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Smarter Living

…leads our look at the year's most desirable tech – discover the gadgets you need right now

win!

A 4K OLED TV wOrTh

£3K!

next-gen 4K tVs • smart assistants ar glasses • connected fitness electric vehicles • robot helpers

gamechanger The tech that’s so cutting edge, you’re risking your fingers just turning this page

water good idea You can adjust the speed of the G2X by using the handheld waterproof (obviously) wireless controller. It also displays the current battery level and, cleverly, it’ll vibrate when the charge gets low, so you don’t get stranded at sea

R a din n g2x Spring is almost upon us, so naturally it’s that time of year to start planning summer activities. If you’re anything like us at T3, you love the idea of heading to the coast with a surfboard at your side, but can’t actually surf for toffee. So, let us introduce you to the Radinn G2X: a surfboard powered by an electric motor, allowing you to skim along the sea in silence and enjoy the gnarly side of life without actually having to learn how to surf. With a 3,800-watt motor strapped to the G2X, you get to surf for 25 minutes at full speed – a not-inconsiderable 31mph (an optional bigger battery is available, lasting 35 minutes). Batteries can be hot-swapped in seconds, giving you all-day surfing capabilities, while a ‘Radical’ upgrade boosts your top speed to 36mph, so you can give those pesky (not to mention noisy) jet skis a run for their money.

Yes, it’s a little on the steep side for what is essentially a plastic panel with a motor strapped to it, but just think about how much time you can spend posing while scoffing at the ‘real’ surfers as they fight the waves. €9,900 (around £8,800), radinn.com

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Meet the team

Meet the team

MEEt our aDvErtisinG tEaM Get in touch to see what T3 can do for your brand!

CoMMErCiAl DirECTor adam Gilsenan adam.gilsenan@futurenet.com +44 (0)7432 609945

Matt Bolton Editor This month, Matt led turning the Hot 100 (p34) from a vague cloud of ideas into a real list. He can’t remember the last time he saw a screen that didn’t have a giant Google Doc on it.

niCk oDantzis Deputy editor Helping whittle the Hot 100 down from hundreds of entries actually marks Nick’s last issue of the mag. We’re gutted to see him go, but on the other hand, a lot less kit will mysteriously disappear…

ClairE DaviEs associate Editor Claire’s been really excited by the prospect of Homepod, and we finally have it for review this issue (p98). Soon her house will be filled with little white Ais, like the start of a philip K Dick novel.

ACCoUNT DirECTor andrew TilBUrY andrew.tilbury@futurenet.com, +44 (0)1225 687144 ADvErTiSiNG DirECTor ricHard HemminGs richard.hemmings@futurenet.com, +44 (0)1225 687615 ACCoUNT DirECTor TraceY Hendle tracey.hendle@futurenet.com, +44 (0)1225 687469

Jo GullivEr senior art Editor Jo took on the vital role of checking our height in this issue’s Man vs Tech feature testing drop-proof gadgets (p84). Admittedly, choosing someone who’s only 5’ 3” did make things a bit awkward.

MiCHEllE MClarEn art Editor With a run in the london Marathon fast approaching, Michelle was eyeing up the connected fitness tech in our State of the Art test (p76).

They’re a bit big, but who needs a dining table, anyway?

kiMBErlEy BallarD Production Editor As the most youthful member of the gnarled T3 hivemind, Kimberley found our wireless bookshelf speakers (p100) quaintly retro. Two speakers in different places! imagine.

tHE GloBal MaGazinE T3 is currently licensed worldwide, from Australia to Mexico

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anDrEw wEstBrook operations Editor is monitoring the air itself (p70) taking the quantified smart home too far? Not for Andy, who’s determined to eliminate dust from his life completely and become our very own Howard Hughes.

Paul DouGlas Global Editor-in-Chief, t3.com paul’s been most interested in our Echo Smackdown (p96) this month, despite the fact that T3 editors rarely need to add any more screens to their homes.

DunCan BEll lifestyle Editor, t3.com Duncan’s in the market for a more swish new computer, but refuses to admit that the iMac pro (p92) is probably overkill. He doesn’t know what he’d use 10 cores for, but he can find something.

sPEnCEr Hart Product & style Editor, t3.com What’s the most stressed you’ve ever been? Spencer got the dubious ‘honour’ of transporting a watch worth £20k to our Hot 100 photoshoot. That stressed?

roB JonEs tech & Gaming Editor, t3.com rob got his hands on the Samsung Galaxy S9 this issue, for our first look on p10 – expect a full review next issue, and even more new phones!

ContaCt T3

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How To license T3 interested in publishing a licensed version of T3 in your territory? please direct enquiries to T3’s Senior licensing & Syndication Manager, Matt Ellis (matt.ellis@futurenet.com; +44 (0)1225 442244)

VisiT T3.com We’ve overhauled T3.com – the best site for gadget news and reviews now has a great new look and is fully responsive, enabling you to enjoy it on any device.

Welcome

Editor’s letter every year, T3 runs down the most important gadgets, people and developments in tech that will shape things to come. it’s the Hot 100, and i’m really excited to bring you this year’s list, starting on p34!

We started with a spreadsheet of hundreds of potential entries, thrown in by the whole T3 team. it was a hell of a thing, and we were still adding to it even as we tried frantically to cut it down. it took days to sort through, camped out as close to the office coffee machine as possible, but we got there. We wrestled (almost literally) a lot over what should come first, and you could make a case for so many things near the top of the list, but i think our winner has earned its place… well, you’ll know the story when you see it.

Most of all, though, it makes me really excited about coming back to look at this list again next year. Which vague developments will have real, life-changing products next time? Which underdogs will come back with exciting new products? What will 2018’s sleeper hits be?

We also had a lot of fun this issue with our drop-proof gadget test on p84. it’s always a nervous time asking companies if they’re okay with us trying to wreck their stuff, but our appetite for science/destruction must be fed.

Matt Bolton, Editor matthew.bolton@futurenet.com Tweet me @matthewbbolton

T3’s mission our mission is to bring you the clearest recommendations we can – and that means a great deal of hard work happens before a product even reaches our pages!

Because we only feature products the T3 team would happily use ourselves, we end up discarding a significant number of options in each category before settling on a final shortlist to review. in this respect, T3 Select does exactly what it says on the tin, picking only the best of the best to test; the gear we know you’ll want to seriously consider purchasing.

And that should mean an end to you having to undertake hours of painstaking research and product comparisons.

You won’t see any duff products, but you will come away with clarity on which one is the best in its category or for a specific task: our awards badges (see below) ensure that everything T3 recommends is clearly highlighted on the page. it goes without saying that every product in T3 Select has been thoroughly tested by our team of experts, enabling you to buy with total confidence.

oUr awards plATINum AWARD

THE DESIGN AWARD

bEST foR bATTERy lIfE

bEST oN TEST

only the best products – those that score five stars – receive our coveted platinum Award

This is given to winners of our group tests, so you can see exactly which is the best at a glance

This accolade and others like it show you which gear is best for specific features or tasks

For kit that demonstrates exceptional industrial design and refinement, in addition to being great A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 5

Contents

Contents

horizon 010

Top 10 The biggest bangers in the tech world dropping right now, including the scintillating new Samsung Galaxy S9, Nest’s crafty smart lock, and the fastest pocket drone in the world

020

sTyle Denim jackets, velvet slippers and how to outfit yourself with a perfect tailored suit

022

auTo We put the Jaguar i-paCE through its, erm, paces, to find out if it is the most enjoyable all-electric car ever. plus, gadgets to give your motor a spring clean

023

Travel

034

hoT 100 This year’s Hot 100 is set to be the most spectacular ever, with the best gadgets, tech triumphs, and cool cats. let the countdown begin

Thought cruises were the reserve of the retirement brigade? Think again – we uncover the new wave, ahem, of cruises for high-tech fans in 2018

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sTaTe oF The arT

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living

Want to get ‘hulked’ at home? You need an exercise machine. But which type do you need? We select three of the best to help you find out which is best for you

How to choose a tipple fit for budding wine enthusiasts from your local supermarket, and the best tech to turn you into a connoisseur

026

FiTness & ouTdoors How to live off the land, and the world’s most advanced mountain bike wheel

028

gadgeT guru T3’s tech sage dishes out the solutions to all of your life’s problems. Whether you actually want to go through with them, though, is up to you…

031

Talking Tech Duncan Bell ponders the inherent plateau effect of the tech industry. So how do you improve upon perfection?

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084 Man vs Tech

Ever wondered how much punishment rugged gadgets can really take? We head to the lab with a tall ladder and test the top drop-proof tech

Contents

win! a loewe bild 3.55 oled 4k hdr tv This incredible 55-inch OLED panel will make your dreams come true, with its fantastic looks and picture quality

hoMe 064

The seTup Nanoleaf offers the most stylish smart lighting solution we’ve seen, with its light panels, and we’re going to show you how to make the most of them

067

upgrade Get one-touch control over all your home tech without a smartphone, using Bosch’s Smart Home Twist

068

desire Give your home a makeover to match its smarts with this selection of beautiful furnishings

070

hoMe TesT The home can be five times more polluted than outside, so here are the best air quality monitors for checking your indoor air health

104 TesTed 092

Worth £2,990

apple iMac pro packed with performance, the iMac pro is destined for the pros, so is it too much for us mere mortals?

096

sMackdown amazon’s newest home assistants with screens built in – Echo Show and Echo Spot – go head to head

097

MicrosoFT surFace book 2 15-inch The 15-inch version of Microsoft’s brilliant laptop is the most powerful, and pricey, 2-in-1 in the world

098

apple hoMepod apple’s smart speaker has arrived late to the game, so let’s find out if its performance is strong enough to compete with the best

besT oF The besT 105

your in-depTh buyer’s guide Want to know what the best top-end telly is? Or the best first-time DSLR? Or the best wireless headphones? Our giant guide helps you find the world’s best tech, and only the best

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060

100

072

The besT wireless bookshelF speakers

Get all of your smart home problems fixed right here

Discover which of these brilliant bookshelf speakers you should be streaming your tunes to

sMarT hoMe surgery

074

102

living sMarTer

panasonic luMix g9

Make all your smart home gadgets working in harmony with one app

The ultimate mirrorless camera for action fans? Check out the review

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Horizon

The best new tech heading your way Edited by Claire Davies

SaMSung galaxy S9 From £739, samsung.com

Sometimes the smallest changes have the biggest impact, a notion Samsung is seemingly throwing its weight behind with the Galaxy S9.

At first glance, it’s easy to assume that Samsung’s new flagship smartphone is little more than a refined version of last year’s S8, with an almost identical hardware suite packed into a lush slab of metal and glass. Look closer, however, and you’ll notice some pleasing tweaks and innovations.

Although the S9 has the same screen as the S8 – a 5.8-inch (6.2-inch on the S9+) QHD+ Super AMOLED display with 18.5:9 aspect ratio – Samsung has chosen to tweak the landscape mode so that the entire user interface now rotates to fit the widescreen format.

The big news with the S9 is the innovative camera system. The 12MP rear camera features dual-aperture tech for improved low-light photography, where a fixed-size aperture – which is what basically all phones use – is ditched for one that expands and contracts just like the iris of your eye; the S9’s camera lets more light into its sensor when the surrounding environment is too dark, or less when the environment is too light. Slo-mo video capture has also been improved, recording at a much higher speed for even more dramatic results, and you can now turn footage into a video or gif (with music) for sharing on social media, or into live wallpaper for your S9.

That 12MP rear camera and front-mounted 8MP camera are crucial in terms of delivering the S9’s other new features, AR Emoji and Bixby Vision. Yes, it seems that Samsung thinks

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Apple is onto something with Animoji – Samsung’s AR Emoji, a feature built into the S9’s camera application, enables you to take a selfie then turn it into a personalised virtual avatar. Hold the camera up to your face and AR Emoji will mirror your expression and pose, at which point you can take a picture of your AR Emoji or record a video (with sound) of your avatar mimicking your actions.

Visual aids Bixby Vision is less fun but more practical.

This image search feature works when you point the S9’s camera at an object, text or location, enabling you to identify or shop for different items, to translate foreign text and to identify locations.

Although we’ve only had some brief handson time with the Galaxy S9, by focusing on how phone communication has moved from the ear to the eye – as evidenced by the S9’s camera system, AR Emoji and Bixby Vision – Samsung seems to have made a smartphone that’s confident to tweak its core hardware, then walk away to focus on other relevant features. The S9 could well be the phone to deliver Samsung’s most fluid, interconnected user experience so far – with a bit of extra fun thrown in.

Tech-o-MeTer

Top 10

Here’s looking at you The Galaxy S9’s new camera system sits at the heart of the phone’s new innovations such as ‘Super Slow-mo’ video, AR Emoji and an upgraded version of Samsung’s AI assistant, Bixby, which now delivers real-time object detection and recognition

a subtle makeover The S9, available in Lilac Purple, Midnight Black and Coral Blue, is slightly wider, heavier and shorter than the S8. Elsewhere, the Iris scanner hole is hidden in the top bezel, while the fingerprint scanner has shifted to beneath the phone’s rear camera

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Horizon Top 10

Poetry in motion The rear camera’s ‘Super Slow-mo’ video capture is now capable of recording 960fps at 720p in short bursts, and 240fps at 1080p for longer.

It’s also infused with Motion Detection tech, with the camera automatically recording whenever it sees motion in the capture field

taking care of business The S9 comes equipped with a 3,000mAh battery, 4GB of RAM (the S9+ has 6GB), 64GB of internal storage (the S9+ has 128GB), a hybrid or single SIM, and a new AI-infused Exynos 9810 processor for the majority of us – American users are getting Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 CPU

fully-loaded stereo sound Audio on the S9 is handled by a set of AKG-tuned stereo speakers, loaded with Dolby Atmos 360° audio capabilities. While Dolby Atmos is designed to improve compatible media, on the S9 it will also amplify and enhance definition on any media file

It’s evolution instead of revolution, but this is a great-looking upgrade Matt Bolton, Editor

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Horizon

Olympus pen e-pl9 From £579.99, olympus.co.uk

This camera is so darn beautiful you’ll be needing another just to take photos of it for Instagram. Okay maybe not, but that’s how big a crush we have on this new mirrorless shooter from the Olympus Pen Lite series. The 4K-capable Pen E-PL9 has a Micro Four-Thirds lens mount and is an accessible upgrade from your smartphone camera, making it an ideal choice for enthusiast snappers and fashionsavvy professionals. It’s easy to drive, with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a pop-up flash and a decent spread of settings that won’t overwhelm – it’ll point and shoot when you want a quick snap, but it’ll also step up for more creative shots with 16 Art Filters, including a new Instant Film mode, on hand.

Time to channel your inner Werner Bischof.

T3 sAys: This new mirrorless camera provides snap-happy fun for stylish photographers without having to puzzle over nerdy settings.

tech-o-meter

AudiOwOOd BArky TurnTABle £1,867, audiowood.com

On the hunt for an audio setup as unique and rare as your collection of Beatles 7-inches?

Introduce your treasured wax to Audiowood’s striking arboreal turntable. Killer looks mean nothing if you can’t reproduce the magic of Love Me Do, but the Barky is the centrepiece for crate-diggers who demand style and sound.

Place your record on the Barky’s heavy glass platter, drop the Rega RB303 tonearm and Elys2 cartridge combo and be transported to a world of rich tone, warmth and depth, then pair your Barky with the right amp and speakers for a match made in audiophile heaven. Best act fast if you want one of these – Audiowood only makes around 15 turntables a year.

T3 sAys: The Barky is a worthwhile turntable upgrade for vinyl-heads who hunger for styling, premium components and tone for days.

tech-o-meter

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Top 10

Nest x Yale lock £TBC, yalehome.com

Santana and Rob Thomas, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman… We love a good collaboration, so we’re eyeing the Nest x Yale Lock, debuting in America this month, with impatience. If you want to own this keyless, touchscreen lock you’ll have to import it or wait for an official UK release. The battery-powered device enables you to lock/unlock your home, and create (via the Nest app) up to 250 passcodes granting customised access to family and guests. The Lock integrates with all Nest gadgets, including the forthcoming Hello video doorbell. Nest and Yale say the Lock has a high level of encryption to beat hackers, with outer hardware tough enough to withstand burglars. Let’s hope you don’t have to see that part put to the test. t3 saYs: We love the keyless design of the touchscreen Lock and could see this fitting well in an existing Nest-powered smart home.

TeCh-o-meTer

Bose souNdsport Free £179.95, bose.co.uk

Wireless earbuds have transformed our experience in the gym. The days of earphones getting tangled in our workout kit are over, and Bose is making sure it stays that way. The new SoundSport Free don’t seem as chunky as some wireless earbuds, and Bose reckons these sweat-resistant earbuds will stay connected.

Now, we’re unsure how long you spend working out but we prefer intense 20-minute HIIT sessions, which means Bose’s quoted five-hour battery life – extendable if you keep the earphones in the charging case – would last through a fair few workouts. StayHear+ Sport tips should keep them in place, perhaps comfortably enough to nap with post-gym.

What? Sleep is important for recovery! t3 saYs: Superior sound quality wrapped up in Bose’s sweat-friendly wireless design? If that ain’t fitspiration, nothing is.

TeCh-o-meTer

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Horizon Top 10

Sven Swift From £3,250, svencycles.com

Swift’s new mid-motor ebike is designed and built in the UK using tough-as-nails materials, and is powered by Shimano’s STEPS E6001 motor, which helps out when your legs have packed in and you’re miles from home. The Alfine Di2 hub system from Shimano also delivers faff-free riding courtesy of computercontrolled, automatic gear changes, while the oil-less belt drive means zero maintenance.

If you’re an all-weather rider, the brawny Schwalbe tyres have your back from damp tarmac to dusty, off-road trails. There’s some serious range on the Swift, too – upgrade to the high-powered E 8010 504W battery, engage Eco mode and you’ll easily grind out 90 miles. Try doing that on a push bike… t3 SAYS: Great for your health and the environment? Sven’s stylish Swift ebike is the perfect excuse to embrace life on two wheels.

tech-o-meter

QuAd ArterA SoluS £1,499.95, quad-hifi.co.uk

Multi-component hi-fi systems look cool as hell and sound amazing, but the price tags can be eye-watering. Then there’s the question of how much space they take up. Quad’s been having some of the same thoughts, it would seem, culminating in the Artera Solus, a multi-tasking hi-fi system packed into one sleek box. We’re impressed by how much Quad has fitted in here: a CD transport, a pre-amplifier and power amplifier, and a 32-bit, eight-channel DAC to cover hi-res audio. True audiophiles will also enjoy tinkering with the unit’s four-digital filter options, enabling you to adjust audio from CDs and external sources. It also offers Bluetooth aptX connectivity for CD-like quality of sound.

We can’t wait to play Taylor Swift through this… t3 SAYS: With this sleek one-box, Quad aims to match the performance of more expensive hi-fi systems. Sounds good to us.

tech-o-meter

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Horizon Top 10

D-Link FuLL HD 180° OuTDOOr Wi-Fi CAmerA £145.82, dlink.com/uk Our homes are becoming better stocked with gadgets each year, but that also makes them rich pickings for burglars. A quality security camera is a great investment for any home, and if you’re looking for one that can eyeball the outside of your property 24/7, D-link has the answer with its Full HD 180° Outdoor Wi-Fi Camera. The camera offers a 180° panoramic lens and wide field of view, providing a real-time stream and updates to your smartphone or tablet, day and night – night vision and infrared LEDs enable the camera to see up to 10 metres in the dark.

D-Link’s equipped the camera with a 10x pinch-to-zoom function, so you can look closer at any suspicious activity and record video snapshots (in-app), emailing them to yourself as potential evidence.

T3 SAYS: D-Link’s camera would suit homeowners looking for a discreet way to monitor their property.

tech-O-meter coolness innovation features

uviFY OOri $389 (£281.74), uvify.com We rarely get swept away by a company’s bold marketing claims, but when a brand starts bragging about how its new micro drone is the fastest in the world, you’d better believe we want to get our hands on one. That’s where we’re at with the UVify OORI, a cute-as-a-button drone with a top speed of over 50mph – nippy indeed for such a diminutive size (94x94mm), making it faster than many beefier DJI and Yuneec drones. The OORI, which comes with a controller and screen, shares the tech DNA of UVify’s award-winning Draco racing drones,

ACer CHrOmebOOk Spin 11 From ¤329 (£291), uk-store.acer.com Another month, another convertible laptop. The difference between Acer’s Chromebook Spin 11 and the other convertibles we’ve recently covered is the price. As in, it’s low.

Like, rock-bottom low. The laptop’s initial launch in the education market should clue you into what it’s best used for: studying. On a budget. It’s tough enough to be thrown in your backpack when heading off to uni or night class, and can be bought with either an 11.6-inch IPS touchscreen or non-touchscreen display, plus a choice of processors. There’s also two USB-C and two USB-A ports 18 T3 a p r i l 2 01 8

and a microSD card slot. Acer says the Chromebook Spin 11 (available this April) has up to 12 hours of use per charge, so that should cover a day beavering away over coursework.

It makes it sound ideal as a portable work machine too, of course.

T3 SAYS: A reliable, no-frills laptop to help you get some work done.

tech-O-meter coolness innovation features

so speed, agility and a crash-proof construction are par for the course.

We like the sound of the integrated sensors, too, which should help OORI to hold its position mid-air – good news for nervy beginner pilots.

T3 SAYS: The OORI will make fast and safe micro drone flight a breeze, making it well-suited for beginners.

tech-O-meter coolness innovation features

Horizon

The jean genie

A good denim jacket is a wardrobe essential. So whether you’re channelling Steve McQueen or Bruce Springsteen, here are five jean jackets to buy now

Versus DistresseD Denim Jacket Here’s a surprisingly versatile jacket with chunky, contrasting buttons, well-placed rips and a ton of attitude. Wear it with a pair of your coolest sneakers. £323, farfetch.com LeVi’s trucker Jacket Stand out everywhere with this Party Island Print trucker. Too snazzy for ya? Tone it down with the Hula Collar version instead. £95, levi.com/GB maison margieLa FitteD Denim Jacket Give your battered Breton tee a lift with the French label’s boxy fit jacket, designed with a classic collar and statement pockets. £675, farfetch.com tom ForD Denim Jacket Do you like looking as though you’ve stepped off the cover of a ’70s Americana album? Well then slip into Tom Ford’s gorgeously faded jacket, pronto. £785, mrporter.com topman BLue cinch Back Jacket Keep your look vintage with a simple white tee under Topman’s classic-fit blue jean jacket. There’s some sweet cinch-back action, too, if you’re into that. £55, topman.com

WHICH WATCH

THE HOTTEST TIMEPIECES RIGHT NOW CHRistopHeR WaRd C5 malVeRn 595

Bell & Ross BR V1-92 BellytankeR

optik instRuments HoRizon

Less is more with the 595, a mechanical dress watch crafted with an ultra-slim 5.95mm case set against a rich Opalin White or Cool Grey dial.

Inspired by the highspeed race cars made from the belly tanks of fighter planes, the BR V1-92 has a defined 1940s vibe thanks to that gilt metallic copper dial.

The quirky Horizon watch uses a rotating disc to tell the time, showing the main waypoints in each hour and offering three ways for you to read the face.

