Best business smartphone of 2019: top mobiles for work

For many of us, having the best business smartphone is absolutely essential, as we’re more and more reliant on these little computers in our pockets to get our work done.

With many manufacturers offering smartphones that are perfect for workers of all levels, we’ve updated this guide to give you the very latest buying advice to help you choose the best smartphones for business use.

Best business smartphone

If you want the very best business smartphone, no matter what the cost, then the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is the one to go for. It's got a spec list to die for, including a huge screen, bags of RAM, a huge 4,000mAh battery and up to 1TB of storage. It's also got a microSD slot and a headphone jack – something that many modern smartphones lack. It's also got some great business-specific features, such as an improved Bluetooth stylus (known as the S Pen), and if you plug it into a USB-C dock or USB-C to HDMI, it can be used in DeX mode, replicating a desktop-environment that can replace your desktop PC. Seriously impressive.

Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review

Best business smartphone

You'll be in good hands if you opt to give your employees the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, which is also our pick for the best smartphone in the world right now. It improves on almost every aspect of the phones that have come before it, with supremely powerful components, a dazzling 6.4-inch QHD Super AMOLED display and a top notch camera – but it's not all fun.

The battery has also been given a huge boost to 4,100mAh, which means you can comfortably use it all day without worrying about recharging it. While it doesn't quite have the business focus of the Galaxy Note 9, which is our pick for the best business smartphone, it's still one hell of a great handset from Samsung.

Read the full review:  Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus review 

Best business smartphone

The OnePlus 6 is our newest phone on this list, and like its predecessor, it is an affordable flagship handset, and offers one of the best Android phone experiences on the market, especially when using it for work. You have the choice of either 6GB or 8GB of RAM depending on your needs – for most people 6GB will be more than enough. The battery life could be better, so make sure you have easy access to a charger if your work depends on you always being connected, and there's still no microSD support on the OnePlus 6, much like previous OnePlus phones, but you do have the choice of either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage.

The true highlight of the OnePlus 6 is the price, though, and this may will be one of the best devices for you on this list if you're looking to spend as little as possible on a top-of-the-range phone for your business needs.

Read the full review: OnePlus 6

Best business smartphone

If you're looking for the best Apple business smartphone, then the iPhone XS is the one to get. It's the pinnacle of Apple's smartphone design, offering a gorgeous 5.8-inch OLED screen, improved battery life and an amazing camera that's arguably the best you'll find on a smartphone. It's very expensive though, but if you want a business smartphone that can do almost everything, and with a gorgeous design, then this is the one to get. If you're on more of a budget, but still want an Apple device, consider the iPhone 8, which is also on this list.

Read the full review: iPhone XS review

Best business smartphone

Samsung has produced another excellent productivity-focused device with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, making it one of the best smartphones for business. Thanks to the large Infinity Display you get loads of screen space to work on, without the body being too bulky to carry around, and the S Pen stylus is something not a lot of other phones can offer and the all-round speed is almost breathtaking at times. It's certainly worth looking at if you want a brilliant business smartphone, especially now that its price has dropped.

Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy Note 8 

Best business smartphone

Huawei is a Chinese manufacturer which has been steadily releasing some excellent smartphones that offer specs and features that rival its more established (and expensive) Western rivals. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro is the firm's best phone yet, and it's one of our picks for the best business smartphone you can buy in 2019. It comes with a huge 6.39-inch display with a QHD resolution and HDR10 support, plus a large battery that lasted a day and a half in our tests!

Read the full review: Huawei Mate 20 Pro

Best business smartphone

Google's flagship phones are brilliant performers, and the fact they come with stock Android without any annoying bloatware or complex user interfaces means they are great choices for business phones. The Google Pixel 3 is the latest entry and it comes with a decent 5.5-inch full HD screen, a battery that's capable of about a day's worth of use and one of the best cameras we've seen on a smartphone. If you want a pure-Android experience, the Pixel 3 is one of the best business smartphones you can buy right now.

Read the full review: Google Pixel 3

Best business smartphone

Apple's iPhones are always popular options with great build quality, a simple user interface and a wealth of quality business apps at your fingertips.

