Review: Moga Ace Power iPhone controller review

The Moga Ace Power iOS 7 controller has an advantage when it comes to Made For iPhone (MFi) controllers: it's the one that looks most like something a gamer might actually want.

It has everything important to gamers: two triggers and two shoulder buttons, two analog sticks (though they're really more nubs than sticks), and extra juice to power players' phones when they run out of batteries.

With its plethora of buttons, it's already at an advantage against one of its main competitors, the Logitech Powershell, which lacks a second analog input and has only two shoulder buttons.

But despite its obvious advantages, the Moga Ace Power iPhone controller is far from perfect, and it has some major flaws when compared with its other main rival, the SteelSeries Stratus.

Let's break it down.

Design

The Moga Ace Power may have everything that gamers need in a modern controller, but it's probably not going to win any design awards.

Its cheap-feeling plastic body is one big part of the problem. Unlike the Logitech Powershell, the Moga doesn't have any fancy textures or rubberized grips. As a result it feels somewhat like a toy, despite its more robust capabilities.

Of course, that's something the average iOS gamer may or may not care about. As long as it works, who cares if it feels a little cheap? But at $80, consumers might balk.

The Moga's issue problems stem from its split design. The controller is two halves, which slide apart so you can put an iPhone in, but lock together only minimally when it's not in use. This means that the two plastic halves are constantly sliding and rattling loosely against one another, creating noise and moving around inside your bag or pocket.

Not to mention that garish orange hue, which is just brutal on the eyes.

Things get better when it comes to actually getting your iPhone inside the Moga Ace Power. The controller's halves slide apart easily, and then the left side ratchets just a little further, creating ample room to snap your phone into the lightning connector.

Once the iPhone is in, a switch on the back of the controller prevents that left side from sliding away again, ensuring the phone stays in place and doesn't fall out while you're using it.

But another downside is that the Moga Ace Power is the biggest of the three main MFi controllers by far. The Logitech Powershell is much slimmer, while the Stratus is positively tiny. If you're worried about portability that may be an issue.

Controls

The controls are where the Moga Ace Power blows its competitors right out of the water, especially the Logitech Powershell. And for many players who are willing to drop this much money on an iPhone controller, that's going to be the most important factor.

It has a full suite of buttons: dual analog sticks, two triggers, two shoulder buttons, four face buttons (A, B, X, Y), a directional pad, and a pause button. There's also a battery status button that lights up four LED lights to show how much power the Moga has left, a switch that turns the controller's device-charging ability on and off, and a small button on the front-left that activates your phone's lock button.

The dual analog inputs are arguably the most important part, and luckily the Moga Ace Power's nubs are excellent. If you've ever used a Nintendo 3DS you'll know what to expect, and it's high praise to say that the Moga's nubs are close to Nintendo's in terms of quality.

Sadly the same can't be said for the rest of this iPhone controller's buttons. The d-pad is mushy and feels cheap, and the triggers have a bit too much depth, requiring too much time and force to push inward completely.

The face buttons are workable, though they're certainly not exceptional. Same goes for the shoulder buttons, which are perfectly adequate but unremarkable. And the pause button is rather awkwardly placed on the left, whereas most players are probably used to having it on the right or closer to the center.

Unlike the Logitech Powershell, with its awful analog D-pad, the Ace Power won't make your hands tired, even after hours of playing. Likewise you won't feel cramped, unlike with the tiny SteelSeries Stratus.

Connectivity and battery

Like the Logitech Powershell, the Moga Ace Power controller connects easily to your iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, or 5th-gen iPod Touch. Unlike the Powershell, the Ace Power is also compatible with the iPhone 5C.

Unfortunately, any older devices, including the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, are left in the dust. And given the form of the Moga controller it's also not compatible with the iPad or iPad mini, unlike the SteelSeries Stratus.

But if you have a device that does work with the Moga Ace Power, you'll find it simple and intuitive to slide the controller apart, snap your phone in, and get gaming. Whereas the Stratus requires a sometimes lengthy and often confusing Bluetooth pairing process, the Ace Power, like its competitor from Logitech, is pure plug-in-and-play.