£595, christopherward.co.uk 2 0 T3 a p r i l 2 01 8

£1,950, bellross.com

£349, optikinstruments.com

Style

DRESS LIKE

DavID BECkHaM The footballer-turned-fashion icon’s intuitive sense of style is enviable but totally stealable the hair David Beckham has been mastering the slicked-back look for years. To achieve a similar style you’ll need a pocket comb and a styling product that’s malleable and not too greasy, like Uppercut’s Deluxe Pomade (£14.50, mankind.co.uk). the coat Heads were turned when David stepped out in this green overcoat at the Louis Vuitton Menswear Fall/ Winter 2018-19 show. We also like Acne Studio’s Midox khaki overcoat (£650, acnestudios.com/uk). the shoes Here David wears the Signature Leather Sneakers from his own label (£175, kentandcurwen.com), demonstrating how versatile spotless white trainers are.

MONEY NO OBJECT Gucci’s velvet evening slippers

Thought embellished shoes were just for ladies? Think again when feasting your eyes on Gucci’s popular luxury mule slipper, adorned with a crystal snake appliqué, lined with quilted satin and accented with black grosgrain piping. Gucci’s growing line of men’s slipper shoes blend comfort with bold fashion, and feature several designs that can be worn with trousers, jeans and shorts. £725, gucci.com/uk

SUITS YOU, SIR

HOW TO BuY a BESPOkE SuIT Claire Davies heads to Savile Row for smart style tips from Noel Gallagher’s tailor Buying off the rack has its place, but there are occasions when a custom suit is best. Perhaps you’re getting married or have a new job that requires you to don a suit.

If so, a tailored two-piece is a sound investment. So where do you go? Savile Row, of course.

London’s most famous sartorial street is home to many iconic tailors including Cad & The Dandy (cadandthedandy.co.uk), a revered tailoring house that’s dressed celebrities such as Noel Gallagher and Chris Eubank. We recently spoke to Cad & The Dandy’s Chrissey Sullivan to learn more about the process of buying a bespoke suit, which begins with booking a consultation. “Choose your cloth and styling details, have your measurements taken and from here the making process begins,” says Chrissey. “after this you’ll have several fittings to ensure a perfect fit.” Prices vary, with a bespoke two-piece starting at £1,000.

When it comes to the colour of your first suit, Chrissey recommends navy. “You can easily build a wardrobe around a navy suit. a plain, mid-weight cloth of around 11oz will give you a tailored suit you can wear yearround.” as for fit and detail, “Every bespoke pattern is cut to the individual, crafted to enhance their best features and give an elegant silhouette. We have had customers requesting super-slim lapels but advise against them – bespoke is about balance.”

Trouser length is also important. “We recommend each trouser break [where the trouser rests on the shoe] to suit the height and stature of the individual. While a nod to current fashion can be incorporated, true bespoke is about individual style.” a p r i l 2 01 8 T3 21

Horizon

Keep pace with Jaguar’s most exciting ride yet Jaguar’s stunning all-electric SUV, the I-PACE, is here to make driving smarter, greener and more enjoyable than ever, as Spencer Hart finds out...

It was over a year ago, in Los Angeles, when T3 first saw the I-PACE concept.

Since then Jaguar has been busy finalising the design of this all-electric SUV and testing it in some of the world’s harshest conditions. The production model was recently unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show and it looks incredible.

The I-PACE draws inspiration from Jaguar’s ambitious C-X75 supercar concept. Sit inside this SUV and you’ll

discover an interior space covered with tasteful, sustainable materials. You’ll also discover Jaguar’s most futuristic cabin yet, with dual screens and a system that identifies who’s driving and tailors the information (ie, range) and interior to suit your personal driving style and preferences. Also, with zero tailpipe emissions I-PACE owners won’t have to pay road tax or congestion charges, making driving in cities significantly cheaper.

The I-PACE has two electric motors producing 400PS, helping you accelerate from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds.

A 90kWh lithium-ion battery keeps you going for around 298 miles – that’s London to the Lake District on a charge – and you’ll be able to get an extra 80 miles after just 30 minutes charging.

The Jaguar I-PACE is available for pre-order now (from £63,495, jaguar. co.uk), and we can’t wait to put it through its paces.

CAr CLEAning KiT Protect your precious upholstery from dirt, stains and crumbs Kaercher Oc 3 POrtable cleaner

blacK + DecKer PV1820l cOmPact PiVOt

halfOrDs UPhOlstery cleaner

Blast mud and grime from your car with Kaercher’s portable pressure washer. The OC3 provides H2O welly with its four-litre water tank and five-bar pressure. An LED light warns you when the battery needs recharging.

The nozzle on Black + Decker’s cordless 18V vacuum pivots up to 200 degrees, giving you better access to crumb-filled nooks and crannies. And there’s a flipout brush for cleaning your dashboard.

Are your seats covered in sticky handprints, spilled drinks and general crud? This award-winning Upholstery Cleaner offers a fast-drying yet deep clean foaming action.

£149.99, kaercher.com/uk

£99.99, blackanddecker.co.uk

£3.50, halfords.com

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Travel

travel sleep aids

The Sleep MaSk luxe Loved by frequent travellers and long-haul flight survivors, this luxury sleep mask, handmade with the finest fabrics, is infused with lavender to soothe you into sleep. The adjustable strap also ensures a perfect fit.

£50, mastersofmayfair.co.uk

J-pillow Travel pillow

WATER RIDE

high-tech cruises for 2018 Travel blogger Victoria Philpott discovers the joys of a tech cruise, from go-karting on the ocean to ordering from a robot bartender Imagine go-karting surrounded by the stunning icebergs of Alaska or the azure waters of the Caribbean. Well, there’s no need to just imagine, thanks to the Norwegian Bliss cruise liner, launching this June. Norwegian is known for its good range of restaurants, bars and hot tubs on board its 16-ship fleet, but that sweeping new racetrack plus a space-themed laser tag course on the Bliss (from $1,049, bliss. ncl.com) gives you two new reasons to sail.

Want to order drinks, make dinner reservations and book shore excursions from your smartphone while on the water?

You can do so with Celebrity Cruises Virtual Concierge app when sailing on the

company’s newest ship, the Celebrity Edge (from $599, celebritycruises.com). It’s also home to the cruise world’s first cantilevered floating platform, known as the Magic Carpet. As big as a tennis court and able to move up and down through the ship’s 16 storeys, the Magic Carpet provides extra space to different levels as needed.

On Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas (from $599, royalcarribean.com) you can have your cocktail mixed for you by a bionic robot bartender. As the biggest cruise ship in the world, it also has the tallest waterslide at sea, the Ultimate Abyss, plus a high-tech, immersive aqua show and a FlowRider for faux surfing.

You’ll need decent neck support if you want to sleep when travelling, so that when you nod off you don’t jolt awake. Step forward the J-Pillow, an award-winning travel pillow with built-in chin rest that helps you sleep while sitting or reclining.

£15.99, lakeland.co.uk

alpine Sleep SofT earplugS These super-soft earplugs absorb ambient noise and snoring sounds, while, cleverly, alarms and loud speakers can be clearly heard.

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Horizon Living

How to buy good supermarket wine

Do you have trouble telling a Blue Nun from a Bordeaux? Chris Barnes gets tips and advice on how to boost your sommelier smarts from Wotwine’s Christopher Burr Is it possible to find an exquisite supermarket wine without paying over the odds? For answers, T3 sought out the expert nose of Christopher Burr, Head of Tasting at Wotwine (wotwine.com), a supermarket sommelier app that helps you find the best wine matched to your budget, tastes and where you shop.

“For really good value, Aldi and Lidl come out consistently top in our blind tastings,” reveals Christopher. “73 per

cent of Lidl’s wines are good value, and they have a bi-monthly ‘while stocks last’ range of interesting and upscale wines at a really good price. Marks & Spencer have a good range of sound wines, including ones from obscure places like Macedonia and Turkey.”

If you’re still blinded by choice, these Wotwine recommendations are worth a swill: “For a classy Northern Italian red try Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Barbaresco, 2014 (£11). For a white,

you’ll love the minerally fresh, pure dry intensity of Tesco’s Finest Tingleup Riesling, 2017 (£8.50). The best value Rosé? Lidl’s Hans Michel Alsace Pinot Noir Rosé, 2016 (£6.99).”

As Christopher explains, the real proof is in the tasting: “A wine needs to taste genuine, with a nice balance of fruit-fresh acidity and flavour, and no overpowering alcohol. If it has delicious flavours and you want the next sip, it is a really good wine.”

Luxury winE aCCEssOriEs Become a connoisseur in the comfort of your kitchen Smeg WF366LDX The vibration-free system of this freestanding wine cooler helps prolong the life of your opened wine, while an ambient temperature sensor maintains, at the perfect drinking temperature, up to 54 bottles of your favourite tipple. £1,479, smeguk.com 24 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

Coravin moDeL eLeven Fancy a glass but no-one else does? Coravin’s Model Eleven system pierces the cork with a fine needle, dispensing the perfect glass of wine before filling the bottle with argon gas to preserve the remainder for longer than usual. £899, coravin.co.uk

BreviLLe SommeLier Oxygenation is essential to optimising the flavour of your wine, but the process can take hours.

Breville’s smart decanter uses 90 per cent pure oxygen to slash decanting time from hours to minutes. $499.95 (£352.82), brevillesommelier.com

Horizon Fitness & outdoors

Campsite Cooking

mSr WindBurner Stove SyStem For cooking on a windy beach or mountain slope, MSR’s windproof radiant burner and pressure regulator are ideal. The stove system also comes with a ceramic-coated 2.5 litre sauce pot and handy eight-inch skillet.

£230, msrgear.com

image: Coastal survival

How to be a gourmet chef in the rough

SEA FOOD

live off the land with Coastal foraging Do you know the difference between a wild carrot and poisonous hemlock? Outdoors journalist Damian Hall meets a man who does…

Leatherman Squirt PS4 It’s illegal (possibly) to go camping without a penknife or multi-tool. Leatherman’s stainless steel beast boasts nine tools, including bottle opener, scissors and knife, to open, cut and prep food in your campsite kitchen.

£49.95, leatherman.co.uk

There’s plenty of tasty, healthy food to be foraged on Britain’s coast, but before you grab your wellies and a bucket you’ll need some pro knowledge. “You need to know how to test if a shellfish is alive, for example,” says Fraser Christian, a professional forager who runs foraging courses at Coastal Survival in Dorset. “I can teach people to spot the difference between a wild carrot and [poisonous] hemlock. You have to be 110 per cent confident in identification.

“Foraging changes through the seasons, but spring is an abundant time. Seaweed is

a super fertiliser and the coast is a wild vegetable garden.” Sustainable foraging is important, too. “We hold a plant so it doesn’t get torn out of the ground, and take one leaf – not big bunches.” Fraser doesn’t stop at food, either: “I make booze and all my medicine is homemade.

“Foraging is ancestral. I’m not teaching people to forage, I’m reminding them. Our DNA remembers it.” Coastal Survival’s foraging courses, including seaweed and shellfish foraging, are running now, priced £54 per person (coastalsurvival.com).

ROCKING ON

reinvent the wheel Ride faster and own the trail this year with the world’s most advanced mountain bike wheel heLinox taBLe one Avoid chopping a hole in your leg as you dice those vegetables for dinner with this lightweight (638g) collapsible table. Two cup holders should prevent annoying spills, but if one does occur, the table’s strong mesh is easy to clean.

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We don’t often get excited about bike wheels, but Spengle (spengle.com) has whipped us into a frenzy with its new Carbon Monocoque 27.5-inch trail wheel, which uses technology and engineering from aerospace and Formula 1 to offer outstanding safety, agility and speed.

New FailSafe tech offers optimised brakingforce distribution, superior shock absorption and the strongest tyre bed of its type. If you’re prone to coming off your bike, the Carbon Monocoque will help too, as force is distributed and absorbed evenly across the wheel.

Horizon

GADGET GURU

T3’s own circus strongman is all about the gains (of good advice)

Keela SyKeS, lewiSham

How should I kit out my home gym? start by considering your space, your motivation and your budget. Wasting money on a gym membership you never use (but which gives you access to a wide selection of non-rickety machines) might actually prove to be better value than filling a room with metal. if you’re sure, you’ll want to cover the main food groups of sweating: cardio, strength and flexibility. naturally, start with the options we’ve reviewed on p76.

Beyond those, an elliptical trainer, used in both forward and reverse, does wonders for your heart and lower regions in equal measure.

iLLustrAtions: stephen keLLy

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sole’s excellent cross trainers are a great choice; you can sync the e25 (£1,149) with your phone to set up workouts and track progress, and virtually boost its incline for a ramp up in intensity.

For strength, a set that gives you the big four (squat, deadlift, bench and shoulder press) is the ideal – essentially, you need a barbell and

aboVe Get your sweat on with tech, but big dumbbells are hard to beat

If you’re sure you want to start a home gym, you’ll want to cover the main food groups: cardio, strength and flexibility

a bench, and everything else is just dressing. Body power’s brightly coloured rubber and chrome 160kg olympic set (£420) won’t let you down, though you could spend half that and get something just as effective, such as Gorilla sports’ £75 bench, which folds away and supports a 200kg load.

Flexibility – your warmup, your stretches, all that good stuff – is the result of coaching and discipline rather than heavy machinery. to the App store, then, for something like seven (free with iAp) which challenges you to seven-minute workouts a day for seven months, and guides you through every step.

send your questions to: inbox@t3.com or facebook.com/t3mag 2 8 T3 a p r i l 2 01 8

Gadget guru

Jay white, ChriStChurCh

Why are PCs suddenly so expensive, Guru? eyeing up a new desktop machine and feeling like someone’s kicked your wallet square in the coin purse? you and GaGu both. We who wish to get our jollies from gaming are being pushed out of the market by those who instead want to jam consumer hardware into their garages and generate a lot of heat (and waste a lot of electricity) mining minute amounts of doomed cryptocurrency on the best graphics cards they can get their hands on. retailers, facing shortages and a virtual run on the Gpu bank, have responded by hiking up prices and hailing capitalism by flogging as many cards as they can at inflated rates.

But don’t worry, reader, because good old nvidia has a solution! hooray! the plan is thus: retailers have been asked very nicely to restrict the number of cards they sell in a single transaction in order to save some for gamers. And

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that’s about it. Which, frankly, is just about the most stupid solution ever, given that Guru presumes not many retailers see this as a problem at all: they’re selling cards, however misguided the buyers might be, at twice the retail price. the things are flying out the door.

Why comply? this won’t last forever, certainly if someone can either ramp up production of Gpus or the muchbetter-for-mining AsiC devices that are designed to sniff out magical pseudomoney and nothing else. sadly, the former isn’t too feasible, particularly as the crypto market is so volatile – overstock of graphics cards could be even more damaging to the market – and AsiC miners are a rare commodity indeed. At least, and this is small consolation, the fickle coinmunity likes to upgrade their rigs every five minutes. keep an eye out for second-hand bargains on slightly toasted components.

aboVe Smoothie magic!

GadGet Guru’s maGic box Following a catastrophic visit to the local grease-slinger, during which repairs were advised for Guru’s clapped-out set of wheels that totalled far more than the car itself, he was given free reign to make a ‘sensible’ purchase to benefit the family.

GaGu selected a nearly new peugeot 2008 in Allure trim (from £16,969, though Guru paid a fair chunk less). its Android Autocompatible head unit might have swayed his decision just a teensy little bit. it’s like a leap into the future considering his former car had only three working speakers and an engine compartment that smelled like fire.

GaGu’s investment in a newish car means his more frivolous purchasing has been curtailed for a little while. Guru would love to drop some money on a computer. the new dell Xps 13, now boosted to 4k, is absurdly lovely, and

there’s a big-boy self-built desktop pC in his future, no doubt. A new phone, like the £700 huawei Mate 10 pro, would also complement the motor.

Alas, no – GaGu needs no more angry letters from his bank manager. or even more polite, yet firm, ones. not that ol’ GaGu is without technological thrills this issue, mind you.

Lobbing about GaGu Jr’s remarkably competent birthday present Campark action cam (about £40, and no doubt the same tech is available under different generic badges) has been enormously fun, particularly because its pocket-money price means it won’t be too onerous to replace if its waterproof case shatters to bits. the same disinterested offspring was also gifted an excellent Lego Boost starter kit (£150), the neglect of which has led Guru to make his own Johnny 5-style robot friend. At last!

april JoneS, SwanSea

What’s the best blender?

Blenders are great for three things. one, chopping stuff up. two, if you get a powerful enough one, making soup and heating it up at the same time.

And three, destroying evidence.

Forensic analysis of Guru’s blender could lead to his cleaner being fingered for all sorts of crimes.

GaGu never touched it, officer.

With that in mind, get a blender with the most powerful torquetoting monster of a motor you can find. the nutribullet (from £60) is cute enough and is good for a smoothie or two. GaGu’s needs are more hardcore, though. plunk down £650 on a Vitamix 750 pro – its blades go at 270mph, and that’s all Guru needs to know. the kitchenAid Artisan power plus Blender (£649) is a designfriendly option, and promises the smoothing strength of three horsepower. Which seems like a good amount of horses.

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Horizon

new media

noW pLAyinG Guru finds the finest media you need on your screens

Jim weSt, manCheSter

What do you think of the new iMac Pro? Credit, as usual, to Apple for flinging more spaghetti at the wall to see if it’ll stick (the Cupertino lads tend to have some highly adhesive pasta, given their technology hit rate), but Guru does wonder how many users will stump up between £5,000 and £10,000, and how many of those will ever take advantage of its moderately upgradeable structure. that’s ridiculous pricing, however lovely and fast and desirable the kit might be. GaGu is coveting an iMac pro hard, sure, but it still makes him want to lead a minor rebellion. of course, if you want a view from the people it’s actually for, you’re probably better of on p95.

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ugly delicious Korean-American chef David Chang travels the world to look at the origins and evolution of our favourite food, from pizza to tacos to fried chicken. It’s total food porn, and we love it.

aboVe Tech can keep your baby safer, so you can sleep better at night

tom trott, weSt lothian

I can’t navigate on my bike!

True blue Celebrate the coming of spring with True Blue’s shimmery synth-pop. The solo project of Porches singer Maya Laner, her latest single Tell Me Texas is a balmy ode to summer nights.

sNoTgirl From the writer of Scott Pilgrim and cartoonist Leslie Hung comes the mega-fun comic Snotgirl, about the trials of a fashion blogger trying to make a living in Hollywood.

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if you are anything like the cyclists on GaGu’s specific routes, you navigate by meandering hither and thither in the middle of whatever lane of traffic you happen to be in, twisting your helmetless head around like a blithering two-wheeled buffoon. once his local cyclists have invested in head protection and at least one article of clothing that’s not made of pure Vanta Black, GaGu recommends two things. one, some bone conduction headphones (letz recommendz the £100 Aftershokz trekz again) linked to turn-by-turn directions from whatever smartphone mapper takes their fancy. two, the Beeline compass (£99) which points the way to their destination.

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It’s ridiculous pricing, no matter how lovely, fast and desirable the iMac Pro’s tech may be

Jane peterSon, norwiCh

Can tech keep my baby safe?

Well, yes. no doubt you scrutinised car seat options like an obsessed Columbo before purchasing the doctordeveloped lie-flat Cybex Cloud q (£240). then you selected a baby monitor based on how many infantometrics it supplied (if you didn’t go for the video, sound and movement combo of the £220 Angelcare AC1300, you made a mistake, momma). tech has its tentacles in every aspect of childrearing. But take it from Guru: it doesn’t matter what’s plugged in. there’s no robot carer, there’s no cyber nanny. tech itself doesn’t keep your baby safe. it provides info and reassurance, but the care is all on you.

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don’t miss another instalment of the legendary Gadget Guru!

SubScribe today! see p60

Opinion

Duncan Bell is innovating With smartphones now in their ‘mature’ phase, what new miracles do people expect? t’s quite hard to feel pity for tech and financial behemoths such as Apple, Samsung and Sony. You know, what with them running the world, and making as much money as you lot put together in a year, in the time it’s taken you to read this.

Even so, I do feel a little sorry for them when Big New Phone Launch Day comes along. Then everything they’ve worked and sweated and fought over for the last year is greeted with that weirdest of combinations: five-star reviews and massive yawns all round.

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Samsung Galaxy Zzzzz Samsung was the latest to get this treatment when it unveiled the Galaxy S9 in Barcelona where, to Catalan story short, it was not basqueing in approval. Sorry.

Everyone loved its bezel-lacking, come-hither looks and wonderfully advanced camera.

And yet at the same time, everyone seemed to hate its lack of innovation. Just as everyone said they hated the lack of innovation on the last iPhone and, if we’re being honest, on every flagship phone since either the Galaxy S7 Edge or iPhone 5, depending on your personal OS allegiance.

But what do people mean when they yak on about this pressing matter like massive babies who’ve never had an original thought?

What new features there are get decried as gimmicky, too. I mean innovations such as animated emoji that superimpose your face on a talking turd; unlocking using your ear; augmented reality; split-screen multitasking; unlocking via your personal scent; virtual reality; actual reality – all that sort of thing.

Yet seriously, come on, what do people expect? Ask a member of the public or even a tech expert what ‘innovations’ they expect to see in new phones and they start going, “Erm, well, y’know… new stuff.

Phones are boring man! Remember the first iPhone and early Android phones? Man, that was exciting.

C’mon!”

I’d have to disagree. Fact is, smartphones are the absolute pinnacle of human technological achievement to date and have changed the world multiple times over. In an incredibly short period of time they have gone from a very solid version 1 (the original iPhone) to achieve near perfection in terms of aesthetics, tactility, form and

People love concept flip phones or Nokia revivals, but nobody wants to buy them function. And you cannot easily improve on perfection, though lord knows I try every day.

“But phones all look the same!”

That’s another cry of the jaded masses, even as they grow hungry to suckle once again on the teats of Mother Consumerism. Seriously, what can be done about that? A flat rectangle with a screen on it is the perfect shape. It’s the only shape. There’s always interest in concept flip phones, old-school

Nokia phones, but nobody really wants to buy them.

Having a bigger and longerlasting battery is something else people always go on about – quite rightly, to be fair. Yet when brands bring out more bulbus phones, with greater stamina, they tend not to do well either.

All that is just tinkering with the standard design anyway. Seriously, try to come up with a genuine innovation. It’s really hard.

The best I could think of was some sort of security feature whereby the phone knows it’s been stolen (via fingerprint or a Bluetooth link to a wearable being broken, or, erm, something) and immediately starts giving off electric shocks, and screaming in a really disturbing way.

The second best innovation I could think of was a voicecontrolled earpiece that does just what a phone does, but via voice.

But of course, that’s not a phone.

Until phones do morph into something else entirely – an implant in your head, a clever robot dog who is also your servant, whatever – minor improvements are all we’re going to get. Don’t think of that as a bad thing, though. Think how lucky we are to live in a time when technological perfection has been achieved. Next up: world peace.

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Hot 100

Meet this year’s list of the very best gadgets, people and technology developMents shaping the world Words: Matt Bolton, Claire Davies, Nick Odantzis Photography: Neil Godwin

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Hot 100

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Hot 100

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The Boring Company Flamethrower

Literally one of the hottest products in this year’s Hot 100, Elon Musk’s Flamethrower looks like something Ripley might use to blast and burn rampaging Xenomorphs. It could just be a big, fancy blowtorch, but we think it looks cool as hell. $500 (£356.49), boringcompany.com

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Imagine being able to see tiny details from 30 feet away, or having the ability to control robotic limbs with your thoughts. Anything’s possible with next-gen bionics. Ocumetics Tech has developed a bionic lens to supercharge our vision, while Open Bionics’ 3D-printed bionic arms for child amputees could be available through the NHS.

