M asters of reativity C FUJIFILM X Series cameras channel over 85 years of expertise in the photographic industry to deliver unrivalled creativity for both stills and video shooters
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TTHE HE TECH T CH OF THE TE TTH HE Y YEAR EAR GADGETS / GAMES / GEAR
THE 2020 GADGET AWARDS AWA W RDS We reveal the top 25 trophies in tech WHAT APPLE DID NEXT
Fantastic phones Excellent over-ears
Wicked watches
Super speakers
Gaming goodies
Noise-cancelling cans for luxury listeners
Amazing apps
TESTED!
Slim and speedy laptops A mighty mightty miniature miniatture mobile mobile A seriously diddy 4K drone & a very veryy ssmall mall smart speaker £4.99 January 2021 www.stuff.tv
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Magic music
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Welcome
A very warm welcome to the final Stuff of 2020 and the final word on tech this year – because yes, this is our eagerly anticipated Stuff Awards issue. To give you an idea of the sheer number of new gadgets, games and gear that have come our way in the last 12 months, we’ve had to expand things to a whopping 25 categories and we probably could have gone further. The thing is, being acutely aware there’s only so much sickeningly good news you guys can handle, we had to cap it somewhere. The category count carries a certain amount of significance too, as we turn 25 next year – yes, Stuff is the same age as the Motorola StarTAC. Anyway, enough sentimental nonsense. Aside from our awards roundup there’s plenty of new tech to get your teeth into over the Christmas break and into 2021. For a start, Apple unveiled some headphones and they cost more than a PlayStation 5 – eesh! Elsewhere we interview Miles Jacobson, the man behind the divorce-threatening Football Manager series, we put Apple’s M1 processor through its speedy paces, we offer up an essential guide to eBay selling in case you need to shift any unwanted air fryers, and we cook Christmas dinner in a couple of microwaves. No, really. Enjoy, and thanks for your continued support.
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Kelsey Media 2020 © 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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CON S 01.21 P61
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STUFF AWARDS 2020
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HOT STUFF 06 The Hot Five Apple AirPods Max Would you pay £549 for a pair of giant macarons? Razer Tomahawk A gaming PC so powerful it’ll shoot Nazis by itself B&O Beovision Contour A modest-sized telly with an immodest speaker array Cambridge Melomania Touch Buds that last 50 hours… has Cliff even made that much music? Vodafone Neo A watch that’s smarter than your kids (no offence)
TESTS 29 First test Apple MacBook Air (M1) Same as our old favourite laptop but with its brain enhanced by aliens – should be decent, then
57 3 of the best Bike GPS units
58 Tested Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
60 Tested Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa
61 Tested Nintendo Game & Watch
65 Versus Sleep earbuds
68 Tested Sony A7C
14 Vital stats Zepp Z Not good in alphabetical searches
16 Stream Lovejoy’s got a new shirt
18 Icon Nike Air Jordan XI Adapt Not learned how to tie laces yet?
20 Games Stay occupied in vaccine limbo
22 Wheels BMW Motorrad CE 04 Quadrophenia goes electric
24 Stuff meets Miles Jacobson The Football Manager manager
69 Tested AtGames Legends Ultimate
70 Versus Multi-functional microwaves
73 Tested Apple HomePod Mini
74 Long-term test DJI Mini 2
76 Games
FEATURES 35 Mini meme Voxel apps You’ll soon wonder why the real world isn’t made of big 3D blocks
37 Cover feature The Stuff Awards 2020 Yes, it’s been a rough one, but we don’t have categories for infectious diseases, political catastrophes or acts of racially motivated police brutality, just gadgets – so relax and join us as we crown the best tech of 2020
62 Beta yourself Selling on eBay Shift those old copies of Stuff, or maybe something less precious
66 Instant upgrades Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 Make it stand up by itself, plus other, slightly more in-depth tips
98 Random access memories Wikipedia (2001) “The page ‘Bumbaclart’ does not exist. You can ask for it to be created.”
Demon’s Souls, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Sackboy: A Big Adventure
THE LEGENDARY STUFF TOP TENS P82 4
WIN! p25
MAKING STUFF UP
Editor-in-Chief James Day Hot Stuff Editor Matt Tate Online Editor Natalya Paul Contributors Craig Grannell, Tom Wiggins, Sam Kieldsen, Basil Kronfli, Leon Poultney, Libby Plummer, Alan Wen, Chris Haslam, Vikki Blake, William Preston, Theodore Logan, Richard Purvis, Ross Presly Contact us stuff.ed@kelsey.co.uk UK subscription and back issue orderline: 01959 543747 Overseas subscription orderline: 0044 (0)1959 543747 Toll-free USA subscription orderline: 1-888-777-0275 UK customer service team: 01959 543747 Customer service email address: subs@kelsey.co.uk Customer service and subscription postal address: Stuff Customer Service Team, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Maidstone, Kent ME18 6AL
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Can’t buy me mauve While the familiar in-ear AirPods only come in white, Apple has decided your money buys you a bit more choice here. Pick from space grey, silver, sky blue, green and pink.
HOT FIVE #1 MAX OUT THE CREDIT CARD Apple AirPods Max
When Apple unveiled the original AirPods, everybody laughed. Nobody’s going to be seen dead with those toothbrush heads stuck in their ears, we scoffed. But who’s laughing now? Everywhere you look these days there’s a pair of those telltale white stalks – so while the over-ear AirPods Max are a bit of an acquired taste, it’s probably wise to stifle your chuckles. With active noise-cancellation and an H1 chip in each earcup for Adaptive EQ and Atmos-esque spatial audio, you’re not going to be wearing these on your weekly 5K; but Apple does claim their knitted mesh canopy, telescopic arms and acoustically engineered memory foam will offer an ‘uncompromising fit’, which sounds almost menacing. Battery life is a decent 20 hours, there’s a Transparency mode that uses three mics on each side to let in a little of the world around you, and they’ll automatically pause your tunes when you take them off. The one major issue? They cost £200 more than Sony’s stupendous WH-1000XM4s, which means they’re going to have to sound better than God’s farts to be worth the extra money – otherwise those laughs are going to be louder than ever. As hot as… lightning-bolt bottom burps £549 / apple.com 6
Android bird can sing Like the little AirPods, there’s not a lot of point in buying a pair of these if you use an Android phone. They’ll play your music, but not all the other features will work.
T
Underwired for sound The AirPods Max don’t fold up but they do come with a Smart Case that makes them look like a bra from the future. It also puts them into an ultra-low-power state to save battery.
Whee, don’t talk any more Just like your Apple Watch, the AirPods Max have a Digital Crown. Twizzle it to control playback and volume, answer or end calls, and activate Siri. There’s also an ANC button.
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Park ’em city It might only be a small case but Razer has still found space for four USB-A 3.2 ports and a pair of Thunderbolt 3s, as well as HDMI and a 3.5mm headphone socket.
HOT FIVE #2 SPECS BOX
Razer Tomahawk So you’ve spent the past six months trying to decide between an Xbox Series X and a PlayStation 5… and just as you think you’ve settled on one or the other, Razer takes the covers off its first modular gaming PC. Its boxy metal chassis is not totally unlike Microsoft’s console, but the Tomahawk is built around Intel’s NUC (Next Unit of Computing) tech, which means you get a single board containing a 9th-gen Intel Core i9 processor, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 512GB SSD and 2TB of HDD storage. Despite its compact dimensions, you can also opt for an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 8
Founders Edition graphics card, or ask Razer to leave the slot empty and add your own full-size alternative. That modular design makes upgrades easy: a quick pull on the handle and all the guts slide out on a sled – no tools required. Of course, this is a Razer product, so the base is loaded with Chroma RGB LED lights that you can sync up with the rest of your gear, or set up to react to what happens in the game – and neither a Series X nor a PS5 can do that. As hot as… upgrading your own innards from $2400 / razer.com
Slight simulator With 10 litres of space inside and dimensions of 615x488x38mm, the Tomahawk is smaller than the Xbox Series X and the PS5… mind you, what isn’t?
Room eternal The Tomahawk comes with a spare M.2 slot inside, which means you can expand the storage if you want, but you’re out of luck if you want to upgrade the CPU.
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10
Swivel engineering
Swank zapper
Opt for the wall bracket and the Contour doesn’t just cling to the wall like a limpet: you can pull it out and angle it up to 40° to make sure you get the best view of the action.
The Contour comes with a Beoremote One that’s worth £300 on its own. It has four programmable buttons and comes in a choice of colours to match your new telly.
Fool for a knitty case The tiny buds weigh just 6g each and live inside a USB-C fast-charging case when they’re not in your lugs. It holds 33 hours of charge and has a microfibre leather finish.
HOT FIVE #3
HOT FIVE #4
THE SMALL BANG THEORY
FROM EAR TO ETERNITY
OLED TVs come in all sizes – but some are more common than others. If you’ve got a 55in, 65in or 77in hole to fill you’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to a new telly, but the perfect 48-incher can be harder to find, particularly if you want built-in audio. Step forward Bang & Olufsen with its Beovision Contour, available in silver, black anthracite or gold aluminium. Underneath the 4K HDR screen, but hidden behind either a fabric or oak covering, is an array of 11 50W power amplifiers with a speaker for each: four 1.5in mid-range drivers, four 4in woofers and three tweeters. It even supports Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD. If you don’t want to spoil those looks by plugging stuff into its 4 HDMI ports, it also has AirPlay 2 and Chromecast built in, while TuneIn and Deezer are pre-installed if you fancy using all those speakers to play music as well. The Contour comes with a wall-mount but you can also opt for a swivelling aluminium floor stand or similarly sturdy tabletop plinth, if that’s what your TV-shaped hole demands. As hot as… Vindaloo: The Movie from £5149 / bang-olufsen.com
Finding your perfect pair of true wireless in-ears isn’t easy when there are so many great options – and Cambridge Audio has just made the decision that little bit harder. These successors to the five-star Melomania 1 buds haven’t just been redesigned with touch controls for skipping and pausing, adjusting the volume and summoning your phone’s AI assistant; they’ve also had their total battery life boosted to 50 hours. They come with their own app as well, meaning you can tweak their sonic profile to suit your penchant for trombone covers of Travis songs, locate them more easily if they go walkabout, and activate the new Transparency mode to stop you getting run over by a pensioner on a runaway mobility scooter. Inside the IPX4-rated buds there are 7mm drivers that take advantage of a ‘High Performance Audio’ mode that uses amplification tech borrowed from the company’s hi-fi amps, promising a greater soundstage, lower noise and higher dynamic range than before. As hot as… Ada’s modded mobility scooter £130 / cambridgeaudio.com
Bang & Olufsen Beovision Contour
Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch
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Arm not your hero Vodafone and Disney plan to add more characters over time at no extra charge – so if your offspring gets bored of Elsa, Black Panther might be along soon to save the day.
HOT FIVE #5 NEAT ON THE BRAT Vodafone Neo
We’re not saying the design department at Vodafone is staffed by children, but if you asked your average nipper to draw a picture of their ideal smartwatch it’d probably look a lot like the Neo. Colourful, chunky and full of Disney stuff, it lets sprogs switch between on-screen sidekicks including Minnie Mouse, Buzz Lightyear and ‘Baby Yoda’, each kicking off a full theme takeover. It’s practical too, with IP68 waterproofing, which should come in handy if young Ocado forgets to take it off before his swimming lesson. There’s voice and video calling, messaging, an activity log to encourage fitness, calendar and weather apps to help your kid get organised, and a 5MP camera for shooting snaps of their chums flossing, vaping or whatever it is kids do these days. Think that all sounds too much like fun? The Vodafone Smart app lets grumpy spoilsport parents interfere by approving trusted contacts, managing screen time and spying on their progeny’s location. With just 48 hours of standby battery life, the Neo will also get them ready for a lifetime of remembering to charge stuff. As hot as… Fortnite’s latest dance craze £99 + £7/m / vodafone.co.uk 12
A Sound Partnership Naim Mu-so for Bentley Special Edition Focal for Bentley Radiance
Awards for the Naim Mu-so family
Celebrating an enduring partnership that’s created the ultimate in-car audio system, the new Naim Mu-so for Bentley Special Edition wireless speaker system and Focal for Bentley Radiance headphones now allow music lovers to enjoy exceptional sound and styling at home or on the move, as well as in any Bentley. Technical innovation, luxury materials and award-winning performance combine to enhance your listening and lifestyle, anywhere.
naimaudio.com
V I
T A L S T A T S
ONE ZEPP BEYOND Zepp Z
€350 / eu.zepp.com
Zepp is a partner brand of Amazfit and a sub-brand of Huami, which is itself part-owned by Xiaomi. Not confusing at all. So what’s its Z got to offer? O Skip to the blood bit Six months ago nobody cared how much oxygen was in their blood; but after Apple made such a song and dance about it, if you release a smartwatch that can’t measure SpO2 now, nobody will give it a second look. So while the Oppo Watch basically cloned the Apple Watch design, Zepp has chosen to copy its features instead by offering SpO2 tracking. Everything is displayed on what appears to be a lovely 1.39in always-on AMOLED touchscreen with GPS and built-in Alexa. O I can ski clearly now The Z is made from a single piece of polished titanium alloy and has a 340mAh battery, which lasts up to two weeks with typical use or 30 days if you just use it to tell the time. Despite its serious threads it’s waterproof to 50m and can track up to 12 different sports, including running, cycling, swimming and skiing. It works with both Android and iOS devices and will also alert you to an abnormally elevated heart rate – which could come in handy if somebody tells you they’re thinking of buying a smartwatch without SpO2. O Samsung got me started When it comes to the design, the Z clearly has another leading smartwatch in its sights: the Samsung Galaxy Watch3. This take on a more traditional-looking wristwatch is a departure from its previous Zepp E model, which was far more Apple Watch-like. Well, we did warn you things were a little confusing.
