BEST WEARABLE EVER APPLE WATCH SERIES 4 REVIEWED GADGETS / GAMES / GEAR
RETRO READY
VINTAGE DESIGN, HOT TECH
HOME OWNER GOOGLE’S NEW HUB LANDLORD
E N O H P R E P SU OTOUT O s H e l i S e best new mbouby Th
TESTED Video games for Xmas Sony noise-cancellers DJI Mavic 2 Pro GoPro Hero7 Black
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GADGET REVIEWS INSIDE £4.99 Dec 2018 www.stuff.tv
Beautiful Design. High-Tech Features. Affordable Price. BEAUTY MEETS DESIGN CONNECTIVITY Dual SIM (nano + nano) or (nano + microSD) WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n Bluetooth 4.2 USB Type-C NFC
OPERATING SYSTEM Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) CAMERA Rear camera: 13 MP + 5 MP Front camera: 13 MP PROCESSOR MediaTek Helio P25 Octa-Core 2.39GHz
SENSOR TYPE Vibrator, Fingerprint, G-sensor, Proximity, Ambient Light, Magnetic, Digital Compass, Accelerometer, Facial recognition
DISPLAY 5.7” HD+ 1440 x 720 pixels (18:9 aspect ratio) BATTERY 3,000 mAh - Express Charging
Dual Glass Body Sapphire Blue
Memory & RAM 64GB, 4GB RAM microSD (supports up to 128 GB) DIMENSIONS 153 x 70 x 9 (mm)
£199.99 “The NUU Mobile G3 is one of the best devices in its price range” – AndroidHeadlines
5.7” HD+ 1440 x 720
Android 7.1.1
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Helio P25 2.39GHz (Octa-Core)
64 GB Rom 4 GB Ram
Fingerprint ID
3,000 mAh Express Charging
Dual Camera 13MP + 5MP
4G LTE
Front Camera 13MP
NFC
Dual Sim
Payment Security
Stuff Magazine reader offer... Three (3) months screen replacement cover on the G3 and G2 when purchased directly via nuumobile.com/stuff See website for offer details.
Nuu Mobile Redefining sub-£200 INSPIRED FOR BETTER THINGS OPERATING SYSTEM Android 8.0 (Oreo) CAMERA Rear camera: 20 MP + 2 MP Front camera: 13 MP PROCESSOR MT6750 Octa Core 1.5GHz
CONNECTIVITY Dual SIM (nano + nano) or (nano + microSD) WiFi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 4.0 MicroUSB
DISPLAY 5.99” FHD+ In Cell 2160x1080 18:9 aspect ratio
SENSOR TYPE Vibrator, G-Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light, Fingerprint ID
BATTERY 4,000 mAh
COLOUR Deep Blue
Memory & RAM 64 GB, 4 GB RAM microSD (supports up to 128GB) DIMENSIONS 158.5 x 73.6 x 8.55 (mm)
£179.99 Two (2) Year Warranty on all phones UK Customer Support 7 days UK Parts and Service
“A phone that looks as good as it performs” – Android Authority
5.99” FHD+ 2160x1080
1.5GHz (Octa-Core)
64 GB Rom 4 GB Ram
Dual Camera 20MP + 2MP
Front Camera 13MP
Android 8.0
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CON S ON THE COVER P27
P64
p57 Citizens’ a-wrist
HOT STUFF 10 The Hot Four O Google Pixel 3 & 3 XL O Google Home Hub O Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 O Razer Phone 2 18 Vital stats New Amazon Echos The new butlers have arrived, ma’am 20 Icon Devialet Phantom Reactor Sounds like da bomb 22 Best of Photokina New snappers on the way 24 Apps Swords, space selfies and scanning 26 Newsfeed Sega’s back and Spotify tweaks 27 Wheels Peugeot e-Legend concept Electrified/electrifying homage to the 504 28 Games Battlefield V’s powerful WWII stories 30 Stream Heading back to the wild wild west 32 Start menu Spider in your ear? Nothing to worry about! 34 Your month A huge pound coin, a 4K stick and a day out with Agent 47
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TESTS p38 Handy heroes
p12 Hubba bubba
57 First test Apple Watch Series 4 Is it time to join the smartwatch gang? 64 Tested GoPro Hero7 Black Unsettling the gimbal market 66 Tested Amazon Fire HD 8 Sub-£100 tablet now easier to swallow 67 Tested SoundMagic E11C Your commute has never been so joyful 68 Versus Canon EOS R vs Nikon Z7 With the mirror crack’d, which is best? 72 Tested DJI Mavic 2 Pro Our favourite drone gets fancy optics 80 Tested Now TV 4K Now chilling with Netflix and 4K 81 Tested Jaguar I-Pace Has Tesla met its match? 82 Tested Sony WH-1000XM3 Giving you the silent treatment 85 Versus Sport trackers Withings HR Sport vs Huami Amazfit Stratos 88 Tested Samsung Q8D Is Samsung wise to go it alone with QLED? 90 Long-term test Bose Sleepbuds Sleep tight, don’t let the bed buds bite 94 Tested Game reviews special Starring Forza, CoD, Creed, Mario and FIFA
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WIN! p36
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FEATURES 38 Cover feature Smartphone supertest Got a grand in your hand? You could buy one of the new iPhones, the Google Pixel 3 XL, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, the Galaxy Note 9 or the Sony Xperia XZ3. But… which!? 54 Mini meme String fellows If your guitar’s gently weeping, install these 62 Upvoted Kettles Time to blow off some steam 70 Beta yourself Wunderlist Sort out your life, chuck out those Post-Its 74 Retro tech Pining for a banana phone, Polaroids, PDA? 86 Instant upgrades Nikon D5 Get more from your smart new supercam 122 Next big thing? Decide the TV plot Fancy controlling how the story unfolds?
TOP TENS 104 Smartphones, tablets, mobile games What’s the handiest, handsomest handset? 106 Headphones, wearables In-ears, on-ears, smartwatches, trackers 108 Laptops, hi-fi Porta-powerhouses and super speakers 110 TVs, soundbars, smart speakers All you need for a lazy night/day/year in 112 Home cinema, consoles, games Streaming gadgets and gaming goodies 114 Tech toys, electric cars, VR Playing, driving, escaping from reality 116 Smart home, drones, compact cameras Comfort when you’re in, fun when you’re out 118 System cameras, budget buys ‘Proper’ cameras and the best tech bargains 120 How to buy… on Black Friday
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M I R R O R L E S S R E I N V E N T E D A I N
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Whether shooting stills or videos, the new full-frame Z series pushes the boundaries in imaging quality and lens capabilities, enabled by the all-new Z mount. Unleash full creative freedom with the newly designed NIKKOR Z lenses, or choose from over 90 fully AF/AE compatible NIKKOR F lenses*. Experience revolutionary optical performance in a compact form factor today. ALL-NEW F ULL-FRA ME SYSTEM | QUA D VGA EVF | N E W Z M O U N T & N I K KO R Z L E N S E S | I N - C A M E R A 5 A X I S V R | F U L LY A F /A E C O M P AT I B L E W I T H O V E R 9 0 N I K K O R F L E N S E S * *When paired with the optional FTZ mount adapter For more information visit www.nikon.co.uk
Advertising 020 8267 5493 Commercial Manager Natalie Carter Account Manager Michelle Flowers Production: AT Graphics Team Leader Melanie Cooper Management Managing Director Phil Weeden Chief Executive Steve Wright Chairman Steve Annetts Finance Director Joyce Parker-Sarioglu Publishing Director Kevin McCormick Publishing Operations Manager Charlotte Whittaker Retail Distribution Managers Eleanor Brown, Steve Brown Audience Development Manager Andy Cotton Head of Events Kat Chappell Print Production Manager Nicola Pollard Print Production Controller Georgina Harris Subscriptions Retention Development Manager Nick McIntosh • Volume 22 issue 12 • ISSN: 1364-963 • On sale 1 Nov 2018 • Audit Bureau of Circulations: 54,492 (Jan-Dec 2017) DISTRIBUTION Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT www.seymour.co.uk Tel: 020 7429 4000 PRINTING William Gibbons & Sons Ltd
Welcome How’s that phone contract coming along? Time for an upgrade? Feeling flush and reckon a SIM-free deal is in the offing? The good news is, things have royally kicked off in the mobile world with a selection of seriously smooth new smartphones vying for your hard-earned green queens. So Stuff got down to the business of dissecting the latest and greatest handsets from major players like Huawei, Google and Sony. The competition proved tighter than a Strictly dancer’s paso doble trousers – find out how it panned out on p38. But if you can’t see past a collection of iPhone clones and yearn for the simple life, check out the retro tech love-in on p74, where we’ve gone all dewy-eyed over classically designed mobile devices making a comeback. Games consoles, cameras, sound systems and even collectible artwork get the treatment too. With Christmas approaching (oh yes it is), we’ve also packed in no fewer than 190 gadget reviews to help you start on that letter to the sleigh-riding chunky monkey in Greenland. And final mentions go to this month’s finger-blistering Hot Stuff section – graced by Google’s new devices – and a game reviews special crammed with some of the biggest titles to keep you fixated over the festive season. Oh holy night… after night, after night, after night. James Day, Contributing Editor / @james_a_day
Kelsey Media 2018 © All rights reserved. Kelsey Media is a trading name of Kelsey Publishing Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden except with permission in writing from the publishers. Note to contributors: articles submitted for consideration by the editor must be the original work of the author and not previously published. Where photographs are included, which are not the property of the contributor, permission to reproduce them must have been obtained from the owner of the copyright. The Editor cannot guarantee a personal response to all letters and emails received. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor or the Publisher. Kelsey Publishing Ltd accepts no liability for products and services offered by third parties.
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Making Stuff up Managing Editor Richard Purvis Contributing Editor James Day Hot Stuff Editor Matt Tate Online Editor Natalya Paul Content Editor Heather Wald Global Brand Director Guy Cocker Contributors Andrew Williams, Craig Grannell, Andrew Hayward, Sam Kieldsen, Tom Wiggins, Tom Morgan, Adam Cook, Joe Svetlik, Simon Lucas, Amy Davies, Becca Caddy, Matt Cabral, Leon Poultney, Rob Keenan, Ross Presly
I LOST MY HEART TO A PHANTOM A few weeks ago, I found myself in a fancy hotel sat on a plush floral armchair, eyes closed, nodding my head slowly to an incredibly clear studio recording of some smooth jazz. Because that’s what audiophiles do. This was all to mark the arrival of a new sound baby: the Reactor, which is a miniaturised version of Devialet’s high-end Phantom. It’s beautiful and it’s premium and I left with watery eyes as the music touched my soul, and because £990 does not make it “accessible for all”. Natalya Paul, Online Editor
I CONSIGNED MY 4K TELLY TO THE TECH DUSTBIN
See p20
You know a TV is good when it makes you forget you’re in a penthouse apartment with spectacular real-world views over the Thames, but that’s what happened when I spent a day with Samsung’s new 8K TVs. OK, so they start at an eye-watering £5000 and there isn’t actually much 8K content to watch right now, but the detail and clarity of Samsung’s 8K test footage was phenomenal. Now Sony, hurry up with that PS5 Pro, please. Guy Cocker, Global Brand Director
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OUR MONTH Loud things, sharp things, small things, owls I KNOCKED A LOAD OF STUFF OVER WITH MY CAMERA In the eternal quest to get slightly closer to things, I decided to buy a macro extension tube for the 18-55mm lens on my Fujifilm X-T20. But there’s closer, and then there’s closer. Having opted for Fuji’s 16mm MCEX-16 attachment, I soon found myself boinking up against everything as I struggled to get the damned thing to focus. So I sent it back to Wex and got the less extreme 11mm type instead. I urge you to do likewise – your stuffed owls will thank you for it. Richard Purvis, Managing Editor
I MADE A CALL ON THE WORLD’S TINIEST PHONE Today’s smartphones are just getting bigger and bigger – but that hasn’t stopped Zanco from making the Tiny T1 phone, which is smaller than a USB stick. Its impossibly tiny keys made me feel like a button-mashing giant… but it’s the perfect phone for a hamster who needs to make important business calls in between wheel runs. The phone’s battery can last for three days, which is quite impressive. Oh, and it makes duck noises. That’s obviously the real selling point. Heather Wald, Content Editor
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The Pixel 3’s rear camera owes more to software than hardware, while the front snappers offer wide and ultra-wide lenses for convincing Instagram followers you have real friends too.
Pix itself up A Pixel Stand charging dock is available for those people who hate it when a handset gets horizontal. Using it enables a custom display and some bonus Google Assistant shortcuts.
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Pix ’em off Google’s AI spam filter is dubbed ‘Call Screen’. It answers the phone and informs the caller they’re being transcribed. Google insists this won’t use up data, and the conversation remains private.
HOT FOUR #1 HOW DEEP IS YOUR NOTCH? GOOGLE PIXEL 3 & PIXEL 3 XL
KEY SPECS O 5.5in Full HD OLED (3), 6.3in QHD OLED (3 XL) O Snapdragon 845 O 4G RAM O Android 9 O 64/128GB storage O 12MP rear, dual 8MP front O 2915mAh (3), 3430 mAh (3 XL)
Last year’s Pixel phones offered a leap in quality, but something was missing: wireless charging. So for Google’s third roll of the superphone dice it’s called in the glaziers. No, not the owners of Manchester United (that’s the Glazers), but a glass backing to facilitate battery boosts sans cable. The shinier Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are mostly identical in terms of features, but the standard Pixel 3 packs a 5.5in Full HD OLED display with a sleeker design than before, while the Pixel 3 XL has a 6.3in QHD OLED screen with a notch – and a deep one at that. Both have a pair of cameras on the front for group selfies, and pack a number of new Android software features designed to dazzle you if the rear pane doesn’t. These include the ability to screen spam calls – Google Assistant answers for you and pops a real-time transcription on your screen. Both devices have had sizeable price bumps over last year’s models and are available now in white, black or pink-ish… but not before you’ve read how the 3 XL fares in our supertest, starting on p38. As hot as… a glassblower’s crimson cheeks £739 (Pixel 3) £869 (Pixel 3 XL) / store.google.com 11
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HOT FOUR #2 ALSO ANNOUNCED… Google Pixel Slate from £549 / store.google.com For some, tablets will never be anything more than giant Angry Birds machines. For the rest, they’re viable laptop alternatives, and so the latest super-slab to take on the iPad Pro and Microsoft Surface is Google’s Pixel Slate. It’s a 12.3in 2-in-1 convertible tablet with a detachable magnetic keyboard (sold separately) and a 3000x2000 display, with a battery life of 10 hours. It ships with a new version of Chrome OS, it has Google Assistant built-in, and there’s an 8MP camera on each side. CAST MASTER A new Chromecast has also appeared on the Google Store. Costing just £30, the 2018 model offers Full HD 60fps video output, can stream from Android and iOS devices, and requires USB mains power. BUD WISER Also sneaking their way onto the storefront are new £30 USB-C earbuds. They’re bundled with the Pixel 3 and 3 XL, but might also tempt owners of older Pixels wishing to ditch their Bluetooth buds.
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HUB BE GOOD TO ME
GOOGLE HOME HUB Ready, AI-m, fire. Putting Pixels to one side, Google is gunning for Amazon’s recently redesigned Alexa-enabled Echo Show. The Google Home Hub adds a visual element to all of the wide-ranging functionality of Google Assistant, giving you what its maker is calling a “more thoughtful home”. You can check the weather (it’s probably cold), tweak your smart lights (and most likely dark), watch YouTube videos and relive awkward family holidays with Google Photos. There’s Nest integration too, so Nest Hello doorbell owners can shoo the postman while whisking eggs. The Ambient EQ feature fine-tunes the display’s brightness depending on the time of day, and it’ll turn off automatically at night. Interestingly, Google has swerved a potential privacy backlash by opting not to build in a camera – something a certain social network has chosen to include on its screen-enabled Portal smart speaker, to a less than warm reception. So if you don’t fancy an all-seeing eye staring you down, this could be the gadget for you. It’s competitively priced as well, knocking £80 off the price of an Echo Show. As hot as… Prince Harry’s bedroom prowess £139 / store.google.com
Hub quiz Saying “Hey Google, good morning” brings up a personalised schedule of events, reminders, commute info and more. At night say “Hey Google, good night” to set alarms, turn off lights and more.
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Hub singer You get YouTube Premium free for six months and then pay just £11.99. Frankly, it’s worth it for Karate Kid-inspired comedy Cobra Kai and Warren G’s G Funk documentary alone.
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Access all hairiers The original Surface Laptop ran Windows 10 S, Microsoft’s apps-based version. Now you get Windows 10 proper, so you can reacquaint yourself with Steam.
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Splitting hairs
The Surface Studio 2 is for creatives, so drawing on it has to be a flawless experience. Good, then, that the Surface Pen can recognise up to 4096 levels of pressure.
The Surface Laptop 2 is still rocking a 13.5in touchscreen with 2256x1504 resolution. A little spec bump would have been nice, but don’t expect to be squinting – it’s a very sharp display.
HOT FOUR #3 BACK IN BLACK (AND BURGUNDY) MICROSOFT SURFACE LAPTOP 2
The tech world was shaken last year when Microsoft produced an actual laptop. Turns out it was pretty good, so it’s no great surprise to see a sequel fly out of the door just as people start drafting up their Christmas lists. What’s changed? On first glance, not a whole lot. We’re glad to see the carpet-like interior finish (or Alcantara, if you’re a fabric nerd) return, and the Surface Laptop 2 is just as remarkably thin and light as its predecessor. The original, however, didn’t have the arresting black colourway on offer here, while the newer laptop apparently has a noticeably quieter keyboard – appreciated by your fellow passengers when you’re thrashing out your future bestselling novel on the train. Upgraded eighth-gen Intel chips, meanwhile, are said to account for an 85% speed boost. Sadly, the minimalist build still means you have to put up with a fairly rubbish selection of ports, but when its portability rivals the seemingly defunct MacBook Air, you’ll learn to live with it. If macOS just doesn’t do it for you, this fuzzy clamshell is a genuine alternative. As hot as… the envious glares of MacBook owners with their boring metal laptops from £979 / microsoft.com
ALSO ANNOUNCED… Microsoft Surface Studio 2 £tba / microsoft.com
The original Surface Studio was enough to make arty types retire their paintbrushes for good. That is, if they happened to have £3000 lying around. The follow-up isn’t coming in any cheaper, but with 50% more graphics power via a new Nvidia chip, you’ll be more tempted to take a break from doodling for a quick game of Sea of Thieves. A 2TB SSD should help speed things up, while that gorgeous 28in display is 38% brighter and packs in 22% more contrast than before. YOU SIXY THING Microsoft’s slick Surface Pro 2-in-1 is largely unchanged from last year’s model (noticing a theme here?), but the Pro 6 packs more processing grunt than before and is available in alluring black. KICKING CANS We don’t yet know if the wireless Surface Headphones are heading to the UK. They get active noise-cancelling you can tweak with an on-ear dial, plus auto-pause and built-in Cortana.
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Freakily speaky
HOT FOUR #4
Forgot your cans? The dual front-firing speakers support Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, and are capable of making quite a racket on their own.
PLAYTIME – ALL THE TIME RAZER PHONE 2
Thought a smartphone that puts gaming first was a daft idea? Tell that to all the people playing buttery-smooth PUBG on your delayed train while you endure endless newspaper columns about Brexit. That’s not to say the Razer Phone 2, the creatively titled successor to the Razer Phone, is rubbish at normal phone stuff. The 5.72in QHD display is still a looker, and this time you’re getting improved cameras and wireless charging. A flagship-standard Snapdragon 845 remains blazingly quick too. Let’s be honest, though: it’s the gamers Razer is out to impress, and its new blower 16
isn’t a tough sell. It’s still the only phone display with a 120Hz refresh rate, giving you amazingly responsive gameplay, and that screen is now 50% brighter. Meanwhile, the vapour cooling chamber ensures you can actually hold the thing for longer than 10 minutes. Rage-quit one too many times? Maybe hop over to Netflix for a bit, where the new season of Daredevil awaits you in HDR. As hot as… your hands while trying to play Fortnite on a smartphone that doesn’t have a cooling chamber £780 / razer.com
50 years of award-winning sound built into every pair
Responds naturally to you
Wireless adaptive noise cancellation
Smart power with a 22-hour battery life
bowers-wilkins.co.uk/PX
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T A L S T A T S The new Dot and Echo Plus come in Charcoal, Heather Grey or this Sandstone fabric.
AMAZON’S ECHO CHAMBER
Here’s the skinny on every bit of Alexa gear from the recent launching frenzy
It’s nothing short of Alexa madness. In a bid to put a smart speaker in not just every home but every single room, cabinet and cupboard in every home, Amazon has unleashed an army of fresh Echo speakers and more upon the world… O Amazon Echo Dot £50 The third generation of the cutest, cheapest and best-selling flavour of Echo to date, the new Dot remains a small circular speaker and is the simplest way to get a self-contained Alexa-equipped 18
product in your home. While some things haven’t changed, other parts have undergone a welcome overhaul – namely a new, larger, 1.6in speaker, which Amazon says results in 70% louder sound. It also comes with a much nattier look, thanks to its sharp, smooth edges being replaced by a cuddly, curvy fabric design. O Amazon Echo Plus £140 The dependable all-rounder of the Echo family has also been given the update treatment for 2018, with its previous ‘shiny Pringles tube’ styling giving way to a smaller, softer ‘fabric peanut butter jar’ look. Despite the dinkier
dimensions, it now packs a bigger woofer for added audio oomph, as well as a temperature sensor that widens the range of its Zigbee home hub skills. If you want an affordable smart home controller with room-filling sound, this might be your solution. O Amazon Echo Show £220 The Show’s screen size has been upped from 7in to 10.1in for almost double the display real estate, the Dolby-enhanced speakers sound far beefier than before, and the new rounder (and yes, fabric-clad) design looks less boxy, less awkward and more deserving of a spot in your living room.
THE SEQUEL TO THE FIRST-GEN ECHO SHOW LOOKS MORE PROMISING AND FAR MORE PRACTICAL
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Let’s play fortnight
HUAWEI WATCH GT
ALEXA, SLOW DOWN! O AmazonBasics Microwave £tba
Considering an Apple Watch comes over all faint at the idea of lasting past midnight on a single charge, the thought of a smartwatch that can do a fortnight might seem like pure fantasy – but that’s what Huawei claims of its new Watch GT. The company reckons its ‘frequent’ mode will allow for message notifications, 24-hour heart-rate monitoring, sleep-tracking at night, GPS for 90 minutes per week, and the 1.39in 454x454 AMOLED screen to be turned on 200 times per day. Although you can’t add third-party apps, the Watch GT offers multiple sport modes with Huawei Health. Choose between the silicone-banded GT Sport for €199, or the leather/rubber-banded GT Classic for €249. from €199 / huawei.com
Amazon’s desire to put Alexa inside every electrical item in your house continues apace with this smart microwave, which comes with voiceactivated time and power presets to make sure you nuke that spud to perfection.
O Amazon Echo Auto £tba Pimp your ride… with Alexa. The Echo Auto hooks up to your car stereo and phone to add the voice assistant’s prowess to road trips. Navigation, reminders, shopping lists – it’s all here.
O Amazon Echo Input £35 Make your dumb old speakers smart with this tiny puck of power, which adds Alexa functionality to any bit of hi-fi gear with an audio input. It’s basically an Echo Dot without the built-in speaker.
Insta gratification
INSTA360 ONE X Last year’s Insta360 One impressed us – it was a tiny action camera with a 360º field of view that gave it a ‘shoot first, crop later’ approach to capturing footage. The company’s new One X improves things in almost every way, upping 360º movie resolution to 5.7K, stills to 18MP, and adding a new FlowState digital image stabilisation system that offers “impossibly smooth” video, whether you’re taking a leisurely beachside stroll or snowboarding down a mountain. Like any selfrespecting action cam, it’s waterproof and is geared up for HDR photos, timelapse and hyperlapse videos. Best of all, you can pair it with the ‘invisible selfie stick’, which is hidden from your shots by algorithms. £410 / insta360.com 19
I C O N CONTROL THE PHANTOM WIRELESSLY OR VIA THE BUTTONS ON THE CHASSIS
DEVIALET PHANTOM REACTOR from £990 / devialet.com Er, is that thing nuclear? We haven’t turned it all the way up yet, but based on how loud its elder brother was able to go, it could well be. Devialet’s Phantom Reactor is a smaller version of 2010’s Phantom – an extremely powerful wireless speaker. The Phantom Reactor is a quarter of the size of its predecessor, small enough to be held in one hand, but if you plump for the more expensive 900W model
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it packs just 25% less power. If you think that might annoy the neighbours a bit, there’s also a 600W version. Which is half as much power as the old Phantom, right? Good maths. Want some more numbers? Both versions weigh 4.3kg, which is just over a third of the original. They have one fullrange driver and two bass drivers each, all of which are made from
aluminium, and their frequency range is an impressive 18Hz to 21kHz, so you should get nice, deep, rumbly bass and crystalline treble. When it comes to pumping up the volume, the 900W version can manage 98dB SPL, while the 600W model can hit 95 – slightly louder than the engine of a lorry from 10 metres away. Bored of numbers yet? It basically means they’ll go nice and loud but have the chops to keep it clean.
But where do I plug in my iPod? The Reactor has analogue and optical connections, and there’s also an Ethernet port – so if you want hi-res audio it works with UPnP streaming devices – but it’s really designed for wireless streaming. With support for regular Bluetooth, AirPlay (not AirPlay 2 yet) and Spotify Connect on board, you’re most likely to control it from your phone or tablet.
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NOKIA 7.1 Things are getting a bit crowded in the mid-range smartphone space, but the Nokia 7.1 should be able to barge its way to a comfortable seat. It looks slick for starters, thanks to the anodised metal finish and alluring accents of the Gloss Steel model. Admittedly, you’ll have to live with a notch and a chin, but this is still a premium handset for the price. The 5.84in 1080p LCD display supports HDR10 and can upscale SDR video content to HDR-like levels, while shutterbugs will appreciate the pro camera mode that makes the most of the dual snappers. Being an Android One phone, it won’t lump you with bloatware, and a Snapdragon 636 should be fine for app-hopping the day away. £299 / nokia.com
Oculus Quest? Sounds like a cancelled Channel 4 game show. Maybe, but no. Oculus Quest represents Facebook’s biggest shake-up of virtual reality since, well, the Oculus Go. While that headset introduced us to wireless, faff-free VR that doesn’t require a smartphone or crazy-powerful PC in tandem, Oculus Quest has Zuckerberg and co taking the idea a step further. It’s still entirely standalone, but now you have six-degrees-of-freedom movement tracking, so you can stand up and move inside the virtual space.
So it’s better for gaming, then? Much. Oculus Go was a perfectly decent entry-level VR headset, but it was a bit too restrictive to be seen as an on-the-go gaming device. By contrast, Quest is being pitched as a gaming system… and while we can’t promise you won’t look like a pillock in the process, the 6DoF means it can offer much more immersive experiences. It even ships with controllers that mirror the Oculus Rift’s Touch controllers in terms of button layout, so you really are getting the full VR experience. Oculus has more than 50 games lined up for launch, including Robo Recall and the excellent Moss. Also confirmed is the co-op shooter Dead and Buried, in which several players – each wearing the Quest – can run around a physical, obstacle-filled arena and see the digital equivalent in their headsets.
