- The Guardian Sat urday 31 Aug ust 2019
(^52) Money
Tablet
iPad mini – £399
Tablets can be a handy addition to
any student’s toolset, often lasting far
longer on a charge than a computer
or phone, with a big enough screen
to get things done or catch up on
the latest episode of The Expanse.
Apple’s recently updated 7.9in
iPad Mini is my pick. It’s the best
part of £400, but strikes the right
balance between power, screen
and portability. Pair it with an
Apple Pencil ( £89 ) for noting down
diagrams, handwritten notes or
just doodling.
Plenty of apps cover almost
anything you’d want to do. Grab a
case that covers the screen and the
iPad Mini is fairly robust, which
means it should survive trips in
various backpacks just fi ne. There’s
a 4G version ( £519 ) if you need
data on the move, or the larger but
lower-specced and cheaper 9.7in
iPad ( £319 ) is available if you want
a bigger screen. The 10.5in iPad Air
( £479 ) and 11in iPad Pro ( £769 ) are
also options if you want bigger
screens and more power.
Alternatives
If you want your tablet to be more
computer than giant smartphone,
Microsoft’s Surface Go runs full
Windows 10, but is the size of an
iPad. It starts at £379 , but you’ll want
the £475 version with more storage,
plus the £99 keyboard case and
maybe the £99 Surface Pen.
Amazon’s Fire tablets ( £50 and
up ) are great value for watching
videos and surfi ng the web, but
as most students will have a
smartphone for watching Netfl ix
and YouTube, will be seen by some
as an unnecessary extra purchase.
Laptop
Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 – £881
Nothing beats a good laptop if you
need to get work done. Microsoft’s
Surface Laptop 2 is now a year
old but off ers the experience of a
top-end laptop for less than £1,000.
It runs Windows 10, has a
gorgeous 13.5in high density
touchscreen, the brilliant Windows
Hello facial recognition and battery
life to consistently make it through
a 12-hour work day.
I t has one of the best typing
experiences available on any
keyboard. It’s a bit diff erent too,
with a smooth metal lid but fabric-
covered deck.
The port selection is a bit slim
with no USB-C, but at least it has a
full-sized USB and mini DisplayPort.
Alternatives
If you don’t need a full PC, then
Dell’s £229 Chromebook 11 might
do the job on the cheap. ChromeOS
means it will perform well, with
excellent browsing and web apps,
but it won’t run traditional desktop
applications.
Apple’s new 13in MacBook
Air is more expensive at £1,099 ,
but equally good, particularly if
you have an iPhone or an iPad.
It’s slim, light, lasts about nine
hours between charges and has
two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports.
Smartphone
OnePlus 7 – £499
If you want one of the best phones
you can buy for as little money as
possible, that’s the OnePlus 7. It has
top-of-the-line performance yet
lasts 34 hours between charges.
The 6.41in OLED screen is great,
with slim bezels around the edges
meaning the phone isn’t too
enormous even though the screen
is big. It runs a custom version of
Android 9 Pie called OxygenOS,
which is one of the best available.
It even has the best in-screen
fi ngerprint scanner available
which matches the speed and
accuracy of traditional sensors.
Even the vibration haptics are
great, as is the camera, even if it
lacks optical zoom or an ultra-wide
angle camera.
It lacks wireless charging, and it
only comes in mirror grey, but you
can always put a case on it.
Alternatives
If you want something cheaper,
the Xiaomi Mi A2 ( £260 ) off ers
serious value with quality Android
One software, a snappy experience
and good screen.
Apple users should consider
the iPhone XR at £749 , or cheaper
if you have another iPhone to
trade in. Long battery life and
slightly cheaper price make the
iPhone XR a winner.
What’s the best
tech to buy to
take to university?
to use, is available on practically
everything and has better stylus
support on Windows. If you don’t
get on with Evernote, try OneNote.
Google’s Keep is a lighter, simpler
note keeper and integrated with the
rest of the Google apps, which is fi ne
for taking basic notes. Apple’s Notes
is included with iOS and MacOS
and works well for note taking, but
isn’t available on Windows except
through a browser.
Gaming
Nintendo Switch – £280
Everyone’s a gamer now, and while
a decent phone or tablet can play
Fortnite, for social gaming there’s
one obvious choice: the Nintendo
Switch. Slot the handheld into its
dock connected to a TV and four
of you can duke it out in Smash
Bros Ultimate ( £48 ) or race in fan-
favourite Mario Kart 8 Deluxe ( £41 ).
But the Switch plays just as
well handheld, with two built in
controllers that can be slid off the
side for impromptu two-player
games in the pub, the coff ee shop,
in lectures, pretty much anywhere.
It’ll also play Fortnite and many
single-player games , too.
Nintendo recently released a
slightly improved version of the
Switch with longer battery life,
so make sure you buy the new
one, not the old one, if you can.
( Look for the newer red box .)
Alternative
If the Switch isn’t your jam,
Microsoft’s Xbox One S (from £1 80 )
is arguably the next best thing for
social gaming with access to a solid
library of indie games and perennial
favourites such as the Halo series,
Fortnite, Call of Duty, Forza and
others. There’s an “all digital” Xbox
One S , but the version with the disc
drive can play DVDs and Blu-rays,
so that’s worth it if the price is close.
Note -taking apps
Evernote – free
Whatever you’re studying, a good
note-taking app is worth its weight
in gold. Evernote is my all-time
favourite: available on everything
– be it your phone, tablet, laptop or
in a browser.
You can attach pretty much
anything to a note, set reminders,
record audio, handwrite notes, take
camera snaps or, of course, type
into a note.
And practically everything
syncs with Evernote too, so getting
things into notes from other apps
or services is a doddle.
It’s free, but there’s a premium
option for £4.99 a month which
allows you to search in pdfs and
annotate them, and provides
more storage for syncing notes.
There’s a student discount of 50%
up for grabs, too.
Alternatives
Evernote’s biggest rival is Microsoft’s
OneNote. Like Evernote, it’s free
Should you splash out £1,000 on a MacBook,
or can you get away with a £229 Chromebook?
Do you really need a top-end smartphone or will
a budget alternative do? The right tools can make
everything easier – from note taking to dissertation
writing. So here’s a quick guide to what might help
you get the most out of the academic year
Sam’s smart buys
Samuel Gibbs
▲ Nothing beats a good laptop
when you need to get work done
as that deadline approaches –
but choosing the right one is key
PHOTOGRAPH: ALEKSANDR DAVYDOV/ALAMY
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 2 off ers a
top end experience for under £1,000
£499
OnePlus 7, one of the best phones you
can buy for as little money as possible
The
OnePlus 7
The
Nintendo
Switch
The iPad
Mini with
Apple Pencil
£881
RELEASED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws