BEST TECH OF THE YEAR GADGETS / GAMES / GEAR
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Carbon fibre cans Robots go off-road Retro arcade cabs & a talking paperclip
£4.99 Jan 2020 www.stuff.tv
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Go Beyond
DALI’s IO6 wireless, noise cancelling headphones enable you to fully immerse yourself in music. Designed in Denmark, these stunning headphones allow you to hear your music exactly as the artist intended. With 30hours battery life, these durable, comfortable headphones are built for extended listening, with a natural transparent sound that never tires.
DALI iO | Go with Music www.dali-speakers.com
Welcome Tech is about looking forward, but sometimes it’s nice to dip into the archives. Hot-tub-time-machining it back to the 2009 Stuff Awards, somewhat incredulously I discovered that the HTC Hero beat the Apple iPhone 3GS to win Gadget of the Year. It must have been that 5MP camera and 3.2in touchscreen. And so on to the 2019 Stuff Awards; the official final word on a thrilling decade in tech that’s seen us embrace everything from 3D to 4K, AI, AR, VR, 5G and ‘phablets’ (a word that still brings me out in cold sweats). We’ve got winners in 20 massive categories, including two very special reader awards chosen by you fine people, so thank you for voting in your droves. Head over to p32 to discover what our la familia of experts has deemed the best of the best this year. Odds are your posterior has been largely planted on the sofa for the past couple of weeks, so we’re also doing our bit for post-festive obesity with a winter fitness feature to get you in the gym or out on the pistes – that’s if strapping oversized lolly sticks to your feet and throwing yourself down a mountain is your idea of fun. I mean, you could just go to the Milton Keynes Snozone… no, as you were. Enjoy the issue and let’s smash 2020.
Advertising: Tandem Media 01233 228757 Richard Rowe (richard.rowe@ tandemmedia.co.uk) Ad Operations Manager Martin Williams Ad Production Manager Andy Welch (01233 220245, stuff@ tandemmedia.co.uk) Management Managing Director Phil Weeden Chief Executive Steve Wright Chairman Steve Annetts Finance Director Joyce Parker-Sarioglu Publishing Director Kevin McCormick Publishing Operations Manager Charlotte Whittaker Retail Distribution Managers Eleanor Brown, Steve Brown Audience Development Manager Andy Cotton Head of Events Kat Chappell Senior Print Production Manager Nicola Pollard Print Production Manager Georgina Harris Print Production Controller Alicia Stewart Subscription Marketing Manager Nick McIntosh • Volume 24 issue 1 • ISSN: 1364-963 • On sale 26 Dec 2019 • Audit Bureau of Circulations: 39,953 (Jan-Dec 2018)
James Day, Editor-in-Chief / @James_A_Day DISTRIBUTION Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT www.seymour.co.uk Tel: 020 7429 4000 PRINTING William Gibbons & Sons Ltd
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Kelsey Media 2019 © All rights reserved. Kelsey Media is a trading name of Kelsey Publishing Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden except with permission in writing from the publishers. Note to contributors: articles submitted for consideration by the editor must be the original work of the author and not previously published. Where photographs are included, which are not the property of the contributor, permission to reproduce them must have been obtained from the owner of the copyright. The Editor cannot guarantee a personal response to all letters and emails received. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor or the Publisher. Kelsey Publishing Ltd accepts no liability for products and services offered by third parties. Kelsey Media takes your personal data very seriously. For more information on our privacy policy, please visit www.kelsey.co.uk/privacy-policy/ If at any point you have any queries regarding Kelsey’s data policy you can email our Data Protection Officer at dpo@kelsey.co.uk
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Making Stuff up Editor-in-Chief James Day Hot Stuff Editor Matt Tate Online Editor Natalya Paul Contributors Andrew Williams, Craig Grannell, Andrew Hayward, Sam Kieldsen, Tom Wiggins, Tom Morgan, Verity Burns, Chris Rowlands, Simon Lucas, Basil Kronfli, Leon Poultney, Chris Haslam, Kieran Alger, Joe Svetlik, Vikki Blake, Alan Wen, Jon Denton, Richard Purvis, Ross Presly
I RELIVED SOME TEENAGE CAR MAG FANTASIES I really wanted a Toyota Supra when I was younger. Then I got some insurance quotes and readjusted my sights on a Vauxhall Nova. Still, like the white guitar in Wayne’s World, I knew that one day it would be mine… sort of. You see, Toyota has brought back the Supra, sweeping lines and all, so they lent me one for a few days. Naturally the weather was mostly biblical for the duration, but even popping out for some Jaffa cakes made me feel like a king. James Day, Editor-in-Chief
I WENT SKIING AND GOT PAID FOR IT That makes me a professional athlete, right? Not quite. As a tech journalist, I’m used to getting early access to the latest gear – but then Stuff asked me to take it up a mountain to test it. The peak in question was the 3000m Mont de Péclet near Val Thorens, in the French Alps, and on the opening day of the 2019-20 season I made fresh tracks all in the name of winter sport tech. How many times did I fall on my backside? Not saying. Chris Haslam, contributor Winter fitness p69
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OUR MONTH
Sports cars, skis, secret selfies and space-shoes I TOOK SOME SELFIES IN SHENZHEN Out in China for Oppo’s Innovation Day, I can confirm the company is doing a lot more than just chucking money at massive sporting events like Wimbledon. There were 5G and wearable tech announcements, a new flagship in the Reno 3 Pro, and a mixed reality headset. Highlight of my trip, though? I got to play with a prototype phone that has a behind-the-screen selfie camera. No notches, no pop-up bits, just a beautifully edge-to-edge display with an almost invisible front snapper. The future is now. Basil Kronfli, contributor
I TRAINED LIKE AN ASTRONAUT, BUT MY SHOES LEFT ME BEHIND Adidas has taken the antigravity idea to the next level with its Ultraboost 20 trainers – by sending them into space. I was put through a gruelling 30-minute ‘Train like an Astronaut’ workout developed with EXOS – a leading human performance lab – as you need to be really fit to cope in space. I felt like an accessory to the real hero, though: it’s the shoes, not me, that are being sent on a NASA mission to the International Space Station. Which is a pity. What if I superglue my feet in? Natalya Paul, Online Editor
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CON S ON THE COVER
P14
P58
p33 Apple: top banana
HOT STUFF 8
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The Hot Four O Motorola One Hyper O Huawei Sound X O Amazon Echo Input O Honor Watch Magic 2 Vital stats Denon Home Marvel at the multiroom speakers, wince at the Belinda Carlisle puns Icon Omega Seamaster 300M 007 Edition Watch by James Bond, pants by Johnny English Apps Cool things for, like, your phone and that Wheels A hybrid supercar that’s definitely not a Volvo Games Including Half-Life 3!!! Well, not exactly… Stream Shave your head and pretend to be Picard Start menu This month’s selection of innovative gadgets hoping f… wait, BRYAN ADAMS??? The futurist Stuff’s resident soothsayer/columnist reveals the future of esports
p38 Philips: it’s a glower
p41 Huawei: best Mate
p43 Nissan: hail to the Leaf
TESTS 49 First test Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Noise-cancelling cans that should have Sony and Bose worried. But, you know, only a bit worried. It doesn’t really matter, does it? 56 Versus Smart TV controllers The Amazon Fire TV Cube takes on the Nvidia Shield TV in the battle of the box-botherers 58 Tested Sphero RVR Rise of the coding-driven all-terrain robots 62 Group test Mini arcade cabinets Pop one on your desktop and imagine you’re down to your last 10p 66 Tested Google Nest Mini Teeny smart speaker is pucked from obscurity 67 Tested Xiaomi Mi Note 10 A smartphone with too many megapixels for its own good? 77 Tested Zero DSR Black Forest Electric motorbike for eco-explorers 80 Long-term test Apple MacBook Pro 16in The king of laptops, tweaked for 2020 82 Tested Games Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Death Stranding, Shenmue III
01.20
WIN! p29
P69 P104
FEATURES 38 Cover feature The 2019 Stuff Awards A flurry of late-year launches cast our shortlists into chaos, but it’s done now: the best tech of 2019, crowned by Stuff 53 Mini meme Relaxation apps Chill, baby 54 Upvoted Hip flasks Swiggers with attitude 60 Beta yourself Mindful tech use Time to take control of your screen life? 69 Winter fitness special Help turn that mince-pie surplus into muscle with this top training tech 78 Instant upgrades OnePlus 7T Spruce up your bargain superphone 106 Random access memories Office Assistant Uselessly annoying, or annoyingly useless?
TOP TENS 88 Smartphones, apps, mobile games Hot handsets and dreamy downloads 90 Headphones, wearables In-ears, on-ears, smartwatches, trackers 92 Laptops, speakers Porta-powerhouses and music movers 94 TVs, soundbars, streamers All you need for a lazy night/day/year in 96 Tablets, consoles, games Swanky slates and gaming goodies 98 Tech toys, electric cars, VR Playing, driving, escaping from reality 100 Smart home, drones, action cams, compacts Comfort when you’re in, fun when you’re out 102 System cameras, budget buys ‘Proper’ cameras and the best tech bargains 104 How to buy… physical data storage
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Adjust like heaven As the name suggests, Quad Pixel tech combines four pixels into one, so the 64MP camera spits out 16MP stills by default – bringing better sensitivity with less noise.
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20 PAGES OF THE BIGGEST STORIES FROM PLANET TECH
Sleek scene The lack of a notch means the 2340x1080 display fills 90% of the front of the phone. There’s a slightly deeper strip of black at the bottom, but it’s pretty much a bezel-free zone.
HOT FOUR #1 MOTO DROPS A PROPER POPPER Motorola One Hyper
Little wiry things Pretty much every flagship these days has ditched the headphone port, but the mid-range still flies the flag for fans of wired cans. The One Hyper has that 3.5mm output.
Periscopes have been used for hundreds of years to help people to infiltrate areas in which they don’t belong without being detected – but the pop-up snapper on Motorola’s new One Hyper is exactly what got it noticed at Stuff Towers. At just £270 this phone’s got no right to be roaming among the big dogs, but as well as that 32MP selfie-cam it’s got plenty of other features that could cause you to mistake it for one: the 6.5in Full HD+ screen that necessitates the hidden camera by stretching right to the edges; the ludicrously fast 45W hyper charging that’ll juice it enough for a whole day in just 10 minutes; and the 64MP dual rear camera setup, which uses Quad Pixel tech and AI smarts to take better pictures in all lighting conditions, but particularly when things get a bit gloomy. Of course, there are a few things that’ll give it away on closer inspection – just 4GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 675 processor, for example – but they should at least help you to get the most out of the 4000mAh battery. Just don’t tell anyone the chassis is made out of plastic, and they’ll be none the wiser. Infiltration complete. As hot as… a hyperthermic hamster £270 / motorola.co.uk
Let it wide The second sensor on the rear camera module is an 8MP one, offering an ultra-wide 118° view – a lot like those you get on flagship phones such as the iPhone 11 range.
THE RIVALS MOTO G8 PLUS The One Hyper’s biggest rival probably has a Moto badge on it as well. Beneath its notched 6.3in screen the G8 Plus’s internals are very similar, although the One Hyper’s camera should take better pix. £240 / motorola.co.uk
HUAWEI P30 LITE A similarly full-sized screen, albeit with one of Huawei’s teardrop notches at the top, makes the P30 Lite almost as eye-catching as the One Hyper. It does lack the wow factor of that pop-up cam, though. £230 / huawei.com
NOKIA 7.2 A bit like a budget Pixel, Nokia’s 6.2in 7.2 has less storage and a smaller battery than either of the Motos, but its smooth glass finish makes it feel like a much more expensive phone. £250 / nokia.com
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Yeah we know This ring of light shows when you’ve got a notification, so if you leave the phone facedown you won’t have to keep waking the screen up to check whether you’ve got any friends.
Screen mind The One Hyper will ship with Android 10, so it should feel like using a far pricier phone… although the slightly less punchy processor will have an impact on how well it runs games.
Start choppin’ You only get 128GB of storage, which isn’t loads if you’re going to take advantage of that camera, but there is a microSD slot that’ll take cards of up to 1TB in capacity.
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Pod knows it’s true At 20cm tall and 16.5cm across, the Sound X is a little bit bigger than the HomePod. And like Apple’s smart speaker, it has a circular touch-panel on the top.
HOT FOUR #2 THE DEVIALET’S IN THE DETAILS Huawei Sound X
Despite what Donald Trump might think, Huawei makes excellent phones. Unlike the big orange baby, Huawei knows it’s not an expert in everything, which is why it gets Leica in to work on its cameras rather than just getting someone in accounts have a go. Likewise, when it came to making the Sound X smart speaker, Huawei was straight on the blower to Devialet, the hi-fi boffins behind the excellent Phantom all-in-one speaker. Together they’ve produced this HomePod-esque effort, which promises 360° sound from a pair of 3.5in woofers and half a dozen 1.5in full-range drivers, with six microphones 12
on board for picking up your voice commands. With some US companies banned from working with Huawei, that raises one key question: who supplies the smarts? It’s one that’ll need to be answered before the Sound X is to have any chance of succeeding outside China, which is probably why there’s no UK availability info yet. In China this speaker will cost the equivalent of about £216, whereas the Phantom costs £999 – so thankfully it seems Huawei didn’t ask Devialet for help when it came to concocting the price. Phew. As hot as… the Devil’s Breville £tbc / consumer.huawei.com
Pairy similitude As with many wireless and smart speakers, you can add a second Sound X to your setup to create a stereo pair. In fact, Huawei will offer a bundle of two for this very reason.
Bellow doubt The Echo Tap required, yes, a tap before Alexa would listen, which undermined the whole voice-control concept. The new Input lets you summon her with your voice.
I do want control of you The Sound X uses Huawei’s Xiaoyi voice assistant, but that’s no use if you don’t speak Chinese. It’ll also work with the HiLink smart home system and support hi-res audio.
HOT FOUR #3 THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT Amazon Echo Input Portable Smart Speaker Edition You might have heard of the Echo Input before. It was a device that looked like a fat drinks coaster, which could be hooked up to any speaker to add Alexa skills to it. That makes this new Input Portable Smart Speaker Edition almost a remake… except for a few crucial differences. With a 360° speaker built in, it looks a bit like the offspring of a regular Echo and a Dot, with the addition of an indicator on the front to show how far off needing a charge it is. That’s because this is Amazon’s first battery-powered Echo since the poorly received (and now discontinued) Tap, so you can take Alexa wherever you go, with enough juice to play music for 10 hours solid before it needs plugging into the mains. The fortunes of the Tap might explain why the Echo Input Portable Smart Speaker Edition is initially only going on sale in India, where portability is top of the most-wanted list for Echo features; but for 6000 rupees (about £65) you can imagine they’ll fly off the shelves, which will make an eventual appearance on Amazon UK that little bit more likely. Fingers crossed, eh? As hot as… Vindaloo nasal spray £tbc / amazon.in 13
Relative rays The larger Watch Magic 2 has a 454x454-pixel display, which drops to 390x390 on the smaller version. Both have an impressive brightness rating of 800 nits.
The wrist will follow
HOT FOUR #4 MAGIC: IT’S ALL IN THE WRIST Honor Watch Magic 2
Arthur C Clarke one said that any sufficiently advanced tech is indistinguishable from magic. He probably wasn’t talking about Honor’s new smartwatch; but while its functionality might not be what you’d call sorcery, there’s still plenty to like about the Watch Magic 2. You get GPS, heart-rate monitoring, sleep tracking, 15 in-depth goal-based fitness modes, music streaming from your phone via Bluetooth, and all the usual notification business. It comes in two sizes, both made of stainless steel and water-resistant to 50m; 14
the larger 46mm version gets a 1.39in circular AMOLED and 14-day battery life, while the 42mm one has a 1.2in display and only lasts half as long. If all of this sounds slightly familiar it’s probably because the Watch Magic 2 is very similar to the Huawei Watch GT 2, although the Honor badge should mean it’ll set you back a little less than the £200 you’ll have to shell out for the GT 2. That’s the kind of magic we can all get behind. As hot as… tickets to David Copperfield’s NYE party £tbc / hihonor.com
Like the Apple Watch S5, it has an always-on option for the screen. Battery life will take a little bit of a hit if you decide to use it, but the Kirin A1 processor should help with that.
OOH, DENON IS A PLACE ON EARTH
The touch controls on the panel light up when your hand moves near.
Denon Home
Ooh baby, do you know what that’s worth? Yes, from £219 / denon.co.uk
Denon’s HEOS multiroom system was pretty decent. It beat Sonos to the punch for Bluetooth connectivity, portability and hi-res audio support, but the design wasn’t for everyone… plus its second wave of speakers was named HS2, which made it synonymous with a fustercluck rail project. Well, Denon has rightly kept the HEOS tech, but now stuck it in a new set of speakers called Home, with Sonos-like looks. 16
O (We want) the same thing The mere-exposure effect is when you develop a preference for the familiar, and it might explain why Denon has gone down the Sonos styling route. The range comprises three models: the Home 150, with 3.5in woofer and 1in tweeter; Home 250, angled for wide dispersion with two tweeters, two woofers and a 5.25in bass radiator; and Home 350, with two woofers, two mid-drivers and two tweeters. O Live your life be free Denon doesn’t discriminate with its music sources: choose from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music HD, Tidal, TuneIn, Deezer
and more via Wi-Fi, plus AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth. Support is provided for ALAC, FLAC and WAV files up to 192kHz/24-bit, as well as DSD 2.8MHz and 5.6MHz tracks for crystal clarity, while each speaker also has a USB socket and 3.5mm aux input for wired listening. O Circle in the sound The Home range can be connected to existing HEOS speakers plus compatible Denon and Marantz receivers, soundbars and subs. The only downside is no voice control. For that you’ll need an additional device for your chosen assistant… at least until native support arrives via a firmware update later in 2020.
NATIVE VOICE CONTROL WILL ARRIVE VIA A FIRMWARE UPDATE LATER IN 2020
Boss battle
EXPANDABLE AUDIO ACES O Audio Pro AP speakers offer astonishing sound quality for the price. The Addon multiroom range comprises the C3, C5 and C10, with a uniform yet strikingly distinctive design. from £250 / audiopro.com
BOSS SY-1000 Muse on steroids is a terrifying prospect, but it’s done nothing to deter Boss from developing a guitar synth capable of imitating our idea of sonic hell. The versatile digital orchestra that is the SY-1000 is said to be the company’s most advanced synth to date, and features custom DSP delivering six times the processing power of the old SY-300. It’s packed with deep sound-design tools that can be combined and layered like a musical trifle, and uses two 16-part step sequencers to create complex textures that “pulse, breathe and groove”. A new sound engine aims to deliver clear audio and precision tracking with zero latency, and you also get FX and amp models from the flagship GT-1000. £879 / boss.info
O Bluesound Bluesound offers streamers, servers and amp combos to go alongside its wide of range of speakers, soundbars and subwoofers. Start with the dinky Pulse Flex 2i or Mini 2i. from £299 / bluesound.com
O Sonos Couldn’t leave them out, could be? Still the multiroom setup to beat. We’re not sure how they managed to pack in such quality components and sonic skills for so little money. from £179 / sonos.com
R2-D-stew
STAR WARS INSTANT POTS If you’re of the opinion there still isn’t enough Star Wars merch in the world, and you’re desperate to feel the Force of slow-cooked pork and saffron rice, then look no further than this special-edition range of Instant Pots. Based on the characters R2-D2, BB-8, Chewbacca, Darth Vader and a generic Stormtrooper, they’re a one-pot shop for pressure cooking, slow cooking, frying, steaming and even yoghurts. Each one comes with a handful of Star Wars-themed recipes to try out, but the designs – like whatever you’re whipping up – won’t be to everyone’s tastes, and if you’ve ventured to the dark side it’ll probably be because you’ve overdone it. Just like these Star Wars gags. from £73 / williams-sonoma.com
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I C O N
OMEGA SEAMASTER 300M 007 EDITION from £7390 / omegawatches.com That’s a fancy watch. But what makes it different from other fancy watches? It’s James Bond’s for a start. At least, this is the Omega model he’ll be wearing in 007’s next outing, No Time to Die. It’s also the first ever Seamaster to get a grade-2 titanium mesh bracelet, and in the world of expensive wristwear these are the kind of intricacies that make a watch sought-after. No Time to Die? Sounds like Bond’s watch is running fast. I’m sure the engineers at Omega would beg to differ. The 42mm 300M 007 Edition is powered by a magnetically resistant co-axial master chronometer calibre 8806 movement, and in horological terms that should mean Bond’s watch is pretty darned accurate. Cheers, Q. But can it cut through rope, defuse a bomb or mix a vodka martini? Sadly not, but it does have a serious legacy behind it. The Seamaster range was launched in 1948 and every iteration is linked to the original CK2129 military-issue model beloved by the Royal Navy. Daniel Craig also helped with the design of this one, which is slimmer and lighter than most models; and if you don’t care for the mesh bracelet there’s a Nato strap with a 007-engraved loop instead. Any more 007 pub ammo? The case back has engraved reference points. So ‘0552’ is the code for Navy personnel and ‘923 7697’ is for a diver’s watch. The letter ‘A’ signifies a watch with a screw-in crown. Obviously ‘007’ refers to Bond’s agent number, and ‘62’ is the year of the very first James Bond film, Dr No. The watch lands in February, while No Time to Die hits cinemas on 3 April.
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DANIEL CRAIG HELPED WITH THE DESIGN, WHICH IS SLIMMER THAN MOST MODELS
Grandmaster flash and the furious five
HONOR V30 PRO 5G If you thought sub-£500 superphones from China were so last year, think again, because Honor’s V30 Pro includes five cameras and 5G compatibility amid some serious specs. The array of snappers includes a 40MP main, 8MP telephoto and 12MP ultra-wide lens on the back, complemented by a 32MP selfie-cam and 8MP ultra-wide on the front. A 6.57in punch-hole display, Kirin 990 chip, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage are equally flagship-troubling, and the 4100mAh fast-charging battery can apparently hit 70% capacity in half an hour. No word yet on when it will reach these shores, or if it’ll be shipping with Google services, but we’d be Honored to try it out. £420 (est) / hihonor.com
WTF IS THE ESCOBAR FOLD ONE? Is that a folding smartphone that’s been named after a drugs kingpin and resembles a gold bar? I’m afraid so. Roberto Escobar, the brother of infamous drug lord Pablo, has announced an ‘unbreakable’ folding phone with a flexible display using an ad campaign that features underwear models and guns.
Are you serious? It’s disgustingly garish and you’d be mad to buy one. You can tell Roberto that if you like. He’s part of Escobar Inc, founded in 1984 as the official holding company for Pablo’s assets – you know, the former leader of the Medellin drug cartel and a man reportedly responsible for around 5000 deaths. Anyway, the phone costs $349.
Wait, what? Doesn’t the Samsung Galaxy Fold cost £1900? It does. The Escobar Fold One undercuts its flexible rivals by cutting out networks and retailers. Roberto Escobar says he even wants to “beat Apple” in a £22.8bn lawsuit for allegedly overpricing phones, before returning the money to the people.
What about the phone itself?
Easy as one 2.3
NOKIA 2.3 Nokia’s latest cheap-as-chips mobile is packed to the rafters with AI to control everything from the camera to the battery, leaving you to concentrate on selfie-induced narcissism. The 13MP AI-fuelled dual cameras on the rear add in a 2MP depth sensor, while the 5MP front snapper includes facial recognition for unlocking. Factor in a two-day battery with AI-assisted adaptive tech to squeeze out every bit of juice, a 6.2in HD+ display and a Google Assistant button, and that really is quite a lot of phone for a cheeky ton. Nokia is even pledging monthly security updates for three years and OS updates for two years… by which time the microUSB charging port will feel positively medieval. €109 / nokia.com
Well, it looks suspiciously like a rebadged Royole FlexPai and even shares the same specs – notably a 7.8in AMOLED 1920x1444 display that folds outwards in tablet form and claims to be the most durable telephone screen on the market. The panel is plastic, but the phone is stainless steel with a brushed gold finish.
And the innards? There’s a Snapdragon 855 chip with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, a 16MP f/1.8 primary camera and a 20MP secondary shooter. The phone is network-unlocked, includes free worldwide shipping – Lord knows with what else – and is available directly from the Escobar Inc website.
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This month’s mobile must-downloads 1
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1 Grid Autosport
2 Launcher
3 Sociable Soccer
£9.99 / Android Fed up of freemium Android tat? Grab this full-on AAA racer, which packs in more than 100 circuits and offers enough tinkering to make a mechanic grin – assuming your device can cope.
from £free / iOS Wish your iPhone’s home screen could do more? Launcher fills the void with widgets to which you can add contacts and shortcuts to key app actions, and have said widgets show/hide based on time/location.
£4.99/m (Arcade) / iOS Pining for SWOS? Find it tricky to carry an Amiga around? Try this instead, and become a “goalscoring superstar hero” all over again via Apple Arcade. Just don’t blame us when you forget to eat.
4 Triode
5 Spark
6 Asteroid Commando
£free (IAPs) / iOS Digital radio is great but digital radio apps aren’t, usually being infested with ads. Triode is free, lacks ads, and won’t invade your privacy. The IAPs are merely to reward the devs and sync favourites.
£free / Android, iOS In its ongoing quest to make email tolerable, Spark’s slick redesign includes custom actions, multiple windows on iPad, inbox avatars and a swanky new dark mode that also works on Android.
£1.99 / watchOS Classic arcade games on your phone? How last decade. What about on your wrist? This one injects your Apple Watch with endless space-rock blasting, just via twiddling the crown.
7 Minecraft Earth
8 Unify
9 Void Tyrant
£free / Android, iOS Mixing building with Pokemon Go and The Matrix, this is Minecraft’s play for the real world. Come up with creations, place them in your town and use AR to marvel at a hidden blocky world mapped onto our own.
£free (IAPs) / iOS Hate the idiot blinking or gurning in all your group shots – especially if that idiot is you? This app unifies ‘good’ faces from multiple pics and lets you hurl the perfect composite at your friends.
£free / Android, iOS If you think blackjack is tense, it’s got nothing on Void Tyrant. Here, card-flips mean life or death as you battle intergalactic meanies by cunning deck-building, careful strategy and more than a little luck.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP FOR iPAD £free (with existing plans) / iPadOS One of the arguments against being able to do ‘proper work’ on an iPad used to be the lack of Photoshop. Adobe has finally removed that barrier by bringing its desktop photo-editing behemoth to Apple’s tablets. Well, sort of: although we were told this would be full-fat Photoshop, v1 is more… semi-skimmed. The foundation’s there (as is full PSD support), but a bunch of features including layer effects are MIA. Luckily, we’re promised rapid updates – which is a smart move, given that for the cost of two months of Photoshop you can grab a copy of the superb Affinity Photo and keep it forever.
Polestar 1
SWEDE AND TENDER HOOLIGAN
Body panels are made of superlight CFRP, allowing plenty of creative freedom for the designers.
NEWS DASHBOARD
£139,000 / polestar.com Goodness, that’s pretty… Yes it is. Polestar’s designers wanted to distance themselves from their Volvo siblings with something that looked sexy without losing the modern lines and Scandinavian influences. What’s underneath the bonnet? There’s a twin-turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder petrol engine that develops 309hp, but that’s only half the story. Twin rear electric motors contribute an additional 232hp and a crank-integrated starter generator throws in another 68hp. You don’t have to be Rachel Riley to work out that equates to 609hp – a gut-busting amount of power for any luxury GT. So is this the shape of things to come at Polestar? Weirdly not, because the Swedish brand has said it will only create all-electric vehicles from now on,
with a Tesla Model 3 rival due in 2020. There’ll also be an electric SUV in the line-up, but no more hairy-chested hybrids like this. That’s a shame. Is it annoyingly good to drive too? You guessed it – an absolute peach to pilot. The surge of power from standstill is addictive, steering is light but direct and the manually adjustable suspension (slight overkill) ensures the ride remains firm and planted. Then ease off the accelerator and the Polestar 1 transforms into a quiet, sedate and very luxurious cruiser. Does it destroy the planet a bit? The battery packs ensure it can go for up to 77 miles on electricity alone, while the all-electric top speed is 100mph. Official fuel economy is 403mpg on the combined cycle, making a very convincing case for hybrids that are as mean as they are green.
ZIMMER BIMMER
TRUCK YEAH!
KARM DOWN
Legendary film composer Hans Zimmer (Inception, The Dark Knight) has teamed up with BMW to create a new ‘score’ for future electric models. The Vision M Next is the marque’s debut fully electric supercar and is set to blast Zimmer’s stirring crescendos under heavy acceleration.
As you may have noticed, Tesla has launched an electric pickup truck. The company reckons this American institution needs a makeover and its Cybertruck, with a 500-mile range, 0-60mph time of 2.9s and bulletproof windows (well, in theory…), is its answer. Deposits are being taken now.
If you need proof that electric cars are edging towards desirable territory, take a look at the Karma SC2 concept. This staggeringly beautiful ‘design expression’ is said to develop a mighty 1085bhp from front and rear electric motors. There’s no commitment to produce one, though. Sad face.
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G A M E S
OUT 13 MAR
FIRST PLAY NIOH 2 PS4
[ Words Alan Wen ]
Plenty of games have tried to copy Dark Souls, but only samurai slasher Nioh has come close to understanding what makes that series tick. Set in warring Japanese states where there’s a fine line between bloodthirsty warlords and menacing folklore demons, its twist on brutal combat is tied to a devilish ‘ki’ stamina system that can easily leave you out of breath and open to a deadly blow. Its sequel doesn’t change the successful formula too much, though this time you can create
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your own bad-ass samurai thanks to a pretty robust character-creator offering diverse options from hairstyles to skin tones to gender. And co-op can have up to three samurai banding together, either with other players or AI-controlled avatars. You’ll need all the help you can get when even the most basic foes can cut you down if you’re not careful. By the time you’ve reached the bosses, ranging from slippery weasels to huge snakeheads, the challenge can get overwhelming – thanks to
their ability to drag you into a nasty new dark realm that slows your ki recovery to a crawl. Not that you have to take this lying down: charge up your own meter and you can transform into a full-on demon with the power to make a divine comeback. There are also new weapon types to discover, as well as ‘blessed’ and ‘corrupted’ ones that have new effects to help enhance your playstyle. Throw in new skill trees and loot drops, and we’re confident that Nioh 2 will make real samurais out of us in no time.
FIRST LOOK VALVE’S VANCE VEERS TO VR
HALF-LIFE: ALYX [ Words Andrew Hayward ]
PC VR headsets Is Half-Life 3 finally happening?! No, it’s not. A dozen years after the last entry, Valve still won’t give fans what they want. Even so, we’re thrilled to see the company behind Steam finally dip back into the brilliant and influential first-person
shooter series… now in VR. Coming to PC-based headsets, Half-Life: Alyx is a prequel story set before Half-Life 2. Unlike most VR experiences (and the Episode releases), this isn’t a bite-sized affair: it’s a fully fledged single-player campaign featuring Alyx Vance herself, with an estimated length of about 15 hours. And
from what we’ve seen so far, Half-Life: Alyx nails not only the tone of the series but also the tension – newly amplified with VR immersion. Evading and fighting off a vicious headcrab looks all the more harrowing from your own viewpoint – whether you’re peeking out from a hiding spot, firing a pistol or
using Alyx’s wondrous-looking new gravity gloves. The character animation and voice acting are also fantastic, with an assist from Firewatch developer Campo Santo (which is now part of Valve). Sure, it’s not a proper Half-Life 3, but Alyx could still be pretty special in itself. We’ll find out in March.
BEST OF BLIZZCON REVEALS
OVERWATCH 2 formats tbc Overwatch has built up captivating characters and lore – and will finally explore them with the sequel’s new story missions. Overwatch 2 will also build on the brilliant team-based action of the original with fresh maps and abilities, plus a light visual refresh.
WORLD OF WARCRAFT: SHADOWLANDS PC World of Warcraft keeps on chugging along, and 2020 will see the launch of the new Shadowlands expansion. This major add-on brings players to the titular realm of the dead, offering up fresh dungeons and raids to enjoy.
DIABLO IV formats tbc The original dungeon-crawler sensation is back, and Diablo IV looks to strike a darker, more menacing tone than its predecessor, hearkening back to the glories of Diablo II. Otherwise, this looks like a game that will refine and enhance rather than overhaul the hack-and-slash loot-grind formula.
INCOMING JANUARY O DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT O JOURNEY TO THE SAVAGE PLANET FEBRUARY O ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS O MARVEL’S IRON MAN VR MARCH O FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE O NIOH 2 O ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS
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This month’s new-to-streaming selection includes everything from a harassed space captain to, er, another harassed space captain
Avenue 5
The Outsider
The Deuce
From The Day Today and The Thick of It to Veep and The Death of Stalin, Armando Iannucci is the mind behind some of the best satire of the past 25 years – and now he’s pointing his comedic lens at the future of tourism… in space. Hugh Laurie stars as the captain of a luxury cruise starship where sailing is anything but smooth. S1 / Now TV
It might be yet another adaptation of a Stephen King novel, but who’s complaining? This one stars Jason Bateman as a man accused of a gruesome murder, backed up with cast-iron forensic evidence… except there’s also cast-iron proof he wasn’t even in town when it happened. The always-great Ben Mendelsohn also stars. S1 / Now TV
David Simon’s follow-up to The Wire might not quite have grabbed us by the short and curlies quite as tightly, but its sleazy, scuzzy recreation of ’70s and ’80s New York, packed with small-time hustlers and hoodlums, will secure it a spot in the TV annals. This third and final season should tie everything up nice and neatly. S3 / Now TV
Treadstone
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Doctor Who
A spin-off from the Jason Bourne movie series, Treadstone delves into the murky world of CIA black ops, in particular the creation of a gaggle of elite sleeper-agent assassins who don’t even know they’re elite sleeper-agent assassins. Expect bone-crunching bust-ups, shadowy spymasters and conflicted killers. S1 / Amazon Prime Video
The world’s longest-running current live action sitcom returns for a 14th season – with exactly the same main cast as the first. Always Sunny virgins are better off starting at S1 (don’t worry, Netflix has every episode), but veterans will be itching to get back with the gang and their awful, selfish, offensive adventures. S14 / Netflix
Jodie Whittaker’s ageless timelord returns as the 12th season of ‘new Doctor Who’ kicks off on the very first day of 2020. Details are scant, but we do know that Stephen Fry and Lenny Henry will be putting in guest appearances and that it will kick off with a two-part special called ‘Spyfall’. Whovians, start your hype engines. S12 / BBC iPlayer
DO M N’ TH ISS T IS
Star Trek: Picard S1 / Amazon Prime Video
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The best-loved, boldest and baldest captain of the Enterprise makes an overdue return in this 10-part Amazon exclusive. Yes, almost 20 years after last playing Jean-Luc Picard, the great Patrick Stewart is back. Picard is now retired, mourning lost friends and making wine rather than exploring the far reaches of space, but something is about to drag him back to the stars. Promising to be a more contemplative and slow-paced series than the action-packed Star Trek: Discovery, it features a number of old faces…
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S T A R T M E N U
ST KIC AR K TE R
The latest startups, crowdfunded projects and plain crazy ideas
Cuts like a knife
PHONOCUT Cassettes, the worst audio medium in history, had one redeeming feature: the mixtape. It was easy and fun to make your own compilations before streaming obliterated such creativity. The Phonocut brings mixtape thinking to vinyl by freeing record production from the need for pressing plants that demand you order by the hundred. Instead, plonk a 10in blank on the machine, connect your audio source, press a button, and it starts cutting those soundwaves into grooves – all in real time. A few minutes later, you’ll have a beautiful black disc housing your favourites – or a super-rare white label of yourself singing in the shower. €1499 / phonocut.com BACK IT STACK IT
ST KIC AR K TE R
ST KIC AR K TE R
Only thing that looks good…
Run to you
Summer of swishy time
Kids don’t wanna rock
BANDLY
MARTY THE ROBOT V2
SWITCHBOT CURTAIN
SB01
To stand out in a market awash with programmable robots for kids, you need to have legs. Marty takes this literally, with powerful and dextrous blue pins that enable him to walk, turn, kick and dance. An array of sensors and modular extension options allow for more advanced interactivity. £125 / robotical.io
Window glare is annoying – but then, so is getting up to close the curtains. So have this robot do it for you. It’s controlled by app or voice; and if even that feels like too much effort, you can set schedules to open your curtains at sunrise – or keep burglars at bay by closing them every night while you’re away. $69 / switch-bot.com
If modern tech makes you feel disconnected from the natural world, Bandly puts some nature right on your wrist. This Apple Watch strap turns lumber offcuts into a water-resistant, durable material backed by vegan leather. You also get matching backgrounds so the strap appears to continue through the screen. $39 / bandlybands.com
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ST KIC AR K TE R
ST KIC AR K TE R
SACK IT
This analogue synth is inspired by the Roland SH–101, but that classic never looked this cool. Like something designed by Jony Ive in Dark Mode, the SB01 is machined from a single block of aluminium, is 1in thin and has a 16hr rechargeable battery. The 3340 VCO and four-pole OTA filter ensure it sounds as mean as it looks. $949 / playsuperlative.com
Clammy ears
FRESH ’N REBEL CLAM ANC DGTL Don’t go searching for any clever audio-based meanings behind Fresh ’n Rebel’s crustacean logo, because you won’t find any: the owner just likes lobsters. Well, so do we. And we like the premium features on these sensibly priced noise-cancellers – features normally found on far more expensive headphones. We’re talking about digital ANC for blocking things out, ambient mode for letting a little back in, proximity sensors for stopping and starting the music automatically, and a long-haul-friendly 26 hours of battery life. They’ll even support your chosen voice assistant and fold away when not in use. Get your claws on a pair now and snap them up in either a blue or sand finish. £180 / freshnrebel.com
DROP EVERYTHING & DOWNLOAD Procreate £9.99 / iPadOS There’s epic trolling on this digital art tool’s App Store page, with a sly note that you can import Photoshop brushes and run them faster than Photoshop can. But that’s the tip of the beautifully painted iceberg, because this latest version of Procreate combines a seriously speedy engine with a raft of new features. To help transform your iPad into a miniature Tate Modern, you can delve into an improved brush editor and watch as dynamic depth and jitter is added to strokes. Artists of all stripes get colour harmony pickers, while those aiming at print now have CMYK support. Even wannabe ‘Aardmen’ get something: the new Animation Assistant, ideal for crafting a moving masterpiece one frame at a time.
Catch ya data
MOBVOI TICWATCH 4G With 4G Wear OS smartwatches rarer than rocking-horse poop, the latest Ticwatch ticker could be worth a crafty glance. This wearable can take calls, read messages and make payments without needing to be tethered to your mobile. It also offers the same 30-day battery life as the Pro model thanks to a low-power LCD display that sits on top of the 1.39in OLED, and something called Essential Mode. Fitness and sleep tracking are also the same as on the Pro, only the 4G version is 11g lighter. Powered by a Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip and 1GB of RAM, it has GPS, NFC and an IP68 waterproof rating so rain shall not pass. Exclusive to Vodafone in the UK, it’s available now. £249 / mobvoi.com 27
Don’t get too comfortable: the Predator Thronos all-in-one gaming chair could be a thing of the past when esports get physical.
and swap them out for a pair of ordinary-looking wireless glasses that are anything but ordinary. Manufactured from the latest metalens nanotech, these nanoscale-thin lenses look set to replace the heavy ones used in cameras, optical instruments and – you guessed it – VR and AR headsets. They’ll use something called AI-based foveated rendering: integrated eye-tracking that follows the position of your pupils, enabling the GPU to know where it needs to focus its rendering resources. This cuts the amount of network and computing power needed to create your 4K VR gaming experience by up to 90%.
THE FUTURIST
THIS VIRTUAL SPORTING LIFE Stuff ’s award-winning futurist, Matthew Griffin, tells us what’s next for esports When someone mentions esports, most of us envisage crowds amassing in a kind of combat arena to watch gamers huddled over hundreds of screens battling against each other. The scale of these tournaments can put rock concerts to shame, and they’re playing for sums of money and fame that would make wannabe rock stars weep. But while the tournaments in this billion-dollar industry are still mostly screen-based, or in some cases played out on VR headsets, every part of the esports experience is set to get increasingly intense and ever more real… until, eventually, those arenas lose most if not all of their screens altogether. Hang on… how are you supposed to play video games without a screen? Have a bit of patience, will you? First let’s look at personal gaming, and how it will take advantage of 28
those ultra-fast, low-latency trans-oceanic terabit fibre cables and 5G. This allows us to shove all those consoles into the cloud so online games can be streamed to everyone, everywhere. Now let’s recruit some creative machines (as discussed in last month’s column – AIs that can imagine and generate synthetic content in real time). They can create and tailor games just for you, based on the emotional feedback that these cloud gaming platforms are gathering about you in real time from the cameras and sensors in your devices. OK, so say we’ve kissed goodbye to buffering and reached the point of superconnectivity. What next? Then let’s kick it up another notch. Let’s ditch bulky old VR headsets
The Specsavers of the future. 2030 vision, you might call it… You might. Then, of course, no future gaming experience would be complete without haptics and other sensory systems that make the feelings, sights, sounds and tastes you experience in the game ‘real’. And last but certainly not least,there’s electromagnetic flooring that will let you walk and run miles without ever having to be more than five steps away from your favourite energy drink. So how does all this feed into esports and the gaming arenas of the future? Put this tech together. Throw in some AI opponents who are getting increasingly adept at wiping out all humans – in gaming terms anyway – and suddenly you’re filling gladiatorial arenas with human competitors facing off against adversaries and other gamers in the virtual world, while getting gently pummelled in the real world to the amusement of spectators. I said esports would be getting increasingly intense, but they’ll get increasingly physical too. Imagine crowds watching players thrown into the air while haptics administer whatever punishment is being dished out in the virtual realm. Until we enter an era of VR moshpits, rock concerts have got nothing on this.
EYE-TRACKING CAN CUT THE AMOUNT OF PROCESSING POWER NEEDED FOR YOUR 4K VR GAMING EXPERIENCE BY UP TO 90%
MEDALS OF HONOR? A first-person shooter set in a war zone might be a stretch for the Olympic values of friendship and respect, but esports could soon become a medal event at the Games. Intel is hosting an IOC-sanctioned tournament in the run-up to Tokyo 2020, where players will compete in Street Fighter V and Rocket League. Meanwhile, at the recent Olympic Summit in Switzerland, esports were described as having great potential for future inclusion in the Games themselves.
Total prize value £1050
Read the review p49
WIN 1 OF 3 BOWERS & WILKINS PX7 HEADPHONES WORTH £350 EACH! Looking to kick off 2020 with a bang? This month’s competition probably isn’t for you, because the noise-cancelling tech in Bowers & Wilkins’ PX7 headphones is so impressive we doubt you’d hear it. They’re also the first ever cans to feature the new aptX Adaptive codec, meaning no delays between the dialogue on screen and what your hear when streaming movies, shows and games. Head to p49 to discover just how much we rate them. Quick history lesson. Bowers & Wilkins is as British as bangers and mash, and has been bossing things on the audio front since 1966. Its speakers and headphones have been winning awards for decades, and it even makes car sound systems for the likes of McLaren. That might go some way to explaining why the PX7s are made from that holy grail of racing car materials, carbon fibre. That’s right, this is your chance to win the noise-cancelling equivalent of an F1 car. Just answer the question on the right, and visit bowerswilkins.com for more.
HOW TO ENTER Fancy a five-star pair of Bowers & Wilkins headphones? Go to stuff.tv/win and answer this question:
McLAREN’S CURRENT BRITISH DRIVER SHARES HIS FIRST NAME WITH WHICH STAR HURRY! COMPETITION WARS CHARACTER? CLOSES A … Darth Vader 30 JANUARY B … Jabba the Hutt 2020 C … Lando Calrissian Terms & conditions: 1 Open to UK residents aged 18 or over. 2 Entries close 11.59pm, 30 Jan 2020. 3 Prizes are as stated. 4 Prizes are non-transferable. 5 Only one entry per person. Full Ts & Cs: kelsey.co.uk/competition-terms-conditions/ Promoter: Kelsey Media Ltd, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG
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STUFF AWARDS 2019
STUFF AWARDS 2019 The gadgety hits just keep on coming, and it’s down to us – with some vital input from you, Stuff’s discerning readers – to decree which are the year’s very best 32
STUFF AWARDS 2019
1
2
PHONE OF THE YEAR
A PP LE i P H ON E 1 1 PR O from £1049 / apple.com The iPhone 11 Pro might not have 5G or a pop-up camera, or fold in half, but Apple has never been one for gimmicks. This triple-cam powerhouse feels like the handset that Tim Cook and co have been building towards since the iPhone X launched: an exquisitely designed phone that excels in every department. From the phenomenal A13 chip and practical battery life (finally!) to the best-in-class camera
and mindblowing new Night Mode, the iPhone 11 Pro performs just as a £1000+ smartphone should, even if it can still be hard to stomach spending that much on one. Best of all, you don’t have to worry about Donald Trump having a tantrum and rendering all its apps useless. NOMINEES Apple iPhone 11 O OnePlus 7T O Huawei P30 Pro O Google Pixel 4 XL O
O Still of the night
O O Star of the sliver screen
Apple really upped its game with the new triple-camera system, and Night Mode beats Google at its own low-light game.
The Dolby Atmos speakers are really impressive for a phone. Find some Dolby Vision or HDR10 content and it’s streaming heaven.
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STUFF AWARDS 2019
BUDGET PHONE OF THE YEAR
READERS’ PHONE OF THE YEAR
MOTO G8 PLUS
HUAWE I P 30 PRO
£240 / motorola.co.uk
from £750 / consumer.huawei.com
It seems like forever since the go-to budget phone hasn’t been one of Moto’s G series. In fact, we’ll probably soon have to rename this category the Motorola Budget Phone of the Year – so it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that this year’s best cheap blower is the G8 Plus. Not that you’d know this was a sub-£250 phone to look at it. There’s a big old 6.3in screen with an unobtrusive teardrop notch on the front, and a triple-camera setup round the back, complete with laser autofocus and LED flash. Improved battery life and a drop in the asking price from last year’s model secure another year on the budget throne for Moto.
There’s nothing that gets you riled up quite like Phone of the Year. Whatever we decide, you’ll tell us we’re wrong, so we gave you the power to call the shots with a special standalone readers’ award. We included 10 shortlisted smartphones – some from little-known companies like Apple and Google, some from breakthrough brands like RealMe and Xiaomi, even a nod for Nokia. But none of this mattered to you, because you’ve named the P30 Pro – Huawei’s final flagship handset before being tarnished by US political turmoil – your phone of the year. Power to the People…’s Republic of China.
NOMINEES O Xiaomi Mi 9 O RealMe X2 Pro O Nokia 7.2 O Oppo 10x Zoom
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NOMINEES Apple iPhone 11 & iPhone 11 Pro O OnePlus 7T O Google Pixel 4XL O Moto G8 Plus O Xiaomi Mi 9 O RealMe X2 Pro O Nokia 7.2 O Oppo 10x Zoom O
STUFF AWARDS 2019
1
2
SMART HOME GADGET OF THE YEAR
AM A ZON E CH O S HOW 5 £80 / amazon.co.uk She appeared in the toilet, in the microwave and, thanks to Amazon’s Echo Frames, sitting on our faces. Yes, this was the year Alexa got everywhere – but when it comes to controlling smart home devices, it’s the Echo Show 5 that’s on discerning worktops. A smaller version of its 10in namesake and a rival to Google’s Nest Hub, Lenovo’s Smart Clock and, whether it was meant to be or not,
Amazon’s own Echo Spot, the Echo 5’s feature set and low price point make it the Echo Dot of smart displays. The shrunken screen fits into our lives more easily but still lets us to fall back on a visual interface when Alexa isn’t enough. For sheer value, this is the best of the smart displays. NOMINEES O Arlo Ultra O Amazon Echo Dot with Clock O Brisant Ultion Smart O Google Nest Mini
O Alexa, close your eyes
O O
Alexa, call the doctor
The 5.5in display is good enough for viewing news bulletins from across the room, and if you don’t like the camera it can easily be disabled.
The screen has added benefits for Alexa skills, like workouts with pictures of how to do the exercise you’re about to be humbled by.
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STUFF AWARDS 2019
2
1
HEADPHONES OF THE YEAR
S O NY W F-1 0 0 0 XM 3 £219 / sony.co.uk Alongside scary clowns, eco-protestors and ‘influencers’, there’s been no escaping true wireless earphones this year. And once we found a pair that would stay in place longer than it took to say ‘extinction rebellion’, some of them actually sounded good. Sony topped this category last year with its noise-cancelling WH-1000XM3 over-ears, so when they told us a pair of buds with the same
36
ambient-sound-destroying tech were on the way we got rather excited… and boy, they did not disappoint. Put plainly, any music played through the XM3s sounds superb, the ANC delivers dutifully… and they stay right where you want them. NOMINEES O Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3 O Bose NCH 700 O Apple AirPods Pro O Libratone Track Air+
O World shut your mouth
O O
Back in your box
Sony’s QN1e processor doubles as a DAC and amp while providing ANC with very little power consumption. A killer combo.
Combined with their charging case, the XM3s are good for up to 32hrs’ play, while Bluetooth 5.0 keeps a reliable wireless connection.
STUFF AWARDS 2019
1
2
HI-FI GADGET OF THE YEAR
S O N O S MO V E £399 / sonos.com Paint the top half-inch of a Sonos Move white and it’d bear a startling resemblance to a pint of Guinness – which is appropriate considering how long we’ve had to wait for them to make the thing. But as the famous ad told us, that’s how you get good things… and the first portable Sonos has certainly been worth the wait. At home on your Wi-Fi network it delivers the same seamless performance and superb
sound you’d expect from any Sonos speaker, but take the Move outside and its built-in battery, hefty construction and specially tuned outdoor mode make it a punchy performer that’s more than capable of getting your garden party started. Well, maybe not in December… NOMINEES O Amazon Echo Studio O Naim Mu-so 2 O B&W Formation Wedge O UE Wonderboom 2
O Bass extra smooth
O O
Mild and bitter
Over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or AirPlay 2, music is handled by a 16-bit/44.1kHz DAC, feeding a main mids/bass driver and a tweeter.
Built for all sorts of nastiness, the Move’s ‘shadow’ black finish is IP56-rated to beat off cold, humidity, rain, salt-spray, dust and mustard.
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STUFF AWARDS 2019
1
2
TV OF THE YEAR
P H I L I PS OL E D+ 98 4 £4500 / philips.co.uk John, Paul, George and Ringo were formidable solo artists. Imagine, Live and Let Die, Got My Mind Set on You and Thomas the Tank Engine prove it. And yet, on reflection, The Best of The Beatles probably remains their finest work. In much the same way, Philips’ flagship OLED is packed with individual features of real flair and finesse, but it’s when they come together that the magic happens. A partnership with
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Bowers & Wilkins has borne the best sound we’ve ever heard on a TV, Ambilight on all four sides still offers an unrivalled viewing experience, the third-gen P5 processor delivers a thrilling picture no matter what the source, and it’s one of only a few sets to offer universal HDR and Dolby support. NOMINEES O Panasonic GZ1500 O Sony XF9005 O Samsung Q90R O Panasonic GX800
O
Sergeant peppier
O O Lovely tweeter
Philips’ P5 chip delivers a 30% increase in performance on last year’s OLED+ 903. Even upscaled SD content is watchable.
The 984’s soundbar-esque speaker packs three channels and 60W of power; the centre channel has its own tweeter on top.
STUFF AWARDS 2019
TV GADGET OF THE YEAR
STREAMING SERVICE OF THE YEAR
S ENNH EI SE R AM BE O SOU NDBAR
N E T F L IX
£2199 / sennheiser.com
from £8.99/month / netflix.com
Most soundbars that claim to support Dolby’s sound-bouncing Atmos tech can’t dream of coming close to a proper surround-sound system – but Sennheiser’s whopping Ambeo bar has the necessary oomph to fill a room. The 13 drivers are bigger than most soundbars, plus the sub is built in, hence the unprecedented heft, but that’s what gives the 500-Watt amp so much to work with. The result is a big black box that can genuinely compete with a 5.1 system for scale, separation and sophistication. If you’ve got a TV big enough for it to live under, this could just be the best soundbar ever.
As Disney and Apple wade in with their bottomless piles of cash, Netflix’s dominance of the streaming market will no doubt be tested in 2020. But the new players are going to need more than superheroes and Jennifer Aniston to unseat the king. From brilliant debuts like Russian Doll and Sex Education to returning favourites like Stranger Things, GLOW and BoJack Horseman, Netflix remains untouchable when it comes to original programming. And that’s before we even mention the remarkable mini-series When They See Us or Scorsese’s melancholic gangster epic The Irishman, which landed on Netflix just days after its cinema release.
O
NOMINEES Nvidia Shield TV O Amazon Fire TV Cube O Vizio SB36512-F6 O Sky Q
O
NOMINEES Amazon Music HD O Amazon Prime Video O Spotify O Now TV
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STUFF AWARDS 2019
MOBILE GAME OF THE YEAR
JU M PGRI D £2.89 / Android
O
NOMINEES Sky: Children of the Light O Vectronom O Bad North: Jotunn Edition O Pigeon Wings Strike
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P IX E LM ATO R P H OTO
£2.99 / iOS
Some games take no prisoners. But you get the feeling Jumpgrid would take them and eat them, given half a chance. At its core there’s a beating black heart of fury, fused to a stripped-back neon nightmare that recalls both Frogger and Pac-Man. Your task is simple: jump from point to point on a tiny grid, grabbing the spinning cubes at its edges, and make for the exit. But countless geometric shapes lurch and whirl, all too eager to smash you to pieces. The game is staccato. You’ll die – often. The ‘boss’ levels will reduce you to tears. But also, you’ll fast recognise the white-knuckle ride of Jumpgrid as mobile’s greatest twitch arcade game.
O
APP OF THE YEAR
£4.99 / iPad Modern digital darkrooms afford you plenty of control, but frankly, who has the time? This app has been trained on 20 million professional photos so it can do the work for you, fixing any snap with a tap. You might wear a sceptical expression on reading that. Fair enough – most automation of this sort is garbage. But with the odd exception, this app is astonishingly good at tweaking colours and making your pics look balanced and beautiful. And if you do prefer to be in the driving seat, a host of sliders and buttons will hurl you down an hours-deep rabbit-hole of transforming even the most basic image into a masterpiece.
O
NOMINEES Moodflow O EōN by Jean-Michel Jarre O David Bowie Is O NanoStudio 2
STUFF AWARDS 2019 1
2
LAPTOP OF THE YEAR
HUAWEI MATEBOOK X PRO from £1299 / consumer.huawei.com Hanging out with Huawei is a confusing business while Donald Trump is the school bully. Google still can’t pass notes, but for Microsoft it’s study-buddy sessions and swapping packed lunches. That’s good news for Huawei’s laptops division amid rumours it was considering exiting the PC market. Even better, we’ve deemed this Windows laptop, the MateBook X Pro, our preferred
portable typewriter. There wasn’t much wrong with the old X Pro, but beefier innards and neat NFC tricks have made the 2019 version an even more tempting proposition, powerful enough to mix it with a playground of MacBook Pros. NOMINEES O Apple MacBook Pro O Dell XPS 13 O Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 O Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
O
Flairy liquid
The real star of the show here is a 13.9in display with 3000x2000 resolution. Don’t let the lack of an OLED put you off, because this LCD pops plenty.
O O
Kill-it bang
The 2019 model features Intel Core i5 or i7 CPUs that benchmark 10% quicker than the old version, and a Fortnite-ready Nvidia MX250 graphics card.
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STUFF AWARDS 2019 2
1
GAMING GADGET OF THE YEAR
OC U L U S QU E ST from £399 / oculus.com This was the year when VR started to get interesting – and that’s mainly down to the Oculus Quest. Sure, there are more powerful headsets out there, but nobody has come close to nailing the marriage of ease-of-use and functionality that Oculus managed with its latest piece of hardware. This all-in-one VR system is totally wireless and packed with sensors that can track your
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movements in virtual space, meaning jumping into a game of Beat Saber or Superhot VR really is as easy as sliding the headset over your face, grabbing the excellent Touch Controllers and pressing the ‘on’ button. If not for limited battery life, there’d be little reason to return to reality. NOMINEES O Nintendo Switch Lite O Asus ROG Phone 2 O Sega Mega Drive Mini O Nintendo Labo VR
O
Sky walker
The Quest offers six degrees of freedom (6DoF) and inside-out tracking so it can follow you precisely and save you from bumping into the walls.
O O
Panel beta
An OLED panel with 1440x1600 per eye isn’t just a spec bump on the Oculus Go; it’s also higher than you’ll find on some ultra-premium headsets.
STUFF AWARDS 2019
GAME OF THE YEAR
CAR OF THE YEAR
RES IDE N T EV IL 2
N IS S A N LE AF
from £16 / PS4, Xbox One, PC
from £26,345 / nissan.co.uk
The fact that the reimagining of a 21-year-old title has won this award might seem to indicate a slow year for games. But Resident Evil 2 is so much more than a remake. Capcom rebuilt its PS classic from the ground up using RE7’s RE engine, replacing the old static camera angles with a modern third-person over-the-shoulder view. It looks and feels fantastic, without sacrificing any of the original’s unbearable tension and jump scares. Whether you’re scribbling down codes to help you with a puzzle, kneecapping zombies or just running as fast as your legs will allow (note: not very fast) from the nightmarish Mr X, Resident Evil 2 is never less than a thrill ride.
Just because something sells well doesn’t necessarily make it any good – just look at Ed Sheeran. But despite shifting more than 400,000 worldwide – more than any other leccy motor – the Nissan Leaf is very much not the Ed Sheeran of electric cars. As well as offering up to 239 miles on a charge, the Leaf is packed with the kind of tech you wouldn’t expect from such an affordable family car – for a start it can park itself, and ProPilot will pretty much drive it for you. It’s also spacious, practical and all those other boring things you have to worry about when buying a car. Just don’t try challenging a Tesla to a drag race.
NOMINEES Death Stranding O Super Mario Maker 2 O Gears 5 O Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
NOMINEES Tesla Model S O Mercedes-Benz EQC O Hyundai Kona Electric O Smart EQ Fortwo
O
O
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STUFF AWARDS 2019
CAMERA OF THE YEAR
ACTION GADGET OF THE YEAR
FU J IFIL M X-T 30
DJI M AV IC MINI
£839 (body only) / fujifilm.eu
£369 / dji.com
If you picked up the photographic special in the August issue of Stuff – work of art, wasn’t it? If you didn’t, grab a back copy, because it’ll turn you into a semi-pro snapper in no time. In short, 2019 was the year mirrorless cameras went mainstream and began digging a shallow grave for the dear old DSLR. And standing there, shovel in hand, is the X-T30. Panasonic and Sony might be bigger mirrorless players, while Canon and Nikon have finally got serious, but the X-T30 is a stark reminder of how well Fuji goes about its business. Image quality is superb and it’s designed to give you plenty of control at your fingerprints, all with a sub-£1000 price tag.
Owning a drone used to be easy: buy drone, find open space, take off. But since some people can’t be trusted with the power of flight, any UAV weighing over 250g now has to be registered with the CAA. A total pain in the gimbal, right? Not for the Mavic Mini: it weighs precisely 249g, so you can take to the skies at your leisure. That would mean nothing if this foldable quadcopter had all the flying talents of an overweight Icarus; but with its 30-minute flight time, and handy QuickShot flightpaths to help you get the most out of a camera that shoots 12MP stills and 2.7K video, it has everything the casual aerial auteur could need.
NOMINEES Sony A6100 O Canon EOS RP O Nikon Z50 O Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III
NOMINEES GoPro Hero8 Black O Parrot Anafi O DJI Osmo Pocket O Insta360 One X
O
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O
STUFF AWARDS 2019
1
2
WEARABLE OF THE YEAR
AP PL E WAT C H S E R IES 5 from £399 / apple.com Imagine if you could never go to sleep. Sounds exhausting, doesn’t it? So imagine how it feels to be an Apple Watch S5. Not only do you spend all day passing on messages, reading heartbeats and acting as a personal trainer – you also have to keep your screen on all the time in case your owner wants to know the time. Apple’s fifth smartwatch might only be a minor upgrade compared to last year’s model;
but when that upgrade quite significantly changes the way you use it, and meanwhile watchOS 6 brings a stack of handy new features and changes, the best wearable on the market is now even better. NOMINEES Garmin Fenix 6 O Bose Frames O Huawei Watch GT 2 O Samsung Galaxy Watch Active O
O Go west, young man
O O
Go out on a limb
As well as GPS, the S5 has a proper compass should you lose all sense of direction. Incline, latitude and longitude are also shown.
A dedicated App Store on the Watch itself means you no longer need to download apps on your iPhone then sync them across.
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STUFF AWARDS 2019
2
GADGET OF THE YEAR
O C U LU S QU EST Insults were hurled, defences were mounted and once-unbreakable bonds disintegrated. And that was just deciding which pub to go to. Once we got there, the big debate to settle on our overall Gadget of the Year began in earnest. While we saw stonkingly great tellies and near-flawless phones aplenty in 2019, we had to award the big prize to a true game-changer. Proper virtual reality has for too long been associated with messy cables, an awkward
46
setup process and hulking PCs you can’t afford. Not any more. Contained in this faff-free headset is all the tech you need to visit alien planets and fantasy kingdoms in between walking the dog and taking the bins out. Games look brilliant, the library keeps growing and the room-scale tracking just works. The Quest is one of the finest gadgets we’ve ever had the joy of using, and has the best chance yet of bringing VR to the masses.
O
Games room
Every category winner is up for Gadget of the Year, but truly untethered VR – tracking across up to 4000ft2 with no wires – was too cool to ignore.
O O
Hands free
We’re big fans of the Touch Controllers, but who needs ’em? An experimental new feature allows the headset itself to track hand movements.
STUFF AWARDS 2019
1
READERS’ GADGET OF THE YEAR
P HI L IPS OL E D + 98 4
H I G H LY C O M M E N D E D
Philips OLED+ 984
Apple iPhone 11 Pro
If you’re looking for a new TV that assigns equal value to picture and sound, see Philips’ latest flagship. The updated P5 processor creates a stunning image, while the B&W audio means you don’t need a soundbar.
The 11 Pro is Apple’s emphatic answer to those saying it has fallen behind in the smartphone war. It’s insanely fast and long-lasting, and packs possibly the best trio of cameras on any phone.
Whether it was England’s Cricket World Cup win, Greta’s voyage across the Atlantic or Boris hiding in a fridge, 2019 threw up some belters. And tech didn’t disappoint either, as we were treated to stunning TVs, electric cars that didn’t go flat after five miles, smartwatches working as medical professionals and tangle-free VR. Also, have you noticed how routine it’s become to check in daily with Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant? What they lack in personality, they make up for in obedience. Speaking of which, we live to serve you, our readers – which is why we let you have your very own Gadget of the Year award. And we’re happy to announce that the Ambilight-glowing, B&W-booming, P5-processing Philips OLED+ 984 TV is your worthy winner. NOMINEES Apple iPhone 11 Pro O Moto G8 Plus O Amazon Echo Show 5 O Sonos Move O Oculus Quest O Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar O DJI Mavic Mini O Huawei MateBook X Pro O Apple Watch Series 5 O Sony WF-1000XM3 O Nissan Leaf
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BackBeat FIT 3100
10
plantronics.com
FIRST TEST BOWERS & WILKINS PX7
By the Bowers of grey skull! B&W takes on the masters of the noise-cancelling universe with a pair of tastefully-clad cans packing heroic levels of low-end beef
£350 / stuff.tv/PX7
or most people, choosing a pair of noise-cancelling headphones comes down to a toss-up between Sony, Sennheiser and Bose. But you’d be doing your ears a real disservice if you ignored Bowers & Wilkins. B&W had its first crack at noise-cancelling two years ago
[ Words Matt Tate ]
F
with the PXs, and immediately looked as surprisingly at ease among its more experienced competitors as Sheffield United do in the Premier League. And now we have a successor in the PX7 model, promising improved noise-cancelling and even better sound. If those original PXs were ‘business class only’ cans, the
PX7s are happy to slum it in economy. That they look ever so slightly less premium isn’t meant as an insult, though. They’re chunky and spongy, the metal arms have been swapped for carbon fibre, and the flush-sitting silver B&W badge looks mighty fine. Downsides? They don’t fold away like some big headphones;
instead you twist the cups to lie flat in the relatively chunky carry case. It’s hardly a deal-breaker, but there are more compact options for travel. Also, we’re quite fond of the touch-sensitive controls used by Sony and Bose, but you’ll find no such witchcraft here, just buttons. Still, do the PX7s press ours?
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FIRST TEST BOWERS & WILKINS PX7
3
1
Power rangers
4
The PX7s’ most notable feature is hard to remember after a few drinks: aptX Adaptive. As well as the hi-res streaming capabilities of aptX HD, the new codec also offers dynamic low latency to ensure the sound in movies and games stays in perfect sync.
2 Transformers You can toggle noise-cancellation between low, high and an auto mode that adjusts itself according to your environment. The lowest setting is perfect for blocking out the office rabble without cutting yourself off completely; on high, it’s just you and Cliff.
4 Thundercats The old PXs were some of the best-sounding noise-cancellers on the market; the PX7s are even better. The proprietary 43.6mm drivers are the largest in B&W’s headphone collection, and their power is immediately evident when you start listening to music.
3 Ninja turtles Like their predecessor, the PX7s can automatically sense when the wearer has removed them from their head, pausing music and resuming it when they’re put back on. It works perfectly, and the sensitivity can be adjusted in the B&W app.
5 Care bears If you want the most balanced and detailed performance, Sony’s WH-1000XM3s still haven’t been topped – but the PX7s are so much fun that it’s hard to imagine anyone being disappointed. And if you’re a bass junkie, these are the ones to go for.
Good Meh Evil
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24 hours with the Bowers & Wilkins PX7s
10mins 15mins 45mins 50
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FIRST TEST BOWERS & WILKINS PX7
Tech specs Drivers 43.6mm Connectivity Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX Adaptive, 3.5mm jack, USB-C Mics 4x ANC, 2x telephony Battery life Up to 30 hours Weight 310g
Button chops You don’t get tippy-tappy touch controls here, but the B&Ws’ proddable bits are nicely done…
C m liff’ ae s v lst oc ro al m ss of oa De r a Ba vi bo en tt lW v ou ery om e th gh lif an e m fo e is . u ra 3 sic w 0h al ee o A u k o rs ho rap fc – ur id om m s o 15 f li -m m ore st in ut th en u ing an t e i ng c . Th h tim a re e r lia we e. ge bl a br e t ring ha de sf n o te ive n t ctio n h e P se P to ack Xs ns irk in . or is th g a m at we or th ek e ey e n do d n’ ba t f g, ol it’ di s nw sta ar rti ds ng .
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18hrs 20hrs
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Q Fish fingers
Q Frozen peace
Pressing the single button on the headphones’ left cup lets you skip through the three noise-cancelling modes. It’s easy enough to locate this without having to fish about too much.
Press and hold that button for two seconds and it initiates ambient mode: effective for hearing how long your train is delayed for without having to lift off your audio earmuffs in the bastard cold.
Q Side orders
Q Break out the port
Playback buttons are on the right earcup. Play, pause, skip track and volume controls are found on a triple-button strip, while the on/off slider also enables Bluetooth pairing mode.
On the underside of that right cup you’ll find a 3.5mm socket for wired listening and a USB-C port. B&W bundles a stereo cable, a USB lead and a storage case in the box.
