Results of IFA 2016: TOP 5 most interesting gadgets

Samsung Gear S3 frontier

The third generation of "smart" watches from Samsung offers two versions: Samsung Gear S3 Classic and Samsung Gear S3 frontier . And if the name of the first one clearly hints at the classic style of the gadget, then everything is much more interesting with the second one.

The case of the watch meets the requirements of the military standard MIL-STD-810G — it is not afraid of dust and water (IP68 protection), exposure to low and high temperatures, shocks, falls and vibrations. First of all, these properties will be appreciated by athletes and extreme athletes. But the watch can also measure the pulse, determine the level of atmospheric pressure, altitude above sea level and GPS coordinates.

In comparison with the predecessor in the person of Samsung Gear S2 Classic the watch screen has grown to 1.3", and the rotating bezel around the display has acquired serifs. Another innovation lies in the appearance of the Always in Display mode — the constant display of the clock and notifications on the screen (by analogy with the top smartphone Samsung Galaxy S7 32 GB ). Since the SuperAMOLED matrix is famous for its minimal energy consumption for the output of black pixels, this function only slightly reduces the battery life of the gadget — up to about 2 full days instead of 3-4.

The Tizen OS, on the basis of which the watch functions, receives entirely positive feedback from users. Its key features are a clear and friendly interface, as well as good responsiveness. What is missing is a wide variety of compatible applications, but their number is growing day by day. By the way, the interface of the watch menu has been redesigned taking into account the use of the navigation ring and the mechanical keys on the right side that can be configured to call the necessary functions.

Another "feature" of the gadget is the support of e-SIM technology — the function of linking a SIM card to a watch. Unfortunately, it is not yet supported by east european mobile operators. In general, it allows you to leave your mobile phone at home and make voice calls using the watch, since they have a microphone and speaker in their arsenal, and also support working in tandem with wireless headphones.

In case of danger or injury during active sports, the gadget is able to send an SOS signal and coordinates about the location of the owner of the watch to predefined phone numbers. Such an arsenal of useful functions puts Samsung Gear S3 Frontier in the best light and allows you to call the gadget one of the most advanced representatives of the smartwatch family.

Sony Xperia XZ Dual 64 GB / 3 GB Price from 4 084 up to 4 232 ₴ →

Sony has made it a rule to present flagship smartphones to the public at every well-known consumer electronics show (MWC and IFA). As part of the IFA 2016, the top representative of the Xperia line was announced — a model with the XZ index.

Stylish and unusual design instantly attracts the attention of others to the smartphone. Its aluminium alloy body looks like a single whole and fits tenaciously in any hand. Only large frames at the top and bottom of the screen stand out from the overall picture. The display is made of 2.5D glass, which hides a proprietary IPS matrix with FullHD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels). With a screen size of 5.2", there are absolutely no questions about the convenience of one-handed control or the readability of the picture. Moreover, there is enough brightness for all life situations.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, typical for the entire family of flagships based on the Android OS, is installed in the heart of the smartphone. It works in tandem with 3 GB of RAM, turning the heaviest applications completely without hesitation. The power reserve of the "iron" will be enough for at least a year ahead. But the battery capacity looks somewhat understated as for a top-end device and is 2900 mAh. In contrast to what has been said, it is necessary to note the effective energy-saving algorithms of Sony phones, so it is unlikely that you will have to worry about the battery life.

No less a strong point of Sony Xperia XZ is photo and video shooting. The main camera with an impressive 23 MP and a maximum aperture of f/2.0 boasts an ultra-fast hybrid autofocus that catches the shooting object almost at lightning speed, and the ability to record 4K videos. And the front-facing camera with a resolution of 13 MP makes good selfies and is able to recognize faces.

Fingerprint scanner, Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0 fast charging, IP68 dust and water protection — it is quite difficult to stop the flow of flattering words about the smartphone. And is it necessary? After all, he deserves them in full.

Huawei MediaPad M3 8.4 64 GB

Among hundreds of other tablets, the brainchild of the Chinese company Huawei distinguishes high—quality sound, to which the specialists of Harman/Kardon, the world leader in the industry of building audio systems, had a hand.

In the filling of the tablet, you can find a separate audio processor and a power amplifier. When playing music through the built-in stereo speakers, the volume sound function is also connected. Both speakers are located on the upper and lower ends of a thin metal case, the thickness of which is only 7.3 mm. For the correct operation of the wireless modules, there is a small plastic insert in the upper part of the case.