What do Hive View, Samsung’s The Frame and Tile Slim have in common?

They were all designed by Fuseproject, the agency co-founded by creative powerhouse Yves Béhar.

Fuseproject had a scorching 2017, netting ample ‘best design’ wins, and will be infusing extra hotness into 2018’s tech, including the L’Oréal My UV Patch.

Next-gen bionics

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Apple GymKit

Apple’s latest fitness tech, GymKit, enables cardio machines at your gym to wirelessly sync workout data with your Apple Watch – as long as the machine is GymKit enabled. The tech is still fairly new, with Technogym being an early partner in the UK, but as more machines become GymKit enabled, it’ll be super-easy to sync all of your workout data to your Apple devices, so you’ll have more information on your progress than ever.

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Fuseproject

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Xbox One X

Although it’s the most technically advanced console available, the Xbox One X has struggled for games. That will change in 2018 because a clutch of new titles are gearing up to put the console’s hardware through its paces – Sea of Thieves, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Crackdown 3, and more 4K support for existing games. Finally, Microsoft’s powerhouse will fulfil its potential. £449.99, xbox.com/en-gb

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Tech is increasingly empowering travellers by breaking down language barriers. Google’s Pixel Buds (£159) enables users to speak in foreign languages, as do Bragi’s Dash Pro wireless earbuds (£299). Or you just need your phone: Microsoft’s Translator app turns languages into your native tongue.

When Nest released its Smart Thermostat, heating was suddenly the cool thing to talk about. Well, sort of. This year Nest could do the same for smart home security tech, bringing easy safety to the masses in a way other tech companies have come close to, but never quite succeeded. $499 (£355.78), nest.com

With this ‘airbnb of tech’ you can hire expensive gadgets or rent out your own. Lumoid tried this in 2014, but Wonder’s arrived at a time when tech is more accessible and diverse, resulting in a greater spread of gadgets for hire. It can be expensive – £243 for a loan of Microsoft Surface Studio – but it has huge potential. wonder.store

Real-time language translation

Nest Security System

Wonder

Hot 100

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Triumph Speed Triple RS The Speed Triple is a legendary naked motorcycle. Once a Daytona merely de-faired, the Speed Triple is now one of Triumph’s most advanced bikes. The style hasn’t changed much over the years – if it ain’t broke… – but it now sports the most powerful incarnation of that unbeatable 1050 triple engine at 150bhp. As well as a gorgeous fiveinch TFT dash; and in the case of the flagship RS model, cornerning ABS, keyless ignition and blingy Öhlins adjustable forks. £13,250, triumphmotorcycles.co.uk

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Hot 100

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Disney’s streaming service

Spartan radiationblocking boxers

Our super-connected, always-on world is becoming more convenient by the year. And 2018 is set to see wireless charging set up shop in hotels, cafes, bars and restaurants. Soon we’ll be able to charge our phones while waiting at the bar to order a drink. Kinda makes those huge beer queues worth the hassle, right?

Probably arriving in 2019, Disney is planning to put all of its movies and TV in one place – that means, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and all other Disney movies, plus a bunch of original stuff, including a Star Wars TV show – for one price. It’s promised to be cheaper than Netflix initially, but sounds like it could be fantastic.

While the ‘low sperm count and smartphone radiation’ debate rages on, you can play it safe with these boxers. Designed for men who carry a smartphone near their crown jewels, they use high-tech fabrics to block 99 per cent of phone and Wi-Fi radiation. €42 (£37), spartanunderwear.com

Wireless charging everywhere

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Ehang 184 Okay, so it’s probably built for billionaires who want something efficient yet impersonal to fly them back and forth to their techy hideout on some remote mountain top, but we’re still dreaming about taking our own flight in the Ehang 184 AAV self-flying taxi. Eco-friendly and powered by electricity, this low-altitude aerial vehicle covers short-medium distances and has a point-to-point smart flight feature. 10 minutes to get all the way across London? That’ll do.

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OrbitSound Dock E30

Battery packs to power laptops

Orbitsound says this speaker is a gamechanger, and with the amount of tech going on, we can see why. First up is its AirSound technology, which uses side-firing speakers to spread the sound around the room, eliminating the idea of a sweet spot, so your music sounds fantastic everywhere. It’s also geared up for Wi-Fi streaming, and multi-room playback, as well as Bluetooth. It also has a Qi wireless charging pad on top, so it’s handy to have on the sideboard in other ways. It even has a groove on top for holding your devices upright, turning it into a mini jukebox. £399.99, orbitsound.com/en

USB-C has a mode as part of its spec that means it can push up to 60W of power, so it can charge pro-level laptops, rather than just phones – yes, people, laptop-boosting battery packs are finally here. The Mophie Powerstation USB-C XXL (£149.95) is just one example of a high-capacity universal battery, pushing 30W (enough for a 13inch MacBook Pro) to any USB-C laptop for up to 14 hours of extra juice.

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Hot 100

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Millennium Falcon Ultimate Collectors Edition 7,541 pieces – LEGO’s biggest set ever.

Fully rotating quad laser cannon. Han, Leia, Chewbacca and C-3PO minifigures sitting in a detachable canopy cockpit. Buildable Porgs.

Clearly we’re talking about the greatest LEGO set ever created! It’s only being made in limited runs, so this huge, highly detailed version of Han Solo’s infamous Corellian freighter is a hot investment for LEGO and Star Wars fans, and the best toy this year. £649.99, shop.lego.com

HTC U11 EYEs

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Air purification

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Tesla Model 3

Roto VR

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We’re not selfie oversharers, but we’re keen on HTC’s selfie-centric dual-camera bokeh smartphone.

Forget the surgeon’s knife – face slimming, eye enlargement and skin smoothing can be had (in photos, at least) via the U11 EYEs live beautification function.

There’s even a suite of AR stickers to decorate your selfies. £355, htc.com

The clean air movement will infiltrate our homes, cars and wardrobes this year. Evidence?

Blueair recently launched an incar air filtration system, the Cabin Air, and WAIR has begun shipping its anti-pollution air filtration scarves. There are umpteen air purifiers for the home, too, including the MeacoClean Air Purifier and Dyson Pure Link.

Smaller and more affordable than other Teslas, the five-seater Model 3 makes this year’s Hot 100 because of its impressive 220-mile range, active safety features, and generous spread of tech, including a 15-inch touchscreen with onboard maps, keyless entry and voice controls.

From $35,000 (£25,111), tesla.com

It’s only been a couple of years since Roto VR introduced the concept of a motorised VR chair to the masses, but since then Roto’s propelled itself onto many ‘ones to watch’ lists and won ‘Best Product’ at the VR & AR World Expo for its VR Interactive Chair.

Expect that excitement to grow monumentally when the chair ships later this spring.

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Hot 100

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Google Pixel 2

PharmaJe Stratist

Could checkout-less supermarkets really be the future of shopping? Amazon has opened just one Just Walk Out Shopping store – where you take items off a shelf and Amazon charges you via the Amazon Go app – but surely this mix of AI and machine learning is too tantalising to remain in one state or one country.

Heralded as one of the best smartphones of 2017, with a jaw-dropping camera and hardware, Google’s Pixel 2 is even better after a new update to activate the Pixel Visual Core, the phone’s custom camera AI chip, which enables advanced HDR+ and photo processing with amazing results.

From £629, store.google.com/gb

Going on holiday to exotic places is brilliant. Getting painful jabs beforehand is not. If you’re afraid of needles, thank the gods of tech for this needle-free ‘injector’. The PharmaJet Stratis delivers vaccines, medicine and shots through the skin via a ‘narrow, precise fluid stream’. This could be a gamechanger for administering kids’ vaccines.

Amazon Go Just Walk Out Shopping

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Loewe Bild 9 When Loewe’s creative director Bodo Sperlein set out to design the Bild 9 he wanted to make it a strong, stylish focal point again. The Bild 9 is therefore as much home art as it is a superblooking and sounding TV, supporting 4K Ultra HD and HDR, and with an integrated 120-watt soundbar that appears seemingly from the ether when you switch on the TV. £6,990, loewe.tv 4 0 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

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Modular smart home tech 2018’s smart home trend centres on tech that can be arranged into different configurations to suit your various living spaces. The Nanoleaf Light Panel smart lighting kit, the BeoSound Shape modular wall speaker system and Samsung’s 146inch The Wall modular TV are vibrant examples of this exciting movement.

77 BioLite Fire Pit Where there’s no smoke, there’s fire. Yes, BioLite’s new Fire Pit (shipping this summer) is a portable smokeless fire pit that affords 360-degree views.

Because the fire is contained in a mesh body, you can get right up close. It’s also smart – a 10,400mAh battery charges from the heat, which you can connect your phone to for some juice. The size of the flames can even be controlled via app! $199.95 (£144), uk.bioliteenergy.com

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2018 is the year when finally, hopefully, we’ll stop losing stuff. Why? Tile’s new open platform means our everyday accessories – think backpacks, keys and earphones – can have Tile’s Bluetooth item-tracking functionality built-in. Bose is onboard, adding Tile tech to its SoundSport Wireless headphones, as is Samsonite and Boosted Boards.

It’s been nearly two years since we’ve had a launch this exciting in the Fujifilm X series, establishing the X-H1 as the new flagship model. And for good reason: it’s Fujifilm’s first mirrorless camera with five-axis image stabilisation, ETERNA Film Simulation movie mode and a newly-designed robust body and touchscreen.

From £1,699, fujifilm.com

Tile in everything

Fujifilm X-H1

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Silas Adekunle

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Blockchain The future is big for Blockchain, the tech behind Bitcoin. For one, it could revolutionise voting and elections by ensuring that those who are voting are who they say they are and are legally entitled. Smart city management is another area – Dubai, for example, is making plans to become the first Blockchain-based government in the world.

The cofounder and CEO of Reach Robotics, based in Bristol, landed a plum distribution deal with Apple last year for his company’s characterful Mekamon AR gaming robots, getting them into Apple Stores worldwide.

Silas is only 26, yet his potential to inspire a new generation of inventors and engineers is immense, and with robotics fast becoming the hottest area of home technology expect big things from his company.

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Renault SYMBIOZ Renault’s SYMBIOZ selfdriving concept car uses a haul of tech to make the driver/passenger feel safe and more relaxed. It’s Level 4 self-driving, so can be left to its own devices on managed highways (seriously, you can just nap while it goes).

It’s also got curved OLED dash screens and Devialet speakers. If this is the future of cars, we’re in.

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Nissan Leaf The original Leaf is the best-selling electric car of all time. Launched in 2010, its range of 100 miles was gamechanging. Fast forward to 2018 and the all-electric market has got, well, busy, so Nissan has brought its A-game to the fight; this all-electric Leaf is the result. Why is it deserving of a spot here? Range has been hiked to a journey-friendly 177 miles, with a rapid charge time to 80 per cent of just 40 minutes. But the Leaf’s most impressive feature is its epedal system, which enables you to stop and go using just one pedal, for effortless driving. The tech doesn’t end there either, because the Leaf is littered with self-driving hardware, including 100 per cent automated parking. And, we have to say, the Leaf now also happens to look seriously swish.

From ÂŁ21,990, nissan.co.uk

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Naughty Dog’s best-selling post-apocalyptic PS4 title deals in mature themes, premium production values and believable characters.

This hotly anticipated second instalment continues the stories of characters Ellie and Joel years later as they try to survive across a devastated North America. £48, amazon.co.uk

Not content with just elevating our holiday snaps, these folding, backpackfriendly aerial cameras are opening up avenues for entrepreneurially minded hobbyists. Selfie drones are the perfect entry point to a career in drone photography, thanks to simple gesture controls and how some, like the DJI Mavic Air, pack big tech into small frames.

Wellness tech is welcoming a new breed of high-tech skin care devices to save us from wrinkles, zits and even skin cancer. These include L’Oréal’s wearable UV Sense, which tracks sun exposure to lower our risk of skin cancer, and Neutrogena’s Skin360 scanner that clips onto smartphones to analyse pore size and wrinkle depression.

The Last of Us Part II

Selfie drones

High-tech skincare

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Esports go mainstream Now a billion-dollar industry with over 258 million global fans, esports has moved away from the fringes to become a prime-time fixture.

Competitive, multiplayer online gaming, played in front of a live audience at sold-out stadiums and streamed for remote audiences brings with it big-money sponsorship deals and, more recently, TV coverage, with the BBC airing the Gfinity Elite League Series One last summer. There’s a bigger range of games than ever being played too, so there’s always something to get into.

Save your best moments

Toshiba microSDXC M203 & Exceria M303 Your reliable companion for extraordinary moments.

toshiba-memory.com

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HP

Hewlett Packard has taken a turn from unexciting printers to some of the sexiest tech out there.

Its Spectre line of laptops make even MacBooks feel insecure, while the Envy curved all-in-one PC offers an immersive viewing experience without sacrificing style. And let’s not forget the Pavillion Wave: a desktop PC disguised as a smart voice assistant, with Alexa voice control and a brilliant B&O 360-degree speaker built in.

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Sleep tech

2017 has been a tremendous year for sleep tech, and that will continue unabated in 2018. From advanced sleep trackers that use low-power radio waves to monitor your slumber; to masks that stimulate good habits with, bizarrely, light; and even a huggable robot pillow that comforts you into better kip.

And more sleep is something we could all do with…

Razer Project Linda

We were already stoked with Razer’s gaming phone, but its Project Linda concept is just nuts.

A super-slim laptop powered by the Razer phone would in itself be a marvel, but the fact that phone is docked where the trackpad normally lives, and serves as a mouse or secondary screen, makes this laptop mind-bogglingly impressive. £TBC, razerzone.com 4 4 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

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Although powerful gaming laptops aren’t a new thing, Asus’ ROG Zephyrus (£2,699) marries sublime levels of power with a super-slim design, thanks to its Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics with Max-Q technology, which makes beefy graphics chips much thinner, so you get desktop power without the weight.

Yes, you might look like Vin Diesel in Pitch Black, but these AR goggles could be the future of wearables. In development for the last five years, Magic Leap says that the “lightfield photonics generate digital light at different depths and blend seamlessly with natural light”, so virtual objects should look super realistic. £TBC, magicleapone.com

Magic Leap One

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Naim Uniti Atom

The smart bathroom

Bored of your dumb sneaks?

Then check out these super-smart kicks. The Smartshoe’s main USP is a McFly-style self-tightening tongue. They’re also heated, for chilly nights on the town, and have a variety of sensors built in; you can monitor your daily activity, and a 3D walk analyser improves your already-sizable swagger. $199, digitsole.com

We love the Uniti Atom, simply because this allin-one music system does everything so well. The Uniti Atom features a powerful Class A/B amp, with Burr Brown DACs, delivering exceptional audio performance; it also comes with umpteen streaming services, Bluetooth and multi-room support. £1,999, naimaudio.com

As sad as it is for us to say, smart toilets haven’t yet taken off – but we think that’s set to change. Luxury bathroom outfitter Kohler recently announced smart bathroom ecosystem Kohler Konnect, consisting of toilets that heat their seat to your personal preference, mirrors with Alexa built in, smart showers, and more. £TBC, kohler.com

Digitsole smartshoe

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Slimline gaming laptops

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Google Home Mini

Of all the smart home voice assistants we’ve come across over the last year, Google’s Home Mini is one of the most house-friendly of them all, with its funky looks and space-saving design. It’s also packing plenty of useful features, with a speaker built in (have that, Echo Dot!) and – of course – Google Assistant available at your command. Oh, and it’s under £50. £49, google.com

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Interactive fridges

Dell XPS 13 4K

We may never see a launch outside of Japan, but the Aibo is deserving of a place on this list. The latest in a long line of robot pooches dating back to ’99, Aibo is the smartest yet. Both touch and voice responsive, it recognises faces and charges itself. While we thought it odd to pet a robot dog then, it feels perfectly normal now. £TBC, sony.com

First came Samsung’s Family Hub smart fridge.

Now, LG has hopped on the connected cooler bandwagon with its InstaView ThinQ. The 29-inch touchscreen is transparent, so you can see inside. You can also check its contents remotely, tag food with expiry dates and stock it up again using Alexa. £TBC, lg.com

Dell is knocking it out of the park right now – the 2018 iteration of the XPS 13 is one of the best laptops in the world, period. It features a revolutionary woven glass fibre coat with titanium oxide for stain resistance, 8th-gen Intel quad-core processors, and an almost bezel-less InfinityEdge display in 4K resolution. £1,399, dell.com

Sony Aibo

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Aston Martin Valkyrie

So you like your hypercars fast, yeah? Well, what if we told you that Aston Martin’s first hypercar offered ‘otherwordly performance’? You’d be pretty excited, right? The culmination of a partnership with Red Bull Advanced Technologies and AF Racing, the Valkyrie takes F1 know-how and puts it into a road-going car, with a Cosworthdeveloped, 6.5-litre V12 engine, all-carbon construction and a slippery-looking exterior. £2,500,000, astonmartin.com A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 45

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Zenith Defy Lab

Want a watch to boast about? Dubbed the most accurate mechanical watch ever made, the Defy Lab is five times more accurate than any other mechanical timepiece thanks to its single-piece oscillator, which replaces the traditional assembly. It’s also made from a super-light aluminum polymer foam alloy called Aeronith, and it looks ridiculously good. £23,000, zenith-watches.com

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Qualcomm – better known for putting its mobile processors into phones – is now turning its attention to Windows 10 laptops.

This year will see a wave of machines appear outfitted with its Snapdragon 835 processor, offering benefits such as instant-on power, 25-hour battery life and 4G internet everywhere. Ideal for road warriors.

While the rest of the world turns to fitness trackers to improve performance, AtlasBiomed offers DNA testing-in-a-box, to find out what your body really needs. The results reveal the foods you metabolise best, allowing you to build a tailored diet plan, as well as sports you’re good at and how far to push yourself before injury occurs. £149, atlasbiomed.com

Always-connected PCs

DNA knowledge

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Dynaudio Music

It seems that whatever Danish premium speaker maker Dynaudio turns its hand to is a hit, and this is absolutely the case with Dynaudio Music: a stylish and capable multiroom audio system. This family of inter-connected speakers comes in four different sizes, from the battery-powered portable Music 1, up to the eminently powerful Music 7, allowing you to pick a suitable speaker size for each room, and play back your music on each of them. The best part about Music? It uses DSP room-sensing tech to adapt to any kind of space, tuning itself to the ambient noise level.

From £450, dynaudio.com 4 6 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

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Big Format Gaming Displays

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Optoma UHZ65

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Intel Hades Canyon

If your PC gaming monitor isn’t cutting it, you’ll want Nvidia’s upcoming Big Format Gaming Displays.

These 65-inch Ultra HD goliaths will rock Nvidia’s G-Sync tech for supersmooth framerates, an HDR-friendly 1,000-nit brightness, as well as a 120Hz refresh rate. They’ll also have Nvidia Shield built in for 4K video streaming.

The Optoma UHZ65 earned our coveted five-star Platinum Award in issue 277, and for very good reason – laser projectors offer rich blacks and vibrant colours, but are normally the reserve of the rich and famous. This one, though, costs about the same as a big 4K TV, and is Ultra HD capable. It is, quite frankly, astonishing for the price. £4,999, optoma.co.uk

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Lenovo’s headset is the first wire- and phone-free headset for Daydream Google’s VR platform. Its 5.5-inch 2560x1440 LCD display boasts a 110-degree field of view, and combined with WorldSense – which senses your movements in space without external sensors – it makes for an immersive experience in compatible Daydream titles. £TBC, lenovo.com

Parcel deliveries just got less painful. Amazon’s solution is Amazon Key: a service which, when combined with a smart door lock, lets you give Amazon couriers front door access from your phone. Then there’s Boxlock: a smart padlock-cum scanner that couriers can use to unlock a designated front-of-house container. $249.99, amazon.com/ $129, getboxlock.com

Aeolus – a prototype robotic household assistant – looks set to get us a step closer to never having to do boring chores again. With Alexa built in, it can accept any command you utter, and its arms enable it to grab certain objects, so it could do a range of tasks for you, such as vacuuming the floor, moving furniture around, and grabbing a beer. £TBC, aeolusbot.com

Lenovo Mirage Solo

Smarter deliveries

If you want to pick up an Oculus Rift or HTC’s Vive, you probably think it’s time to invest in some serious hardware… but you won’t need a beast of a machine to play VR soon. Intel’s tiny new NUC PCs use a chip, codenamed Hades Canyon – which comes in two power variants – that make them VR-capable despite the size.

From $799, intel.com

Aeolus

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Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic

These are the most timing-correct loudspeakers the Utah audio specialist has ever crafted. Each unit can physically move its speaker modules to make sure their sound output aligns perfectly, creating the ultimate listening experience. They’re over 2m tall, and only 70 pairs are being made. £700,000 a pair, wilsonaudio.com

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Christopher Ward C5 Malvern 595

Designed in Britain and made in Switzerland, the C5 Malvern 595 is the watchmaker’s thinnest timepiece to date, with a depth of just 5.95mm and a 39mm polished 316L steel case. It’s really handsome too – we love the precise minimalism of the watch face. Movement is taken care of

by Swiss automatic ETA 7001 – a 17-jewel mechanism with an Incabloc shock-protection system and 42-hour power reserve. £595, christopherward.co.uk A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 47

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Mixed Reality Don a headset like the HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset or Samsung HMD Odyssey, and you’ll see the real world mixed with 3D graphics. Microsoft’s early demos showed off bringing Minecraft worlds onto your coffee table, but the opportunities for education (you could explore a city like a toy), communication (someone could appear to be sitting on a chair across from you), entertainment (drama could happen right in front of you), and all kinds of professional and research purposes are endless. Plus, it’s just super-cool.

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There is so much to love about Marvel’s latest movie, but it earns its spot here by providing the freshest vision of futuristic tech we’ve seen in years – instead of basing designs on tech we already have, it imagines scientific progress from a different set of influences. Pack in fun Bond-like gadgets, including a suit that explodes regularly, and you get 2018’s best film.

The Italian-built EVA ESSEESSE9 marries oldschool with new, giving you a bike that feels like the future, but looks like a café racer from the past.

Its 11.7kWh battery offers 109bhp and 180nm of torque, giving it superbikebaiting performance over its short 93-mile range. £24k, energicamotor.com

Olsson is head of industrial design for Google’s Home and Wearable products, and oversees the finish of all Google’s hardware. Her team led the fun, funky look of Google Home, and put the polish on the Pixelbook laptop. With Google getting more into hardware, she’s one of the biggest influences on product design in tech, and that will only grow.

Black Panther

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Energica EVA ESSEESSE9

Isabelle Olsson

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Panasonic GH5S Want to record videos that rival what you see at the cinema for dramatic lighting? Now you can, for the price of a regular high-quality camera.

The GH5S’s sensor is insanely good at picking up light, so you can get totally crisp images no matter how dark, without grain. Even better, its pro-level 400Mbps, 10-bit 4K video recording means you can make your own HDR videos at home. £2,199 (body only), panasonic.com

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Segway Loomo

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Lenovo Smart Display Lenovo brings us the Google Assistant equivalent of the Amazon Echo Show, but with a much less clunky design. The eight- or 10-inch Full HD displays (your choice) can show the weather, your calendar, YouTube videos, recipes… you get it. A camera and speakers equip it for video calling, and the grey or bamboo finishes look great anywhere.