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A nano-tech coating makes the TC4 titanium alloy even more scratch-resistant.
Baby loader
NERF AMBAN PHASE-PULSE BLASTER
APPLE WATCH CLONE WARS O Oppo Watch Although arguably the most strikingly derivative Apple Watch ‘tribute’ in existence, Oppo’s wearable does come with a bigger 1.91in display. £230 / oppostore.co.uk
Nerf has perfected the art of making toy blasters that are devoid of lasers but still impossibly entertaining, and now it’s bringing us a certain special rifle from a galaxy far, far away. This elongated foam-flinger is a faithful recreation of the Amban sniper rifle from The Mandalorian, featuring accurate sounds, an electronic scope with an illuminated lens, a breech-loading mechanism and a wood-textured butt. Bad news is there’s no chance of updating your arsenal in time to ruffle relatives at Christmas, as this blaster won’t be shipping until January; but if you’re looking to rule the office with the ruthless precision of a Beskar-clad bounty hunter when ‘the foam wars’ recommence, this is the way. $120 / hasbropulse.com
O Amazfit GTS 2 Given Amazfit and Zepp are close cousins, it’s no surprise to see the SpO2-tracking GTS 2 and GTR 2 matching the dual designs of the Zepp E. €170 / amazfit.com
O Wyze Watch A 20-dollar Apple Watch copy sounds iffy… so while the Wyze offers blood oxygen monitoring, we’re not suggesting this is a solid investment. $20 / wyze.com
The birdie throng
BIRD BUDDY
DESPITE ITS SERIOUS THREADS IT’S WATERPROOF TO 50M
Tweet, tweet, who’s there? The Bird Buddy is like a Ring doorbell for your feathery friends. Every time a hungry beak approaches, the motion-activated camera captures 5MP photos and 720p video, with a 120° lens ensuring it can fit every feather in shot (unless you often get ostriches or albatrosses in your garden). The app then uses AI to identify each one and create a rogues’ gallery of winged visitors, so you know exactly which species are stopping by and when, plus it’ll give you tips on what to fill the feeder with to attract each one. The 6040mAh battery lasts about a month between charges and you can add a wall-mount or fence-mount when it goes on sale next year. £125 / mybirdbuddy.com 15
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S T R E A M
If you’re old enough to remember Lovejoy, look, it’s Lovejoy! If you’re not, look, what a lovely shirt! Meanwhile, on your television…
Servant
Bill & Ted Face the Music
A Discovery of Witches
If it’s a creepy new year you’re after, look no further: M Night Shyamalan’s claustrophobic psychological thriller series is returning for a second season. A couple hire a nanny to care for their infant son… but not only is the nanny not all she seems – the baby is actually a realistic doll created to replace the couple’s dead child. S2 / Apple TV+, 15 January
Finally, the third Bill & Ted film has arrived – a full 29 years after the second one – reuniting Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as the titular time-travelling rockers, tasked with creating a song that will save the world from annihilation. Most excellent… but even Sky subscribers will have to cough up as it’s pay-per-view. Film / Sky Store (£13.99), 9 January
Fans of witches, vampires, demons and secret occult goings-on have had to wait two long years for this second helping of Sky’s lush drama, but the time looks to have been well-used: A Discovery of Witches has sucked its principal characters into a timewarp, dropping them in Elizabethan London on a mission to track down the biggest witch of all. S2 / Now/Sky, 8 January
Bridgerton
ZeroZeroZero
Cobra Kai
Landing on Christmas Day to be binged on by those who’ve fallen onto the sofa in a turkey-induced fugue state, Netflix’s sumptuous period drama is helmed by Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes and based on Julia Quinn’s novels. Expect intrigue, romance and gossip among the debutantes and grandees of Regency London. S1 / Netflix, 25 December
The creators of Neapolitan crime saga Gomorrah go global with this ambitious series that follows an international cocaine shipment. Mexican narco-terrorists, corrupt soldiers, Italian mobsters and a white-collar American family all intertwine in a gripping tale that illustrates just how much of a sham the ‘war on drugs’ really is. S1 / Now/Sky, January (date tbc)
Who’d have thought a spin-off comedy-drama series featuring characters from The Karate Kid would be so involving? Far more than a lazy exercise in nostalgia for ’80s kids, Cobra Kai brings a smart revisionist perspective to a story we all thought was long over, turning villain Johnny Lawrence into a nuanced underdog protagonist. S3 / Netflix, 8 January
The TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s cult novel has wandered a troubled path, with successive showrunners departing after each of the first two seasons and cast members quitting (or possibly being fired, depending on who you believe). Yet it’s also one of the best-looking shows ever created, with a punchy visual style that will put even the fanciest OLED to the test. After a two-year wait, the third season is coming, bringing more stories from the vicious war between old pagan gods and upstart modern deities.
DO M N’ TH ISS T IS
American Gods S3 / Amazon Prime Video, 11 Jan
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I C O N YOU CAN TWEAK THE FIT THROUGH NIKE’S APP OR VIA THE BUTTONS ON THE MIDSOLE
NIKE AIR JORDAN XI ADAPT $500 / nike.com Nice sneaks. Hold on, no laces? No requirement here, because while Nike has used its Adapt auto-lacing technology on a number of trainers now, this is the first time it’s found its way onto a pair of Air Jordans. With this updated version of the classic Jordan XI basketball shoe, the wearer can now electronically engage wires to tweak the fit through Nike’s Adapt app or by pressing buttons on the
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midsole… although you might want to wait until half-time, or the end of a quarter, or a time out, or that bit when blokes on trampolines come out, to avoid any unfortunate mid-game madness. Surely the Air Jordan purists are hating on this? When did you start sounding all American? Nike says the wonderfully named Tinker Hatfield, who designed the original Jordan
XI, showed in his initial 1995 sketches that he wanted the sneaker to be laceless from the very beginning – but even so, it’s fair to say these have divided opinion. This is not the first pair of Nike basketball shoes to get the tie-by-wire (thanks) treatment either. You may remember the Adapt BB that graced the pages of Stuff this time last year – you can currently nab a pair of Adapt BB 2.0s for £300.
So why are these so much pricier? These, the first ever self-lacing Air Jordans, have been created to celebrate the original shoe’s 25th anniversary, while the Adapt app gets a ‘Jordan-flavoured’ interface plus the ability to set several preset fits (in case you plan on changing feet), customise the lights in the midsole, and check power levels. They go on sale through Nike’s SNKRS app and storefront on 30 December.