The PX7s improve on B&W’s maiden noise-cancelling effort in every way. The redesign places greater emphasis on comfort and these headphones are all the better for it, while noise-killing is as effective as you’ll find anywhere. Throw in the inclusion of aptX Adaptive and you’ve got quite a package. Oh, and they sound flipping good too. @MattWTate
STUFF SAYS +++++ They’re not cheap, but Bowers & Wilkins has produced another fine pair of noise-cancelling cans
24hrs 51
PROUD PARTNERS
GAME CHANGER
APPS
Mini meme
O Bloom: 10 Worlds A mix of instrument, composition and visual art, this collaboration between Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers serves up generative worlds. Tap the screen and you create patterns and melodies that repeat and evolve. Each of the 10 experiences has a distinct personality, and all are great to unwind with when you want something mildly creative, interactive and hypnotic, but without any pressure. £7.99 / Android, iOS
O Oak When you want to keep things simple, Oak offers a streamlined approach to relaxation. Rather than bespoke courses for individuals, you get a selection of three meditation types, three breathing exercises and a couple of wind-down soundscapes for bedtime. The immediacy of the app is welcome, and the breathing stuff can be very effective when you need to de-stress. £free / iOS
SIX APPS TO LET YOU TAKE FIVE When you’re feeling stressed – perhaps you’re an Everton fan – or need a breather, these friendly downloads can calm your mind and help you relax
O Pocketcoach If anxiety is why you often feel the need to take some time out, try Pocketcoach. Presented as a messaging app, it leads you through a kind of virtual therapy, helping you deal with internal responses, worries and more. It’s no replacement for an actual human being; but when it’s just you and your phone, with a handful of minutes to spare, Pocketcoach is always there when you need it. £free / Android, iOS
O Lake:
O Smiling Mind
O Mini Metro
Adult colouring books litter the shelves, with publishers having twigged that slapping down colours is a great way to relax. But you needn’t faff about with messy real-world media when you can use Lake. There’s a heavy subscription but plenty of free stuff to try, and the interface is lovely whether you’re using a finger or a stylus. On Android? Try Pigment. £free (IAPs) / iOS
The idea behind Smiling Mind is to retrain your brain using ‘mindfulness’ techniques. You outline which areas of your life you’d like help with, and are offered programmes to work through. The app is without stress or expectations. With it, you can transform short breaks into sessions where you recharge, release the pressure, and better deal with the challenges of the daily grind. £free / Android, iOS
Subways don’t usually spring to mind when you think about relaxation, and Mini Metro’s traffic management simulation can be a fraught juggling act, seemingly designed to drive you bonkers. But in its endless mode, everything changes. There’s no fail state, so you can just noodle about, optimising lines and listening to the gentle plinky-plonky soundtrack made by the tiny virtual commuters. £3.99 / Android, iOS
Colouring Books
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RUGGED RESERVES
STEELY SWIGGERS
WRAPPED RECEPTACLES
UPVOTED
The colourful cache
The tartan tipple
The leather lounger
Ettinger Sterling 6oz Captive Top Most whisky has a vintage amber hue, but that doesn’t mean your hip flask has to match. Bring brightness to your back pocket with this azure accoutrement from Ettinger: compact, neatly curved and far classier than anything you might come up with using a plain flask and some old modelling paint. £90 / ettinger.co.uk
Barbour Tartan Wrapped in a wax jacket as the wind whips across the moor, spare a thought for the poor single malt shivering in your flask. No fermented beverage deserves to freeze, so invite yours to the tartan party with this woven home, sure to keep your glug as snug as a baby haggis in a sporran. £38 / barbour.com
Aspinal of London Classic 5oz A sip or two is all it takes to warm the cockles. Anything more and you’ll be stumbling among the hills like your old man after he’s been at the homebrew. Go streamlined and refined with this leather-bound flask from Aspinal, perfectly sized to keep you toasty but sober. £49 / aspinaloflondon.com
HIP FLASKS The clean canteen Snow Peak Titanium Curved Inactivity is an unhelpful quality in a hiking partner, but the ideal attribute for a flask. Enter titanium: famed for its featherweight strength, this metal’s inert chemical nature means it won’t taint any tipple it touches. So, unlike your friend’s idle attitude, this shapely receptacle shouldn’t leave a bitter taste. £116 / amazon.co.uk
The corner cutter English Pewter Company Novus As you learned during last summer’s efforts at gardening, chopping the top corner off something doesn’t usually pass for innovation. Unlike your lopsided topiary, though, the off-centre opening of this pewter job is truly new – which you’ll know from the name if your Latin’s up to scratch. £85 / englishpewter.co.uk
The indestructible icon
The porcelain pop-top
The see-through stash
Stanley Classic 8oz The Zippo lighter. The Swiss Army Knife. The Leatherman multi-tool. The best outdoor gear is legendary for its sheer utility alone, and Stanley’s stainless steel Classic flask is no exception. As durable as it is iconic, there’s a reason the wide-mouth warrior ships with a lifetime warranty. £27 / amazon.co.uk
MCGO Ivory Ceramic Flask A ceramic bottle might not sound like the safest way to transport booze, but pottery worked just fine for the Romans. Sure, this is not one to drop at the bottom of your kitbag, but with walls a quarter of an inch thick, MCGO’s wonderfully rustic looker won’t go to pieces in your artisanal picnic basket. $98 / misc-goods-co.com
GSI Outdoors Boulder 10 Keeping track of rations is key to any expedition, and that’s as true for fluids as it is for food. Helpfully, this rugged number has clear sides with measuring marks for easy liquid management. It’s shatterproof too, which should prevent wastage – unless you absent-mindedly drain it all at once. $19 / gsioutdoors.com
HOW TO DECIDE 54
In search of liquid glow to go, Chris Rowlands pockets drams aplenty to find nine of the finest flasks for storing a nip of whisky warmth this winter
1 Hip to be square? From polished orbs to pewter cubes, flasks come in many forms. Planning to pocket yours? Opt for one with the classic kidney shape, curved to keep a low profile against your body.
2 Shot selection Sharing is caring, but there’s only so much you can carry in your coat pocket. A standard 6oz flask will serve up seven single measures, so do the maths before you dole out the drams.
UPVOTED The Scandi statement Royal Selangor Erik Magnussen Good design lasts for decades, which is why Erik Magnussen’s polished pewter piece looks as good today as it did when it was winning awards back in the ’90s. With its domed cap and curves in all the right places, this timeless container remains a lesson in liquid-toting minimalism. £99 / uk.royalselangor.com
3 Unleaded fuel Pewter is a fine material for a premium flask, with a lovely lustre that’ll last and last. And, thanks to a legal standard set in the ’70s, you won’t find any nasty lead in the alloy today.
4 Initial impression Wear and tear can put a personal stamp on any well-loved vessel, but if you want to emboss your ownership right away then engraving is the way to go. A classy acronym is all it takes.
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Boxy & elsewhere Done with telly for the night? The Fire TV Cube can also be used to control other smart home gadgets via Alexa.
T WINN EST ER
The RAM’d wazoo The Shield TV is powered by Android TV in combination with Nvidia’s Tegra X1+ processor and 2GB of RAM.
Swank zappers First it was lights, then security cams… now Alexa’s come for your telly. The Fire TV Cube not only delivers 4K streaming services to your living room – it also aims to give you almost total hands-free voice control of your gogglebox. This not-quite-cube has just four buttons – two for volume, one to mute the mics and one to call Alexa manually – but you shouldn’t need them. Setup involves signing in to Amazon and downloading the apps you want on your Fire TV home screen. The Fire TV interface is easy to use and all the big catch-up services are available, plus Netflix, Apple TV and of course Prime Video. Voice control works brilliantly, and not having to worry about losing the remote any more is an absolute joy.
Max resolution 4K HDR Connectivity HDMI, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microUSB Storage 16GB Audio support Dolby Atmos Voice control Alexa Dimensions 86x86x77mm, 465g
VS
1. THE IDEA
A streaming device with added gaming smarts, this is Nvidia’s most affordable Android TV gadget to date. It supports 4K and is compatible with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos for a truly cinematic experience.
2. DESIGN
The Shield TV is a discreet cylinder designed to hide beneath your telly, and comes with a quirky Toblerone-shaped remote. This has all the usual buttons plus a mic for voice control and one customisable shortcut button.
3. IN USE
Powerful streaming skills aside, the Shield TV is designed for gamers. You can play Android titles on it, but if you’ve got a PC with an Nvidia graphics card you can use GameStream to beam Steam games straight to the Shield. It works superbly.
1 2 3
O Price £110 / stuff.tv/FireTVCube
+++++
Nvidia Shield TV
Max resolution 4K HDR Connectivity HDMI, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet Storage 8GB (plus microSD) Audio support Dolby Atmos Voice control Google Assistant, Alexa Dimensions 165x40x40mm, 599g
O Price £150 / stuff.tv/ShieldTV
STUFF SAYS
++++,
The Shield TV rules for gaming, but Amazon’s canny cuboid is a marvel of voice control 56
[ Words Verity Burns, Esat Dedezade ]
Amazon Fire TV Cube
wex.co.uk 01603 208303 8 stores nationwide
Get closer to nature with the new Canon EOS 90D
• • • •
Fast continuous shooting up to 10fps 32.5MP APS-C CMOS sensor 45 cross-type AF points Intelligent optical viewfinder
T&Cs: All prices incl. VAT at 20%. Prices correct at the time of going to press. E. & O.E. Prices subject to change. Goods subject to availability. Wex Photo Video is a trading name of Calumet Photographic Limited (Company Registration no. 00425579) and Warehouse Express Limited (Company Registration no. 03366976). ©Warehouse Express Limited 2019. Wex Photo Video is a Which? Recommended Provider Source: Which? members’ annual survey June-July 2019.
Order your Canon EOS 90D today online, by phone or in store
TESTED SPHERO RVR
Don’t dream it’s rover An app-controlled all-terrain vehicle for seasoned coders and robo-newbies alike? Sphero, you have our attention…
[ Words Joe Svetlik ]
£260 / stuff.tv/SpheroRVR Tech toy maker Sphero is known for the Bolt, a little app-controlled ball you drive with your phone. It’s cute. Twee, even. Then there are the highly original Specdrums that can turn a banana into a percussion instrument. It’s such a fun company that, if we were classmates, we’d invite them round for tea and japes. But its latest product might be enough for parents to impose a ban, because the RVR is basically a go-anywhere monster truck you programme yourself… and that sounds like trouble. It’s similar to the Sphero Ollie (a racing robot that can handle the great outdoors) but on steroids. It’s bigger, faster and brasher, but more sophisticated too – because as well as taking coding instructions from the app on your smartphone, it can take its orders from a Raspberry Pi or BBC micro:bit. All of which means there are far more features to play with than meets the eye. Time to hit the dirt…
Fool if you think it’s rover The stereotype of the spindly little coding bot? The RVR blows that out of the water. And then runs it over. Sphero calls this ‘the go-anywhere, do-anything programmable robot’, and it’s not kidding. It rolls on all-terrain tank treads (1), which make a satisfying whirring noise as they turn.
Easy to operate
GOOD MEH EVIL
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1
3
Bridge rover troubled water The chassis (2) is solid and clearly able to withstand a knock or two. Playing fields on a muddy morning leave us surprised with how well it performs: grass churned up from months of Sunday league football poses no trouble, and nor do big divots. It even powers through the deepest puddles.
(Just like) starting rover Setup is simple – and you don’t need to be a coding wonderkid to start using it, because it’s also a simple RC car fresh from the box. Sensitive steering means handling takes some getting used to, so we’d advise starting with wide-open spaces to avoid ploughing into Mum’s flowerbed.
Handles all terrain
Packed with features Sensitive steering
App is a bit crowded Bluetooth can drop out
TESTED SPHERO RVR
2
Holding out for a Sphero Even foetuses are into coding these days, and the Sphero RVR is suitable for anyone aged 10 and up.
Tech specs Sensors Colour, light, IR, magnetometer, accelerometer, gyroscope Battery Lithium-ion Connectivity Bluetooth Weight 1.36kg
The long and winding code There’s a lot going on in Sphero’s Edu app, but it’s user-friendly and simple enough for kids to use
Rover the hills and far away Want to do more than splash people? The Sphero Edu app lets you programme your bot to perform a series of actions: have it turn at a certain angle, move forward for a set number of seconds, flash its lights (3), make noises, even say phrases. Perfect for terrorising pets.
It’s all rover now, baby blue Playing with the RVR can be as simple or as complicated as you want. You could spend hours constructing the most intricate and contrived routine imaginable, or just gun the motor and tear it up. Our Bluetooth connection drops a couple of times, but overall the range is impressive.
Q Day tripper
Q What goes on
The app is suitable for all levels. Doodle a route on screen and watch the RVR drive it. Then try personalised actions by filling in blanks – ‘drive forward XX seconds’, for example – and choose what order they go in.
The homescreen has a feed with Sphero projects other people have shared, while the ‘3D Models’ tab lets you dissect each bot in an exploded 3D diagram and see what makes it tick. Safer than taking the thing apart yourself.
Q Drive my car
Q Cam together
The Programs tab is where you create and store predefined actions, and where others are shared by the Sphero community. In Activities you can watch tutorials, while Drive gets you behind the wheel with no coding necessary.
You can even take photos and videos using the in-app camera, and record your adventures from the RVR’s viewpoint using an optional add-on camera (which costs extra) – perfect for adrenaline fiends.
Some coding gadgets are all a bit serious… but anything too knockabout risks veering into wacky territory. The RVR pulls off the balance perfectly: it’s a fast, fun all-terrain vehicle you can throw about without worrying about it breaking; but it also has serious coding chops, being compatible with the best low-cost programming machines around. @joesvetlik
STUFF SAYS +++++ If you’re turned off by the mere mention of the word ‘coding’, give the RVR a try and you might just be converted 59
BETA YOURSELF
MINDFUL TECH USE Worried you’re frittering your life away, staring at ephemeral nothingness on a glowing screen? Craig Grannell finds ways to be more ‘conscious’ on phones, tablets and computers… THE BASICS
Q Tame your indulgences So you enjoy catching up with your social feeds and playing games. There’s nothing wrong with that. But don’t squeeze such things into odd moments that rapidly expand – instead, schedule time for them, and avoid them elsewhere during the day. You’ll claw back hours and appreciate those planned spells all the more.
Q Be creative One way to ensure you’re not wasting time on a device is to make something. If you’ve always had a novel in your head, or ambitions to be an artist, the digital realm now offers more help than ever. Instead of defaulting to social networks, spend downtime writing a novella, learning to paint or working on that nu-ragtime chart-topper.
Q Get educated Although it’s true we never stop learning, most people rarely do so in a structured manner post-school/college. But your phone can be a great way to get useful stuff into your head. Try Duolingo to learn a new language, or Khan Academy for lessons in just about anything.
Q Put it out of reach Q Learn to relax Taking time out is vital, but it’s useful to approach relaxation mindfully, rather than spending all your spare time on things that may end up making you more stressed (such as endless news feeds). Instead, fill this time with chill-out activities like meditation, ambient audio noodling in Bloom: 10 Worlds, or a spot of virtual colouring.
There are times when tech is inappropriate – or even harmful to wellbeing. If you can’t trust yourself, put your devices out of reach. Get an old-school alarm clock for the bedroom and leave your phone to charge overnight elsewhere. When watching TV, put your phone in another room so you can concentrate on the right screen. And when you’re out socially, keep the effing thing in your pocket.
COUNT THE MINUTES Q Use time-trackers
Yo filter Most email is junk you mindlessly wade through prodding ‘delete’. Focus on messages that matter by using your email client’s filtering and VIP functionality.
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Android has Digital Wellbeing, iOS has Screen Time. Use them to monitor your app and game usage on mobile. The stats will show how often you’re picking devices up, and whether you have an Instagram problem.
Q Be wary on desktop If you track app usage on desktop, ensure the system you work with is intelligent enough to understand apps you’re actively using, rather than totting up whatever’s lurking in the background. (Screen Time on macOS is oddly poor at this.)
APPS FOR THE MIND
TODOIST A list manager arguably means more busywork and another reason to pick up your phone, but it can also be a great way of consolidating tasks and making phone use more conscious. Use this as the hub for your day, and place it prominently on your homescreen. £free / Android, iOS
HABITICA If you need a nudge to get things done and tend to spend too much time playing games, check out Habitica. It gamifies self-improvement, transforming your to-do list into an RPG… and success in the real world translates to the virtual one. £free / Android, iOS
PRUNE YOUR APPS Q Delete social apps
BE GOOD TO YOURSELF Q Infuse good habits Get a habit-tracker on your phone, and use it to define a handful of ways in which you’d like to improve your life and tech use. Don’t be overly ambitious – between two and six items is enough – and do give yourself a break if streaks are broken.
Q Gamify your health Conscious tech use can prove transformative on health with the right apps. Have your smartwatch encourage you to move and exercise more, or go all-in with Zombies, Run! to combine a Walking Dead dystopia with getting fit.
Social media apps tend to be the ones that eat into most people’s time. If that’s you, add friction. This might mean gating usage with a screen time system, or removing native apps and using inferior web interfaces to put you off.
Q Offload on iOS When fixated on an iOS game, too regularly tempted to play but unwilling to lose all your progress by dumping it, offload it in Settings. Your device will retain the app’s data, but the game will only run when reinstalled.
Q Refine device usage If you’re fortunate enough to own multiple devices, clear your daily carry of cruft. Have a ‘gaming’ or ‘social’ device ready and waiting for you when you get home, for your allotted faff time.
GET SOME PEACE Q Tame notifications Android and iOS both have mature notification systems. When new notifications come in, quieten or disable them entirely. Chances are, you only really need a handful active. The rest are a distraction that suck you back into apps.
Q Set contact ringtones Similarly, most phone calls fundamentally don’t matter. For key contacts, such as a spouse, best friend or boss, assign a custom ringtone so you know it’s them and can answer immediately. Everyone else can go to voicemail.
BFT – BEAR FOCUS TIMER There are plenty of timers that attempt to carve your day into work/rest sprints. But BFT has you place your phone face-down during work periods – great for focusing on tasks. £1.19 / Android £1.99 / iOS
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GROUP TEST ARCADE CABINETS
Mini mame Vintage arcade cabinets are bulky, pricey and tricky to maintain. Whereas this lot…
BUTTON UP The Picade has six full-size face buttons and four more on the sides – more than enough for most classic games.
Pimoroni Picade
[ Words Craig Grannell ]
What’s the story? The Picade takes a different approach from the three other cabs in this test. Rather than aiming for authenticity, it lets you take whatever you like from gaming’s past by adding apps and games to a Raspberry Pi that you install inside. That’s after you first put the thing together, because the Picade comes in kit form. And the build is quite involved, although a set of online videos
deftly takes you from unboxing to finished unit. There’s a grey area regarding what you actually put on the Pi (ensure you have the rights to run the games you load up, etc), but this setup is hugely versatile. Fancy switching from arcade to Amiga to ZX Spectrum? Go for it.
Is it any good? Once you’ve got the software up and running, the Picade is a retro-gamer’s dream. The 10in
screen is bright and clear, the speaker packs a wallop, and the controls are great. Because there’s a Pi inside, you have the option of branching out from arcade controls as well, connecting up keyboards and gamepads for titles that play better with alternative inputs. This freedom does come with a downside, though: a distinct ‘homebrew’ feel throughout. The cabinet is robust but dull compared to its rivals, and with
a printed card marquee and control-panel background that feel cheap. Still, there’s nothing to stop you working up something better – assuming you can spare a few minutes away from being fully ensconced in your happy place exploring gaming’s history.
Price £195 / stuff.tv/Picade O 10in display O Internal speaker O Pi or SD card O Mains power O 350x245x210mm, 1.75kg
STUFF SAYS Aimed at tinkerers, this is an ideal compact home cabinet for retro-gaming freedom +++++ 62
GROUP TEST ARCADE CABINETS
ALTERNATIVELY
PAC LIGHT This desktop cab not only has the original Pac-Man’s artwork, but also its unique shape. It really is the original in miniature.
QUARTER ARCADES GALAGA Prefer shooty thrills over running around in a maze? This evolved take on Space Invaders has alien ships dive-bomb your position. Dig Dug, Ms. Pac-Man and Track & Field are also due soon. £130 / geekstore.com
PAC TO BASICS As on the original, the joystick is locked to four compass directions, so you can’t speed around corners on diagonals.
Quarter Arcades Pac-Man What’s the story? If you’re going to twang your nostalgia glands, go for the most famous game character of all. This cab gives you an authentic take on a 1980s classic, but at 25% of the original’s size. The iconic yellow cab’s design remains fully intact; and when you’re immersed in dot-munching, ghost-avoiding antics, your senses and fingers are catered for with a crisp 5in display, a surprisingly decent 3W speaker
and a dinky, clicky, responsive four-way joystick. There’s also a teeny take on a coin mechanism at the front, and a nod to more modern tech round the back with a microUSB port for charging – or running the cab using mains power if you’ve waka-waka-waka’d all day and drained the battery.
Is it any good? From the opening jingle to the game itself – which somehow
stands the test of time – this unit is a delight. It hits a sweet spot in terms of size and playability, with the joystick being big enough for solid gaming sessions. Old hands will be delighted with the fine details such as the cabinet’s coin-slot door and the small but readable instructions surrounding the screen. That display nicely shows off all those retro visuals, but at a size that avoids the pixels
feeling like daggers poking into your eyeballs. One gripe: the top light bleeds through the speaker grilles and can reflect off the screen. Otherwise, this is retro-gaming perfection. It’s limited to 10,000 units, though, so don’t dawdle.
Price £150 / stuff.tv/QAPacMan O 5in display O Internal speaker O Original arcade ROM O microUSB/battery O 430x210x160mm, 2kg
STUFF SAYS An addictively tasty mix of superb authentic design and a timeless game +++++ 63
GROUP TEST ARCADE CABINETS
ALTERNATIVELY
THREE PLAY This cab might not be full-size, but three players can easily fit around it to partake in multi-player rampaging.
ARCADE1UP STREET FIGHTER II If RepliCade’s tiny take (see opposite) doesn’t do it for you, go almost full-size with this iconic brawler. Hopefully the Star Wars Arcade1Up will finally make it over from the US in 2020 too. £350 / amazon.co.uk
PI SCORE This unit’s innards aren’t really hackable, but retro-gamers have modded Arcade1Up cabs with Raspberry Pi boards.
Arcade1Up Rampage What’s the story? Arcade1Up’s units come flatpacked, and most of the range uses the same generic cabinet design. The ROMs are licensed, though, and each cab has unique artwork. Ours riffs off the original Rampage game, with some superb marquee art. The scale approaches a full cab, but in going for 75% size the finished product doesn’t dominate any reasonable-sized room. It’s a bit short for most
adults, but risers and stools are available. Controls-wise, you get three sets of sticks and buttons, so you and two chums can simultaneously smash up cities. (Dungeon crawler Gauntlet is sadly limited to two players.)
Is it any good? This one has a presence that makes it feel like you’re in front of a proper cab. In play, however, things are variable. The large
screen is bright and clear, but these games were designed for CRT, not LCD. Optional filtering would have helped the visuals avoid a bad case of the jaggies. Also, Defender’s controls are mapped across the entire front panel’s six buttons, rendering it unplayable. This particular Arcade1Up shines most when using co-op multiplayer in Rampage and Gauntlet, although the coinguzzling nature of the originals
is very apparent: it’s tempting to just keep topping up your lives, and there are no save states to pick up lengthy sessions later. It’s still enjoyable, but given the space demands and price, you’ll need to really like the included titles to justify buying this one.
Price £325 / stuff.tv/Arcade1Up O 17in display O Internal speakers O Original arcade ROMs O Mains power O 1200x640x580mm, 26.3kg
STUFF SAYS Flawed but fun – especially in multiplayer – this bodes well for the range’s future +++,, 64
GROUP TEST ARCADE CABINETS
ALTERNATIVELY
ASSAULT AND BATTERY REPLICADE TEMPEST X
The RepliCade should give you up to two hours of thuggery before it needs a microUSB top-up.
