Huawei sub-brand Honor is kicking off the new year with the release of its flagship smartphone in the Honor View20. Sure, it may be a close relative to the Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro, but where it truly makes its mark is in the far more forgiving price point. If you thought that the OnePlus 6T was a whole lot of bang for the buck, then those sentiments will more than likely apply to the Honor View20 as well!
In the box:

• Honor View20
• SIM removal tool
• Wall Charger
• USB Type-C Cable

Design

Marketed as the world’s first smartphone to employ nanolithography, a technique used to produce its unique look, the Honor View20 and its radiant back side stand out with a gleaming V-shaped effect. It’s hypnotic no matter how you look at it, giving the phone a distinctive look over what we’ve seen on any other handset. 

Looks aside, the Honor View20 is made of glass and has a metal frame, just like the case is with most other high-end phones today. Honor, however, makes no mention of any special strengthened glass, such as Gorilla Glass, being used. While we do appreciate it featuring a fingerprint sensor on its back, a headphone jack, and even a handy IR blaster, you should know that it doesn’t feature wireless charging or any sort of water-resistant construction.

• 

The Huawei Watch GT is a refreshing device; it looks like a classic smart watch but it’s by no means trying to replace your phone. Instead, it aims to be a complement, with a focus primarily on fitness tracking. Sure, it can receive notifications from Android or iOS devices, but that’s about all the phone functionality you’ll find – interacting with these would just obfuscate your fitness goals as the Huawei Watch GT would see it.
Running its own proprietary OS makes sure the focus stays on fitness and battery life, but does this leave users wanting for more or does it strike the proper balance many have been searching for?

In the box:

• Huawei Watch GT
• USB-C Cable with Magnetic Charging Cradle
• User’s Guide

Design

The construction of the Huawei Watch GT is a solid one – at least when it comes to the watch case. The 5-ATM water-resistant, stainless-steel body comes in either silver or black with an accent of either color surrounding the watch face. This shiny, two-tone casing looks premium while the feel of it, and the sturdy click on the buttons, make it feel as well-made as it looks – the plastic undercarriage which houses the optical heart rate monitor aside. There is also the matter of the watch band, which is comprised mostly of silicone with what feels like a very thin strip of leather on the outside. It’s not a very classy feel, but it is a fitness tracker more than anything else, and the 22mm band is easily replaced.

• 

The iPad mini is back, apparently by popular demand. Many thought the mini might be gone for good, but much like Apple’s release of the iPhone SE, the company’s meeting users’ demands for a smaller, up-to-date device with the 2019 iPad mini. It’s a simple formula really: use the same mini form-factor, but stuff it with the company’s latest and greatest internals. After nearly four years with no new iPad mini releases, it seems Apple is pretty confident that fans of the mini will spring for the upgrade. But should you?
In the box:

• iPad mini (2019)
• USB Lightning Cable
• USB Power Adapter
• Quick Start, Safety Guide, and Stickers

Design

• 

Yes, it looks pretty much identical to its predecessor. That can be a tough bite to swallow for some, as its predecessor, and even the first iPad mini from 2012, are pretty hard to tell from one another. Still, it’s a 7.9-inch tablet – a size which is in short supply in the premium tablet market – and in that context it still looks pretty darn good. It has Apple’s typical iPad styling with a glass face and aluminum chamfered edges curving into the aluminum metal back. it’s a solid fit and finish, as it’s always been.

Sure, it has a prominent forehead and chin but a new, “bezel-less” design would be rather impractical, especially on a device of this size. You can’t use the iPad mini with one hand in the same way you would a phone, and most users won’t be propping it up it sideways to use with a physical keyboard as is the case with the larger iPads. In fact, we find that holding it, as is, can be tough to avoid accidentally touching the display, so the bezels are perfectly OK with us.

All in all, it’s a light, balanced, well-made little tablet that just feels like the perfect size for such a device immediately when you first pick it up – so long as it’s not your computer replacement.

As the saying goes, there are two types of people in this world: those who find the AirPods comfortable to wear, and those who just can’t get them to stay in their ears. If you happen to be in the first group, you’ll probably want to know about the second-generation AirPods, which are now available on the market.

This is something that can go either way and no side will be completely right or wrong. On one hand, it makes sense to see if the earphones that you’re charging have finally charged; but on the other, some may not want the LED to shine constantly in certain scenarios, like night charging, for example.

Aside from that, the design and dimensions of the AirPods are exactly the same. Nice, glossy white plastic that feels great. If the old ones fit your ears, the new ‘Pods will do so as well. If they didn’t, well, the new ones won’t change anything.

The AirPods, like Apple’s wired EarPods, have this unique hook design that allows you to just place them in your ears, without the need to jam a rubbery end into your ear canals (like most in-ear headphones). We love this human-centric approach in the AirPods design, as it proves to be very comfortable, without compromising stability (for many, but not all users) or audio quality.

This is the new LG G8 ThinQ. It looks like your typical phone on the outside – with a familiar glass-and-metal construction and a screen stretching from edge to edge – but on the inside, it packs some sci-fi-level stuff. It lets you unleash your inner Jedi with its Air Motion gesture controls, while Hand ID, as its name implies, allows the G8 to recognize its owner by scanning the palm of their hand. 

Okay, I know these all sound like party tricks, but the LG G8 has a lot more going for it. On its inside ticks the Snapdragon 855, which is currently the most powerful chip you can get in an Android phone. It also packs a dual-camera setup and one of the largest batteries we’ve seen in a high-end LG phone. Priced at around $600 after discounts, the LG G8 could be the perfect pick if you’re hunting for a bargain. To find out if that’s really the case, I spent a week with it in my pocket.

In the box:

• LG G8 ThinQ phone
• Microfiber cleaning cloth
• Wall charger
• USB-C cable
• SIM ejector tool
• Quick start guide and warranty information

•