From $200 (around £140), lenovo.com

Taking Segway’s ‘personal mobility’ mission to the next level, this adds automation to the mix. Hop on and you can roll around on it, powered by the motor. But ask it to turn into a little robot, with arms you load up with cargo, and it will follow you home. It can also record video, and can be upgraded with more smarts.

It’ll be crowdfunding soon. £TBC, loomo.com

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This was great for a lot of reasons: it was a largely successful test of a rocket that could enable missions to Mars; the two booster rockets landed successfully (and simultaneously!) to be re-used; and the test payload was a Tesla Roadster, ’cause why not. We’re just so happy to see people excited by space exploration again.

Where does Tesla go after launching the electric car to the front of everyone’s minds? How about the self-professed “quickest car in the world”? 0-60 in 1.9 seconds is F1 levels of speed, and it promises over 250mph at full pelt. Oh, and it’s a four-seater with a 620mile range, so is practical too. Sort of. £189,000, tesla.com

SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch

Tesla Roadster

Save your best moments

Toshiba USB TransMemory™ U363/U364 Dongle Your reliable companion for extraordinary moments.

toshiba-memory.com

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Olympus PEN E-PL9 Olympus is a company with a history of making gorgeous cameras, and the PEN E-PL9 is right up there with the best of them. From the debossed logo to the somehow-stylish grip and chamfered top edges, this is industrial design at its finest. It’s quite a performer too, with 4K video, a folding touchscreen, five-axis stabilisation, and fast autofocus.

There’s no better companion for your weekend away in Rome. £649, olympus.co.uk

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The first series of Westworld mixed videogames, ethics and technology to thread an intense and thoughtful story.

(With a bunch of incredible performances to top it off.)

The second series looks set to pick up right where the first ended, on the cusp of a full-scale robotic revolution.

The plot remains shrouded in mystery, but we’d bet on more violent ends to these violent delights.

Who needs to learn about self-motivation when your tech can push you harder?

The Peloton Tread treadmill has a 32-inch screen with videos from real PTs, the Wattbike analyses your technique to help you improve, and the Sony SSEBTR1’s built-in B-Trainer tracks your performance and uses your favourite music to keep your performance up.

The Sony A1E was the top TV released last year, and this more-affordable follow-up packs in the same ingenious ‘Acoustic Surface’ screen, where the whole display is the speaker surface, but offers a bit of extra bass in the new pedestal stand. The 4K OLED image remains amazing, and Google Assistant adds some smarts. £TBC, sony.com

Westworld returns

Digital personal trainers

Sony A8F

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Sonos One If you’re looking for a flexible smart speaker, this is the one to beat. It’s got all the advantages of a Sonos – great audio quality, a really broad range of speakers you can add for multi-room powers, good looks – with the added power of Amazon Alexa. It sounds a million times better than an Echo, but won’t break the bank. £199, sonos.com

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Red Dead Redemption 2

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Analogue Super Nt The retro trend gets serious with this beautiful revival of the SNES, which plays actual Super Nintendo cartridges.

This isn’t emulation: a special chip recreates the hardware of the original machine at a micro scale, so there’s no lag. It’s the pure experience… except the games now play at 1080p natively, and so look amazing. And it comes styled like the original, or in black and see-through options. $190 (around £135), analogue.co

One of the most acclaimed games of all time finally gets its long-awaited sequel.

‘GTA, but in the Wild West’ is oversimplifying it, but that’s the hook here, putting players in the spurred boots of an outlaw riding with a notorious gang. It looks absolutely beautiful, and is set to have a colossal, rich open world to get lost in. £TBC, rockstargames.com

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TVR Griffith

TVR’s back, baby! It’s been more than a decade since we saw anything from the classic British marque, and the Griffith means business. The design feels very TVR – you can see a line from the original Griffith, through the Sagaris, to here – and it’s a beast – the V8 engine promises a 200mph top end, and 0-100 in about six seconds. £90,000, tvr.co.uk A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 51

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Brompton Electric The most famous folding bike finally joins the electric age.

Perfect for city living, you still get the light Brompton build, with the 3kg battery pack kept in separate bag you can hook up to the front to power the bike, and then charge away from wherever you store the frame. It can cruise up to around 15mph, with a 60-mile range.

From £2,595, brompton.com

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Custom-tailored sound If you love your music, you want to hear it at its best.

That’s why we’re seeing more headphones that tune their sound to your specific hearing, and speakers that adapt their output to your room shape, correcting for disruptive reflections. It makes music sound closer to the way it was recorded, and we can’t wait to hear more.

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HTC Vive Pro

The HTC Vive has always been our pick of the VR headsets, for being the most advanced when it comes to positional tracking and headset quality, but it still had resolution problems – it couldn’t quite escape the ‘screen door’ effect of sticking pixels an inch from your face. The Vive Pro aims to fix this with a higher-res screen, and adds highquality headphones into the package too. We can’t wait to escape to new worlds in this, later in 2018. £TBC, vive.com 52 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

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Amazon Echo Plus Amazon’s play to be the centre of your smart home is kind of genius. It’s a voice assistant, but also has hardware to control products that use the common Zigbee protocol. It’s off to a slow start (just some Hive products and Philips Hue bulbs work so far), but we think an Echo Plus will be an essential smart home buy. £139, amazon.co.uk

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DJI Mavic Air

This is a serious camera drone that’s useful and a reasonable price for anyone, not just extreme sports enthusiasts and the Escape to the Country production crew. It’s a pocketable(ish) size, super easy to fly, but packs in DJI’s fantastic imaging tech, including a gimbal for super-stable 4K video.

It can fly itself and track you, but also has a slick folding controller and gesture controls. £769, dji.com

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Neural processors in your phone

Compact Dolby Atmos

Expect your next phone to think for itself. Special chips designed to speed up the AI (or, more accurately, machine learning) making phones smarter and photos better now come as standard – the iPhone X had one, the Pixel 2 had one Google didn’t turn on for months, Huawei’s new phones have them, and the Samsung Galaxy S9 does.

You don’t need a huge setup to get cinema-quality surround sound. Damson’s S-Series speaker set includes a soundbar with upfiring speakers to add height, as well as two small wireless satellite speakers to go behind you. Sony’s ZF9 soundbar also creates virtual 7.1.2 surround sound from its bar – no extras required.

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8K

4K content might only just be arriving en masse, but 8K is already underway.

A Japanese broadcaster plans to show the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 8K, and if you’re there, perhaps you’ll be watching it on the 88-inch OLED TV that LG demonstrated at CES this year. After, you could watch Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – the first movie filmed in 8K.

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Better materials in your gadgets

The days of boring plastic are over – tech companies are playing with more adventurous materials now. Master & Dynamic’s MA770 speaker is made of concrete – weighing 16kg, but ideal for absorbing unwanted vibrations.

The second-gen Amazon Echo comes in fabric and wood finishes, to better fit into the home; the Lenovo Smart Display is coated in bamboo. And even when plastic is used, it can be better – Dell is using salvaged, recycled ocean waste plastic for packaging its XPS 13.

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HDR10+

HDR has been as big a deal for movies as 4K, but it’s just getting started. HDR10 is the baseline standard, with Dolby Vision as the better, fancier alternative, adding more dynamic options for how bright and dark a scene gets. HDR10+ aims to do the same, but should be more widely available. Expect to see it on TVs, streaming boxes and Blu-rays in 2018.

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True wireless headphones Once you try the glorious freedom of wireless audio, you won’t go back. Since the launch of Apple’s AirPods, these have become the big thing in headphones. What to pick? The AirPods are great for Apple users, the B&O E8s offer superb audio quality and noise cancelling, and the Avanca Minim is a bargain at £89. Never get tangled again.

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Affordable OLED

OLED might be the top TV tech out there, but it comes with a top price – or, at least, it did. At the end of last year, the price of the brilliant LG B7 TV came down to £1,499, when only a year before we’d been talking more like £3K. Now British company ElectriQ has put the same 4K OLED LG panel in an Android-powered TV costing under a grand. If LG’s own TVs come down even further, this could be OLED’s year to go mainstream.

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Apple HomePod Supposedly, HomePod has been six years in the making at Apple, started shortly after Tom Holman (the TH in THX) joined the company. With that kind of pedigree, it’s no surprise that the wait has been worth it – it sounds just phenomenal. The audio algorithms that adapt the sound on a song-bysong basis for the quirks of the room in which you place it make every song unbelievably sweet and clear. And two together in stereo (not an option at launch, but coming soon) beats out established hi-fi systems that cost much more and are much bigger than these seven-inch wonders. Other AI speakers are smarter, but HomePod sets a new standard for what we want to hear from even small speakers. £319, apple.com

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The World Cup in 4K

Microsoft hardware Ever since it launched the Surface range, Microsoft’s design flair has impressed us. In the last year, it really hit its stride. The Surface Book 2 is one of the most flexible working machines around with few compromises, the Surface Studio broke the mould of the all-in-one, the Surface Laptop was one of the best ultraportables around, and the Surface Pro is still a fantastic hybrid machine. While it’s great to see Windows get the kind of appealing, premium hardware that Apple has always done so well, we’re also just loving these machines to live with.

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LG Wallpaper W8 We loved last year’s impossibly cool W7 2.57mmthick OLED display that magnetically mounts to the wall, with all the tech in a separate box that doubles as a soundbar. But that was just the start – this year’s model brings extra smarts from LG’s ThinQ AI tech (compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant), and a new a9 image processor that makes 4K HDR images look better than ever. £TBC, lg.com

If you can’t make it to watch the World Cup in person, watching it at home will be pretty much as good as – every match will be available for broadcasters to show in Ultra HD (with HDR).

Now, the BBC and ITV don’t have 4K channels yet, but the Beeb has trialled 4K HDR on iPlayer, so we’d expect a launch just in time for the 14th June kick-off. HiSense will also have 4K games showing in an app on some of its TVs in select regions – a perk of being the event’s sponsor.

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Oculus Go Standalone VR will go a long way to normalising virtual reality use for video, social media and more, but it has to come in a package that non-techies will actually want to own. The Oculus Go is sleek, minimalist, has its own processor and screen, builtin headphones hidden in the strap, and promises more than 1,000 apps. If we’re all going to meet up in cyberspace, this will be how we do it. It should be out in late 2018. £TBC, oculus.com/go A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 55

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Smart glasses

iPhone X

Specs are a hot opportunity for wearable tech. Intel might have finally cracked augmented reality with its Vaunt glasses, which look like normal specs, but project a ‘screen’ right onto your retina using a (very low-powered!) laser. This means you see a little bit of information in your peripheral vision, but they otherwise look totally normal.

Meanwhile, the new Level Smart Glasses are basically a Fitbit packed into a normal-looking glasses frame – handy, since you’re less likely to forget your glasses than a wristband.

This deserved its fanfare. The glass and stainless steel build is beautiful. The edge-to-edge screen is gorgeous. We even find the infamous notch quirky and unobtrusive. And it works so well – Face ID is better than we could have expected, the camera is phenomenal, and it’s as powerful as a laptop. This was a hell of a statement from Apple about its ability to stay on top of the phone game, and will still be cutting edge even when the next one comes out in September. £999, apple.com

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Alexa and Google built into everything The wild success of Amazon Echo and Google Home has made AI assistants a staple in the home, so the next step is to get them into every room. Not only does that mean a broader range of smart assistant products, like the bedroomfriendly Echo Spot, but this year we’ll also see Alexa built into projectors, soundbars, light switches and smoke detectors – and Google Assistant built into TVs and fridges.

That’s not to mention how quickly these will be built into cars. It’s all about making voice the next big interface change – that’s much easier to do if you can talk to your assistant of choice everywhere. Ordering a pizza to arrive at home while you’re still driving? How futuristic (and delicious).

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Hot 100

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Samsung Galaxy S9 Samsung’s latest flagship looks a lot like the S8, but there are upgrades all over to keep it high on our excitement charts. A new camera is the standout addition, with a true mechanical aperture, faster autofocusing, and a dual-lens system on the S9+ that all help to get better images than ever. The nearly all-screen display is still gorgeous and now offers extra brightness, it has an ultra-fast new processor, high-power wireless charging, and a better-positioned fingerprint sensor. The best Android phone just got better.

From £739, samsung.com

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Hot 100

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Nintendo Talk about a turnaround. Nintendo went from a colossal flop in the Wii U to having the fastest-selling console in the US ever. The Switch came high in last year’s Hot 100, but it hadn’t come out yet – we still didn’t know just how good it would turn out to be. It’s not hard to see why it’s such a hit, when you get everything from a full-fat Mario Kart game to the new Doom to play on the go, as well as a fantastic collection of indie stuff.

And it was just the start of a year in which Nintendo could do no wrong. Every game it released was a knock-out, from the way Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s open world made everything on more powerful consoles look dull and limited, to how Super Mario Odyssey packed in more ideas per level than most companies attempt in a whole game.

And then there was the SNES Mini – the only gadget harder to get hold of than a Switch last year. It’s a sign of just how on fire Nintendo is right now that its latest product is a series of cardboard Switch accessories you build yourself (called Labo) and they look… amazing, somehow.

This is champion form out of nowhere, like seeing Federer or O’Sullivan back from the wilderness, and it makes Nintendo the most exciting company to watch this year.

Now, where’s that N64 Mini?

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Hot 100

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home Get the complete smart home lifestyle Edited by Claire Davies

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The seTup Outfit your home with Nanoleaf Light Panels and it’ll look as good as it is smart – here’s how to do it with ease

upgrade This new universal remote from Bosch gives everyone in your home control over its smarts without a phone

desire Get the designer home you always dreamed of with this selection of tasty modern home accessories

home TesT The best air quality monitors on the market – find out which one is best for keeping your home’s air healthy

smarT home surgery Got some smart questions that need smart answers? Our home gadget experts can help

living smarTer The Yonomi app is able to connect up all your smart home gadgets and automate them using clever routines a p r i l 2 01 8 T3 6 3

Home

the setup

Each issue, we show you how to set up a key piece of connected-home tech. This month‌ Nanoleaf Light Panels

panel show While it might seem like you can connect an infinite number of light panels together, the maximum number is actually 30. This doesn’t seem like a lot, but admittedly that would make a pretty big shape on any size of wall

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The Setup

making shapes A neat feature within the Nanoleaf app, called the Layout Assistant, enables you to arrange panels on screen, so you can quickly create shapes to see what you like the look of, before doing it with the real thing

Give your home’s smart liGhtinG a lick of style Dull bulbs, be gone! Nanoleaf’s Light Panels raise the smart lighting game here at t3, we have a particular fondness for smart lighting. there’s nothing better than being able to swap out a lifeless halogen bulb with a smart leD that you can control on your phone or tablet. But as cool as this is, it pales in comparison to the nanoleaf light panels. looking like they were pinched from the future, the light panels are a set of triangular light panels that can be connected together to create unique shapes, with impressive results. each of the three sides on a panel can be used to connect to another panel, so the possibilities for creating weird and wonderful shapes are fairly extensive. But it’s when you download the companion nanoleaf app and light the panels up that the magic really kicks in. each panel can be individually lit with a static colour of your choosing, or if you really want to create that jaw-dropping effect, you can use dynamic scenes that change the colour (as well as the speed and intensity) of each panel according to a preset theme – for example, the light panels can mimic a lightning strike, or a morning sunrise, and you can even create a customised dynamic theme using specific colours and light movements within the app. it really is a sight to behold when you get it up and running. there’s even a rhythm module which lights up the panels in sync with your music – great for party time! the aurora app has loads of functionality baked in, so you can really go to town with the smarts. you can schedule when scenes kick in during the day, and set up an entire suite of light panels, room by room, so you can fully automate your home. there’s also a thriving nanoleaf community, so you can download new scenes or rhythms instantly. as for where to mount your panels, that’s entirely up to you. you could place it on a table top or stick it on a wall; each kit comes with sticky mounting tabs to enable you to do this. the nanoleaf light panels are available in a variety of kit sizes, so you can create the perfect shape, from the basic nine-panel starter kit (£180 – with optional rhythm module, £220), to the full-fat 30-panel kit. there’s also a three-panel extension kit if you want to add a few more to your setup. To find out more about it, head over to nanoleaf.me

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Home

Get more from your nanoleaf liGht panels These smart upgrades make your scenes even better

LighT iT uP! you can do some impressive things with nanoleaf’s scene creator – let’s find out how to create the perfect lighting

syNc your music Grab the optional rhythm module (£50, or available as part of a kit) and once it’s plugged in to a panel, the light panels will react to your music as it plays.

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TALk To your LighTs nanoleaf is fully compatible with major assistants, including alexa, Google assistant and siri. With specific commands, you can control the light panels from a distance.

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choosE A scENE

Add A pALETTE

chANgE shApEs

assuming you’ve already downloaded the app and physically set up the light panels, now open the app on your device and underneath the Dashboard tab, tap the ‘+’ button near the bottom of the screen. When a menu appears, choose ‘new color scene’ from the list and you’ll be taken to the palette selector.

here you can select from a number of preset palettes to go with your scene – scroll down to see more of them and tap one you like. if nothing takes your fancy, tap the ‘+’ button to create your own. select an area of the colour wheel and tap ‘+’ to add it, and repeat this for each colour you want to add. now hit ‘save’.

in the next screen you’ll get a visual overview of your panel arrangement – it’ll appear on screen however you’ve physically connected it. change it in the real world and it’ll automatically change on screen. at the top you’ll see various tabs for scene types, but we’ll be using the default type – the paint one.

usE A rEmoTE available to preorder, the dodecagon nanoleaf remote is a 12-sided shell with programmable panels that enable you to turn lights on or off, change scenes and more.

SayS…

“I love smart lighting, but the Nanoleaf Light Panels take things to the next level, with its amazing lighting scenes that make my home come alive at night. The only problem is I want to make more shapes now.” nick oDantzis, Deputy eDitor

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TAiLor ThE Look

using the palette you’ve chosen previously, select a colour and then tap a panel to fill it – you’ll see your panels change in real time. repeat this for each panel, using colours of your choosing. if you don’t like your creation, tap ‘clear all’ at any time. hit ‘save’ once you’re happy, and give it a name.

you can go one better than the static paint scene and create a Dynamic one, with colourchanging tiles for an amazing effect. once again, choose to create a new colour scene from the Dashboard, choose a palette and in the scene creator choose Dynamic from the tab above.

in the next screen select the type of effect – such as fade or Burst – then choose the type of transition, whether that’s smooth or delayed. you can also adjust speed and brightness using the sliders at the top. now hit ‘save’ and give the scene a name. you’ll see your panels play the scene.

Upgrade

HomE UPgrAdE

Let’s Twist again Empower your entire family to gain control over your connected home with the new universal remote from Bosch You can control key smart home controls from one device, no phone needed

Having your smart home products controlled via a central app is great, but there are occasions when manually controlling tech is necessary – perhaps you’ve misplaced your smartphone or tablet, or maybe the kids are home unexpectedly early and your smart heating isn’t set to come on yet, leaving them with a cold house. Bosch Smart Home, which partners with Philips Hue lighting and, as of this spring, with Amazon Alexa Voice Service, has a solution: the Bosch Smart Home Twist (€149.95/£132.98).

Shipping soon, the Twist is a remote that can be used independently, without a smartphone or tablet, a little like the

The Bosch Smart Home Twist enables you to control Bosch’s connected gadgets without a smartphone Logitech Pop button. It controls Bosch Smart Home gizmos and Philips Hue lighting products, as well as basic control of any other tech that’s plugged into a Bosch Smart Plug, which can be synced with the Smart Home app.

With the Twist, which can be laid flat or wall-mounted, you can control smart lighting and heating, plus use any smart home ‘scenarios’ you may have created via the Bosch Smart Home app. It looks easy enough for everyone to use, with an epaper display showing various icons relating to different aspects of the smart home – control these via the four buttons or simply by twisting the remote.

If you own a Bosch alarm system, you can also create a custom movement pattern on the Twist that deactivates the alarm – handy if you need to let guests inside while you’re away.

Discover more great smart home ugprades at bit.ly/bestsmarthome A P r I L 2 01 8 T3 67

Home

Desire Furnish your pad with the ultimate in modern living accessories

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Desire

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WilloW & hall The langridge loVe seaT soFa Tea rose is very in right now as a colour. The langridge is our current pick of Tea rose furniture, offering a cosy pew for two with plump seat and back cushions. Have fun dressing it with pastel or graphic print cushions and throws to jazz things up. £809, willowandhall.co.uk

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FerM planT Box

Fill your home with air-cleansing indoor plants and fragrant herbs, displaying them in an elegant box style planter such as the Ferm plant Box, available in Black, rose pink and light Grey powdercoated metal. The slender, rectangular design is small enough to fit into hallways, kitchens and any tight spaces. £179, cloudberryliving.co.uk

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CenTre oF MoBius Mural

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MidnighT Blue VelVeT Cushion

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add some deep contrast to this season’s muted tones with a richly coloured cushion. soft against the skin, this jumbo pom pom-festooned cuddler is made from cotton velvet and comes stuffed with a plush, mouldable feather insert.

From £38, ohwhatsthis.com

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Blue and WhiTe FooTed Cup

sometimes the smallest pieces can have the biggest impact on your table setting, as seen with this gorgeous china tea cup, adorned with a bamboo and floral pattern and designed with an ornate handle and feet. £15, abodeliving.co.uk

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Chunky kniT ThroW

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We may be heading into spring but there’s always an excuse to curl up under a chunky throw, especially when it’s as stylish as this charcoal oversized weave with yellow trim. £150, clarissahulse.com

Ultra-violet is taking centre stage this spring, and no mural does the colour more justice than studio arterie’s made-tomeasure print. The Centre of Mobius is available in different types of wallpaper, including ‘stick and peel’ for the easiest way to create a feature wall.

From £30, wallsauce.com

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deVyn TaBle laMp

Those with a love of bohemian furnishings will relish placing this beautiful table lamp next to their bed. The washed dark wood base with inline rocker switch (£78) complements the hand-knotted macramé shed (£198), but would work well with patterned shades too.

From £78, darlighting.co.uk

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MuTual Candle holder

Create a relaxing atmosphere by filling this octagonal candle holder with a beautifully scented tealight or taper candle. The Mutual Candle Holder is crafted from untreated solid linden wood and comes in Nude and a minty patina Green. €49 (£43), poimiakukkia.com a p r i l 2 01 8 T3 69

Home

HOmE TEST

Smart air quality monitors Make sure you’re not breathing in any bad stuff at home with one of these smart air quality monitors. T3 uncovers the best of them the all-rounder

automated air cleaning

platinum award

Foobot

blueair aware

£179, foobot.io

£209, blueair.com

The Foobot won’t win any awards for its looks, but it offers a visual indicator of your air quality, so you can quickly check it and get an accurate overview. Tap twice on the top and the Foobot app will ping you an alert to give you a detailed reading. Foobot detects particulate matter and volatile organic compounds, among others, so you’re well covered.

The app is straightforward to use, with a clear layout of each area of air quality, and a score shows how your home’s air stacks up against the WHO’s global health index; the tips could be more comprehensive and the timeline is a little hard to read. For automated cleaning, Foobot connects to a Nest thermostat to employ your home’s HEVC air con – neat, but not so handy in the UK. Alternatively, IFTTT offers a way to hook up to compatible Blueair purifiers.