Moga's official documentation claims the Ace Power's battery lasts over 18 hours if you don't use it to charge your phone. We didn't test it for that long, but after about three hours of play and several minutes of charging all four of the controller's battery status LED lights lit up still.

Moga concedes that battery life will vary if you're using the Ace Power to charge your device while you play.

Games

It's difficult to find a comprehensive list of all the games that are compatible with iOS 7 MFi controllers in general, much less for specific controllers. Even the lists put out by the controllers' makers aren't updated frequently and rarely actually include all the games that are compatible.

There is, however, a helpful third party iOS app called Game Controller Apps that lists exactly which games are compatible with MFi controllers.

Using the app it's easy to see all the high profile games that support the Moga Ace Power, including Angry Birds Go, Anomaly 2, Asphalt 8, Bastion, Call of Duty: Strike Team, Dead Trigger 2, Edge, FIFA 14, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Jet Car Stunts 2, Limbo, Minecraft, Oceanhorn, Real Racing 3, Knight of the Old Republic, Sonic 2 and Sonic Racing, The Wolf Among Us, Tomb Raider, The Walking Dead season 2, and dozens of others.

Games that require two analog inputs to be properly played show off the Moga Ace Power's strengths. Playing Minigore 2: Zombies and Dead Trigger 2, two very different zombie shooters that share the need for a second analog stick, is great with the Ace Power.

Playing first-person shooters has never felt right on a touch screen, but thanks to the Ace Power (and its SteelSeries rival, which also has dual control sticks), that's no longer the case. Dead Trigger 2 feels even closer to being a full console game when you're using physical controls, and the Ace Power is perfect for it.

Even games that don't require two analog sticks benefit from the Moga controller's responsive analog nubs. It's easy to steer in driving games like Angry Birds Go and Asphalt 8, and even a smaller game like Death Worm benefits from the physical controls.

When the analog inputs are this good, they're the best option in any game, from Joe Danger Infinity to the classic Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Every game we played with the Moga Ace Power felt better than playing with touch screen controls.

We liked

The Moga Ace Power iPhone controller has every button that modern gamers expect, and its dual analog control nubs in particular are impressively responsive and useful. Every game feels better with the Ace Power than with touch screen controls.

In addition the ability to charge your phone while you're using the controller is great, and the Moga's battery life appears to be impressive as well. And it's nice that your device's lock button is still easily accessible and that the Ace Power is compatible with the iPhone 5C.

There are plenty of games available for it as well, and more and more are being updated with MFi support all the time.

We disliked

Unfortunately Moga skimped a bit on the Ace Power's build quality, and its rattling, jangly plastic will likely get on some players' nerves. In addition, some of the buttons, including the directional pad and the triggers, are not up to snuff. That makes it hard to part with a $80 for this controller.

It's also a shame that the Ace Power is only compatible with iOS devices equipped with lightning connectors, though you can't really fault it for that against its competitors since that's true of Logitech's and SteelSeries' options as well.

However, the SteelSeries Stratus is also compatible with iPads and iPad minis, which gives it a leg up compared to the Moga Ace Power.

Final verdict

The Moga Ace Power is ultimately a solid choice for iOS gaming enthusiasts who don't mind jumping on the MFi bandwagon a bit early. It's certainly a much better choice than the Logitech PowerShell, and now that Moga has dropped the price from $99 to $79 it's a no-brained if you're choosing between the two. As of this writing not every outlet has this updated price, so make sure to shop around so you don't overpay.

However, if you can get over the SteelSeries Stratus's minuscule size, that controller provides many of the same benefits as the Ace Power, with the added bonus of iPad and iPad mini support. So it comes down to this: would you rather have a larger, plastic controller that turns your iPhone into a Game Boy, or something with bluetooth for greater iOS versatility?

Review: Fitbit Force review

Fitbit has always been a few pedometer steps ahead of other activity tracking devices, but like the average person's fitness routine, Fitbit One and Fitbit Flex were still a work in progress. It was easy to be excited about in the beginning, but hard to stick with. Ironically, that's exactly how most people feel about the gym.