Lantern it on again
TRANSPARENT LIGHT SPEAKER They loved a lantern in the Lord of the Rings trilogy – hobbits daisychaining them at Bilbo’s birthday party, Harry Goatleaf the gatekeeper of Bree illuminating shadowy strangers, elves swinging their Fëanorian lamps about – but if they’d all had access to the Transparent Light Speaker they could have ditched the matches and stuck on Now That’s What I Call Middle Earth at the same time. This 5W Bluetooth speaker is a take on the traditional outdoor lantern, only rather than an actual candle, a sound-activated ‘vibrating bass-and-light element’ creates the glow. Omnidirectional sound comes from a 2.5in full-range driver and a 3in passive radiator. £290 / transpa.rent
WTF IS AMAZON SIDEWALK? Er, don’t they mean pavement? Normally we’d agree… but as Amazon’s misdemeanours go, using an Americanism is fairly minor – especially considering it’s a US company and the feature in question is currently only available to American users. Sidewalk is a new wireless tech that could turn a street full of separate smart homes into a more unified smart neighbourhood – and if you’ve bought yourself a new spherical Echo or 10in Echo Show, you’ve already got what you need to make the most of it.
OK, but what does it actually do? It’s designed to fill in the gap between your Wi-Fi and a cellular network like 4G. It uses a fairly old-fashioned chunk of the radio spectrum, which has been reserved in the past for walkie-talkies and pagers, to share a tiny portion of your internet connection with other kit up to half a mile away. The idea isn’t to replace Wi-Fi but to provide a signal to stuff that’s a long way from the router, such as security cameras and other IoT sensors – or things that sometimes stray out of its reach, like Tile’s tracking tags, which until now have had to rely on Bluetooth.
What if I don’t want to share?
Swede-smart of the rodeo
AUDIO PRO G10 The Transparent Light Speaker is many things, but it’s not particularly ‘smart’. Leave that to the new voice-controlled G10 speaker from fellow Swedes Audio Pro. Compatible with AirPlay 2 and Google Cast, and offering full Google Assistant integration, it’s a Scandi rival to the likes of the Apple HomePod and Huawei Sound X, packing a 52W digital Class D amplifier, a 3in long-throw woofer, dual 4.5in passive radiators and a 1.25in tweeter. We’ve not had a chance to listen to it yet, but judging by Audio Pro’s previous efforts it should sound the part, and when it comes to connectivity you can choose between Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or a 3.5mm auxiliary input – what a novelty. £230 / audiopro.com
Then you need to learn to be less selfish. Besides, Sidewalk can only send 80Kbps and the total bandwidth is capped at 500MB a month – we’re not streaming 4K films here. You can also turn it off completely if you’re determined to be stingy. If you do want to use Sidewalk’s 900MHz network, though, you’ll need to wait. Tile has some compatible trackers in the pipeline and Ring’s not-yet-available Car Alarm and Fetch pet tag will also use it… but of course, they’ll still need Amazon to flick the big Sidewalk switch for the UK first.
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G A M E S OUT NOW
FIRST PLAY DUE PROCESS PC
[ Words Alan Wen ]
A map and two teams, one attacking while the other defends – that’s the staple of online tactical team FPS games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Rainbow Six Siege. Any other developer looking to get into this genre won’t try to deviate much from the blueprint. Due Process, then, is a ballsy experiment from indie studio Giant Enemy Crab. Its 5v5 structure is a twist on Siege’s cops-v-terrorists premise: the attackers are corporate mercenaries armed with the 20
latest tech, while the defenders are a ragtag bunch of resistance fighters relying on cunning. And where most games of this type emphasise realism, this one is deliberately stylistic with its use of pixel art. But the real unique draw is that all maps are procedurally generated and change every week – so communication and teamwork are more important than ever. What’s especially clever is how you can scribble over a shared map like a playbook, pointing out entry points or threats, which then
appear in-game. Better still, even if you die early, you can continue drawing on the map like a helpful ghost. Whether or not this will wean Siege or Counter-Strike players off what they’re comfortable with is hard to say – and if you’re not receptive to online chat, that could be a deal-breaker too. It’s certainly unlike anything from publisher Annapurna, known for more narrative-based games. But then, literally drawing and executing a well-planned match is surely setting a new bar for immersive storytelling.
FIRST LOOK UP SCARES, DOWN SCARES
OUT 11 FEB
LITTLE NIGHTMARES 2
PS5, PS4, XSX, XB1, PC, Switch
Horror games can often be claustrophobic and lonely affairs. But after creeping players out on board a ship that’s visited by cannibals, Tarsier Studios returns with Little Nightmares 2, which takes its Tim Burtonesque
side-scrolling platformer out into the open – albeit in a world that’s just as macabre. Again it presents its horror through a child’s eyes, this time from the perspective of a little boy called Mono who happens to wear a paper bag over his head. But you also soon meet Six, the protagonist of the first game, although you may not recognise her immediately
as she’s not wearing her distinctive yellow raincoat… at least not yet, which may suggest this isn’t strictly a chronological sequel. Having a companion around certainly changes things up, as you find yourself working together on puzzles or simply holding hands while trying to escape the clutches of this world’s disturbing and
murderous grown-ups, including a trigger-happy hunter who also sports a bag-head. With a responsive and proactive AI, Six is hardly second fiddle even if you don’t play as her. Otherwise, it seems Little Nightmares 2 is doubling down on the grotesque imagery of before… which is no bad thing at all.
BEST OF OPEN-WORLD GAMES THAT WON’T DRAIN YOUR TIME
A SHORT HIKE
THE PATHLESS
PARADISE KILLER
PC, Switch If you can imagine Animal Crossing with a heartwarming story and Breath of the Wild mechanics set in a small but pleasant provincial park, that would pretty much sum up A Short Hike. You can easily finish it in an hour, but it will have been worth every second.
PS5, PS4, PC, Apple Arcade Aided by an eagle and an auto-aiming bow, getting around the vast island of The Pathless is an accessible and exhilarating breeze. Ping around by shooting talismans, solve clever puzzles and help cleanse the island of cursed fiery animal spirits.
PC, Switch With a unique visual style and an absolutely catchy city-pop/vaporwave soundtrack, this is an open-world detective murder mystery that treats you like a real detective, letting you explore as much as you want – and where the truth is yours to prove.