Leather forecast
HP SPECTRE FOLIO Dressing your gadgets up in a nice leather jacket is nothing new, but there’ll be no need to do that with HP’s outrageously plush Spectre Folio – it’s made of the stuff. Billed by its maker as the world’s first leather convertible PC, it really does look the part in any of its three positions: laptop, tent and tablet. And innovative design isn’t all the 13.3in Spectre Folio is bringing to the table. HP reckons it houses one of the smallest motherboards out there, and there’s an eighth-gen Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and up to 2TB of SSD storage. Bang & Olufsen tuned the four front-firing speakers, and the battery lasts up to 19 hours. The Full HD panel will be joined by a 4K option later in the year. £1499 / store.hp.com
Sounds great, but am I going to end up accidentally punching a lampshade? Measures have been taken to prevent it. You won’t need any external sensors in the room, but the Quest headset does employ four built-in, ultra-wide-angle, inside-out sensors to fully track your position in tandem with the controllers. As with Oculus Go, each of your peepers will see a 1600x1440-resolution image, and Oculus says its built-in spatial audio – you don’t need headphones, basically – has been given a bass boost. from $399 / due spring 2019
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B E S T O F
PHOTOKINA There was a running theme at this year’s Cologne shutterbug expo: bigger insides and smaller outsides. And all the big names are playing… REEL THUNDER
HAPPY MEDIUM
STREET PERFORMER
Fujifilm GFX 50R
Zeiss ZX1 With motives as transparent as its famed lenses, Zeiss wants in on your Insta feed with its first full-frame camera, sporting a 35mm f/2 fixed lens and offering built-in Lightroom CC. Its 512GB of internal storage and hefty editing suites mean you can shoot, edit, and finally share pictures that’ll detail every paper-thin sheet of filo in your spanakopita. due early 2019 / zx1.zeiss.com
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Objectively it’s big… but then for a medium-format camera with the innards of one of those hulking studio models the GFX 50R is positively modest in size. At 775g this is no Quaver or Wotsit, but considering that 51.4MP sensor inside, which is bound to be as stunning as Fujifilm’s usual stellar fare, it’s floaty-light. How it’ll perform is still up in the air. One thing we are sure about, though, is that it’ll cost a pretty penny when it goes on sale. due November / fujifilm.com
Ricoh GR III Smarter (camera-wise) than your phone and not much bigger, the Ricoh GR III is something of a rare breed. An Iberian lynx in a jungle full of elephants, this APS-C-wielding slip of a camera has a 24MP sensor and wide-angle f/2.8 lens, plus a touchscreen. Sure to be a hit among street snappers, it’ll undoubtedly outperform that guitarist duo near Paddington station. due early 2019 / ricoh-imaging.co.uk
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DECIPHER ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN…
PROJECT xCLOUD Matt Tate
Get read-y
KOBO FORMA You can pick up an e-reader for next to nothing these days, but those who want to gobble up Yuval Noah Harari’s latest in the comfort of a gigantic bubble-bath should take a look at Kobo’s Forma. At £240 it’s definitely at the premium end of the spectrum, but for that you’re getting an 8in display (that’s an inch larger than that of its obvious rival, Amazon’s Kindle Oasis). You also get an ultra-lightweight design and the option of reading one-handed in either portrait or landscape. There’s also a new page-turn button that gives you a different option to tapping the screen. It’s waterproof for up to an hour in up to 2m of water, while 8GB of memory translates to around 6000 books. £240 / kobo.com
Forza Horizon 4, as you’ll find out later in this issue, is an astonishingly brilliant racing game. So good, in fact, that you might wish you could take it for a spin wherever you are. Enter Project xCloud, Microsoft’s in-the-works vision for the future that’ll let you stream games not only to your PC or console, but also to your tablet. The idea of streaming games from the cloud, rather than having them installed on a machine, is nothing new. It seems like yonks ago that OnLive introduced us to this idea, and Sony’s PlayStation Now service lets you stream old games to your PS4 or PC right now. But with the ambitious Project xCloud (we’re hoping that’s a working title), Microsoft is promising the freedom to play console-quality games on whatever device you want, with no additional work required from the developers. You’ll be able to connect an Xbox One controller via Bluetooth, while button-haters will
THE GOAL IS TO MAKE LOW-LATENCY GAME STREAMING POSSIBLE ON 4G AND 5G NETWORKS With knobs on
MOOG ONE It’s been over 30 years since Moog unleashed a polyphonic analogue synth, so the new flagship Moog One can hardly be called a rush job. The sound engine claims to be built on the most powerful architecture of any Moog product: each voice circuit (it comes in eight- and 16-voice versions) has an analogue signal path more powerful than that of the Minimoog Voyager, harnessing the clout of three VCOs, two analogue filters, four LFOs, and a barrage of other specs that’ll make synth fans warm in a happy place. It looks the part too, with an ash cabinet and aluminium chassis holding 73 knobs and 144 buttons. Sling one under your arm for that Kraftwerk tribute band audition and you’re in. from $5999 / moogmusic.com
have the additional option of playing with touch controls. The masterplan involves building on the infrastructure that Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform already has in place. The company has Azure data centres in 140 countries, and is currently installing custom-built Xbox One hardware that it will scale worldwide over time. In testing, Microsoft has xCloud running at 10 megabits per second, with the goal being to make low-latency game streaming possible on 4G, and eventually 5G, networks. Whether it can actually outperform competing services should become clearer next year.
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A P P S This month’s mobile must-downloads 1
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SPOT LIGHT
SHORT CUTS
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1 A Way To Slay
2 Firefox Reality Browser
3 Niagara Launcher
£free / Daydream When you think 3D VR excitement, browsing the internet probably isn’t top of your list. Still, if you want to do so with your Daydream on, Mozilla’s app provides access to 3D content.
£free / Android This launcher helps you blaze through hundreds of installed apps by having you navigate them like artists in a music app. It’s fast, turns the letters into a nice wibbly line and has a search facility.
4 Night Sky
5 Evergarden
6 Scanbot
7 NASA Selfies
8 Hey Duggee: The Exploring App
9 Tasty
£free / Android, iOS The good news: you’re surrounded by bad guys with swords, but they don’t move until you do, so you can pick them off at will. The bad news: get the order in which you slash them up wrong and you’re dead.
£free / iOS Most astronomy apps let you twiddle the heavens with a finger. Night Sky goes further, allowing you to pluck constellations to walk around in AR, like you’re a god. Or the Silver Surfer.
£free / Android, iOS The closest you’re going to get to space is watching Brian Cox on the telly. But you can fake it with this app that plants your mug inside a spacesuit floating before gorgeous pictures of the cosmos. 24
£4.99 / iOS There’s a lot going on in this garden of geometric flowers. At its most basic it’s a simple match/combine game that even a child can play, but this one has layers like an onion. A flowery onion.
£2.99 / Android, iOS Hello, Squirrels! It’s time to earn your… exploring badge. Or, if you’re an adult, shove this app in the hands of a childling and enjoy hours of peaceful bliss. Ah-woof!
from £free / iOS We thought Scanbot had lost its sense of humour on ditching the robot icon. Nope: version 8’s new AR challenge mode has you – at breakneck pace – scanning virtual documents littering your floor.
£free / Android, iOS Bin old cookbooks with their bland ingredient lists and cryptic steps. With Tasty, recipes come with super-fast videos outlining how a dish is made. If only you could match them for speed.
£free / iOS When Apple bought up Workflow, iOS’s best automation app, people feared the worst… until Apple’s own Shortcuts app appeared at WWDC, bearing more than a passing resemblance. Workflow has basically been consumed, Borglike, by Shortcuts, which sits on the App Store hoping people will still love it. And they really should, because this app finally makes Siri useful. Rather than having the AI gradually learn new tricks, Shortcuts bruteforces its powers. You create workflows via drag-and-drop (or just download them) and define commands to trigger them. Sounds easy? It really is!
HDJ- X5BT Connect your smartphone to wirelessly monitor music and talk hands-free
DJ headphones with BluetoothÂŽ wireless technology Wirelessly mon H
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PIONEERDJ.COM
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NEWS FEED MEGA NEWS The Sega Mega Drive is back. And the Sega Master System. And the Mega CD, Game Gear, Mark III, Sega MyCard, and… well, you get the picture. It’s all thanks to the Analogue Mega Sg, a gorgeous unofficial console that can play nearly all of the classic Sega cartridges you have stashed away somewhere – in shiny 1080p.
ROBOT WARS
Cuppa load of this
EMBER CERAMIC MUG Tech can’t solve all of life’s imperfections, but it sure can eliminate some daily niggles, such as tepid tea. The Ember Ceramic Mug connects to the Ember app and will allow you to control the temperature of your beverage down to the exact degree. A fully charged mug will keep a drink at the desired temperature for about one hour or, if used with the included charging coaster, all day. The best way to make enemies at work is by making temperature demands on the tea they’ve kindly offered to make you – so if you like a green tea at 50°C, prefer English breakfast at 60°C and coffee at 70.3°C with a fifth of a teaspoon of sugar and then blessed by St Paul, you can do all of it here. £80 / ember.com
When we first met Anki Vector, the clever little robot that gives you weather reports and throws a strop if you beat it at cards, we dubbed it an Amazon Echo rival. As good as that fight would be to watch, it’s probably a better outcome that the two will be merging as the robot gets on-board Alexa powers.
EASIER LISTENING Spotify knows you’re handing over the value of two whole pints for unlimited ad-free music every month, so the least it can do is make said music easy to find. The app’s latest update brings streamlined navigation. Even better is the Endless Artist Radio feature, which creates a never-ending playlist based on anyone you choose. Even Phil Collins.
SHEFFIELD STEAL It’s already given us the Arctic Monkeys, Pulp and ABC (and loads of steel) – and soon Sheffield will be home to the National Videogame Museum, which is moving north from Nottingham. As well as tracing games through the ages, the museum will host events and let developers show off their unreleased projects for the first time.
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Four-legged freaks
MEKAMON BERSERKER V2 If you think player-versus-player gaming is lacking in physicality and you have a thing for creepy robot spiders, you’re going to love MekaMon Berserker V2. Out now, these four-legged critters scoot about the place, partaking in intense real-life multiplayer battles (of up to four players) or single-player AR combat. They’re controlled through your device, but can be physically customised by their owner, whom they totally won’t laser to death while they sleep. As an added bonus, if you know anyone with arachnophobia, you can use the Free Drive mode to allow your robot ‘unlimited exploration’ across their face, presumably shortly before it gets a free flying lesson out of the nearest window. £250 / mekamon.com
W H E E L S
Peugeot e-Legend concept
E-LEGEND OF TOMORROW With battery power under the hood instead of a petrol engine, that subtle bonnet scoop is purely for style points
£N/A (concept) / peugeot.com Has this car fallen through a wormhole from the 1970s? No time-travelling car designers were involved in the making of the e-Legend concept – well, none that we know of. It’s a modern interpretation of the Peugeot 504 Coupé, and an effort to prove that the autonomous cars of the future don’t have to be boring and boxy. It’s modern, it’s retro and it’s cooler than anything in Peugeot’s current line-up. I’m guessing the engine isn’t as retro as the styling? Not a chance. The e-Legend is as cutting-edge as it gets beneath the bodywork, with twin electric motors sending 456bhp to all four wheels. That’ll get you from 0-62mph in less than four seconds, quick enough to embarrass most supercars. And the 100kWh battery should manage a roadtrip-friendly 370 miles on a full charge.
Any tech toys on the inside? Loads – in fact, the interior is more home cinema than car cockpit. A whopping 49in curved screen takes the place of a standard dashboard, and can play movies when the car is driving itself in autonomous mode. A soundbar from French audio experts Focal completes the ‘mobile movie theatre’ experience. Is this just another show-stealer that won’t ever get made? That’s complicated. Peugeot won’t commit until at least 2020, once existing models have been electrified, but after that it’s open season on a production model. However, that’s not good enough for Peugeot fans, so there’s already a petition to get it made: go to change.org and search for peugeot. If it gets 500,000 signatures, boss Jean-Philippe Imparato says he’ll green-light the real thing straight away.
NEWS DASHBOARD
Who needs a chauffeur anyway?
The regeneration game
Topless dancer
Renault might not be the last word in luxury cars, but that might change once autonomous vehicles take over. The EZ Ultimo is a self-driving limo with lay-flat seats for snoozing, a workspace for catching up on emails and decor that wouldn’t look out of place in a five-star hotel.
The mean-looking Infiniti Q60 Black S looks like it’s just stepped out of a Fast and Furious film. It’s got the energy recovery system from a Renault F1 car, which gives the already potent V6 petrol engine a 150bhp electric shove for serious overtaking potential.
It was concept central at this year’s Paris motor show, but some were more practical than others: Smart’s ForEase two-seater roadster would be fine for sunny LA, but with no roof there’s little chance it’ll be heading to our rain-soaked British B-roads.
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G A M E S OUT 20 NOV
FIRST PLAY BATTLEFIELD V: WAR STORIES PS4, Xbox One, PC
[ Words Heather Wald ]
While many are salivating over the prospect of the multiplayer modes in Battlefield V, there’s a lot of be said for the upcoming single-player campaign, War Stories. The prologue really sets the scene for the stories that follow, as it switches between several perspectives and locations, and establishes that what you’re about to experience is based on real events from WWII. Nordlys, which we were able to play in its entirety, is the first of the three stories in the 28
campaign. It takes you to German-occupied Norway, where you fill the shoes of a woman fighting for the Norwegian resistance. The second story, Under No Flag, has you following a criminal in London who gets recruited by the SBS (Special Boat Service) for a mission in North Africa. Last is Tirailleur, where you play a French colonial soldier fighting to liberate a nation that’s not his own. Throughout these stories, it feels as though the game is
openly encouraging you to discover different ways to approach each conflict – and the contrasting landscapes all look impeccably detailed. They serve to remind that this really was a global war. With a wide variety of weapons to try out, plus plenty of settings to traverse and stories to unravel, Battlefield V includes all the hallmarks of the series, but brings even more emotional depth, intrigue and action to the roster. It makes for one very strong single-player campaign.
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OUT 14 DEC
BORDERLANDS 2 VR PSVR OK, it’s not Borderlands 3, but a VR version of one of the best shooters of the past decade is pretty good news too. Unlike last year’s Doom VFR, which was a standalone experience purpose-built for
the PSVR, Borderlands 2 VR is the same game you poured hours into back in 2012, albeit with a few important tweaks and additions. You still play as one of four Vault Hunters prowling the cel-shaded planet of Pandora and mucking about with 87 bazillion guns (official figure), but the game is now an exclusively single-player experience. Abilities that once
required a co-op partner have been changed to accommodate a solitary campaign. Also new is a mechanic called Bad Ass Mega Fun Time (BAMF Time), which lets you temporarily slow down time so you can unload on bandits with improved accuracy. You can now drive vehicles in first-person, using the headset to aim, and the menus
have been redesigned so they can be navigated using the Move controllers. You can move around the world simply by pointing at a spot and teleporting to it, or via joystick controls. This sounds like the perfect way to spend your Christmas, even if it does risk making you chuck up all that turkey and cranberry sauce.
STILL TO COME BEFORE CHRISTMAS
SUPER SMASH BROS.
JUST CAUSE 4
SPYRO REIGNITED TRILOGY
Nintendo Switch Without Mario or Zelda the Switch’s second year was never going to be as sensational as the first, but they don’t come much bigger than Smash Bros. To keep the fans happy, every character is on the Ultimate roster. Mostly, though, we just want to punch Wario.
PS4, Xbox One, PC Ah, Just Cause, the videogamest video game that ever did videogame. If you’ve played any of the previous entries, it won’t surprise you to learn that JC4 once again entails wingsuiting around a fictional island making things explode. The big addition this time is extreme weather shifts.
PS4, Xbox One It worked for Crash Bandicoot, so we can’t see any reason why Spyro the Dragon’s high-definition makeover won’t prove to be just as much of a chart-hogger. All three games have been fully remastered for the collection, and feature updated controls for stress-free fire-breathing.
INCOMING NOVEMBER O FALLOUT 76 O POKÉMON: LET’S GO, PIKACHU! & LET’S GO, EEVEE! DECEMBER O KATAMARI DAMACY (SWITCH) 2019 O ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS O CRACKDOWN 3 O THE LAST OF US PART 2
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S T R E A M
Can’t find anything to watch on old-fashioned channel-hopping telly? Don’t panic – there’s plenty of great new stuff to stream:
Coco
Daredevil
Narcos
Like all the greatest Pixar movies, Coco combines stunning CG visuals and vocal performances with a heartwarming story – so if you’ve not yet experienced its delights, head over to Now TV. Despite being inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead, this tale of a young musician who communes with the deceased is packed full of life and catchy tunes. film / Now TV/Sky
It’s high time to return to Hell’s Kitchen. Yep, after more than two years, the original Marvel/Netflix collaboration Daredevil is back for its third full season, and it’s introducing one of the comic book series’ most iconic villains: Daredevil’s nemesis, Bullseye. Charlie Cox returns as the blind lawyer by day, blindingly quick vigilante by night. Season 3 / Netflix
Pablo Escobar may be long gone, but Netflix’s Narcos shows no signs of taking a similarly premature dirt nap. In fact, its fourth season is a rebirth of sorts, shifting the setting from Colombia to Mexico (a place where, let’s not forget, drug lords still wield great power) and casting new blood in the familiar forms of Diego Luna and Michael Pena. Season 4 / Netflix
House of Cards
Ray Donovan
With Kevin Spacey departed in disgrace and the real-life White House currently exhibiting a chaotic stranger-than-fiction quality, Netflix’s original Original might lack some of its previous allure and satirical bite, but this sixth and final season promises to wrap things up in typically tense, taut and thrilling style. Season 6 / Netflix
Ray Donovan has proven itself a show that can go the distance while remaining involving and entertaining. Now on its sixth season, this drama revolves around Liev Schreiber’s magnetic, rough-around-the-edges fixer: the guy you go to when you’ve got a problem that can’t be solved strictly within the law. Season 6 / Now TV/Sky
Making a Murderer: Part 2 Occasionally a documentary series will prove so involving, so intriguing and so infuriating that it will force itself into the zeitgeist. It happened with the Serial podcast, it happened with The Jinx and it happened with Making a Murderer. Three years on, the latter is back for a second series about the same murder case. Season 2 / Netflix
DO M N’ TH ISS T IS
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs film / Netflix
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The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is an anthology: six Western stories penned by the Coen brothers over a 25-year period and originally envisioned as a series, but now wrapped into a single movie telling several stories. With a cast including Liam Neeson, James Franco, Zoe Kazan, Brendan Gleeson and Tom Waits, it offers a Coen take on classic Western tropes such as bank robbery, prospecting, wagon trains, travelling shows, lynchings and, er, singing gunfighters. Put it on your watch list, pardner.
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S T A R T M E N U
ST KIC AR K TE R
The latest startups, crowdfunded projects and plain crazy ideas
Incy wincy speaker
GRAVASTAR
Speakers have become a creativity playground for adventurous hardware manufacturers. We’ve seen speakers as tyres, gramophones, and even HAL 9000. But Gravastar is the most arresting design yet, resembling a metal spider robot preparing to laser your face off. Fortunately, this thing is more interested in sending music to your ears than removing them. Its shock-absorbent zinc alloy shell houses a 15W speaker, and two Gravastars can be paired for stereo output. The tweeter/subwoofer separation is claimed to provide “crystal-clear distortion-free sound”. $129 / zoeao.com BACK IT STACK IT
ST KIC AR K TE R
ST KIC AR K TE R
PIX
Robobop
DANCEBOT
Solar flair
Pad locked
Personalising backpacks with stickers is so pre-millennial. Pix gives you a 16-by-20 matrix of giant pixels instead. It’s all controlled by an app, enabling you to showcase your low-res art skills or play the most gimmicky version of Tetris ever. The downside: you’ll now need to charge your bag as well as the devices it carries. $260 / pix.style
Most modern home robots want to manage smart devices and teach you coding. This boxy bot is instead a tiny John Travolta, interpreting audio into dance moves. Just avoid the makers’ advice on using Dancebot to “bring out the sexy in slow pieces” – unless you want your beloved to smash it to pieces. $56 / dancebot.net
This must be the first charger styled as a cheese platter. The plate is a solar panel, there’s a Swiss cheese speaker, ricotta torch, ‘solar milk’ power bank and ‘USBrie’ power outlet. Before you dismiss it as a bit cheesy, the creators are funding power banks in Africa. Feel bad now, you monster? $98 / kickstarter.com
Nobody ever remembers for sure if they locked the door. Did you? But DID YOU? SureKey could be the solution. You just glue the rounded end of your key into the SureKey, which displays a green light when the door is locked. Also, leave keys dangling in your lock and SureKey plays an annoyingly loud noise. $35 / surekey.io
Bag o’ light
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ST KIC AR K TE R
I GONDI GOE-
SACK IT
SUNMADE CHEESE
SUREKEY
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DROP EVERYTHING & DOWNLOAD
Fender Play
£free / iOS, Android, desktop
Everyone fancies themselves as the next Albert/Freddie/BB King at some point, but there comes a stage when you feel like you might have left it too late. Well, Fender says you haven’t. Whether you’re a raw-fingered novice or a lapsed maestro scrambling back into the saddle, the Fender Play app is here to hone your strumming skills. Choose your weapon – guitar, bass or ukulele (you’ll have to provide it, mind) – and Fender Play will school you on how to play it using bite-size videos presented by friendly fretboard wizards. This free app works on desktop, iOS and Android, and promises to teach you your first recognisable riff in just 22 minutes.
VS All a bit stompy
LINE 6 HX STOMP Do you play the guitar? Are you really, really old? Then you might remember Line 6 sparking something of a revolution with the original Pod amp-modeller a full 20 years ago. Line 6 is still pushing things forward, and its latest compact gadget is this multi-purpose cutey. Based on the company’s acclaimed Helix processors, it offers 300 virtual pedals, amps and speaker cabinets for guitar and bass. You can use it as a multi-FX stompbox, as an entire live rig plugged directly into the PA, or as a USB direct recording interface. You know what USB is, right gramps? £465 / line6.com
Gig-a-jig-jig
HEADRUSH GIGBOARD We’ve counted up the models available in this one and it’s less than 300, but we’ve also counted up the footswitches and it’s more than three. Perhaps more importantly, what the HeadRush Gigboard offers is a 7in touchscreen that lets you create and edit rigs by swapping pedals and amps around with your fingertips. It shares the HX Stomp’s supreme flexibility, with USB and headphone ports as well as analogue stereo outs, and the big twist? You can load in your band’s logo to use as the lockscreen. You definitely shouldn’t, but you can. £519 / headrushfx.com
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23rd RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph was that rarest of things: a good film about video games. Disney has broadened the gaming theme for the sequel, which encompasses all of internet culture, but you can expect just as many cameos. Where else are Iron Man, R2-D2 and Eeyore going to share screen time?
O NEXT ISSUE Christmas The Stuff Gift Guide On sale 29/11/18
14th AMAZON FIRE TV STICK 4K
200,000 Movies and TV episodes available to stream
NOV YOUR MONTH
It’s all well and good having a 4K TV, but you can’t marvel at the pristine picture without some 4K content to really show you what it can do. Enter Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K. It’s the first of its type to support Dolby Vision and HDR10+, and comes with its own Alexa remote.
43 years ago Small-time boxer Rocky Balboa beats Spider Rico THEN in the ring
Get that ’tache on the go
NOW Watch Creed 2 at the cinema
13th THEN 200m years ago Dinosaurs roamed the earth
HITMAN 2 Agent 47 is back for the follow-up to 2016’s brilliant soft reboot of the Hitman series. Hitman 2 eschews the previous game’s episodic format, instead giving you six missions from the off… and there’s a pink bird costume to do killing in. 34
14th 14th FALLOUT 76
NOW Watch Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom on Blu-ray
With Fallout 76, Bethesda is looking to shake up its post-apocalyptic RPG series by making the game entirely online, which means that every character you meet on your radiation-threatened travels will be controlled by a real human.
GOT £2900 HANDY? Head to bang-olufsen. com/edge
BANG & OLUFSEN BEOSOUND EDGE Looking to make a big ol’ dent in your bank balance this month? You could do a lot worse than B&O’s thumpingly loud Beosound Edge speaker. It looks a bit like a pound coin for giants, is wallmountable (you can also put it on the floor), and illuminates its controls when you approach.
W I N
RRP £549
TOTAL PRIZE VALUE £1116
RRP £49
RRP £259 RRP £259
WIN A SONY GAMING BUNDLE WITH RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 & AO.COM There are two ways to enjoy a Western-themed open-world action adventure. One is to steal your uncle Barry’s cowboy hat and drive around Wales shouting “Yee-haw!” at sheep until you run out of petrol. The other is to stay at home and play the new prequel Red Dead Redemption 2. Prefer the sound of option two? Good, because we’ve teamed up with the online electricals store, AO.com, to give one Stuff reader a Sony gaming bundle fit to knock a bandit clean off his horse: a Sony Bravia KD43XF7003BU 43in 4K HDR television with Freeview Play (RRP £549), a Sony PlayStation®4 500GB (£259), a Sony PSVR starter bundle including download code for VR Worlds (£259), and a copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 for PlayStation (£49). You can still have an ace Christmas if you don’t win: head to AO.com to browse over 7000 products, from washing machines and laptops to TVs and food processors, delivered at a time that suits you. 36
HOW TO ENTER
If you’re ready for some dead good redemption, you know what to do: go to stuff.tv/win and answer this question.
WHO IS THE MAIN PROTAGONIST OF RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2? A … Arthur Morgan of the Van der Linde gang B … Arthur Schopenhauer C … Arthur Sixpence
HURRY!
COMPETITION CLOSES 6 DECEMBER 2018
Terms & conditions: 1 Open to UK residents aged 18 or over. 2 Entries close 11.59pm, 6 Dec 2018. 3 Prizes are as stated. 4 Prizes are non-transferable. 5 Only one entry per person. Full Ts & Cs: kelsey.co.uk/competition-terms-conditions/ Promoter: Kelsey Media Ltd, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG
DIGITAL EDITION
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SUPERTEST SMARTPHONES
Grand designs Six flagship smartphones, one thousand pounds to spend. 5 Which one will it be? What would make you spend £1000 on a phone? That’s today’s question. Just a couple of years ago it might have been inlaid cut-glass diamonds, or a Porsche logo splashed across the back. All the really tasteful stuff. But today all the big smartphone makers have models pushing a grand. Heck, you can pay £1449 for an iPhone XS Max if you really want to. Which of these top-price models really match up to the price, though? Because unless there’s something special inside, you might as well save £500 and buy an Honor 8X. Well, if you want more tech tricks than a sci-fi convention, a ridiculously screen-packed design and a camera that works in every situation, most of these phones can oblige. It turns out you can’t go far wrong when you have this much to spend . But there is a clear winner. One of these phones goes further than the rest in maxing out what you get for your cash… @wwwdotandrew
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SUPERTEST SMARTPHONES
1 Apple iPhone XS Max This is the maxed-out new iPhone, with perhaps the most beautiful display design seen in a phone. And XS-beating battery life.