The basis of the tablet's hardware is an 8-core platform of its own production Kirin 950 with 4 GB of RAM. The tablet version with a 32 GB drive (Huawei MediaPad M3 8.4 32 GB ) has 3 GB of RAM. This bundle cannot be called top—end, but for solving most tasks it will be suitable "with a bang" — heavy games on medium settings will start without significant problems. The operating system is represented by Android 6.0 with a proprietary EMUI 4.1 shell rolled on top.

The 8.4-inch screen is based on an IPS matrix with a resolution of 800x1600 pixels. With a pixel density of 359ppi, the individual points from which the image is built are completely invisible to the naked eye. Given the high resolution of the display, some questions are caused by the battery life of the gadget — the battery with a capacity of 5100 mAh will not be able to provide a long screen operation time. In addition, the tablet does not support the fast charging function.

Both cameras on board the tablet have a resolution of 8 MP and an aperture of f/2.0. The main module is additionally equipped with autofocus. A number of manual settings and preset shooting modes are available to the user. Finally, it is necessary to highlight a fast fingerprint scanner mounted in the "Home" key. It will reliably protect all data from unauthorized access.

Sony FDR-X3000R

The action camera with the index of the model FDR-X3000R from the Japanese company Sony became the first portable camcorder for active shooting with an optical image stabilizer on board.

The stabilizer effectively suppresses minor camera fluctuations (for example, shaking) and makes the video sequence smoother without cutting off or blurring the edges of the picture, which is typical of the digital stabilization method. Unlike the previous model in the line (Sony FDR-X1000V ) the stabilizer also works when shooting video in ultra-high resolution (4K). Recording in this format is carried out with a bitrate of up to 100 Mbit/s, which requires a high-speed microSD memory card. The maximum data recording speed when shooting in FullHD is 50 Mbit/s. At the same time, the video is written in the XAVC S codec, the consumer version of the professional XAVC codec, which opens up wide possibilities in post—processing of the footage.

The object of the action camera with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 has variable viewing angles: wide (17 mm in 35 mm equivalent), medium (23 mm) and narrow (32 mm). In addition, it has a three-fold increase, which makes it possible to shoot remote objects with higher detail. Focus on the shooting object takes place from a minimum distance of 50 cm — it will not be difficult to shoot video blogs at arm's length.

The model is protected from dust and splashes right out of the box. And paired with a special case, it can be submerged under water to a depth of up to 60 m. Together with the camera, a miniature wrist remote control with a display is supplied, which makes it convenient to be seen during the filming process. You can also do this via a smartphone or tablet connected to the action camera via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth wireless networks.

When recording video in maximum resolution with all modules turned on, the charge of the complete battery will last for about an hour of shooting. When the wireless connections are turned off and the resolution is lowered to FullHD, the battery will last about twice as long. This time is often enough for most scenarios of using an action camera.

Acer Predator 21 X GX21-71

The epithet "the most-the most" is the best fit for a real gaming monster from the Taiwanese company Acer. It can be compared to a Formula 1 car, which has got mixed up in a number of ordinary cars.

The laptop case has truly gigantic dimensions and weight (as much as 8 kg). It hides a powerful filling, an advanced cooling system (5 coolers and a heat pipe system), as well as an audio system that includes 4 speakers and 2 subwoofers. The basic equipment of the Acer Predator 21X alone includes a top-end Intel Core i7 processor, two Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 video cards and 64 GB of RAM. Naturally, the cost of such a configuration a priori cannot be democratic.

For the first time among colleagues in the shop, the laptop received a curved screen with a diagonal of 21". The display resolution is 10 x 1080 pixels. An eye movement tracking sensor is located under it. This sensor allows you to completely forget about the sight in compatible shooters — to aim at the target, you just need to look at it. As of the second half of 2016, this "chip" is supported in about 40 games (Deus EX, The Division, etc.).

A full-fledged mechanical keyboard with a removable touchpad deserves some flattering words, the reverse side of which is an additional numeric keypad. The whole thing is highlighted using RGB backlight. And between the keyboard and the screen there is a built-in glass through which one of the coolers of the cooling system is viewed.

Due to its curvature, the display does not fit tightly to the laptop case when closed. However, it is unlikely that anyone will often carry it with them. Big, heavy and expensive — the Acer Predator 21X is a purely image device designed to emphasize the status of its owner.