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John Davidson

Columnist

John Davidson is an award-winning columnist, reviewer, and senior writer based in Sydney and in the Digital Life Laboratories, from where he writes about personal technology. Connect with John on Twitter. Email John at jdavidson@afr.com

John Davidson

This Month

This camera is an ode to vintage filmmaking – but it comes at a price

The retro-minded Instax mini Evo Cinema is what you might get if you crossed an old Polaroid with a Super 8 from the 1970s, but it’s costly formats could put you off.

This $3499 laptop gets the heart right, but not the soul

New Intel chips are finally making Windows laptops competitive with Apple’s MacBooks. But HP fails to press home the advantage with the OmniBook 7.

Is this TV worth the $42,000 price tag?

Samsung’s newfangled MR95F lives up to its promise of subtle, true-to-life colours, but it’s not the future of television.

Why we won’t leave home without the EcoFlow Delta 3 Max Plus

The only question we have about EcoFlow’s new portable power station is this: is one of them enough?

Apple’s $899 MacBook Neo v $1799 Air – can you spot the differences?

The new budget laptop is so good and so cheap that the tech titan may have shot its previous cheapest model in the head – and itself in the foot.

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These 3 giant leaps will change the way we use our smartphones

In an era when device updates are mostly incremental and often boring, Samsung has come up with multiple ways to get you excited again.

The device has 16 hours of battery life, compared with the 18 hours for the latest MacBook Air.

What Apple launched this week, and why it matters

Apple and Samsung will have two things in common on Wednesday: both have major product releases, and both are grappling with steep cost increases.

Why this sports watch is unlike any others on the market

Garmin’s legendary Fenix 8 excels at high-performance activities. But, like most performances, it doesn’t hurt to rehearse with it first.

February

 The Samsung Galaxy 26S Ultra smartphone during a product preview event in San Francisco.

Did we just glimpse the end of mobile phones?

Samsung and Google have just showed off AI agents that will change the way you use handsets. But will they eventually allow you to not use one at all?

First hands on with the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s new privacy screen

The hottest new feature in Samsung’s hottest new phone is like something out of the movies.

Samsung’s new privacy phone lets you hide in plain sight

The new screen on the Galaxy S26 Ultra can be viewed only by the phone’s owner, not by people nearby.

This pizza oven looks gorgeous, even if you don’t know how to use it

The Gozney Dome Gen 2 might cook a pizza in seconds, but it takes its sweet time to heat up.

Just because it can climb doesn’t mean Roborock’s Saros 20 will climb

You might be surprised how many areas in your home have a small step that stops robovacs in their tracks.

So far, so very good: Intel’s fightback against Apple

MSI’s excellent Prestige 14 Flip AI+ laptop is an early example of what we can expect from the latest generation of Intel-based devices.

This laptop was designed for schoolkids – then things got complicated

Lenovo’s top-of-the-range Chromebook has not one but three operating systems – which comes with pros and cons.

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One thing Tim Cook could do for the iPad Pro today

The Apple CEO might be under fire for his politics, but that doesn’t mean he can’t improve Apple’s software policies and make the iPad Pro what it should be.

The mega barbecue that showed us why Australians love cooking outside

With the right preparation (and added extras), the Broil King Regal Q 690 PRO is a mean machine for summer entertaining.

January

Australians flock to iPhone 17 despite Siri’s AI shortcomings

Apple has struggled to add AI capabilities to its iPhones, but sales of the latest model have surged to an all-time high, leading to potential supply shortages.

Inside the windowless world where the AI magic happens

Everything you wanted to know about these windowless concrete bunkers capable of consuming more electricity than entire cities.

These magic noise-cancelling earbuds could be the best gadget of the year

The ANC feature of the new Shokz OpenFit Pro sports earbuds is more about clarifying the audio than it is about blocking out the world.