Fitbit Force changes all of that. The startup company's latest activity and sleep tracking gadget marries the best features of the One and the Flex and throws in some smartwatch ideas too.

Sure, the still-available Fitbit One has most of these features, but its clip-on implementation means it is easy to lose or forget to use everyday. Nothing makes you drop a routine more than literally dropping and losing a thumb-drive-sized device.

Fitbit Flex remedied this by taking cues from the Nike FuelBand and Jawbone Up, fashioning the activity tracker into a wristband. Sadly, it lost a few features in the transition, namely the One's floor-tracking altimeter and OLED display.

The Fitbit Force is more like the Fitbit tour de Force, combining all of the best features with convenience so that everyone's interest in quantified self lasts longer than the average New Year's commitment.

Display

The OLED screen on the Fitbit Force is small, but it ends up being the biggest new feature on the wristband. It displays steps, distance, calories burned, very active minutes, floors climbed and the time.

These six numbers are six more than the Fitbit Flex gave us; it had five LED lights that indicated the percentage of steps taken through the day. Five little dots don't exactly motivate you to your goal like actual metrics do.

Seeing 8,000 steps when your goal is 10,000 steps might make you go outside and jog right before the midnight reset. It's much more encouraging to see this number climb in real time on your wrist. Four out of five dots doesn't inspire the same rise-from-the-couch drive.

The time, the only number that can't be sped up with activity, makes wearing the Fitbit Force even more practical. It doubles as a wristwatch and cuts down on checking a smartphone for the current time.

Fitbit finally keeps pace with the Nike FuelBand, which also offers the time, though Nike does it through a more futuristic-looking LED that spans the length of the rubber bracelet. The Force's OLED is less flashy, measuring just .75 of an inch by .375 of an inch. But it displays distance, floors climbed and very active minutes, three metrics the Nike band leaves out.

Design

Don't let the "Force" name fool you. Unlike going to the gym, you won't feel forced to wear the latest Fitbit wristband. Once you put the water-resistant Fitbit Force on, it's thankfully easy to forget about.

That contrasts with the Nike FuelBand, even though it also weighs 30 grams. The difference is that Fitbit Force inherits the previous model's flexible body and slightly wider design. The FuelBand is made of stiff rubber and is a little more concentrated on the wrist.

The Fitbit Force, which comes in two colours, black and slate, is also top-heavy. It thins out as it wraps around a wrist, making it look and feel more like a real wristwatch. That makes it easier to wear when typing compared to the evenly distributed weight of the Nike FuelBand, which looks like a less fashionable bracelet.

Comfort and style may seem like an afterthought compared to more tech-pleasing features like a bright OLED display and a floor-tracking altimeter. But if you don't feel like wearing a fitness device every hour of the day, chances are it's going to collect dust faster than the Wii Fit fitness board.

The only drawback to the Fitbit Force design is the clasp. Same as the Flex, it's hard to insert the pair of gray prongs into two of the nine oval holes at first. You almost need a third hand to make it happen. It does get easier with practice and the long battery life means taking the device off to charge isn't a daily chore.

Interface

Fitbit Force tracks steps, distance, calories burned, very active minutes and floors climbed. The accuracy is along the lines of the Flex. It seems to round up the number of steps taken, inflating the total compared to the FuelBand and Jawbone Up. But it's less likely to count punching air as a step, so it evens out.

All of that doesn't matter if it doesn't compel you to continually achieve goals. The good news is that Fitbit's mobile app and web-based dashboard are the unsung motivators of this wearable technology. The Force makes the process of syncing even easier thanks to Bluetooth 4.0. The tracker and the easy-to-read progress charts are constantly connected without gratuitously running down the battery.

There are also tabs for seeing how Fitbit-owning friends are doing, weight tracking via Fitbit Aria or Withings scale, fun-to-earn badges and a food plan to keep track of diet and calorie intake. Every one of these charts is an automatic process except for the food plan.

You still have to manually log in the food you eat. Fitbit, unlike Nike, opened its API to partners, but there's nothing out there that automatically tracks food intake. Not even the HAPIfork cuts it here.

