Reviews | Gadget must

New hardware can range from accessories for your computer to the latest high-end phone, and each of these is pretty cool in its own way. We looked at two new releases that we really liked:

LG G2

The G2's design tone makes it look similar to the Samsung Galaxy S4, but LG has made that even better with the literally non-existent bezel on sides of the screen. Despite a 5.2-inch screen, the G2 is not much bigger than the Google Nexus 4, and puts the likes of the Sony Xperia Z1 to shame. Flip the G2 over and you will find the volume rocker and the power key on the back panel, just below the camera.

The G2's display looks crispier and the colours are a lot more realistic than the Samsung Galaxy S4. This fantastic display handles HD media playback very well. Like most phones, there are reflective tendencies as well, but IPS (in-plane switching) affords better viewing angles from the sides as well as outdoors.

Among the recent crop of Android phones-the S4, HTC One, and the Xperia Z1-this display is by far the best in all regards. Packed with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and Adreno 330 graphics, the G2 has more than enough power on tap, comparable directly with the Xperia Z1, which has the same processor. Beyond the benchmarks is the real-world performance, which most of us are more bothered about. Like the other devices on Snapdragon 800 and 2 GB of RAM, the G2's performance is excellent. Apps open snappily, the interface is smooth and no amount of background app-load slows it down. In terms of battery, we got almost two working days out of a single charge, when used as a primary phone.

While a 13 MP camera is pretty much standard fare, what is not is the Optical Image Stabilization that LG has packed into it. From what we saw with the test results, the camera is fairly decent in good light conditions, but it justifies the price tag when taking low-light shots-where focusing does take a bit of time.

Battery life is very good, the camera does the job well and the performance is fast.

Asus RP-N53 Range Extender

Range extenders aren't a common purchase since most people are instead buying bigger and more powerful routers which have stronger antennae. However, range extenders are the economical choice given that most high-powered routers cost a lot more. Visually, this product has deviated from Asus' usual colour scheme of black body coupled with blue LEDs. Instead, it has a white body with a mild white light at the back and blue LED indicators on the front.

Like most extenders, the Asus RP-N53 can be used as an access point, and it can be used to expand an existing Wi-Fi Zone.

The Wi-Fi Protected Setup button can be used to connect the extender to a router that supports WPS, unfortunately, the same does not apply to devices which want to connect to the extender via WPS.

And talking about the range, it did a pretty good job given that we could still connect to the extender from roughly 70ft away and do a complete run on Speedtest.net. Also, if your router is transmitting on a single band, then the extender can extend the same on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

A feature that is new to this particular model is the 3.5mm audio jack. It can be hooked up to your speakers and you can stream music using the AiPlayer app, which is available for both Android and iOS. Or you could simply select one of the Internet radio streams featured on the device.