How to set up parental control on Android: restrict Android app permissions

Kids are increasingly tech-savvy these days, and even a toddler will manage to use your Android or in ways you didn't know were possible. Apart from running up a heavy bill in and purchases, this means your children may also be at risk from online predators and adult content. Here we show you how to set up sensible parental controls, and explain the new restricted profiles feature added to .

Restricted profiles: restrict app permissions and create a safe environment in Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

Released only last week, and its restricted profiles feature adds a new dimension to the user profiles feature that appeared in version 4.2. Tablets running Android 4.2 or later can be configured with multiple user accounts, allowing you to with unique environments for every member of the household. In Android 4.3, restricted profiles lets the device administrator control the app permissions of each user profile, which could help you to keep your child safe. See Android Advisor.

Before you can start using restricted profiles, you'll need to ensure your Android device supports it. The Android 4.3 update is currently available only to Google's own Nexus tablets, the and , with other manufacturers expected to roll out the upgrade over the coming months. . .

Step 1. First, from the Android home screen, pull down from the top right and tap on Settings. Scroll down to and select Users, then tap 'Add user or profile'. You can create either a normal User profile, or a Restricted profile. Tap on the latter. (Click on the screenshots below to enlarge them.)

 

Step 2. If you haven't done so already, you'll be prompted to set up a screen lock for your device. Tap Set lock, then choose to use either a pattern, PIN or password lock and follow the instructions.

Step 3. Tap the settings icon next to the 'New profile' to give it a name.

Step 4. You'll now see a list of apps installed on your device, with on/off toggles to the side. By default, the restricted profile is unable to access any of these. Go through the list and toggle on only the apps you are comfortable with your child accessing. The list includes any web browsers installed on your tablet, so leave these switched to off if you're worried about what harm your child may come to online. You can also click on the Settings icon next to Settings to allow apps to use location information, which is switched off by default.

Step 5. From the lock screen, you'll now find your own account is protected with a pattern, password or PIN, while your child can instantly access their own account - but only the apps you deem appropriate. Although the Google Play Store icon appears, trying to access this will bring up a notification that you do not have permission to use the Google Play Store.

Restrict in-app purchases on an Android smartphone or tablet

If you aren't using a tablet running Android 4.3, there are other things you can do to protect your child and set up parental controls on an older Android tablet or smartphone.

Kids love games, and Google Play is brimming with casual titles aimed directly at them. It can be all too easy for busy parents to leave their child unsupervised with what would appear to be a harmless game while they get on with things. But, as you'll no doubt have seen in the news, some parents have unwittingly found themselves with outrageous credit-card bills as their blissfully ignorant child purchases all manner of expensive in-app extras.

Protecting your wallet is incredibly simple: open the Google Play Store app on your Android phone or tablet, then open the Settings menu and scroll down to User controls. Tick the box next to Password, which will request your Google account password whenever someone tries to download a paid app or purchase in-app extras.

In this same menu is an option to set up Content filtering. Within this you can allow all apps, or only those rated as low, medium or high maturity, or for everyone. Tick the appropriate boxes and click Ok. Note that you'll need to create a password to stop a tech-savvy child from altering this setting.

Restricting app purchases in Google Play is worthwhile only if you ensure that apps can't be downloaded from other app stores. Open the Settings menu, scroll down to Security, and make sure the option to allow installation of apps from other sources is disabled. (You may previously have enabled this setting if you followed our workshop on , for example.)

Restrict only certain apps on an Android smartphone or tablet

If your child is slightly older then you might trust them to use your device unsupervised, but aren't keen on the idea of letting them loose on your Facebook or email account. Or perhaps you want to let your toddler run riot with games, but not get online or into your messages. We like AppLock, a third-party app that lets you password-protect certain apps without locking down access to the entire device.

A quick solution for restricting access to the web, call and messaging features on the fly is to enable Flight mode. If there isn't an option to do this from the power-off menu, you should find this in Settings, More Networks, Flight mode. Be warned that it's just as easy for your child to disable Flight mode, however.

You will also find in Google Play several apps that allow you to restrict access. Consider the free Kid Mode app. This provides something similar to Windows Phone 8’s Kid’s Corner. It lets kids play their favourite Android games, read stories and paint pictures, but there’s no way to accidentally buy anything, delete your emails or access another app.