O brave new world, that has such gadgets in’t! This vector-based masterpiece transfers to miniature in fine form, with responsive dial controls and surprisingly clear visuals. $120 / newwavetoys.com
SCHOOL OF EVEN HARDER KNOCKS Prod the player-two coin button to access game difficulty settings – and the tougher Turbo edition.
RepliCade Street Fighter II: Champion Edition X What’s the story? RepliCade cabs make even Quarter Arcades seem hefty: this one seems to have gone through the wash at far too high a temperature and come out at a cutesy 1:6 scale. There’s still space for a 3.5in display – comparable to what you got on the Nintendo DS. And you’ll find a smallish joystick plus six tappable buttons. Fine, but Street Fighter II is a famous two-player game… so if
this cab wanted to be faithful to the original, surely it’d have two sets of controls? Well, it sort of does. Taking a sneaky sidestep from full accuracy, the unit has a plastic door on its rear. Open it up and you’ll find a compartment housing a fight-stick that you can connect via USB.
Is it any good? The first RepliCade, pioneering shooter Centipede, looked magnificent, but your bullets
disappeared into the tiny screen and the controls were fiddly. So miniaturising a more complex game looked like a bad idea… but we were soon converted. Even experts may find it hard to pull off every combo, but we found the joystick and buttons sufficient for giving the classic roster of fighters a kicking – until the game decided to punch us solidly in the face. The two-player option can’t help but coming across as a
gimmick – crowding around a 3.5in display feels ridiculous. Yet viewing angles are great and the speaker has real oomph. And, arguably, of all the cabs on test, this is the best for being shown off on a shelf – its petite form won’t take over the house.
Price £139 / stuff.tv/RepliCadeSF O 3.5in display O Internal speaker O Original arcade ROM O microUSB/battery O 350x132x114mm, 1.33kg
STUFF SAYS Can you really stuff Street Fighter II into such a tiny form factor? Shoryuken! ++++, 65
TESTED GOOGLE NEST MINI
Pucky star Google’s Home Mini smart speaker has evolved into the new Nest Mini, with enough added bass and brain power to justify your love £49 / stuff.tv/NestMini Q If you’re comfortable chatting away to a small fabric blob to find out the weather, play a podcast or be taken through a recipe, the Nest Mini is one of the cheapest and most reliable voice-assistant speakers you can buy. Think of it as a capable but slightly quieter sibling to the Google Home.
Tapper don’t preach The touch controls work well. A simple bop on the nose pauses whatever’s playing, with another tap to continue.
Q You’d have to be the Columbo of consumer tech to tell the Nest Mini apart from the old Home Mini. But the fabric cover is now made from recycled plastic bottles and there’s a fetching new blue colour option as well as chalk, red and black. You still get a switch on the side to turn off the mics when you don’t want it listening to your every cough. Q Google claims the bass is twice as good as before. We agree, and it’s startlingly loud for its size, but we still can’t recommend this as a replacement hi-fi. It’s perfect for playing podcasts or catching up on the news, though. Q Google Assistant is always improving: the product you buy today will get smarter month by month as Google processes a world of data requests and enhances its answers and functionality. It’s already far more consistent than Siri, and on a level with Alexa. Q Voice recognition is great: we didn’t have to shout over loud music to get the Nest Mini to hear us. Smart home integration is straightforward, with support for Philips Hue bulbs and, of course, Nest thermostats.
Tech specs Connectivity Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Google Assistant, touch controls, Chromecast built in Microphones 3x far-field Dimensions 98x98x42mm, 181g
Q Into the groove
Q Who’s that, girl?
A new addition is a wall mount that lets you hang the Nest Mini up. Once you get over the odd look, it means the speaker can easily be placed around head height – which can sound better than on a shelf or table.
The Voice Match feature means it can recognise different users and tailor things like calendar requests to the right Google account. You can add up to six people, which is great if your family relies on the Google ecosystem.
STUFF SAYS Louder and cleverer than ever – and it’ll only improve over time +++++ Bigger smart speakers sound better, but small can be beautiful Henry Burrell
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If you live in Google’s world (and let’s face it, most of us do), then the Nest Mini is about the best, cheapest way to get into the smart home game. Bear in mind that the better-sounding Google Home only costs a few quid more; but if you want a small smart speaker to stick in the kitchen, the Nest Mini gives you a radio, encyclopaedia, recipe book and timer all in one.
TESTED XIAOMI MI NOTE 10
Happiness is a warm ton Unsurprisingly, a phone camera with over 100 megapixels takes great pictures. But what’s the rest of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 like? €549 / stuff.tv/MiNote10 Q Do megapixels really maketh the mobile? Apple and Google reckon 12MP is a rational limit for phone cameras. Xiaomi, however, has other ideas, and has officially broken the silly-pixel-count continuum to bring us the 108MP Xiaomi Mi Note 10. Q Luckily, there’s a lot more to this phone than its five rear cams – it’s got a cracking curved OLED display and seriously premium styling that’s especially seductive in shimmery ‘glacier white’.
Let it USB Sorry, your wireless charger isn’t welcome here, but this Xiaomi fuels up nice and quickly with 30W fast charging.
Q A Snapdragon 730G CPU with 6GB of RAM won’t power through games and chores with as much gusto as the chips found in some cheaper devices. Still, day-to-day performance is mostly great. Q Nothing comes close to the detail grabbed by that main sensor. Pictures are actually taken at a default 27MP, combining four pixels into one in a technique called pixel-binning; shoot at the full 108MP, however, and the Mi Note 10 will grab sharp shots that can be cropped into time and time again. Q The other cameras also impress. The 12MP zoom does fine portraits and the ultra-wide-angle gets plenty in the frame – although both are seriously inconsistent in low light. The macro cam is a nice touch too, and the front 32MP selfie snapper is one of the better ones around.
Tech specs Q A day in the life
Q MIUI can work it out
With a giant 5260mAh battery, we expected the Mi Note 10 Pro to last for ages, but one day was about all it could manage. That isn’t bad, but it isn’t class-leading like the numbers suggest it should be.
Xiaomi phones run a customised version of Android called MIUI. If you’re coming from another Android phone, things will feel different – there’s no apps tray, for example – but it’s mostly clean and customisable.
Screen 6.47in 2340x1080 AMOLED Processor Snapdragon 730G RAM 6GB OS Android 9 with MIUI 11 Cameras 108MP + 12MP + 20MP + 5MP + 2MP rear, 32MP front Battery 5260mAh Storage 128GB Dimensions 158x74x9.7mm, 208g
STUFF SAYS An incredible camera let down by middling power under the hood ++++, The camera’s amazing but the rest of the phone is nowhere, man Basil Kronfli
You won’t get a better camera-phone than this for €549… but that aside, weighing it up as an all-round smartphone, the price becomes a little harder to swallow. A number of missing mod cons – like wireless charging, a 90Hz screen, expandable storage and flagship power, the absence of which is especially noticeable in the camera app – hold the Mi Note 10 back from greatness.
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What is Santa bringing you this year?
For more info, visit: www.zeromotorcycles.com/eu
WINTER FITNESS
FIT JUST GOT REAL WHETHER YOU’RE TAKING TO THE SLOPES OR ESTABLISHING A WINTER TRAINING CAMP WITHOUT GOING OUTSIDE, WE’VE GOT THE CARDIO, STRENGTH AND SKI TECH TO HELP YOU SHIFT THE POST-CHRISTMAS PODGE
Go cardi, not lardy
Get swoony, not puny
Do races, not cases
Barbados is for beer and BBQs, not boot camps. Get beach-ready ahead of time with our connected cardio kit for a motivating workout that fights flab within the confines of your own four walls.
Your puny arms get to stay undercover for a few more months… but for the full ‘sun’s out, guns out’ effect, we assess the strength tools tasked with turning you into Johnny Bravo by summer.
The Alps might be calling, but budget airlines’ baggage charges are most definitely not. Can you hit the snow with hand luggage only? We jump on a bucket flight with a single bag to find out.
[ Words Kieran Alger, Chris Haslam ]
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WINTER FITNESS
SMASH HIITS LESS PAIN, MORE GAIN WITH CONNECTED KIT TO HELP YOU BOSS YOUR CARDIO WORKOUTS
Light exercise Connect up to 12 pods to a phone or tablet and you can use the app to assign bespoke light sequences.
Brain drain You can use the app to test your wits too, including a random light speed test and a colour-hunting game.
NOW ADD THESE
BlazePod from $279 / blazepod.com The simplest ideas make the best fitness gadgets – and BlazePod is a no-brainer that genuinely makes cardio work enjoyable. No, really. The fitness equivalent of Whac-A-Mole, this reflex training system cunningly transforms almost any workout into a game of physical and mental strength. Each stackable and portable
light-up pod can be assigned one of eight different colours. You can connect them in a series, place them practically anywhere – indoors or outdoors – programme the flash timers and turn otherwise pedestrian cardio routines into interactive reaction challenges. The partner app is loaded with a wide selection of drills,
designed to push your lung capacity to the max while also improving hand-eye coordination, agility, speed, stability and strength. Alternatively, you can create your own workouts, including multiplayer challenges. And battery life? The pods can go for up to eight hours. We’re betting you can’t.
Stuff says We doubt there’s a smarter way to make pain fun ++++, 70
Jabra Elite 75t At just 5g each, true wireless buds don’t come much more compact. These sweat-proof Jabras also pack 28 hours of battery life and customisable sound to help you power through the pain. £169 / jabra.co.uk
WINTER FITNESS
WORKOUT WONDERS
Form Swim Goggles
Wattbike Atom
Nothing puts you off your stroke like trying to clock your SWOLF score on a watch in mid-swim. These HUD-style goggles put all your stats right where you can see them, letting you crawl freely to cardio supremacy, while also making you feel like a fighter pilot in Speedos. Pair them with a Polar heart-rate sensor to add your BPM to the in-goggles display. $199 / formswim.com
Recreate spin studio sufferfests, access virtual training worlds like Zwift or just enjoy indoor saddle sessions in your very own pain cave. Ready to ride out of the box, the Atom packs near-silent magnetic resistance and automated gradient simulation from flat to 25%. The app serves up real-time ride metrics plus training plans and fitness tests. £1599 / wattbike.com
Stryd with Wind Detection If running is your cardio hell, maybe you’re just going out too hard, too soon. Strapping on a Stryd power-tracking footpod could help ease you in more gently. The tiny sensor attaches to your laces like a timing chip and helps you run at an effort level below your breaking point, whether that’s up hills, in heat or into the wind. £199 / stryd.com
FUTURE FITNESS PERSONAL TRAINING
Sweati Knowing when to hydrate, when to fuel and when to ease off so you can sustain a longer effort is still largely guesswork. But this patch analyses your sweat to give realtime feedback on blood lactate, sugar and hydration levels. iamsweati.com
Bioniq
Corner Try throwing jabs and crosses flat out for three minutes and you’ll earn sudden respect for a boxer’s cardio fitness. Corner’s compact boxing trackers strap to each wrist to give you seven hours’ drill data – to reveal just how hard you’re working and how well you’re hitting. You get punch type, speed, power and intensity stats all sent in real time to your smartphone. £90 (pair) / thecornerapp.com
Tangram Smart Rope Studies show that 10 minutes of skipping is as effective as half an hour’s running. Fast-foot rope sessions are also lower-impact and improve coordination and balance. This ‘smart rope’ uses embedded LEDs to float your jump stats in real time in the air in front of you like a hologram. You can track sessions, set targets and follow guided workouts. £80 / tangramfactory.com
Airofit Getting out of breath is an instant limiter for any workout. But your respiratory muscles can be trained just like your guns. This smart breathing trainer has a mouthpiece and an app-based virtual coach that uses guided resistance drills to make those respiratory muscles (mainly the diaphragm and the intercostals) stronger, increasing lung capacity and breathing power. £185 / airofit.com
Blindly swallowing supplements is a haphazard approach to plugging vitamin deficiencies. This personalised health platform uses AI to determine which biochemical markers to test and the supplements you should take. bioniq.com
Tonal One day we’ll all get ripped at home with virtual trainers… like this wall-mounted digital weight setup. Lift up to 90kg with all your stats autotracked, and never have to see another human using the hairdryer on their genitals again. tonal.com
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WINTER FITNESS
MUSCLE MACHINES
FUTURE FITNESS VIRTUAL GAINS
Nexus Kaia Personal Trainer Bad technique is the enemy of effective workouts. But in the future, AI motion tracking – like in this clever app – will offer real-time guidance for hitting the perfect form for any exercise using just your phone camera. iOS
Nexus does the complicated job of tracking over 140 strength-training moves common in crossfit. Motion sensors and machine learning decipher when you’re doing a deadlift, a double under or a barbell clean, or just reaching for your towel. With real-time feedback on power, work, round splits and rest times, you can train smarter and avoid injuries. $299 / trainwithnexus.com
Whoop Strap 3.0
TRX Medicine Ball (10in)
You get stronger during recovery, not during your workout, and this wrist-strap is a subscriptionbased 24/7 fitness tracker with a heavy focus on how quickly your body bounces back. Its built-in heart-rate and motion sensors provide insights into strain, recovery and sleep, so you can optimise your effort for a more effective route to fitness. from €150 + €25/m / whoop.com
Want to get ripped? Get your balls out. Medicine balls, that is. These handcrafted training aids from TRX, resistant to moisture and scuffs, have reinforced seams to withstand pretty much anything you can throw them at. They come in weights ranging from 4lb to 12lb, ideal for drops, wall-throws or bounces, from novice to boxer level. £55 / trxtraining.co.uk
Bowflex SelectTech 560 Dumbbells
Hyfit Wearable Gym
Rezzil Immersive VR training isn’t a thing of the future – it’s already here. Rezzil’s advanced VR tool is used by top football clubs to help players bounce back from injury, improve technique and adopt new skills. rezzil.com
Nintendo Ring Fit Adventure Carrying on where the Wi Fit left off, Nintendo’s vision of future fitness lies in turning the burn into RPG entertainment. Hand-held sensors and immersive graphics make high knees, squats and shoulder presses fun. Switch
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Bulldog Gear HIIT Box A neat and compact home for all the kit you need for a full-body workout, this seven-level adjustable bench is the gym equivalent to Batman’s utility belt. It has storage for dumbbells up to 15kg, kettlebells, skipping ropes and slam balls, and doubles as a sled for strongman-style pushes and pulls. You can also attach ropes and resistance bands. £1200 / bulldoggear.eu
Unless you’re a Premier League footballer it’s unlikely you’ve got room to stash a whole suite of dumbbells in your pad. These clever space-saving weights solve that by cramming a complete rack of heavy metal into two compact, Bluetooth-connected selectable irons. They also fire your stats to an app. £599 / bowflex.com
Ideal for strength workouts without the need for loads of weights, Hyfit makes resistance-based training connected and smart. Each set features two 1m bands with adjustable resistance so you can tailor the toughness of your drills to suit. But the real smarts are in the wrist-based heart-rate monitor and cuff sensors that track your reps. $149 / hyfitgear.com
WINTER FITNESS
GIVE ME STRENGTH THE LATEST SMART TRAINING TOOLS TO HELP YOU TONE UP THOSE MUSCLES IN 2020
Steady player one You can play in multiplayer or solo, and see how you stack up against the world with retro-style leaderboards.
Hardcore gamers There are five different games to choose from, and the challenge changes each time you play.
NOW ADD THESE
Stealth Plankster £89 / stealthbodyfitness.com Aside from the hellish burpee, the plank is one of the most common exercises you’ll find sneaking into core-ripping pain fests. Personal trainers love this move because it’s uncomplicated, versatile and ideal for building core strength, improving balance and posture. But let’s be honest – staring at the floor while holding the plank
position is dull. Luckily, Stealth fixes that. Slot any smartphone into this balance board, fire up the app and you can play a range of ab-scorching games that give those holds an old-school arcade vibe. Gameplay is simple – you use minor core movements, picked up by your phone’s motion sensors, to fly gliders through the
skies, shoot down asteroids, roll balls into holes or navigate a labyrinth. Meanwhile, you’re working up to 29 muscles. The board is built to support anyone up to 20 stone and has soft, easy-clean pads so at least your elbows won’t hurt. It isn’t exactly compact… but by the time you’ve mastered all the games, your gut will be.
Stuff says Arcade larks for otherwise miserable ab sessions ++++,
Under Armour HOVR Apex These feature the same responsive HOVR midsole foam you find in UA’s running shoes, with added stability to cope with the demands of the gym floor. £120 / underarmour.co.uk
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WINTER FITNESS
CARRY-ON SKIING C A N Y O U R E A L LY D O W I N T E R S P O R T S I N STYLE WITH JUST ONE BAG? STUFF SENT CHRIS HASLAM TO THE ALPS TO FIND OUT…
Vollebak Indestructible Puffer Vollebak’s latest release uses Dyneema, the world’s strongest fibre, making it the outerwear equivalent of a Sherman tank wrapped in a missile-proof duvet. Up to 15 times stronger than steel – we’ve seen knives bounce off it – Dyneema covers this quilted jacket, designed to keep you toasty down to -40°C. What’s perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that this stuff gets stronger the colder it becomes – which is why it’s most commonly used to make mooring lines on giant ships and deep-water oil rigs in freezing seas. £795 / vollebak.com
NOW ADD THESE
Oakley Clifden To save pack space we broke a sacred mountain rule and wore shades with a helmet… but when the light went flat we were still able to see thanks to Oakley’s Prizm lens tech. £160 / oakley.com
Helly Hansen H1 Pro With the bottoms weighing just 138g, these seamless base layers have no right being as good as they are. The ultimate in performance without bulk. from £100 / hellyhansen.com
GoPro Max 360 This superb 360° action cam will transform your piffling attempts at radness into hyper-stylish clips; just record everything and edit in the app. £480 / gopro.com
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Shell suit An extra-strong form of polyethylene, Dyneema was originally used in anti-ballistic body and vehicle armour.
WINTER FITNESS
ALPINE ACCESSORIES
Osprey Transporter Carry-On 44
Picture Harvest Jacket & Bib
By ditching the wheels and plastic pull-along gubbins, Osprey has maxed out every cubic inch of space in this carry-on to give a full 44 litres for your kit. It’s hefty when fully loaded but has shoulder and rucksack straps plus loads of compartments for effortless packing. Great price too. £120 / ospreyeurope.com
You’ll need to layer up under this shell for warmth, but both the super-packable jacket and bib-pant remained impervious to snow and wind on our trip, even when gusts hit 75mph. It’s a high-performance eco-friendly design with a membrane made using castor oil and the waterproof treatment is free of parabens. from €267 / pictureorganic-clothing.com
Patagonia Nano Puff
Finisterre Vans Slip-Er
When worn with the aforementioned H1 Pro base layers and Harvest jacket, this lightweight mid-layer gave us epic levels of protection. Made from highly compressible PrimaLoft Gold Insulation Eco (created using 55% recycled content) and wrapped in a recycled polyester shell, it’s also water-repellent so handy as an everyday jacket. £180 / patagonia.com
Based around the classic Vans slip-on sneaker, these slippers are heavily insulated using organic cotton, have a supremely comfortable insole and even pack a waterproof coating and durable waffle sole for outdoor use. A blissfully comfortable post-ski treat for our feet, and further proof you can pack in the luxuries even when limited to just one bag. £60 / finisterre.com
Zippo HeatBank 6 Look what happens to a lighter brand when everyone stops smoking! Zippo has reinvented the battery pack for the winter, giving you the chance to charge your tech via USB (it’s a 5200mAh lithium-ion power bank) or, if your digits are feeling the chill, switch modes and use this charger as a five-temperature (up to 50°C) handwarmer instead. £40 / zippo.co.uk
Wayks Compression Packing Cubes The answer to all our packing problems, these fabric packs took care of most of our kit and left room for all the fun tech extras by using a nifty three-zipper system to squish everything down without undue creasing. The access system also makes it easy to keep dirty clothes apart. €34 (one small, one large) / wayks.com
SKI HIRE TIPS SWISH NEW KIT Travelling light to the slopes traditionally means splashing out on below-par hire kit, but Intersport has upped its game here. As well as hiring the latest gear, you can swap and change skis for changing conditions. Plus they use a 3D scanning system for better-fitting boots.
Salomon X S/Force Bold + X12 TL GW With on-piste snow on the solid side we were recommended these high-class skis. They feature a double layer of titanal, improving hard-snow performance with a welcome injection of precision at speed. intersport-rent.fr
Salomon S/Pro 130 Our hire boot of choice is a comfy but progressive design that proves top performance doesn’t have to mean sore feet. The step-in construction and seamless liner combine to ensure edge-to-edge power all day. intersport-rent.fr
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DIGITAL EDITION
Available online from Readly or Pocketmags
TESTED ZERO DSR BLACK FOREST
Ballad of EV rider This hardy electric steed is ready to fuel your all-terrain dreams with punchy performance, a real-world range… and zero emissions from £18,090 / stuff.tv/ZeroDSR
Filth dimension Worried about scaring the cows as you tear through the countryside? No need – this is much quieter than any petrol ride.
Q Never heard of Zero? This Californian crew is on a mission to become the Tesla of the two-wheeled world with a slick, stylish and impressively powerful range of all-electric motorcycles. Q Powered by a 14.4kWh battery pack (developed in-house) and a potent Z-Force electric motor, the DSR Black Forest delivers a hefty 69hp and 146Nm of torque. It’s wheelspin-ready, no matter the surface. Q Ignore your rumbling stomach: this is not a tribute to the famous gateau. The Black Forest edition of the DS features hardcore panniers, a tough top box and other protective elements that are designed to encourage riders to take the path less travelled. Q Range is just shy of 100 miles when ridden carefully, and a full charge of the battery pack takes around two hours from a 7kW outlet. Alternatively, plug it into any old domestic socket overnight and the batteries will be brimming over for your morning ride.
Q Mr Paceman
Q Great miles high
This is no Ducati Panigale, but it’s impressive how rapid the DS is off the line. Mind you, this can make things a little tricky on slippery surfaces, where 241kg and a super-spinny rear wheel are hardly a recipe for stability.
The Zero DS’s battery has the highest power and energy density in all of the EV kingdom, which means this bike can keep up with its petrol-burning rivals in a drag race while also offering a respectable range.
Q Unlike any regular bike powered by an internal combustion engine, the Zero DS boasts a wonderfully simple lack of moving parts, which means fewer maintenance headaches and fiddly bits to clean. What’s more, the company is constantly releasing updates to improve power and delivery. Users can even adjust the engine mapping via an app to achieve a power delivery that suits their riding style.
Tech specs Motor Z-Force Interior Permanent Magnet, 14.4kWh battery pack Power 69hp (52kW) Top speed 100mph Weight 241kg
STUFF SAYS A liberating ride, even if it lacks the drama of a gas-guzzling bike ++++, You’ll wheel a whole lot better going off-road without pollution Leon Poultney
There’s something very cool about tackling the muddy trails and venturing off into the woods aboard an electric motorcycle, and the Zero DSR Black Forest is pretty adept at doing so, offering exploration opportunities typically off limits to a normal, noisy bike. However, you’ll have to pay a premium for the privilege… and there’s no denying those petrol-powered rivals are still better at it.