The iPhone 8 is one of the latest offerings from Apple, and it's faster, smarter and boasts a water resistant body for the first time. While Apple has also released the more premium iPhone X, its high price tag makes that a difficult smartphone to recommend for businesses. That's not to say the iPhone 8 is cheap – it's not – but if you're kitting out your team with these phones, you're going to get more for your money.

If your firm is currently rocking iPhone 7 and 7 Plus handsets there's no need to upgrade, but for those using older devices – especially the 5 variants and below the iPhone 8 offers a far superior experience.

Read the full review: iPhone 8

from TechRadar – All the latest technology news http://www.techradar.com/news/best-business-smartphone

The best mobile plans for business 2019

If you're looking for the best business mobile deals, then you've come to the right place, as in this guide we compare business mobile phone deals that offer you essential features and allowances, as well as the best handsets and from all the best UK networks.

Whether you're after the new Samsung Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS or Samsung Galaxy S9, a free phone, lots of data, the lowest possible monthly cost or all of the above, we'll help you find the perfect deal. Check out our list of the best business mobiles in the UK for 2019.

We've also compiled alternative guides if you're interested in the best business SIM-only deals as well as the best business broadband and best mobile broadband deals

Underneath that you can browse through our individual handset guides for all of the best mobile phone deals out there. 

Best business mobile deals by network

Best business SIM-only deals

  Vodafone

best mobile plans for business

The cheapest around for data-hungry users 

Unlimited minutes | Unlimited texts| 20GB data | 12-month contract | £20

Should you agree to sign a 12-month contract, then Vodafone’s Red bundle is possibly the best offer in the UK. You get unlimited data, minutes (usable both in the UK and in the EU) and a whopping 20GB data to use with an extra 4GB to be used in the EU in 40 countries; you can always opt for the WorldTraveller option which allows you to use your UK allowance in an additional 58 countries worldwide for a fiver a day. Vodafone also offers a 30-day money-back warranty. Check out this deal on Vodafone’s website

 O2

best mobile plans for business

Terrific for globe-trotters 

Unlimited minutes | Unlimited texts| 32GB data | 12-month contract | £23

The Telefonica-owned company offers one of the most impressive packages in the line-up. It is also the most expensive although you get far more than most. Not only do you have unlimited minutes and texts in the UK and across Europe (well, there is a fair usage limit of 2,000 minutes and 2,000 texts in the EU), you also get 3GB to use in the EU and 120 UK to EU minutes. Great if you travel a lot to mainland Europe. O2 also offers a 30-day optional contract for an extra £2 per month. This deal has got a lot better in recent months, as it has upped the data to a huge 32GB, while cutting the cost to £23 a month.

View this deal on O2’s website

  EE

best mobile plans for business

It has a unique selling point 

Unlimited minutes | Unlimited texts| 30GB data | 12-month contract | £16 

O2 might win when it comes to versatility but EE almost grabs the top spot when it comes to sheer value for money. This deal is a brilliant offer that gives you a huge 30GB of data for £16 a month. EE has upgraded its network to superfast 4GEE and you can even share your plan with three co-workers on the same bill; Note that, unlike many competitors, tethering and VOIP are allowed.

View this deal on EE’s website

mobile phone deals smartphone deals phone deals

A couple of the best phones for business

iPhone 7 deals

Prices just absolutely dived on the iPhone 7. Great news, considering it remains an excellent way to own an awesome Apple phone for meagre amounts of money. This for £28 pm from EE is the pick of the bunch. And once you've bought it, be sure to dive into the best iOS business apps.

See more ace prices with our best iPhone 7 deals and best iPhone 6 deals

best mobile plans for business

BlackBerry KeyONE deals

Blackberry spent many years in the wilderness, but its return with the BlackBerry KeyOne is a massive return to form. The best deal out there bar none is this one on O2 where you get 4GB of data for £25 per month, with an upfront cost of £33.99.