2 Google Pixel 3 XL
3 Sony Xperia XZ3
Android 9.0 has features designed to make you use your phone less. Now there’s some out-of-the-box thinking from Google.
The first OLED Sony phone. But can the Xperia XZ3 really compete with the best no-compromise phones in the world?
4 Samsung Galaxy Note9
This phone has 3 something special: the S-Pen. You can scrawl notes and draw masterpieces.
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5 Apple iPhone XS Basically the iPhone X with a new camera and a healthy injection of power. It’s by far the smallest here. Casual vibes for miles.
6 Huawei Mate 20 Pro
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The Pro can wirelessly charge other mobiles, includes zoom and ultra-wide cameras, and has a next-gen CPU. It’s a beast.
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SUPERTEST SMARTPHONES
The classy all-rounder with a wince-inducing price tag iPhones have never come cheap, we knew that. But trick out the XS Max with 512GB storage and it ramps up to £1449. You could buy a tidy Ford Fiesta with that kind of money, and have enough change to snag a pair of fake Ray-Bans for the ride. Use the iPhone XS Max and it starts making sense, though. The way the screen surround sticks at
3mm all the way around, bar the notch, makes it look like a work of art. Get this thing a spot in the V&A already. Its face-unlocking feature is ultra-quick. You don’t even miss the lack of a finger scanner. And even if you’re a paid-up member of Team Android, you have to admit it’s probably the best phone for gaming in this
class. The iPhone XS Max has the most dynamic speakers, more graphics juice, and iOS tends to get games before Android. And what about the camera? As ever, Apple has the experience nailed down. The app is clean, shooting is fast and what you see in the preview is pretty much what you get. HDR performance has improved this year too.
The best of Android claws ahead in a few areas, though. Huawei’s AI night mode deals with dark scenes better and the Galaxy Note9 has the edge for ultra-zoomed sharpness. If the iPhone XS Max were the same price as its rivals, though, this would be an easy one to pick. So does the idea of a £1100 phone make you feel a little sick or not?
O APPLE iPHONE XS MAX FROM £1099 +++++
PERFORMANCE
Game of hones The combo of the superpowered Apple A12 Bionic CPU and that giant screen just can’t be beaten. Even the most demanding games run like an Olympian. The iPhone XS Max also earns extra cred for its fantastic speakers.
iPhones still have the best facial unlocking feature, the original excuse for the notch. It uses IR dots to map your face so it’ll work in almost pitch black (aka your bed).
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The Max’s speakers look conventional: one on the bottom, one in the earpiece. But their dynamic range beats the rest: deeper bass and clearer, crisper treble.
CAMERAS
Image all the people Apple nails the experience of using a smartphone camera. The preview image you see when shooting looks fantastic, a real estimation of what you’ll actually get when you go back to review your photos (many rivals tend to give you less). The snapper’s a top performer too, with better HDR and low-light performance than the old iPhone X. Yes, if you’re shooting in ultra-zoom or capturing a very low-light scene the Samsung and Huawei will pip it, just, but the iPhone XS Max is up there with the very best.
DISPLAY
Beast for the eyes
The Max’s front is its strongest side. You just can’t fault those curves. Elsewhere it’s glass on the back, metal on the sides and three colours to choose from. It’s tasteful, it’s clean. It’s an iPhone. Mind you, this is also quite a big-feeling phone.
Bloomin’ gorgeous. That’s the best way to describe the iPhone XS Max’s screen. Aside from the notch (cunningly hidden by Apple’s stock wallpaper), there’s just a sliver of border around the display, and it tracks the screen’s curves as if painted on. Apple’s colour calibration looks flawless out of the box too: there’s none of the sense that reds are too red, greens too green. It all just looks, well, right. This is a brilliant display for gaming and video, which is what you’ll be using it for, won’t you?
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DESIGN
Arise again, Sir Jony
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FOR A LITTLE LESS
Apple iPhone XR from £749 / apple.com The middle child (size-wise) in the iPhone X lineup is no awkward kid. It’s hundreds cheaper but is just as powerful. You miss out on the 2x zoom camera on the back, though, and the biggest drawback is the screen: it’s a lower-contrast LCD with far fewer pixels packed into each inch. We’ll be reviewing it soon.
SUPERTEST APPLE iPHONE XS MAX
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SUPERTEST SMARTPHONES
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SUPERTEST GOOGLE PIXEL 3 XL
Selfie specialist proves the camera’s still king for Google The Pixel 3 XL is an ambassador from Android HQ, here to show us what the little green guy is into this year. At first, the hardware seems quite a lot like last year’s 2 XL: it’s the classic Pixel look, with more ‘cute factor’ than any other high-end phone. Some parts are totally different, though. The back is now all glass, with a fingerprint-hiding soft
touch finish across the parts you hold. And glass isn’t just there for fashion’s sake: you can wirelessly charge the Pixel 3 XL, and Google offers its own Pixel Stand dock. There’s a notch too, and you can’t miss it – this thing is a double-decker. However, it does allow some of the finest selfies you’ll see in a phone, and brilliant background-blurred portraits.
The Pixel 3 XL doesn’t have a genius face-unlock like an iPhone, though, and you can’t hide the notch like you can with Huawei’s. But this phone will get Android updates earlier than any other. And the camera? Many called the Pixel 2’s the best in the world. This year we get boosted contrast in daylight shots and smarter AI when using the digital zoom. Its
colour is often the most truthful, although some eyes may prefer the brightened mid-tones of the competition. And when using zoom or in low light, the Pixel 3 XL drops behind the best. Serious Instagram addicts and ‘influencers’ may still naturally gravitate towards an iPhone. But if you want selfies you won’t have to edit to death, the Pixel 3 XL is king.
O GOOGLE PIXEL 3 XL FROM £869 ++++,
PERFORMANCE
Slice of Pie?
The notch is the big black elephant in the room. Hate all you want, but its 8MP cameras are responsible for the best selfies you can take with a phone right now.
A Snapdragon 845 processor and very loud stereo speakers mean the Pixel is great for games. The pure version of Android 9.0 you get here is even more gesture-heavy, so get your thumb ready for a good flicking. OOOOOOOOOO
Squeeze its sides and the Pixel 3 XL opens Google Assistant, letting you ask who the prime minister of Liechtenstein is without pressing a button. Adrian Hasler, by the way.
FOR A LITTLE LESS
Google Pixel 3 £739 / google.com Downgrade to the Pixel 3 and you can save a tidy £130. It has the same camera setup, the same CPU, even the same mostly-matt glassy back. There’s no notch (wahey!) but the screen is smaller (boo!). This phone comes across as less of an entertainment monster than its big sibling.
CAMERAS
Selfie-centred Bold move, Google. This phone has only one camera on the back, and tries to fill the rest in with smart software. Does it work? To an extent. Day photos are stunning but crank that zoom and it can’t touch the iPhones or Note9 for detail. The HDR approach is different too, maxing out contrast for bolder-looking images. However, the Pixel easily has the best selfie cameras, treating each hair like a precious family heirloom. Guess what? That result comes from two sensors, not just software.
DISPLAY
Top notch
Every phone seems to be made of metal and glass these days. The Pixel 3 XL is one of the few that feels genuinely different. Google slapped a soft-touch finish on the back that stops it becoming a fingerprint wasteland.
You may have heard about the Pixel 3 XL’s 6.3in screen. It has the Big Mac fat stack of notches. You can’t hide the thing by dipping into the settings to create a ‘forehead’ bezel either, so make sure can get used to it before you splash the cash. Display quality has improved a lot since last year, with much less of a blue tint when you tilt the phone. However, great as the display is, it can’t make the same impact as the iPhone XS’s or the Mate 20 Pro’s, which fill the front as if the screen had been poured in as a liquid.
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DESIGN
Dust for prints
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SUPERTEST SMARTPHONES
Sony finally pulls its finger out with a low-price lovely Put the Xperia XZ3 next to these other kings and it won’t come out on top. The camera is great, but worse in most areas. Its battery life is fine, but doesn’t match the Note9’s. You can’t ignore that price, though. The Sony Xperia XZ3 is a whole £400 less than an iPhone XS Max and £170 less than a Note9. That means something. This is also the
first time Sony has crammed an OLED screen into a phone. And we’d rather that than the mostly pointless 4K displays Sony packed in to show off in the past. It’s a stunner, although this six-incher fills out the front less than any other screen here. Sony has embraced curved glass like no-one else, mind. The XZ3 is smooth as anything and,
yes, does have a habit of slipping down surfaces you swore were flat. Get bored and you could use it as a spirit level. Old Sony quirks, such as ugly camera processing, have been fixed, and the 960fps slow-mo shooting is fun to play with. But the XZ3’s cameras do start to struggle earlier than others with zooming and low light, and the
speakers are less beefy than on the competition here. And who thought putting the finger scanner that low was a good idea? Reach out for it and you’ll find the camera lens – and you’ll be waiting a long time if you expect that to get the Xperia XZ3 unlocked. Funny as it sounds at £699, saving a bit of money is the best reason to buy this phone.
O SONY XPERIA XZ3 £699 +++++
PERFORMANCE
Hoarse whisperer A Snapdragon 845 guarantees smooth sailing in games and day-to-day use. It’s outpaced in a few other areas, though. The stereo speakers are the weakest on test and battery life is worse than that of the other Androids here.
A hidden sensor on the phone’s right-hand side brings up a smart shortcut bar when you give it a double tap. A killer feature for your killer apps.
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Almost no phones have a dedicated camera shutter button any more. This one does, and it has a half-depress action to focus, just like a dedicated compact.
CAMERAS
Shoot to thrill Sony has wised up, ditching its old strategy of using the highest-resolution sensor it could get its hands on: this 19MP camera has the best performance in an Xperia to date. Beautiful HDR images and improved processing get a thumbs-up. The other phones here outperform the XZ3 in bad lighting and it can take a moment to focus, while the picture degrades quickly when you start using the zoom – the curse of the single lens. Still, step outside (when the sun’s up) and you’ll capture some impressive shots.
FOR A LITTLE LESS DISPLAY
The new normal
The XZ3 is a slick and smooth player, with curvy glass around the back and a front face with Samsung-a-like curves at the sides. There are some annoying bits, mind. It’s slippy as heck and the finger scanner on the back is far too low.
This is the first Xperia to use an OLED screen, which took Sony quite a while to achieve. With a notch-free display and just a slight curve at the edges, the XZ3 feels comfortably conventional in this class of renegades. And aside from the iPhone XS, at 6in it’s the smallest display here, which may be all you need. It’s still a stunner, with the perfect contrast of OLED and eyepopping colour if you want it. Speaking of which, with tones maxed, red can look bright rather than deep. Not the best for showing off those pics.
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DESIGN
Finger-slickin’ good
Sony XA2 £249 / sonymobile.com An affordable alternative, the XA2 doesn’t have the XZ3’s fancy bits. The screen’s aspect is old-style 16:9, the camera has more megapixels but lower image quality, and you lose the OLED punch. However, nowadays it’s a decent deal if you don’t want to spend a packet. +++++
SUPERTEST SONY XPERIA XZ3
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SUPERTEST SMARTPHONES
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S U P E R T E S T S A M S U NSGMGAARLTASXPYENAO KT ER E9 S
Pen’s a gem, but is Samsung losing ground to the upstarts? Samsung is so good at making high-end phones, it’s staring to get boring. No wonder LG, HTC and Sony have started to fade into the background. Notes are the most interesting phones Samsung makes, though. They have an S-Pen – a stylus that slots into the bottom of the phone. Give it a poke to make it pop out and you can start
scrawling notes directly onto the touchscreen, no unlock needed. This time the S-Pen also has Bluetooth, letting it work as a music controller or remote shutter button. As such it needs a battery, but it lasts around 200 clicks and recharges when put back in the phone. Genius. Add better battery life than the Pixel or XZ3, and a camera that
holds up in every single situation, and you have a special combo on your hands. Samsung is also the only company here not to have chucked the headphone jack like a carton of off milk. We’re thankful for that every day. There is a question of the look, though. Front-on it’s great, with plenty of curved glass and OLED pop from the notch-free 6.4in
screen…but the boxy elements on the back make it look the phone equivalent of a pencil case full of protractors. The Exynos processor seen in the UK version also doesn’t fare quite as well as the competition in some games. Only a handful of titles apply, mind, and those outside the gamer elite are unlikely to notice.
O SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE9 FROM £869 ++++,
PERFORMANCE
Reality bites
Conclusive proof that the world is coming to an end: this is the only smartphone here with a headphone jack. Samsung alone clings to sanity.
The Samsung Exynos chipset just pulls past the other Androids here in benchmarks. But in real life? Feed it the chip-melting Ark: Survival Evolved and you’ll see more frame judder than the Snapdragon 845 phones here. OOOOOOOOOO
The S-Pen slots into the bottom of the handset and clicks into place. You can take notes on the lock screen or control the entire phone with this stylus.
FOR A LITTLE LESS
Samsung Galaxy A9 £549 / samsung.com It seems weird that a cheaper Samsung has some more advanced features, but that’s just what’s happened. The A9 has four cameras on the back, to fit in zoom and ultra-wide sensors as well as a normal one and a depth cam. There’s no S-Pen, mind. That remains the Note models’ USP.
CAMERAS
Dark motives Only the Huawei Mate 20 Pro can touch the Note9 for sheer flexibility when it comes to taking photos. It snaps brighter, cleaner ultra-dark night images than the rest, the Auto HDR is superb and sharpness is terrific – well judged and never overdone. At 10x zoom the Note9 pips the iPhone XS Max’s camera for detail, and trashes the Pixel and XZ3. Zoom lenses really do work. Even the Samsung’s background blur effect is a touch more reliable than Apple’s – which works well most of the time.
DESIGN
Working 9 to S
Samsung is the king of phone OLEDs. But it has shared the wealth, and all the phones here bar the Pixel have a Samsung display. At 6.4in this is one of the biggest, though, and there’s no notch to eat into games and movies.
In this crowd, you can’t get away from quite how utilitarian the Note9’s camera rig looks. It’s a toolbox, not a design statement. However, no other phone manages to pack the front with quite as much screen without using a notch. Haters, roll up. Samsung also earns extra points for fitting in a slot for the S-Pen. Those Samsung engineers really earn their pennies. You can just pull out the S-Pen and start note-taking on the screen when it’s off. Where else can you get that? (Hint: nowhere.)
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DISPLAY
Meet thy maker
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SUPERTEST SMARTPHONES
An iPhone for iOS fans who still prefer smaller handsets As Apple never released the budget iPhone some were hoping for in 2018, and ditched the SE, the XS is the smallest of its new models. But it’s the same size and shape as last year’s iPhone X. It looks the same too, and Apple’s ultra-quick Face ID unlocking remains a top feature. So, what’s different? Only two major areas have been upgraded.
You get the Apple A12 Bionic processor, the same as in the XS Max – that’s currently the most powerful processor you can get in a phone. And Apple has upgraded the rear cameras too. HDR performance is better this time around, netting you richer photos that get closer to that of a well-edited shot taken with a good dedicated camera.
In this crowd, the iPhone XS’s screen may not blow you away. Its 5.8in diagonal makes it practical, not a pocket cinema. However, you still get the top-grade image quality of an OLED screen and Apple’s classy calibration. Battery life is the one thing that could put you off: the XS Max and Huawei Mate 20 Pro are designed to withstand a full day of solid
hammering, but we find that this iPhone begs for its charger a bit too early in the evening if you stream a lot of audio or kill time with a few YouTube videos. The smaller size and a battery that turns its nose up at the hardcore crowd mean the iPhone XS is best for the lighter users out there. Still, take the charger with you and that won’t be an issue.
O APPLE iPHONE XS FROM £999 +++++
PERFORMANCE
Chip with everything The iPhone XS is the ultimate pocket rocket phone, with the same power on tap as the XS Max. Its A12 Bionic CPU is still a class-leader. Don’t buy this iPhone if you want it to last through a day of major punishment, mind.
At 71mm wide, the iPhone XS is the easiest-to-handle handset here. If you’re buying it as a gift for someone who isn’t a tech hound, that may be enough for the win.
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The glass back enables wireless charging – and while Apple probably wants you to wait for its own AirPower pad, a normal Qi pad will also work.
CAMERAS
Big Brother’s watching It might be smaller overall, but the iPhone XS has the same cameras as the XS Max: dual 12MP sensors on the back with a 2x zoom option. As with the bigger phone, it offers a great user experience, with superb HDR and impressive image quality in limited light. And it really does make a massive difference that your photos come out looking pretty much identical to their previews. All of this adds up to a fine photographic arsenal, but the Huawei and Samsung perform slightly better at extreme zoom and in very low light.
DISPLAY
Crispy goodness
Is this an iPhone X? The XS looks just like its predecessor, with just a few little tweaks. There are a couple of extra antenna cut-outs and it’s 3g heavier – no-one’s going to notice that. The XS comes in gold, grey and silver.
In this crowd the smaller 5.8in screen is likely to get lost. But don’t forget all the tech sitting in that panel. There’s HDR 10 support, near-perfect sharpness, brilliant TrueTone colour that adapts to lighting and a 120Hz touchscreen for an even more responsive feel. 3D Touch adds pressuresensitivity too – not found in the Android brigade. It’s just a shame the 2658mAh battery doesn’t really have the stamina to match, even if it does outlast most Android handsets in a video-playing face-off.
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DESIGN
Nothing to declare
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FOR A LITTLE LESS
Apple iPhone 8 £599 / apple.com Stick with the older iPhone and you can save a few hundred quid. Sure, it doesn’t have the zoom camera or the latest CPU. But unlike an Android that’s no longer new, you’re still guaranteed software updates for years to come. The A11 Bionic processor should stay the course too. +++++
SUPERTEST APPLE iPHONE XS
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SUPERTEST SMARTPHONES
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S U P E R T E S T H U AW E I M AT E 2 0 P R O
So, how can you improve on perfection? Ask Huawei… If the Huawei Mate 20 Pro were a meal, it would come with every single item on the menu. The list of features just keeps going. Not only does it have wireless charging, but you can charge other phones with its 4200mAh battery just by holding them together (rubber band recommended). There’s an in-screen fingerprint scanner that’s only a hair less
quick than Huawei’s famed rear fingerprint pads. And, not content with a normal camera, the Mate 20 Pro has a 3x zoom and an ultra-wide lens… plus a new version of the brilliant AI-assisted night mode that made the Huawei P20 Pro so special. Huawei’s ahead of the Android pack with the Kirin 980 CPU too, which is a generation ahead of the
arch rival Snapdragon 845. This is the most tech-packed phone in the world. But is it good? Oh, it sure is. The glass and metal design is as sleek as any out there, as long as you can stomach that ‘Lego brick’ camera housing. Night and zoomed images are the best on test and the battery outlasts every other Android here.
Alright, many people may not be willing to spend this much on a Huawei. And parts of the software, such as the camera app, aren’t as tasteful as Apple’s or Samsung’s. But this is what a crazy-pricey Android phone should be about: cutting-edge features. If they’re not at the top of your list, you can always save £500 and buy something more sensible.
O HUAWEI MATE 20 PRO £899 +++++
PERFORMANCE
Kirin carpenter
Hover a finger over the screen in standby, and the area you need to use for the in-display fingerprint scanner starts glowing like ET’s finger. Without the “Ouch”.
The mighty Kirin 980 beats all Android rivals by at least 10% in benchmarks, and the 4300mAh battery outlasts them all. It’s not as good as the iPhone XS Max for gaming, though, with ultra-demanding titles chugging a bit. OOOOOOOOOO
Gotta love Huawei. This is the only phone on test with an IR blaster, letting it work as a universal remote. We all wanted one of those 10 years ago. Now? Meh.
FOR A LITTLE LESS
Honor 8X £229 / hihonor.com Sister company Honor smashed it out of the park with the 8X. This phone is only £229 but looks completely at home next to these phones of four times the price. It’s metal and glass too. Performance isn’t as hot and the cameras are a league or two below, but it’s a hot deal. +++++
CAMERAS
Pick of the pics In total there’s 76MP worth of camera here: so much it’s about to bubble over like hot chocolate in a microwave. It gives the Pro the best chops for extreme environments. Ultra-dark shooting? It wins. 10x? Another Huawei victory. Shoot a pretty landscape on a sunny day and you may prefer the iPhone or Pixel photos, but this phone lets you push at the limits of phone camera capability more than any other. Sure, that giant camera array is a bit much, but it really doesn’t take long to get used to.
DISPLAY
Invisible touch
Huawei plays the same game as Samsung here: curve the screen and you can fit in a wee bit more without straining anyone’s fingers. Despite the 6.3in screen, this is the most compact Android here by some stretch.
If you’re after the biggest screen around, that’s not the Mate 20 Pro’s game. It wants to fit as much display into a phone that doesn’t actually seem huge at all. A 6.3in OLED with curved edges and the teeniest borders of all the phones here (once you’ve ignored the notch) means it beats all comers on that front. It’s also the only one with an in-screen fingerprint scanner, for extra tech bragging rights. This a fantastic-looking mobile with the same breed of all-screen front as the iPhone XS Max.
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DESIGN
Tardis trickery
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SUPERTEST SMARTPHONES
The winner is…
Huawei Mate 20 Pro If you want a phone that will make people jealous, sure, buy an iPhone XS Max. But the Mate 20 Pro frankly makes the rest look a bit lazy. It has the most advanced features, the slimmest screen borders, the best real-world battery life, the most versatile camera… and it’s still £200 less than the XS Max. Is it the best at absolutely everything? Nope. The big iPhone is better for gaming. Google’s Pixel 3 XL often takes more natural pics during the day. And, well, the Sony Xperia XZ3 is a lot cheaper. Let’s not forget the Note’s stylus either. But the Mate 20 Pro wins at a canter. Just how on earth did they fit it all in a handset barely wider than an iPhone XS?
+ Now add these GameSir M2 This Bluetooth gamepad lets you treat your phone like a proper old-school gaming handheld. It’s perfect for long journeys, or trips back into the ’90s with an emulator app. £80 / amazon.co.uk
Huawei Smart View Flip Cover A magnet inside engages a special display mode that shows essentials (such as the time, weather and your notifications) through the case’s transparent window. £16.95 / huawei.com
Sony WH-1000MX3 Yes, we wish the Mate could be a better friend to wired headphones, but these Bluetooth cans offer fantastic customisable sound quality… and noise-cancellation that beats Bose. £330 / sony.com
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SUPERTEST THE WINNER
THE SUMMARY
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O Apple iPhone XS Max O Google Pixel 3 XL O Sony Xperia XZ3 O Samsung Galaxy Note9 O Apple iPhone XS O Huawei Mate 20 Pro
WHAT’S NEXT? Ask us what’s the best phone in three months and we may well have another answer. By the time you read this OnePlus’s latest, the 6T, will be out on shelves. Real shelves too, as you’ll be able to buy it from more networks than ever before. And Samsung is already preparing its 2019 phones to knock the smug smile off the Mate 20 Pro’s wallpaper. You can expect screens that fill up even more of the front, leaving almost no blank space at all. All we need is to make them translucent and we’ll have a real-life version of the props from a 2000s sci-fi movie. We’ll also hear a lot more about 5G mobile internet with the next generation of phones. This could make your downloads more than 10x as fast. There’s one snag: our mobile networks have to upgrade their services to 5G, and that’ll take much longer than Samsung needs to bung a 5G chip in its next phones. One day, though…
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TECH RATER
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follow Andrew: @wwwdotandrew
email Stuff: stuff@kelsey.co.uk
Display
CPU/memory
1st
Huawei Mate 20 Pro What it lacks in kudos it more than makes up for with great cameras, an immense battery and a slick design. Our flagship smartphone champ. £899 / stuff.tv/Mate20Pro
6.3in 3120x1440 OLED
2nd
Apple iPhone XS Yes, the battery disappoints if you’re a power user, but a slick OS and supreme processing power are all that most Apple fans want out of life. from £999 / stuff.tv/iPhoneXS
Battery
Cameras
Dimensions
Kirin 980, 6GB RAM, 128GB
4200mAh
40MP+ 20MP+8MP rear, 24MP front
158x72x 8.6mm, 180g
5.8in 2436x1125 OLED
Apple A12 Bionic, 4GB RAM, 64/ 256/512GB
2658mAh
12MP+12MP rear, 7MP front
144x71x 7.7mm, 177g
3rd
Apple iPhone XS Max Who said money can’t buy happiness? A gorgeous screen, stunning cameras and gaming nirvana can be yours if you have the readies. from £1099 / stuff.tv/iPhoneXSMax
6.5in 2688x1242 OLED
Apple A12 Bionic, 4GB RAM, 64/ 256/512GB
3174mAh
12MP+12MP rear, 7MP front
158x77x 7.7mm, 208g
4th
Sony Xperia XZ3 Its camera struggles in low light and the speakers and battery life are poor, but this Sony by no means disgraces itself – in relative terms it’s a bargain. £699 / stuff.tv/XZ3
6in 2880x1440 OLED
Snapdragon 845, 4GB RAM, 64GB
3300mAh
19MP rear, 13MP front
158x73x 9.9mm, 193g
5th
Samsung Galaxy Note9 The S-Pen is great for creative types, and the camera is up there with the best, but the chipset isn’t the best and the styling is starting to feel dated. from £869 / stuff.tv/Note9
6.2in 2960x1440 OLED
Exynos 9810, 6GB RAM, 128/512GB
4000mAh
12MP+12MP rear, 8MP front
162x76x 8.8mm, 201g
6th
Google Pixel 3 XL Notch-gate looks like it’s switched from Apple to Google. But if you can get past that and want a slice of Android Pie before anyone else, get the 3 XL. from £869 / stuff.tv/Pixel3XL
6.3in 2960x1440 OLED
Snapdragon 845, 4GB RAM, 64/128GB
3430mAh
12MP rear, 8MP+8MP front
158x77x 7.9mm, 184g
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TESTED APPS
Mini meme
O Yousician Learning a new instrument can be a right old trudge, which is why Yousician wisely reimagines plucking and strumming as a game. Its exercises are like Guitar Hero turned on its side, as you time your efforts to match coloured blocks and dots scrolling across the screen. If you fancy something a mite more conventional, try Fender Play (see p33) instead. Stuff says ++++, from £free / Android, iOS
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BE A REAL GUITAR HERO
From tentative strummers to professional Hendrix impersonators, we can all improve our plank-spanking with judicious use of these rocking apps
O Capo Touch Can’t quite get the hang of that fiddly riff? Trying to figure out the chords in an obscure indie B-side that you want to cover? Load the tracks into Capo Touch and use its tools to slow down audio and isolate frequencies; it’ll even, mostly accurately, figure out the chords being played. Just about all it can’t do is put your fingers on the right frets for you. Stuff says ++++, £9.49/year / iOS
O AmpliTube
O Fender Tune
O GarageBand
O Audio Evolution
You’re not a proper guitarist until you’ve got a rig of mindblowing amps and stompboxes to plug into. But they cost a fortune, weigh an absolute ton, and result in cable-spaghetti. So just use this app instead, with handy presets, custom setups, a built-in looper, and a live mode for those real, sweaty gigs. Just don’t forget yourself and stomp on your smartphone. Stuff says +++++ from £free / Android, iOS
Unless you fancy going really avant-garde (in the sense of ‘unlistenable’), you need to tune your strings. Fender’s app gives you standard, alternative and custom options, and has an interface bold enough to see from across the street. Fling IAP at it and you can add a snazzy ‘pro’ tuner, a rhythm box, and a bunch of chords and scales for honing your skills. Stuff says ++++, £free / Android, iOS
Apple’s freebie recording app covers the full gamut. Beginners can strum smart guitars, and old hands can plug in a real one before smashing their eardrums with a range of superb-sounding amps and pedals. When it’s time to record that hit single, a simple tuner stops you sounding too inept, while in-app synths and drum machines let you pretend you’re in an actual band. Stuff says +++++ £free / iOS
There’s no GarageBand on Android, but this virtual studio does the business for laying down tracks. An IAP gets you USB audio support, there are loads of effects packs, and you can mix audio and MIDI. Editing is non-destructive – handy in case an ill-advised edit suddenly creates a musical disaster worse than Agadoo. Stuff says ++++, £6.99 / Android, iOS
Mobile Studio
new
Mavic 2 Pro & zoom
The Future of Aerial Photography
Pre-order your drone at wex.co.uk/mavic2 Alternatively call 01603 486413 or visit your nearest Wex Photo Video store
from £399 / stuff.tv/WatchS4
An irresistible fourth It might look familiar, but Apple’s been working hard to boost the Watch’s wrist-appeal. The question is, will the Series 4 find its way onto yours? e’ve always liked Apple Watches, but the comparatively high price, restrictive screen size and general lack of functionality made them feel less than essential. With Series 4, Apple has made many improvements to the design, while adding a few features that set it apart from
[ Words Guy Cocker ]
W
the competition. As a result, the latest Watch changes everything: it is, by quite some distance, the best wearable on the market. The physical redesign extends to a larger display, a thinner form factor and new faces that display much more information than before. We’d still love to see better battery
life, but the Watch now feels much more useful as you navigate your day with more detailed weather, health and calendar information. There are some serious feature improvements as well, including a bigger internal speaker for calls, fall detection and emergency SOS, and an upcoming electrocardiogram
feature. And the improved processor speed results in the best, easiest implementation of Siri yet. The result is the first wearable that actually feels essential if you’re an iPhone user, mixing fantastic design and great features that aren’t available on other smartwatches. Let’s strap in for a closer look…
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F I R S T T E S T A P P L E WAT C H S E R I E S 4
1 2
1
Save your love
Health features are what really set the Watch Series 4 apart. Fall detection means if you take a tumble and don’t get up, the Watch can alert 999 and your next of kin. The electrocardiogram isn’t working just yet, but it could potentially save lives.