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FI R TH ST ES AD E… D
ONEPLUS 7T
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ONE DJI OSMO MOBILE 3
TWO BUMPER CASE
THREE HUAWEI FREEBUDS 3
The 7T takes fantastic pictures… but add an Osmo Mobile 3 to the mix for stunning, rock-steady video capture too. The Mobile 3 is a compact, baggable gimbal that unfurls into a stabilising whizz, ready to keep your smartphone footage looking pro-grade at the press of a button, whether shooting selfie or ultra-wide GoPro-style clips. £99 / dji.com
It ain’t cheap, but this official bumper case is made from a combination of Kevlar and plastic, complete with a carbon fibre patterning that looks fantastic. It’ll shield your 7T’s back and sides, leaving glimpses of the buffed metal top and bottom shining through, making for a sleek-looking cover that adds less bulk than traditional cases. £37 / oneplus.com
These open-fit buds have a (very) similar design to the original AirPods – but share the active noise-cancelling skills of the more expensive AirPods Pro. They sit well in the ears without needing to jam right in, and should stay put on the move. Most importantly, they help drown out the droning background sounds of train engines and the like. £170 / consumer.huawei.com
NO TH W IS DO …
TH TH EN ES GE E… T
INSTANT UPGRADES
REAL RACING 3
1 FIND YOUR LOOK
2 KEEP CUSTOMISING
3 SAVE YOUR PEEPERS
When you first turn on the OnePlus 7T, customisations are seriously extensive thanks to its OxygenOS interface. Start by whacking in your Gmail details and adding your face and fingerprint data. Now the good stuff: you can choose from three screen modes depending on how punchy or subdued you want that lovely screen to look, and decide whether to use the OnePlus font over Google’s.
The personalisation doesn’t stop there. Go into settings, tap on ‘Customisation’ and you can choose between preset themes or make a new one. This gives you complete control over your wallpaper, clock style and even fingerprint-unlock animation. If you want to overhaul the look and feel of the menus, OnePlus has you covered with custom accent colours, and you can even change the shape of the icons.
Plenty of phones pack a reading mode, but the 7T has two. Pull down from the top of the display, then pull down again to expand your quick settings. Swipe from right to left and you’ll see a ‘Reading mode’ option. Tap on it to choose ‘Chromatic effect’ or ‘Mono effect’. Night mode, also found in the quick settings, filters out 40% of the screen’s blue light for sleep-friendly late-night reading.
With its 90Hz screen, the 7T is one smooth scroller. But only a handful of games are optimised to take advantage of the feature; this racer is one of the best. £free (IAPs)
FILMIC PRO
[ Words Basil Kronfli ]
The 7T has a superb pro mode for photographers; but if you’re a videographer craving manual controls, Filmic Pro is for you. It isn’t cheap but it’s very, very powerful. £11.49
4 GET UP CLOSE
5 BETA YOUR SHELF
6 PUT IT DOWN
With its triple camera, the 7T is a versatile shooter that can capture super-wide snaps or get you closer to the action with 2x optical zoom. To toggle between these ranges, fire up the camera app and tap on the trees near the shutter button. There’s also a mega-close-up super-macro mode: tap the flower icon and you can get as close as 2.5cm from an object for incredible levels of detail.
On the left of the home screen is OxygenOS’s ‘Shelf’, for quick access to key features without cluttering the display. The words ‘Never Settle’ headline it, but just long-press the slogan to change it to something more ‘you’. Then tap the icon at the top right to add or remove elements, from a vehicle-finder for forgetful parkers to a contacts list. The Shelf also supports third-party app widgets.
OnePlus has run with the idea of digital wellbeing by creating Zen mode. This deactivates most of your phone’s features so you can look up and smell the roses. Find it under quick settings, pick a duration, and now you won’t be able to do anything on your phone other than take calls, make emergency calls or use the camera – and it can’t be deactivated until the timer’s up.
KINEMASTER You’ve shot your masterpiece with Filmic Pro – now stitch it together with KineMaster. This advanced video editor has a monthly sub, so take the free trial to see if it floats your creative boat. £4.99/month
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TWO WEEKS WITH THE NEW MACBOOK PRO 16IN
Inchy strider Apple’s flagship laptop has grown a little on the outside but made big steps on the inside… Craig Grannell spends some time with the new star in the aluminium hood from £2399 / stuff.tv/MacBookPro16 Ports are Thunderbolt 3 USB-C all the way… and that’ll mean dongles.
DAY 01 With its latest iPhones, you might wonder if Apple is now welding the word ‘Pro’ to product names with merry abandon. But when you unwrap the new MacBook Pro 16in, there’s no doubting this is the real deal: a full-fat high-end laptop for creative types. It’s also a message. This is Apple’s retort to people who say it never listens. Although this Mac might not outwardly look that much different from its 15in
predecessor, keen eyes will soon notice the changes, and they become more apparent as you start to get properly acquainted… which is why we felt we needed a solid fortnight to get properly under its silvery skin. If you’ve ever wasted quality time yelling at the virtual escape key on a Mac with a Touch Bar, prepare for your swear jar to go hungry. The return of the physical escape key is bliss (as is the
The keyboard is the real revelation: the scissor switch mechanism feels more comfortable and is no longer deafening
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‘inverted T’ arrow key layout) for everything from smashing out words to programming. But the keyboard as a whole is the real revelation. A new scissor switch mechanism replaces the butterfly one and, whether this will prove more durable, it feels more comfortable – and tapping away no longer deafens everyone in the immediate vicinity. There’s also a slightly smaller Touch Bar, a separate Touch ID button (like on the MacBook Air), and a multitouch trackpad the size of a dinner tray. Oh, and did someone say 16 inches? This unit shaves the
bezels to pack in a bigger display. It has 3072x1920 resolution at 226ppi, up from 2880x1800 at 220ppi in a frame that’s not meaningfully bigger. Video types should be pleased, as you can adjust the refresh rate to match footage. Major negatives are no Face ID and no FaceTime camera upgrade, meaning more crummy 720p video calls. By the way, see the word ‘from’ in that price? It’s a big ‘from’. Our review laptop – 2.4GHz octa-core i9 CPU, 32GB of RAM, 2TB SSD, AMD Radeon Pro 500M with 8GB of RAM – weighs in at £3789. I’ll try not to drop it…
LO N G -T E R M T E S T
01
Donut of Truth™
05
04
02 03
01 A stellar display, as we’ve come to expect 02 Plenty of raw power and a longer-lasting battery 03 Improved keyboard and surprisingly great speakers
04 The FaceTime camera is fuzzy old 720p 05 If you skimp on the specs to save a few quid now, there’s no way to upgrade the RAM later
Tech specs Display 16in 3072x1920 LED Processor Intel Core i7/i9 RAM 16/32/64GB GPU AMD Radeon Pro 5300M/ 5500M with 4/8GB RAM Storage 512GB/ 1/2/4/8TB SSD Connectivity 4x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C); 3.5mm headphone port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth OS macOS Catalina Battery life Up to 11 hours Dimensions 358x246x16mm, 2.0kg
DAY 03 Working from home, it’s time to try some tunes. What’s most surprising with the Pro is that the speakers aren’t just really good for a laptop – they’re really good full stop. Flipping back and forth between the built-in speakers and Ruark’s MR1 Mk2 desktops, the Mac’s aren’t obviously worse, just thinner in the low end. They offer an astonishing soundstage with real separation and height. That’s down to a six-speaker system with back-to-back drivers… and the same’s true for the new ‘studio quality’ three-mic array. It’d be a stretch to imagine Adele singing into it, but it’s easily good enough for a podcast or blasting out vocal demos in Logic Pro (apologies to the neighbours).
DAY 05 Delving into the stats, CPU speed and single-core performance are broadly on a par with this Mac’s predecessor. The GPU is way up with radically improved thermal architecture, plus you can spec a bank-account-mugging 64GB RAM and 8TB storage. Apple’s own apps all deliver, with only one hiccup in Logic Pro when I chuck a few too many virtual synths into the mix.
DAY 11 I’ve tried a bit of gaming today. It’s fine, but you’re probably still better off with the cheaper machines and greater range of titles offered by Windows. For everything else, from photo editing to video encoding, this Pro impresses. There’s some occasional warmth around the keyboard, and the Touch Bar does get uncomfortable at one point, otherwise heat and fan noise remain pleasingly absent.
DAY 14 This isn’t a revolution. What it represents is Apple taking its MacBook line into the future, but in a way that ensures we’re all willingly along for the ride. Sure, some people are going to bleat that this 16in model doesn’t look much different from its predecessor, and even that it’s a shade heavier. The thing is, all this fades away when you start using it. The keyboard is better. The screen is superb. The speakers are great. It only rarely gets warm. Even the battery lasts longer. Of course, you pay for all that. This is a wallet-thumping piece of kit, with the clue being in the name – because here, ‘Pro’ still means something.
STUFF SAYS A top upgrade for creative pros that bodes well for the rest of the MacBook line in 2020 +++++
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TESTED GAMES
PS4, Xbox One, PC / stuff.tv/FallenOrder
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Low on groundbreaking content but high on combat thrills, the latest Star Wars game sticks to the tried and tested – which is good news for hardcore fans and nervous n00bs alike ou’ll see the fingerprints of other franchises smudged all over this game – mostly Uncharted but also Tomb Raider, God of War and the Dark Souls series. For sure, Fallen Order could have been a more original and adventurous game than it is; but after all the grumbling over Star Wars Battlefront II (and its loot boxes), you can’t fault Respawn for playing it cautious. Above all, this is an accessible take on the series. You don’t need to have liked – or even seen – the
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most recent movie offerings to understand Cal’s plight, nor will your experience be hampered by a lack of Star Wars trivia. Cal is now working as a scrapper on the planet Bracca, his Jedi training a secret up until the day he betrays his own anonymity to save the life of a pal. Alerted to the event, an elite team of Jedi-hunters come looking and bang: Cal’s up and running. And we mean running. This early sequence is a heart-pumping blast of combat and parkour as you try to get to grips with your burgeoning
powers. Never is the action more Uncharted-y than in this section, training you to look up and around as you run from corridor to corridor. Within ten minutes you’ll be skating, plank-walking and leaping from vines as the tutorial teaches you all you need to know about Fallen Order’s plentiful platforming. Cal doesn’t traverse as fluidly as Nathan Drake, but the combat is deliciously satisfying, in part due to the electrifying graphics and sound effects. Don’t go into this thinking the fighting is easy, though. You’ll
need to parry and block, often and successfully, and experiment with your skills to learn how best to chain moves together, particularly as your skill-set expands. Once you settle into the game proper, you’ll be mesmerised by its gentle exploration, canny puzzle design and tight, rewarding fight sequences. Everything else in Fallen Order is serviceable yet lacking any true innovation… but that doesn’t stop it being one of the best Star Wars games of this generation. Vikki Blake
STUFF SAYS This could be the single-player Star Wars game you’ve been waiting for ++++, 82
TESTED GAMES
Cal’s a drag… but his pal’s a wag
“Take the dogs for a walk, she said. It’s a lovely evening, she said…”
“Go for it, she said. You’ll be the first ever Stormtrooper on Strictly, she said…”
Cal Kestis is not the world’s most exciting protagonist. Though well-voiced and animated in a way that makes most combat encounters a delight, he’s the archetypal Generic Good Guy that we’ve seen eleventy-gazillion times before, falling just the wrong side of interesting. It’s a pity, because almost everyone else in this game – from his shipmates Cere and Greez to his ass-kicking foes, the Sisters – are pretty memorable. His lack of passion and charisma often had us wishing he could be tempted by the Dark Side – well, at least then he’d be a tad more interesting. Of course, a Star Wars game would be nothing without a loveable droid, and Fallen Order is no exception. Here we meet BD-1, a mash-up of R2-D2, BB8 and Wall-E who trills and beeps and makes all the adorable noises we expect (demand?) from a robotic gaming comrade. He spends much of the game perched on Cal’s shoulder, jumping in to alert you to nearby secrets, as well as managing your health and holographic map. He’s a delight, and the game would have been considerably less enjoyable without him along for the ride.
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TESTED GAMES
PS4 / stuff.tv/DeathStranding
Death Stranding If you’ve ever fantasised about being a sort of post-apocalyptic Postman Pat (but without the cat), this epic game could be for you t its core, Death Stranding is a game about walking. Other stuff happens, but mostly this is the first AAA stroll simulator. You pick up a package, walk for miles and deliver it to someone. You have a chat with a hologram, restock your supplies then do it all over again. Essentially a 50-hour fetch quest, this stupidly long, baffling and repetitive game may well drive you to tears. Yet at times it can be strangely compelling. You’re Sam, an almost entirely humourless delivery man working in an unrecognisable and very much Amazon-less future America all but obliterated by a series of huge explosions. Sam is assigned the task of plodding back and forth across the wasteland, delivering packages to people who now live in bunkers and hooking them up to the Chiral Network (the internet, basically) so his employers can rebuild their world. In each of the game’s 70 main story missions you’ll have to micro-manage how much cargo you can carry. There are ladders,
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ropes and eventually 3D-printed weapons; bring too little and you’ll run into trouble, too much and the Jenga-tower of steel on your back will get the better of you. The online multiplayer element works really well here. You’ll never see another player on your travels but you can leave ladders and ropes to aid them, while theirs will appear permanently in your game world. You can even build communal postboxes and charging stations, and amassing popularity among your fellow couriers can quickly become quite addictive. Sam carries a tank baby on his chest, which helps him sense BTs – screeching ghosts that you can either try to sneak past or fight head-on. He also has run-ins with violent raiders and a number of Metal Gear-lite bosses, but all this is secondary to the walking. This is a merciless slog of a game that has very little respect for your time. But in its quieter moments, when you’re hiking across the bleak yet oddly beautiful landscape, it’s like nothing else. Matt Tate
“Be a courier, she said. Pootle around the countryside in a nice comfy van, she said…”
Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen plays Cliff, who doesn’t eat people but does look a bit scary.
STUFF SAYS Love it or hate it, Death Stranding is an experience like no other ++++, 84
TESTED GAMES
PS4, PC / stuff.tv/Shenmue3
Shenmue III The long-awaited third instalment of this martial arts action adventure series feels as out of time as the original game was ahead of its own henmue III picks up right where the story left off 18 years ago… and goes on as if all the gaming trends and mechanics of the intervening years had never happened. How you view this game, then, will depend on whether you’re coming at it as a fan or completely fresh expecting a modern game. More importantly, how much you get out of it will depend on whether you have the patience to appreciate it at its own glacial pace. It’s fitting that the first half is set in a remote Chinese village where you can bet on tortoise races, because the pace of its story moves just as slowly. Just trying to track down a group of thugs who’ve been causing trouble in the area can take up to an in-game week. If that sounds maddening, at least you can fast-forward to the next meeting point. But some will appreciate this relaxed feel, where plot is secondary to soaking up the atmosphere while practising martial arts and chopping wood. And despite feeling 20 years old it’s a beautiful game to behold, even
S
The third series of Gone Fishing will be the first to feature Paul and Bob fighting to the death.
“Meet me below the red lantern, she said. You can’t miss it, she said…”
by modern standards. Sure, leading man Ryo still looks a bit stiff and awkward, but that’s an endearing quality to laugh with rather than a flaw to laugh at. Martial arts remain a core focus, even though you don’t actually do a lot of fighting. Perhaps more important is the other busywork on offer. If you’re skipping the jobs, arcades and gambling, you’re playing this game wrong. It’s idiosyncratic in a way not everyone will take to, especially once you hit a couple of moments where the only way to progress is to cough up a huge wad of cash. Quite honestly, if you’re a newcomer to the series, there’s little reason to jump into this game now when there are much more sophisticated open-world games around. But then, no one else has made an open world quite like Shenmue. Dedicated fans who have followed this opus all the way through to its Kickstarter revival are ultimately the audience here – and on that basis, Shenmue III is a successful continuation of the journey. George Cowley
STUFF SAYS For better or worse, the old-school ‘Shenmue charm’ lives on ++++, 85
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TOP TEN
This gadget has leapt straight outta testing and into our rankings.
NEW
OF EVERYTHING
HOT BUY
Time changes everything, including Stuff Top Ten entries.
BARGAIN BUY UPDATE Searing with techy genius, a product that’s set our hearts aflame.
A solid gold bargain. Worth owning, regardless of cashflow.
Smartphones Apps, mobile games Headphones Wearables Laptops Speakers TVs Soundbars, streamers Tablets, consoles
88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96
Games Tech toys, electric cars VR headsets & games Smart home Drones & action cams, compact cameras System cameras Budget buys How to buy… a storage device
97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104
HOW TO USE THEM
TOP TENS SMARTPHONES
88
1
HOT BUY
Apple iPhone 11 You’re getting a really neat package with the iPhone 11 – and crucially, it’s not silly-expensive. The new Bionic A13 chip packs some serious power, the cameras are near-faultless for a smartphone and the battery will last all day. The lack of an OLED display could be an issue for some, but if you can bring yourself to get over that, it’s time to say hello to the new everyman iPhone… and start thinking about what colour you might opt for.
TIPS & TRICKS Swipe-typing makes writing messages much smoother: just run your finger over the keyboard letters.
Stuff says +++++ Wow – an affordable Apple handset that doesn’t scrimp on specs
Haptic Touch means pressing longer instead of harder to enable shortcuts like taking a selfie.
O NOW ADD THIS Ted Baker Wireless Power Bank A mix of cabled connections and Qi wireless charging means this bank can fuel up two devices at once. £80 / proporta.co.uk
Dark Mode works with many third-party apps, so browsing Insta at night is now easier on the eyes.
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OnePlus 7T
Apple iPhone 11 Pro
£549 / stuff.tv/OnePlus7T
from £1049 / stuff.tv/iPhone11Pro
Significant upgrades bring a price hike over the OnePlus 7, but for your extra dosh you’re getting better-than-flagship features for a lower-than-flagship price. As well as an improved camera, it has stacks of power, great battery life and a dreamy new design.
This is Cupertino’s elite handset, with a triple-camera array that’s up there with the best we’ve tested (including an excellent night mode), an A13 Bionic chip that brings about untouchable speeds, and finally the godsend of fast charging.
Stuff says +++++ Smooth, slick and still bargainy, this is the latest Android to beat
Stuff says +++++ The best phone Apple has ever made, but it’s just too pricey to top our list
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OnePlus 7T Pro +++++ £699 / stuff.tv/OnePlus7TPro This Pro shares some key specs with the basic 7T but boosts the screen size, battery and storage.
Huawei P30 Pro +++++ from £750 / stuff.tv/P30Pro Heaps of power and the best phone camera you can buy… but the Google issue makes it a risky choice.
Samsung Galaxy S10 +++++ from £649 / stuff.tv/S10 A well-rounded Android with a versatile camera, a gorgeous display and truly ace performance.
Samsung Galaxy S10 5G +++++ £1099 / stuff.tv/S105G This 5G hardware will have you future-proofed with sensational snaps and a stunning screen
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom +++++ £460 / stuff.tv/Reno10x A wondrous camera-phone that gets a lot right despite its overbearing software.
Moto G8 Plus +++++ £240 / stuff.tv/G8Plus Classic Moto: a smart, well-equipped and capable smartphone for less than £250.
Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro +++++ £379 / stuff.tv/Mi9TPro Makes all the right sacrifices to become the most desirable phone you can get for under £400.
FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS AND REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW PHONES, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/SMARTPHONES
O Prices quoted are for handset only unless otherwise stated
from £729 / stuff.tv/iPhone11
TOP TENS MOBILE APPS
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MOBILE GAMES TOP TENS
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HOT BUY
HOT BUY
Pixelmator Photo
Data Wing
Apps like Snapseed revolutionised photo editing on mobile, making the process user-friendly and fast. Pixelmator Photo takes this to a whole new level. By way of a machine-learning algorithm trained on 20 million pro snaps, it’ll try to fix your photo with a single tap. Amazingly, this mostly works, resulting in balanced, natural tones. And should you want something more personal or creative for your photographic chef d’oeuvre, there are plenty of manual controls too.
This game starts off as if Asteroids had a baby with a top-down racer: your triangular craft blasts around circuits, gaining speed when its bum scrapes neon track edges. Soon you discover you’re part of an OS ruled by a deranged AI. Story and game quickly expand, as you glimpse the world beyond the screen and battle gravity in cavern-based sections that recall 8-bit classic Thrust. Rarely do mobile titles pack in so many hours of clever, thoughtful narrative. Pretty much never are such games free.
Stuff says +++++ A first-rate picture editor – only avoid if you don’t have an iPad… or hate making your photos look nice
Stuff says +++++ A mobile game we’d happily recommend if it cost a fiver – for nowt, it’s an absurdly generous bargain
£4.99 / iPad
4 5
£free / Android, iOS
Korg Gadget 2
Jumpgrid
£19.99 / iOS When making music, there’s GarageBand for iOS and Caustic for Android, but we remain smitten with Gadget. Its instruments ape everything from classic synths to game consoles, and workflow is silky-smooth. Stuff says +++++ This could turn you into the next Kraftwerk
£2.89 / Android O £2.99 / iOS Pac-Man and Frogger meet Super Hexagon and buckets of adrenaline in this superb game, a twitch/arcade/punishment crossover masterpiece. It’s a stunning ride that will leave you a quivering wreck. Stuff says +++++ The best twitch arcade game on mobile
BFT – Bear Focus Timer
Oddmar
£1.19 / Android O £1.99 / iOS It’s too easy to be distracted by your phone, so BFT trains you to put it out of reach. You define work/break sprints, but the timer only works when your phone’s face-down. Try to cheat and the bear scowls at you. Stuff says +++++ The best app for more responsible phone use
£free (IAPs) / Android O £4.99 / iOS Oddmar looks like it could have breezed in from a PS4. Now available on Android as well as iOS, it’s packed full of superb level design and lush animated visuals, as a beardy Viking oaf sets out to save his tribe. Stuff says +++++ Touchscreen platformers can be great after all
Moodflow: Year in Pixels +++++ £free / Android, iOS Track moods, find patterns and change your life with this simple self-improvement app.
Bloom: 10 Worlds +++++ £7.99 / Android, iOS Control Brian Eno inside your phone as you bend an organic art/audio project to your will.
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GRID Autosport +++++ £9.99 / Android, iOS The best racing game on mobile is an astonishing achievement.
Bring You Home +++++ £3.19 / Android O £2.99 / iOS Make your own future with this imaginative, brilliantly designed and devious puzzler.