Click for more brilliant BlackBerry KeyONE deals

best mobile plans for business

Buying a mobile phone – what you need to know

from TechRadar – All the latest technology news http://www.techradar.com/news/best-mobile-plans-for-business

768k Day may cause major internet outages

Major internet disruptions could be right around the corner as we approach 768k Day when the size of the global BGP routing table is expected to exceed 768,000 entries.

Similar disruptions were experienced back in 2014, on what we now know as “512k Day”, when the Ipv4 internet routing table exceeded 512,000 BGP routes when Verizon advertised thousands of more routes to the internet.

At the time, a number of ISPs and other organizations has provisioned the size of the  memory for their router TCAMs for a limit of 512K route entries and some older routers suffered memory overflows which led their CPUs to crash. These crashes created significant packet loss and traffic outages across the internet with even large provider networks being affected.

Engineers and network administrators rushed to apply emergency firmware patches to set a new upper limit which in many cases was 768k entries.

512K Day served as a wake-up call for many ISPs and internet organizations but it seems they may have forgotten the chaos it caused as 768k Day is expected to occur sometime this month.

768k Day

While five years ago ISPs and internet companies were unprepared for 512k Day, this time around most of the large providers who felt its impact have likely prepped and maintained their infrastructures reasonably well which could lead to less outages.

However, there are still a lot of smaller ISPs, data centers and other providers who are part of the fabric of the internet. A good amount of service traffic transits through these 'soft spots' of  internet infrastructure where maintenance on legacy routers and network equipment can be neglected or missed more easily.

It's still entirely possible that we will see some issues or outages due to 768k Day during the next month or so.

To prepare for any potential disruptions, it is a good idea to perform some preventative maintenance on any routers that receive full internet routes.

Via ThousandEyes

from TechRadar – All the latest technology news http://www.techradar.com/news/768k-day-may-cause-major-internet-outages

Best gaming laptops 2019: the 10 top gaming laptops we’ve reviewed

The best gaming laptops have changed so much in such a short amount of time, and now they’re more powerful than ever before. Thanks to additions like Nvidia RTX graphics, the best gaming laptops can push the best PC games at higher resolutions and frame rates. You don’t need to put together the best gaming PC to get high specs and performance anymore. Plus, the best gaming laptops come in every shape and size.

That’s why you shouldn’t judge a gaming laptop by its cover. Thanks to Nvidia Turing Max-Q graphics for laptops, there are a ton of gaming laptops that can hide in plain sight. Just look at the aptly named MSI GS65 Stealth. Don’t worry, if you want a beastly desktop replacement, that option is still open to you, with devices like the MSI GT75 that demand attention from anyone that steps in the room.

So, whether you want a thicc desktop replacement, packed with the most powerful graphics and processors so that you can run the Division 2 and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice with the settings cranked, you’re in luck. Or, if you just want a thin and light gaming laptop that’ll let you play your favorite games on the road, we’ve got a few up your alley. There are even some more affordable laptops like the Dell G3. And, don’t worry, we’ve tested these gaming laptops ourselves, so you know they’ll be up to snuff. 

These days, many gaming laptop manufacturers seem to be locked into a race to see who can craft the thinnest gaming laptop that doesn’t compromise on power. And, right now, the crown might have to go to the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX701. At just 0.7 inches thick, this monster of a laptop houses an Intel Coffee Lake Core i7 chip, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics and 16GB of RAM. That means you can crank any PC game under the sun to max settings, and take it with you wherever you go. And, of course, it’s packed with RGB lighting that’ll dazzle anyone that looks at it.

Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701 

If you want to play some of the best PC games on the move, but you don’t want everyone to know you’re playing games, the MSI GS65 Stealth is the best gaming laptop for you. Coming in at just .69 inches thick and featuring impressive hardware like Intel Coffee Lake processors and Nvidia GeForce GTX 10-series – refreshed with RTX 20-series graphics at CES – the MSI GS65 Stealth packs a ton of power into a very svelte package. There’s nothing you won’t be able to throw at this thing that’ll slow it down. And, thanks to the subdued design, you’ll be able to bring this beefy rig everywhere you go, making it the best gaming laptop on the market right now.