The Blueair Aware is part of a suite of products from the Swedish company, which primarily makes air purifiers. The Aware can be paired with the majority of these, so when it detects poor air quality it tells the air purifier to get to work.

This makes it an excellent solution for those who want clean air, but aren’t that bothered about monitoring it manually. As a standalone monitor, the Aware offers a wide range of air readings, including particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, CO2 and more. The unit itself isn’t visually that appealing, but the single LED strip gives you a quick overview of your air (which you can turn off at night, if you wish).

In-app, you can choose the type of air to track, which will display in the Aware overview, while a graph gives you a comprehensive visual of how your air stacks up over time.

Verdict t3 SaYS The Foobot offers strong air quality monitoring skills and it’s relatively easy to use, with some useful smarts tacked on.

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Verdict t3 SaYS When paired with one of its purifiers, Blueair’s Aware is a neat fit-and-forget solution, and it’s a great, if unexciting, air quality monitor in its own right.

Smart air quality monitors

How to get tHe most from your air quality monitor plAce centrAlly

get to A gArden centre

hook up to An AIr purIFIer

If you want to know how the air in your home is performing, there’s no point sticking it in the bathroom (although…).

For maximum air monitoring coverage, install it in a central location. Failing that, get more of them!

If you’re struggling to improve the air quality in your home, pick up some plants. According to research by nASA, the best indoor plants for purifying your indoor air are aloe vera, english ivy and Boston Fern, among others.

The best way to purify your home’s air, other than opening windows or the aforementioned indoor plants, is to get an air purifier such as the Blueair Sense+ or the dyson hot+cool, the latter of which monitors and purifies the air on demand.

easy-to-use

platinum award

the deSiGn award

the value option

beSt on teSt

awair

netatmo healthY home coach

£180, getawair.com

£89.95, netatmo.com

Thanks to its snazzy display, Awair gives you lots of info up front. A traffic light system reveals air quality at a glance, while an adjacent figure shows how it’s performing against the EPA’s guidelines. Awair differs in its monitoring by letting you check the type of air that’s important to you, such as CO2 or dust; pick one and the overall rating will adapt.

At night, the display is a bit much, but it can be dialled back in-app; in Sleep mode it adjusts to the ambient light level. We love that there’s no jargon in the app (you’ll see ‘dust’ instead of ‘particulate matter’, for example), and when your air is bad, Awair goes to town with advice to help you improve it. While our air seemed good overall, we couldn’t get the high dust reading to lower. The other monitors seemed okay, so the Awair’s Pm sensor might be a little over-cautious.

Netatmo’s take on the air quality monitoring scene is this smart but subtle cylinder. A single bar of light on the front lights only when you tap the top, so you’ll have to get up to check it (or just open the Healthy Home app), which some might prefer over a more ostentatious air monitor. The app is simple to use, giving you a neat overview of your home’s health, with a breakdown of each area. Curiously, the Healthy Home Coach doesn’t monitor particulate matter or volatile organic compounds, so it’s not as effective at checking your air quality as the others. What you do get that the others don’t offer is noise-level checking – handy for the baby room, while a Baby mode adjusts the threshold for heat to suit.

Annoyingly, the monitoring timeline only lasts for 24 hours, so you’ll only be able to check recent events.

Verdict t3 SaYS Awair’s monitor is a fresh (so to speak) approach to air quality monitoring. It’s easy to understand and simple to make improvements.

Verdict t3 SaYS While this is an inexpensive way to get on the air quality monitoring bandwagon, a lack of organic and particulate checking gives it limited appeal.

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Home

sMARt HoMe suRgeRY Your connected-home queries answered by T3’s experts

Q My partner’s snoring is affecting the family BRYonY WAtkIns, LIveRPooL

– he’s that loud. Can tech help us out?

A

MAtt BoLton RePLIes: Bryony, we really feel for you and your family. Happily, tech is focusing on better sleep this year, so you should find something to help. It’s worth noting that some snorers have success with basic nasal strips, chin-up straps and mouth breathing devices. You can buy these from brands like somni, Breathe Right and snore Calm. From there things get noticeably more high-tech… nora (£240, smartnora.com) is an anti-snoring device comprising an inflatable insert that slips under your

partner’s pillow and works with a wireless device that sits on the bedside table. When nora detects the early signs of snoring, it silently inflates the insert under your husband’s pillow to lift his head, stimulating his throat muscles so that they return to their normal position.

In theory this should cut off your partner’s snoring before it wakes you.

The Magniflex MagniSmartech bed (magnismartech.com/en) also has built-in sensors to detect when your partner is beginning to snore and will automatically change his mattress position to stop him

without waking him. this bed has benefits for you, too, with Chromo therapy (underbed LeD lights that can be customised to create specific sleep and sunrise lighting) and adjustable mattress positions, including the ultra-supportive ‘zero gravity’.

Bose is currently running a prototype programme for new noise-masking sleepbuds ($249/£178.89, bose.com) that fill your ears with soothing sounds, masking the sound of snoring and other noise pollution. The first round sold out but more should be on the way soon.

send your quesTions To: inbox@t3.com or www.facebook.com/T3mag 7 2 T3 A P R I L 2 01 8

Smart Home Surgery

Q I have mobility issues and can’t MARk BRoWn, sALIsBuRY

move fast enough to answer the door to couriers. Can something like a video doorbell help me here?

A

Q I’m trying

CARLY JenkIns, WAkeFIeLD

to reduce the amount of fresh food I waste.

Should I buy a smart fridge?

nICk oDAntzIs RePLIes: You’re right to hone in on video doorbells, Mark, as they’re ideal for helping you answer the door even if you’re in a different part of the house – or are away from home altogether. the most famous video doorbell manufacturer is Ring (ring.com). the connected doorbell offerings now range from the original video Doorbell (£150) to the video Doorbell elite (£449), a pro-grade security and digital greeting device. striking a happy balance between those two extremes is the Video Doorbell 2 (£179), offering Full HD wide-angle video, adjustable motion sensors, instant mobile alerts when a courier or visitor is at your home, and two-way audio so that you can speak to the courier from your

smartphone, tablet or computer – this means you won’t have to rush to the door.

Infrared night vision enables you to clearly see couriers who roll up late into the evening. Pony up extra for the Video Doorbell Pro and you will also get a Ring Chime, a plug-in device that alerts you (by playing musical ditties) when someone is at the door. This is handy if you’re away from your phone and might otherwise miss any real-time notifications of couriers arriving. there are other video doorbell companies, of course, including August and skybell, who are now shipping their devices to the uk. nest is also bringing its debut video doorbell, nest Hello (nest.com/uk), to the uk this year, though we don’t know when yet.

A

CLAIRe DAvIes RePLIes: We hear you, Carl. In fact, the uk throws away over seven million tonnes of food and drink a year from our homes. It’s a huge amount of unnecessary waste, but there is tech that can help us reduce it, beginning with the smarter FridgeCam (£99, smarter.am). this wireless, clip-on, rotating camera lives in your fridge and works with a companion app, giving you a bird’s eye view into your fridge when you’re away from home and need to check on supplies. the FridgeCam aims to reduce food waste by up to 50 per cent and also tracks expiry dates and suggests recipes based on the food in your fridge.

If you’re looking for a new fridge and are prepared to splash out on a smart version, the new and improved samsung Family Hub (£tBC, samsung.com) takes some beating. this voice-controlled refrigerator helps you manage fresh food better thanks to a new view Inside app that enables you to peek inside the fridge remotely. There’s also a Meal Planner function that provides recipes based on your available food, their expiry dates and your dietary requirements.

For unavoidable food waste, why not convert it into clean, renewable energy for your home? the HomeBiogas 2.0 (released in May) is a garden-bound system that runs on food – shovel in your leftovers and generate energy to cook your next meal. Free fuel, and you’ll be reducing greenhouse gas emissions, too.

AIr fryerS Cook delicious food using hot air instead of oil Kitchen gadgets designed to get us eating healthier are proving to be as popular as ever, and right now the gadget of the moment is the airfryer, which cooks food using hot air rather than buckets of greasy oil. The idea is that your food will taste just like it’s been fried, but it will be much healthier for you, not to be mention less messy to cook and serve. The Philips Airfryer (£180, philips.co.uk), for example, cooks chips with 80 per cent less fat than usual. This countertop machine also grills, roasts and bakes food. Elsewhere the attractive Tefal ActiFry Express XL (£149.99, amazon.co.uk) is all about

speed, promising to airfry chips within 30 minutes without any preheating or stirring. Fast food and better for you!

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Home Living smarter

hOMe LivinG smArter

Connect devices to smart routines Completely automate everything in your home, with no direct input required

Create a yonomi welCome home routine switch it all on as you walk through the door new routine Head to Yonomi’s routines tab, and hit the plus button to create something new. Give it a suitable name, and tap Add event. select location, then tap the cog next to it and select the home option.

WhAT TO dO

With Yonomi, you can have all of your devices switch on the moment you walk through the front door

Many smart home systems don’t play nicely with each other. That’s a sad fact, but it’s not something we can’t fix: Yonomi is a platform-independent connection tool, meant as an umbrella app to cover your entire smart home.

It’s compatible with a vast list of devices, from triggers such as Alexa and Google Assistant to smart lights, sockets, and more. You’ll still need your usual apps for some functions – Yonomi can’t access Nest cam streams, because it’s a controller first and foremost. But if you want to switch something on or off, tweak brightness or temperature, it’s perfect.

It’s not just the number of devices it supports that’s impressive. Yonomi’s management features extend beyond push-button control – you can use it to set routines, to be triggered however you see fit. You could fire them off with a voice command, trigger them at certain times of the day or, if you let Yonomi know where you live, when you arrive home or leave the house.

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Getting started with Yonomi is as simple as downloading the app onto your phone, registering an account, and letting it discover your network devices. When setting your location, we’d recommend adding your usual Wi-Fi network too, just in case your phone loses track of you.

Yonomi is compatible with smart lights, sockets and more Once you’re all registered, Yonomi drops a few sample routines into its Favourites section, lists all of your devices on its Things page, and leaves everything else to you. A routine, in Yonomi terminology, doesn’t have to refer to a sequence of actions – assign the devices in a room to a routine, and you can activate or deactivate everything at once.

Tap Add Action, and select one of your devices. on the next screen, determine exactly what you’d like it to do, then repeat the process for all the devices you’d like to trigger. If you make a mistake, swipe the action away.

Conditions Use the conditions section to determine when you’d like your routine to trigger – on a weekday, for instance, and after 5pm. When you’re done, tap the check, then press the play button to trigger it manually and test it.

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State of the Art

Smart workout machines Serious fitness improvements require a serious – or better still, a serious and smart – fitness machine. Three of the best face off Words: Damian Hall Photography: Neil Godwin

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Smart workout machines

elcome to a new era of indoor training: smart fitness. Long gone are the days when you’d thump away on a treadmill for 30 minutes, towel down, glug back a bottle of sugary liquid and think you were Steve Cram. Fitness technology, thanks in part to the likes of cycling’s marginal-gainsobsessed Team Sky, is big business. With so much at stake, investment has led to some very smart fitness machines entering the consumer market.

Now, when you’re working out it can feel like you’re inside a computer game – you’re

W

competing against a rival on a screen, who could be a friend or stranger. A treadmill gives you a full body workout, not just your legs; you’re getting a marathon PB-targeted cardio workout and a strength workout in one hit/HIIT. You can cycle up the Tour de France’s notoriously hurty Alpe d’Huez without leaving your front room. All the while, live graphs and exhaustive data give you instantaneous performance feedback.

These machines are often designed by Olympic athletes, so in turn training is hyperreal, smart and so much more effective.

You can’t hide from the bombardment of

analytical data going in and out of your smartphone. There are many ways in which this increased connectivity and immersion means you train better and get fitter. You want to improve on that last workout and work on your weaknesses, because ultimately the workouts have been, well, not fun exactly (if so, they were probably too easy), but enjoyable nonetheless, and more satisfying.

These machines and their experiences make you want to go back for more, and that’s how fitness is improved. But where do these cycling, running and rowing machines excel, and which is right for you?

What’s on test…

1

Technogym Skillrow

2

Wattbike Atom

3

Technogym Skillmill Connect

Developed by Olympic rowing medalists, it’s the first gym rowing machine designed to improve anaerobic power, aerobic fitness and neuromuscular abilities all in one. £3,490, technogym.com

3 The world’s smartest pedal-powered indoor trainer. With automated resistance and comprehensive and immersive connectivity, it’s realism without the rain. £1,499, wattbike.com

Forget dreadmills; let the fullyconnected Skillmill’s data-tracking function assess your workout parameters and results, and store them in the cloud-based mywellness open platform. £9,680, technogym.com

A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 7 7

State of the Art TeST 01:

Technogym Skillrow

DESiGN Appearances matter, but ergonomics and usability are key for fitness machines hen seen first hand, the Technogym (the official supplier to the Olympics) Skillmill is the most surprising and compelling of the three smart fitness machines. Did an elephant jump on that treadmill, you can’t help but wonder. But there are very good reasons for its eye-catching design, namely that it’s far more than just a contraption for running and walking. The curved design and handlebars offer all sorts of workouts for power/strength, agility, stamina and speed by leaning forward to reposition the body on the handlebars. Cleverly, the Skillmill needs no power – it’s all generated by the user. So running costs (no pun intended) and carbon footprint are kept low.

The Wattbike looks more robot than bike, compelling and deterring in equal measure.

But despite the sci-fi looks, it’s very functional. Quick lever-adjustment locks enable you to tinker with the fit without having to faff around with stem spacers and torque wrenches. You can even swap out the handlebars (extension bars are included), allowing you to mimic the geometry of your real-life ride. Buttons controlling actions in

W

The Skillmill needs no power – it’s all generated by the user the Hub app, gear changes and switching between manual gears and ERGO mode are subtly incorporated into the hand grips.

Small wheels on the back make it really easy to move the 44kg machine around.

Designed in consultation with three Olympic rowing medal winners, the Skillrow, in contrast to the other two smart fitness machines, looks more familiar and streamlined. The foot holds are easily customisable, and the seat is surprisingly comfy. It’s ergonomic in use, with all settings easy to reach. Multidrive Technology means you can switch from a cardio workout to strength resistance with the turn of a dial. Its resistance is specifically designed to mimic the physics of an oar in water better than other rowers (Technogym calls this Aquafeel, adorably). The Skillrow can also be quickly collapsed into two parts for easy storage.

7 8 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

Skillrow’s Multidrive Technology enables a quick switch between cardiovascular and power workouts

SpecS DImEnSIonS 2435x629x1280mm WEIghT 61kg rESISTancE 10 levels of air resisted rowing mode, three levels of additional power mode connEcTIvITy User login through Bluetooth Smart, Technogym key, mywellness band, NFC, QR Code hr connEcTIvITy Bluetooth Smart, ANT+ PoWEr SuPPly Self-powered

TEST 01: WInnEr

TECHNOGYM SkIllMIll It’s the most eye-catching, intriguing and innovative of the smart-fitness machine designs, the most curious to use, and it invites entirely new exercises.

Smart workout machines waTTbike aTom

Technogym Skillmill

Precision magnetic resistance keeps Atom quiet, so you can train without waking the neighbours/your children

The Skillmill is user-powered: move frontwards and it goes faster; backwards and it slows

SpecS

SpecS

DImEnSIonS 1000x500x1500(max)mm WEIghT 44kg rESISTancE Magnetic connEcTIvITy Via ANT+ FEC/ANT+/ Bluetooth Smart Control hr connEcTIvITy Yes PoWEr SuPPly Mains adapter

DImEnSIonS 1910x890x1540mm WEIghT 180kg rESISTancE Multidrive technology connEcTIvITy Wi-Fi hr connEcTIvITy Yes PoWEr SuPPly Self-powered SurfacE TrajEcTory conTrol On-slat bearings max SPEED No limit

SmarT machInE ScrEEn TEST THE APPROACH TO SCREENS DiFFERS BETWEEN EACH OUR CONNECTED MACHiNES

There’s no console/screen provided with the Wattbike, so you need to use your smartphone or tablet, which clips securely on in front of you. This doesn’t feel like a flaw or disappointment, quite the opposite in fact, as most users will be more familiar with how their smartphone works anyway.

Plus, it means workout data goes straight into your device and the excellent Wattbike

Hub app, rather than relying on a postworkout sync.

The Skillrow and Skillmill do have native screens, displaying reams of stats as you sweat away, but you can simply clip in your smartphone too (but not yet a tablet), for additional performance feedback and to capture your workout’s key stats, or watch instructional technique videos.

A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 79

State of the Art TeST 02:

FeATureS

Technogym Skillrow

Heart rate, distance, calories and more – it’s time for death by data! he Wattbike Hub app is where the Atom really shines. As well as multi-week training plans, one-off workouts range from speed, endurance and climbs to time-trialspecific training, HIIT or fitness tests. There are various challenges, too, such as the self-explanatory Sprint and Breakaway Stages, and when it comes to climbs, you can simulate world-infamous ascents such as Mont Ventoux and Sa Calobra.

The Skillrow app offers some great graphics, like when you’re given a boat to race. But you can also switch screen to concentrate on stroke technique (no jokes – you’re better than that). Work on technique for a bit, and you’ll likely have made good progress by the time you switch back to the other screen. You can compete against people, live or recorded, and the app has leaderboards much like Strava. You can even join in group classes via the Professional app.

Twiddle the large dial by your feet, and switch from Rowing to Power for a resistance workout, building strength and muscle not just in arms and back, but legs and glutes too.

Alternatively, the app guides you through

T

waTTbike aTom

Technogym Skillmill

It doesn’t just offer cardio; it will help build strength and power too intervals or power workouts, or you can customise workouts.

The first smart feature you notice on the self-powered Skillmill is the floor. The further towards the front you get, the faster it moves. If you want to slow or break, move back a tad and it stops almost instantly, but not too suddenly. This smart machine doesn’t just offer a cardio workout; it will help build functional strength and power too.

Multidrive technology offers a wide spectrum of resistance with the push of a lever. Crank it up to 8-10, and the treadmill becomes too hard to move with your feet, meaning you bend forward, clasp the handlebars and push – a great resistance strength workout. Scan a QR code on the Skillmill to access the mywellness open platform and its workout videos. Sync with your HR chest strap, and away you go.

8 0 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

TEST 02: WInnEr

TECHNOGYM SkIllROW Technogym Skillrow narrowly pips the Atom for having the most immersive and connected smart-exercise experience, especially when racing others or a pace boat.

Smart workout machines Technogym Skillrow

TeST 03:

PerFOrmAnCe Yeah, but never mind all that, which one gets you fitter faster? unning is notorious for injuries, which often have origins in bad technique, yet it’s nearimpossible to run on the Skillmill with bad form. Because the surface is instantly responsive, intervals sessions are much more efficient and effective. That said, the position of the screen encourages the head to slope forward, or a swing left for a glance at your smartphone. Runners also tend to ignore vital strength training, yet with the constant reminder of the handlebars on the Skillmill, it’s a bit like standing outside a pub; you’re going to go in for a pint eventually.

While the Skillmill is the most beginnerfriendly smart-fitness machine, Wattbike’s Atom is the most serious. It peppers you with serious data, serious stats and graphs, and occasional esoteric words. But it’s helpful too.

The ERGO mode, especially, takes the guesswork out of choosing the best gear – get that wrong and your workout could nosedive.

The workout screens are excellent, giving you different things to focus on as the sweat starts to cascade, and is easily flicked between with buttons in the handgrips. It meant we always felt engaged, despite the tedious

R

waTTbike aTom

Technogym Skillmill

The workout screens are excellent, giving you different things to focus on

TEST 03: WInnEr

TECHNOGYM SkIllROW The Skillrow offers a great cardio workout and excellent resistance training in a connected, immersive environment that makes you come back for more.

discomfort of the task in hand. But the inherent problem with cycling is it’s still mostly sitting down, hunched up.

Skillrow is similar in that it offers plenty of visual and cerebral distractions. The live performance data and app make for an all-in-one experience, and you’re more likely to feel involved, committed and stick to your training. Those who haven’t rowed – and it’s the least popular of the three main activities these machines are primarily built for – will find it a very pleasant surprise on the Skillrow. You can do effective and enjoyable workouts for both cardio and resistance – it’s refreshing to switch between the two.

The small downside is that switching between screens requires you to stop rowing and swipe your device, though there’s little to be done about that; rowing requires two hands.

A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 81

State of the Art vErDIcT:

1st

The overall winner is…

TECHNOGYM SkillROW £3,490, technogym.com WE’RE iMPRESSED The streamlined, ergonomic design, training videos by Olympic medalists and the clever use of dual screens and race simulations.

WE’D iMPROVE It’s annoying that you have to stop rowing to swipe between app screens, but there’s no escaping the fact you

need two hands to row, so we can live with it.

THE FiNAl WORD The Skillrow is a revelation. rowing is great endurance and effective strength work – but also, crucially, and thanks to the smart tech. Great fun, too. Who knew?

WATTBikE ATOM

TECHNOGYM SkillMill CONNECT

£1,499, wattbike.com

£9,680, technogym.com

2nd

iMPRESSED excellent training programmes, varied, testing, immersive workouts, comprehensive, app. iMPROVE It feels limited when compared to more versatile machines. Also, sore backside.

FiNAl WORD excellent smart-fitness machine that suits the cyclist, but less so the fitness generalist.

3rd

iMPRESSED encourages good running technique and strength with fun and varied workouts. iMPROVE not cheap is it?

Screen placements could be better, and app is entry-level.

FiNAl WORD Beginner friendly (price aside) option that’s reinvented the treadmill.

SIx WayS To gET ThE moST from SmarT fITnESS machInES 01 FOllOW A TRAiNiNG PlAN The Wattbike Hub app has various training plans, and when available, following a professional plan is the best way to train. It should mean consistency, peaking at key times and building volume and intensity safely.

02 TAkE THE TESTS Ranging from 3-20 minutes, again the Wattbike Hub app has excellent (ie masochistic) tests to help determine your level of 8 2 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

fitness, simultaneously pinpointing key areas of weakness to work on.

03 COMPETE WiTH FRiENDS AND STRANGERS All three apps encourage friendly competition and suggest challenges to join.

Though you shouldn’t necessarily do every session at full pelt, they’re great for keeping training motivating and fun. If it’s enjoyable, you’re more likely to stick at it.

04 CROSSTRAiN The Skillmill and Skillrow encourage a workout for more of the body, helping build strength in supportive muscles and promotes cardiovascular gains while letting other body parts rest.

05 PERiODiSE your nutrItIon Fast Fuel author Renee McGregor (reneemcgregor.com) advocates avoiding carbohydrates in the 24-36 hours before longer endurance

sessions to encourage fat metabolism, but ensuring complex carb intake in the 24-36 hours before highintensity sessions.

06 SlEEP WEll Sleep should be viewed as 90-minute cycles, says sports sleep coach Nick littlehales (sportsleepcoach.com). Avoid screens for an hour before bedtime, go for complete darkness and low temperatures, and sleep in the foetal position on your non-dominant side.

5 01

Smart workout machines

essenTial add-ons Get more from your time on the Skillrow’s virtual water with these useful fitness extras, from handy headphones to comfy clothing

1

02

SuunTo SmarT SEnSor

How hard are you really working? How hard should you be working? Some coaches swear by heart rate (Hr) data as the most accurate gauge of athletic effort, but also of general health, to help avoid overtraining or a low immune system.