2 Siri-ously powerful Unless you’re Inspector Gadget, it probably still feels a little weird holding a conversation through your wrist. But the speaker in the Series 4 is fine for holding phone calls – and this has become our preferred way of using Siri. Just raise your wrist and talk.
4 Closer to the edge The new larger display can be filled up with more widgets, or ‘complications’. So on the new default watch screen, information fills every corner… and yet we still found it to be responsive even when touching the very edge of the face.
3 Don’t cell out
4
We had some trouble connecting our cellular version of the Watch to EE, but ultimately we found it to perform well phone-free. Unfortunately, battery life is still an issue – take a phone call over cellular and you can wipe it out in just over an hour.
5 I see shapes One thing that puts some people off the Apple Watch is that it’s square, not round. With the Series 4, Apple has rounded off the corners of the display, which makes it more aesthetically pleasing. But the 44mm model looks big on skinny wrists.
Good Meh Evil
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48 hours with the Apple Watch Series 4
1min 58
3mins
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1hr
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F I R S T T E S T A P P L E WAT C H S E R I E S 4
Tech specs Screen 1.78in or 1.6in LTPO OLED with Force Touch Processor Apple S4 Storage 16GB OS watchOS 5 Battery life 18 hours Sensors Accelerometer, gyrometer, altimeter, fall detection, heart-rate (optical/electrical), ambient light Dimensions 44x38x10.7mm, 48g; 40x34x10.7mm, 40g
5
Let it run wild
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The S4’s innovative innards make getting fit fun… or at least, make it easier to get through a session
6hrs
14hrs 20hrs
38hrs
Q Pod only knows
Q I’m in great shape
Some of the best features of the Series 4 are also available on earlier models thanks to watchOS 5; the new Podcasts app allows you to download episodes to your Watch to take on a run round the park.
This Apple Watch is truly obsessed with getting you fitter. If it thinks you’re on a walk, it’ll ask you if you want to record it as a workout. Your friends can also invite you to fitness challenges.
Q Help me ponder
Q Do talk
Given this new Watch’s bigger screen, you might want to use it to view photos – because we all know how nice it is to see what’s for dinner while you’re still slogging it out on the treadmill.
The Walkie Talkie app allows you to send short audio messages to your friends – say, your gym buddy who’s out of sight. Note that this overrides any silent settings you may have enabled.
Series 4 feels like the moment where Apple got the Watch right. That big, gorgeous display holds much more information, there are plenty of unique health features and there’s an improved processor and speaker. Yes, it’s still expensive, but if you were holding off on buying an Apple Watch until now, this is definitely the time to jump. @guycocker
STUFF SAYS +++++ So well designed, so packed full of features and such a joy to use: it’s easily the best wearable yet
48hrs 59
F I R S T T E S T S A M S U N G G A L A X Y WAT C H
The watch-finder general Follow our sophisticated colour-coded infographic to discover your perfect wearable I HATE SMART WATCHES
I’M RUGGED (GRRR!)
HELLO, TAX REBATE!
I KNOW WHAT I WANT
I REALLY LOVE E-READERS
I’M WELL SPORTY
LIFE IS LIKE AN ACTION MOVIE
I LOVE THE NATIONAL TRUST
CYBORG TENDENCIES
CUSTOM IS COOL
LIFE IS BLACK AND WHITE
ACCURACY IS ALL
DO I NOT LIKE ORANGE
DIGITAL LIFE, ANALOGUE STYLE
CHARGING IS FOR MUGS
FASHION CHAMELEON
I BUY MINE IN DUTY-FREE
MARATHON RUNNER
TOO BUSY TO CHARGE
FOREVER GETTING LOST
WATCH COLLECTOR
CREATIVELY MINDED
DATA-DRIVEN
WATCH ON FOR WORKOUTS
STAY COOL, EVERYONE
I LOVE EVERYTHING JAPANESE
YOKO ONO IS MY STYLE ICON
HISTORY GEEK
PENS ARE GANGSTER
NORDIC FANBOY
Sony FES Watch U
Casio WSD-F30
Montblanc Summit 2
Why settle for one watch when you can have hundreds in a single device? Sony has fitted the face and strap of its fashion-focused 43mm wearable with E Ink. Press a button and it cycles through an assortment of chic designs. £529 / sony.com
Casio’s latest Pro Trek is for people dangling off cliffs and diving into seas. Waterproof to 50m, it runs Google Wear OS and downloads its own colour maps. Extend Mode boosts the 36-hour battery life to three days. £450 / casio.co.uk
The first luxury timepiece to use the Snapdragron Wear 3100 chipset runs on time-only mode for an entire week, according to Montblanc. The 42mm case houses an AMOLED display and comes in a choice of finishes. £845 / montblanc.com
LG W7 The hybrid W7 isn’t quite living tissue over a metal endoskeleton, but this 45mm watch does combine a Swiss-made quartz movement with Google Wear OS. Beneath the hands it has an LCD screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 4GB of storage. $449 / lg.com 60
Marloe Coniston Don’t want smarts… or even a battery? This hand-wound offering from the Marloe Watch Company has a polished case and exposed Japanese movement on the rear, evoking an era when chargers didn’t exist. £299 / marloe watchcompany.com
Suunto 9 This is a 50mm GPS watch for sports nuts craving pure performance. That means ludicrously accurate tracking, and brilliant battery life so you’re likely to burn out before it does. It’s packed with features, like a heart-rate sensor and barometric altimeter. £499 / suunto.com
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Ever wondered what’s up with the links in Stuff? We’ve got a team of retail pros who scour the web to find you the best gadget deals – visit any stuff.tv link in this issue and you’ll be taken to the best deal for that product. If you make a purchase, we may get a small commission. It’s that simple, and has no impact on how much you pay.
FUNCTIONAL FINDS
TEATIME TECHIES
BEAUTEOUS BOILERS
UPVOTED
The quirky cuppa
The pastel protector
The cheap char-mer
De’Longhi Avvolta Who says you can’t have a transcendental moment of art appreciation while you wait for the kettle to boil? With its dramatic ‘vortex’ design, this is one eye-catching piece to add some design flair to your crumb-strewn kitchen. The shell is made of transparent resin rings with chrome accents. from £64 / johnlewis.com
Dualit 1.5L Lite Jug One of the hazards of handling a kettle is of course the risk of scalding yourself in your feather-spitting urgency to get pouring. Dualit’s Lite Jug kettle has a finger-guard on its lid to keep your hands safe, plus a rapid-boil concealed element and a contoured, non-drip spout. £85 / dualit.com
Breville Impressions 1.7L Jug Affordable doesn’t always translate to good – ask anyone who’s ever paid less than £30 for a Bluetooth speaker – but Breville has managed to deliver an efficient kettle with a sleek design that will serve you perfectly well if you’re on a budget. Best of all, it lights up blue on the inside. £44 / breville.co.uk
KETTLES The smart steamer Smarter iKettle Looking to splash out on something a bit different? Here you go: yep, it’s a kettle with an app. It lets you use your phone to boil it remotely and is compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. You can even sync the boiling time to your alarm, so you can roll out of bed to an already-steaming kettle. £100 / smarter.am
The hands-on hottie Bosch Kettle Cordless TWK7203GB If you suddenly find your entire family has decided to come over, and they just don’t know how to say no to a cuppa, you’re gonna need a bigger kettle. Bosch’s cordless wonder can hold 1.7 litres, while its double-walled steel construction keeps water hot for longer. £95 / bosch-home.co.uk
The mineral muncher
The temperature tamer
The breezy brewer
Russell Hobbs Purity Glass Brita If you live in a hard-water area, you know when you’re coming to the bottom of a cuppa by the crispy flakes of beige stuff that start sneaking into your mouth. Eurrgh! But it doesn’t have to be this way. This nifty number has a built-in Brita water filter to get rid of any mineral build-ups. £60 / uk.russellhobbs.com
Cuisinart CPK17BPU Multi-Temp Naturally we want our kettles to get our water hot, but it’s even better if we can decide exactly how hot. This polished steel job lets you set any temperature between 85 and 100°C, so your delicate green tea doesn’t have to be blasted senseless but your builders’ tea can still get a sweat on. £80 / johnlewis.com
Prestige Digital 2 in 1 If teabags are a drag and ‘real’ tea is your bag, this versatile option will make all your loose-leaf dreams come true: it has a removable infuser built into the lid, so you can brew your tea right inside the kettle. It also serves as a standard water-boiler, with touch controls on the base. £85 / prestige.co.uk
HOW TO DECIDE 62
Would anyone like a nice cup of tea? Heather Wald channels the spirit of Mrs Doyle from Father Ted and invites you to water-boiling wonderland…
1 Meter the litres If you have a large family or plenty of guests over on a regular basis, having a kettle that can boil more than the standard 1.5 litres could prove a lifesaver.
2 Turn up the heat If you’re an avid slurper, having a rapid-boil element will save you a lot time in the long run, while a ‘keep warm’ feature could save you from pushing the boil button quite so often.
UPVOTED The retro revivalist Smeg KLF04 If you’re a fan of the post-war retro aesthetic, Smeg’s latest ’50s-inspired kettle will be a brew-tiful edition to your kitchen. With seven temperature settings, an LED display and a ‘keep warm’ feature, it blends the nostalgic appeal of Back to the Future with the futuristic smarts of, um, Back to the Future. And if the look of this kettle is enough to bring your heart to boiling point, just wait till you see the array of tasty colour options. £160 / smeguk.com
3 Free the herb Having different temperature settings may sound daft, but if you like delicate infusions as well as tangy gloop you’ll be glad of the versatility. Some leaves are more delicate than others.
4 Don’t be dazzled It’s easy to fall for ‘designer’ looks, especially if you’re fitting out a new kitchen, but you could be using this appliance more than any other – so make sure the features match the slinky style.
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TESTED GOPRO HERO7 BLACK
Not shakin’ all over GoPro’s latest take-it-anywhere action cam looks like a chip off the old Black… but inside there’s a revolution in digital stabilisation
2
[ Words Sam Kieldsen ]
£380 / stuff.tv/Hero7Black The Hero7 Black feels like GoPro’s most exciting new action cam in a long time. Yes, last year’s Hero6 Black was fantastic – we would have given it six out of five if the laws of mathematics allowed it – but this feels like a giant leap forward from that camera, and it’s cheaper to boot. Much of the tech inside is as before: there’s the same (or a very similar) 12MP sensor and GP1 chip, with the same resolution and frame rate options, up to 4K at 60fps. But the big innovation for the 2018 model is HyperSmooth, GoPro’s new image stabilisation system. This is billed as a revolution in stabilisation, with GoPro’s founder describing it as “the gimbal killer”. But is that enough to make the Hero7 Black a must-have companion for would-be extreme sportspeople and vloggers, as well as regular Joes and Joannes who just want to record themselves riding down to Aldi for some cheese?
1 Gnarly the same The Hero7 Black looks almost identical to the Hero6 Black it replaces. We’re not complaining, given that it’s a tiny rugged block with a pleasingly rubberised finish, and the shared design means it’ll work with all your old GoPro mounts and accessories.
GOOD MEH EVIL
64
A dead easy action cam to use
3
1
2 Button it! Controls will be familiar to users of the previous couple of Heroes: a one-touch button up top stops and starts videos and timelapses, or takes still photos, while a button on the side powers the camera up or down and flips between the shooting modes.
Compact, waterproof and tough
Amazing new stabilisation trickery
Battery drains quickly with 4K
Good all-round image quality Video coding won’t work with older hardware
TESTED GOPRO HERO7 BLACK
Tech specs Video 4K @ 60fps, 2.7K @ 120fps, 1080p @ 240fps (8x slow-mo) Camera 12MP Displays 2in touchscreen, LCD panel Connectivity GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, voice controls; USB-C, microHDMI, microSD storage Battery 1220mAh (removable) Waterproofing 10m Dimensions 62x45x33mm, 116g
4
HyperSmooth operator 5
4 Porty hard The Hero7 Black keeps its microSD card slot and battery under a flap on its bottom edge, while a side door covers USB-C (used for charging and image transfer) and microHDMI ports. Buy the right cable and you’ll be able to play your videos on a TV. 3 (Dis)playing rough An LCD panel on the front gives you info on battery life, SD card space and the current shooting mode, while the usual 2in touchscreen is at the rear. Its dinky dimensions mean it occasionally needs a second tap or swipe, but it’s easy to use.
5 Power-crazed A quick word about battery life: the Hero7 Black really chews through it. We would go out for an hour or so of filming at a time, and it would generally end up with about 50% of the battery left. So you may want to invest in a spare or two.
The Hero6 Black was a great action cam… and the footage from the Hero7 Black is every bit as good
Q Have-a-go Hero
Q Stable hand
With rich colours, a wide dynamic range, responsive auto exposure, smooth slow-mo and decent low-light performance, this is a camera you can use without having to put much forethought into it.
HyperSmooth is a genuine game-changer. Purely electronic, this image stabilisation tech does an incredible job of removing signs of motion. Footage is stable and judder-free, even when cycling over rough terrain.
Q Out with the old…
Q …and in with the ooh!
The camera supports RAW stills and Protune video. But be aware that some resolutions and frame rates require the HEVC/H.265 codec, so they won’t be playable on a lot of devices unless they’re fairly recent.
Other new tricks include TimeWarp (an especially stable timelapse mode), SuperPhoto (a stills mode with HDR, tone mapping and noise reduction) and the ability to livestream your gnarly lifestyle to Facebook Live.
This is basically the excellent Hero6 Black with a bunch of improvements added – the most useful being that HyperSmooth image stabilisation. This makes such an impact that we’d even suggest owners of the Hero6 Black consider upgrading. It’s great to see GoPro innovate in ways that are genuinely valuable to users. @samkieldsen
STUFF SAYS +++++ It might look familiar but this is GoPro’s smoothest model yet, and a brilliant new flagship for the action cam specialists 65
TESTED AMAZON FIRE HD 8 (2018)
Relight my Fire Amazon has given its budget tablet a new lease of life – plus the option of a dock that lets you talk to Alexa until she’s completely burnt out from £80 / stuff.tv/FireHD8
Power play In our tests the battery lasted between six and eight hours with fairly heavy usage. Which isn’t too bad for a budget tablet.
Q Amazon has long offered tablets with solid build quality for bargain prices. This 2018 evolution of the Fire HD 8 has all the expected upgrades, including a beefier processor, but the headline news is a new optional dock/case that lets your tablet sit upright. So you can watch videos and get visual answers to your queries using Alexa, all hands-free. Q As soon as you fire it up (excuse the pun), you know this is an Amazon device… but not in a good way. During the setup, it tries to flog you a subscription to Amazon Prime. Then there are the adverts on the lockscreen – and the OS, a heavily skinned version of Android whose apps are skewed in favour of Amazon’s own. Q Fire OS 6.3 has a neat new trick up its sleeve: Show Mode. This takes a more visual approach to answering Alexa queries. Ask for the weather, for example, and as well as reading out the forecast it will show you graphics. Q Alexa works even if the device is locked, which is very useful if your hands are otherwise occupied. It’s not quite as slick as a proper smart speaker, though. Q The CPU isn’t the quickest but it’s capable enough for most basic tasks, and games run quite well. The Silk browser can be slow, though – and it uses Bing as the default search engine. Well, someone’s got to.
Tech specs Screen 8in 1280x800 touchscreen Processor 1.3GHz quad-core RAM 1.5GB OS Fire OS 6.3 Storage 16/32GB, expandable via microSD Battery life Up to 10hrs Dimensions 215x128x9.7mm, 363g
Q Upwardly mobile
Q Case the joint
If you want to dock this tab to charge (with it standing up and basically working as an Amazon Echo Show smart speaker), you’ll need the Show Mode Charging Dock. It adds £30 to the price of the tablet.
Clip the tablet into the back case, slotting the connector into its microUSB port. Then place the case-wearing tablet into the dock (magnetic points make sure it’s positioned correctly) and plug into a wall socket to charge.
STUFF SAYS Christmas bargain hunters take note: this is a lot of tablet for £80 +++++ Add the dock and this is a much better deal than the Echo Show Joe Svetlik
66
The Fire HD 8 certainly isn’t perfect. There are far more advanced tablets out there with sharper screens, fancier design flourishes and more capable cameras. But they also cost a lot more. For £80, you get a stonkingly good tablet that does everything most people need it to, and then some. Throw in the optional Show Mode Charging Dock and you’ve virtually got an Echo Show for almost £100 less.
TESTED SOUNDMAGIC E11C
Greyed balls of fire SoundMagic’s latest bargain in-ears sound more colourful than they look – your new best buds? £50 / stuff.tv/E11C Q Headphone sockets might be a rare sight on phones in 2018, but if yours has one it’s begging you to introduce it to some decent headphones. SoundMagic’s E10, E10C and wireless E10BT in-ears have been close to the top of our list of affordable in-ears for years, and now come the E11Cs. Q These have a more premium look than their predecessors, opting for a single silver/grey finish rather than the assorted colours of the E10 range. The aluminium buds look and feel better-made as well. Q They’re super-light and incredibly comfortable, forming a nice tight seal to ensure your tunes sound exactly as they should while not letting too much exterior racket creep in. Q Just down the cable from the left bud is a three-button remote and microphone. This is the only difference between these and the standard E11s. Press once in the middle to start or stop, double-tap to skip, and hold it down to activate your phone’s voice assistant. The buttons either side of it increase and decrease volume.
Q People get thready
Q Pull up to the bump
The 1.2-metre cable is clearly built to be functional, not feel luxurious. It’s plenty long enough to thread up inside your T-shirt, but not so long that you end up with spools of spare wire crammed into your pocket.
The remote housing is metal but all three buttons sit underneath a single piece of rubber, with a tiny raised bump to indicate where the middle is. They’re pretty close together, though, so it can be fiddly to skip tracks.
Q Pretty much everything you chuck at these sounds great… and not just ‘for the price’. Bass is hefty and authoritative, while instruments sound authentic and pretty spacious considering the size of the drivers – even when you’re listening to Slayer. If you’re looking for criticisms, vocals can occasionally lack a little freshness, but you’d be mad to make that a deal-breaker.
Tech specs Connectivity 3.5mm jack Cable length 1.2m Weight 11g
STUFF SAYS Capable, durable and affordable – SoundMagic does it again +++++ These should be the default buds for any phone with a jack socket Tom Wiggins
There’s a sweet spot when it comes to in-ear headphones where price and sound quality meet. Most people are willing to spend enough to get something they’ll be happy listening to every day, but not so much that they’ll constantly be worried about leaving them on the train. The E11Cs absolutely nail that balance, and it’s hard to see what you could possibly find to be unhappy with. Well, unless you lose them, of course.
67
VERSUS MIRRORLESS CAMERAS
It’s a mirror cull Canon and Nikon shoot it out to establish whose mirrorless compact system camera is good enough to replace your creaky old DSLR
[ Words Amy Davies ]
Canon EOS R
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Nikon Z7
What’s the story?
What’s the story?
Canon’s entry to the full-frame mirrorless market has been met with a slightly mixed reaction from the internet’s chattering classes. Probably aimed more towards mid-range shooters than either beginners or experienced pros, the EOS R looks a lot like one of Canon’s smaller DSLRs, with a superb electronic viewfinder and a fully articulating touchscreen.
The launch of Nikon’s Z7 has gone down a lot better with the comment-spewing general public than the Canon EOS R… except for one design weakness it shares with the cheaper camera. Packing a single memory card slot (XQD in this case) is enough to send a bunch of pros with pitchforks to Nikon HQ crying out: “But what about wedding photographers!?”
Is it any good?
Is it any good?
Shooting in extremely low light is a doddle thanks to a hyper-sensitive focusing system, while image quality is just as good as you’d expect from the king of cameras – think super-sharp details and gorgeous colours. The bad news is that there’s only a single SD card slot, while battery life is officially rated at an unimpressive 370 shots. There are some great features that are new to those coming from a DSLR – silent shooting, for example – but that stuff’s old news for anybody who’s been shooting mirrorless for several years already (hello, Sony users). For now there’s not a huge number of proprietary R lenses to choose from, but you can help yourself to existing Canon EF and EF-S optics by fitting the included mount adaptor.
If you can put that fault aside, the Z7 acts and feels every inch a Nikon DSLR – just in a much smaller body. In other words, if you’re used to shooting with something like the D850, you can pick up the Z7 and crack right on. Again there are some features here that are not new to the mirrorless world but are likely to be welcomed by Nikon users who have waited so long for the company to come up with the goods – silent shooting and image preview being the biggies. And as with the Canon, a lens adaptor (FTZ) is included in the price. Image quality is again superb, with a super-high-resolution sensor giving you lots of cropping options. Focusing may not be quite as speedy as with the EOS R, but it’s still pretty damned swift. And this is another superb electronic viewfinder.
Price £2349 (body only) / stuff.tv/EOSR Tech 30.3MP full-frame CMOS sensor O 8fps shooting O ISO 100-40,000 O 136x98x84mm, 580g
Price £3499 (body only) / stuff.tv/Z7 Tech 45.7MP full-frame CMOS sensor O 9fps shooting O ISO 64-25,600 O 134x101x68mm, 675g
Stuff says ++++,
Stuff says +++++
A great first attempt, but we can’t help being a little underwhelmed by this Canon
This beats the Canon at every level… but it’ll cost you over a grand more
TIPS TO MAKE YOU A CUTER SHOOTER O You can carry on using the EOS R’s touchscreen while shooting through the viewfinder with ‘Touch and Drag’. If you find your nose is making unwanted AF point changes, you can choose a specific screen area that your snozz doesn’t get near, and hey presto. Sort of makes up for not having a joystick… well, nearly. O One of the main benefits of mirrorless cameras over DSLRs is being able to use the viewfinder for all kinds of helpful functions. For example, you can zoom in to 100% and make sure your subject is pin-sharp before hitting the shutter release button. On the Z7 there’s a dedicated button to get you up close and personal.
VERSUS MIRRORLESS CAMERAS
1
1 Touchy feely
2
The Canon’s touch bar can give you quick access to a key setting such as ISO – just be sure to engage the lock to avoid thumb-knocks.
2 Totes awks Having the on/off dial on the left is really quite annoying for quick switching – placing it around the shutter release would surely have made much more sense.
TES WI T NN ER
3 Eyes wide shutter Nikon’s new Z mount can facilitate wide-aperture lenses that the F mount couldn’t even dream of – look out for an f/0.95 lens coming soon.
4 Batt’s your lot With battery life rated at just 330 shots, a second battery is a smart investment for pros. But charging via USB is also possible for quick blasts of power on the go.
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BETA YOURSELF
WUNDERLIST Relying on sticky notes attached to your face for important tasks? You’d best get this to-do app before Christmas hits. As Craig Grannell explains, it’ll even let you fob stuff off on others… THE BASICS
tap-holding and dragging. There’s a notes field for arbitrary scribbles on a task, and you can also add files, such as images, PDFs and MP3s of you yelling “I AM A TO-DO GOD!” stored in Dropbox.
Q Make some lists If you only want a bare-bones to-do manager – or if you burn through tasks at a pace that makes normal people hate you – you can probably stick with Wunderlist’s Inbox. But if you want to organise your tasks, create some lists. You can refine your setup further by dragging one list onto another to group them in a folder. Wunderlist will also make smart lists based on due dates and starred items.
Q Add tasks Tap the blue ‘+’ button and Wunderlist creates a new task. The app understands natural language input for schedules and notifications, such as ‘Buy Stuff tomorrow at 6pm’. To manually assign dates and reminders, use the calendar
Q Repeat yourself Although primarily intended for one-off tasks, Wunderlist can be used to track repeating events. Create your task, tap to edit it, and tap ‘Repeat’ then select your interval. button (and clock on iOS). By default, new items head to the inbox, but you can select an alternative list before tapping ‘Done’. Or you can add items when already viewing a list.
Q Get stuck in So you’ve got the bug but now you want more. Wunderlist lets you have it. Tap a task and you can add subtasks, which can be rearranged by
Q Make it your own Peruse the ‘General’ section of settings, where you can adjust app behaviour – such as audio feedback, smart lists and whether new items are placed at the top of lists. Also check out ‘Background’ to adjust Wunderlist’s visual style; options range from stark minimalism to a photo of a snoozing cat.
SORT IT OUT Q Adjust your lists
Welcome site Should your smartphone conk out and your tablet follow suit, you can still get at all of your Wunderlist content by logging in at wunderlist.com on a PC.