Even more challenging is the fact that the native food library for Fitbit isn't regionalised, meaning you either get the American, French, German or Spanish food database. You can work around this by using a third party app like My Fitness Pal, but it's still a manual effort, and frankly, you'll probably give up after a few days.

Sleep tracking

Not moving around is the goal of Fitbit Force's sleep tracking functionality. Pressing in the device's one-and-only button for a few seconds when in bed transitions it into a timer mode that begins counting up. When you wake up, holding down the button stops the timer.

Charting restless moments and deep sleep could be helpful, but the sleep tracker's accuracy is a bit suspect. This is something has been consistent in the Fitbit Flex and One. The Jawbone Up or even an inexpensive app like Sleep Cycle on a smartphones seem to do a better job of differentiating between REM sleep, restless moments and being wide awake.

All Fitbit devices with sleep tracking have "normal" and "sensitive" settings, the latter of which we recommend. The default normal setting often conveys the sleep you wish you had gotten the night before.

We'd also like a bit more evidence that the device is in sleep mode. Originally it seemed like we just kicked off a stopwatch (which we did in a way), and it took a trip to the manual to confirm that this was how you kick off sleep tracking.

The silent alarm

The returning silent alarm is the more useful sleep-related feature. The Fitbit Force wristband can vibrate and wake you up at a specified time without having to hear a nagging alarm clock.

That's extra handy if you are sleeping next to someone who doesn't have to wake up at the same time as you.

Waking up to the Fitbit Force's silent alarm is almost as if someone is gently tugging on your arm to get you to wake up. It's as peaceful as waking up early can get.

That's good and all, but if you happen to be someone who relishes a snooze button, you'll need to be careful you don't switch off the silent alarm by mistake.

Battery life

Having Bluetooth 4.0 on board the Fitbit Force makes life easier because the low-energy protocol can constantly sync to the Fitbit app without requiring daily charges.

The Fitbit Force specs promise seven to ten days of battery life and generally that's what we found in our tests. It also fully charged within an hour. That bests what the our to five days from the FuelBand, though Nike's SE version is expected to match the 7 to 10 day figure.

The extended battery life is good because if there's one misstep with this device it's including a proprietary USB charging cable. It's too short and extremely easy to lose. You don't want to be carrying it around with you day-to-day.

Compatibility

Burned by Nike's refusal to make FuelBand Android compatible? Fitbit works with four Google-powered smartphones and tablets in addition to the Bluetooth 4.0-equipped iPhone 4S and iPad 3 and up.

Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Note 10.1 are all compatible with Fitbit's line of wireless wristbands.

Everyone else has to sync the Fitbit Force with the Bluetooth USB dongle that comes in the box. It's another thing that can be lost and it's a little more cumbersome of an operation, but at least it does the job wirelessly.

For some reason, the Fitbit Force, like previous models won't sync natively with a computer that already has Bluetooth built in. That would have been less obtrusive than a USB nub.

Fitbit Force vs Nike FuelBand

Nike just announced the FuelBand SE, but Fitbit got out in front of its main competition with the Force. The sneaker-maker might not have enough fuel to catch up, either, as it merely tweaked its hardware.

Fitbit, with an OLED display to call its own, features more metrics on the watch face, includes an in-depth online dashboard and tracks quality of sleep - the new FuelBand only tracks time slept.

Its dashboard is a brilliant motivator, even if it's sleep tracking stats are a little off and the food plan is still a manual process. Nike doesn't include a way to track foods eaten, floors climbed, very active minutes, calories in vs out, weight, or sleep quality.

Fitbit trusts fitness app rivals like RunKeeper and MapMyRun and, more importantly, trusts users to tinker with the stats by logging custom activities. This is essential because swimming and bicycling don't count toward goals and metric totals otherwise. There's nothing worse than owning a FuelBand and not getting credit for these common calorie-burning activities.

Finally, Fitbit Force is more comfortable to wear thanks to its flexible and lightweight design over the harder rubber-feeling of the Nike FuelBand. It doesn't look like that will change when the Nike FuelBand SE comes out next month.

Notifications

Fitbit Force has more features than its competition, but the company is going the extra mile by adding incoming call notifications. It's officially crossing the threshold into smartwatch territory.