Suunto’s comfortable option works in the swimming pool, too. £65, suunto.com

2

03

04

oPToma nuforcE BE SPorT3

Get in the zone with the help of meatloaf in your lugs and listen to clear video instructions via these premium wireless sports earphones, boasting sound isolation, 8-10 hours of battery, and astounding audio quality. Importantly, they’re also a secure but perfectly comfortable fit. £80, optoma.co.uk

3

Inov-8 aT/c TrI BlEnD TEE TranSITIon

Perfect for training or socialising, this innovative Tri Blend yarn (cotton/polyester/ rayon) has a pleasing natural cotton feel, plus the benefits of technical material. The durable, super-soft fabric wicks away moisture and retains shape as you train. £30, inov-8.com

4 05

SkIllroW ProfESSIonal aPP

Stay motivated by joining a Skillrow class via Technogym’s unity Self Skillrow app, and row as part of a virtual crew, following a set pace with monitored biometrics. Add in the unity Self kiosk, and trainers can create races between crews, monitor individual and class performance. £on request, technogym.com

5

Inov-8 f-lITE 260 knIT

Hugely popular in CrossFit, British grip specialists inov-8 have come up trumps with the F-Lite 260 Knit, which combines a minimalist design that promotes natural movement, a highly breathable upper and unbelievable underfoot traction.

Feel comfortable and supported, but fast and agile. An ideal all-rounder. £135, inov-8.com A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 8 3

Man vs Tech

Man Tech

The Mission We’ve had enough accidents with tech to know that not all gadgets are created equal. With companies making some pretty bold claims about how tough their products are, we want to see if these supposedly drop-proof gadgets live up to their ambitious billing. How? By getting hardcore tech tester Chris Barnes to launch them from the top of a ladder onto a concrete floor, obviously.

Drop-proof gadgets

Tech vs graviTy

Drop

it like it’s

hot!

Are drop-proof gadgets as tough as manufacturers claim? T3 heads to the lab with a brace of tech and a very tall ladder to find out Words: Chris Barnes Photography: Neil Godwin

A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 8 5

Man vs Tech

icture the scene: your beloved smartphone plummets towards the ground, seemingly in slo-mo, as you helplessly watch the carnage unfold. We’ve all been there and the prognosis is rarely good – at best the phone still works, albeit with funky glitches, a compromised screen or some ugly cuts and bruises.

At worst you face an eye-watering repair bill, a tortuous insurance claim or a pricey replacement.

But that got me thinking: surely there are gadgets and accessories designed to accommodate the more butter-fingered tech users among us? And, if so, exactly how dropproof are they?

P

cliMbing The ladder The plan for this test is to drop a selection of tech from their claimed maximum drop heights, then assess any damage. I’m not exactly enthralled with the prospect of returning a new phone in pieces, so I really hope the drop-proof claims stand up…

Myself and the T3 testing team don our protective clothing and calibrate our sophisticated measuring equipment (um, a stepladder and tape measure). The testing begins with LaCie’s Rugged 2TB Thunderbolt USB C hard drive. Surrounded by a burly, non-slip orange bumper, this hard drive is clearly built for survival. Taking advantage of the Rugged’s 130MB/s Thunderbolt transfer speeds, I deposit a handful of video files, then scale the ladder, clutching the drive two metres off the ground. With breath held and buttocks clenched I send the hard drive plummeting towards terra firma.

If you love something, let it go… rapidly towards the ground, so you can test its sapphire screen

8 6 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

A brief moment of silence precedes an almighty crack as the tech hits the deck, pinballing along the ground. It doesn’t sound healthy, but when I scramble down the ladder to inspect it there’s barely a mark to be seen.

LaCie reckons the Rugged drive is also crush-proof to one tonne, so naturally I dole out a few stomps from my size 10s for good measure. Plugging the hard drive back into T3’s iMac Pro, the video files are as I left them and open without issue. The verdict? LaCie’s Rugged puts the ‘hard’ in hard drive.

shock and awe Next for the drop is Nikon’s vibrant Coolpix W300. Pitched as the adventurer’s companion, it has a

camera is still shooting away. Repeat tests produce similar results, although on one occasion the camera shuts down on impact and I lose the video…

But it quickly boots up again, so no damage done.

For the next test, we pair GoPro’s new 4K/60fps-toting, voice-controlled HERO6 with a heavy-duty Super Suit housing. GoPro doesn’t state drop limits, but even without the case this camera is built to last – we’re not aware of many gadgets that can handle 1,000-foot drops! Don’t believe us? Have a gander at the insane videos on YouTube. As such, our puny test is no match for the almost indestructible GoPro and it takes drop after drop in its stride without fail.

With breath held and buttocks clenched, i send the hard drive plummeting toWards terra firma dizzying drop-height of 2.4 metres and can keep pace whether you’re scaling mountains or exploring the ocean. I start rolling at 1080p/60fps and am immediately impressed with the rich image displayed on the three-inch anti-reflection screen – the NIKKOR lens is the business. But when I drop the Nikon, will it take the impact like a champ or is this going to be a one-way trip to camera oblivion?

Back up the ladder I go, climbing to 2.4 metres. This could hurt for Nikon.

The loud bang on impact is followed by sweet relief as I discover the

This. is. sparTa! As a busy writer who enjoys being active, my watch has to be smart to deliver phone updates and track my workouts, and it needs to look the part in meetings. Enter Suunto’s Spartan Ultra Stealth Titanium, packed with wrist-based heart rate monitoring, GPS navigation and tracking profiles for 80+ sports.

At just 73g the Spartan is unlikely to leave a crater in the ground, but after flinging it from the ladder I was concerned for the safety of the vivid colour touchscreen. I needn’t have

Drop-proof gadgets Look at his cool demeanour as another gadget drops to its potential doom. The eyes of a killer…

When the going gets tough Six Ace gAdgetS With the drop-proof guArAntee

gopro super suiT housing As if GoPro’s burly HERO6 action camera wasn’t tough enough, the 60-metre waterproof Super Suit gives the 4K shooter an extra layer of protection against drops, rocks and shark attacks. £49.99, gopro.com

suunTo sparTan ulTra sTealTh TiTaniuM The touchscreen on Suunto’s fully-loaded sports watch is protected by sapphire crystal glass and a titanium/steel bezel. £599, suunto.com

nikon coolpix w300

MoTorola Z2 Force ediTion

This all-weather compact is drop-proof to eight feet, making it an ideal companion. Shoot 4K video, take 16MP stills and share with the world using built-in SnapBridge connectivity. £409.99, nikon.co.uk

The Z2’s ShatterShield screen is a serial phonedroppers dream, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and 2.35GHz octa-core CPU prove this Android handset has brains as well as brawn. £719.99, motorola.com

Tech21 evo check case & glass screen proTecTor

lacie rugged 2Tb ThunderbolT usb c

This lightweight case delivers three layers of protection while the Evo screen protector will save your display from cracks. £29.99/£34.99, tech21.com

LaCie’s nippy drive is dust- and water-resistant, drop-proof up to two metres and you can even drive a car over it, if that’s something you’re into. £169.99, lacie.com A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 87

Man vs Tech

Chris’s levitating phone act draws in crowds from all round the world

8 8 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

Drop-proof gadgets

Weapons grade tech A gadget being ‘military grade’

doesn’t mean it can drive a tank

You may have comes across the term ‘Military Standard MIL-STD-810G Tested’ when browsing new tech, but do you know what it means? Well, in 1965 the US military devised a series of tests to evaluate the durability of essential equipment. These hardcore tests have since been commandeered by the tech world. They focus primarily on a product’s drop and shock limits, but also include extreme temperature, humidity and durability. V-Moda’s armoured Crossfade 2 Wireless headphones (£300, v-moda.com) wear their MIL-STD-810G badge with pride – they’re unphased by big drops, the SteelFlex headband is practically indestructible, and the cables can withstand one million bends before giving up the ghost. worried, though, because a hefty layer of sapphire crystal glass and a tough titanium/steel bezel proves to be more than enough protection. As it should be for a £600 timepiece.

use The Force The smartphone drop is probably the most common occurrence in tech.

With an increase in edge-to-edge screens and glass rear panels for wireless charging the danger of broken glass is increasingly real.

Addressing the epidemic, Motorola’s Z2 Force Edition modular smartphone sports extra armour – the Android handset has a 7000 series aluminium unibody design, but it’s the ‘guaranteed’ shatterproof Moto ShatterShield screen that’s really intriguing. I drop the phone on its front, back and corners from increasingly uncomfortable heights and also chuck it around the room to really test that ShatterShield screen.

Whatever I dole out, the Motorola handles with ninja-like composure.

Finally, it’s time for the big one…

As I peel back the sleek packaging on a brand-new iPhone X, it dawns on me that I could be about to make an incredibly expensive mistake. After all, the cost of replacing the 5.8-inch Super Retina display without the

it daWns on me that i could be about to make an incredibly expensive mistake

luxury of AppleCare+ could set me back almost £300. To keep the phone in one piece, Tech21 has supplied an Evo Check iPhone case and Evo Glass screen protector. The Evo Check case provides three layers of protection thanks to an impact-cushioning outer shell, a skeletal frame that spreads the energy of the impact, and a Flexshock system that dissipates the remaining energy. Tech21 claims your iPhone X in its case (it also makes options for other smartphones, such as Galaxy and Pixel) will survive a drop from three metres. Let’s see if that’s true…

I kick off at a conservative 1.5 metres, which is still high enough to total an un-cased phone. The iPhone meets the ground without issue. Two metres? Nothing to see here, folks. My hands are getting clammy as I climb the ladder again, taking the iPhone X up to three metres. The phone takes an age to hit the deck, but when it lands it’s clearly unphased by the ride.

A £65 investment (for the case and screen protector) to shield your £999 phone? This Tech21 kit is a no-brainer.

For now, the clumsiest among us must find ways to protect our gadgets.

With waterproofing common on most modern smartphones we can only hope that integrated drop-proofing will become the rule rather than the exception on high-value tech. In the meantime, perhaps keep your phone away from the edge of the table, yeah? nexT MonTh Golf: it’s a gentleman’s game. Well, until T3 gets involved.

A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 8 9

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*TERMS AND CONDITIONS: The trial offer is for new UK print subscribers paying by Direct Debit only. Savings are compared to buying full priced print issues. You can write to us or call us to cancel your subscription within 14 days of purchase. Payment is non-refundable after the 14 day cancellation period unless exceptional circumstances apply. Your statutory rights are not affected.

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tested Get the lowdown on the latest gadgets before you buy edited by nick odantzis

92

Apple iMAc pro 96

AMAzon echo Show vS. echo Spot 97

MicroSoft SurfAce book 2 15-inch 98

Apple hoMepod 100

wireleSS bookShelf SpeAkerS 102

pAnASonic luMix g9

How we test In T3, we feature only the finest gadgets out there, and we believe that you – our loyal reader – deserve only the best tech in your life. We don’t want you to waste time, and money, on inferior products, and that’s exactly why our Tested section exists.

In here you’ll find only the latest and hottest tech. Each product has been handpicked and tested by T3’s experts.

We only choose people with specialist knowledge for each test, so you know you’re going to get an outcome based on many years of experience in their respective field.

As well as our traditional five-star rating system (right), we also give out awards to particularly exceptional gadgets, using the line-up below - so when you spot one of these, you’ll know you’re onto a good thing.

tHe scores explained Forget it Below average Good for the price Very good all round an exceptional, best-in-class product

our awards only the best products – those that score five plATINum stars – receive our AWARD Platinum Award

this is given to winners bEST oN of our group tests, so TEST you can see which is the best at a glance

bEST foR bATTERy lIfE

this accolade, and others like it, show you which gear is best for specific features

THE DESIGN AWARD

For kit with exceptional industrial design and refinement, in addition to being a great buy a p r i l 2 01 8 T3 91

Tested

THE DESIGN AWARD

Processor Intel Xeon W 10-core 3GHz Graphics AMD Vega 64 16GB RAM 128GB 2666MHz ECC Storage 2TB SSD Display 5120x2880 5K Retina display Connections 4x Thunderbolt 3, 4x USB 3, 10Gb Ethernet, SDXC card slot, 3.5mm jack, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2

£9,039 (from £4,899) apple.com/uk

power tool

Apple iMac pro Apple unleashes its most powerful desktop ever, but disguises it in an iMac’s shell. Is this really the pro-level beast Mac users have been waiting for?

9 2 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

he iMac Pro is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Actually, that’s underselling it. It’s a small nuclear warhead in sheep’s clothing. Somehow, Apple has packed a workstation with up to an 18-core Intel processor in a frame the exact size of the regular 5K iMac. The only thing more incredible than the engineering feat of producing it is the price you might pay for one.

But this a truly pro machine, and that kind of power comes at a cost.

T

THE DESIGN AWARD

Specs appeal Apple provided us a pretty trickedout model (see the specs box above) for our review, with a price tag nudging the £10k mark. The ‘basic’ £4,899 model packs an eight-core, 3.2GHz Intel Xeon processor, a less potent 8GB AMD Vega 56 graphics card, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It’s all hugely configurable, though – even beyond our beefy unit, you can

Apple iMac Pro

Solo MiSSion the iMac pro is really suited to small creative offices – a workstation in a single, lowfootprint monitor saves a lot of space compared to rivals

choose a 14-core processor (a £1,440 upgrade from the basic option) or the 18-core top-end option (£2,160).

Going from 32GB of RAM to 128GB alone costs £2,160. It adds up quickly if you’re planning to max it out.

If you’re wondering what the benefits are of spending that kind of money on a supercomputer that fits behind a monitor, you can probably already rule out the iMac Pro as being for you, even if you could afford it.

Video editors will see big benefits from having multiple cores to render demanding footage and play back in real time. Programmers compiling code will benefit from big parallel computing output. Extreme Photoshop users will find the giant RAM option useful.

To make it worthwhile, you probably have to be someone who looks at the price of the iMac Pro, calculates how much time it could save them, and then works out whether the two balance out.

Or a millionaire who just really wants the (admittedly irresistible) Space Gray finish for their desktop computer. And no one on T3 would blame you for that. Just look at it!

PoRT in A SToRM Minimalism be damned! the iMac pro is packed with ports, and we love it.

You’ve also got high-speed ethernet. old-school!

But the gist is, the reason this costs so much is that it’s using workstation parts like ECC (error correction code) RAM, which means your huge, vitally important work is less likely to become corrupted and crash apps out, losing you time and money. If you don’t need that, you can go cheaper.

The joy of overkill Okay, we’re finished being boring and sensible now. You want to know what it’s like anyway. We feel you.

Obviously, it’s fast. Really fast.

Everything you do is effectively instant, though that’s mostly down to the storage. Apple’s SSDs use some kind of mysterious technology to be just comically fast, even compared to what else is out there. We clocked the storage on the iMac Pro with write speeds of 3GB/s per second, and read speeds of 2.5GB/s. Just to be clear, that’s three gigabytes per second.

This is part of what makes it so good for video work (see the box on the next page for our tame video pro’s opinion of what it’s like to actually use for 4K editing).

But other Macs also have really fast storage (not quite this fast, but we’ve

One small downside to the iMac Pro’s design is that you can’t adjust the screen height, unless you get a riser

seen the MacBook Pros hitting 1.7GB/s), which makes them pretty much as fast for loading apps and stuff. The speed of the iMac Pro only really stands out from other Macs once you start doing something processor or graphics intensive.

So naturally, the next thing we tried was a bit of video exporting.

We like to tax things with a video export of a native Blu-ray file into a streaming-friendly MP4. The most recent regular 5K iMac managed to convert our 31-minute video in 27 minutes. It’s a tough challenge, and this is a respectable score. The iMac Pro managed it in under 10 minutes.

9 minutes 40 seconds, to be precise.

That’s what we mean about the price being worthwhile if it saves you time – it’s a huge speed boost.

It’s a similar story when it comes to graphics. The Vega 64 chip we have is AMD’s big powerhouse, meant to battle the top-end cards from rival Nvidia, and there’s big performance here. In Unigene Heaven benchmarks, it doubles the score of the 5K iMac, which is a good start. But that’s just theory. The more important fact is that, if you want to play games in 4K A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 9 3

Tested

Pin ShARP the 217 pixels per inch of the iMac’s screen is really high for this kind of display.

You have to get in damn close to see the pixels

or even 5K, you can. Not always super smoothly, but games a few years old, like the Tomb Raider reboot, can hit 30fps in 5K and and 60fps in 4K at higher quality settings. With more modern stuff, stick to 2560x1440. It’s also powerful enough for VR, which Apple’s keen to push, though it’s still only just getting started on Macs, really. Of course, Macs still have generally worse gaming performance than Windows, and you can buy this level of GPU power for a fraction of the price in a PC, so think of gaming as a bonus here only.

Gimme 5K One thing softens the price of the iMac Pro, at least, is that it’s basically a workstation with a free 5K screen.

A standalone 5120x2880 27-inch display that connects over a single Thunderbolt 3 cable will set you back £1,400, so getting it as part of the package here definitely adds appeal.

That said, it is the same panel you get in the regular 27-inch non-Pro iMac, so if that’s the bit that interests you, you don’t need to stump up £5k+ for your 5K screen.

Still, the important thing is that the screen is totally gorgeous. It’s bright, colours are fantastically 94 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

The Space Gray finish had better come to the cheaper iMacs too.

It’s too good

vibrant, and naturally everything looks super-sharp. For photography and 4K video playback, it’s pretty much best in class, though we know some people don’t like the glossy glass-coated finish.

It does have one downside, though, which is that it’s not rated for HDR at all – having a built-in way to check your HDR grading would’ve been a boon for video editing. The 500-nit brightness (comparable to some monitors that say they are HDRcapable) is a start, but is way below the 1,000 nits expected for true HDR LCD TVs. It’s also not a native 10-bit display, which is what HDR requires, instead using techniques to mimic 10-bit colour on an 8-bit display. The difference is small and the complaint niche, but ‘small’ and ‘niche’ are the main words we’d use to describe this machine’s intended audience, so it’s worth noting.

Round the back of the screen, it’s nice to note that Apple has avoided cutting back on the connections the way it did on the MacBook Pros. Four regular USB 3 ports make it easy to hook up anything you want, and some good old-fashioned slots for SDXC cards, 3.5mm headphones and the humble Ethernet cable (though at a

not-so-humble high-speed 10Gbps connection speed) mean you plug in pretty much anything you need to.

The new hotness comes in the form of the four Thunderbolt 3 ports (which double as USB-C ports, since they’re the same connector). Again, the need for Thunderbolt 3 is niche, but if you’ve got a ton of 4K videos to import, the 40Gbps transfer speeed will be heaven.

They do inherit the problem the ports on the regular iMacs have, though, which is that they’re a pain in the arse to get to. You think it’s hard to get a USB plug in the right way up first time normally – try doing it by feel reaching around the back of this beast. Maybe you’ll want to add to the Pro’s price a few hundred quid for a Thunderbolt 3 multi-port dock you can keep closer to hand.

Key decisions The iMac Pro comes with an Apple keyboard and mouse (or trackpad, which is our choice – the Magic Mouse is not great) finished in super-cool Space Gray to match its overall aesthetic, naturally. Apple’s keyboards are still a point of contention – the low-travel, clicky feel is hated by some, but we don’t

Apple iMac Pro

second opinion VeRy Cool the iMac pro is redesigned inside with serious cooling for those high-end parts.

But there’s still no access for tinkering

mind it, after a small adjustment period. They keyboard is nicely flat for good ergonomics, though, and is full-size, so includes a number pad.

Would we recommend the iMac Pro, then? Absolutely, though if you’re asking us and not some kind of specialist community on the internet, you may not be the intended buyer. If you want to know whether it’s a stunningly powerful miracle of design, though, it’s a firm yes.

the pro verdict To find out what the Pro’s intended audience thinks of it for real pro work, we handed it over to Alun Pughe, Commercial Film & Video Director for T3’s parent company, Future I’ve used a lot of different machines for high-end video editing, and I’ve never really cared which brand logo they have stencilled onto their chassis as long as they do the job. And I ask a lot from them. Now that 4K video is the norm in my sector of the industry, this has really put the cat among the pigeons when it comes to performance – doing anything in real-time with a timeline full of Ultra HD clips tends to bring a lot machines to their knees. When the iMac Pro came in I was thrilled to get the chance to see how it coped…

Let’s get this out of the way quickly: the iMac Pro is gorgeous.

I’ve always been a fan of the iMac’s aesthetics but this is something special. The ‘Space Gray’ finish is flawless and the 5K, 27-inch Retina screen is breathtaking. The review model came with the lovely Magic Trackpad 2, which I found charming and very practical, and the Magic Mouse 2 which, possibly due to my large hands, I didn’t like so much.

Both were fine and precise enough for video editing, though.

RED eye

VERDIcT We’re impressed Unbelievable power, and loads of configuration options; looks great and saves space; gorgeous 5K screen.

We’d improve So much money, though you get what you pay for; awkward port placement; no future upgradability, really.

The final word An amazing machine, but for a very specific (or spendy) kind of person.

Read about the best all-in-one PCs: bit.ly/t3allinone

For my work during the time I had the iMac Pro, I was using Adobe CC Premiere Pro, and collated RED Raw footage, Canon C200 CinemaRawLite and some lower tier Sony FS7 XAVC clips to see how the iMac performed.

Watching 4K footage back on the iMac’s screen was a joy. The colour space and contrast showcases your footage beautifully, but I soon found myself wishing I had more than 27 inches of screen to monitor the clips and still have space for scrubbing through the timeline or utilising other windows. The iMac does have multiple Thunderbolt 3 ports, so additional monitors would be sensible if you were purchasing for professional video editing.

Thunderbolt 3 has enough bandwidth for 5K external monitors, and the iMac Pro can support two 5K displays on top of its own (or four 4K external 4K displays), so you get as much as space as you need.

Ingesting footage was instantaneous and as I placed the various 4K clips into the timeline, I was immediately impressed that there were no dropped frames whatsoever in playback. Adding multiple LUTs onto the clips for live colour grading during playback and making amends to their settings didn’t affect the experience either (even when playing in full screen). At one point, I had more than four layers of effects on a clip before playback started missing frames, and even warp stabilisation (a resource-intensive tool for reducing motion in videos) took moments and not the usual minutes to prepare.

The iMac did begin to struggle with 8K RED footage, and when effects were added a preview render was needed – but this was to be expected.

8K is really hardcore.

Exporting was also really impressive. I queued up a webfriendly one-minute H.264 video made up of random 4K clips to export at a 4096x2160, two-pass target of 25Mbps, and it was rendered within three minutes. That’s as much as five times faster than my usual (pretty damn beastly) machine. The process was surprisingly quiet and, though cooling fans weren’t heard, the iMac didn’t become noticeably warmer.

Absolutely amazing.

So is the iMac Pro a must-buy for high-end professional video editors?

It’s certainly an amazing machine that does everything you’d hope it would and it does them very well.

However the cost is undeniably high and its limited upgradeability is a shame for future-proofing. It really was a delight to work on, though.

A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 9 5

Tested

SmArT SpeAkerS amazon echo sPoT £119.99, AmAzon.co.uk Design The dinky Spot is like a magic 8-ball of Alexa knowledge, and it’s compact enough to be on your bedside table as an intelligent alarm clock. Alexa’s light glows around the circular display, with the same easy touch screen controls as the Show.