Read the full review: MSI GS65 Stealth 

For a few years now, the Razer Blade has been among the best gaming laptops on the market, filled with powerful components, beautiful displays and an elegant chassis. That’s all true for the 2019 model, too, which now rocks up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080. That is, frankly, a ton of power for a laptop this thin and light. Plus, even if that’s not enough GPU horsepower for you, you can use the Razer Core for future expansion. It’s an expensive device, but it might be worth it if style and power are equally as important to you.

Read the full review: Razer Blade

The best gaming laptops keep getting more expensive every day. Especially now that Nvidia RTX graphics are available, getting a powerful gaming laptop carries quite the toll. Luckily, laptops like the Lenovo Legion Y7000P are here to lighten the load. This budget-minded gaming laptop features an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, which should be just fine for its 1080p 60Hz display. When it’s a question of getting the essentials in order to save some cash, the Lenovo Legion Y7000P is a no-brainer.

Read the full review: Lenovo Legion Y7000P

Best Gaming Laptop 2019

Some gaming laptops just don’t pull any punches, enabling you to run any game you can imagine without breaking a sweat – and the MSI GT75 Titan is one of these laptops. It’s a titanic desktop replacement packing 6-core Intel Coffee Lake processors, plenty of RAM and powerful Nvidia Pascal graphics. You’re not going to be able to carry it around with you, and it’s not going to be something you’ll be caught with in a coffee shop, but if raw power is what you’re after, look no further. Just be ready to break open your piggy bank. 

Read the full review: MSI GT75 Titan

Best Gaming Laptop 2019

Thin and light gaming laptops are everywhere right now, but if you don’t care about that, and want a thick, heavy and monstrous laptop that can demolish any game you throw at it – the Asus ROG G703GI is for you. This is a massive – and expensive – laptop, but it justifies its size and price with gaming performance that rivals the best gaming PCs. Just don’t think you’ll be able to haul it along with you to your local coffee shop without its two power bricks – or awkward stares.

Read the full review: Asus ROG G703GI 

Best Gaming Laptop 2019

It may not boast the most innovative design, substituting the usual black and red aesthetic for one that makes it feel like Halloween all year round (no complaints here). But, it’s undoubtedly one of the best when it comes to gaming in 1080p. In fact, we were able to crank the setting s all the way up in Overwatch without ever straying below 60fps. It doesn’t feature the longest battery life, but the screen, power and onboard sound system more than make up for it.

Read the full review: Asus ROG Strix GL502

  • This product is only available in the US and UK at the time of this writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Alienware 17 R5

If you’re looking for a powerful gaming laptop, and you don’t want to spring for one of those svelte thin and light gamign laptops, the Acer Predator Helios 500 is a good option. Packed with up to an Intel Core i9 processor and full-fat Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics, this gaming laptop will be able to handle any game you throw at it – even if it’s not the most portable device in the world. If you can get past the mediocre speakers and trackpad, there’s a lot to love here. 

Read the full review: Acer Predator Helios 500

When you’re setting out to buy one of the best gaming laptops, one of the first things you’ll likely notice is how expensive they can get. Luckily, the Dell G3 15 is not just extremely affordable, but it punches above its weight class with great 1080p gaming performance. With up to an Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU, you’ll be able to play all the latest games at 1080p without breaking a sweat, even if it’s not at max settings all the time. And, that blue on black color combo is quite a looker, if that’s your aesthetic. 

Read the full review: Dell G3 15 

Over the last couple of years, there’s been a trend among the best gaming laptops to make them as thin as possible. And, the Gigabyte Aero 15 definitely fits the bill, while delivering top-end gaming performance. This laptop is just 0.74 inches thick, while delivering up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 and an Intel Core i9 CPU. However, this thinness is a double-edged sword: the Core i9 gets way too hot and can throttle. So, just keep that in mind if you plan on doing any sustained creative work, like editing all your gaming videos. 

Read the full review: Gigabyte Aero 15

  • Image Credit: TechRadar

Gabe Carey and Bill Thomas have also contributed to this article

from TechRadar – All the latest technology news http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/laptops/best-gaming-laptops-top-5-gaming-notebooks-reviewed-1258471