INCOMING JANUARY O HITMAN 3 O PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME REMAKE O THE MEDIUM O FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S: CORE COLLECTION O STRONGHOLD: WARLORDS O MXGP 2020 O IRIS.FALL (SWITCH)
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W H E E L S
BMW Motorrad Definition CE 04
PARKA AND RIDE
£tbc / bmw-motorrad.co.uk That’s a far cry from the Aprilia scooter I had as a rebellious teen… You bet, and this one swaps the ‘wasp in a can’ engine note for a near-silent ride. It builds on the foundations laid by the C Evolution, a battery-powered city slicker launched in 2014. That hasn’t been a massive success for BMW, but perhaps we’re now ready for the next generation of emissions-free two-wheeled commuting. But this is still a concept, right? Yes, it’s both a design study and a platform for testing out new tech… but also a finished article. In fact, don’t be shocked if the production machine looks very close to this. It does look a bit Quadrophenia. It appears the Definition CE 04’s designers have been bingeing on the Mods vs Rockers classic, in between repeats of Blade Runner and Minority Report. Alongside the sharp styling, low-slung ‘floating’
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NEWS DASHBOARD
seat and smartphone-enabled 10.25in TFT infotainment display, there’s a light-up accompanying parka for added visibility. And the performance figures? BMW is keeping tight-lipped about those, but has stated that this scooter is designed for the urban environment, so don’t expect epic range or superbike-rivalling acceleration. Instead, it’s been designed for maximum convenience – think multiple stowage areas and a wireless charging slot for your phone. So… will it see the light of day? BMW has a great track record of taking slightly mad concepts like this into production, and has already stated that the Definition CE 04 transfers the radical design of its 2017 Concept Link machine to “production readiness with almost unchanged design”. If that isn’t a hint, we don’t know what is.
MINI BUS
RAVING BULL
RUBI RAD
Have you ever wondered what a Mini campervan would look like? The Vision Urbanaut is a computer design study to show us the spacious Mini interior of the future. It can be configured for ‘Chill’, ‘Vibe’ and ‘Wanderlust’ driving modes and, no, we don’t know what that means. But we do know it has a ‘day bed’, which is nice.
The Huracan STO is the maddest Lambo for some time, with performance credentials that are as close to a Super Trofeo racing car as you can get for the road. It has rear-wheel-drive, rear steer, ludicrous downforce and a 5.2-litre V10 that develops 631bhp. Oh, and a price tag that tickles the £260,000 mark.
Jeep seems to be going against the green grain with an insane 470bhp version of its meaty Wrangler Rubicon. The 392 (a nod to its engine’s capacity in cubic inches) features a 6.4-litre V8 powerplant and components beefed up for off-road antics. Don’t expect it to go on sale outside the US, though.
WTF IS THE MOLEY ROBOTIC KITCHEN? Marque and ride
AUDI ELECTRIC KICK SCOOTER Riding an electric scooter on UK roads might still be a crime (for now), but that hasn’t stopped us drawing up a wishlist for when the law gets changed. Whizzing its way to the top is this two-wheeler from Audi, which, thanks to a little help from Segway, can hit a top speed of 12mph and keep going for up to 40 miles before its 551Wh lithium battery needs recharging – not much compared to one of its electric cars, but impressive for a scooter. It also comes with regenerative brakes, LED lights (but not indicators, of course) and a full-colour dash, which should make you the envy of the neighbourhood. Pick one up now and stick it in your shed until you’re allowed to tear up the street like Bart Simpson. €999 / audishop.ie
Holy Moley, is the name a giveaway? Yep, British company Moley Robotics has launched the world’s first robotic kitchen that “cooks from scratch and even cleans up afterwards without complaint”. The brainchild of Russian mathematician and computer scientist Mark Oleynik, it can whip up 5000 freshly cooked meals at the touch of button using a pair of fully articulated ‘hands’ engineered to copy human chefs in motion. It translates those techniques into digital movements using bespoke algorithms. The dextrous robot is considered the height of luxury (and let’s be honest, downright laziness) and incorporates Italian design with German technology. Jackpot.
Shouldn’t it be called Gordon RAMsay? Groan. Actually, the Moley Kitchen was co-developed with Tim Anderson, the 2011 winner of MasterChef, along with fellow cooks Nicole Pisani and Andrew Clarke, who will be adding new recipes every month. Customers can also record their own family-favourite dishes using Moley’s recipe-creator software tool… although we’re unsure how well it will cope with roast turducken. On a more practical footing, it can retrieve ingredients from the smart fridge, adjust hob temperatures, fill pans and pour, and mix and plate up using a combination of cameras and other sensors.
Park astride
BELKIN BOOST CHARGE TRUEFREEDOM PRO You know when you plonk your phone down on a Qi pad but it’s ‘incorrectly’ offset by approximately 0.001mm and doesn’t charge? Belkin does. Hence the clunkily named Boost Charge TrueFreedom Pro, with 16 charging coils that can intelligently work together to pipe 10W of fast charging to two separate gadgets placed on its surface. If your needs are more ‘kill all the germs’, check out the suitably named Boost Charge UV Sanitizer + Wireless Charger (£60) instead. This will only charge (and clean) one phone at a time, but you can pop smaller items inside as well, whereupon 99.99% of germs will be obliterated via UV-C. £149 / belkin.com
You mentioned cleaning up… Those cameras can spot dropped food to clean up before and after cooking, while a UV lamp keeps the cooking area germ-free. If this all sounds wildly expensive, we’ve got bad news: it’s worse than that. The full system including bespoke smart appliances costs £248,000, roughly the same price as the average UK house. Yeah, but can a house cook and clean for you? Exactly. Anyway, Moley claims to have over 1000 potential buyers, with more affordable versions to follow. Until then, you’ll have to keep cooking and start saving up.
23
STUFF MEETS
Miles Jacobson
THE MAN BEHIND FOOTBALL MANAGER TALKS CONSOLES, FRY-UPS AND CYCLING AT WORK Making games during a pandemic is strange. You’ve got loads of jigsaw puzzle pieces with Football Manager and you’re trying to appease lots of audiences: the tactics wizards, the transfer gurus, the people who want all the interaction. My job is to make it all tie in together and feel like it’s whole. The thing I’m proudest of this year is how FM21 feels like a complete game, because we’ve worked very differently this year to normal.
[ Interview Tom Wiggins ]
With FM we try to create a universe you escape into. Our average play times have gone up from 240 hours to just shy of 500 hours. Humans aren’t used to being locked up at home and it’s made me realise what a responsibility we have for the mental health of our consumers. We’ve served over 100 million free adverts for mental health charities through the FM20 cycle and we’ll be doing the same with FM21.