A Caller ID notification would be helpful for those moments when you're busy cooking food and your smartphone is in another room charging. You'll know if it's a call worth rushing over to pick up or one that you'd rather send to voicemail.

Fitbit is promising to add smart call notifications in time for the Force's first firmware update. It's supposed to happen "soon." We weren't able to try the incoming call functionality, but will update this review when we can test it out.

When it does come about, it's going to be for iOS 7 devices and iPhone 4S and up. Fitbit told us that "the team is always looking to expand the features on more devices and platforms," but that it's only destined for iOS 7 at the moment.

Fitbit Force is 10,000 steps in the right direction for an activity tracking device. It added a much-needed OLED display and floor-tracking features of the Fitbit One to the form factor of the Fitbit Flex. Separately, these two devices were imperfect. Now, in a comeback story worthy of the Hollywood biopic treatment, the startup has what it takes to challenge Nike and Jawbone.

We liked

For $169, it tracks more data than the FuelBand ($189) and lays out your activity history in an advanced dashboard that drives you to meet goals and earn badges. It supports a few Android devices and also trusts users enough to let them to log activities that weren't counted by the tracker. There's nothing less motivating than feeling cheated by a rubber band at the end of a weightlifting workout.

We disliked

Fitbit didn't get everything right. The sleep monitoring hasn't gotten any more accurate since we first tested out the Fitbit One, and the smartphone compatibility list has hardly grown. Matters are further complicated by the hard-to-button clasp and proprietary charging cable.

Verdict

These drawbacks pale in comparison to the benefits that can be achieved by being motivated by Fitbit Force - no pain, no gain. The Force is still strong with this one, at least until iWatch or Google Gem take activity tracking to the next level.

Review: Android 4.4 KitKat

Introduction

Everyone was expecting Key Lime Pie to serve as the delicious moniker for the next version of Android. Google surprised us all by bucking tradition and releasing Android 4.4 under the name KitKat.

Version 4.0 started life as Ice Cream Sandwich, but the last three decimal additions came under the Jelly Bean banner. This new version was obviously deemed different enough to snag a new nickname, but not different enough to merit a jump to version 5.0.

That 0.1 bump hardly does it justice. Don't be fooled: this is an important step up for Android. KitKat is super-smooth, the UI is refined and elegant, there are improvements to the long-neglected calling and messaging side of the platform, a new focus on productivity, and your fortune-telling digital assistant is brought front and centre as Google Now reaches maturity.

General surprise in the tech world wasn't just based on the erroneous supposition that Key Lime Pie had to be next; there were also some raised eyebrows at the idea of Google entering into a tawdry cross-licensing deal with Nestle which would see a flood of Android-shaped KitKats hitting the shops offering buyers the chance to win Nexus 7 tablets or Google Play credit.

According to Google the promotion was its idea and no money changed hands. With Nestle producing 50 million Android KitKat bars it certainly looks like a sweet deal for them.

Naming conventions aside, the 4.4 update is about addressing some of the Android criticisms that simply won't go away and it does so with aplomb.

There's a real focus on the consumer here, with a smattering of useful new features, a noticeable bump in performance, and some optimization to ensure that budget hardware is not left behind.

Android 4.4 is easily the best version of the platform to date, and Google has left the ball firmly in the OEMs' court when it comes to rolling out the upgrades.

Leading the field by extending the update beyond its Nexus line to the Moto G also neatly illustrates the move to improve the Android experience on low-end, affordable hardware.

First impressions

KitKat really makes a mockery of the idea that iOS 7 is more refined than Android. This version of the platform is impressively fast, with stylish transitions, and an intuitive feel that masks the potential complexity.

There's a paring back of the notification bar, introducing translucency and context awareness, and enabling you to reclaim every pixel of your display for whatever you're doing.

There are a few new features here, and not all of them are perfect, but, for the most part Google has cherry-picked improvements and refined them.

The contrast between the bloated OEM launchers and stock Android could hardly be starker, but there are still a few things that manufacturers like Samsung and LG could teach Google (split-screen apps is an obvious one).