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A sign of a good task manager is how flexible it is in reordering lists, and Wunderlist’s ‘Sort’ button has plenty of options: alphabetical, due or creation date, assignee and priority. Note that starred stuff is by default placed at the top.
Q Work with tags You can use tagging (in standard #hashtag style) to group arbitrary items stored across multiple folders. But tagging can also be used as a means to create custom priority levels. Place #1, #2, #3 and so on at the start of your to-dos, then sort alphabetically.
OR TRY ONE OF THESE
MICROSOFT TO-DO You might get a sense of deja vu using To-Do, and that’s because Microsoft intended it to replace Wunderlist. Right now, though, it’s a rather minimal app, lacking key features. Still, not a bad choice if you want something simple. £free / Android, iOS, web
HABITCA EASY ACCESS Q Add emoji
SUNNY & SHARE
You may hate emoji with the blazing fury of a thousand suns, but stick one in front of a list’s name. It replaces the generic icon and makes picking out lists much easier.
WUNDER OFF
Q Assign tasks
Q Use stars
Q Email lists
Some tasks are just too good to keep to yourself – such as, erm, grocery shopping. So in a list, tap ‘Share’ to inflict it on another person. You can then use the handy ‘Assign to’ option, and blame someone else when they forget things.
Tap the star icon next to any individual task and it’ll show up in the automatically created ‘Starred’ folder. Don’t go nuts with this. Use that folder for each day’s most important tasks and only replenish the list when they’re all completed.
Need to get a list to someone but not keen on full-on sharing? Tap ‘More’, and then ‘Email List’. (Avoid doing this with your Starred list – that can do weird things.) Want to pretend you’re living in the 1980s? Try printing the list.
Q Get chatty
Q Make a calendar
Q Export your data
Every task within Wunderlist enables you to add a comment (although doing so on solo tasks might mark you out as a little bit strange). In shared lists this can be a great way to clarify collaborations, or entertain others with ASCII art. Either’s good.
Wunderlist can sort lists by date, but that’s not useful if time-sensitive to-dos live in multiple folders. So head to the web app, click ‘Account Settings’ and subscribe to the calendar feed. In your calendar, you’ll see all your to-dos that have a due date.
If the day ever comes when owner Microsoft shuts down Wunderlist, you can grab your data at export.wunderlist.com. The zip file you get includes everything from lists you own, such as tasks, notes and files. Neatly, everything even works as a little offline website.
Although you always get that satisfying little buzz in your brain when you check a task off a list, that might not be enough. Should you need extra encouragement to actually get things done, Habitca turns your to-dos into a tiny role-playing game. £free / Android, iOS, web
THINGS One for the serious Get Things Done wonks – at least if armed with Apple kit. This task manager has a ton of great features for organising your life, and a lickable interface – just as well, since at this price you’ll have to do without food. from £9.99 / iOS, macOS
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T E S T E D D J I M AV I C 2 P R O
’Blad influence Take one of our very favourite drones, improve it in all sorts of ways, then stick a Hasselblad camera on the front – how can DJI’s Mavic 2 Pro not be a classic?
[ Words Sam Kieldsen ]
£1349 / stuff.tv/Mavic2Pro Drone-maker DJI is on a roll. If you’d asked us a few weeks ago to name our favourite flying camera, we’d have blurted out “Mavic Air” before you’d finished the question – but things have changed now, and it’s all down to this handsome aerial devil: the Mavic 2 Pro. Back in 2016, the Mavic Pro ushered in an entirely new folding design. Many drones since have copied that, but the Mavic 2 Pro is the true successor, keeping all the good bits of the original while making real improvements in almost every area. Perhaps most significantly of all, it comes with a brand new camera developed in association with the legendary Swedish company Hasselblad. It’s not a huge surprise that this has happened, given that DJI bought a majority stake in the firm last year, but this is the first camera to arise out of the partnership… and it’s fantastic. This is an undeniably pricey drone, but we think enthusiasts will find it’s worth every penny.
1 Steerway to heaven The Mavic 2 Pro is a fantastic flier that feels far more responsive in the air than we were expecting. It can zip along at 72km/h in Sport mode, but just knowing it’ll respond near-instantly to the controller, even at long range, is really reassuring.
GOOD MEH EVIL
Couldn’t be easier to control
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2 Young, free and gimbal It’s stable too, with gusty weather causing few problems and the gimbal keeping the camera rock-steady. The sleeker body and blades mean it makes a little less noise in flight. At 30m high, any passers-by will hardly know it’s there.
Stable in high winds, and quiet
Impressive streaming range
3 Hook, line and sync’er The new OcuSync 2.0 video transmission system will beam a stable 1080p live feed to a controller-connected phone around 600m away. The only time we lost the signal altogether was when there was 30m of cliff face between us and the drone.
Clever collision avoidance
Top-quality video and stills There are fine drones that cost a lot less
T E S T E D D J I M AV I C 2 P R O
Tech specs Camera 20MP 1in CMOS Video 4K @ 30fps, 1080p @ 120fps Maximum speed 20m/s Max flight time 31 minutes Range 8km Connectivity USB-C, microSD storage Dimensions 283x277x110mm, 907g
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Alternatively…
DJI Mavic 2 Zoom £1099 / stuff.tv/Mavic2Zoom
4 Dodge charger In every mode bar Sport, the Mavic 2 Pro is nearly impossible to crash. With obstacle sensors on all sides (a DJI first), the drone will detect potential disasters and stop automatically. If flying on a course you’ve preset, it’ll even skirt around obstacles.
5 It’s worth the Hassel With a 20MP 1in sensor and adjustable aperture, the Hasselblad camera performs well in a much greater range of lighting conditions than most. As a result, the footage and stills that come directly out of the camera look stunningly detailed.
With the same folding design as the Pro and many of the same flight features, the Zoom differs in only one significant way: its camera. No Hasselblads here, just a 2/3in sensor with 12MP. This model does, however, come with a world first for drones: a 2x optical zoom lens. That might sound a mite gimmicky, but it affords this Mavic a couple of special tricks. OK, yes, the Pro’s camera is much better. But in good lighting conditions the Zoom is more than capable of delivering impressively sharp 4K footage as well
It’s not as small or affordable as the Mavic Air, but we feel that the battery life, safety features and image quality more than make up for that. If you’re in the market for a compact drone that flies and films like a dream, and you’re willing to pay a premium for it, the Mavic 2 Pro should be right at the top of your wishlist. @samkieldsen
as reasonably clear and clean 12MP stills. And then we come to the fun part. The Zoom’s lens lets you perform a dramatic Hitchcock-style dolly zoom, where the drone flies backwards while zooming in on a subject. It also allows you to fill the frame with subjects that you’d rather not get too close to. If your budget doesn’t stretch to the Pro, this is a very attractive alternative that offers the same battery life, safety features and quiet, agile flying. Stuff says +++++ No match for the Pro, but a top drone in its own right
STUFF SAYS +++++ A drone without any real weaknesses: if you can afford it, this is the new gold standard in portable flyers
RETRO TECH
GAMING Clock NES monster The beating heart of the Pyua consists of circuitry taken from an Nt Mini NES console made by Analogue. Light NES of touch ‘Load’ the cartridge, replace the dome, press the ‘on’ switch and your beloved game is illuminated, trophy cabinet style.
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RETRO TECH
Hello retro Classic on the outside, cutting-edge on the inside – vive la renaissance of gadgets, games and gear given a 21st-century reawakening [ Words James Day, Heather Wald ]
Atari VCS This stylish wee system elevates Atari into the modern world. There are more than 100 classic games to sink your teeth into, such as Missile Command, Asteroids and the obligatory appearance of Pong, mixed with a dash of new titles. Alongside internet access, Twitch streaming, voice controls and ports galore, it uses Linux OS for a customisable setup. Choose to play with an original joystick or a PC-compatible controller. from £180 / atarivcs.com
SNK Neo Geo Mini SNK’s Neo Geo Mini is a titchy tribute to the classic arcade machine. Decked out with 40 original titles, including the likes of The King of Fighters series, the Metal Slug trilogy and Fatal Fury Special, there are plenty of memories to jog – so we suggest multipacks of Space Raiders and Nerds to see you through the night. There’s a built-in LCD screen, joystick controls, an HDMI port for TV connectivity and support for official Neo Geo controllers. £139 / snk-corp.co.jp
NES is more The controllers are now wireless thanks to 8bitdo. They’re stored, with up to 20 cartridges, in a wooden carry case.
Retro Freak
Love Hulten Pyua Gamers are bathing in the glory of a retro revival at present. One Stuff staffer’s dad is a veteran gamer and has hurled himself head-first through this window of opportunity to replenish his cherished haul with kit that fraternises with HDMI. Enter nostalgic Swedish design house Love Hulten and its glass-domed shrine to Nintendo – or more specifically, to the NES system. The Pyua console comes complete with original NES controllers, and gives your 8-bit collection some upscaling TLC with Full HD resolution. £tba / lovehulten.com
Aptly named, this machine supports original games from 12 different systems, including the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive, Nintendo Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Gameboy Advance, SNES, NES and more. It has cartridge slots, controller ports plus SD card and HDMI support. It upscales to HD, or you can enable a scanline overlay. The premium version ships with an adaptor for TurboGrafx, Famicom, Super Famicom and Genesis controllers. £150 / cybergadget.co.jp
Numskull Pac-Man Waka waka waka waka. Do you hear that? It can mean only one thing: Pac-Man’s got the munchies. Numskull’s adorable cabinet is the result of a passion project to create replicas of iconic arcade machines, but crucially at a quarter of the size so you can store them on a shelf. The first in a series of three machines, the Pac-Man unit runs a ROM of the original game on a 5in display and even includes a coin slot. £150 / numskull.com
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RETRO TECH
PHOTOGRAPHY For your eyes only Depending on the scene and subject, choose between 30 and 60 full frames per second for video recording in MP4.
Fujifilm X-T100 What do you do when you’re lusting after Leica-esque design and image quality, but don’t really fancy selling everything to get it? The X-T100 comes with a 24.2MP APS-C sensor and a newly developed rapid autofocus system, all for a relatively modest price. All of you smartphone snapping hounds should be happy too, because it’ll be quicker than ever to transfer files via Bluetooth. £619 / fujifilm.eu
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A view to a kill There’s a Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH lens and an integrated viewfinder with 3.68MP resolution.
Hasselblad X1D
Polaroid OneStep+
Step into the average photographer’s studio and you’ll spot a medium format camera. They pack in pixels perfect for portraits, but aren’t so handy on the move. Hasselblad changed all that with the X1D. This was the first time we’d seen a medium format sensor squeezed into a compact system camera body – it looks great, has top build quality, is easy to use and produces outstanding pictures. £5999 / hasselblad.com
We love the Polaroid OneStep 2 for its retro quirks, its fun factor and the sheer fact that it’s built using a decades-old process. The OneStep+ adds a Bluetooth-connected smartphone app with double exposure, light painting, self-timer, remote trigger, noise trigger, scanner and manual mode for finetuning your shutter and flash. There’s also a new portrait lens for taking photos from just over 30cm away. £150 / uk.polaroidoriginals.com
Leica Q Khaki Special Edition Leica’s limited-edition Q compact camera is wrapped in a ‘khaki’ leather trim. This is a 24.2MP luxury snapper in its purest form with a full-frame sensor, fast prime lens, Full HD video recording and Wi-Fi connectivity for transferring content to a smartphone, tablet or laptop. It’s also ludicrously expensive and just 495 are being produced. Given it’s called Q, we suggest pairing it with a Roger Moore safari suit and heading off to exotic climes – just remember the Empire no longer exists. £4150 / en.leica-camera.com
Reflex SLR Feast your eyes upon the first update of a manual 35mm SLR camera in more than 25 years. Modular in design, it has an interchangeable lens mount and film back, so it’s easy to use with lenses you already own and change film on the fly. It’ll also play nicely with third-party accessories. Originally a Kickstarter campaign, another £20,000 will reach its stretch funding goal and add Bluetooth LE tech. £350 / reflex-s.com
RETRO TECH
MOBILES
Punkt MP02
Nokia 8110 Back in 1999, when the Millennium Dome was called the Millennium Dome, there was nothing cooler than Nokia’s 8110 slider phone. Sure, it was like making calls on a banana, but Keanu Reeves had one in the The Matrix so we all wanted one. Nokia’s rebooted version has a colour display and 4G connectivity for app downloads and mobile web browsing – ideas considered witchcraft at the turn of the century. There’s a new version of Snake to tackle, and if yellow isn’t your colour it also comes in a more sedate black finish. £69 / nokia.com
Samsung W2018
Launched at the London Design Festival, the second iteration of the Punkt mindful mobile is a minimalist’s dream, with leanings towards Braun’s iconic designs of the 1980s. What do we mean by mindful? Well it’s 4G, can tether to other devices, and is the first third-party handset to have Blackberry Secure Software; but it also aims to offer a digital life balance, so no web browsing or app downloads on the device itself. £295 / punkt.ch
The flip-phone flame burns brightly in Japan, where such handsets are dubbed ‘garakei’ and are packed with features for a nation working crazy-long hours. This flipper is for the Far East, but can be found online and imported. It has a 4.2in Super AMOLED touchscreen, variable aperture camera, dual SIMs and USB-C charging. A W2019 should arrive soon for an equally eyewatering price tag. £1600 / samsung.com
Gemini PDA
Nokia 3310
The Psion 5 PDA was heralded as a yuppie gamechanger in the late ’90s, when city workers were doing so many drugs they required a palm-sized keyboard to cater for their skewed vision. Finally emerging from that haze is Planet Computers, which has reinvented the PDA with the Gemini, a 4G Android phone with 5.7in ultra-wide touchscreen. If you’re missing the superclub era, there’s also a dual-boot Linux option. £599 / planetcom.co.uk
If a fruit-based Nokia doesn’t float your retro boat, the 3310 is a reimagining of the noughties classic responsible for disturbing train passengers with monophonic UK garage ringtones. The 2.4in curved display has been treated to Technicolor, and while the 2MP camera takes photos akin to a farcical e-fit and connectivity is only 3G, the battery lasts up to a month on standby, so it’s ideal for festivals. £50 / nokia.com
Slide away The 8110 has a curved cover. Slide it down to answer calls and back up to end them. You’ll look really important.
G unit Although the 8110 is powered by a Linux-based OS, it syncs with Gmail to import contacts and your calendar.
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RETRO TECH
AUDIO
Toshiba Aurex TYKA1 Toshiba is taking a different route back into the world of tapes with a cassette deck purporting to deliver the same quality as high-resolution audio. Aurex was a subsidiary of Toshiba back in the 1970s, and this new player of the same name is said to contain a mechanism that improves the music data quality on a tape. It’ll also play CDs and files from SD cards and USB sticks, all for £200-ish. ¥29k / toshiba.co.uk
GPO Brooklyn Go all Beastie Boys and fight for your right to party with GPO’s Brooklyn ghetto blaster. It’ll sit on your shoulder and pump out old cassette recordings of the top 40, but also has the nous to cover you for CD, DAB, FM radio or Bluetooth streaming. There’s a backlight and analogue VU meters, so pair it with a tracksuit, Adidas shell toes and a breakdancing mat, and fool people into wondering what year it is. £249 / gporetro.com
Master & Dynamic MW50+
Komozophone Love vinyl, but feel you’ve not gone retro enough? Reckon you’d happily plonk a gramophone in your living room if only it weren’t century-old tech? You’re in luck. Kozmophone hurls Edison’s invention into the present, and then drop-kicks it into the future. The main unit resembles the classic gramophone, but incorporates a headphone stand including a holographic display. There’s Bluetooth in and RCA line out, while the horn can be detached for 12 hours of portable playback… and presumably quite a few funny looks from anyone nearby. £228 / kozmophone.com
Gloriously Mad Men in style but with a wealth of cutting-edge tech, M&D’s hybrid headphones have a neat trick up their sleeve: you can swap between on-ear and over-ear modes. A warm sound emanates from the 40mm beryllium drivers, and there’s Bluetooth 4.1 with AptX, a 16-hour battery life and a choice of three understated finishes. £369 / master dynamic.co.uk
Ballfinger M063H5 Reel-to-reel tape is the chosen format for a wealth of serious recording artists, and Lady Gaga. For those seeking true, unadulterated audiophile sound, Ballfinger’s M063H5 deck is the one to have. It’s housed in a precision aluminium chassis and sports threespeed playback, a headphone amp, its own editing system and Uncle Buck passion-wagon-style wooden side panels. €24k / ballfinger.de
Weight your turn Featuring a fully adjustable tonearm and counterweight, the turntable uses an Audio-Technica AT91 cartridge.
Hatful of holo The holographic display won’t bring Tupac back from the dead, but does offer impressive Princess Leia-like visuals.
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ART
Mike Wrobel 8090s Thrones Mike Wrobel is a Japan-based artist with a penchant for slipping Games of Thrones characters into ’80 and ’90s clothing. White Walkers, Missandei, Jon Snow, Littlefinger and Olenna Tyrell are among those given the treatment, the latter depicted in a shellsuit sporting a dookie gold chain. Other incarnations include Conan the Barbarian, Axel Foley and Mulder & Scully. from $25 / mikewrobel.shop
Blade Runner Whiskey Glasses
Sonic by Robert Oxley It’s a testament to artist Robert Oxley’s skill that he can let paint dribble down a canvas and give off this incredible ‘melted waxwork’ reimagining of Sonic the Hedgehog. Created in collaboration with Sega to celebrate the character’s 25th anniversary, an original limited-edition boxed canvas of ‘Sonic’ or ‘Speed of Sound’ (left) can be bought direct from the artist. from £850 / oxleyart.co.uk
Relax after a stressful day spent ‘retiring’ replicants by supping sweet single malt – or Tab Clear, Panda Cola etc – from the same tumblers used by Rick Deckard in the seminal 1982 sci-fi movie Blade Runner. Each one is formed from hand-made crystal glass, mouth-blown at boutique Italian firm Arnolfo di Cambio, and goes perfectly with flickering neon signs reflecting off puddles. £120 / firebox.com
Replaceface Home furnishings: boring. Not these, though. Replaceface takes the works of English portrait artist George Dawe, who painted 329 Russian generals during Napoleon’s invasion, and Photoshops iconic characters on their shoulders instead. Bedspreads, pillowcases, cushions, rugs, tapestries – they’re all available, and included are the likes of Bill Murray, Sir Patrick Stewart and Neil Armstrong. from $15 / society6. com/replaceface
Star Wars Wampa Rug There’s something gloriously tacky about this fireplace-worthy white Wampa rug. Somehow this is officially licensed, and features four limbs with softsculpted vinyl claws, embroidered eyes and printed teeth – so just like the real thing, then. Naturally, if you’re planning on entertaining friends or have designs on someone special coming over for dinner, we suggest you store this in a cupboard. £123 / fun.co.uk
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TESTED NOW TV SMART BOX 4K
Now you see me Sky has given its no-contract streaming box the magic of 4K and Netflix on top of all the usual goodies, and it’s still less than £50. Too good to be true? from £46 / stuff.tv/Now4K
Playtime Just plug in the HDMI and power cables and you’re away. If your router is as reliable as a Tinder date, you can plug in an Ethernet cable.
Q Rejoice: the latest Now TV box adds 4K streams for the first time. You can also, finally, run Netflix on the thing, and you get a bunch of other apps on top because the design and software are based on the Roku platform. Q Once you get used to the buttons, you won’t get lost with this tweaked version of the Roku interface. Mind you, clean as it is, it could really do with a freshen-up. The Now TV box can handle 4K shows, but the UI itself is just 720p; text is super-soft and the blue theme, which you can’t customise, is so basic it probably thinks Ed Sheeran is rock music. Q More importantly, you definitely do get YouTube and Netflix in 4K. Previous boxes and sticks didn’t let you use Netflix, and this is actually the biggest upgrade here, not 4K resolution. It means lovers of the ubiquitous service who have a dalliance with Now TV on the side (or vice versa) can finally use this box as their main video streaming source. Q When you sign up to Now TV you can choose from five different plans. You’ll pay £7.99 a month for the Entertainment pass, £3.99 for Kids or Hayu (US reality swill), £9.99 for Sky Cinema and up to £33.99 for the big footie-friendly one, Sky Sports. Q Those movie and TV plans get you some content you won’t find elsewhere, and also let you watch live TV from Sky channels such as Sky One and Atlantic.
Tech specs Connectivity HDMI, Ethernet, Wi-Fi Video output 4K, 1080p, 720p Dimensions 125x125mmx21mm, 222g
Q Wi-de angle
Q Comedy central
The remote control is one of the neatest parts of the Now TV package. It uses Wi-Fi instead of IR, so it doesn’t need line of sight and you can use it from a different room. This is mostly only useful to annoy housemates.
Press the mic button on the front of the remote and you can ask for movie and TV titles, or for content featuring a certain actor. Don’t expect too much, though. It’s almost comically inept compared with Alexa.
STUFF SAYS Less ‘4K’ than you’d hope for, but still a good upgrade for a dumb TV ++++, Not the best hardware, but a key to some top-class telly Andrew Williams
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In some ways, the Now TV 4K box is rubbish. Its voice search is laughably bad and the promised 4K is more limited than you might assume. However, it’s also the perfect solution if you want to try Now TV, or upgrade from an ageing built-in smart TV platform. Amazon’s 4K Fire TV Stick beats it in most respects but you can’t stream Now TV on a Fire device. Rather have Sky’s content than Amazon’s? Buy this.
T E S T E D J A G U A R I - PA C E
All things Musk pass If the stunning Jaguar I-Pace is anything to go by, Tesla’s stronghold on the all-electric market might not last much longer… from £58,995 / stuff.tv/ipace Q It’s taken a while, but Elon Musk’s Tesla now faces stiff competition in the luxury electric vehicle market. The big makers are moving in, and this Jaguar SUV leads the pack with a range of close to 300 miles, cutting-edge styling and interior tech to leave gadget fans drooling. Q The I-Pace features a fairly avant-garde short bonnet, long wheelbase and low ride height. Some will argue it isn’t a traditionally beautiful thing to behold but it’s certainly striking, and the optional 22in wheels and dazzling metallic finishes will have passers-by pointing. Q There’s plenty to get excited about inside too, with Jaguar eschewing typical luxury leather for the unpronounceable Kvadrat, a smart textile alternative to animal hide, and fabrics featuring recycled materials. There’s lots of space inside, while the panoramic sunroof lets in plenty of light. Q You want numbers? It’s capable of 0-62mph in just 4.8 seconds and reaches a top speed of 124mph. Achieving a 0-80% charge takes around 40 minutes from a super-fast 100kW station, while a 7kW wall box at home will manage a full charge overnight. Q The I-Pace offers a truly exciting ride: the all-wheel-drive system gives bags of grip, while the punchy electric powertrain delivers the kind of acceleration typically reserved for sports cars.
Q Screening vroom
Q Belt up, Alexa
The bold exterior lines are complemented by a new Touch Pro Duo system inside, which features a 10in touchscreen on the upper deck and a 5in display below. There’s also a 12.3in TFT display in front of the driver.
Another technical highlight is Alexa integration, which makes it possible to control a range of smart home devices from the car, or ask your Echo how much range is left before stepping out of the house.
Tech specs Battery 90kW Range 292 miles 0-62mph 4.8sec Top speed 124mph Displays 12.3in interactive display, 10in & 5in infotainment Connectivity Connect Pro (route info), Alexa, Jaguar Remote app
STUFF SAYS The best thing to happen to electric cars since the Tesla Model S +++++ This is round one in the real battle to knock Tesla off its perch Leon Poultney
At £58,995 including the government’s plug-in grant, the I-Pace isn’t cheap, but it still feels like a lot of car for the money. Not content with making an electric car that can go from A to B with minimal fuss (and fuel bills), Jaguar has created something desirable, fun to drive and impressively rugged. With Audi and Mercedes recently announcing their own all-electric SUVs, Tesla’s competition is set to heat up over the coming year.
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TESTED SONY WH-1000XM3
Silent but deadly Sony’s latest noise-cancelling Bluetooth headphones are gunning for Bose with some smart tech and even smarter sound
[ Words Andrew Williams ]
£330 / stuff.tv/SonyXM3
1 Soft machine The foam inside is thick and extremely soft; and while the covering is synthetic leather, it feels very comfy. These Sony cans have a more positive grip on your head than Bose’s QC 35 IIs, which makes for better passive isolation from outside noise.
GOOD MEH EVIL
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Think of noise-cancelling headphones and one name probably comes to mind. It’s Bose, right? Maybe that should change, though, because the Sony WH-1000XM3s are some of the best noise-killing cans ever made. Like their WH-1000XM2 predecessors, the XM3s have Bluetooth wireless and active noise-cancellation (ANC), the perfect combo for listening on public transport. You can optimise the cancellation with a calibration procedure that tweaks the effect for fit and atmospheric pressure, so it won’t feel like they’re trying to suck out your eardrums, and there’s NFC for easy pairing. Oh, and they sound good too. You get great dynamics, a wide stereo image, powerful bass and nicely textured mids. You can give all that a tweak with Sony’s in-app EQ if you need a bit more bite – when dealing with the roar of train and bus engines isn’t the only aim, you’ll soon find a setting you love.
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2 Beige against the machine Right now you can get the Sony WH-1000XM3s in either black or what’s variously described as ‘silver’ or ‘gold’ depending on where you shop. It’s actually closer to a light beige, like the walls of a house from a ’90s home improvement show.
Really comfortable to wear
NFC connectivity is useful
Plastic doesn’t feel premium
Impressive battery life, even with ANC on…
…but they sound better with it turned off
Companion app is a tweaker’s dream
TESTED SONY WH-1000XM3
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Tech specs Battery life 30hrs with ANC, 38hrs without Charge time 3 hours Connectivity Bluetooth, NFC, USB-C, jack Colour options Black, silver Weight 255g
Specs tech What’s under the skin? Quite a lot of advanced codec kit, for starters. Does that make these Bose-beaters?
3 Non-metal machine music The ’phones are mostly made of plastic – not the metal you might expect from this luxury price point. The cups have a soft-touch finish, the stems a metallic sheen. Real metal would have been nice, of course, but not if it meant jacking up the price even more. 4 Time machine Sony says you’ll get 30 hours of use between charges with active noise-cancellation on, or 38 just using wireless. We seemed to get slightly less out of a charge, but battery life is still great, and fast charging nets you hours of playing time in just 10 minutes.
5
5 Welcome to the machine The XM3s offer slightly higher fidelity without the magic of ANC turned on. Pour yourself a glass of wine, find a quiet room, switch off ANC and set the ClearBass low-end booster somewhere between -10 and -5, and you’re in for a serious treat.
Q Tech it to the bridge
Q All hands on tech
Codec support is fantastic. For smartphones well below the XM3’s pay grade you can use standard SBC; but if your handset can hack it, the Sony WH-1000XM3 can deliver aptX, aptX HD, AAC and LDAC.
LDAC only used to work with Sony phones, but it became a standard part of Android in version 8.0 Oreo so is finally useful. And it can stream in hi-res. You can see which codec the XM3s are using in the Headphones Connect app.
Q Neck and tech?