There are also lots of parental-control apps in Google Play, many of which are free. We recommend those from Kaspersky, Norton and the popular Funamo.

Follow Marie Brewis on Twitter.

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OnePlus One review: bargain flagship Android is best deal smartphone of 2014, and now you can buy it without an invitation

OnePlus One review: What it is

The One from OnePlus is a high-end smartphone at a mid-range price. It's an Android smartphone running an OS based on 4.4.2 KitKat, with high-quality specifications, but in the UK it retails for form just £229. That's around a third of the price of the most expensive smartphones with which it shares key specifications. The catch? Well there really isn't much of one. : .

You can buy the One only from OnePlus, and online. And that's not all. You also need to get an invite to buy, either by asking someone who has bought a OnePlus phone for an invite - anyone who purchases a OnePlus One will receive invites to give out to friends and family - or by entering contests and promotional events hosted on the OnePlus Forums or social media channels. (And before you ask, we don't have any invites.) Read more about the possibility of a , a , and a  phone.

You have to buy it SIM free, too, but that's always the cheapest way to buy a phone anyway. So the question is: is the OnePlus a bargain? Read on to find out. (See also: .)

OnePlus One review: Build and design

Initial impressions are good. Very good. The OnePlus is well put together, and made of what feels like high-quality materials. A big, understated slab of black, look closer and you will find subtle curves. There's a chrome outer rim surrounding the large glass display, which is slightly raised beyond the rest of the handset.

The only major caveat is that the bezel at the top and bottom of the OnePlus One's display is bigger than we'd like. Put it next to the - a phone with a similar-sized screen - and you'll see a big difference.

For the record the OnePlus One measures 153 x 76 x 8.9 mm and weighs in at 162 g. It's neither the thinnest nor the lightest big-screen smartphone on the market, but it feels good in the hand. Solid, but ergonomic.

The back of the handset is made of a material we can't place, with a finish we haven't seen before. It's rough like carpet, but soft to the touch. Like a material finish. That sounds bad, but it isn't. Everyone who picked up the OnePlus One in our office commented on and liked this.

The OnePlus One is available in black or white. We tried the black model, and we like it. It's different to other phones on the market, and in a good way.

OnePlus One review: Display

The whole phone is built around the display. It's a 5.5in IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display boasting 16M colours. The resolution is impressive: not the best on the market, but plenty good enough at the best at this price. Spread over 5.5 inches, 1080 x 1920 pixels makes for a pixel density of 401 ppi. And how does it look? Sharp. Impressively so.

Watcing movies, viewing images, and browsing the web all look good. Colours are deep, resolution sharp. The only issue we had is that some colours look a little overblown. Whites on photos have a slightly yellowish tinge. It's good to look at, but doesn't feel particularly accurate.

Zoom in on text, however, and you will have to get very close before you are disappointed. Viewing angles are good, and the screen is lovely and bright.

The multitouch works well. It's rated for up to 10 fingers, but you'll have to take OnePlus's word for that. I'm in no way capable of using all 10 fingers at once on a laptop, let alone a phone. And we're impressed with the inclusion of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 in a 'cheap' phone. As indeed we are impressed with the display as a whole. It's a big thumbs up from me. (See also: .)

OnePlus One review: Specification

Here's the really good news: the spec is that of a £600 phone. You get a Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801, a quad-core Krait chip clocked at 2.5GHz. It's paired with 3GB RAM, and graphics are taken care of with a Adreno 330 GPU.

Connectivity specs include 4G LTE, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0. But how does the One perform? (See also: .)

OnePlus One review: Performance and benchmarks

You might expect that a less expensive smartphone would fall down on performance. But here again we are happy to say that things are good. In use the One feels zippy. Transitions are snappy, and even running multiple processes the OnePlus One keeps things moving. Even heavy-loading games run well on the OnePlus One. It's as good a performer as we've seen in the Android space. And that's praise indeed.

Benchmark scores bear this out. As ever, take synthetic benchmarks with a pinch of salt. They offer a guide to performance and nothing more. But in Geekbench 3 the OnePlus One managed average scores of single-core: 969 / multi-core: 2570. That puts it close but not quite up with the . And that's more than okay.

Similarly in the GFXBench T-Rex onscreen test, an average score of 28.5fps (1,596) is very good if not top of the shop. And we got a very good result for javascript performance in the Sunspider benchmark: 877ms is excellent in this test.