£199.99, AmAzon.co.uk Design Shaped like a hulking cheese grater, the Show’s design feels like a ’90s CRT TV. The large screen makes navigation easy between tiles - though most of it is voiced-based of course - and there are mute and volume buttons on the top within easy reach.

FeaTures The screen is gently slanted for easily glanceable content. It’s only a 2.5-inch display, but it’s easily enough for your Alexa needs. It’s a bit of an issue if you want to view Amazon Video content; the screen’s more about clock faces and news bulletins.

FeaTures The seven-inch screen is perfect for showing off recipes and content from Amazon Video. It’s not the most crisp display, but the viewing angles are good, making it great for the easy, glanceable content that you’d want from your Echo.

usabiliTy Unlike the Show, the Spot wants you to call upon Alexa to access the good stuff before presenting it, and the smaller size means accessing info takes longer. It’s still incredibly neat, and its small size means it doesn’t take up a lot of space.

usabiliTy Thanks to that large screen, the Show keeps you updated on everything from the latest news to your calendar. And for everything it shows you, there are prompts to ask for more, making it feel more interactive - and intelligent - than the Spot.

PerFormance The speaker isn’t the most powerful, but packs a punch for smaller spaces and has more clarity than the Show, despite the size difference. It can pick up your voice just as well, though is more prone to mishearing you as it only has four mics.

PerFormance The best thing about the Show is its ability to hear you, even if you’re belting out tunes. Eight mics pick up your voice perfectly. The audio quality is surprisingly bad for its size, though, with Alexa’s voice muffled and music occasionally distorted.

verdIcT

1st

amazon echo shoW

We’re impressed It’s perfect as a bedside accessory, and you don’t lose any Alexa functionality.

We’d improve The in-built audio quality could be better, and built-in Bluetooth would be a boon.

verdIcT We’re impressed Brilliant for the kitchen because of the recipe skills and crystal-clear large screen.

We’d improve For all that tech, there has to be a better design than the Show’s hulk of a silhouette.

For more info on choosing a great smart speaker, go to bit.ly/t3smartspeaker

96 T3 a p r i l 2 01 8

2nd

Microsoft Surface Book 2

platinum award

TaBleT TwiST

Microsoft Surface Book 2 15 Is the most powerful laptop-tablet hybrid in the world worth it?

From £2,349 microsoft.com e loved the 13.5-inch version of the Surface Book 2 (reviewed back in issue 278) and now the 15-inch version is here, rocking – naturally – a bigger screen and even more performance.

So much so, that in its field it’s unmatched by anything out there. But at £2,349, it’s also a serious wedge of money, commanding an additional £850 over the 13.5-inch model. is the bigger, beefier model worth your cash?

W

Bigger, but not quite…

The Surface Book 2 looks exactly like the 13.5-inch model, but the 15-inch form factor means more width and length, though thickness is the same at just 15-23mm. It’s also an extra 370g. Physically, they’re not that different, despite the extra screen space.

A bump in resolution to 3240x2160 makes up for the extra 1.5-inches of screen, and it looks tremendously crisp and vivid. Frustratingly, there’s still no bundled Surface Pen (an extra £100) for drawing directly on the screen, which can be popped out to use as a standalone tablet.

The Surface Book 2 15-inch carries a 6GB GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card - a serious gaming GPU which offers loads of graphics performance. It’s even VR-capable. Elsewhere, there’s an 8th gen quad-core Intel Core i7 processor. This leads to blisteringly fast allround performance on the Surface Book 2 and, in partnership with its 16GB of RAM, means solid photo and video editing capabilities.

You get a fairly light 256GB of flash storage.

An optional 1TB SSD gives you loads of space, but it brings the cost up to a princely £3,149.

In terms of raw processor performance, it benchmarks a tiny bit lower than the identically priced 15-inch MacBook Pro, but is close enough to make no odds. The Nvidia 1060, however, absolutely crushes the measly AMD Radeon chips in Apple’s machines. We threw a brace of modern titles at it - Wolfenstein 2 and Rise Of The Tomb Raider – and it handled them at max settings with ease. Impressively, despite all this power, the Surface Book 2 lasted for more than seven hours in our battery test, though the harder you push it, the lower that figure will be.

Verdict we’re impressed Huge amounts of power; amazingly long battery life; gorgeous screen that’s now even bigger. we’d improve Still no Surface Pen included; it’s not cheap. the last word The price tag might be a little lofty, but you’re getting the best, most powerful 2-in-1 laptop in the world.

discover the other best 2-in-1s: bit.ly/best2in1laptops

a p r i l 2 01 8 t3 9 7

Tested

Controls Touch panel Processor Apple A8 Drivers 7x horn-loaded tweeters, 1x high-excursion woofer Microphones Beamforming six-mic array Dimensions 172mm x 142mm x 142mm Weight 2.5kg Requirements iPhone 5S or later Colours Space grey, white

Sound InveStment

Apple HomePod

Apple’s first home speaker in 11 years offers genuinely amazing audio quality, but it’s definitely not for everyone £319 apple.com/uk et’s start with a simple truth about the HomePod: if your family isn’t that into the Apple ecosystem, it isn’t for you. Unlike the Amazon Echo, Google Home or Sonos One, it’s reliant on you having an Apple device to make it function at all, let

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9 8 T3 A P R I L 2 01 8

alone play music. If you want to ask Siri to play music, you’ll need an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription. You can also stream any sound you like to it, but only over AirPlay, Apple’s streaming tech, built into its own products.

Its Apple-centrism does make it really easy to set up – you just turn it on, tap your iPhone to connect to it, and it shares all your Wi-Fi and login details. Then Siri will suggest that you request some music to get started.

That HomePod starts off by taking you into music is smart, because sound quality is absolutely its standout feature. The HomePod’s musical showpiece is its knack for detail. With vocals, acoustic guitar, cymbals and similar elements that have a lot of fidelity to lose or gain depending on the quality of your speaker, it’s almost untouchable compared to similarly small gear.

This may well be down to Apple’s vaunted ‘room-sensing’ tech. Sound

Apple HomePod

reflections can create a kind of cross-talk when you’re listening to music, muddying the finest detail in a recording. Good compensation should bring that back out, and the HomePod’s room compensation is very good indeed.

It’s not all about the high end, though. The HomePod is solid through the mid-range for its size, and impresses when it comes to bass.

The small size of the speaker puts a certain limit on how much bass there can be, but the upward-firing woofer isn’t afraid to let you know it’s there.

You won’t feel the vibrations in your chair the way you might from a bigger speaker, but that it puts out a sound as full as it does is kind of astonishing.

HomePod comfortably bests the other smart speakers of its size for sound quality, but then it does cost a lot more than them, so you’d hope so.

We put it against a Libratone Zipp, too, which is close in price and size, and actually comes close to the HomePod for a vibrant top end, but completely fails to match it for mid-range and bass.

We tried it against a Naim Mu-so Qb next, which is one of the best

Wi-Fi speakers on the market. The Mu-so Qb is bigger, and so takes the HomePod to school when it comes to impact, poise and fullness across the bass and mid-range, but actually the HomePod still has it beaten for clarity and offers a sweeter high end. Which one you prefer would probably come down to the kind of music you like, so we’d call it a draw between them. But the Naim costs around double what the HomePod does – that’s how good Apple’s little speaker is.

There are reports of the HomePod’s base leaving marks on some oiled woods, though we didn’t have any problems with it

Siriously smart?

As good as it sounds, though, the HomePod does stumble when it comes to Siri’s smart assistant abilities. Technically, it’s excellent – it picks up your voice perfectly even over loud music or other noises, and seems to analyse what you have said pretty well.

But what it actually does is limited.

Apple calls it a ‘musicologist’, but we weren’t that impressed by its choice of music recommendations for us – when we asked for “popular Nirvana songs” it gave us obscure album tracks. With specific requests, it was spot on 99 per cent of the time, but by

AndrOId-frIEndlY AlTErnATIVES SonoS one

naiM Mu-So Qb

Sonos’ Alexa-powered smart speaker sounds great and works with Sonos’ whole multi-room range. You can play to it through its app, though it’s getting Apple AirPlay 2 support in the future for easy streaming. £199, sonos.com

This brilliant speaker isn’t smart, but you can play to it over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (via AirPlay, Spotify Connect and Tidal). It’s really powerful for its size, looks great, and offers multi-room through Naim’s app. £749, naimaudio.com

that measure any smart assistant is a musicologist too.

It has other problems too. Only one person’s iCloud account is joined, so only their text messages can be read out or reminders added to their list, but anyone can do this, which is oddly privacy-compromised (you can turn this feature off, though). And it just doesn’t do very much compared to Echo or Google Assistant – Alexa’s Skills might be clunky to trigger, but the flexibility they give the Echo is a really important part of its appeal.

Smart home control is excellent through the HomePod at least. As long as your gear is compatible with HomeKit, it recognises anything you’ve set up in the Home app.

VErdIcT We’re impressed Astoundingly good sound quality; Siri’s voice recognition is excellent.

We’d improve Siri needs a lot more smarts; Bluetooth music streaming would open it up for Android users.

The final word Easily the bestsound speaker for its size we’ve ever heard, but Siri’s limited capabilities and the Apple-only restrictions mean you’ll need to be sure it’s right for you.

Pick the right smart speaker for you at bit.ly/t3smartspeaker

A P R I L 2 01 8 T3 9 9

Tested

Top-shelf sounds The finest all-in-one speaker sets to make your shelves shake and your room rock Words: Alex Cox

One fOr budget crunchers

One fOr traditiOnalists

One fOr spOken wOrd

Q AcousTics BT3

dAli ZensoR 1 AX

KiTsound Reunion

£189, qacoustics.co.uk

£449, dali-speakers.com

£100, kitsound.co.uk

Although it’s expected that bookshelf speakers hide away and don’t make too much visual noise, Q Acoustics’ range of high-gloss coloured finishes give them a unique look. Contrarily, there’s nothing overly remarkable about their sound, but in a way that’s a blessing – they’re flat, balanced, neutral, getting well out of the way and letting your audio source do all the hard work. We’d probably have found a way to put the power and source controls somewhere other than the top, but for the price the BT3 pair is absolutely on the mark.

Dali’s original Zensor 1 loudspeakers have been a reasonably priced hi-fi stalwart for many years. The AX doesn’t mess with the formula, jamming all the relevant electronics in the back of the existing hardware. They push out a sound full of clear expression, rich in the treble and mid-range, with slightly more bass on offer if you put the speakers close to a wall.

That said, Bluetooth playback adds a slight muddiness that doesn’t always jibe, and there’s no on-board way to tweak the mix, which is a bit of a shame.

Clad in a leathery wrap like a guitar amp, and brilliantly small given the volumes they’re capable of, Kitsound’s Reunion speakers are a package which embodies the word compact: compact in size, compact in price and compact, sadly, in audio capabilities. While you can alter the frequencies to suit your preferences, the combined mix doesn’t quite gel, with the beefy low end battering everything else out of the way unless you’re careful. For radio or podcasts they’re perfect, but musical fidelity isn’t the Reunion’s forte.

10 0 T3 a p r i l 2 01 8

All-in-one speakers

eautifully constructed speakers are a joy to behold, but do your cones and tweeters have to be the focal point of the room you place them in? Arguably, given that audio rarely has a visual element to it, that’s the last thing a speaker needs to do.

But moving any old speaker to the edges won’t always work –

B

bookshelf speakers, in particular, are made small, made loud, and made to work with your walls. The six we’ve picked stay well out of the way, and their integrated amplifiers and Bluetooth mean, for the most part, they’re absolutely minimal in terms of wires and extras.

Plug them in, hook up your audio source, and you’re done.

One fOr surprises

One fOr extra tech

One fOr Old-schOOl tunes

RuARK Audio mR1-mK2

YAmAhA nX-n500

Klipsch The siXes

£329, ruarkaudio.com

£649, uk.yamaha.com

£800, henleyaudio.co.uk

Proof that high-end sound doesn’t need the complexity of Yamaha’s NX-N500 or the heft of the Klipsch Sixes, Ruark’s diminutive speakers are an absolute beauty. They look great, with a fashionable milled cloth grille and curves to die for, and crank out exquisitely refined audio, rich in all the right tones. They can be subtle, with an automatic loudness boost at lower volumes to keep everything in focus, but they’re carrying more than enough muscle to go all the way to party volumes with aplomb. For the money, you won’t find better.

The active NX-N500s remind us more of pro-studio monitors than standard bookshelf speakers. Linked by both a chunky XLR cable and a between-speakers Ethernet cable, and individually powered by a pair of kettle leads, they’re far from the most discrete or convenient bookshelf buddies. Then again, they can handle DLNA, Airplay and Spotify Connect, they’re stunning to look at, and they carry one of the most crispy and satisfying soundstages around. If you’re comfortable routing a few wires, your music is in very good hands.

The Klipsch pair embodies a far burlier form than its more compact bookshelf rivals on this list, but the functionality and connectivity is all there, operated through a convenient old-school front panel interface or more modern slimline remote. Gold trim and a classic wood and mesh combo add to the speaker’s retro appeal, and there’s a phono preamp on board when you’re ready to get that vinyl spinning up. Make no mistake, though, the sound of Klipsch’s combo is no ancient relic: it’s a lively, impeccably engineered mix.

a p r i l 2 01 8 T3 101

Tested

PlAtiNuM AWArd

action camera

panasonic lumix G9 Panasonic’s new mirrorless model is built for capturing fast action at high frame rates £1,499 (body only) panasonic.co.uk

camera settings to another. It’s welcome, but for a camera of its size, it’s a bit small and fiddly.

Fast at speed illed as the u ltimate outdoor and wildlife camera, the G9 is Panasonic’s new flagship stillsoriented camera. With a focus on fast-burst shooting and refinements to its AF system, this 20-megapixel snapper is up against the action-focused canon eOS 7d Mark ii and the Nikon d500.

The G9 is pretty big for a Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera – but that’s no bad thing, because it gives it better handling with larger lenses. It’s about the same size as a mid-range enthusiast DSLR, but the smaller sensor does mean that the lenses for this camera are smaller and lighter than their DSLR counterparts.

The inclusion of a top-plate LCD means that settings info is presented clearly – perhaps not as large as on similar DSLR displays, but the range of data here is broad. Another nice feature is a lever on the front of the camera which allows you to switch from one combination of

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The G9 is designed as a dedicated sports/action specialist, and the primary controls you’ll need are pretty straightforward. Underneath the main mode dial is a drive mode dial with settings for single-shot mode, continuous shooting and Panasonic’s 6K Photo modes.

It might not be a video specialist like Panasonic’s GH5 or GH5S, but the G9 can still capture 4K 60fps video, and Full HD at up to 180fps up to 6x slow-motion effect on playback.

The G9 delivers the same kind of practically instant focusing we’ve become used to with Lumix cameras. Panasonic uses a contrastbased autofocus system, which some camera fans tend to skeptical of for fast-moving subjects, but it works brilliantly here.

So what about the image quality? Micro Four Thirds sensors are about half the size of ASP-C, and this has some impact on image quality at higher ISO settings, but at low-to-medium sensitivities, the G9’s images are a match for any DSLR’s with the same resolution.

Verdict We’re impressed Instant focus; great for shooting fast-moving subjects; excellent image quality; good grip, especially with longer lenses.

We’d improve A little on the large side; the lever is fiddly to use; expensive for just shooting static subjects.

The last word The Panasonic G9 is a fast and effective mirrorless camera for both 4K video and fast-action photography.

Discover the best camera bags: bit.ly/bestcamerabags

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iSSUe 281 on sAle friDAy 13 April

oPerationS eDitor anDrew weStbrook andrew.westbrook@futurenet.com ProDUction eDitor kimberley ballarD kimberley.ballard@futurenet.com global eDitor-in-chief PaUl DoUglaS paul.douglas@futurenet.com Senior art eDitor jo gUlliver jo.gulliver@futurenet.com eDitorial & art contribUtorS Duncan Bell, Chris Barnes, Alex Cox, olly Curtis, neil Godwin, Damian Hall, spencer Hart, robert jones, stephen Kelly, sam loveridge, Vicky philpott, Gary stuckey, steve Wright aDvertiSing Media packs are available on request CoMMerCiAl sAles DireCtor clare Dove clare.dove@futurenet.com ACCount DireCtor anDrew tilbUry andrew.tilbury@futurenet.com ADVertisinG DireCtor, teCHnoloGy richarD hemmingS richard.hemmings@futurenet.com HeAD of strAteGiC pArtnersHips clare jonik clare.jonik@futurenet.com Group HeAD, AGenCy tracey henDle tracey.hendle@futurenet.com international t3 is available for licensing. Contact the international department to discuss partnership opportunities internAtionAl liCensinG DireCtor matt elliS matt.ellis@futurenet.com Print SUbScriPtionS & back iSSUeS email enquiries t3@myfavouritemagazines.co.uk uK orderline & enquiries 0844 848 2852 overseas order line and enquiries +44 (0) 344 848 2852 online orders & enquiries www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk circUlation HeAD of neWstrADe tim matherS ProDUction HeAD of proDuCtion uK & us mark conStance proDuCtion projeCt MAnAGer clare Scott ADVertisinG proDuCtion MAnAGer joanne croSby DiGitAl eDitions Controller jaSon hUDSon proDuCtion Co-orDinAtor nola cokely management MAnAGinG DireCtor aaron aSaDi CoMMerCiAl finAnCe DireCtor Dan jotcham eDitoriAl DireCtor PaUl newman HeAD of Art & DesiGn roDney Dive PrinteD in the Uk by William Gibbons on behalf of future.

DiStribUteD in the U.k by Marketforce (uK), 2nd floor, 5 Churchill place, Canary Wharf, london, e14 5Hu www.marketforce.co.uk tel: 0203 787 9060 issn 1364-2641 We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from responsibly managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. the paper in this magazine was sourced and produced from sustainable managed forests, conforming to strict environmental and socioeconomic standards. the manufacturing paper mill holds full FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification and accreditation All contents © 2018 future publishing limited or published under licence. All rights reserved. no part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. future publishing limited (company number 2008885) is registered in england and Wales. registered office: Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. you are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.

UPgraDe everything!

Meet…

Your next phone Your smarter home Your new sound system Your sharper watch And tons more!

Future plc is a public company quoted on the London stock exchange (symbol: FUTR) www.futureplc.com

Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne non-executive chairman Richard Huntingford Chief financial officer Penny Ladkin-Brand tel +44 (0)1225 442 244

samsung Galaxy s9 reviewed Dolby Atmos soundbars rated step up your golf game with tech j u n e 2 01 5 T3 1 21

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Competition

win!

A loewe bild 3.55 55-inch oled 4k hdR smARt tv Loewe’s stunning TV will radically enhance your viewing experience, and make your lounge look seriously hip

Worth £2,990!

if you’ve been hankering after one of loewe’s upmarket tellies for some time, now’s the time to get on it. The loewe Bild 3.55 looks every bit the part – handmade in Germany, it’s sleek, minimal and a little bit posh – and is packed with the best in premium TV tech, but is a good deal more affordable than loewe’s super-luxury, even higher-end TVs. And here’s the good news: you can win one right here in T3!

We love the loewe Bild 3.55, in fact we gave it a commendable four stars in issue 279, and we’re sure you’ll love it too. The Bild 3.55 is, of course, great to look at, with its 4.9mm-thick screen resting above a soundbar wrapped in a neat charcoal fabric.

But there’s much more to the Bild 3.55 than just looks. The 55-inch OlED panel is stunning, especially when hooked up to 10 4 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

4K and HDr sources. The unsullied blacks of OlED, combined with fine levels of detail and vibrant colour, make for a heady cocktail. This dramatic zing benefits pretty much anything you care to watch.

The Bild 3.55 supports HDr10, broadcast HlG and Dolby Vision, so you’re nicely covered whatever you play on it. its menu interface is sharp and practical, and on-demand viewing consists of BBC iplayer, Amazon 4K, Tidal, Deezer, lumas, and more to follow later this year.

You won’t even need an additional soundbar to make the most of the visuals – the integrated sound system is a welcome addition. rated at 2x40w, its stereo soundstage is clear and punchy.

To find out more about the Loewe Bild 3.55, head over to loewe.tv

To enter, simply answer the following question:

whaT does hdR sTand foR? High Definition Revival High Dynamic Range Hi Def Reframe enter today at: bit.ly/t3loewe

The competition closes 12 April 2018. By taking part, you agree to be bound by the competition rules: futureplc.com/competition-rules. Entries must be received by midnight on 12 April 2018 (UK time). Open to UK residents aged 18 years and over. There will be one winner, entitled to one loewe Bild 3.55 TV. The prize is non-transferable and non-refundable. There is no cash alternative.

best of the best The world’s best tech, all in one place Edited by Matthew Bolton

if you’re looking for the very best tech available today, you have definitely come to the right place.

Best of the Best is the most useful gadget-buying guide you will ever encounter. To create it, we’ve ruthlessly filtered down to the biggest groups, to bring you rock-solid recommendations for your home life, daily commute and the tech you use all the time.

Within each of those groups, we’ve got a dozen categories for key tech buys. We’ve picked one product for every category that we think is the best you can get on balance, taking into account price, quality and features, so it’s easy to know what you need in your life.

You should also check out T3.com, where you’ll find even more categories, if you’re looking for something that isn’t here.

From big-budget buys to the little (but essential) accessories, we’ve got you covered.

inside 106

entertainment

107

aUdio

108

LiFestYLe

109

aUto

110

smart home

111

LivinG

112

ComPUtinG

113

traveL & oUtdoors

A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 10 5

Best of the best best of…

EntErtainmEnt

However serious you are about your tV, movies and gaming setups, we’ve got the perfect buys for a tricked-out living room oleD 4K tV

Value 4K tV soNy A1e series Incredible 4K HDR is only a tiny part of this awesome package. The panel (55- or 65-inch) and bezel are super-slim, it offers lightning response times, and great sound comes from a screen that’s also a speaker.

From £2,800, sony.co.uk

top-enD 4K tV

hiseNse N6800 This is some serious 4K quality for the price, with vibrant colours and HDR support, excellent detail, and a wealth of smart features. The design is sharp, and it comes in 50-, 55-, 65- or 75-inch sizes.