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I worry about people’s fitness. I’ve done more exercise in this period than in the last 10 years combined and I’ve lost two stone. If Stuff hasn’t done a feature on under-desk cycling machines yet, please do [noted!]. I’ve got three under my desk and I do 15 to 20 miles a day. I found it was really helping me so we gave everybody in the studio a budget of £250 to buy home exercise equipment. Previous games had loads of possible Brexit scenarios. This year there’s only one and it’s the one we believe is going to happen in real life. Players
from inside the EU are now treated the same way as someone from Brazil would be. Post-Brexit you’ll no longer be able to sign 16-year-old Spaniards to come over and play in your youth team. I love the PS5 control pad. I think it’s a thing of absolute beauty. I have both new consoles; they were released at a time when we were trying to ship a game so I haven’t had a lot of time on either of them, but I’ve been playing a lot of Yakuza – I’m a big fan of Japanese RPGs so the fact they’ve turned the series into an RPG is fantastic. I didn’t get to play Watch Dogs on PS4 so as far as I’m concerned that’s a PS5 exclusive. I don’t think this will be the last console generation. There will be things you can do hardware-wise that you just
couldn’t do with a streaming platform because you need the power of the technology. I think streaming will become more important and it’ll be better for certain kinds of game, including FM, but the internet isn’t good enough across the world to take over entirely. We will have boxes in our homes for many years. FM was never going to be a game for Snapchatters. We’ve always been a niche game; we just happen to be a pretty big niche. If we wanted to make something for other groups of people it would be something new – we are experimenting with something
a bit more bitesize, but I think it’s wrong to just say attention spans have dropped, because it’s not true. My number one tip for Football Manager players? It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t come into it thinking you’re going to take AFC Wimbledon into the Premier League in two seasons. It’s not going to happen. My favourite gadget is my barbecue. I love cooking – it’s the thing that makes me stop thinking about work, because if I think about work when I’m cooking the food is s***. I have a Weber gas barbecue with nine grill sections. It has a pizza stone, it does incredible fry-ups, and you can even have rotisserie chicken. It’s a kitchen in its own right and it’s the only reason I bought a place with a garden. Football Manager 2021 is out now for PC, Mac, iOS, Android, XSX, XSS, XB1 and Switch.
“LOCKDOWN MADE ME REALISE WHAT A RESPONSIBILITY WE HAVE FOR OUR CONSUMERS’ MENTAL HEALTH”
TOTAL PRIZE VALUE £2500
WIN A HI-TECH GAMING AND GADGET HAUL FROM SMARTECH! If there’s one thing worse than being dragged around the shops at Christmas, it’s being dragged around the sales after. Fortunately, Smartech has created the perfect distraction. The PlayHouse by Smartech at the Selfridges Corner Shop in London is a gaming destination like no other, where you can discover, play and shop the world’s best games gadgets. And in case you can’t get there before it closes on 3 January, Smartech has offered to bring a bit of the PlayHouse to you. Among this £2500 prize bundle you’ll find an Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, a Puma Playseat active gaming seat, a pair of JBL Quantum One gaming headphones, a Woojer Strap Edge haptic gaming belt, a pair of Barner blue-light-combatting glasses, a Facebook Portal Mini smart display, the latest Snapchat Spectacles, a Divoom pixel art backpack and ImagiLabs accessory, and a year’s supply of personalised Get Nourished vitamins to get you through those marathon gaming sessions.
HOW TO ENTER If you’re not ready to face 2021 and would rather hide away in a VR headset, go to stuff.tv/win and answer this question:
WHICH VIDEOGAME-BASED SCIENCE-FICTION NOVEL WAS RELEASED IN NOVEMBER 2020? A… Ready Player One B… Ready Player Two C… Rough ’n’ Ready
HURRY!
COMPETITION CLOSES 28 JANUARY 2021
Terms & conditions: 1 Open to UK residents aged 18 or over. 2 Entries close 11.59pm, 28 Jan 2021. 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 Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Maidstone, Kent ME18 6AL.
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OLED+ 935
Breathtaking picture. Cinematic sound. Give your movies the TV they deserve. This stunning Philips OLED+ TV boasts up-firing Bowers & Wilkins speakers, and the latest P5 picture processing with AI. You get a lifelike picture and thrilling sound with crystal-clear dialogue.
philips.com/oled+
FIRST TEST APPLE MACBOOK AIR (M1)
Some zing in the Air Call out the instigators, because after ditching Intel for its own M1 chip Apple reckons the revolution’s here – and with the new MacBook Air, you know that it’s right tasty from £999 / stuff.tv/AirM1
n Apple financial report is always met with a degree of eye-rolling inevitability, but its latest added raised brows. The total sales of Macs for the 2020 financial year hit a new record of $28.6billion, with the majority taken up by its supremely popular MacBook laptops… which does beg the
[ Words Natalya Paul ]
A
question: If it ain’t broke, why dump Intel? The Californian tech giant has switched to its own ARM-based M1 processors for its latest MacBooks, with the promise that the arrival of Apple Silicon would make a monumental difference to the performance of its computers. So with Apple’s most affordable laptop, there
really is something in the Air, but has the decision to rejig its insides been the right one? Not much seems to have changed from the outside. Some will rejoice that the focus this time around is all about what’s under the hood, while others will bemoan the lack of external evolution; either way, there’s still no divisive Touch Bar
to debate about – for that you’ll need the more expensive MacBook Pro. Consider this a Daft Punk move by Apple to ‘work it harder, make it better’ without the showy distraction of a cosmetic redesign… while, with no internal fan, the MacBook Air (M1) aims to keep its cool and do it all in deafening silence.
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FIRST TEST APPLE MACBOOK AIR (M1)
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Thin Air
Looking a lot like the MacBook Air that arrived last spring, this is a handsome, slender wedge cast from aluminium and weighing an identical 1.29kg. There are two Thunderbolt slots, a headphone port, and speakers either side of a keyboard that’s a joy to tap on.
2 Fresh Air
3 Air speed record
Touch ID makes logging in a breeze, with no fear of any “Scheissenpooper, I’ve forgotten my password” drama. Out goes the fan, in comes an aluminium heat-spreader for a serenely quiet experience, displayed on 400-nit Retina display with True Tone.
4 Air power
Never mind plain sailing, it’s more powerboating, because this Air is a beast for performance. The M1 is Apple’s biggest breakthrough in ages, as shown by Geekbench scores head and shoulders above Intel-run machines, and macOS runs crazy-fast.
5 Air time
This Air coped with multiple browsers while downloading large files, photo editing in the background, and typing too. If you’re the type of user who runs lots of programmes at once, you won’t hear so much as a groan. This just wasn’t the case before.
Battery life is heroic. We managed a full working day without having to reach for the charger, and then still managed to squeeze in a few episodes of Big Mouth. That’s not far off Apple’s claimed 18 hours of video playback and 15 hours of wireless webbery.
Good Meh Evil
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24 hours with the MacBook Air (M1)
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FIRST TEST APPLE MACBOOK AIR (M1)
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Tech specs Screen 13.3in 2560x1600 Retina Processor 3.2GHz 8-core Apple M1 RAM 8/16GB OS macOS 11 Big Sur Storage 256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 2x Thunderbolt/USB-C, 3.5mm headphone port Dimensions 304x212x16.1mm, 1.29kg
Eye should be so looky How do the new MacBook Air’s display and webcam acquit themselves when the workload stacks up?
