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Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

2011-04-30 08:00:00 | Tech Radar

This week we got our hands on the hugely impressive Samsung Galaxy S2 and the eagerly awaited BlackBerry PlayBook.We also spent some time looking through the lens of the good-looking Leica X1 and tested more Sandy Bridge chips from Intel.Read on for the most popular reviews on TechRadar this week.Samsung Galaxy S2 reviewThe Samsung Galaxy S2 is the phone the Korean firm deems a worthy successor to its best smartphone so far - with a 1.2GHz processor, super-slim chassis and feather-light innards, it's easy to see why.The phone is almost impossibly thin when you pick it up – dimensions of 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5mm mean it's one of the thinnest smartphones on the market at the moment, rivalling the likes of the iPhone 4 and Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc for the title.BlackBerry PlayBook reviewWith a name that sounds like something you'd use at a sporting event, the BlackBerry PlayBook is the latest - and most unique - Apple iPad 2 challenger.Running a new OS called QNX, with quirky features like bridging to a BlackBerry phone for secure email and an oddly confusing initial setup, the PlayBook is a stark departure from the more iPad-like Motorola Xoom.Business-minded features such as built-in viewers for spreadsheets and word processing files are welcome, and the PlayBook gets extra credit for being fast and nimble on a dual-core 1GHz processor.Leica X1 reviewLeica's foray into the digital world may have been at a slower and more considered pace than what we're used to seeing, but working in partnership with Panasonic has nevertheless meant that it's managed to saturate a healthy range of the camera market.For more everyday use the company's point-and-shoot C-LUX and enthusiast D-LUX ranges sit at the base of its stable, while the M9 rangefinder and S2 medium format model lie at the other end to cater for professionals.In between the two, and among a handful of intermediate models, sits the X1, which can safely be considered as the company's answer to the growing popularity of compact system cameras.Intel Core i7 2600S reviewAnother day another new Sandy Bridge CPU, and another new suffix to get your head around. This time it's the Intel Core i7 2600S.Many people have heard of the Core i7 2600K by now, the unlocked overclocking demon that was part of the original Sandy Bridge launch, but the Core i7 2600S you may not have heard of.It's also pretty well known that if a second-gen Core CPU doesn't have a K at the end of the model number, its pretty much game over for any sort of serious overclocking. So what does the S stand for, and does it mean even more features turned off?Intel Core i5 2500T reviewHitting the low-powered, green gamer is Intel's Core i5 2500T. We've already had a good look at Intel's Core i5 2500K processor; it's getting a reputation as the go-to chip if your budget won't quite stretch to an Intel Core i7 2600K.Although it's getting all the attention as the flagship chip in the second generation Core i5 line-up, there are a couple of other interesting family members. Not because of their overclocking ability - they don't really have any - but because they're low power chips.The most interesting one of these is this Core i5 2500T.Also reviewed this week...AccessoriesKymera Magic Wand reviewThinkflood RedEye Mini reviewAmplifiersCayin A55-T reviewConsonance Cyber-100 Signature reviewIcon Audio Stereo 60 Mk 3 reviewPrimaLuna Prologue Two reviewPureSound A30 reviewTriode Corporation TRV-88SE reviewAudio systemsCyrus Audio Stream XP reviewYamaha NP-S2000 reviewCD playersMusical Fidelity M1 Series CD player and DAC reviewDesktop PCsPalicomp Phoenix Hydro-X reviewDigital TV recordersRoss 22300HD-R reviewGraphics cardsAsus GTX 560 Ti DirectCU II reviewHard disk drivesIntel 510 Series 120GB reviewOCZ RevoDrive X2 240GB reviewHeadphonesRoccat Kulo reviewUnique Melody Miracle reviewHi-fi AccessoriesRega DAC reviewElectrocompaniet PD 1 DAC reviewAtacama Duo 6 reviewLaptop accessoriesHenge Docks Henge Dock reviewMedia streaming devicesMonsoon Multimedia Vulkano reviewMemoryG.Skill Ripjaws-X 4GB reviewMonitorsHanns.G HS233 reviewMotherboardsFoxconn AHD1S-K reviewProcessorsIntel Core i3 2100 reviewSoftwareCodeweavers CrossOver Impersonator reviewEltima Software SyncMate 3.0 Expert Edition reviewFileMaker Bento 4 reviewQuark QuarkXPress 9 reviewWingnut Lo-Fi 1.1.0 reviewTaptrix InkPad reviewApple iMovie for iOS reviewSpeakersTannoy Revolution DC6T reviewStorageOCZ RevoDrive 120GB reviewTabletsApple Smart Cover reviewTurntablesAcoustic Signature Manfred reviewTV tuner cardsBlack Gold BGT3620 reviewRelated StoriesPanasonic announces 17,000 jobs to be cut in restructure

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