From £549, hisense.co.uk

4K HDr projector loewe bild 9 Loewe creates art just as much as it does high-end AV equipment, and its towering, sculptural Bild 9 TV is as attractive as it is exquisitely powerful, with a hidden soundbar and top picture quality. £8,990, loewe.tv

Value 4K Blu-ray player

oPToMA uhz65 This projector brings cinema-like laser 4K projector to the home for an affordable price, meaning giant-screen Ultra HD detail with the richness of HDR. It’s unbeatable for home movie magic. £4,999, optoma.co.uk

top-enD 4K Blu-ray player

XboX oNe s Yes, this is primarily a games console, but it’s a damn good UHD Blu-ray player too. Why pay more for something that just plays discs when you could be getting your game on with the money left over? £199, microsoft.com

4K streamer

oPPo udP-203 If you’re a home cinema enthusiast and want the best picture quality possible, this is the player you need. 4K playback is impeccable, and Dolby Vision HDR support means amazing depth. £649, oppodigital.com

uniVersal remote AMAzoN Fire TV wiTh 4K ulTrA hd The new super-small Fire TV 4K offers Ultra HD movies with HDR support, as well as Dolby Atmos 3D audio where supported, for a seriously cinematic experience from a tiny box. £69, amazon.co.uk

tV sounDBar

aV receiVer Q AcousTics M3 This brilliant soundbar offers balanced drivers, room-filling sound and an integrated subwoofer. Massive audio in a small, attractive bar, ideal for adding cinematic sound, with no messing around. £299, qacoustics.co.uk

portaBle games console NiNTeNdo swiTch Not the most powerful current-gen console, but with Nintendo’s legendary games line-up and the flexibility to play in stacks of different control configurations, it’s the best portable machine you can buy. £279, nintendo.com 10 6 T3 a p r i l 2 01 8

logiTech hArMoNy eliTe a dual-purpose remote, as at home in your hands as it is sat in the corner of your living room, controlling everything from your TV to your lighting. You can even control it from a phone app! £279, logitech.com

MArANTz Nr1608 Small enough for any setup but packing in features, this receiver offers 7.2-channel surround, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D audio, eight 4K 60Hz HDMI ports, Wi-Fi music playback and smart 4K upscaling. £595, marantz.co.uk

4K games console XboX oNe X The most powerful console ever is a true technical marvel, capable of astonishing graphics in native 4K and HDR, and Dolby Atmos 3D sound. It even includes highquality 4K Blu-ray playback. £449, xbox.com/en-gb

Best of the best best of…

Audio

From wireless convenience to audiophile heaven, this is the gear you need to make the most of your favourite music multi-room sPeakers

Wi-Fi sPeaker

sonos onE pound for pound, this is a hell of a lot of speaker for your money, easily filling a room, and expandable through the versatile Sonos speaker range. Built-in Alexa support clinches it for Sonos. £199, sonos.com

Portable bluetooth sPeaker

naiM Mu-so it’s expensive, but there just isn’t a better sounding or looking wireless speaker for the price. The sound is monumentally excellent, and it supports a solid range of streaming options. £1,199, naimaudio.com

Wireless over-ear headPhones

CaMbridgE audio yoyo M These portable speakers are made for wireless stereo sound and come as a pair (though you can use one on its own). They offer punchy audio in an impressively wide sound field, and look great, too. £249, cambridgeaudio.com

Wireless in-ear headPhones

bowErs & wilKins PX These stylish headphones are also technical marvels, boasting adjustable noise cancellation via an app. They pause automatically when you take them off, last ages, and sound absolutely fantastic. £329, bowers-wilkins.co.uk

Wired over-ear headPhones

FlarEs Pro These headphones plug into a mini-DaC you need to clip about your person, but the result is truly amazing sound for the size. It’s audiophile stuff, with beautiful stereo channel separation. £349, flareaudio.com

Wired in-ear headPhones

bowErs & wilKins P9 signaturE These are open-backed headphones, so they let sound in and out, but the quality is astounding, especially through a serious headphone DaC/amp setup – and they’re wonderful with compressed music too. £699, bowers-wilkins.co.uk

Portable high-res Player

KEF M100 This blend of KEF’s traditional audiophile instincts with comfortable contemporary styling is a fantastic product, great value, and the best in-ear headphones, pound for pound, that you can get. £89, uk.kef.com

hi-Fi streamer

astEll & KErn Kann a substantial audio device at nearly 300g, but one that does incredible things. It’s a DaC in its own right, it’s an astonishing hi-res player, and its massive battery will keep you rocking for days on end. £899, astellnkern.com

bookshelF sPeakers naiM uniti atoM an immensely stylish streamer with a great screen, that’s compatible with a host of music streaming services. It’ll play anything on your network and via Chromecast, AirPlay and Bluetooth aptX. £1,999, naimaudio.com

hi-Fi stereo amP CaMbridgE audio azur 851a Nine easily selected inputs and Cambridge Audio’s own patented Class XD amplifier design combine to make this a truly unique and special amp, one that can stand up to any musical test. £1,400, cambridgeaudio.com

wharFEdalE diaMond 220 These are great value, yet offer up 13cm Kevlar mid/bass drivers, deep-dish tweeters and outstandingly punchy sound. place them next to a wall for the strongest output from the rear-set bass port. £179 (pair), wharfedale.co.uk

turntable Marantz tt5005 Not a looker, but when it comes to practicality and sound, the TT5005’s automatic tone arm and moving magnet cartridge are unparalleled. It even includes a pre-amp for amps without phono input. £169, marantz.co.uk a p r i l 2 01 8 T3 107

Best of the best best of…

lifestyle

Kit yourself out with the ultimate in personal technology. this is the stuff you use every day, so make sure you get it spot on with our picks android phonE

prEmium phonE

SamSunG GalaXy S8 Tremendously fast, with an Infinity Display that almost completely eliminates bezels, cameras that work in any light, and irisscanning security. Samsung’s flagship is as much an experience as it is a phone. from £579, samsung.com

mid-rangE phonE

aPPle iPhOne X Somehow earning its colossal price tag, this is a masterpiece of design and engineering. The screen is the best out there, the camera is fantastic, and it feels like a device from the near future. £999, apple.com/uk

ValuE phonE

hOnOr View 10 it’s at the upper end of mid-range, but this is one hell of a phone for the money.

You get a beautiful 18:9 display, premium design, powerful processor, ai smarts, and excellent battery life. £449, hihonor.com

Smartwatch

mOTOrOla mOTO G5 There’s a lot on offer here that you wouldn’t expect under £200, from its part-aluminium case to its 1080p display to its integrated fingerprint scanner. A quality phone which runs android 7, too. from £170, motorola.co.uk

hybrid watch aPPle waTch SerieS 3 Nothing in the smartwatch market does more than the apple Watch, and this third generation can do it all without a tethered phone – perfect for keeping your life in order whatever you happen to be doing. from £329, apple.com/uk

analoguE watch

miSfiT PhaSe Smartwatch functionality without the screen – all the alerts, connectivity and activity tracking you desire, packed into a stunning and completely inconspicuous analogue watch with a six-month battery.

From £135, misfit.com

FitnESS trackEr

mOndaine STOP2GO Mondaine’s classic design features a second hand that takes 58 seconds to go around, then pauses for two, mimicking the Swiss railway station clocks it’s based on. A classy and timeless piece. £479, mondaine.com

bluEtooth trackEr Tile Slim a tiny keyring-sized square that helps your phone keep tabs on your wallet and vice versa, with a selection of ringtones, a year’s battery life, and the endurance to last a lifetime sitting in your back pocket. £30, thetileapp.com

ElEctric razor PhiliPS SerieS 9000 S9211/26 This razor is incredibly comfortable to use, almost feeling like it’s just wishing the stubble away as it goes over your face – but the hair definitely goes, even when you’re dealing with a few days of growth. £210, philips.co.uk 10 8 T3 a p r i l 2 01 8

fiTbiT charGe 2 it’s not the most feature-packed tracker on the market, but it wins out for comfort and amazing app support that can make it part of a complete fitness program as it tracks sleep, steps, distance and more. £99, fitbit.com

ErEadEr Kindle OaSiS Ultra-thin, lighter than a flimsy paperback, and weighted to be held in one hand, the Oasis takes digital reading to the next level. Clip on the leather charging cover and you’re set for months of books. £269, amazon.co.uk

ElEctric toothbruSh PhiliPS SOnicare diamOndclean SOnic Whiten and polish with the vibrations from this versatile brush, which whips your toothpaste into a bubbly frenzy to get between your teeth more effectively. £149, philips.co.uk

Best of the best best of…

Auto

Get the best driving experience possible. No matter whether you tend to go for two wheels or four – these are the top vehicles and accessories around Family Car

Fun Car voLvo Xc60 Well-appointed and exquisitely designed, this mid-size hybrid SUV has all the entertainment options you need, the poise to make those long journeys smooth and enjoyable, and is safe as houses.

From £35,655, volvocars.com/uk

City eleCtriC Car

JaGuar F-type in coupé or convertible form, the latest F-Type rules the road. Fine lines, amazing agility and a two-litre, four-cylinder turbo engine that kicks hard without costing the earth. You’ll be grinning behind the wheel.

From £48,830, jaguar.co.uk

long-range eleCtriC Car

bmW i3 The i3 is a responsive, highly practical electric runabout packed with connectivity options and enough power in its 170bhp motor to hit 62mph in just 7.3 seconds. perfect for a daily commute.

From £30,250, bmw.co.uk

Smart ConneCtor

teSLa moDeL S 100D Safe, super-smart and speedy, Tesla’s all-electric saloon has everything you’d expect and more. it’s a true technological marvel, with a range of over 350 miles, so even long journeys are no problem.

From £93,388, tesla.com

Sat-nav

LoGitech Zerotouch Transform your Android phone into an Alexa-powered voice assistant for your car. This car holder connects to your phone over Bluetooth to provide voice and gesture control when driving. £49, logitech.com

daSh Cam

tomtom Go 6200 Sat-nav brought bang up to date, with pinperfect mapping joined by on-board Wi-Fi, a data SiM to keep you up to date with the traffic, and full hands-free facilities for your phone, including narrated alerts. £229, tomtom.com

in-Car Charging Garmin DaSh cam 55 Constantly watching the road, the Dash Cam 55 does more than record footage and save it in case of an incident. Driverawareness warnings will tell you if you’re too close or veering out of your lane. £149, garmin.com

eleCtriC bike

Stk hub Five ports in two parts – a pair plugged into the 12V socket, and three in the back via an extension module – means everyone in the car can share the Hub’s 10.8A of charging power at one time. £25, stklife.com

eleCtriC Folding bike Gtech ebike SportS You still need to pedal, but Gtech’s battery assist makes a huge difference in acceleration and torque, meaning you’ll handle hills with ease and leave other road users standing at the lights. £995, gtech.co.uk

Smart helmet

tern vektron Collapsible into a luggage-sized package via a super-robust hinged frame, and adjustable in seconds to fit riders up to 6ft 5in, this Bosch-driven bike feels more like a full-size cycle than you’d think. £2,980, ternbicycles.com

bike-nav LivaLL 2017 Smart heLmet A connected helmet with turn signals, speakers for safe Bluetooth calling, ridetracking facilities to keep you pushing harder, and an SOS alert which detects impacts and shares your location. £90, livall.com

beeLine bike compaSS More of a traditional navigation device than a modern one, the backlit E-ink display of the Beeline constantly points to your destination and tells you how far precisely you have left to ride. £99, beeline.co A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 10 9

Best of the best best of…

smart home

Upgrade your house with the best tech for monitoring security, saving energy and controlling everything from one place Voice assistant

smart Lighting system

amazon ecHo Alexa is everywhere these days, but nowhere is Amazon’s Ai more at home than in its Echo. it couples an awesome array microphone with pleasing design for the perfect assistant experience. £90, amazon.co.uk

smart doorbeLL

PHiLiPS Hue philips is the big name in smart lighting, thanks to a flexible, expandable system.

Great app control, clever lighting options and integrations with other smart home devices make it the brightest of the bunch.

From £50 (starter kit), philips.co.uk

smart security

ring video doorbeLL 2 part motion-detecting security camera, part ring-anywhere doorbell, the Video Doorbell 2 alerts you via your smartphone when you have a visitor – and you can two-way talk even if you’re not home. £179, ring.com

LifestyLe Wi-fi camera

Y-cam ProTecT Y-Cam’s smart networked alarm supports up to 32 sensors and alerts your phone if it detects motion, or doors or windows are breached – and the built-in battery and phone SiM means it works in a blackout. £149, y-cam.com

smart security camera

Logi circLe 2 Wired No smart home cam is as fun to use as this – instead of CCTV, it’s more like a Fitbit of home monitoring. It provides a sped-up “brief” of the day, two-way communication, has a 180° camera and Alexa control. £149, logitech.com

door & WindoW sensors

neTgear arLo Pro With a battery lasting months inside each camera, the Arlo system does away with the painful process of wiring your security cameras, and you get seven-day cloud storage of motion-detected recordings. £470 (two cameras), netgear.co.uk

smart Lock

Hive WindoW or door SenSor Super-simple to install, reasonably priced, and highly inconspicuous once they’re up, Hive’s sensors are a great addition to an existing Hive set-up and there’s even one in the Hive starter pack. £29 each, hivehome.com

smart pLug

YaLe conexiS L1 Unlock your front door with a key fob, a phone tag or using Yale’s cool Bluetooth Twist and Go tech – just turn your phone 90 degrees and you’re in. PA24-certified for security, and tamper-proof, too. £230, yale.co.uk

Weather station TP-Link HS110 This Wi-Fi-connected smart plug needs no hub to get working – just plug and go. it tracks your energy usage, can be controlled remotely through the app, and is half the price of its competitors. £24.99, tp-link.com

thermostat

smart hub neST Learning THermoSTaT This is a crowded market, but Nest’s quality app, clever preference-learning tech and automatic energy-saving options push it to the top for us. Plus the 3rd-gen Nest looks amazing on the wall. £200, nest.com

110 T3 A p r i l 2 01 8

neTaTmo WeaTHer STaTion Netatmo’s outdoor sensor pulls in metrics about temperature, humidity and more, but it’s the indoor sensor, which keeps tabs on the air quality and CO2 levels in your home, completes the package. £120, netatmo.com/en-gb

amazon ecHo PLuS The Echo plus isn’t just Alexa – its built-in hub can discover and control tech from philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Hive and others directly, so you don’t need a hub for every different home tech brand. £139, amazon.co.uk

Best of the best best of…

Living

The home and garden technology that makes life easier, from cooking and cleaning to lifestyle luxuries Coffee maker

kettle GaGGia NaviGlio Everything you need to create a delicious bean-to-cup brew at an entry-level price.

Gaggia’s pedigree is all poured into this quality espresso maker, and proves you don’t need to spend a penny more. £399, gaggia.uk.com

Cooker

SaGe By heStoN BlumeNthal SmaRt Kettle The perfect cup of tea requires careful temperature control. The Sage kettle offers five options, and can keep itself nicely warm for 20 minutes. £89, sageappliances.co.uk

miCrowave RaNGemaSteR eliSe 110 Want the versatility of gas hobs and the reliability of an electric oven? This dual-fuel range is the ultimate in kitchen convenience, with six solid burners, two ovens and a grill with glide-out action. £2,379, rangemaster.co.uk

DehumiDifier

SamSuNG mS28J5215aS The most attractive metal box your kitchen counter has ever seen – it almost looks like a Galaxy S8 – with a host of settings, such as a deodorisation blast for purging the scent of last night’s meal. £139, samsung.com/uk

Purifier meaco 25l ultRa low eNeRGy dehumidiFieR This small unit can drag 25 litres of water out of the air in a day, perfect for drying clothes indoors without the risk of mould or condensation ruining your windows. £299, meaco.com

washing maChine miele wKG 120 Pre-load enough detergent for 30 washes, fill the 8kg drum, and watch it spin. But you’ll struggle to hear it: Miele’s premium washer is near-silent, even when it’s steaming your clothes to reduce wrinkles. £1,249, miele.co.uk

robot vaCuum

PhiliPS ac3256 aiR PuRiFieR Philips’ device doesn’t just do a great job of cleaning the air in your room, it lets you know the current quality at a glance with its glowing coloured ring. If it turns red, it’s time to clear out for a while… £339, philips.com

Dishwasher aeG comFoRtliFt FSS62800P ComfortLift means just that. Pull out the bottom rack and it rises up to meet you, meaning you won’t need to bend to fill this A++ rated washer. It even opens the door at the end of the cycle to let off steam. £989, aeg.co.uk

manual vaCuum Neato Botvac coNNected d5 This rapidly clears hard floors and carpets, its D shape helping it get into corners well.

It sends your phone a map of where it’s managed to clean, and can be triggered from the app, through Alexa, or manually. £599, amazon.co.uk

robot lawnmower RoBomow RS635 Not a blade of grass out of place, particularly once the Robomow activates its edge mode. With 56cm cutting width and up to 100 minutes’ work time on a charge, it’ll cover even the largest lawns.

From £2,199, robomow.com

dySoN BiG Ball What Dyson has got spot on here is the weight of the Big Ball cylinder and how it navigates and balances – righting itself, even. Suction is exemplary, and there’s a variant for pet hair, if you need it. £370, dyson.co.uk

Pressure washer KaeRcheR K7 By using multiple pressure layers and an adjustable spray lance, Kaercher’s premium water blaster cleans efficiently and quickly, with enough options available to scrub just about any surface or vehicle. £569, kaercher.com A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 111

Best of the best best of…

computing

From gaming paradise to mobile workhorses to tablets with laptop power, these computer and accessory picks will increase your productivity ultrAPortAble lAPtoP

Pro lAPtoP

hp SpecTRe 13 4K an incredibly thin, light and beautiful laptop, with a dense, high-end 4K panel.

Despite being 1cm thick, it doesn’t skimp on the power either, thanks to an intel Core i7 processor.

From £1,599, hp.com

gAming lAPtoP

micRoSoFT SuRFace BooK 2 15 This super-flexible laptop brings huge intel quad-core power and Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics to a thin frame, but also the ability to detach the screen and use it as a generously sized 15-inch tablet. £2,349, microsoft.com

gAming Pc aSuS Rog zephyRuS gX501 This is an amazing piece of engineering.

Despite being incredibly thin and light (2.2kg), it packs insanely powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics, a quad-core processor, and a 120Hz 1080p display. £2,799, asus.com

All-in-one

alienwaRe auRoRa R6 Compact, cool and nowhere near as ostentatious as many larger gaming pCs tend to be, the aurora r6 (particularly in its water-cooled configuration) is a great way to get Vr-gaming ready.

From £1,449, dell.com/en-uk/gaming

4K monitor apple imac wiTh 5K ReTina DiSplay There’s never been a screen like this.

Big enough for every task, detailed, bright, colourful, and it happens to have a Mac stuffed in the back of it as well.

From £1,749, apple.com/uk

gAming heAdset

SamSung u28e590D Everyone’s getting in on the 4K game, but Samsung’s 28-inch panel is yet to be bested. a 1ms response time means it’s perfect for even twitchy games, and 60Hz 4K action is just a Displayport away. £300, samsung.com/uk

mechAnicAl KeyboArd

STeelSeRieS aRcTiS 7 Super-comfortable thanks to SteelSeries’ ski-goggle-inspired headband, with great full-range drivers and a studio-quality mic, all in a wireless package which features DTS Headphone:X 7.1 surround sound. £139, steelseries.dk

gAming mouse

cougaR 700K Made for serious gaming with every possible mod con – from the FpS wrist rest to repeat rates adjustable on the fly – with your choice of Cherry MX switches to get the exact experience you’re after. £125, cougargaming.com

Premium tAblet RazeR DeaThaDDeR eliTe razer’s Chroma-lit mouse is ultraergonomic for even the most awkward hands, and its Omron switches (good for 50 million clicks, apparently) are only bested by the 16,000 Cpi optical sensor. £69, razerzone.com/gb-en

mid-rAnge tAblet apple ipaD 5Th-gen apple’s latest consumer-grade ipad does amazing things considering its incredible price point. its a9 processor is blazing fast, the 9.7-inch retina display is rich and sharp, and its software library unmatched.

From £339, apple.com/uk 11 2 T3 a p r i l 2 01 8

apple ipaD pRo The ipad pro is more than a tablet. it’s a creative toolkit, a processing powerhouse, and an essential addition to any mobile workflow, whether you opt for the 10.5-inch or 12.9-inch model.

From £619, apple.com/uk

VAlue tAblet amazon FiRe hD 8 While it’s a budget device, don’t expect budget performance. The Fire HD 8 offers up everything you need for a smooth experience, and enough muscle to deal with anything you can throw at it.

From £80, amazon.co.uk

Best of the best best of…

travel & outdoors Whether you’re off for a holiday or just hitting the running trail, get the most from your trips with these amazing tech buys entry-level Dslr

Full-FraMe Dslr

CAnon eos 800D Make no mistake: the EOS 800D’s tech, trickled down from higher models in the line, is remarkable. It offers up 45-point autofocus, a touch-sensitive screen and awesome image quality. £779, canon.com

Mirrorless caMera

nikon D850 This 45.7-megapixel camera takes full advantage of its big full-frame sensor to produce truly astounding images. On top of that, it’s packed with great features, and is easy to handle. pretty much perfect. £3,499, nikon.com

coMpact caMera

PAnAsoniC luMiX G9 A super-fast focus makes it easy to grab the moment in beautiful detail on this camera’s 20-megapixel sensor. Add in 4K video, a viewfinder and a top-mounted lCD for settings, and you’ve got a winner. £1,499, panasonic.com

action caMera GoPro Hero6 blACk The most advanced action camera on the planet can shoot stunning 4K video at 60fps, with advanced stabilisation making footage super-smooth and realistic. It’s also waterproof to 10m without a case. £499, gopro.com

running Watch GArMin Forerunner 935 The Forerunner 935 measures every aspect of your workout, from heart rate to complex running metrics like ground contact time. it helps you to improve posture and upgrade your pace. £469, garmin.com

battery pack

sony rZ100 v Speed runs in the Sony family, and if you’re pointing and shooting, you want your pocket camera to perform. The RZ100 V really does, with 4K video, 0.05 second autofocus and a Bionz X processor. £949, sony.co.uk

caMera Drone DJi MAviC Pro The Mavic pro folds into a small package, but that’s only one of its talents. More affordable than the phantom 4, capable of shooting awesome video and 27 minutes flight time with a four-mile range. £999, dji.com

WaterprooF portable speaker ue wonDerbooM As at home on the beach or floating in the pool than it would be in your kitchen, the UE Wonderboom generates a 360-degree sound from its tiny IPX7-rated shell. Up to ten hours of battery life is great, too. £79, ultimateears.com

charging cable Anker PowerCore 20000 Being away from a power socket doesn’t mean you’re away from power. Anker’s battery pack can charge an iphone 7 seven times, determine the best way to charge your devices, and weighs only 350g. £29, anker.com/uk

back-up phone

sTk binAry 3 There’s no universal charging port on modern gadgets, but there is a universal cable – this has adapters for compatibility with micro-USB, USB-C and Lightning, with brilliant braiding so it won’t fray. £30, stklife.com

universal charger nokiA 3310 The 3310 will win no awards for its tech, that’s true. But for a bargain price like this, with a battery that goes on and on, it’s the perfect second phone to chuck in a bag when you’re hitting the great outdoors. £49, nokia.com

Mu worlDwiDe TrAveller Duo Two ports for a pair of devices that can charge at once, a range of foldable plug pin connectors for different countries, and the thinnest design we’ve seen for a USB wall charger. £34, themu.co.uk A p r i l 2 01 8 T3 113

vices

Guilty pleasures to seriously spoil yourself

b e r lu ti profil 2 l e ath e r b r ie fc a se Seriously luxurious luggage is as much of an addiction as suits or whiskies for some people. If that’s you, may we recommend this briefcase from Berluti? With its simple design – a smooth Venezia leather outer, crafted in Italy, no less – it doesn’t shout about itself, but accents such as the beautifully stitched carry-handle mounts and brass hardware with ‘Ruthenium’ finish give it the air of class. There’s a flat leather-edged pocket at the front, and two more round the back, while the interior gets a single central zippered pocket for stowing your precious belongings. £3,250 berluti.com

NEXT issuE is oN salE Friday 13 april Upgrade your life with the best new phones, home tech, watches, and more…

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