Overall then performance is good. The OnePlus has the specification and the performance of a much more expensive flagship phone. Impressive stuff. (See also: .)

OnePlus One review: Storage

There are two storage options for the OnePlus One phone, and one big disappointment. The options are 16GB and 64GB - strangely no 32GB but it's becoming very rare to see 64GB on offer outside of the iPhone. And the disappointment? There is no storage expansion slot.

We tested the 64GB model, which came with 54.8GB free out of the box. And that's pretty good. But we do regret the lack of expandable storage. (See also: .)

OnePlus One review: Cameras

The OnePlus One has a 13 Mp Sony Exmor camera, with dual LED flash, and f/2.0 aperture. OnePlus tells us that the One camera has six physical lenses for greater detail, even at lower light conditions. It offers geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama and HDR, and captures video of up to 2160p (4K) at 30fps.

We haven't had time to test the camera as much as we'd like, but our early impressions are decent. The OnePlus can't match the superior cameras of the Galaxy S5 or the Xperia Z2, but it is perfectly adequate for a smartphone camera. You can take good photos with it. (See also: .)

Here are some OnePlus One camera test shots:

Click the shots to expand to full size.

Around the front is the 5 Mp selfie camera. This captures video at 1080p (Full HD) at 30fps for video calling. Overall the cameras are good if not top notch. Good enough, we'd say, considering the price of the phone.

OnePlus One review: Software

Here's where things get really interesting. The OnePlus One runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat, which is a sufficiently recent version to be great. But it is a customised version of Android. Indeed, it is different to Android, running an interface known as CyanogenMod. (OnePlus has now confirmed that within three months of Google releasing the final code for its forthcoming mobile OS the .)

Don't be frightened. You get access to Google Play. And when first you boot the OnePlus One you are asked if you want to run a custom OnePlus theme skin. If you opt not to go for this (we didn't) you get a very vanilla Android interface. It's all but a Nexus phone in that respect.

The interesting aspect is that you can install CyanogenMod themes that allow you to build your own skin for your smartphone. Choosing a specific theme allows you to tweak app icons and system fonts, your wallpaper, lock screen and so on. You can also specify changes to the way your smartphone works. But there is a caveat: the themes cost money, mostly. You won't break the bank buying them, but personally I'd rather live with vanilla Android.

OnePlus One review: Battery life

The OnePlus One comes with a large Li-Po 11.8Wh (3100 mAh) battery cell. And we have been impressed with battery life.

Out of the box the initial charge wasn't great, but it took a long time for the OnePlus to ship to me, so we won't hold that against the handset. Much more important is that with light use, 24 hours after charging, 67 percent of the battery life was left. That's a strong performance: we hadn't been doing much beyond email, messaging and social media, but that kills our iPhone 5 in 24 hours. Of course the battery will degrade as time goes buy.

Nonetheless, 48 hours after charging there is still 39 percent of battery life. And in the second 24 hours we made a point of streaming video clips, using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and running benchmarks to simulate heavier use. The OnePlus One charges quickly, too, so we'll forgive the US charger and adaptor with which it ships to the UK. It doesn't always want to charge via USB, even when we can get it to mount via the USB port and cable. Odd.

OnePlus tells us that the battery life is helped with an energy efficient display which adjusts the level of backlight and differentiates between dynamic and static content on the screen to reduce power consumption. We'll keep an eye on battery performace over time. But so far we are very impressed. (See also: Buy OnePlus One phone with or without an invite.)

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Nexus 7 review: why the Nexus 7 is still the best tablet you can buy in 2014

The second-generation Google Nexus 7 has been around for about a year now. The 2013 update of the Nexus 7 is still one of the best 7in that money can buy, if not the best. And that is just as well, because the word on the street is that the next smaller Nexus tablet will be a Nexus 8 made by HTC, and that could be curtains for the Asus-built Nexus 7.

That would be a travesty, and we retain hopes that the 2013 Nexus 7 will get a little refresh for 2014. In the mean time we've taken the time to refresh our Nexus 7 review.  The caused quite a stir in the tablet market, primarily due to its low price. This was despite its premium build and specifications, which led many to suspect that Google was subsidising the tablet in order that more people would choose Android and buy more apps, books, music and movies from its digital stores.