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Q Right a shade of pale
Q Shout at the bezel
The screen supports a P3 wide gamut, which helps with accurate colour reproduction. That’s a claimed 25% more colours than sRGB and a huge leap if you’re a photographer or serious video editor.
Some annoyingly thick bezels remain, and you can forget about any touch capabilities other than the ID button. The edge-to-edge displays we’ve seen from some rivals look more modern.
Q The best is yet to cam
Q Blame it on the grain
A bigger downer is the unimproved 720p front camera. FaceTiming really felt incongruously bad with this otherwise slick Mac… and with video calls increasingly becoming the norm, we expected better.
On conference calls, video is a tad grainy – and much worse in poor light. The thought of clipping on a proper webcam is very un-Apple, plus you’ll have to try to find one in gold, silver or space grey.
This is the best MacBook Air we’ve ever used – and the new chip means that, for once, we aren’t hankering after a Pro for video editing and graphics-heavy gaming. The battery is a trooper and, though it might age over time, a day’s work on it is a doddle. There really is only one bugbear here, and it’s that rubbish camera. @NatalyaPaul
STUFF SAYS +++++ Blazing speed and a better battery make this a stunning laptop in (almost) every aspect 31
FIRST TEST APPLE MACBOOK AIR (M1)
The alternatives: More M1-powered Macs The Air model might have the middle ground, but living life to the Macs can suit all budgets with Apple’s blazing new processor providing the grunt
Apple MacBook Pro 13in (M1) from £1299 / stuff.tv/Pro13M1 What’s the story? The same ageing design, no touchscreen, an iffy webcam and a Touch Bar: this MacBook Pro looks just like its predecessor. But with Intel no longer inside, the story here was always going to be the M1 heart transplant that’s given this business-class performer an injection of jet fuel. Is it any good? The Pro remains a sturdy notebook, with a great keyboard and a trackpad the size of a phone. The new chip is the real prize, though. Our review unit, with just 8GB of RAM, left a higher-specced 2020 Intel MacBook Pro in the dust, had no issues running loads of apps at once, lasted ten hours of general use on a charge and mostly ran silent. We’d have loved a couple more ports, but we’re surprised the entry-level Pro has quite this much to offer. KEY SPECS Screen 13.3in 2560x1600 Retina Processor Apple M1 RAM 8/16GB Storage 256GB-2TB Battery life Up to 17 hours Dimensions 304x212x15.6mm, 1.4kg
Stuff says +++++ Believe the hype: the Pro with an M1 inside kicks big, big bottom
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Apple Mac Mini (M1) from £699 / stuff.tv/MiniM1 What’s the story? The Mac Mini is a modular entry into the world of M1 Apple silicon. All you get is the box, so you’ll need to bolt on your own peripherals; but with ‘WFH’ swinging the pendulum back in favour of desktop computing, the Mini retains the portability to move it from TV to monitor and back again, making this a supercharged box of tricks for 2021 living. Is it any good? To say we’re sold on this Mini, even with entry-level specs, would be a huge understatement… and it’s all down to its versatility and speed of thought. Up against an i5 Mac Mini of old with the same 8GB of RAM, the comparison quickly became laughable, like we’d discovered electricity or something. For home workers it’s as happy plugged into the TV as it is a screen in the study, plus there’s support for two displays at once. At the risk of gushing, this is transformative. KEY SPECS Screen N/A Processor Apple M1 RAM 8/16GB Storage 256GB-2TB Battery life N/A (mains) Dimensions 360x197x197mm, 1.2kg
Stuff says +++++ The multi-use Mini is a must-have Mac for happy home workers
BLUE-SKY THINKING @'1:Ɓ80&. ŹȲğ 0ğ B VERB
Those perfect runs that recharge the mind and rejuvenate the soul.
RUNNING REDEFINED THE LATEST RUN SHOES HANDPICKED AT WIGGLE.CO.UK
DIGITAL EDITION
Available from shop.kelsey.co.uk/stuff plus Readly and Pocketmags
APPS
Mini meme
O Voxel Max You might think crafting voxel art involves laboriously tapping out individual pixels. Although that’s possible in Voxel Max, this app wants to unleash your inner artist, with a range of creative brushes and tools – such as randomised textures – that add fluidity to boxy voxel creations. Add in robust management of materials, objects and scenes, and you soon realise this pro tool is aptly named. £9.99 / iOS
BLOCKY MOUNTIN’ HIGH When pixel art goes 3D, you get voxels… so craft your own with these apps, or take a break with some chunky but funky voxel games
O Goxel Voxel Editor Screaming into the void because Voxel Max doesn’t exist for Android? Try Goxel instead. This app feels more utilitarian in nature than its rival but is feature-rich and powerful enough for pros (especially with its unlimited scene sizes), while still having enough immediacy that newcomers won’t be left flummoxed. It’s available for desktop too, should you like refining your sketches at work. £4.99 / Android, iOS
O Fancade
O Puzzrama
O Craft Warriors
O Hammer Bomb
On the surface, Fancade is a bunch of mini-games, mainly built around voxels and with the remainder featuring pixel art: fun, bite-sized takes on one-finger racing, sliding puzzles, card games and platforming action. But dig deeper and you realise this is also an ambitious and clever creativity playground, whether you want to build a game from scratch or customise an existing engine. £free / Android, iOS
This game is a good bet to inspire voxel-based artistry, while helping you understand how to transform 2D creations into 3D models. Each diorama is populated by constructing models via drag-and-drop jigsaws; there’s little challenge but it’s still satisfying to see the scenes come together, and you can subsequently craft your own objects and share them with the Puzzrama community. £free / Android, iOS
There are echoes of Clash of Clans here: restoring a derelict ancient city, upgrading buildings and troops, and periodically giving opponents a solid kicking while unsportingly stealing their resources. But again, there’s a crafting component. Characters can be altered or built from a blank canvas, providing a level of customisation far beyond merely choosing what colour hair your heroes have. £free / Android, iOS
This final choice dispenses with creativity and is instead about catharsis, as you roam a 3D maze, finding weapons and smashing to bits any creeps who get in your way. With fluid movement, smart swipe controls and a range of dungeon styles, it’s a great voxel-based game for clearing the cobwebs from your mind before you get down to another session of precision cube-placement. £free / Android, iOS 35
uk.humaxdigital.com
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Requires 4K TV and 4K enabled content. Subscription may also be required. 2Enhanced recording function subject to channel availability. Features outlined are subject to change at any time without notice. Google, Google Play, Android TV and other marks are trademarks of Google LLC. The FREEVIEW words and logos are trademarks of DTV Services LTD. © DTV Services Ltd. Amazon, Prime Video and other marks are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. All rights reserved. Channel content, logos and application logos are trademarks and copyright of their respective owners. © 2020 Humax Electronics Co. Ltd. 1
STUFF AWARDS 2020
STUFF AWARDS
The Stuff Awards have always gravitated towards the end of the year, because why have them in the summer when nothing has been announced yet? It’s this kind of joined-up thinking that gives us the authority to deliver the official word on the best gadgets of 2020… with a little help from you. 37
STUFF AWARDS 2020
Refresh prince
Hot chips
The 6.2in 3200x1440 display has an 89.5% screen-to-body ratio, while the 120Hz refresh rate ensures graphically demanding games look the nuts.
