A short list of standouts for performance
& innovation
Apple’s best phone yet
iPhone 5
(16 GB) $200 (with two-year contract).
The iPhone 5 builds on
its predecessors’ strengths and adds new features, putting it head and
shoulders above previous iPhones. It has a bigger screen with excellent
sharpness, a thinner profile, 4G accesses, and an expanded role for Siri, the
super voice assistant. The already-best-in-class camera hits new heights,
taking excellent photos and very good video. It’s the best phone camera we’ve
seen.
Tip-top TV
Panasonic
Viera TC-P55VT50 $2,500.
Ok, it costs a bundle,
but this 55-inch plasma is one of the best TVs we’ve ever tested. Deep, rich
blacks and spot-on colors contribute to superb picture quality, and it has an
unlimited viewing angle, plus very good 3D performance and sound. It’s loaded with
state-of-the-art features, including a full Web browser, built-in Wi-Fi, and an
extra touchpad remote, which make it easier to surf the Web and stream online
video.
The Fire gets hotter
Amazon
Kindle Fire HD (7-inch, 16GB) from $210 with charger
Amazon’s
top-of-the-line 7-inch tablet is one of the best for the price (though the new
Barnes & Noble Nook tablets that just came out promise stiff competition,
as would a small-screen iPad, rumored at press time). Videos look great on the
HD display, and the screen is readable even in bright light. An 8.9-inch Fire
HD, from $310 with charger, was set to launch on Nov.20. Other Android tablets
and the iPad offer more apps, but the Fire is a great choice for Amazon fans –
especially for subscribers to Amazon Prime ($80 a year), which offers access to
free Kindle Book loans and streaming movies and TV shows.
Loaded lightweight
Sony
Cyber-shot RX100 $650
You don’t’ have to lug
around a big, heavy camera to get great photos. This 20-megapixel point –and
–shoot weights about 9 ounces-half as much as many models of this type –but
doesn’t cut corners. With a larger sensor and high-quality lens, bit took
exceptional photos in our initial tests and packs features normally found only
on bulkier, perkier rivals, it deftly combines a nice selection of buttons and
dials with a sophisticated menu system that won’t overwhelm you.
The world’s smartest camera
Nikon
Coolpix S800c $350.
This 16-megapixel,
Wi-Fi-enabled point-and-shoot camera is the first we’ve seen that runs Google’s
Android operating system and the apps that go with it. That opens up a whole
new world for cameras: We used an app to edit an image; then quickly and easily
posted it on Facebook. We also created a slideshow with music. Our tests
weren’t completed by press time, but the S8000c looks promising overall.
Excellence in a box
Samsung
HT-E6730W $800
This 7.1-channel
system marries old-school vacuum tubes with digital amps to produce excellent
sound, which is are in our tests of home-theater-in-a-box systems. It comes
with a 3D-capable Blu-ray player; wireless amplifiers for the rear surround
speakers, Wi-Fi, an iPod dock, and Samsung’s Smart TV platform. That includes a
full Web browser apps market, and Blockbuster, Hulu Plus, Netflix, and Pandora
apps.
First ultrawide TV
Vizio
CinemaWide XVT3D580CM $2,000
Cinephiles finally
have a TV that displays flicks in their entire wide-screen splendor. This
58-inch LCD set is the first we’ve tested with an ultra-wide, 21:9 display that
mimics the shape of a movie- theater screen. Most wide-format movies fill its
screen without the black bars you see on a typical HDTV, though you will still
get bars on lots of content, including high-def. TV programs and movies
formatted for a 16:9 screen. Other sets scored better for 3D, but this Vizio
has an excellent HD picture, very good sound, a Bluetooth remote with a
keyboard, and more.
Wi-Fi winner
Sonos Play:3s
$300 plus $50 for wireless adapter.
This compact stereo
speaker system is a great, easy way to enjoy music throughout the house. Pair
it with the Sonos Bridge adapter and you can wirelessly access streaming
Internet radio stations and music from a computer that’s on your Wi-Fi network.
With one speaker, you’ll get very good sound quality. Set up two Play:3s in one
room as a two-speaker pair to get excellent sound that rivals what we’ve heard
from any home-theater system. You can add Play:3s in other rooms and have each
receive the same music source or varying ones.