The familiar white Google logo, followed by four pulsing colourful circles, still greets you on booting up, but the process has sped up dramatically as the platform has matured. When I checked version 4.1 on a Galaxy Nexus it took 34 seconds. The Nexus 4 running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean clocked in at 19 seconds.

Android 4.4 took 21 seconds to boot up on the Nexus 5 we used for testing. Not quite as fast as the Nexus 4, but when you consider that my Galaxy S3 running version 4.3 of Android took just shy of 40 seconds to boot up, you get a feel for how speedy that is.

As the home screen comes into view, you can immediately detect the lighter feel that Google was shooting for. The status bar icons at the top are now white.

The custom Roboto font looks like it has been on a diet, which makes it feel that little bit more crisp and elegant. Looking at menu highlights and icons, what once was blue is now generally grey.

Google Experience Launcher

The changes go further on the Nexus 5 because it has the Google Experience Launcher. Those black bars top and bottom are gone. A subtle gradient is retained to ensure white icons are clear, even on light backgrounds.

Head into your app drawer and you'll find white dots at the bottom of the screen to illustrate which page you are on. The icons are now much bigger and clearer, at the cost of displaying just four across instead of five.

The widget tab has been dumped, and you won't miss it because a long press anywhere on the home screen gives you access to the widget menu, as well as wallpapers and relevant settings.

Swipe from right to left and you can access additional home screens. There doesn't seem to be any limit, you simply drag an icon to the right to create a new screen. Any home screen you empty will automatically disappear.

The only real surprise is that you have to scroll deliberately through each one; you can't take a shortcut by tapping on the page marker dots at the bottom.

Swiping from left to right on the home screen will bring Google Now into view, but I'll go into that in more detail later.

None of these changes made it beyond the Nexus 5 by default, but if you're willing to investigate it's quite easy to get the Google Experience Launcher on other Android devices. Unfortunately there's a risk that it won't work perfectly. I am disappointed and surprised that Google decided to keep this as a Nexus 5 exclusive.

The good news is that popular launchers, such as the free Nova Launcher, can be used, and the status bar transparency is supported along with a number of other customization options, to help you get the look you want.

Calls, messaging and productivity

Jelly Bean saw a major overhaul of the notification shade, but dragging it down from the top of the screen won't reveal any major changes in KitKat. Google has moved on to the next challenge, and refreshingly there has been some overdue attention lavished on the calls and messaging apps.

Calls

The Phone app sits bottom left in the dock on your home screen (although the dock can be customized to your liking). Fire it up and you'll find that frequently contacted people are prominently displayed.

There's a search bar at the very top for contacts or nearby places, and it auto-suggests as you type, so you'll rarely need to input more than a couple of letters.

Your last call is highlighted at the top, with three favourites below that, and then the rest of your contact list. It only fills this in as and when you call people.

Three icons sit at the bottom: on the left you have a call log, in the middle there's the dial pad, and on the right is where you can add, import or export contacts, and access call settings.

The caller ID system has also been improved, so that it can automatically search for businesses with a matching number in listings on Google Maps, if the phone number calling you is not listed in your contacts.

There's nothing Earth-shattering going on here, but Google's bet that most of us only frequently contact a small group of people is a safe one, and it makes the Phone app faster to use.

Messaging

The changes to the messaging system are much bigger. Google has decided to consolidate MMS and SMS messages into its Hangouts app. How much of an impact this has on you will depend on how much you and your contacts use Google services for messaging.

If the person you want to contact is online and signed into Hangouts (via Google+, Google Talk or Gmail), then you can use that service. If they aren't, and you have their number, then you can use SMS.

You can choose between available options by tapping the contact name at the top of the chat window (it doesn't seem to prompt you about this). It actually keeps Hangouts message threads and SMS conversation threads separate, even if they're with the same person.

Generally speaking this consolidation should be a good thing, but it can cause a bit of confusion. It's certainly worth ensuring that your Google+ profile is in order, to avoid unintended revelations.

The Hangouts app allows you to share your location, which is great for meeting friends, and you can send files like animated gifs, or make video calls. Google has also integrated Emoji into the keyboard, so you have a huge list of comical Japanese squiggles to make your messages more interesting.