FOR FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THE PRODUCTS IN OUR TOP TEN LISTINGS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
TOP TENS IN-EARS
1
ON/OVER-EARS
90 HOT BUY
HOT BUY
Sony WF-1000XM3
Sony WH-1000XM3
The original WF-1000XMs had an easy job in the early days of noise-cancelling in-ears, because there simply wasn’t much in the way of competition. That’s all changed now – yet the way the XM3s serve up sound quality as spectacular as this while being truly wireless, while effectively cancelling background noise and while remaining comfortable in the ears, is quite something. So, just as it was with the original XMs, it’s job done for Sony.
Sony’s WH-1000 series was already a top performer, and the WH-1000XM3s make for an even more compelling package. With Bluetooth wireless and great noise-cancellation, they’re the ultimate public transport stress killer… well, aside from a chauffeur or a lottery win that lets you retire. The leather pads make them incredibly easy to wear, not unlike sitting in one of those ultra-comfy leather chairs, and most importantly of all the sound quality is fantastic.
Stuff says +++++ Outright winners on design, build, specifications and, most importantly of all, performance
Stuff says +++++ Great wireless headphones with effective ANC and a sound that nails just about everything
£219 / stuff.tv/SonyWFXM3
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£229 / stuff.tv/SonyWHXM3
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless
Bose NCH 700
£240 / stuff.tv/MomentumTW Everyone wants to sell you a pair of true wireless in-ears, but not many companies can compete with Sennheiser. You’ll find daintier options, and cheaper ones, but nothing that sounds better at this price. Stuff says +++++ They’re big and they certainly are clever
£350 / stuff.tv/BoseNCH700 You won’t find a better voice pickup system than Bose’s, while the company’s already exceptional noise-cancelling tech is now even better. Other features, such as the slick touch controls, are also winners. Stuff says +++++ As all-rounders these are hard to beat
Libratone Track Air+
Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3
£179 / stuff.tv/TrackAirPlus These distinctive wireless buds are excellently designed and sweatproof, provide up to 24 hours of battery life, offer active noise-cancelling, and are neat in all senses of the word. Stuff says +++++ Ace design, sound and versatility
£349 / stuff.tv/MomentumWireless The best Momentums yet, these noise-killing cans give an enjoyable listen regardless of your musical tastes. Presentation is open and wide, while bass hits hard but the overall tonality is brilliantly judged. Stuff says +++++ Big headphones, big price, big sound
Apple AirPods Pro
B&O H9i
+++++ £249 / stuff.tv/AirPodsPro Not really ‘Pro’, but still excellent wireless in-ears for iPhone users.
RHA TrueConnect +++++ £149 / stuff.tv/TrueConnect Fantastic sound, lovely design, waterproofing to IPX5 and rock-solid Bluetooth.
4 BARGAIN BUY
5
+++++ £329 / stuff.tv/H9i Offering luxury for your ears, these are some of the best noise-cancellers you can buy.
Urbanista Seattle Wireless +++++ from £56 / stuff.tv/SeattleWireless Bags of style and fantastic sound quality at a throwaway price.
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TOP TENS SMARTWATCHES
1
FITNESS TRACKERS TOP TENS
1
HOT BUY
Apple Watch Series 5
HOT BUY
Moov Now
from £399 / stuff.tv/WatchS5
£47 / stuff.tv/MoovNow
There’s no great secret to Apple’s continuing smartwatch domination: it’s all down to a seamless relationship between hardware and software, plus impressive health features that other makers still haven’t been able to match. But while the Series 5 isn’t as significant an upgrade as last year’s model, it does have one key addition: an always-on display. Also new is a compass, while the watchOS 6 update adds a host of new tricks that make the Watch even smarter than it was already.
Slow and steady wins the race, and the Now has gone on to prove that with a marathon-like pace helping it finally make it to the top of this list. We’ve long considered this tracker a bargain, but further reductions have helped it enter the realm of ‘downright steal’. OK, so it doesn’t have a screen or smartphone skills, but with guided voice coaching, a six-month battery and solid waterproofing, it has everything you’d ever want in your perfect fitness tracker.
Stuff says +++++ This is a minor upgrade on S4, but an always-on display makes the best smartwatch even better
Stuff says +++++ A bargain-tastic fitness band that does more than just track your steps
2
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Apple Watch Series 4 from £349 / stuff.tv/WatchS4 Series 5 is the new king, but the old model remains a great option. The big screen, fast processor and punchy speaker mean it’s easier to do stuff on it than any previous Watch, and it has superb health features. Stuff says +++++ Still a sleek and sophisticated wearable
Samsung Galaxy Watch
3
from £199 / stuff.tv/GalaxyWatch A sturdy and stylish smartwatch with plenty of power and a truly lovely user interface. Those with an iPhone are still likely to get a better experience and more functionality from an Apple Watch, though. Stuff says +++++ The best smartwatch for Android users
4
+++++ £530 / stuff.tv/Fenix6 The best fitness-orientated smartwatch, offering incredible levels of detail.
5
Garmin Fenix 6
Garmin Vivoactive 3 +++++ from £180 / stuff.tv/Vivoactive3 It’s cheap, it looks good and it’s a fine all-round smartwatch for sporty types.
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Fitbit Inspire HR £90 / stuff.tv/InspireHR Fitbit’s latest is a great little tracker. As well as step-counting, it’s surprisingly capable for proper run-tracking if you go out with a phone. Add notifications and that’s just about everything we want in a low-key band. Stuff says ++++, All the tracking skills that most people need
Huawei Watch GT 2 from £179 / stuff.tv/WatchGT2 A tracker that thinks it’s a smartwatch, the Watch GT 2 has impressive design, tracking skills and battery life; only the lack of third-party app support will rule it out for serious fitness fiends. Stuff says ++++, The best-looking tracker money can buy
Withings Steel HR Sport ++++, £133 / stuff.tv/SteelHRSport One of the most well-rounded, stylish hybrid wearables, with 25-day battery life.
Fitbit Charge 3 ++++, £100 / stuff.tv/Charge3 A capable tracker with an easy-to-wear design and long battery life.
FOR THE FULL REVIEWS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/SMARTWATCHES & STUFF.TV/TOP-10/FITNESS-TRACKERS
TOP TENS LAPTOPS TIPS & TRICKS
A Touch ID button at the top right of the keyboard saves the agony of forgetting your password.
92
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Apple charges a hefty premium for extra storage, so consider a cheaper external SSD.
HOT BUY
Apple MacBook Air from £1099 / stuff.tv/MacBookAir13
With the ‘basic’ version of the MacBook Pro no longer in Apple’s line-up, a July update to the Air model – including a £100 price drop – sees it power to the top of this list. And justifiably so, because in 2019 this is absolutely the go-to MacBook for most people. It looks every bit as premium as the Pro, and the fantastic screen represents a substantial leap from the old generation’s basic panel. That keyboard is a treat for your fingers too.
Stuff says +++++ Its stunning design, screen and features make this the perfect MacBook O NOW ADD THIS Satechi Type-C USB 3 Combo Hub Two ports not enough? This hub adds loads more and sits snugly against the MacBook Air’s side. £40 / amazon.co.uk
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Microsoft Surface Laptop 2
Dell XPS 13
from £899 / stuff.tv/SurfaceLaptop2
from £1199 / stuff.tv/XPS13
While there’s little that’s truly new about the Surface Laptop 2, that also means this computer has kept everything that made it such a phenomenal device in the first place. The additions of Intel’s latest processors and the full version of Windows 10 ensure it’s even better.
Last year’s Dell XPS 13 was one of the best Windows laptops in the world, and the new model is even better. Every element is top-quality. As before, you get style, portability, performance and great battery life… and as before, every part of it just feels good.
Stuff says +++++ An even stronger all-round workhorse than its predecessor
Stuff says +++++ There’s nothing else out there that’s quite so well rounded
8 BARGAIN BUY
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Huawei MateBook X Pro +++++ from £1299 / stuff.tv/MateBookXPro Not massively better than the 2018 model, but this is a real powerhouse of a Windows laptop.
Apple MacBook Pro (2019) +++++ from £1299 / stuff.tv/MacBookPro13 The entry-level Pro grows up with a revamped screen, a Touch Bar and more powerful innards.
Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 +++++ from £1949 / stuff.tv/XPS2in1 A powerful, portable and versatile hybrid, but with a hefty price tag to match.
Razer Blade 15 Advanced ++++, from £2104 / stuff.tv/BladeAdvanced Razer’s Blade models are our favourite gaming laptops, and this is a worthy flagship.
Asus ZenBook Pro 14 ++++, from £1257 / stuff.tv/ZenBookPro14 A capable multimedia laptop with a clever gimmick: a second screen instead of a trackpad.
Acer Swift 5 ++++, £799 / stuff.tv/Swift5 A capable and extremely portable laptop at a tempting price.
Asus Chromebook Flip C434 ++++, £499 / stuff.tv/FlipC434 One of the best high-quality Chromebooks, with a great screen and strong battery life.
FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS AND FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW LAPTOPS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/LAPTOPS
93
TIPS & TRICKS
You can control your Move with the touch controls on top, the Sonos app, Google Assistant or Alexa.
Auto Trueplay adapts the Move’s sound to different rooms, while the app offers additional EQ tweaks.
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SPEAKERS TOP TENS HOT BUY
Sonos Move £399 / stuff.tv/SonosMove
The Sonos range of wireless speakers had been crying out for a battery-powered portable model for ages – and finally our favourite multiroom audio specialist caved in. Luckily, the Move was worth the wait. Its adaptability and sound quality mean it’s fine value for money, and a no-brainer for anyone who’s already a fan of the brand. Not only is this the speaker Sonos should have launched years ago – it’s one of the best products of its type and price that we’ve heard.
Stuff says +++++ Sonos finally gets up to speed with the portable speaker craze, and in style O NOW ADD THIS Primephonic Bringing sexy Bach, this is streaming for classical music. Niche, yes, but its not-on-Spotify film and game scores offer a great way into the genre. from £7.99/month / primephonic.com
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Sonos One
Naim Mu-so 2
£199 / stuff.tv/SonosOne
£1299 / stuff.tv/Mu-so2
The Sonos One is now a more well-rounded device than it was at launch, supporting Spotify with voice control as well as Amazon Music and TuneIn Radio, while the early Alexa hiccups seem to have been fixed. It’s a class apart from the competition.
The Mu-so 2 is a fuller, richer, more detailed and louder listen than the model it replaces, with lots of added functionality, and it’s every bit as handsome and decorative. Too expensive? You can still get the original Mu-so for several hundred pounds less.
Stuff says +++++ A great balance of sound and smarts for forward-thinking audio nerds
Stuff says +++++ Naim’s luxury wireless speaker sequel is an improvement all round
8 9
B&W Formation Wedge +++++ £900 / stuff.tv/BWWedge Pricey, weird-looking… and a brilliant illustration of what a wireless speaker is capable of.
JBL Xtreme 2 +++++ £279 / stuff.tv/Xtreme2 A hefty portable speaker that growls with confidence whatever you play through it.
KEF LSX +++++ £999 (pair) / stuff.tv/KEFLSX Convenience and fine sound at a real-world price, and in some vivid colours.
Marshall Tufton +++++ £350 / stuff.tv/Tufton Huge power, 360° clarity and long battery life make this the perfect portable party speaker.
UE Ralis +++++ £170 / stuff.tv/Ralis A pretty speaker with great battery life, and it sounds superb when cranked up.
UE Megaboom 3 +++++ £170 / stuff.tv/Megaboom3 You’ll struggle to find a better, or more fun, portable Bluetooth speaker.
Amazon Echo Studio ++++, £190 / stuff.tv/EchoStudio Easily the best-sounding Echo speaker you can buy, and the 3D audio is a lot of fun.
FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS AND REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW HI-FI, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/HI-FI-STREAMING
TOP TENS TVs TIPS & TRICKS
We prefer to keep most picture processing off, but the P5 chip is great for upscaling.
94
Flitting between the Movie and ISF Day/Night presets gives the best picture out of the box.
1
Choose to have Ambilight’s colours match the picture, stay static or move to the music.
HOT NEW BUY
Philips OLED+ 984 £4500 / stuff.tv/OLED984
The OLED+ 984 offers outstanding picture performance with universal HDR support, and goes above and beyond what we expect from TV sound thanks to a custom-made speaker system from British hi-fi brand Bowers & Wilkins. Plus it looks gorgeous, particularly with that four-sided Ambilight in full effect. Above all, this is the best picture we’ve seen from a Philips yet, and the best audio we’ve heard from any TV.
Stuff says +++++ Going big on design, performance and sound, this is the best Philips TV yet O NOW ADD THIS Sky Q Once you’ve got a 4K TV, you’ll want access to the best 4K content. Sky Q is a good bet for watching and recording all your favourite shows and films. from £20 + £22/month / sky.com
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Panasonic TX-55FZ802B
Panasonic TX-55GZ1500
from £1350 / stuff.tv/FZ802B
£1700 / stuff.tv/GZ1500
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BARGAIN BUY
As 4K TV prices continue to tumble, there’s been a mad dash from manufacturers to convince the world their OLED panel looks better than everyone else’s. This Panasonic is a strong candidate, showcasing one of the best 4K HDR displays on the market for a pretty affordable price. OK, so the design looks plain and the lack of Dolby Vision might surprise a few, but when the picture looks so detailed and natural, who really gives a damn?
This isn’t the biggest or most expensive OLED in the Panasonic range, but on a ‘quality versus price’ basis it’s definitely one of the best you can buy right now. It’s a 4K screen equipped to deal with any HDR standard you care to mention, and its handling of contrast has to be seen to be believed. Colour and dynamism are as good as you can get, and even the little integrated soundbar does admirable work. The GZ1500 is the complete package.
Stuff says +++++ You won’t find a better OLED for the money than this talented Panasonic
Stuff says +++++ An excellent TV with superb HDR picture quality – worth every penny
8 9
LG 55 C8 +++++ £1279 / stuff.tv/LGC8 Small improvements make this LG’s best OLED television yet.
Philips 55OLED+903 +++++ £1500 / stuff.tv/55OLED903 The first fruit of Philips’ collaboration with hi-fi specialist Bowers & Wilkins is a fine, stylish set.
Samsung QE65Q90R +++++ £2199 / stuff.tv/Q90R Samsung has stuck to QLED… and upped its game to rival OLED in virtually every way.
Samsung UE43RU7020 +++++ £329 / stuff.tv/RU7020 Way better than its place in the Samsung pecking order suggests, this is an unassuming cracker.
Sony KD-65XF9005 +++++ £1099 / stuff.tv/KD65XF9005 It may have a mid-range price, but this Sony’s 4K LCD panel is still a proper belter.
Panasonic TX-58GX800 +++++ £692 / stuff.tv/58GX800 Not the last word in picture excellence, but this is a lot of TV for the money.
LG 65SM9800 ++++, £1499 / stuff.tv/65SM9800 Among the best backlit TVs around and a fine OLED-dodging compromise.
FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS AND FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW TELEVISIONS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/TVs
TOP TENS SOUNDBARS
STREAMERS TOP TENS
95
1
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Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar
HOT BUY
Sky Q
£2199 / stuff.tv/AmbeoSoundbar
from £20 + £22/month / stuff.tv/SkyQ
Utterly convincing Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D sound, ample power and lots of inputs mean no other soundbar currently available can perform feats with the solidity and confidence of this Sennheiser. The sheer room-filling scale of this device’s sound is remarkable, and it’s hard to think of any content that wouldn’t benefit from being Ambeo’d. That’s why, as well as being the biggest and the most expensive, it’s the best you can buy.
Sky Q works flawlessly and could change the way you watch TV – especially now 4K’s arrived. With Sky Movies’ huge range of films and Sky Sports in stunning Ultra HD, along with the new addition of Netflix, there’s something for everyone to treat their eyes with. And 2TB of storage means you can record 350 hours’ worth of entertainment, so you’re unlikely to be sweating over which show needs deleting. Factor in its multiroom skills, and Sky Q is undoubtedly the best TV experience you can get.
Stuff says +++++ The Ambeo Soundbar is a big unit but the sound it makes is bigger still
Stuff says +++++ You’ll have to cough up for a subscription, but this is the best box for watching both live and recorded shows
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Sonos Beam £399 / stuff.tv/SonosBeam Sonos’s great-value Alexa-equipped soundbar offers fine audio quality, comes with loads of features and is compact enough to fit into the average living-room AV setup without taking over. Stuff says +++++ Compact, affordable and packed with smarts
Vizio SB36512-F6 £599 / stuff.tv/Vizio36512 An intriguing 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos setup with a wireless sub and rear satellite speakers, all for under 600 nicker. Not bad… and the quality of its delivery, from film dialogue to thrumming helicopters, is deeply impressive. Stuff says +++++ A bargain Dolby Atmos upgrade
Q Acoustics Media 4 +++++ £179 / stuff.tv/Media4 This is a whole lot of under-telly hi-fi for the money.
Sky Soundbox +++++ from £249 / stuff.tv/SkySoundbox The best-value upgrade ever… as long as you’ve already got Sky.
2
BARGAIN BUY
3
4 5
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K £50 / stuff.tv/FireStick4K Amazon’s latest streaming stick offers 4K plus a faster processor than its predecessor, and comes with the new Alexa Voice Remote. It is very Prime-centric, but the selection of third-party apps is excellent. Stuff says +++++ The best 4K streaming stick you can buy
Google Chromecast £30 / stuff.tv/Chromecast The latest Chromecast is an incredibly neat little gadget that will let you watch almost all of your favourite streaming and catch-up services on a television that doesn’t have the apps built in. Stuff says +++++ The cheapest way to smarten up your TV
Roku Streaming Stick+ ++++, £50 / stuff.tv/RokuPlus This simple all-rounder is a great choice for the open-minded telly watcher.
Apple TV 4K ++++, from £179 / stuff.tv/AppleTV4K Streaming boxes might be on the way out, but Apple’s 4K version still has its uses.
FOR FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THE PRODUCTS IN OUR TOP TEN LISTINGS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
TOP TENS TABLETS
1
CONSOLES TOP TENS
96
1
HOT BUY
HOT BUY
Apple iPad Pro
Sony PlayStation 4 Pro
The iPad Pro isn’t cheap, but it’s a mobile powerhouse like no other, with a diverse and rich app ecosystem, tons of power, a gorgeous screen, and the kind of focus on creativity and productivity that just doesn’t exist on other tablets. If you just want to faff on Facebook or Netflix it’s massive overkill, so we’d recommend going for the iPad Air (from £479) instead; but even if you don’t actually need the new iPad Pro, you’re going to want one if you have it in your mitts for five minutes.
As a gaming platform, PlayStation 4 is the best around – which makes the PS4 Pro the best of the best. Games optimised for the new console look stunning on a 4K HDR TV, and are substantially improved by the extra grunt inside this slightly bigger machine. Sure, it can’t match the Xbox One X for sheer power or resolution, but it makes up for that with an impressive line-up of games – including Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn and Bloodborne – and virtual reality support.
Stuff says +++++ Once again Apple blasts ahead of the pack, with a stylish, powerful tablet full of creative potential
Stuff says +++++ The system for console gamers who have a 4K TV and want the best catalogue of games on offer
from £769 / stuff.tv/iPadPro
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Microsoft Surface Go from £341 / stuff.tv/SurfaceGo Having this slinky Windows tab up your sleeve (not quite literally) is like carrying a mini PC on you at all times. The processor is adequate for everyday tasks and the 10in screen is lovely. Stuff says +++++ An affordable, ultra-portable workmate
Apple iPad from £349 / stuff.tv/iPad2019 If all you want a tablet for is consuming media and typing up the occasional Word doc, this is still the best option. iPadOS’s arrival also makes this an ideal time to invest in a new tablet if you haven’t done so in a while. Stuff says +++++ The basic iPad remains the best entry-level tab
Amazon Fire HD 10 ++++, from £150 / stuff.tv/FireHD10 Amazon obliterates the competition at the lower end of the tab market.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 ++++, from £619 / stuff.tv/TabS6 This is the Android tablet to get if you like doodling or gaming.
£299 / stuff.tv/PS4Pro
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Nintendo Switch £279 / stuff.tv/NintendoSwitch Nintendo’s console earned a promotion in our list after it impressed us with a growing list of fantastic games. Plus, no other device here offers the joy of portable gaming. Train journeys will never be boring again. Stuff says +++++ This 2-in-1 console is the real deal
Microsoft Xbox One X £450 / stuff.tv/XboxOneX There’s no doubt the Xbox One X is the most powerful console here, capable of producing stunning 4K visuals… but it simply doesn’t have the line-up of games to usurp the PS4 Pro from top spot. Stuff says +++++ A 4K monster held back by its game catalogue
Sony PlayStation 4 +++++ £220 / stuff.tv/PS4 Haven’t got a 4K TV? This is the best way to enjoy PlayStation’s brilliant exclusives.
Microsoft Xbox One S +++++ £179 / stuff.tv/XboxOneS No longer our Xbox of choice, but the One S remains a serious affordable option.
FOR FULL REVIEWS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/HOME-CINEMA & STUFF.TV/TOP-10/GAMES-MACHINES
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GAMES TOP TENS
HOT BUY
Red Dead Redemption 2 from £25 / PS4, Xbox One
Believable characters, a world to lose yourself in, top-class voice acting and a story that intrigues all the way through. Warts and all, with improvements from other games ignored, this is Rockstar at its most arrogant but also its most powerful. Red Dead Redemption 2 trusts you to explore, to grow, and to let its world seep into your consciousness. This is a special game and one that was entirely worth the wait.
TIPS & TRICKS Make sure you talk to strangers more than once – you never know what they’ll reveal.
Stuff says +++++ Ultra-addictive gameplay in one of the greatest open worlds ever created
Regularly brushing and feeding Arthur’s horse will increase their bond. It’s what all good cowboys should do anyway.
2
O OR PLAY THIS Zelda: Breath of the Wild If you’re after a different kind of open-world experience that’s just as expansive and has a lot of heart, this is the one for you. £48 / Switch
4
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5 6 7 God of War
Resident Evil 2
£16 / PS4
from £16 / PS4, Xbox One, PC
A lot has changed for PlayStation’s god-slaying champion, Kratos. He’s acquired a beard and a new magic axe… but while the action is as breathtaking as ever, it’s the surprisingly mature storyline that’s the draw here, with Kratos learning the ropes of parenting.
Top to bottom, nothing in this game feels like a mere upgrade on an old formula. As polished and defining as recent favourites like God of War, RE2 will inform not only the future of the survival horror genre, but the interactive entertainment medium as a whole.
Stuff says +++++ The epic return of Kratos is yet another phenomenal PS4 offering
Stuff says +++++ Highly polished and much more than a remake – the series’ best entry yet.
8 NEW
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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate +++++ £44 / Switch Smash is well and truly back, and it’s bigger and better than ever before.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice +++++ from £30 / PS4, Xbox One, PC A brutally punishing action adventure that will get your heart a-pumping.
Forza Horizon 4 +++++ from £22 / Xbox One, PC This is a bar-raising sandbox-racing game experience that’s worth buckling up for.
Gears 5 +++++ £19 / Xbox One, PC Huge, thrilling and luxurious at every turn – this is absolutely essential.