Q Tech it all in
Sony says its new QN1 processor is to thank for the XM3’s noise-cancelling performance. Well, it’s good alright… but listening to a Bose pair afterwards, it does seem the QCs still have the edge with higher frequencies.
There’s an unusually good noise-monitoring mode, which uses the mics to play through outside noise so you can hear what’s going on without taking the cans off. It’s dead useful and doesn’t make cars sound like a cloud of angry wasps.
The Sony WH-1000 series was already a top performer, and these new WH-1000XM3s improve the active noise-cancellation for an even more compelling package. Sound purists may want to fiddle with things and leave ANC off, but with a tweak or two you’ll be in your own particular version of audio heaven. @wwwdotandrew
STUFF SAYS +++++ These are absolutely killer noise-cancelling headphones that get just about everything spot-on 83
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VERSUS SPORT TRACKERS
TEST WINNER
High noon for the high-energy hybrids Withings Steel HR Sport Smarter than a fitness band but not as life-controlling as a ‘proper’ smartwatch, a hybrid watch can be an elegant sporty solution. This Withings number looks fresh and minimal, with analogue numbers and a little OLED screen for notifications. This thing looks like a pretty ordinary ticker, but it has a 25-day battery life, excellent heart-rate monitoring, smart notifications, GPS (paired with a smartphone), a plethora of activity-tracking skills and an excellent health data app. In the morning the sleep app syncs effortlessly and then gives you a score for your snoozing. The GPS requires you to have your phone nearby, but the HR Sport will automatically detect activity – and the battery is really quick to charge.
[ Words Natalya Paul, Becca Caddy ]
Screen Analogue dials, OLED screen Processor Exynos 9110 1.15GHz Storage 4GB OS N/A Battery life Up to 25 days Sensors Heart rate, GPS via smartphone Dimensions 40x13mm, 49g
VS
1. DESIGN
It’s not going to turn heads, but the Stratos is relatively minimalistic and won’t look out of place in the office or at the gym. It is just a touch too chunky for small wrists and that 320x300 display is too dark for most situations.
2. FEATURES
The Stratos can track a range of sports and activities, including running, swimming and cycling. It also has built-in GPS, a heart-rate monitor and good battery life for what is closer to a full-on smartwatch than a mere tracker.
3. EASE OF USE
Huami’s proprietary OS isn’t up to scratch. Sometimes parts of texts will be sliced off at the end; and while the buttons are responsive enough, their functions change depending on what you’re doing and this gets frustrating.
1 2 3
TECH RATER
O Price £190 / stuff.tv/SteelHRSport
++++,
Huami Amazfit Stratos
Screen 1.3in 320x300 LCD Processor 1.2GHz Storage 4GB OS Huami Battery life Up to 5 days Sensors Heart rate, GPS Dimensions 30x10mm, 68g
O Price £170 / stuff.tv/AmazfitStratos
STUFF SAYS
+++,,
Don’t be fooled by the Withings’ old-school appearance – it’s a proper little powerhouse 85
FI R TH ST ES AD E… D
NIKON D5
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ONE AF-S NIKKOR 70-200MM F/2.8E FL ED VR LENS Nikon’s ultra-fast and super-sharp telephoto zoom lens has been tweaked for better AF and vibration reduction, while new lens elements make it lighter and tougher than ever. It might still be a big hunk of glass to lug around, but it captures the action like a true pro. £2549 / jessops.com
TWO METZ 64 AF-1 FLASHGUN
THREE MANFROTTO BEFREE GT TRIPOD
Photography really comes to life when you master the art of light – and because of the professional nature of the D5, there’s no built-in flash (well, they tend to be a bit useless anyway). So it pays to invest in a mighty digital flashgun… and the Metz 64 AF-1 is one of the most powerful and versatile on the market. £309 / wexphotovideo.com
This exceptionally light carbonfibre tripod can handle a mammoth 10kg equipment load and folds down to just 43cm long, making it the perfect travel companion for the discerning snapper. The included aluminium centre ball head also allows for buttery-smooth movement and precise framing. £400 / manfrotto.co.uk
NO TH W T IS RY …
AN I N BY S D G TH PIR ET ES ED E…
INSTANT UPGRADES
50 YEARS OF ROLLING STONE 1 FIND PICTURES FAST
2 KILL THE BAD VIBES
3 LIGHTEN UP
Forget relentlessly tapping a button or scrolling via a jog-wheel, because Nikon’s flagship D5 features an intuitive touchscreen display that makes locating pictures much easier. Simply swipe left or right to quickly scan through snaps, and double-tap the screen to zoom and check the focus point. There’s even a simple pinch-to-zoom function so you can zone in on the finer details.
Vibration reduction (VR) has historically helped photographers achieve ultra-sharp imagery even when the camera is handheld. Unfortunately, VR can also play havoc with fast-moving objects, which is where Sport mode comes in handy. Only available on certain lenses, it makes subjects easier to track during panning and enables high-speed burst shooting mounted to the D5.
Dive into the menus and explore the various Overlay modes, which allow you to get creative with multiple-exposure imagery. In Lighten and Darken modes, the camera cleverly compares pixels in each exposure and chooses only the lightest or only the darkest. This is perfect for capturing high-contrast subjects and, if you get it right, can do away with the need for fiddly Photoshop jobs later.
From vivid live shots to elaborate Annie Leibowitz portraits, this chunky book includes some of the finest rock photography ever. £30 / amazon.co.uk
HIGH TIDE: A SURF ODYSSEY Stoke your wanderlust with this compendium of stunning coastal photography from modern maestro Chris Burkard. £35 / abebooks.co.uk
[ Words Leon Poultney ]
4 LET THERE BE LIGHT(ROOM) The Instagram glitterati would be lost without Adobe’s powerful Lightroom software because it’s key to making those impressively creative visuals you so often double-tap in appreciation. Shoot in RAW, import to Lightroom and harness this powerful software to create moody looks and turn mundane photographs into eye-poppingly dazzling images.
5 SHUT UP THE SHUTTER
6 GO TO THE DARK SIDE
You’ve invested in a top-spec camera, so it’s quite possible someone will demand you shoot a wedding at some point. A silent shutter will be invaluable here, as it won’t punctuate proceedings with the clicking of a mirrored camera. The D5 features both Quiet and Silent modes, with the former allowing for burst photography and support for all image size and quality options.
One of the most outstanding features of Nikon’s mammoth D5 is its ability to produce crisp images in extremely low light. This is down to its epic ISO capabilities, letting you pump things up to a max ISO setting of 3,280,000. Obviously shooting at this end will result in grainy shots, but you can travel much further up the ISO scale than usual with very little effect on overall quality.
MOTHER Enlightening and poignant, Matthew Finn’s beautiful portraits follow his mother’s life from middle age to the onset of dementia. Proof of the power of the photograph. £30 / waterstones.com
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TESTED SAMSUNG QE55Q8DN
Front of the Q Samsung’s in a world of its own with QLED TVs – but who cares when they’re as good as this? 2
[ Words Simon Lucas ]
£1999 / stuff.tv/SamsungQ8D It doesn’t really matter what a company’s motivations are, as long as the result benefits the consumer. Most of the time, of course, those motivations don’t amount to much more than profit margin. Sometimes, though, a brand is motivated by more than just the bottom line. Sometimes, even for a global company, it’s personal. Samsung can give you plenty of reasons why it prefers to deploy QLED (quantum dot LED) technology in its high-end TVs rather than the OLED tech every single one of its rivals prefers. And there are upsides to QLED over OLED, without a doubt. But no one wants to be all alone in evangelising a technology – so it’s hard to shake the feeling that Samsung simply cannot bring itself to buy OLED panels from its arch rival LG (as every other TV brand does). Ultimately, though, the reasons Samsung is ploughing this lonely QLED furrow don’t need to worry us. Not when the results are as impressive as this QE55Q8DN…
1 Bring on the wall! The Q8D is a cleanly designed, impeccably built television, but QLED’s need for a direct backlighting matrix means it’s nothing like as slim as the OLED alternatives. At 6cm deep the Samsung will stick out more from the wall than most rivals.
GOOD MEH EVIL
88
Easy to set up and tweak to taste
1
2 Check for nits It’s a 4K screen, naturally enough, with most HDR boxes ticked: HDR10, the broadcast-standard HLG and HDR10+ are all included. Its peak brightness of around 1500 nits might be down on the Q9, but it’s plenty brighter than any OLED currently available.
Not as slinky as a modern OLED
Superb contrast range
3 Take back control There are a couple of ways you can interact with the Q8D. There’s the bog-standard remote control, then there’s the rather more swish Smart Remote. It’s much nicer in the hand, thanks to its mostly metal construction, and features far fewer buttons.
Smart Remote is great to use
Amazing image detail
Audio is especially weak
TESTED SAMSUNG QE55Q8DN
4
Tech specs Screen 55in 3840x2160 HDR QLED OS Samsung Smart TV Connectivity HDMI (x4), USB (x2), Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bixby voice control Dimensions 1231x707x59mm, 19.6kg
A giant leap for QLED? QLED beats OLED in a number of areas, but lags behind in others – it all depends on what you prioritise:
Q Qor blimey
Q Quite bright
Give the Q8D the best source material – Netflix 4K HDR content is good, 4K HDR Blu-ray discs even better – and the case for QLED quickly becomes clear. It gets very close to OLED-like levels of blackness.
This TV can hit higher levels of brightness than any current OLED rival is capable of, and has a most un-OLED ability to maintain its brightness and accuracy even when viewed quite a long way off-axis.
Q Qrow’s feet
Q Quick enough?
The Q8D serves up a simply staggering amount of detail, whether it’s in the fine creases around the eyes of a veteran actor or the pattern of an ill-advised jacket. Edges are drawn smoothly and confidently.
It’s only with motion that the Q8D is anything less than utterly assured. With the most testing content, it has to work hard to keep movement smooth and controlled. It’s a very accomplished upscaler of Full HD content, though.
2
4 Shout at the telly The Smart Remote is also the conduit for Bixby voice interaction: hold down the mic button, issue a simple command (“Volume up”, “HDMI one”) and then release. It’s hardly Alexa, but it’s a neat little party piece nevertheless.
5 Go app in the world There is an absolute stack of apps ready to go – Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, iPlayer, Google Play Movies and Rakuten are all present in their 4K HDR incarnations – and it’s very easy to add, delete and rearrange apps for a bespoke experience.
OLED is not the only game in town when it comes to premium televisions. Samsung’s insistence on backlit LCD may seem more than a little dogmatic, but the results it delivers are hard to argue with. If you can live with the Q8D’s (relative) bulk and (unarguable) weediness of sound, it’s a brilliantly accomplished TV. @OnlySimonLucas
STUFF SAYS +++++ £2k is a lot of money for a TV that’s fighting against the OLED tide, but the superb Q8D is worth every penny 89
TEN NIGHTS WITH THE BOSE SLEEPBUDS
Heard the snooze? Bose’s regular cans do a fine job of blocking out a noisy commute, but these mites claim to give you a better night’s kip… Matt Tate dons jimjams and Sleepbuds for 10 nights £230 / stuff.tv/sleepbuds
There are three silicone tip sizes to choose from in the box: small, medium and large.
NIGHT 01 Born out of an immediately successful crowdfunding campaign, the Bose Sleepbuds are like no earplugs you’ve seen before. Rather than employing the noise-cancelling tech used in its headphones, Bose’s totally wireless buds mask the sounds that routinely interrupt your all-important shut-eye (rutting foxes, car horns, your better half’s incessant snoring) with soothing loops engineered to keep you in the land of nod. And
decent. Campfire, Rustle and Shower (all self-explanatory) were the ones I found most relaxing, but there should be something in there for everyone. All of them are preferable to traffic and badly soundtracked house parties, although I found Tranquility – the only slightly musical loop – more creepy than relaxing. Maybe that’s because they’ve used a lake in the middle of nowhere as the picture, and I’m a massive wimp. You can determine whether the loop plays continuously throughout the night or for
You can’t use the Sleepbuds to play music or track the quality of your sleep, and you can’t design your own sounds that’s pretty much all they do. Given the decidedly eye-opening price tag, the question is: are the Sleepbuds so good at it that sufferers of troubled sleep should buy a pair? To use the Sleepbuds you first need to download the Bose Sleep app, available on iOS and Android – it’s here you can select from 10 sounds to play through the buds while you dream away. It’s a strange idea at first, but one you get used to. While I’d like to see Bose add to the range available in future updates, the selection is pretty
90
a certain amount of time, and you have to set the volume in-app because these buds don’t feature buttons of any sort. There’s an option to set an alarm too, which you hear through the buds rather than your phone’s mic. Handy if you need to leave home at the crack of dawn and prefer to sneak out all stealthy. It’s a shame you can’t ask the alarm to wake you up gradually; I found the Sleepbuds to be even more offensive on a Monday morning than my regular alarm clock. At least I can punch that.
LO N G -T E R M T E S T
01
Donut of Truth™
06 05 04
02 03
01 Featherlight and comfortable to wear 02 App interface is clean and uncluttered 03 Noise-masking works… 04 …but you can’t play music
05 Some people will still find them uncomfortable when worn all night 06 The alarm is of the ‘on or off’ variety, and there’s no sleep-tracking function
Tech specs Battery life 16hrs Charging time Sleepbuds 8hrs, charging case 3hrs Dimensions 27x24x14mm, 2.3g
NIGHT 02 As I learnt last night, if you’re going to be wearing something in your sleep, you don’t really want to be aware of its presence. For this very reason, Bose has designed the Sleepbuds to be soft, snug and absolutely tiny, with each weighing only 2.3 grams and measuring just over a couple of centimetres wide and high. But it’s imperative that you work out which size best fits your lugs before you start using the buds. Once you’ve inserted them, you twist slightly until each wing is comfortably tucked in.
NIGHT 04 The Sleepbuds are noise-isolating rather than noise-cancelling. So where a pair of Bose QC35s will listen to the ambient noise trying to interfere with your Chas & Dave power hour and flip it out of phase to create near-silence, the Sleepbuds mask it with loops matching the frequencies of the sounds that typically keep you awake – and they succeed pretty well at this. If you live near a busy road or with a chronic snorer, and you don’t mind feeling like you have peas in your ears all night, these things could work for you.
NIGHT 05 The minimalist Sleepbuds are undeniably well designed, but if you toss and turn in your sleep as much as I do, you feel them – and I’m pretty sure I woke up a couple of times in the middle of last night because of nagging discomfort.
NIGHT 07 The puck-shaped magnetic carry case is absolutely great. The lid slides up to reveal two magnetic docks in a way that rivals Apple’s AirPods case in the ‘strangely satisfying’ department.
NIGHT 09 Bose says you get 16 hours of use on a single charge, which seems accurate. Of course, if you choose to have them turn off after a couple of hours (as I now prefer to do), you’ll get closer to that than if sound plays throughout the night.
NIGHT 10 It’s a shame about the price point. They’ve worked OK for me, but you’ll need to be someone who really struggles with sleep to fork out over £200 on a pair of wireless earbuds that do nothing except replace sounds with other sounds.
STUFF SAYS Undoubtedly clever, but they’re very expensive considering the limited features +++,,
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TESTED GAMES
Xbox One, PC / stuff.tv/ ForzaHorizon4
Forza Horizon 4
Whether you’re a hardcore auto-nerd or just someone who’s wondered what it’s like to tear through the Lake District in a pimped-out supercar, you won’t find a better racing game than this
rossing the finish line in a racing game has never felt as inconsequential as it does in Forza Horizon 4. That’s by no means knocking the latest entry in Playground Games’ rubber-burning series: the simple act of driving, while soaking up some of the most gorgeous sights ever to grace a game, is so satisfying that competing hardly seems to matter. Whether tackling one of over two dozen career paths or simply pootling around the game’s
C
sprawling, shared open world, Forza Horizon 4 always feels fresh. All of the vehicles handle differently – more so if you dive into the customisation options (see panel opposite) – while the sheer number of varied activities and objectives ensures you’re never doing the same thing for very long. It doesn’t hurt that every system, mechanic, menu and user interface element sports a level of polish to rival the sheen coming off the beautifully realised
cars. Playground Games has been doing this a long time, and every detail – from the intuitiveness of the controls to the tiniest of HUD icons – reflects that impressive lineage. Toss in the postcard-perfect British setting, season-specific wildlife, dynamic weather and day/night cycles, and how the calendar affects each event in its own way, and you get more than a pretty backdrop. In short, the seasons – which change weekly – feel like an organic inclusion
seamlessly woven into the open world’s immersive fabric. There’s nothing Forza Horizon 4 doesn’t nail – and it can be enjoyed solo, with friends, or with the larger racing game community. The online element promises to host hourly, daily and weekly events indefinitely. It’s an exceptional sandbox experience that’s set a new standard for the implementation of shared open worlds. It’s also the prettiest Xbox game to date. Matt Cabral
STUFF SAYS Buckle up – this is simply the best racing game ever created +++++ 94
TESTED GAMES
Garage band
You can play solo, with mates or online via a series of events.
The scenery and the changing seasons are the icing on this delicious cake.
Forza Horizon 4 is absolutely brimming with options for intermediate and expert players. More seasoned speedsters will want to dive into the settings menu, where a dizzying array of difficulty, assist and control tweaks can be tailored to specific preferences, play styles and skill levels. Similar depth can be found in the game’s customisation options, where vehicles can be tuned and tweaked to your heart’s content. Whether tinkering under the hood or applying cosmetic touches to the body of the 450-plus rides, fans will find the upgrade system surpasses that of previous entries’ already robust offerings. New features, such as the ability to acquire perk-granting properties and personalise your avatar, also bring some customisation out of the garage. You can’t dig into all this depth right out of the gate, because Forza Horizon 4’s various progression paths are fuelled by a number of levelling loops and currency categories. Thankfully, the game is bubbling over with opportunities to earn and progress by inviting players to take part in challenges, career objectives and other tyre-screeching tasks across a broad range of disciplines.
TESTED GAMES
PS4, Xbox One, PC / stuff.tv/BlackOps4
Call of Duty gets undeadly serious Let’s be blunt about this: you’ll either love or hate the Zombies mode, and nothing about Black Ops 4 will change that. But the inclusion of a deeper story and multiple maps to start with makes it very clear that Zombies is a big deal here, and the number of trophies on offer for the mode hammers that home. Elixirs add more depth if you somehow needed it, with in-game currency put into them in a random, almost loot-box-like mechanic offering either one-time or repeat-use special skills. There are potions that can spawn a nuke power-up, or the more passive ‘headshots have a chance to instakill’ – which, if we’re honest, we thought was the whole point of a headshot anyway… especially when facing everyone’s favourite undead monster. But there’s just so much in this year’s Zombies mode. Elixirs and perks (quick revive, berserking when in last stand etc), classes, unlockables – it feels as though a good team can go further now. There’s also a new Rush mode, offering an arcade experience that removes the need to unlock your path with points earned from kills, and instead focuses more on scoring against your pals.
96
Weapons feel immense, from pistols and shotguns to grenade launchers.
Teamwork can be frustrating – as ever, playing with friends is best.
TESTED GAMES
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Single-player mode has taken a bullet for this version of the all-action FPS, but will its new multiplayer modes (and extra zombies) satisfy trigger-happy gamers of all ability levels? lack Ops 4 has brought big changes to Activision’s annual blockbuster – and yet, despite the controversial lack of single-player, it’s somehow still got something for everyone. There’s definitely an element of the ‘hero shooter’ genre creeping into certain modes, especially one of the new additions: Control. Here, assorted specialists work together to control the points of the map. Perhaps you’ll pick Ruin when attacking a point, because of his grapple gun; defending, Firebreak’s
B
reactor core will cause damage to anyone who comes near it. That these specialists are unlocked from the start is excellent, giving a far more level playing field than usual. Elsewhere, the multiplayer feels less brutal than before. It’s not exactly welcoming, but it’s less aggressive towards new players because it’s not always a case of ‘first to spot the enemy wins’. Of course, it was always just a matter of time before the big boys got involved with Battle Royale,
and CoD has nailed it with Blackout mode. There’s no way around it: this is just a damned good time… even if it is massively derivative of PUBG, right down to how the map looks. Special pickups (heal faster, move quicker…) make for a highly tactical affair, but one that is still very CoD. You can last for ages and get into the top ten, but you can also be gunned down seconds after landing. That’s just Battle Royale for you. This is a glorious-looking game, and one that lets you feel every
penny of the budget. It’s fast but not too fast, and the only major negative is in the tutorial, as the narrator barks manly banter at you while smoking an infinitely burning cigarette. It’s off-puttingly bad. This is a shooter that can (and likely will) bring back people who dabble but never usually stick with it. Crucially, it nails the gun-feel like CoD hasn’t in some time. Who knew that dropping single-player would help deliver the best game the series has offered in ages? Adam Cook
STUFF SAYS As long as you don’t mind dying a lot, this is the best CoD in years ++++,
TESTED GAMES
PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC / stuff.tv/CreedOdyssey
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey With insanely satisfying combat, a rewarding progression system and a stunning world to explore, the latest instalment in the action adventure series is a cracker ou don’t play an assassin in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Instead, you assume the role of Kassandra or her little bruv Alexios, both mercenaries born long before the Brotherhood sharpened its first wrist-blade. Not to worry, though: you’ll still spend most of your time slitting throats and spilling innards with cinematic style to spare. Dealing death for cash is endlessly satisfying, primarily because of this game’s highly
Y
rewarding progression system. Topping off that experience bar and reaching a new tier not only makes you more powerful, but also brings weapons and gear, ability points and enchantments. Combined, these items fuel the game’s addictive levelling loop, allowing you to shape and mould your mercenary. Your items can be further personalised with enchantments – for example, increasing a weapon’s ability to deliver poison damage. Swapping these in and
out to support a character build adds some welcome depth without the tedium that often comes with poring over stats. The highlight, however, is Odyssey’s skill trees, featuring a trio of beefy progression paths. Players can focus on Hunter, Warrior or Assassin skills, or mix and match. Right off the bat, you have access to table-turning skills such as the empowering Spartan Kick. Satisfying as it is to customise your character, it’s even more fun
to unleash your mercenary on the battlefield. Deep yet accessible, responsive and fluid, the combat relies on the expected light and heavy attacks, as well as dodges and parries. The scenery is stunning and the combat thumb-blistering. And while the story could have done with a few more twists, it’s generally an involving yarn. If you haven’t played an Assassin’s Creed game for a while… well, you’re in for a few surprises. Matt Cabral
STUFF SAYS One of the biggest, best and most ambitious entries in the series yet ++++, 98
TESTED GAMES
Life (plus death) on the ocean wave
You can infuse your armour with defences against a specific enemy type.
Practise your chat-up lines (this one obviously needs some work).
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s addictive levelling loop and engaging combat carry over nicely to its excellent naval elements. The game’s sprawling ancient Greek setting is dotted with dozens of islands, ensuring you’ll spend plenty of time barking orders at your archers and rowers from behind the helm. Navigating your ship is incredibly simple and satisfying… as is crashing it into enemy craft and watching them sink while you escape unscathed. Of course, if you want to play pirate, you can also choose to board and loot your target vessels before compromising their hulls. Or you can avoid enemy contact entirely, simply take in the stunning sights surrounding you, and occasionally break cover to score some sunken treasure and maybe gut a shark… and why not? Regardless of how you spend your time at sea, you’ll be continuously tweaking your ship with upgrades, from stronger defences to spears that inflict more fire damage. You can even recruit more crew members – typically foes you’ve allowed to live in return for their seafaring services – that add additional perks to your craft.
99
TESTED GAMES
Switch / stuff.tv/SuperMarioParty
Super Mario Party The latest brilliant addition to the Switch’s burgeoning game library is a festival of silliness, best enjoyed in a large merry-making group he Switch is hardly lacking crowd-pleasing multiplayer games. Fancy a bit of racing? Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a classic. Irrepressible urge to punch someone in the nose? Avoid the consequences by doing it in Arms instead. Unwavering confidence in your digital sushi-plating prowess? Apron up for Overcooked 2. But, come Christmas, there’s only one game to rescue you and your loved ones from mince-pie malaise: Super Mario Party. With a whopping 80 new mini-games that are easily grasped by gamers and baffled grandmothers alike, as well as online play for the first time, this marks a refreshing return to form for the series. And Toad’s Rec Room, a new mode that lets you play tabletop games by joining two Switches together, is Nintendo at its creative best. When you start the game you’ll choose one of the 20 characters and form a party of four before selecting from a variety of game modes. The meatiest of them, as ever, is the Mario Party board game, which sees players roll the
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dice to move around a board full of prizes and hazards. The aim is to nab more stars than everyone else, but every couple of minutes you’ll be hurled into one of the many mini-games to fight for coins. If you’ve played a Mario Party game before, you’ll know they’re always stuffed with mini-games of varying quality. Some here only require button presses and the stick, while others use motion controls and the often ignored HD Rumble feature. In one you have to fry a steak, flipping the pan each time the Joy-Cons’ rumbling lets you know you’ve cooked a side; in another you need to wait for the strongest feedback from the controller before yanking up your fishing rod. The star of the show, though, has to be Shell Shocked Deluxe: a two-on-two tank shooter that’s truly innovative in how it lets you use two consoles to create the battlefield. It’ll be fascinating to see how Nintendo builds on this tech in future titles. For now, just enjoy a genuine Christmas banger. Matt Tate
Mini-games are always hectic, and never stay around long enough to get boring.
River Survival sees you working with your friends to pop balloons with your oars.
STUFF SAYS Mario Party finds the perfect home on Switch in time for Christmas ++++, 100
TESTED GAMES
FIFA 19
Does having the Champions League licence make this the best game of footie you’ll play with your hands?
PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC / stuff.tv/FIFA19
ot all winning teams are truly great. Zidane’s Real Madrid might have won three Champions League titles in a row, but did they change the way people think about how football should be played? No. FIFA 19 finds itself in a similar position. EA Sports has assembled another game full of winning features, but does that in itself make it a classic? The game’s biggest signing is its Champions League licence, which pops up everywhere from standalone tournaments to The Journey, so it throws you in at the deep end with a prediction of this year’s final: Juventus versus PSG at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, with a huge Ronaldo banner overlooking the pitch. Considering he’s on the front of the box, it’s no surprise that you take control of the Italian champions and must score the required CR7 goal(s) to win the cup, lest he come over all Gianluigi Buffon and accuse the game of having a dustbin where its heart should be. Assuming you’re a FIFA
N
It’s a game with more tactical variation than before, thanks to the new Dynamic Tactics.
Alex Hunter, star of the ‘scripted reality’ mode The Journey, is back for a third chapter.
n00b, the Trainer is turned on by default, but even if you’ve been playing for years it makes sense to leave it turned on for this first game, because it’s the perfect opportunity to start practising with one of FIFA 19’s biggest gameplay additions: Timed Finishing. This is a new way to shoot that increases your chances of scoring – as long as you get it right. Get it wrong and you’re more likely to scuff the ball pathetically wide. It’s fairly simple to grasp but very difficult to master. The other headline gameplay changes are Active Touch and an overhauled approach to 50/50 balls, and both have a noticeable effect on the way the game feels to play – usually for the better. With that Champions League licence to add to all the others, FIFA 19’s presentation is more realistic than ever. Crowds still look a bit too regimented and player movement can still sometimes be slightly wonky; but in terms of translating the sights and sounds of real football, it’s unbeatable. Tom Wiggins
STUFF SAYS For authenticity, no other game comes close – FIFA’s done it again ++++, 101
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TOP TEN
This gadget has leapt straight outta testing and into our rankings.