The updated Nexus 7 went on sale in summer 2013 and was even better in lots of ways than the original. Yes, it cost more, but even in 2014 it remains money well spent, as you’ll see. (See also: )

Nexus 7 (2014 review): Design and build

Design and build is highly unlikely to change. The new Nexus 7 looks very much like the original version but if you’re upgrading from that model then within seconds of taking it out of the box you can tell it's next-generation stuff. It's slimmer and lighter, measuring just 8.7mm thin and weighing 290g.

It's marginally taller but far more important are the few millimetres which have been trimmed from the width. It doesn't sound like much but the new tablet is significantly easier to hold in one hand. The vast majority of rival 7in tablets, including the , and are all noticeably wider when held upright – enough to make it uncomfortable to stretch your thumb and fingers to grip both sides.

Instead, the Nexus 7 is taller and this makes it look rather like an over-sized smartphone. Indeed, the Nexus 7 isn't that much bigger than a phablet such as the or .

Google has dropped the silver band from the edge of the tablet: it's an all-black affair this time. Buttons and ports are placed as before but the rear casing has a completely smooth surface which feels soft to the touch. It becomes grubby after a while, and isn’t particularly easy to clean.

Two design changes which are particularly welcome are the stereo speakers, now placed at either end of the tablet improving sound; and the addition of a notification LED below the screen.

Excellent build quality has been maintained with no signs of unwanted gaps in the casing or wobbly buttons. The only thing we can really mark it down for is a lack of premium materials such as aluminium, but even that would be unfair at this price. Take a look at our Apple iPad mini vs Google Nexus 7 2 comparison review. (See also: .)

Nexus 7 (2014 review): Hardware and connectivity

The highlight of the Nexus 7 is its amazing screen. The 7in IPS display’s resolution has been cranked up from 1280x800 pixels to 1920x1200, giving it a mammoth pixel density of 323ppi. It results in a display which is simply stunning to look at and without a doubt the best of any 7in tablet around at the moment. Apple’s Retina iPad mini 2 has more pixels, but they’re spread over a larger area, so the pixel density is basically the same.

Google has dropped nVidia for Qualcomm and the 2013 Nexus 7 is equipped with a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core Krait processor and the memory has been doubled to 2 GB.

You might be disappointed to learn that Google is still only shipping the Nexus 7 in either 16- or 32 GB capacities, and there's still no microSD card slot for expansion. It's one of the only downsides to this tablet but you still get twice as much storage as the entry-level iPad mini for £80 less (£239 vs £319).

Although you are paying £40 more for an extra 16GB of storage, it’s worth it if you plan to install lots of apps, take lots of photos and videos and store a collection of music and movies on the Nexus 7.

There’s no infrared so, unlike some Android devices, you can’t use the Nexus 7 as a TV remote control, but you do get dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi (although not 11.ac), Bluetooth 4.0 LE (low energy), GPS, NFC and Qi wireless charging (although you’ll need to buy a separate Qi-compatible wireless charger if you want to use this feature). If you need it, a 4G LTE model (with 32GB of storage) costs £299.

Plus, there are both front and rear cameras, the front being a 1.2Mp webcam and a 5Mp autofocus shooter at the back.

Nexus 7 (2014 review): Software (Android 4.4 KitKat)

The Nexus 7 shipped with Android version 4.3 Jelly Bean and then received an update to 4.4 KitKat a few months later. Many people were expecting Android 5.0 (Key Lime Pie) but at least new versions will be rolled out to the Nexus 7 quickly – one of the advantages of being a Google-branded device. It's just possible that Google will allow an update to the Nexus 7 even if it brings out a Nexus 8. But KitKat is already a great OS.

KitKat brought with it some fairly minor updates and, true to Google’s word – the Nexus 5 was the only device to get some extra KitKat features. This means the Nexus 7 doesn’t have the transparent status bars or the opaque background in the apps screen: it sticks with solid black ones.

Most of the updates are concerned with making Android easier to use. For instance, you can now access Location settings from the quick-launch area when you swipe down from the top-right corner. Another addition is Tap & Pay, which uses the built-in NFC for making purchases. However, there are still very few places where you can use this feature in the UK.