Just remember that they won't display properly at the other end if the person you're talking to doesn't have Emoji characters installed.

Productivity

It's commonplace to use your smartphone for work nowadays, and there's a greater level of expectation that it will be able to handle documents. The days of the BlackBerry device for the office and something else for home are long gone.

Google has included QuickOffice as a standard app with Android 4.4. It enables you to create and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on your phone or tablet.

You can save those files to the cloud using the 15GB of free storage you get with Google Drive. It's also capable of opening PDF files. You can share any of your creations directly via email, Bluetooth, Google Drive, and other cloud services.

Wireless printing

There's a new Cloud Print feature to simplify the process of printing a photo, document or web page wirelessly from your Android smartphone or tablet.

It's a pretty barebones option, and you'll need to use a printer that's connected to Google Cloud Print or an HP ePrint printer. Other printers will add support via apps in the Google Play Store.

It draws the list of devices from Chrome, so any device or printer you've used while signed in on Chrome gets listed. This might be a headache for some, so you're best off going to the Google Cloud Print website, when signed into your Google account on your desktop, so you can set it up exactly the way you want.

Email

There's no denying that Google tries to push you towards using the services it wants you to use, and Gmail is a good example. The improvements to the Email app in Android 4.4 offer a welcome break from this pressure.

Some of the better features of Gmail have been integrated. Emails are organized into nested folders, contact photos are displayed, and they double up as checkboxes to select messages.

The bottom navigation bar is gone and there's a new slide-out menu that comes in from the left, offering access to all your folders.

You can also just slide an email left or right to delete it, which enables you to get through that inbox faster. The only obvious thing that's lacking is threaded email conversations.

Downloads

One final boost to productivity is offered by the revamped Downloads app. If you download a lot of files this will really help you find you want without a lengthy search. You can choose between list or grid view, and you can filter by name, date, or size.

You'll also find that the menu that slides in to enable you to open files in specific apps and attach them provides you with a clear choice of recent files, cloud services, and downloads.

Google Now and performance

Google Now

The pre-emptive powers and general usability of Google Now are improving with every passing Android release. On the Nexus 5, you only have to swipe from left to right on the home screen to open Google Now.

On other Android 4.4 devices you can swipe up from the Home button, wherever you happen to be, and whatever you happen to be doing, and it will launch.

As long as you have your language set to US English (you'll find the option to change it in Settings > Google > Search > Voice) you can simply say "Ok Google" to launch a voice search. The Nexus 5 launcher allows you to utter the same phrase on the home screen and bring Google Now to life.

You can use Google Now for all sorts of thing, including web searches, sending messages, making calls, launching apps, and even playing songs.

The one impediment to that is the speech recognition, but it's showing real signs of improvement in Android 4.4. Even with my Scottish brogue the success rate for queries was pretty high. You can also tap on any wrongly interpreted words and pick a replacement from the dropdown list.

Google is apparently working on integrating Google Now with partner apps next, so it will be able to access their content, and that could advance it another step.

The customization options are still very limited right now, and if you aren't interested in weather results, commute updates, specific sports teams or stocks, then it's just about the voice commands.

Performance and multitasking

Android has been criticized for lag and stutter since it first appeared on the mobile scene. This is somewhat inevitable when you allow low-end hardware to run the platform and manufacturers to create their own user interfaces. Project Butter was the concerted effort to eradicate lag in Jelly Bean and it definitely worked, but KitKat takes it to a whole new level with Project Svelte.

Navigating around on the Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 is lightning fast and silky smooth, nary a touch of lag to spoil your day. The Nexus 5 has had special treatment to ensure that the touchscreen is responsive and accurate, and you can really feel the difference.

Any device with Android 4.4 will benefit from the memory optimization, and it's a breeze to skip in and out of apps and games. This speedy performance is no surprise on a powerhouse like the Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 with their 2GB of RAM, but it really stands out on a device like the Moto G with 1GB of RAM.

That's what makes KitKat so important for the budget end of the Android market.

Google's Project Svelte enables the platform to run reliably on devices with just 512MB of RAM. It could be a viable update for devices stuck on Gingerbread.