Super Mario Maker 2 +++++ £37 / Switch One of Nintendo’s smartest ideas in years feels perfect for the Switch.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 +++++ £43 / Switch Luigi finally gets a blockbuster hit that would make his brother proud.
Devil May Cry 5 ++++, from £16 / PS4, Xbox One, PC A strange blend of world-class combat and old-fashioned design.
FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS AND REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW GAMES, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/GAMES
TOP TENS TECH TOYS
ELECTRIC CARS TOP TENS
98
1
HOT BUY
HOT BUY
Lego Boost Creative Toolbox
Jaguar I-Pace
Building Lego models is already ridiculously good fun, so think what great a time you’ll have when the completed model turns into a functioning robot. With the accompanying tablet app, you can use simple coding to make the robot move, fire projectiles and play various games. And rather than retiring it to the dusty shelf once you’re bored, you can rebuild him into four other programmable models: a harmonica-playing cat, a driveable rover, a working robot-builder and a playable guitar.
Not content with simply making an electric vehicle that can get you from A to B with minimal fuss (and fuel bills), Jaguar has created something desirable, fun to drive and impressively capable when the going gets tough. This car offers Amazon Alexa integration, smartphone connectivity and a 10in touchscreen on the upper deck. With the I-Pace, Jaguar can happily claim to be the first mainstream brand to really give Tesla something to worry about.
Stuff says +++++ All hail Vernie and friends – for value and sheer fun, it’s hard to beat this programmable Lego kit
Stuff says +++++ Fun, fast and practical, the I-Pace is the greatest thing to happen to electric cars in a long time
£150 / stuff.tv/LegoCreativeToolbox
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Propel Star Wars X-Wing Battling Drone £37 / stuff.tv/SWDrone The Star Wars Battling Drone works indoors and outdoors, and doesn’t require a licence or CAA permit to fly. It’s a total blast… just a shame there’s no camera or app. Stuff says +++++ Is the Force strong with this one? You betcha!
Sphero Bolt £100 / stuff.tv/SpheroBolt This little rolling ball of tech is great fun, and educational to boot. We hope your skirting boards are up to taking a few knocks, but if your kids have any curiosity about coding it’ll keep them entertained for months to come. Stuff says +++++ Proves that learning really can be fun
Kano Harry Potter Coding Kit +++++ £50 / stuff.tv/KanoHarryPotter A magical way to make coding accessible and fun to learn.
Nintendo Labo VR Kit ++++, from £35 (+ Switch) / stuff.tv/LaboVR An irresistible mash-up of cardboard-folding adventures and lo-fi VR entertainment.
from £60,995 (with PiCG) / stuff.tv/ipace
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Nissan Leaf from £26,345 / stuff.tv/NissanLeaf Nissan has really got it right with the latest Leaf – an accomplished family car that packs some serious range and performance, and acts as a flagship for the company’s most advanced driver assistance gizmos. Stuff says +++++ A strong candidate for your eco-conscious cash
Tesla Model S from £77,700 / stuff.tv/TeslaS This sleek saloon re-writes the rules for all-electric performance and offers advanced autonomous driving tech that most of the other makers are only just beginning to explore. Stuff says +++++ A true groundbreaker among high-class EVs
Volvo XC90 T8 +++++ from £66,645 / stuff.tv/XC90T8 This plug-in hybrid 4x4 looks great and can tackle the twistiest routes.
BMW i8 Roadster +++++ from £127,105 / stuff.tv/i8Roadster The electric motor turns this stunningly futuristic convertible into a genuine supercar.
FOR UP-TO-DATE LISTINGS AND FULL REVIEWS OF ALL KINDS OF GADGETS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
TOP TENS VR HEADSETS
1
VR GAMES TOP TENS
99
1
HOT BUY
HOT NEW BUY
Oculus Quest
Beat Saber
The Quest offers all manner of fully interactive, roamable virtual worlds that you can throw in your backpack without a single wire. That’s a mindblowing technical feat. Yes, the battery life is average, but the inside-out tracking and total absence of any cables make this the best all-round VR headset to date. It also ships with the Oculus Touch motion controllers included, which means you can play fully fledged Oculus Rift titles without being anywhere near a PC.
Most VR games equip you for immersive combat, but Beat Saber’s dual laser swords aren’t meant for slicing and dicing foes. Instead, you’ll gleefully swing them to chop blocks that are flung your way to the thumping beat of a song. This game has reinvented the rhythm genre for VR and it is glorious indeed, turning the power fantasy of dual-wielding lightsabers into an exhilarating modern music experience. And add-on packs keep the beat going for longer.
Stuff says +++++ If you’ve been waiting to board the VR bandwagon, the Quest might be the best reason yet to go for it
Stuff says +++++ A mesmerising musical melee that’s at its absolute best when played on the cable-free Oculus Quest
from £399 / stuff.tv/OculusQuest
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from £23 / Oculus Quest/Rift, Vive, PSVR
HTC Vive
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£499 / stuff.tv/HTCVive There isn’t much difference between this and the much cheaper Oculus Rift, in all honesty. But if you’re thinking of upgrading to the Vive Pro in the future, this is a great gateway headset. Stuff says ++++, A solid choice for immersive virtual reality
HTC Vive Pro
NEW
£799 (headset only) / stuff.tv/HTCVivePro This high-end headset offers the best virtual reality experience by a long way, but its sky-high price means you should only really buy it if you’re a VR obsessive with a super-powerful gaming PC. Stuff says ++++, This hardcore headset is overkill for most
Oculus Rift
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++++, £329 / stuff.tv/OculusRift Still the best affordable VR headset, and you get the Touch Controllers thrown in.
PlayStation VR +++,, from £228 / stuff.tv/PSVR It can deliver incredible experiences, but the PSVR is held back by niggling issues.
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Superhot VR from £19 / Oculus, Vive, PSVR There’s something really cool about hiding behind a desk before blitzing your opponents with streams of bullets as if you were starring in your very own Matrix movie. A wonderfully action-packed title. Stuff says +++++ A superb 2-in-1 VR puzzler and shooter
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission £35 / PSVR This 3D platformer serves up a heaped helping of Mario-esque magic, but in a built-for-VR world that uses that unique perspective to create fresh challenges and surprises. You can’t help but grin. Stuff says +++++ A wonderfully charming PSVR essential
Blood & Truth +++++ £25 / PSVR A rollicking PSVR-exclusive action thriller with brilliant set-pieces and terrific gunplay.
Star Wars: Vader Immortal ++++, £24 / Oculus Quest/Rift Step into a galaxy far, far away… and yes, swinging a lightsaber is as cool as it sounds.
FOR FULL REVIEWS, AND TO EXPLORE MORE OF THE STUFF TOP TEN LISTS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
TOP TENS SMART HOME
100
1
HOT NEW BUY
Amazon Echo Dot with Clock £60 / stuff.tv/EchoDotClock
The Echo Dot smart home assistant has for a long time been one of the best bargains in tech; now you can get one with a clock on it for a few quid extra. If you don’t want the clock, save money and buy the cheaper one. Everyone’s happy. But with solid Alexa performance, the Echo Dot with Clock is really difficult to fault at this price. The only downside is that you’re going to have one less excuse for being late to work.
TIPS & TRICKS The Dot’s display doesn’t just tell the time – ask Alexa for the temperature or to set a timer.
Stuff says +++++ It’s hard to see how the Echo Dot could get much better than this
It also automatically adjusts to ambient light, so it won’t glow too brightly in the middle of the night.
O NOW ADD THIS Small Transparent Speaker Plug your Dot into this glass sound system to create an eye-catching smart speaker with sonic oomph. £450 / transparentspeaker.com
Pairing the Dot with a second one creates stereo sound, even if you’re linking it to an older 3rd-gen model.
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Amazon Echo (3rd gen)
Tado Smart Thermostat
£90 / stuff.tv/AmazonEcho
from £200 / stuff.tv/TadoV3Plus
The 2nd-generation Echo was a great-value smart speaker… right until you asked it to play music. But that shortcoming has been thoroughly addressed in v3, which is basically an Echo Plus without the ZigBee connectivity. It’s a fine listener and a fine speaker.
Tado has quietly evolved into the best all-round smart heating system around. Its gadgety goodness is second to none, with the option of zonal control for individual rooms and voice smarts from the likes Alexa and Google Assistant.
Stuff says +++++ For a smart speaker under the £100 mark, you can’t argue with this Echo
Stuff says +++++ Tado roasts the competition with its blend of simplicity and smarts
8 9
Netatmo Welcome +++++ £145 / stuff.tv/NetatmoWelcome A neat security cam with loads of features and storage options.
Nest 3.0 +++++ £150 / stuff.tv/Nest3 A simple and mess-free smart thermostat with Alexa compatibility.
Philips Hue Starter Kit +++++ from £60 (white) / stuff.tv/PhilipsHue Become an indoor god with the smartest way of lighting up your home remotely.
Brisant-Secure Ultion Smart +++++ from £229 / stuff.tv/UltionSmart Tradition and tech partner up in a smart lock to please everyone.
Arlo Pro +++++ £200 / stuff.tv/ArloPro A good home cam that becomes a great one outdoors. Your shed has never been so secure.
Google Nest Hub Max ++++, £219 / stuff.tv/NestHubMax A fine smart display… and see also the non-Max version for a whole £100 less.
Google Home Mini ++++, £19 / stuff.tv/HomeMini Grab this little smart speaker for next to nothing before it makes way for the improved Nest Mini.
FOR FULL REVIEWS OF THE BEST SMART HOME DEVICES, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/SMART-HOME-DEVICES
TOP TENS DRONES & ACTION CAMS
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COMPACTS TOP TENS
1
HOT NEW BUY
HOT BUY
DJI Mavic Mini
Sony DSC-RX100 V
The Mavic Mini definitely won’t be for everyone. If you want maximum control over your footage, have no qualms about registering your drone, need 4K capture at 60fps, are OK with spending the best part of a grand and consider object-tracking a must-have, you’ll want to look elsewhere. If, however, you just want to get a fantastic balance of user experience, features, convenience and quality at a stomachable price, the Mavic Mini is the most accessible premium drone we’ve used to date.
We wouldn’t recommend buying this camera if you already own the old IV model, but a few improvements have ensured Sony remains the top dog in our compacts list – and we’re keeping this model above the newer RX100 VI simply because of the huge price difference. It remains one of the finest point-and-shoots we’ve ever seen, with a flexibility that few pocket cameras can muster. While it’s still not exactly cheap, we reckon this is the cam to buy if you want fantastic-looking snaps from your holidays.
Stuff says +++++ Dinky drones don’t come more feature-packed, and bigger drones than this need to be registered. Win!
Stuff says +++++ Only a small improvement over the RX100 IV, but this Sony is close to premium point-and-shoot perfection
£369 / stuff.tv/MavicMini
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4 5
£679 / stuff.tv/RX100V
GoPro Hero8 Black
Panasonic Lumix TZ200
£379 / stuff.tv/Hero8Black GoPro fends off the DJI challenge by giving its latest flagship action cam even better stabilisation skills plus 4K 60fps video, a range of wide angles, waterproofing and fast/slow timelapse capture. Stuff says +++++ Then most stable action cam we’ve ever used
£569 / stuff.tv/TZ200 This Panasonic compact is a significant upgrade from the TZ100, offering extra reach with the zoom lens, better colour reproduction, and an improved experience when using the electronic viewfinder. Stuff says +++++ Small, neat and not dramatically overpriced
DJI Osmo Action
Sony DSC-RX100 VI
£329 / stuff.tv/OsmoAction The image stabilisation is sensational and the face-optimised metering makes DJI’s action cam an ideal choice for vloggers. It has some idiosyncrasies, but this is a smart shooter that captures great footage without faff. Stuff says +++++ Despite a few quirks, this is a stellar cam
DJI Mavic 2 Pro +++++ £1349 / stuff.tv/Mavic2Pro Superbly responsive in the air, this is the gold standard in portable flyers.
DJI Mavic Air +++++ £769 / stuff.tv/MavicAir A cracking gadget that combines the best bits from the old Spark and the Mavic Pro.
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£899 / stuff.tv/RX100VI A true all-rounder that shoots 24fps at full resolution and has stunningly fast autofocus, topped off with a whopping 8x zoom lens that’s quite spectacular for such a tiny camera. Stuff says +++++ A dinky yet luxurious point-and-shoot
Panasonic Lumix LX100 +++++ £449 / stuff.tv/LX100 One of the most capable compacts on the market, with superb stills and HD video.
Fujifilm X100F +++++ £1129 / stuff.tv/X100F The best street shooter around if you don’t need the flexibility of interchangeable lenses.
FOR FULL REVIEWS, AND TO EXPLORE MORE OF THE STUFF TOP TEN LISTS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
TOP TENS SYSTEM CAMERAS
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1
HOT BUY
Fujifilm X-T3 It’s really hard to find anything bad to say about the X-T3 – it’s just consistently great in so many ways. Fuji has looked at virtually every feature on the X-T2 and upgraded it. With substantial tweaks made to the pro-level video options, the high-res EVF, the super-fast autofocus and the burst shooting, what you’re left with is an all-round beast of a camera in a small, beautiful form. As APS-C shooters go, it’s the best there is.
TIPS & TRICKS Pre-shot ES mode starts taking photos and adding them to the buffer as soon as you half-press.
Stuff says +++++ An incredible stills shooter with video smarts to match
Sports Finder mode’s display enables you to see what’s about to come into frame for moving shots.
O NOW ADD THIS Manfrotto 190 Go! Carbon Fibre Tripod You no longer have an excuse for wobbly photos with this carbon-fibre tripod. It weighs just 1.65kg. £249 / manfrotto.co.uk
Tapping an area on the 3in touchscreen will let you set the focus point or take an instant shot.
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BARGAIN BUY
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Sony A7 III
Fujifilm X-T20
£1754 / stuff.tv/SonyA7iii
£549 / stuff.tv/XT20
The A7 III manages to pack in a lot of technology and desirability for less than £2000. It’s a fantastic all-rounder that’s well suited to a bunch of shooting scenarios, coping well with landscapes, portraits, and even a little bit of high-speed sport shooting. As a camera design it’s admittedly not the prettiest thing we’ve ever seen, but it handles well for its compact size.
With its 24.3MP APS-C sensor, plus a touchscreen, the X-T20 will deliver results that are in some cases just as good as you’ll get from Fuji’s pricier models – and will leave you with a lot more spare cash in your account. With well-laid-out controls, a huge viewfinder, excellent AF and access to superb lenses, the X-T20 is just one more fantastic mirrorless camera from Fuji.
Stuff says +++++ A fantastic all-rounder that excels in low-light conditions
Stuff says +++++ The X-T20 nails the sweet spot between price and performance
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Panasonic Lumix G9 +++++ £899 / stuff.tv/LumixG9 The G9 is the best Lumix camera to date and a fine choice for wildlife or action photography.
Sony A6500 +++++ £899 / stuff.tv/A6500 A cracking system cam for action photography, but stick with the A6300 if your budget is tight.
Fujifilm X-H1 +++++ £849 / stuff.tv/XH1 By adding in-body image stabilisation, Fuji has created a wonderful all-rounder.
Canon EOS 80D +++++ £980 / stuff.tv/80D The 80D is so easy to use that even a toddler would get some great shots with it.
Nikon Z6 +++++ £1499 / stuff.tv/Z6 A top-notch and reasonably sized mirrorless camera from the optical experts.
Nikon D850 +++++ £2499 / stuff.tv/D850 This super-cam has enough fantastic features to excel in pretty much any situation.
Canon EOS RP +++++ £1299 / stuff.tv/EOSRP A full-frame mirrorless snapper that’s light enough not to be a burden.
FOR FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW CAMERAS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/SYSTEM-CAMERAS
O Prices quoted are for body only unless otherwise stated
£1249 / stuff.tv/FujifilmXT3
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BUDGET BUYS TOP TENS HOT BUY
Sega Mega Drive Mini £64 / stuff.tv/MegaDriveMini
TIPS & TRICKS
There’ll be playground rows and online feuds over whether Nintendo’s or Sega’s games are better, but the Mega Drive Mini wins the miniature retro console war in terms of the faithful recreation of both hardware and software – especially as there are 42 games included. It’s taken a long time to get here, but as the saying goes, to be this good takes ages – and the Sega is the must-buy console of the moment.
Dip into the display settings to switch from the standard 4:3 aspect ratio to fit your widescreen TV. Switch the language settings to Japanese and you can play vastly different versions of games.
Stuff says +++++ Sega’s back – and this really is the ultimate mini gaming machine
Struggling with the old-school difficulty? Hold down the start button to use one of four save slots.
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O NOW ADD THIS Retro-Bit Official 6-Button Controller A must for fans of fighting games, this six-button USB pad is also compatible with PCs, Macs and even the Switch. £18 / amazon.co.uk
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SNES Classic Mini
Amazon Echo Dot with Clock
£140 / stuff.tv/ClassicMini
£60 / stuff.tv/EchoDotClock
Why splash out over £200 on a games console when you can get the SNES Classic Mini for so much less? You get 21 titles pre-installed on this nostalgia-inducing little machine, including the likes of Super Metroid, A Link to the Past and Super Mario World.
Amazon’s Echo Dot smart home assistant has for a long time been one of the best bargains in tech; now you can get one with a clock on it for a few quid extra. And with solid Alexa performance, the Echo Dot with Clock is really difficult to fault at this price.
Stuff says +++++ Retro-minded Nintendo fans won’t find better value anywhere
Stuff says +++++ It’s hard to see how the Echo Dot could get much better than this
8 9 10
Moto G8 Plus +++++ £240 / stuff.tv/G8Plus Classic Moto: a smart, well-equipped and capable smartphone for less than £250.
Raspberry Pi Zero W +++++ from £9.30 / stuff.tv/PiZeroW The Pi Zero was already a brilliant mini-computer; wireless add-ons make it even better.
UE Wonderboom 2 +++++ £90 / stuff.tv/Wonderboom2 A rugged little wonder that’ll bring a sonic boost to any occasion.
Moov Now +++++ £47 / stuff.tv/MoovNow The best budget tracker you can buy – gives most Fitbits a run for their money.
SoundMagic E10 +++++ £20 / stuff.tv/E10 We love the E11s, but the previous model is still available for real bargain-sniffers.
Google Home Mini ++++, £19 / stuff.tv/HomeMini Grab this little smart speaker for next to nothing before it makes way for the improved Nest Mini.
Ryze Tello ++++, £79 / stuff.tv/Tello Rule the skies without breaking the bank with this affordable toy drone.
FOR FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THESE GADGETS, AND TO EXPLORE MORE TOP TEN LISTS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
TOP TENS HOW TO BUY
104
HOW TO BUY A STORAGE DEVICE
If you don’t trust the internet, hop off the cloud and let’s get physical with some real data hardware
Flash memory This holds data electronically without movable parts, so it’s less vulnerable to damage.
SSD Solid-state drives have now mostly replaced hard drives, both in PCs and externally.
USB 3.0 To move files as fast as an SSD can read and write them, go for USB-C, USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt 3.
JARGON BUSTER
MIND THE STORE 1
Learning to drive
The best SSDs have all the attributes of eating-challenge guru Adam Richman: speed and capacity in a fairly compact form factor. They need to be tough too, as they will be bundled in a backpack half the time. Around 500GB should do unless you hoard uncompressed videos, photos or music, in which case it’s time to enter the terabyte zone. O Get this: WD My Passport Go 500GB £90 / western digital.com
OR TRY ONE OF THESE…
SATURDAY SUPERSTORE 2 Casual specs
In an ever-decreasing world of built-in storage, buying an external SSD can be a cost-effective way of increasing capacity rather than speccing up a machine from the maker. You’ll pay £200 for an extra 128GB of storage on a MacBook Air, but you can find a 500GB SSD for under £100. Even iPads support external storage now. O Get this: SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD 250GB £70 / sandisk.com
3 Rude mechanicals It’s the equivalent of picking Graeme Souness over Raheem Sterling, but opting for a slower, mechanical hard-disk drive (HDD) still has its advantages. SSDs cost a lot more per GB, and can be just too expensive for 2TB or more. For large files or long-term storage rather than everyday use, an HDD is still a great option. O Get this: Seagate Expansion 2TB £70 / seagate.com
4 Stick it to ’em Forget Grandmaster Flash carting crates of vinyl about: these days DJs can rock up at a club carrying nothing but a USB stick storing masses of music. They’re not much different to an SSD, with both using flash memory – it’s merely about form factor and capacity. So while you’re unlikely to find one holding more than 256GB, they can be super-handy. O Get this: Kingston DataTraveler G4 128GB £13 / kingston.com
SANDISK IXPAND WIRELESS CHARGER from £55 / amazon.co.uk Place your phone on this Qi-enabled charger and it’ll automatically back up photos and videos.
5 Memory cards Plenty of phones and cameras can expand their built-in storage with an SD memory card. These slide into a slot and work as an ultra-small flash drive. Just check the size for compatibility. O Get this: Samsung Evo Plus 128GB £36 / samsung.com
ISTORAGE DISKASHUR 2 from £129 / istorage-uk.com The DiskAshur has decent levels of digital encryption, plus a physical keypad so users have to enter a PIN to access its files.
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Clip round the ear
It looks like you’re writing for Stuff. Would you like help?
Even Microsoft hated Clippit. The feature was referred to in-house as ‘TFC’, with T standing for ‘the’ and C for ‘clown’. Stuff leaves you to work out what the F stood for.
O Get help adding snark
every third word O Attempt to type
article without help/coffee O Begone forever, foul
digital fiend
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES 1996
reat – thanks for bringing up my worst PC nightmare, the bolshy paperclip of doom. Sorry. We forgot some Office users have terrifying flashbacks to Clippit, who abruptly appeared the second they typed ‘Dear’, intrusively demanding to help lay out a letter. Presumably, the plan was to make Office seem human – or even fun. Instead we got something that was, broadly speaking, a mash-up of a third-rate Pixar character, an overly strict teacher and a sociopath. We still can’t hold a box of paperclips without yelling “NO, WE DON’T NEED HELP!” at it.
G
Whatever made Microsoft think an anthropomorphic paperclip could brighten everyone’s day? To be fair, you didn’t have to sit there and watch a paperclip outlining that you were rubbish at grammar. Microsoft also provided other options – although those were arguably just as bad. It was possible to replace Clippit with grinning idiot The Dot (more or less an acid smiley painted red), The Genius (who wasn’t), Links the cat (seemingly having wandered in from a 1950s Disney knock-off) or, erm, Office’s actual logo, its coloured bits glowing like a demented Simon game.
Still, at least it’s over now, right? Clippit and pals will never darken our doors again! Well, you can actually weld a sort-of Clippit to your website (smore.com/clippy-js), but the real problem runs deeper – because the black soul of Office Assistant is everywhere, infused into countless smart devices. It’s there when Alexa randomly pipes up as you’re chatting with friends, or when you ask Siri something and get a daft quip rather than actual help. Douglas Adams wrote that future tech would require us to sit still to avoid triggering gestural interfaces. Clippit’s legacy is that we’ll soon have to sit in silence too.
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Office Assistant
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