Many of KitKat’s features rely on developers adding them to their apps, so the new ‘immersive’ full-screen mode works only in apps which have been updated to take advantage of the feature. For example, Google’s Play Books app (left) uses the full screen, but Amazon’s Kindle app doesn’t.

Introduced with Android 4.3 were 'restricted profiles'. This is an extension of merely having multiple user accounts on one device. With restricted profiles you can essentially manage the apps and content which is accessible via a certain user account. This is great if you want your children to use the Nexus 7 without accidentally spending your money or accessing unsuitable content.

As you’d expect, you get all of Google’s apps pre-loaded including the Play store.

Nexus 7 (2014 review): Screen

Everything looks great on the full HD screen. Since it’s an IPS panel viewing angles are excellent, contrast is good and colours are vibrant. It’s covered in Corning Gorilla Glass and seems to us to be tough enough to withstand everyday use – our six-month-old tablet still looks like new. (We have kept it in an , which certainly helps.)

The screen is highly responsive, exactly like an iPad’s. There’s no delay when tapping on buttons or links, and it’s also very precise: you can tap on a link in a list without having to first zoom in.

The screen is also ideal for watching videos thanks to its wide aspect ratio.

Nexus 7 (2014 review): Performance

The quad-core processor combined with the latest version of Android means the Nexus 7 feels super slick and responsive. It even boots up quicker than your average tablet, taking just over 30 seconds.  

In our synthetic benchmark tests the Nexus 7 stormed though Geekbench 2 and GLBenchmark 2.7, with record scores of 2651 points and, thanks to the 400MHz Adreno 320 GPU, 41fps in Egypt HD, respectively.

These number are higher than the impressive Nexus 10 and formidable iPad 4, but fall short of the latest tablets including the and cheaper Advent Vega Tegra Note 7. For reference, the original Nexus 7 scored 1452 points in Geekbench 2, 14fps in Egypt HD and 1682ms in SunSpider.

Even against more recent tablets in 2014 the Nexus 7 still shines.

A time of 1136ms in SunSpider 1.0 is decent, but nowhere near the fastest tablets out there. That said, browsing the web isn’t a sluggish experience at all. Far from it. Web pages load without much delay at all. In fact, the pre-installed Chrome browser likes to spend a second or so loading the page in the background and then displaying a rendered page instead of displaying a few elements and then adding others in while you wait.

Nexus 7 (2014 review):  Battery life

Strangely, the 2013 Nexus 7 has a smaller battery than its predecessor, at 3,950mAh versus 4,326mAh (that’s 15Wh vs 16Wh if you prefer). Nevertheless, Google touts an extra hour of 'active use' with a maximum of nine hours.

In our battery test, the Nexus 7 lasted 8 hours, 47 minutes on a single charge while looping a locally stored HD video. That's a good result which is better than many 7in tablets but a little behind the 10 hours, 12 minutes which we measured with last year's Nexus 7.

Like just about all tablets, it takes a good while to charge back up if you’re using it at the same time. With it powered off, we measured just over 3.5 hours to charge from completely empty to 100 percent.

However, one thing we didn’t like much was the Nexus 7’s power drain when left in standby for a few days. More often than not it would be dead or close to it, even when it had only been receiving emails and other notifications via Wi-Fi. We’ve never experienced that with an iPad or Kindle Fire tablet: they seem much more efficient at sipping power in standby with Wi-Fi enabled.

Nexus 7 (2014 review): Cameras

Yes, you read it right. The Nexus 7 (2013) now has two cameras rather than just one. The front remains at 1.2Mp and the new rear camera is a 5Mp snapper with auto-focus but no flash.

Although we don't particularly advocate tablet photography, the Nexus 7 (2013) is small enough that using the rear camera for taking photos and videos is more appropriate than usual.

The bad news is that, as with the Nexus 5, photos aren’t particularly great. Snap away outdoors in good light and the resulting images are good enough for sharing online, but you’re going to be a bit disappointed with prints. What was surprising was the sheer amount of noise present when viewed at 100% in Photoshop. It’s clearly visible in blue skies, while prevalent coloured noise ruins shadowy areas.

The autofocus and white balance don’t always get it right, and moving subjects such as children, almost always appear as a blur in anything but the best light. There’s no HDR option.

Below are two 100 percent crops from the original image (the image above has been resized to fit your screen).