A 'low memory' mode can automatically scale back animations and ensure that the hardware can cope. The real barrier to this is persuading manufacturers and carriers to update old devices when they'd prefer you to buy a new one.

Everything else

We've covered the highlights already, but there are a few other enhancements worth mentioning. For a start, KitKat finally brings lost device security to the platform as a default. The Android Device Manager, for finding and remotely wiping a lost device, is now built in to the platform.

When you are listening to music on your device, or projecting movies to Chromecast (now fully supported), you can enjoy full screen art and controls on the lock screen.

The immersive mode which melts the status bar away when you're playing a game or watching a movie is available for all apps now, although it will require developers to update them to support it.

It's also truly gratifying to be able to check your notifications by swiping down from the top of the screen without having to exit whatever you are doing.

Bluetooth MAP support promises better integration with Bluetooth-enabled cars, closed captioning and subtitles can now be turned on via the Accessibility menu, and you can manage Home screen replacements or launchers from the menu via Settings > Home.

Perhaps the biggest new feature we haven't mentioned yet is support for tap to pay via NFC. Google has found a way to allow apps to manage your payment information in the cloud or on your device, so you can use Google Wallet, even if carriers are trying to push their own alternatives.

Throw in support for IR blasters, a more power-friendly way to act as a pedometer, and a new location option in quick settings to give more control over what apps are tracking your location and how they do it.

All in all there are a lot of little tweaks and additions that improve the whole experience, though it's a shame that things like low-power audio playback and HDR+ photography have been limited to the Nexus 5.

The emergence of that Google launcher makes you wonder how much further Google's Android might deviate from the stock experience on other devices in the future.

Verdict

Android 4.4 KitKat doesn't dramatically change the Android experience, it adds a handful of specific features to enable people to get more from their Android devices, and it represents a subtle refinement that's both aesthetic and performance-related.

It remains to be seen whether older devices will benefit from Google's commitment to optimizing the platform for low-end hardware, but new budget devices certainly will.

We liked

The Google Experience Launcher looks and feels better, which is great if you have a Nexus 5 or you're willing to go to the trouble of sideloading it.

Smooth performance and support for lower-end hardware via Project Svelte is a very smart move. It might not solve the fragmentation problem in the short term because updates are down to manufacturers and carriers, but it will certainly ensure that the budget Android experience is vastly improved in the future.

The productivity tweaks are a real boost for anyone using their Android device for work, especially the long overdue update to the Email app. Immersive mode is a subtle thing, but it's a truly welcome tweak.

We disliked

The fact that Google has kept the Experience Launcher for the Nexus 5 can only disappoint owners of other Nexus models expecting all the best updates that the platform has to offer.

While consolidating messaging in the Hangouts app is not a bad idea, the implementation is not quite right. The separation of SMS and Hangout messaging threads, and the lack of auto-detect to choose how to message a contact, feels awkward.

Verdict

There's absolutely no question that anyone in a position to install Android 4.4 should go ahead and do it. Even without the Google Experience Launcher there are enough improvements, refinements, and new features to make it well worth your while. It builds on what is already a very solid platform with a huge range of apps and games.

Android 4.4 KitKat is every bit as stylish and refined as iOS 7, and it still beats the pants off Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10.

We suspect the real strength of KitKat will show itself at the budget end of the Android market. Anyone with limited funds to snag a smartphone will benefit from Project Svelte. The popularity of the Moto G shows there's a real appetite out there for a solid phone that doesn't tie you into a costly monthly contract for two years.

If you're in the market for a new smartphone, whether you want something cutting edge, or you have a tight budget, Android is a seriously strong contender for your business.

When will you get it?

Android 4.4 KitKat has already rolled out to the Nexus 4 smartphone, and the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets.

The new platform has also gone out to the Moto X and Moto G, and the Google Play Editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One.

We expect that flagship devices such as Samsung's Galaxy S4 and Note 3, HTC's One, LG's G2, and Sony's Xperia Z range will get the update within the next couple of months. The rollout will vary according to the whims of manufacturers and carriers.

Whether any older devices will get Android 4.4, in an official capacity, is debatable. We'll keep you posted.