NEW
OF EVERYTHING Time changes everything, including Stuff Top Ten placings.
HOT BUY BARGAIN BUY
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
UPDATE Searing with techy genius, a product that’s set our hearts aflame.
A solid gold bargain. Worth owning, regardless of cashflow.
Smartphones 104 Tablets, mobile games 105 Headphones 106 Wearables 107 Laptops 108 Hi-fi 109 TVs 110 Soundbars, 111 smart speakers Home cinema, consoles 112
Games Tech toys, electric cars VR headsets & games Smart home Drones, compact cameras System cameras Budget buys How to buy… on Black Friday
113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120
TOP TENS SMARTPHONES
104
1
HOT NEW BUY
Huawei bumps its own magnificent P20 Pro off the top spot with another flagship phone that’s left Apple and Samsung scrabbling to catch up. The Mate 20 Pro brings back the triple-lens camera of the P20 Pro, only now it’s got a 20MP ultra-wide-angle camera with a new version of its predecessor’s AI-assisted night mode. It’s the most tech-packed phone in the world, yet battery life is a match for any of its rivals. No contest.
TIPS & TRICKS The phone itself doubles as a wireless charger, so you can share juice with any Qi-enabled device.
Stuff says +++++ A stunning smartphone that makes the competition look lazy in comparison
An AI-assisted video trick lets you create colour portraits with black and white backgrounds.
O NOW ADD THIS Huawei Smart View Flip Cover This case has a transparent window that will display your Mate 20 Pro’s notifications, time and weather. £16.95 / amazon.co.uk
The 3D Face Unlock security feature lets you wake up the Mate 20 Pro with just a glance.
2
NEW
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4 BARGAIN BUY
5
6 NEW
OnePlus 6
Apple iPhone XS
from £469 / stuff.tv/OnePlus6
from £999 / stuff.tv/iPhoneXS
Once again, OnePlus has banged out a superb bargain phone with all the sought-after features of a high-end handset for a much less daunting price. With a glass design, bezel-less front, supercharged internals and OLED display, it’d be greedy to ask for more.
This is the iPhone X with some new bits crammed in. But there’s enough going on here to make the XS a significantly better phone. Namely, it can take better pictures and there’s more power on tap. It’s fast, smart and full of fun features… and a better deal than the XS Max.
NEW
Stuff says +++++ Familiar on the outside, hiding treats on the inside: this is the X but better
7
8 9
10
NEW
Stuff says +++++ Bow down to the bargain kings: OnePlus has aced it yet again
BARGAIN BUY
Samsung Galaxy S9 +++++ £639 / stuff.tv/S9 Samsung’s flagship isn’t a huge upgrade on the Galaxy S8, but it’s still a very welcome one.
Honor 9 Lite +++++ from £161 / stuff.tv/Honor9Lite Cutting-edge design at a price that won’t shred your wallet: this is an excellent budget phone.
Moto G6 Plus +++++ £239 / stuff.tv/MotoG6Plus Superb both on paper and in use, the G6 Plus raises the bar when it comes to affordable phones.
Honor 8X +++++ £230 / stuff.tv/Honor8X A bigger, better screen, more power and serious camera upgrades make this a steal for the price.
Sony Xperia XZ3 +++++ from £699 / stuff.tv/XZ3 Sony’s best contender to date combines a fine display, a great camera and slick performance.
Samsung Galaxy Note9 ++++, from £869 / stuff.tv/Note9 You’ll have to pay a premium for the S-Pen and extra screen, but this is a superb phone for creatives.
Google Pixel 3 XL ++++, from £869 / stuff.tv/Pixel3XL The latest Pixel isn’t a dramatic revolution, but it’s still one of the best Androids around.
FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS AND REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW PHONES, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/SMARTPHONES
O Prices quoted are for handset only unless otherwise stated
Huawei Mate 20 Pro £899 / stuff.tv/Mate20Pro
TOP TENS TABLETS
1
NEW
MOBILE GAMES TOP TENS
105
1
HOT BUY
HOT BUY
Apple iPad Pro 10.5in from £619 / stuff.tv/iPadPro
Data Wing £free / Android, iOS
The 9.7in iPad Pro was already sitting comfortably as our favourite tablet, but that wasn’t good enough for Apple. Rather than giving its flagship tablet a few minor tweaks, it introduced a bigger screen and an immensely potent processor. In fact, this device is so powerful and flashy that it’s even blurring the lines between tablet and laptop. If you only want to browse social media and watch Netflix, the 10.5in iPad Pro is overkill; this is for those more interested in creation than consumption.
This game starts off as if Asteroids had a baby with a top-down racer: your triangular craft blasts around circuits, gaining speed when its bum scrapes neon track edges. Soon you discover you’re part of an OS ruled by a deranged AI. Story and game quickly expand, as you glimpse the world beyond the screen and battle gravity in cavern-based sections that recall 8-bit classic Thrust. Rarely do mobile titles pack in so many hours of clever, thoughtful narrative. Pretty much never are such games free.
Stuff says +++++ The iPad Pro puts all other tablets to shame – it’s unbeatable as a multimedia machine or creative tool
Stuff says +++++ A mobile game we’d happily recommend if it cost a fiver – for nowt, it’s an absurdly generous bargain
2
Microsoft Surface Go
3
Apple iPad (2018)
2
from £379 / stuff.tv/SurfaceGo Having this slinky Windows tab up your sleeve (not quite literally) is like carrying a mini PC on you at all times. The processor is adequate for everyday tasks and the 10in screen is lovely. Stuff says +++++ An affordable, ultra-portable workmate
3
from £319 / stuff.tv/iPad2018 There might not be a whole lot different here compared to the previous iteration of the standard iPad, but subtle improvements and a relatively affordable price mean this is the best tablet for most people. Stuff says +++++ A versatile tablet for both work and play
4
Amazon Fire HD 8
5
Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro 10.8
HOT BUY
4
+++++ £80/ stuff.tv/FireHD8 For the price, you get a stonkingly capable tablet that doubles as an Echo Show.
++++, from £369 / stuff.tv/M5Pro This may not beat the iPad Pro, but it gets you similar skills for much less cash.
5
NEW
Euclidean Lands £3.99 / iOS This one smashes Monument Valley’s minimal isometric views into Hitman Go’s turn-based puzzling, and wraps the lot around a Rubik’s Cube. Your aim: figure out how to stab everyone to death. Stuff says +++++ A tactile joy with dazzling visuals
Oddmar £4.99 / iOS Oddmar looks like it could have breezed in from a PS4. It’s packed full of superb level design, arresting set-pieces and lush animated visuals, as a beardy Viking oaf sets out to save his tribe. Stuff says +++++ Touchscreen platformers can be great after all
The Room: Old Sins +++++ £4.99 / Android, iOS Get sucked into an impossible doll’s house for Myst-like exploration and tactile puzzling.
Super Cat Tales 2 +++++ £free / Android, iOS A pawsome slice of touchscreen-optimised platforming magic, with multiple moggies.
GADGET COVER INSURES PHONES, TABLETS, CAMERAS, LAPTOPS, SMARTWATCHES AND ACCESSORIES
TOP TENS IN-EARS
1
NEW
ON-EARS TOP TENS
106 HOT BUY
1
BARGAIN BUY
HOT NEW BUY
£44 / stuff.tv/Byron
Beyerdynamic Byron
Sony WH-1000XM3 £330 / stuff.tv/SonyXM3
A strong argument for the idea that you don’t really need to spend more than £50 on earphones, the Byrons have a sound we defy you not to like. They’re not like the company’s studio headphones, designed for sound engineers looking for extreme accuracy – they’re for everyday folk – but these humble-looking buds do come with a shot of that special Beyer sauce. They’re some of the truest-sounding in-ears we’ve heard, with great midrange detail and good punch to the bass.
Sony’s WH-1000 series was already a top performer, and the WH-1000XM3s make for an even more compelling package. With Bluetooth wireless and great noise-cancellation, they’re the ultimate public transport stress killer… well, aside from a chauffeur or a lottery win that lets you retire. The leather pads make them incredibly easy to wear, not unlike sitting in one of those ultra-comfy leather chairs, and most importantly of all the sound quality is fantastic.
Stuff says +++++ Seriously classy in-ear headphones with the detail to outdo the competition
Stuff says +++++ Great wireless headphones with effective ANC and a sound that nails just about everything
2
Sony WF-1000X
3
SoundMagic E11C
4
Jabra Elite Sport
5
Bose SoundSport Pulse Wireless
£131 / stuff.tv/SonyWF Impressive levels of detail and clarity, a decent amount of bass weight to the mix, and active noise-cancelling that works as well as you can expect for a pair of in-ears: we like these Sony buds a lot. Stuff says +++++ The best fully wireless in-ears we’ve heard
£50 / stuff.tv/E11C Super-light and incredibly comfortable, the E11Cs have a slightly more premium look than their predecessors. For budget earphones, pretty much everything you chuck at them sounds great. Stuff says +++++ Capable, durable and afforable
+++++ £140 / stuff.tv/EliteSport Superb-sounding wireless in-ears with some fitness-boosting features.
+++++ £190 / stuff.tv/SoundSportPulse Fine sound and heart-rate tracking make these worth the price if you can afford it.
2
Urbanista Seattle Wireless
3
AKG Y50BT
4
Sennheiser Momentum 2.0
5
Bose QuietComfort 35
£89/ stuff.tv/SeattleWireless The Seattles are some of the best-sounding affordable wireless cans around. They’re full and rich-sounding, with the sort of tasteful bass drive that will please the masses without turning off the chin-stroking crowd. Stuff says +++++ Bags of style and fantastic sound quality
£84 / stuff.tv/Y50BT These wireless AKGs serve up truckloads of detail with a cleaner, more refined and agile listen than many Bluetooth cans. And the garish colour options of the old wired Y50s have been toned down, which is a bonus. Stuff says +++++ Great Bluetooth ’phones for well under £100
+++++ £150 / stuff.tv/Momentum2 Pricey but just about worth the outlay, the Momentum 2.0s will have you smitten.
+++++ £330 / stuff.tv/QC35 Frequent flyers and long-range commuters: these are the headphones for you.
TO READ THE FULL REVIEWS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/IN-EAR-HEADPHONES & STUFF.TV/TOP-10/HEADPHONES
TOP TENS SMARTWATCHES
1
107
FITNESS TRACKERS TOP TENS
1
HOT NEW BUY
HOT BUY
Apple Watch Series 4 from £399 / stuff.tv/WatchS4
Moov Now £45 / stuff.tv/MoovNow
The Apple Watch Series 4 has everything going for it – the larger screen, improved processor and louder speaker mean it’s easier to actually do stuff on it than any previous Watch, and it has a load of health features that just aren’t on other wearables. Whether you’re navigating somewhere using Maps, going for a run without your phone, or just wanting to keep track of your activity during the day, this Apple Watch does a great job of handling all these things and more.
Slow and steady wins the race, and the Now has gone on to prove that with a marathon-like pace helping it finally make it to the top of this list. We’ve long considered this tracker a bargain, but further reductions have helped it enter the realm of ‘downright steal’. OK, so it doesn’t have a screen or smartphone skills, but with guided voice coaching, a six-month battery and solid waterproofing, it has everything you’d ever want in your perfect fitness tracker.
Stuff says +++++ Best wearable ever: a sleek, sophisticated redesign of the previous generation with some hearty upgrades
Stuff says +++++ A bargain-tastic fitness band that does more than just track your steps
2
Samsung Galaxy Watch
3
Garmin Vivoactive 3
4
Garmin Fenix 5
5
Fitbit Versa
from £279 / stuff.tv/GalaxyWatch A sturdy and stylish smartwatch with plenty of power and a truly lovely user interface. Those with an iPhone are still likely to get a better experience and more functionality from an Apple Watch, though. Stuff says +++++ The best smartwatch for Android users
£280 / stuff.tv/Vivoactive3 It looks good, isn’t a wrist-dominator, outlasts just about all normal smartwatches and gets you the same kind of tracking as the Fenix 5 at barely half the price. We just wish it had more smart features up its sleeve. Stuff says +++++ A fine smartwatch for sporty types
+++++ from £480 / stuff.tv/Fenix5 Like the annoying kid in school who’s both super-smart and great at every sport.
++++, £200 / stuff.tv/Versa Decent battery life and a smattering of smarts make this an attractive watch.
NEW
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Fitbit Alta HR
3
Withings Steel HR Sport
4
Garmin Vivosmart 3
5
++++, £130 / stuff.tv/AltaHR The Alta HR is one of the most motivational health monitors around. The heart-rate tracking adds some insightful meat to your stats, and it has an uncanny ability to tune into the type of exercise you’re doing. Stuff says +++++ A fine all-rounder with great autopilot tracking
£190 / stuff.tv/SteelHRSport Like Paul McCartney’s career, the Steel HR Sport can keep on going and going… and going. With a subtle, stylish design, it promises to last for 25 days on a single charge. This is one hybrid that won’t burn out even when you do. Stuff says ++++, One of the most well-rounded, stylish hybrids
++++, £100 / stuff.tv/Vivosmart3 It could be more fun and less fiddly, but this is one of the most useful fitness bands around.
Suunto 9 ++++, £525 / stuff.tv/Suunto9 Epic battery life and accurate tracking make this a great – if pricey – option.
GADGET COVER IS PROUD TO BE DEFAQTO 5 STAR RATED
TOP TENS LAPTOPS TIPS & TRICKS
Who needs a Touch Bar? You can log into your Mac with your iPhone’s Touch ID using the MacID app.
108
1
The universal clipboard lets you copy text on your iPhone and paste it directly to your Mac.
HOT BUY
Apple MacBook Pro from £1249 (13in) / stuff.tv/MacBookPro While the Touch Bar versions of the MacBook Pro have been treated to an internal shake-up, most notably with speedy 8th-gen Intel Core chips, the basic Pro is still running on last year’s specs. But with a Kaby Lake processor under the hood, this is still a monster of a machine. And when you factor in the gorgeous display, fantastic keyboard/touchpad and slick design, there’s no doubt this affordable option still deserves its place at the top of our list.
Stuff says +++++ Performance, portability and a sensible price make this the king of laptops O NOW ADD THIS Satechi Type-C USB 3 Hub Two ports not enough? This hub adds loads more and sits snugly against the MacBook Pro’s side. £31 / satechi.net
2
HOT BUY
3
4 5
Microsoft Surface Laptop
Asus ZenBook UX310UA
from £880 / stuff.tv/SurfaceLaptop
from £405 / stuff.tv/ZenBook
Putting carpet on a laptop and restricting it to Windows 10 S sounds like a disaster on paper. Yet the Surface Laptop is a fantastic portable machine with everything you’d possibly need to meet that deadline in a hurry or watch a film or two.
Asus has hit that price sweet spot, undercutting the competition and making potential MacBook Air buyers think twice before hitching their wagon to Apple and macOS. There’s little else out there that’s better without spending a whole lot more money.
Stuff says +++++ Microsoft’s carpet-covered laptop is an ultra-portable stunner
Stuff says +++++ MacBook styling, but you’re not paying MacBook money
Dell XPS 13 (2018) +++++ from £1399 / stuff.tv/XPS13 Royalty among Windows laptops, this is an ultra-portable we wish we could keep for good.
Apple MacBook +++++ from £1249 / stuff.tv/MacBook A Kaby Lake processor keeps the standard MacBook competitively brilliant.
6
Huawei MateBook X Pro
7
Dell XPS 15 2-in-1
BARGAIN BUY
8
9 10
+++++ from £1799 / stuff.tv/MateBookXPro A stylish Windows laptop with some clever ideas to get the maximum display for your dollar.
+++++ from £1699 / stuff.tv/XPS2in1 A powerful, portable and versatile hybrid, but with a hefty price tag to match.
Lenovo IdeaPad 320S ++++, from £450 / stuff.tv/IdeaPad320S Cheap and cheerful makes for a refreshing combination, especially if you’re on a budget.
Razer Blade 15 ++++, from £1700 / stuff.tv/Blade15 This ultra-portable is a super-powered gaming behemoth, but gets very hot under pressure.
Apple MacBook Pro 13in with Touch Bar ++++, from £1749 / stuff.tv/MacBook This 2018 revamp shakes up the laptop’s insides, giving it enough power to justify its Pro moniker.
FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS AND FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW LAPTOPS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/LAPTOPS
109
TIPS & TRICKS
With iPhones and Android devices, you can control your Sonos speakers from your lock screen.
1
Sonos speakers use a feature called Trueplay that tunes the sound to your room’s acoustics.
HI-FI TOP TENS
HOT BUY
Sonos multiroom system from £199 / stuff.tv/SonosOne If you want to pretend your favourite band is playing in your living room, there’s no better option than a Sonos wireless speaker. They look great, work with your smartphone and boom out your tunes with dazzling finesse – from the compact and Alexa-compatible One (£199) to the flagship Play:5 (£499) and the TV-friendly Beam (£399).
Stuff says +++++ Infinite music in every room without the need for custom installers? Sign us up! O NOW ADD THIS Spotify Premium Sick of playing your iTunes library on repeat? Sign up to Spotify for more new music than you could ever possibly listen to. £9.99/month / spotify.com
2
3
HOT BUY
4
Naim Mu-so Qb
5
Loewe Klang M1
Riva S
£995 / stuff.tv/Mu-so
£119 / stuff.tv/RivaS
How much for a wireless speaker?! Well, yes, but what a wireless speaker it is. Naim has ploughed all of its high-end hi-fi experience into delivering a beautifully made, great-sounding device with AirPlay, Spotify Connect and aptX Bluetooth all on board.
With six drivers pumping out music with a tonal fidelity unrivalled by similarly priced speakers, this Riva is a must-have for sound nerds. Take into consideration the 13-hour battery life and a USB port on the back to charge other devices, and it’s also a great travel companion.
Stuff says +++++ A wireless speaker that can make a valid claim to be genuine hi-fi
Stuff says +++++ The top small wireless speaker for real sound-hounds
+++++ £169 / stuff.tv/KlangM1 Exceptional build quality and sound in a comprehensive compact speaker.
6
Jam Heavy Metal
7
KEF Muo
8
UE Wonderboom
9
Bowers & Wilkins T7
BARGAIN BUY
Naim Mu-so
+++++ £589 / stuff.tv/Mu-soQb Complements its big brother’s more refined character with a confident presentation.
10
+++++ £67 / stuff.tv/JamHM Classy sound and design at a bargain price: this is the best affordable Bluetooth speaker.
+++++ £180 / stuff.tv/KEFMuo The Muo sounds as good as it looks… which is very nice indeed.
+++++ £65 / stuff.tv/Wonderboom This little speaker might look cute, but it’s a sonic grenade – one you can deploy anywhere.
+++++ £300 / stuff.tv/P7Wireless There are a million Bluetooth speakers in the world, but few classier than the B&W T7.
UE Megaboom 3 +++++ £170 / stuff.tv/Megaboom3 You’ll struggle to find a better, or more fun, portable Bluetooth speaker.
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TOP TENS TVs TIPS & TRICKS
Pick one of the expert preset modes and you won’t have to do too much tweaking to get a fantastic picture.
110
First turn off any extra processing, then bring it back bit by bit to see if you like the changes.
1
Looking for some HDR10+ content? Warner Bros, Fox and Amazon are on board with the format.
HOT BUY
Panasonic FZ802B
£1699 / stuff.tv/FZ802B
As 4K TV prices start to tumble, there’s been a mad dash from manufacturers to convince the world their OLED panels looks better than everyone else’s. So which one really does? This Panasonic, showcasing one of the best 4K HDR displays on the market for a pretty affordable price. OK, so the design looks plain and the lack of Dolby Vision might surprise a few, but when the picture looks so detailed and natural, who really gives a damn?
Stuff says +++++ You won’t find a better OLED for the money than this talented Panasonic O NOW ADD THIS Sky Q Once you’ve got a 4K TV, you’ll want access to the best 4K content. Sky Q is a good bet for watching and recording all your favourite shows and films. from £20 + £20/month / sky.com
2
HOT BUY
3
4
Philips 55POS9002
5
LG OLED55C7V
6 LG C8
Samsung QE65Q9FN
£1999 / stuff.tv/LGC8
£3029 / stuff.tv/QE65Q9FN
This year’s LG flagship television doesn’t appear to be a huge upgrade on 2017’s model, but some clever tweaks to the processor have turned this into one of the finest OLED screens you can get. Sure, the E8 has a more jaw-dropping design and more immersive audio, but the C8 offers the exact same picture quality at a less premium price. For this reason, it’s our top pick from LG’s impressive 2018 range.
What, you thought QLED TVs couldn’t compete with OLEDs? Samsung’s 2018 range offers one of the best displays in the business. The direct backlight, combined with Samsung’s quantum dot tech, results in one of the brightest, punchiest, most vibrant TVs we’ve seen, with superbly controlled contrast. Add to that HDR10+ support, handy smart features and decent sound quality, and this is one of the best tellies out there. Stuff says +++++ This 4K QLED is good enough to compete with the best OLEDs
+++++ from £1200 / stuff.tv/55C7V After a number of price cuts, this LG is now one of the most affordable OLEDs you can buy.
Sony KD-55A1 +++++ £1949 / stuff.tv/SonyA1 While it’s part of Sony’s 2017 range, the quirky design and fab picture still make it a great option.
7
Philips 50PUS6272
8
Sony KD-65XF9005
9
Samsung UE55MU8000
BARGAIN BUY
BARGAIN BUY
Stuff says +++++ Small improvements make this LG’s best OLED television yet
+++++ £1299 / stuff.tv/55POS9002 Available at a relatively affordable price for an OLED 4K HDR set, this Philips is an ace bargain.
10
+++++ £525 / stuff.tv/50PUS6272 Not only does it have HDR and 4K support, but this cheap Philips also has the fab Ambilight.
+++++ £1749 / stuff.tv/KD65XF9005 It may have a mid-range price, but this Sony’s 4K LCD panel is still a proper belter.
+++++ £959 / stuff.tv/UE55MU8000 Thought mid-range meant middle of the road? This fine Samsung will make you think again.
Samsung UE40MU6400 +++++ £419 / stuff.tv/UE40 Most 4K TVs are frickin’ huge, but this 40in set will fit any lounge – and it’s ultra-affordable.
FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS AND FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW TELEVISIONS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/TVs
TOP TENS SOUNDBARS
1
HOT BUY
111
SMART SPEAKERS TOP TENS
1
HOT BUY
HOT BUY
Sonos Beam £399 / stuff.tv/SonosBeam
Sonos One £199 / stuff.tv/SonosOne
Sonos’s home cinema gear has always been a little expensive, but with the Beam it’s created a great-value soundbar. It sounds ace, comes with loads of features and is compact enough to fit into the average living-room AV setup without taking over. If you want the best-sounding system then the Playbar or Playbase are still the products to go for, but they’re a lot more money, they don’t have Alexa, and they don’t control your TV in the same slick way the Beam does.
Making an amazing speaker was an easy job for the multiroom champs, but getting Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant to dance along in time with it… well, that wasn’t such a simple task. But the One is now an altogether more well-rounded device than it was at launch, supporting Spotify with voice control as well as Amazon Music and TuneIn Radio, while the early Alexa hiccups seem to have been fixed by a series of software updates. The only issue? It’s a little hard of hearing compared to Amazon’s Echo.
Stuff says +++++ Smaller and cheaper than the already excellent Playbar, and packed full of smarts
Stuff says +++++ Sonos’s Alexa-powered speaker remains a class apart from the competition
2
Q Acoustics Media 4
3
Sky Soundbox
4
Dali Kubik One
5
Philips Fidelio B5
£199 / stuff.tv/Media4 The justifiably multi-award-winning Media 4 combines subtle detail with precise surround effects to be one of the best-sounding and best-value soundbars you can buy. Stuff says +++++ A whole lot of under-telly hi-fi for the money
from £249 / stuff.tv/SkySoundbox If you already have a Sky Q subscription, you can get this fantastic audio booster on the cheap. If you haven’t, it’s really too expensive to be worth considering ahead of the class-leading Dali Kubik One. Stuff says +++++ The best-value upgrade ever… if you’ve got Sky
+++++ £799 / stuff.tv/KubikOne Gorgeous high-end performance for a not so gorgeous high-end price.
++++, £599 / stuff.tv/FidelioB5 A tech-packed soundbar that sounds as exciting as it looks.
2
Amazon Echo Dot
3
Google Home Max
4
Apple HomePod
5
Amazon Echo (2nd gen)
£40 / stuff.tv/EchoDot The massive price difference means that, for many people, this is a much better bet than the full-size Echo. The only real downside is its poor-quality speaker, but the 3.5mm audio output will solve that problem for most. Stuff says +++++ One of the best bargains in tech right now
£399 / stuff.tv/HomeMax If you want a smart speaker that can blow the doors off a party, this is the best you can get right now. All the smarts of the basic Home speaker are here, naturally, and the larger drivers offer much more powerful bass. Stuff says ++++, A smart speaker that’s ready to party
++++, £319 / stuff.tv/HomePod For Apple Music users who want a high-end smart speaker, this is a cracking choice.
++++, £90 / stuff.tv/AmazonEcho Nothing else in this price range looks quite as good or gets the job done quite as well.
GADGET COVER WILL REPLACE ANY ACCESSORIES, UP TO £150, IF THEY ARE LOST WITH YOUR GADGET
TOP TENS HOME CINEMA
1
CONSOLES TOP TENS
112
1
HOT BUY
HOT BUY
Sky Q from £20 + £20/month / stuff.tv/SkyQ
Sony PlayStation 4 Pro £349 / stuff.tv/PS4Pro
Sky Q works flawlessly and could change the way you watch TV – especially now 4K’s arrived. With Sky Movies’ huge range of films and Sky Sports’ frequent doses of football and F1 now all in stunning Ultra HD, there’s something for everyone to treat their eyes with. And 2TB of storage means you can record 350 hours’ worth of entertainment, so you’re unlikely to be sweating over which show needs deleting. Factor in its multiroom skills, and Sky Q is undoubtedly the best TV experience you can get.
As a gaming platform, PlayStation 4 is the best around – which makes the PS4 Pro the best of the best. Games optimised for the new console look stunning on a 4K HDR TV, and are substantially improved by the extra grunt inside this slightly bigger machine. Sure, it can’t match the Xbox One X for sheer power or resolution, but it makes up for that with an impressive line-up of games – including Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn and Bloodborne – and virtual reality support.