Video can be shot at up to 1080p resolution and looks good if you hold the Nexus 7 nice and steady. However, panning while filming introduces a lot of unwanted jerkiness to the footage. Detail levels and sharpness are more than acceptable if you keep the tablet still, however. Plus, you can take still images while filming by tapping the screen.

Two extra features are panorama and photosphere. The former captures a panoramic image as you slowly turn the tablet, while the latter allows you to capture a full 360-degree scene which you can scroll around (including up and down) afterwards. You’ll need steady hands and subjects at least 30 feet away to get reasonable results, though.

Nexus 7 (2014 review): conclusion

Even after almost six months of use, we still love the Nexus 7. There are plenty of people, including in the comments below, who have had a bad experience with the Nexus 7, but we’ve tested two units and had no problems with either (and one was sourced from ebuyer, and was therefore out of Google PR control).

It has an excellent screen, long battery life (with the caveat that it runs out if you leave it on standby), superb performance and top build quality.

It isn’t the cheapest around, but you get what you pay for. If you’d prefer to use £60 worth of Clubcard vouchers to get a Tesco Hudl, you’ll be happy enough, but given a choice between the two, we’d always take the Nexus.

The form factor is ideal for reading books, and the new full screen mode – in Play Books at least – means no distracting status bars. Equally, the screen is perfect for videos and TV shows when held in landscape. Plus, the stereo speakers produce decent quality audio. At just 290g, you can comfortably hold the tablet for a couple of hours, and it’s small enough to slip into a pocket in a rucksack.

It’s a shame there’s no microSD slot for adding to the limited on-board storage, but at least the microUSB charging port can be used with ‘On The Go’ USB cables which means you can attach a flash drive full of movies – it’s hardly neat, but offers a workaround. Similarly, you can also buy a compatible cable to provide an HDMI output should you want to hook the Nexus 7 up to an HDTV.

If there’s any real disappointment, it’s the Nexus 7’s cameras. They produce acceptable photos and videos, but that’s all. (See also: )

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Fitbit Surge review – hands on with Fitbit’s fitness super watch, plus unboxing photos

Fitbit Surge review – updated to include longer, hands-on testing and exclusive unboxing photos of the new GPS, heart-rate and fitness-fan activity tracker wristband. The Fitbit Surge is available for order in the UK now.

Both of ’s two new activity trackers (Charge HR and Surge) feature heart-rate monitors that take into the gym and out on the track. The Fitbit Charge HR is aimed at the active user, and the Fitbit Surge is packed with features for the really committed sports and fitness nut, sorry I mean enthusiast.

Alongside the heart-rate monitors both feature the usual other fitness and activity-tracking features: step count, floors climbed, calories burned and active minutes.

We had hands-on time with both new fitness wristbands, and here is our review of the Fitbit Surge. We’ll update this review when we have had longer to test all the Surge’s features, but we can tell a lot from our time spent putting the Surge through its paces.

The Fitbit Surge is quite a different device to Fitbit’s other trackers – such as the  and – and indeed most other fitness wristbands. See all .

The Surge features all the functions of the other Fitbits and adds a slew of other sports features and a chunkier more watch-like design. It’s not exclusively for the more serious fitness user but only they will use all of its more sports-orientated features.

Like the others the Surge is an activity-tracker wristband that displays real-time fitness stats. While the Charge costs £99.99 and the Fitbit Charge HR is priced at £119.99, the Surge will cost £199.99. That extra £100 marks the difference in form and function that the Surge offers compared to other trackers. You might also be interested in Fitbit's Aria scales that sync with your account, and measure weight, body fat percentage and BMI; read our .

Fitbit Surge: sports “super watch”

The Fitbit Surge looks like a watch, and Fitbit is calling it a “sleek fitness super watch”,  although compared to most trackers it’s not actually that sleek. It's actually quite chunky, but that adds to its serious tool status for the fitness adict. Although wide it is lightweight.

It has a full eight sensors – the 3-axis accelerometers, gyroscope, compass, ambient light sensor, GPS and heart rate – which means it can offer much more varied and indepth fitness-tracking functions. For a full breakdown and comparison of all the Fitbits see our feature .

Like all Fitbits it has a MEMS 3-axis accelerometer that measures motion patterns to determine your steps taken, distance travelled, active minutes, and calories burned. Just like the Charge and Charge HR it also features an altimeter that measures floors climbed, to push you to take a more challenging route on your next walk or run.

