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We liked
Dragon's accuracy was already very impressive and it's better still with this release. It supports more ways to input audio – including laptops' built-in microphones – and requires considerably less training than before. The option to use a smartphone as a remote mic or recording device is useful too.
We disliked
Navigating by voice can be a little hit and miss, and from time to time Dragon appeared to be thinking of something instead of listening to us. Some of the browser features don't work in Chrome, and we encountered nasty installation problems.
Final verdict
If you've been disappointed by voice recognition in the past, we think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how accurate Dragon is – even if you don't train it. If you aren't a flying-fingered touch typist, need to record audio on the move or just like pacing up and down with a digital voice recorder or smartphone instead of sitting at a keyboard, Dragon does an excellent job of turning your speech into text. It's also very useful for anybody with repetitive strain injuries or mobility issues that make keyboards and mice impractical or uncomfortable.
