Steve Litchfield

The iPhone 13 mini is a stunning smartphone, unusual because of its diminutive size yet without compromising any of the internals. But it's still the best part of £700 and needs protecting. As usual for my case roundups, I'll cover a variety of styles, with most samples supplied by MobileFun, kind people that they are. See their  complete range of iPhone 13 mini cases and covers . But on with the individual cases, each link goes to the relevant product page, of course. Spigen Rugged Armor, £20 Spigen cases are rarely the cheapest, but they do offer utterly premium TPU and perfect fit. On the tiny iPhone 13 mini, this feels soooo snug. So many textures too. The main body/back matt finish is just lovely, but it gets better with the ultra-ribbed, grippy sides. The two texture panels on the back look cool, but their function is mainly cosmetic. There's ample face drop protection around the front edges of the case, plus a typical 'air gap' corner design to handle corner ...

The new Pixels are a real step up from previous years in terms of specs, making them a good upgrade. But you'll definitely need a case on these slippery premium devices. As usual for my case roundups, I'll cover a variety of styles, with most samples supplied by MobileFun, kind people that they are. See their  complete range of Pixel 6 cases and covers , and then Pixel 6 Pro cases and covers . But on with the individual cases, each link goes to the relevant product page, of course. Plus, since the two phones are almost identical apart from size, I've included links to each variant in each heading - you'll see what I mean. UPDATED 25/11/2021. More cases, especially for the Pixel 6, even though I don't have a host device to show them off in-situ. But I still have plenty of opinions! And in such cases, I've also linked to the Pixel 6 pro variant, to help you out. Olixar ExoShield, £10 ( Pixel 6 version ) Olixar's ExoShield cases have been a favourite of mine f...

Just getting something off my chest.  I watch quite a few tours (and 'making of') videos on YouTube about micro-campervans, typically on Citroen Berlingo or Ford Transit Connect, and a common feature that they seem to lift from larger campers and motorhomes is generating mains electricity using an inverter, ostensibly 'to power a laptop'. Sound OK, right? I mean, a laptop needs mains power to charge? Nope. Not even close. Just because a laptop computer comes with a mains brick and plug doesn't mean that it's designed to charge from 'AC' power. The 'brick' bit in the lead is a step down from 110/240V AC to (typically) 15V DC. And it's an inefficient step down, as you'll have noted in the way your mains brick gets warm when the laptop is charging. So then the plan in these micro-campers is to have the 12V (or so) DC from the car/van's battery (or pair of batteries) stuffed into an inverter, a lossy and inefficient device (again, it gets...

The Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max is the pinnacle of the smartphone world as I write this. Terrific speed, display, speakers, cameras, the works. Although I didn't upgrade from my 12 Pro Max, I'm sooo tempted to pull the trigger at some point. As usual for my case roundups, I'll cover a variety of styles, with most samples supplied by MobileFun, kind people that they are. See their  complete range of iPhone 13 Pro Max cases and covers .  Note that Apple itself does cases, which I'm sure are excellent. But they're not that varied and they're all hugely over-priced. Meaning that I always advise people to go third party, as here, and get just as good (or more) protection at well under a third (and in some cases a quarter!) the price. But on with the individual cases, each link goes to the relevant product page, of course. And I've included a few accessories, since they were in the review bundle. Read on and enjoy... Olixar Genuine Leather Wallet Stand, £20 Gorgeous-s...