Aside from the heart-rate monitoring (much more on which below) the Surge beats all other Fitbits and most other activity trackers with its wide range of multi-sports and exercise functions.

It can record multi-sport activities such as running, cross-training, hiking and cardio/strength workouts, and let users see comprehensive summaries with tailored metrics, workout intensity based on heart rate and calories burned. This is where the beauty of the larger swipable display really comes in, with on-the-wrist, real-time stats and summaries.

Other Fitbit wristbands can use the GPS in your smartphone to track run, walk and hike stats and map routes. The Surge has its own built-in GPS. As the Mobile Run features work with iPhone only right now having the built-in GPS makes the tracker even more handy for Android users. And anyone running, jumping or lifting weights would probably prefer to do it without having to lug their smartphone around with them all the time. The Surge allows for this too.

Mobile Run and Surge are great for recording distance, average pace and split pace times. It also offers music controls so you can use it to select and shuffle songs on your iPhone. You can view runs from the past four weeks. You tap specific runs for an expanded view, where you can view steps, calories, and active minutes taken during your Mobile Run.

The Surge measures the duration and quality of your sleep, which is a key aspect of leading a fit and healthy lifestyle. Sleep detection is now automatic, and works well. There’s a vibrating alarm to wake you – but not your partner – at the times you set beforehand. You can set the alarm to go off at different times and on different days, in case you want a lie-in on the weekend – or get up earlier for a run, of course!

If your phone is nearby you can set the Fitbit Surge, Charge and HR to show incoming call notifications using Caller ID. The top-of-the-range Fitbit Surge goes further yet, with built-in text notifications and music control, so you don’t even need your phone nearby.

Futbit Surge: read the manual

All Fitbit trackers are pretty much ready to go, and are simple to set up and operate. The Surge has enough deeper features to warrant reading the user manual, so you get the most from the tracker. You don't get a thick manual with the Surge, but can read it or download the here.

Fitbit Surge: Heart Rate

Its big attraction is the continuous heart-rate monitoring, which it shares with the cheaper Charge HR but uses more easily with its touchscreen display – lacking in the actually sleek HR.

Unlike other heart-rate monitors the Surge (and HR) doesn’t require a device to be strapped to your chest. It’s all done on the wrist, which means you’ll get a more complete picture of your heart rate as it is on all day and night.

Surge features Fitbit’s proprietary PurePulse optical heart-rate technology, which uses safe LED lights on the underside of the wristband to detect blood volume and capillary-size changes under pressure.

When your heart beats, your capillaries expand and contract based on blood volume changes. PurePulse LED lights on the Surge reflect onto the skin to detect blood volume changes.

Fitbit says that the LED lights are safe for skin and are on the visible spectrum, similar to the domestic house lights. They are very low power so will not burn the skin, and are programmed to shut down if your device freezes or doesn’t see the right signal.

PurePulse allows users to track workout intensity and calorie burn with algorithms that provide insight through interactive charts and graphs on the app and Fitbit dashboard.

It stores heart rate data at 1-second intervals during exercise tracking and at 5-second intervals other times.

The Surge’s smart display tells you if you're in one of three heart-rate zones. These zones can help you optimize your workout by targeting different training intensities, and are calculated based on a percentage of your estimated maximum heart rate.

Fitbit calculates your max heart rate with the common formula of 220 minus your age. When you’re “out of zone”  – that is below 50 percent of your maximum heart rate – your heart rate may still be elevated but not enough to be considered exercise.

During low- to medium-intensity Fitbit classes this as the Fat Burn zone, measured at 50-69 percent of maximum heart rate. This is called the Fat Burn zone because a higher percentage of calories are burned from fat, but the total calorie burn rate is lower.

The optimum Cardio zone is at 70-84 percent of maximum heart rate, and is the medium- to high-intensity exercise zone. Fitbit describes this zone as when you are “pushing yourself but not straining”.

The Peak heart-rate zone is the high-intensity exercise zone for short intense sessions that improve performance and speed – it is greater than 85 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Instead of using the three default zones you can create a custom heart-rate zone on your computer’s Fitbit dashboard.

Resting heart rate is traditionally measured just after waking up before you start moving around. The Fitbit Surge measures your resting heart rate throughout your day during periods when you are still.

