Motorola Moto G was one of our favourite Android phones and for good reason. Despite a budget price tag of £150, its performance, battery life, responsiveness and build quality rivalled smartphones costing twice as much - making it the first budget Android phone worth buying. The Moto G has now been updated and it’s better than ever.

The new Moto G has two significant upgrades compared to its predecessor. The first is access to 4G networks (the older model was 3G-only). While 4G contracts and pay-as-you-go plans tend to cost more and offer less generous usage allowances than their 3G equivalents, download and upload speeds are significantly faster.