Stuff says +++++ You’ll have to cough up for a subscription, but this is the best box for watching both live and recorded shows
Stuff says +++++ The system for console gamers who have a 4K TV and want the best catalogue of games on offer
2
Amazon Fire TV Stick
3
Roku Streaming Stick+
4
Apple TV 4K
5
ViewSonic PX747-4K
BARGAIN BUY
£40 / stuff.tv/FireStick With fast, reliable performance and most of the major services included – as well as a veritable feast of other apps, games and curios - this is the best option out there for expanding the horizons of your old HD TV. Stuff says +++++ An ace streaming stick with a voice assistant
£80 / stuff.tv/RokuPlus This is a simple way of getting pretty much every streaming app you could want on your 4K TV, making up for any holes in your telly’s smart offering and providing a clean and easy interface in the process. Stuff says ++++, A great choice for the open-minded watcher
++++, £179 / stuff.tv/AppleTV4K Streaming boxes might be on the way out, but Apple’s 4K version still has its uses.
++++, £949 / stuff.tv/PX747 A 4K projector that’s big on specs and relatively small on price.
2
Nintendo Switch
3
Microsoft Xbox One X
4 BARGAIN BUY
5
£280 / stuff.tv/NintendoSwitch Nintendo’s console earned a promotion in our list after it impressed us with a growing list of fantastic games. Plus, no other device here offers the joy of portable gaming. Train journeys will never be boring again. Stuff says +++++ This 2-in-1 console is the real deal
£450 / stuff.tv/XboxOneX There’s no doubt the Xbox One X is the most powerful console here, capable of producing stunning 4K visuals… but it simply doesn’t have the line-up of games to usurp the PS4 Pro from top spot. Stuff says +++++ A 4K monster held back by its game catalogue
Sony PlayStation 4 Slim +++++ £250 / stuff.tv/PS4Slim Haven’t got a 4K TV? This is the best way to enjoy PlayStation’s brilliant exclusives.
Microsoft Xbox One S +++++ £229 / stuff.tv/XboxOneS No longer our Xbox of choice, but the One S remains a serious affordable option.
FOR FULL REVIEWS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/HOME-CINEMA & STUFF.TV/TOP-10/GAMES-MACHINES
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GAMES TOP TENS
HOT BUY
God of War £44 / PS4 A lot has changed for PlayStation’s god-slaying champion. Not only has Kratos gained some wrinkles and grown a chin-full of hair, but he’s also ditched his iconic Blades of Chaos for a magic axe and angered a whole new bunch of gods. But while the action is as breathtaking as ever, it’s the surprisingly mature storyline that’s the draw here, with the short-tempered Kratos learning the ropes of parenting. Don’t expect him to start telling dad jokes just yet.
TIPS & TRICKS Collect Frozen Flames by defeating various enemies to upgrade your trusty Leviathan axe.
Stuff says +++++ The epic return of Kratos is yet another phenomenal PS4 offering
Throw your axe at enemies and it will freeze them in place, leaving you to fight others with your fists.
2
NEW
O OR PLAY THIS Bayonetta 2 If you’re upset that God of War has binned its hack-and-slash roots, this eccentric Switch title is the perfect replacement. £41 / Switch
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UPDATE
UPDATE
NEW
Forza Horizon 4
Monster Hunter: World
£40 / Xbox One, PC
£30 / PS4, Xbox One, PC
Whether you’re a thrill-seeking fan of fast cars, or just somone who’s wondered what it’s like to tear a pimped-out supercar through the Lake District, this is one bar-raising sandbox-racing game experience that’s worth buckling up for. There’s nothing it doesn’t nail.
From a flame-spitting dinosaur to a poison-puking bird, there are plenty of hulking monsters to slay in this Japanese RPG. But it’s the addictive weapon-upgrade tree, beautiful open-worlds and online cooperative multiplayer that will dig their claws into you.
Stuff says +++++ Simply the best racing game ever created
Stuff says +++++ Fun for veterans and newcomers, World is one monster of a game
NEW
4
Dragon Ball FighterZ +++++ from £44 / PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC Now available on the Switch, this Super Saiyan fighter is a blast to play and looks great too.
5
Marvel’s Spider-Man
6
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
++++, £48 / PS4 One of the Marvel icon’s absolute best interactive adventures to date.
++++, from £40 / PS4, Xbox One, PC A thrill ride of a finale for one of the finest action/adventure series in recent memory.
7
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
8
FIFA 19
++++, £48 / PS4, Xbox One, PC Expect to dive into one of the series’ biggest, best and most ambitious entries yet.
++++, from £50 / PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC Defensively suspect but full of moments that’ll get you out of your seat. Just like real football.
9
Mario Tennis Aces
10
Super Mario Party
NEW
++++, £40 / Switch A superb and eccentric tennis game that needs a few more online features to come out swinging.
++++, £43 / Switch With a whopping 80 new mini-games, it’s a refreshingly back-to-basics return for the series.
POLICIES WITH GADGET COVER START IMMEDIATELY
TOP TENS TECH TOYS
ELECTRIC CARS TOP TENS
114
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HOT BUY
NEW
HOT NEW BUY
Lego Boost Creative Toolbox £150 / stuff.tv/LegoCreativeToolbox
Jaguar I-Pace from £58,995 / stuff.tv/ipace
Building Lego models is already ridiculously good fun, so think what great a time you’ll have when the completed model turns into a functioning robot. With the accompanying tablet app, you can use simple coding to make the robot move, fire projectiles and play various games. And rather than retiring it to the dusty shelf once you’re bored, you can rebuild him into four other programmable models: a harmonica-playing cat, a driveable rover, a working robot-builder and a playable guitar.
Not content with simply making an electric vehicle that can get you from A to B with minimal fuss (and fuel bills), Jaguar has created something desirable, fun to drive and impressively capable when the going gets tough. This car offers Amazon Alexa intergration, smartphone connectivity and a 10in touchscreen on the upper deck. With the I-Pace, Jaguar can happily claim to be the first mainstream brand to really give Tesla something to worry about.
Stuff says +++++ All hail Vernie and friends – for value and sheer fun, it’s hard to beat this programmable Lego kit
Stuff says +++++ Fun, fast and practical, the I-Pace is the greatest thing to happen to electric cars in a long time
2
Sphero BB-8 with Force Band
3
Propel Star Wars X-Wing Battling Drone
4
Sphero Bolt
5
Anki Cozmo
£130 / stuff.tv/BB8 BB-8 was fun even without the Force Band. Now it will make you feel like a proper Jedi, letting you control it with gestures– and that’s worth more than all the snow on Hoth. See also the BB-9E model. Stuff says +++++ BB-8 is a bona fide Force sensation
£67 / stuff.tv/SWDrone The Star Wars Battling Drone works indoors and outdoors, and doesn’t require a licence or CAA permit to fly. It’s a total blast… just a shame there’s no camera or app. Stuff says +++++ Is the Force strong with this one? You betcha!
+++++ £150 / stuff.tv/SpheroBolt Even if coding isn’t your thing, there’s a lot to enjoy here for kids both big and small.
++++, £180 / stuff.tv/Cozmo He’s a bit pricey, but Cozmo’s a great laugh and has buckets of personality.
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3
Volvo XC90 T8 from £57,783 / stuff.tv/XC90T8 The latest XC90 is a monster 4x4 that features some of the most impressive interior tech seen on any car today, hybrid or not. It also looks great, rides beautifully and can tackle the twistiest routes. Stuff says +++++ A luxury SUV hybrid that happens to be green
BMW i8 Roadster from £124,735 / stuff.tv/i8Roadster It has a tiny engine borrowed from a Mini Cooper, but the added contribution of an electric motor driving the front wheels turns this stunningly futuristic convertible into a genuine supercar. Stuff says +++++ There’s no other convertible like this hybrid
4
Tesla Model X
5
VW Golf GTE
++++, from £75,000 / stuff.tv/TeslaX An incredible, extravagant fully electric car that’s more practical than the Model S.
++++, from £26,479 / stuff.tv/VWGolfGTE Volkswagen keeps the Golf’s heritage alive with a plug-in hybrid that’s a breeze to drive.
FOR UP-TO-DATE LISTINGS AND FULL REVIEWS OF ALL KINDS OF GADGETS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
TOP TENS VR HEADSETS
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VR GAMES TOP TENS
115
1
HOT BUY
HOT BUY
Oculus Rift £399 / stuff.tv/OculusTouch
Superhot VR £14.99 / Oculus Rift, Vive, PSVR
The Oculus Rift has been playing catch-up for a while; but now that it’s got the fantastic Touch Controllers, has boosted its room-tracking capabilities to match the Vive and has had a price drop to undercut HTC’s standard headset by £100, it finally deserves to top our VR headset rankings. Its library of exclusive games has grown considerably since launch too, with the likes of Robo Recall, Lucky’s Tale and Lone Echo all added. This is now the best VR headset available that doesn’t cost the world.
Superhot has found its home in VR – just watch those slow-mo bullets skim the tip of your nose. The enemy will only move when you do, so time your attacks to perfection and dodge, duck and dive to survive. There’s something really cool about hiding behind a desk before blitzing your opponents with streams of bullets as if you were starring in your very own Matrix movie. And with Superhot soon arriving on PSVR, more players will be able to experience this wonderfully action-packed title.
Stuff says ++++, Thanks to the price cut and much-needed updates, the Rift is now the best reasonably-priced VR headset
Stuff says +++++ If you have a VR headset, this 2-in-1 puzzler and shooter should be right at the top of your shopping list
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HTC Vive £499 / stuff.tv/HTCVive Barring a £100 price difference, there isn’t much difference between the HTC Vice and Oculus Rift in all honesty. But if you’re thinking of upgrading to the Vive Pro in the future, this is a great gateway headset. Stuff says ++++, A solid choice for immersive virtual reality
3
HTC Vive Pro
4
Google Daydream View
5
£799 (headset only) / stuff.tv/HTCVive This high-end headset offers the best virtual reality experience by a long way, but its sky-high price means you should only really buy it if you’re a VR obsessive with a super-powerful gaming PC. Stuff says ++++, This hardcore headset is overkill for most
++++, £99 / stuff.tv/DaydreamView This budget-friendly option is the best way of bringing VR to the masses.
PlayStation VR +++,, from £230 / stuff.tv/PlayStationVR It can deliver incredible experiences, but the PSVR is held back by teething issues.
2
Farpoint
3
Moss
4
Thumper
5
Doom VFR
BARGAIN BUY
£25 (£65 with Aim Controller) / PSVR If it weren’t in VR, Farpoint would be a distinctly average space-based FPS. But the PSVR headset and Aim Controller lift it above the pack and make it a must-play, not just for VR fans but also for FPS addicts. Stuff says +++++ Simply a thrilling VR experience
£25 / PSVR This platform puzzler has a storybook charm to it, as you guide an adorable little mouse through all sorts of obstacles. It’s one of the best titles to really utilise VR’s unique controls. Stuff says ++++, A one-of-a-kind fable that’s perfect for VR
++++, £15.99 / Oculus Rift, Vive, PSVR This mesmerising rhythm game is best played in VR, despite the lack of tracking.
++++, £19.99 / Vive, PSVR Movement can be awkward, but this shooter is still bloody good fun.
TAKE OUT AN ANNUAL POLICY WITH GADGET COVER AND YOU’LL GET ONE MONTH FREE
TOP TENS SMART HOME
116
1
HOT BUY
Tado Smart Thermostat from £199 + installation / stuff.tv/Tado It might not be as pretty as the Nest 3.0, but Tado has quietly evolved into the best all-round smart heating system around. Like autopilot for your boiler, it senses when you’re leaving home or coming back thanks to the app’s geolocation. And Tado’s gadgety goodness is second to none, with the option of zonal control for individual rooms and voice smarts from the likes Alexa and Google Assistant.
TIPS & TRICKS Check out the app’s Energy Savings Report to see how well you’re doing each month.
Stuff says +++++ Tado roasts the competition with its combination of simplicity and smarts
Crank up the nerdery by tinkering with Tado’s IFTTT channel or adding it to your HomeKit setup.
O NOW ADD THIS Tado Smart Radiator Thermostats Once you’ve tasted the joys of zonal smart heating, you and your wallet will never go back. £70 each / tado.com
Hook up an Amazon Echo or Google Home to change the temperature with your voice.
2
BARGAIN BUY
3
Netatmo Welcome
Nest 3.0
£163 / stuff.tv/NetatmoWelcome
£279 + installation / stuff.tv/Nest3
Netatmo’s smart cam has face recognition capability, which works well once it’s got to know you, and the usual motion and noise detection is easy to control. You can also remotely monitor your house to keep the paranoia at bay while on holiday.
This is one of the cleverest (and best-looking) smart thermostats on the market. Nest learns your habits – when you’re in, when you’re likely to need a lot of hot water and so on – so it can control the boiler to save energy and keep that shower nice and toasty.
Stuff says +++++ A neat security cam with loads of features and storage options
Stuff says +++++ A simple and mess-free smart thermostat with Alexa compatibility
4
Philips Hue Starter Kit
5
Netgear Arlo Pro
+++++ from £60 (white) / stuff.tv/PhilipsHue Become an indoor god with the smartest way of lighting up your home remotely.
+++++ £256 / stuff.tv/ArloPro A good home cam that becomes a great one outdoors. Your shed has never been so secure.
6
Google Wifi
7
Nest Hello
8
Dyson Pure Cool Desk
9 10
+++++ £129 / stuff.tv/GoogleWifi A signal-spreading wonder that’ll make your old router look like a tech dinosaur.
++++, £229 / stuff.tv/NestHello Not only is this a nifty smart doorbell, but it also doubles as a useful outdoor security camera.
++++, £400 / stuff.tv/PureCool Much more than just a smart fan, this device justifies its high price as a home air-purifier.
Hive Active Heating ++++, £249 / stuff.tv/HiveActive This heating system is simple enough for anyone to use and powerful enough to be truly useful.
Nanoleaf Aurora + Rhythm ++++, from £220 / stuff.tv/NanoleafRhythm The most dazzling smart lights around, with some impressive sonic skills added.
FOR FULL REVIEWS OF THE BEST SMART HOME DEVICES, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/SMART-HOME-DEVICES
TOP TENS DRONES
1
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COMPACT CAMERAS TOP TENS
1
HOT NEW BUY
HOT BUY
DJI Mavic 2 Pro £1349 / stuff.tv/Mavic2Pro
Sony DSC-RX100 V £872 / stuff.tv/RX100V
The Mavic 2 Pro keeps all the good bits of the old Mavic Pro while making genuine improvements in almost every area. Aimed at the enthusiast willing to spend a little more to fly and film a little further, it’s undeniably pricey – but we think said enthusiasts will find it’s worth every penny. It’s a fantastic flier that feels superbly responsive in the air. It’s not as small or affordable as the Mavic Air, but the battery life, safety features and Hasselblad image quality more than make up for it.
We wouldn’t recommend buying this camera if you already own the old IV model, but a few improvements have ensured Sony remains the top dog in our compacts list – and we’re keeping this model above the new RX100 VI simply because of the huge price difference. It remains one of the finest point-and-shoots we’ve ever seen, with a flexibility that few pocket cameras can muster. While it’s still not exactly cheap, we reckon this is the cam to buy if you want fantastic-looking snaps from your holidays.
Stuff says +++++ A drone with no real weaknessess, this is the new gold standard in portable drones
Stuff says +++++ A small improvement over the RX100 IV, but this Sony is close to premium point-and-shoot perfection
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3
DJI Mavic Air £769 / stuff.tv/MavicAir By combining the best bits from the Spark and Mavic Pro, DJI has made a cracking gadget for both beginners who want stunning ariel travel vidoes and those who just want to fly a nimble drone at full pelt around the park. Stuff says +++++ The best non-professional drone you can buy
DJI Spark £449 / stuff.tv/DJISpark The Spark is the most user-friendly drone on this list. You control it via hand gestures or a smartphone, while it’s so diddy it will easily fit in your bag for a day out in the park. The 15-minute fly time is short, though. Stuff says +++++ The perfect drone for beginners
4
Parrot Anafi
5
Ryze Tello
+++++ £599 / stuff.tv/Anafi The Anafi is a compact, (relatively) affordable and 4K-capable high-flyer.
++++, £94 / stuff.tv/Tello Not without its technical shortcomings, but there’s no better £100 toy drone.
2
3
4 5
Panasonic Lumix TZ200 £729 / stuff.tv/TZ200 This Panasonic compact is a significant upgrade from the TZ100, offering extra reach with the zoom lens, better colour reproduction, and an improved experience when using the electronic viewfinder. Stuff says +++++ Small, neat and not dramatically overpriced
Sony DSC-RX100 VI £1149 / stuff.tv/RX100VI A true all-rounder that shoots 24fps at full resolution and has stunningly fast autofocus, topped off with a whopping 8x zoom lens that’s quite spectacular for such a tiny camera. Stuff says +++++ A dinky yet luxurious point-and-shoot
Panasonic Lumix LX100 +++++ £499 / stuff.tv/LX100 One of the most capable compacts on the market, with superb stills and HD video.
Fujifilm X100F +++++ £1199 / stuff.tv/X100F The best street shooter around if you don’t need the flexibility of interchangeable lenses.
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TOP TENS SYSTEM CAMERAS
118
1
HOT BUY
Fujifilm X-T20 £789 / stuff.tv/XT20 Coming with the same 24.3MP APS-C sensor and processor as the X-T2, plus a touchscreen (which its sibling lacks), the X-T20 will leave you with a lot more spare cash in your account. And for most people, the model will deliver results that are just as good as its pricier big brother’s. With well laid-out controls, a huge viewfinder, excellent autofocus and access to superb lenses, the X-T20 is just one more fantastic mirrorless camera from Fujifilm.
TIPS & TRICKS For aperture-priority shots, set shutter speed to auto and turn the lens ring to the desired f-number.
Stuff says +++++ The X-T20 nails the sweet spot between price and performance
Pressing the Q button will open a custom menu, giving you quick access to loads of settings.
O NOW ADD THIS Manfrotto 190 Go! Carbon Fibre Tripod You no longer have an excuse for wobbly photos with this carbon-fibre tripod. It weighs just 1.65kg. £235 / manfrotto.co.uk
Tapping an area on the 3in touchscreen will let you set the focus point or take an instant shot.
2
HOT BUY
3
4 5 6 BARGAIN BUY
Sony A7 III
Panasonic Lumix G9
£1999 / stuff.tv/SonyA7iii
£1499 / stuff.tv/LumixG9
The A7 III manages to pack in a lot of technology and desirability for less than £2000. It’s a fantastic all-rounder that’s well suited to a bunch of shooting scenarios, coping well with landscapes, portraits, and even a little bit of high-speed sport shooting. As a camera design it’s admitedly not the prettiest thing we’ve ever seen, but it handles well for its compact size.
The G9 is the best Lumix camera to date and a cracking choice for wildlife or action photography. This diminutive cam’s images aren’t up with the best, particularly in low light, but the plus sides are lightning shooting speeds and a great system of small, light lenses. With 4K video and handy shooting modes also on board, it’s one of most versatile high-end mirrorless cameras you can buy.
Stuff says +++++ A fantastic all-rounder that excels in low-light conditions
Stuff says +++++ The perfect companion for the travelling wildlife photographer
7
Sony A6500 +++++ £1199 / stuff.tv/A6500 A cracking system cam for action photography, but stick with the A6300 if your budget is tight.
Fujifilm X-H1 +++++ £1699 / stuff.tv/XH1 By adding in-body image stabilisation, Fuji has created a wonderful all-rounder.
Panasonic GH5S +++++ £2199 / stuff.tv/GH5S A compact system camera that’s a pro at video, if slightly disappointing for stills.
Canon EOS 80D +++++ £949 / stuff.tv/80D The 80D is so easy to use that even a toddler would get some great shots with it.
8
Nikon D500
9
Nikon D850
10
+++++ £1799 / stuff.tv/D500 The best APS-C camera you can buy, and well worth its slightly painful price tag.
+++++ £3299 / stuff.tv/D850 This super-cam has enough fantastic features to excel in pretty much any situation.
Fujifilm GFX 50S +++++ £4999 / stuff.tv/GFX50S It’s not cheap, but no camera we’ve tested takes better photos than this.
FOR FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW CAMERAS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/SYSTEM-CAMERAS
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BUDGET BUYS TOP TENS HOT BUY
SNES Classic Mini £80 / stuff.tv/ClassicMini TIPS & TRICKS Why bother splashing out over £200 on a games console when you can get the SNES Classic Mini for a fraction of that? Especially when you get 21 classic titles pre-installed on this nostalgia-inducing machine, including the likes of Super Metroid, A Link to the Past, Super Mario World and the never-before-released Star Fox 2. And with two controllers bundled in the box, you’ll be able to start the Super Mario Kart action right away.
Chickens killed you in Zelda again? You can rewind up to five minutes and pretend it never happened. For full-fat nostalgia you can read the instruction manual for each of the SNES games online.
Stuff says +++++ With 21 classic games installed, gamers won’t find better value anywhere
Stop trying to raid Bowser’s castle in one sitting, and use one of the four save slots to take a break.
2
O NOW ADD THIS 8Bitdo Bluetooth Retro Receiver Fed up of those short cables? Use this clever device to connect most modern controllers wirelessly. £16.14 / 8bitdo.com
3
HOT BARGAIN BUY BUY HOT BUY
HOT BUY
Raspberry Pi Zero W
UE Wonderboom
from £9.16 / stuff.tv/PiZeroW
£65 / stuff.tv/Wonderboom
It might be nearly twice the price of the original Pi Zero, but when you’re still getting change from a tenner the wireless Pi is fantastic value. Simplicity is key, with no need to mess about with dongles or hubs. This also means your Pi projects can be squeezed into smaller places.
If you want a cheap portable Bluetooth speaker, you can’t go wrong with either the Jam Heavy Metal or the UE Wonderboom. But the latter makes this list for its funky design and waterproofing. As it’s Stuff’s reigning hi-fi gadget of the year, this is a super bargain.
Stuff says +++++ The Pi Zero was already brilliant; wireless add-ons make it better
Stuff says +++++ Our absolute favourite hi-fi gadget, and for well under £100
4
Moov Now
5
Amazon Echo Dot
6
Beyerdynamic Byron
+++++ £45 / stuff.tv/MoovNow The best budget tracker you can buy – gives most Fitbits a run for their money.
+++++ £40 / stuff.tv/EchoDot This smart home assistant is a lot smaller than the full-size Echo, but it’s a much bigger bargain.
+++++ £44 / stuff.tv/Byron The best-sounding earphones you’ll be able to find at this bargain price.
7
Ryze Tello
8
Vodafone Smart N8
9
Ikea Tradfri
10
++++, £94 / stuff.tv/Tello Rule the skies without breaking the bank with this affordable toy drone.
++++, £85 / stuff.tv/SmartN8 As phone prices creep towards the realm of the ridiculous, Vodafone offers a bargain alternative.
++++, from £15 / stuff.tv/IkeaSmartLights Philips Hue might have colour-changing bulbs, but Ikea’s Tradfri smart lights are crazy cheap.
Mobvoi Ticwatch E ++++, £146 / stuff.tv/Ticwatch Fancy a watch that’s both smart and good at fitness tracking? This is our bargain ticker pick.
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TOP TENS HOW TO BUY
HOW TO BUY ON BLACK FRIDAY
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Tech fans can rejoice, because Black Friday is back again on 23 November – all you need is the know-how to bag yourself the best deals
Leave it l8 There are no 8K shows to watch yet… but the advent of 8K TVs should push 4K prices down further.
AFTER A TELLY?
Go OLED OLED screens with 4K resolution and HDR are now mainstream enough to be in line for big discounts.
Raise the bar Leave room in your budget for a soundbar if you don’t already have one: skinny modern TVs don’t sound great.
PRACTICAL PURCHASER 1
Seize the day(s)
Black Friday was once a frantic day of deals, but it’s now evolved to mark the start of what is often a month-long extravaganza leading up to Christmas. Much of the heavy discounting will extend at least to Cyber Monday (26 November), so there’s plenty of time to find the best deals. Mind you, if an item is particularly popular, it’s worth bearing in mind you’ll be in a race against falling stock levels.
OR TRY LOOKING HERE…
2 Trawl the market We all know Amazon is a great place to find deals, but make sure you don’t just stick to one place and risk missing out on lower prices elsewhere. In previous years, Argos, John Lewis and Curry’s have had lots of big price drops and offers. If you’ve been holding out on the latest Xbox, PS4 or Switch title, Game has a lot of software offerings every year, as well as accessories and the odd hardware bundle deal.
STAYING SAVVY 3 Smarten your home If you’ve long been yearning to call out to an AI brainbox to settle a trivia debate that’s been raging across the dinner table, Black Friday could be the perfect time to land yourself some Alexa-powered tech. Amazon’s own products always get some big discounts, and its newly refreshed and expanded smart home range looks set to be a big winner this year. Alexa, find me a bargain!
4 Follow the form You’re a discerning Stuff reader – so rather than just being eager to get rid of all your money, you’re probably after a particular tech treasure. Doing your homework can really help here. Following retailers’ social media feeds and signing up to store newsletters is a great way of ensuring you won’t miss out. Don’t worry about being pestered afterwards – it’s easy to opt out of emails under the EU’s new GDPR rules.
5 Don’t be fooled When you see a huge price drop it’s easy to instantly assume you’ve found yourself a bargain… but RRP prices aren’t always accurate. It’s worth checking out price comparison sites like pricespy.co.uk to see if a deal is really as good as it looks.
O ACROSS THE POND
O ON THE HIGH STREET
Some products may have better deals in the USA, so it can be worth using services like Big Apple Buddy to import goodies for you. You just need to be wary of import taxes and shipping prices.
Yes, real shops still exist! And the best deals aren’t always online. If you feel brave enough to venture out and join the crowds of rabid shelf-sniffers, you might even find an exclusive in-store deal.
SUBSCRIBE, SAVE CASH AND GET STUFF DELIVERED FOR FREE: SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/STUFF
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NEXT BIG THING?
What should Nanette do now? Run and hide Go back to her post Throw a shoe at Captain Daly’s head
inally! A chance to change what happens in Titanic... About time, eh? As if that glorified ice cube could sink a ship as magnificent as the Titanic. It’s just so unrealistic. But this is an idea that goes back way further than James Cameron’s capsizey classic. Ever since Tom Hanks came up with electronic choose-your-own-adventure comic books in ’80s favourite Big, geeks of a certain age have dreamed of having more control over how the stories they read and watch unfold. And now, Netflix is set to make it a reality.
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So we can save Jack from his watery grave? You may have to wait for that – although knowing Cameron’s penchant for post-release tinkering, we wouldn’t put it past him. Before the end of the year, though, you’ll be able to choose what happens in an upcoming episode of Black Mirror by selecting one of various options – a bit like a branching dialogue tree in an RPG game. Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi series is a perfect guinea pig for this new kind of entertainment… and Netflix actually has history with this kind of thing already, although unless you’re under 10 it probably passed you by.
I like Octonauts, actually… Good for you, but that isn’t involved. Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale and Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile both have interactive elements, which means narrative decisions are occasionally handed over to the nipper watching, who must choose from the available options. As you can imagine, they’re not earth-shaking choices, but more mature shows should see more mature dilemmas being presented – and with the rise of voice control tech, you might eventually be quite literally calling the shots. And… action!
[ Words Tom Wiggins ]
controllable tv shows
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ME T O S T EP O AT T R E A DMI With so many demands from work, home and family, there never seem to be enough hours in the day for you. Why not press pause once in a while, curl up with your favourite magazine and put a little oasis of ‘you’ in your day.