Fitbit Surge: software

The Surge is best appreciated alongside the excellent software: its free app and desktop dashboard, both of which display fantastic graphs and stats  that show you how you are performing to your set targets.

The Fitbit Surge is compatible with iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices.

 

Fitbit Surge: specs

The Surge has a very respectable 7-day battery life, better than the Charge HR’s 5+ days. In our tests we did notice that prolonged use of the GPS function does drain the battery much faster than without. Using the GPS frequently shortened battery life to three days.

While the Charge and Charge HR are both water resistant up to one Atmosphere, the Surge can apparently withstand five Atmospheres, which theoretically means it can be submerged to 10 metres, but in reality it means each will withstand not much more than splashes and a quick dousing. Neither should be worn in the shower or when swimming. The Surge is more water resistant (five Atmosphere), which means it is wearable around household sinks, while playing sports and while swimming in shallow water. Experts recommend that you don't wear it while bathing, snorkeling or scuba diving. For more on water resistance ATM ratings see this guide for watch owners.

If you often exercise in wet conditions – or are a profuse sweater – then the Surge’s extra water resistance is a benefit worth paying for.

Fitbit Surge: design

The designs of the Surge is quite different to Fitbit’s other wristbands. It’s far more like a sports watch than a simple band.

Its backlit LCD touch screen display boats customisable watch faces, and navigating through real-time stats, workout apps and alarms is fully swipable – just like you’re used to with a smartphone or tablet. If you thought the jump from the Flex to the Charge was impressive, you'll love the Surge display.

The Surge measures 34mm wide, and its display uses much of this space, measuring 24.36mm by 20.88mm. You can buy it in either Small, Large or X-Large wristband sizes.

The Surge lacks the minimalist design of the other Fitbit trackers, although it's not flashy. Its width, to incorporate the larger screen, probably precludes you wearing both the Surge and a regular wristwatch, which is what many owners of the smaller Fitbits do.

The Surge features a watch-like strap and buckle, which feel less likely to slip off than earlier Fitbit wristbands. It feels as secure, which is important if you’re pushing your fitness and sports performance.

The Surge is available in three colours: Black, Blue, and Tangerine.

Some users have reported getting a skin rash from the Fitbit Surge, which also occured with Fitbit's Force wristband that was later discontinued.

Fitbit replied in a statement: "The reactions we are seeing with new products are not uncommon with jewellery or wearable devices that stay in contact with the skin for extended periods. According to our consulting dermatologists, they are likely from wearing the band too tight, sweat, water, or soap behind held against the skin under the device: or from pressure or friction against the skin and should resolve quickly when users take a break from the device, usually within hours or days."

Fitbit Surge: further hands-on testing results

was invited to order the limited release of the Fitbit Surge. Here are his Fitbit Surge unboxing photos.

 

The small box the Fitbit Surge came in is nicely packaged. It doesn't feel cheap or generic in the least. It's a high-end device and it comes packaged as such. This adds to its "super watch" designation, with the Surge presented as a quality timepiece rather than just a wristband.

 

The Fitbit Surge comes half charged so you can turn it on immediately and get a glimpse of its features. Further removal shows the instructions and safety precautions and a quick start guide. Also, there’s a wireless USB dongle for syncing to your PC or laptop, and a proprietary USB cable for charging. We were somewhat disappointed to discover that the Surge has yet another different charger. Now each Fitbit tracker has its own different charging cable, even the Charge and Charge HR! Lose the charging cable and you need to go buy a new cable (around £17) from the Fitbit Store only.

First you need to follow the quick guide instructions, and go to  where you download the Windows or Mac software. Don’t forget to plug the special dongle into your computer.

 

Like most trackers it has a short delay between steps and then catches up quickly. Sam compared the Surge with the Galaxy Note's S health app and both were close to each other.

 

Simply swipe across the watch to the data you want to see. For text you can press the upper-right button as they come in, or hit home and, once the settings appear, you can press the upper-right button to show the last ten messages you have received.

While iPhone users will immediately have access to all the new features, Android users will lack the music player controls, which according to Fitbit may be added later.

When you first set up the Fitbit Surge you will see these steps for instructions.

You should wear the tracker on your non-dominant wrist.

Fitbit recommends removing the wristband regularly to stop possible skin reactions.

One of the best things about the Surge's large screen is its swipable navigation.

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