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Reviews<br />
CAMERA ❘ £189 from Amazon www.snipca.com/18796<br />
Veho Muvi K2NPNG<br />
An action camera with lots of extras<br />
Trademark lawyers hate it when you<br />
use brands to reference a whole<br />
category of products. But we<br />
still do it. Most of us have a<br />
Hoover, possibly made by<br />
Zanussi. Or maybe a ‘Dyson’…<br />
with ‘Vax’ written on the front.<br />
Some names just stick in the<br />
mind, and almost anything is<br />
better than ‘vacuum cleaner’.<br />
So it is with ‘action cameras’.<br />
You’ll see these strapped to<br />
bikes, helmets, canoes,<br />
snowboards and anything else<br />
that moves. Th eir owners call them<br />
GoPros, but GoPro isn’t the only company<br />
that makes them. Th is one is from Veho,<br />
whose name you might recognise from<br />
the Southampton football strip.<br />
It gives you a<br />
comprehensive<br />
outdoor-shooting kit<br />
Th e Muvi K2 shoots Full HD video and,<br />
unusually, 16-megapixel photos. Like<br />
other action cameras, it can be controlled<br />
from your iOS or Android phone or<br />
tablet, but it comes with a little LCD<br />
screen that clips on to the back, so you<br />
can check what you’re fi lming. You can<br />
fi nd the K2 for as little as £130, which is<br />
great value. We tested the K2NPNG<br />
bundle, which includes an impressively<br />
chunky rugged case that’s fully<br />
waterproof.<br />
Th e case is big and fi ddly, with<br />
mysterious buttons and replaceable mist<br />
fi lters, but it does a good job. A whole<br />
array of mounts is provided to attach to<br />
almost anything, and you can use GoPro<br />
mounts, too. Th e whole lot comes in an<br />
even bigger box with a carry handle.<br />
Once you learn the controls, the K2 is<br />
straightforward to use, and it’s easy to<br />
SPECIFICATIONS<br />
1080p Full HD video • 16-megapixel photos • 2in<br />
screen • microSD card slot • Wi-Fi • Mini USB port •<br />
Mini HDMI port • 40x60x23mm (HxWxD) • 84g •<br />
One-year warranty www.snipca.com/18797<br />
switch between still and moving pictures.<br />
Th e results are more than good enough<br />
for casual and semi-pro use. Video goes<br />
up to 60 frames per second (fps),<br />
allowing 2x slow motion, or 120fps at a<br />
lower 720p resolution. You can set a<br />
gravity sensor to start shooting when the<br />
camera moves, so you don’t miss<br />
anything. Th e 8GB microSD card will<br />
only store 90 minutes of footage, but<br />
extra 32GB cards in this format cost<br />
under a tenner. Th e rechargeable battery,<br />
rated at four hours, lasted us two and a<br />
half, which is actually very good; it’s not<br />
sealed in, so you can carry a spare.<br />
Inevitably, competition comes from<br />
GoPro. Th e Hero+ LCD – with its built-in<br />
rugged case – is more compact, though<br />
not quite as waterproof. At the time of<br />
writing, Currys is selling it with a carry<br />
case and a 32GB microSD card thrown in<br />
for £199 (www.snipca.com/18798). Both<br />
cameras are great buys.<br />
VERDICT: If you don’t need the<br />
smallest camera, the Muvi gives you<br />
a good-value comprehensive outdoorshooting<br />
kit<br />
★★★★☆<br />
ALTERNATIVE: GoPro<br />
Hero+ LCD £199<br />
GoPro’s equivalent<br />
model – with a rugged<br />
non-removable case – gives<br />
you similar video quality and battery life<br />
COMING SOON<br />
WINTER 2015<br />
Printers can be cheap, but ink is dear,<br />
partly because it comes in cartridges<br />
that the print head carries around as it<br />
prints. Canon’s Pixma G series pumps ink<br />
from tanks that can be refilled. Launched<br />
in India (from £100), the<br />
printers will compete with<br />
Epson’s EcoTank (£180).<br />
WINTER 2015<br />
As Apple’s iPad Pro (pictured) arrives<br />
to challenge Microsoft’s Surface<br />
Pro 4, others will join the battle of the<br />
supertablets. Samsung may be among<br />
the contenders, with leaks<br />
revealing a prototype 12in slab<br />
running Windows 10 with stylus<br />
support and a 4K screen.<br />
MARCH 2016<br />
When Apple announced the oversizeded<br />
iPad Pro (see above), it didn’t<br />
mention the expected upgrade to<br />
the iPad Air 2. Having missed the<br />
pre-Christmas window, the next<br />
likely time slot for an iPad Air 3<br />
would be around March.<br />
2016<br />
Th e OnePlus X is great value,<br />
resembling an iPhone 5 but selling<br />
for just £200. Performance isn’t<br />
amazing, and the Oxygen software<br />
is based on Android 5.1.1 rather<br />
than 6, but it has beautiful build<br />
quality. For a chance to buy it, sign<br />
up at www.snipca.com/18841.<br />
NEXT ISSUE<br />
Microsoft<br />
oft<br />
Surface Pro 4<br />
Th e Windows 10<br />
tablet you’ll<br />
actually<br />
want?<br />
ON SALE<br />
23 Dec<br />
Acer<br />
Aspire R11<br />
A £250<br />
Windows 10<br />
laptop<br />
Th ese and much more…<br />
Subscribe to <strong>Computeractive</strong> at<br />
www.getcomputeractive.co.uk<br />
9 – 22 December 2015 29
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