Depending on where you buy it, the S20 has either Samsung’s own Exynos 990 CPU or a Snapdragon 865. Both are octa-core chips, and both are super-fast.
PHONE OF THE YEAR
SAMSUNG GALAXY S20 5G Smartphone of the year: cause of more arguments at Stuff HQ than “No, of course this isn’t Tottenham’s season”. While the Galaxy S20 has been perched in the No1 position of our Top Ten since launch, the late arrival of Apple’s most powerful ever iPhones threatened to topple it at the last moment. Alright, the lack of a hulking Huawei packed with Google 38
goodness eased Samsung’s path to the top; but for bringing us 5G, hugely capable cameras, a 120Hz display and a battery big enough to cope with all of the above, the S20 was way ahead of the game. You might even be able to pick up a pink one… and promptly hide it in a nice black case. The S20 also offers DeX, a way to put all that power to extra use as a dockable desktop-like
computer – something we sorely wish Apple had included on the iPhone 12 series. But like Spurs, it just wasn’t their time. £899 / samsung.com HIGHLY COMMENDED Apple iPhone 12 NOMINEES O Realme X50 Pro 5G O OnePlus 8 O Sony Xperia 5 II
STUFF AWARDS 2020
AFFORDABLE PHONE OF THE YEAR
READERS’ PHONE OF THE YEAR
O NEPLU S NORD
S A M S UN G GALAXY S20 5G
After flirting with the flagship crowd and watching countless challenger brands muscle in on its mid-range turf, OnePlus set about regaining the middle ground in 2020. To be brutally honest, the competition appeared so fierce we weren’t so sure they had it in them; but the cool and colourful Nord, with its 5G-savvy top-end CPU, silky OLED screen, rock-solid camera and reliable performance, made it a classier pocket-protruder than a Moto and more enjoyable than a Realme. We suspect OnePlus knew it was onto a winner long before we broke the news, because the Nord line-up has since spawned two even cheaper models. So if £379 is still more than you want to pay, see the £329 N10 or the budget £179 N100 instead. from £379 / oneplus.com
You came, you clicked and you voted in your droves. In fact, in the closest readers’ vote we’ve had in a long time, we’re delighted to announce – mainly because it vindicates our own decision – that the Samsung Galaxy S20 5G is your phone of the year. Narrowly edging out the way more affordable OnePlus Nord and way more compact Apple iPhone 12 Mini, the S20 was clearly your flagship phone of 2020 and it’s easy to understand why. It feels comfortable in its flagship skin, with exceptional specs throughout – and even though the S20 range was launched way back at the beginning of March (you know, before The Event), it still feels like a pack leader now. £899 / samsung.com SECOND PLACE OnePlus Nord
NOMINEES Realme X2 Pro O Oppo A72 O Google Pixel 4a O Moto G8
O
THIRD PLACE Apple iPhone 12 Mini
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STUFF AWARDS 2020
APP OF THE YEAR
MOBILE GAME OF THE YEAR
CUBASIS 3
UN M E M OR Y
It’s not like Android devices have been devoid of decent music-making apps until now, but Cubasis 3’s arrival on Google Play finally means all mobile users have access to this superb, feature-rich, desktop-grade DAW… while iPhone and iPad users get this ace update (and can enjoy an arguably more enviable choice of plug-ins). Using Cubasis 3 on the A14-equipped iPad Air and iPhone 12 series can be an incredible speedy experience when you’re throwing virtual instruments around; but regardless of operating system, the app packs a lot into a small space, from recording and sequencing through to waveform-editing and MIDI. When you’re done, twiddle with a bank of mixers like you’re Quincy Jones crossed with Brian Eno, before squirting out a masterpiece that’s sure to make you a legend — all while on the move. £24 / Android, iOS
Not since the wonderful Device 6 have we seen such a masterful reimagining of narrative tale and interactive content. At first, Unmemory is a noirish murder mystery that feels a lot like a traditional digital book, albeit peppered with illustrations and presented as one long scrolling view rather than pages you flip. The secrets soon reveal themselves as a clever, tactile set of interconnected puzzles — an innovative production that upends existing conventions on digital books and room escape puzzlers. It’s fair to say things take a turn for the weird, twisting perceptions and plunging you into a series of brain-teasing tasks. This is a stylish and smart take on a now-established genre; and from the second you hear a distant phone ringing, realise you spotted one earlier and frantically scroll back up the screen to answer it, you’ll be smitten. £6 / Android, iOS
NOMINEES HEY Email O NetNewsWire O Universe in a Nutshell O Looom O
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NOMINEES Fancade O Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale O Sticky Terms O Bird Alone
STUFF AWARDS 2020
Slate in the evening The iPad Air’s updated 12MP front camera can now shoot ultra-sharp 4K video, and performs better in low-light conditions than the old one.
Deceased Lightning The new Air ditches Lightning for a USB-C port, adding welcome compatibility with a wider range of accessories including external storage.
TA B L E T O F T H E Y E A R
A PP LE i PAD A IR (2 0 20 ) The latest iPad Air may be pricier than the version it’s replaced, but the pain in your wallet should be more than soothed once you haul the thing out of its box. Not only has it been given a welcome exterior overhaul, getting the same elegant flat edges as the iPad Pro and a raft of new colour finishes, but it’s also startlingly muscular when it comes to raw power. Our benchmarks showed
it outstripping even the latest 12.9in iPad Pro in single-core performance, and coming close in GPU performance. That’s seriously impressive for a non-Pro slate, and – along with other improvements over its predecessor, including a bigger screen – only strengthens our belief that the iPad Air is the tablet with the greatest mass appeal. Nailing the sweet spot
between affordability and performance, this beautifully refined 10.9in tab is comfortably the all-rounder of the year. from £579 / apple.com HIGHLY COMMENDED Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ NOMINEES O Apple iPad Pro O Apple iPad O Huawei MatePad Pro
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STUFF AWARDS 2020 Snooze night
Bargain shunt
Ambilight’s LED strips bathe back walls in colours that mimic on-screen tones or dance along to music. There’s even a calming sleep mode.
The 70W soundbar is Dolby Atmos-certified and far outstrips the built-in speakers of most TVs for focus, dynamism and width of sound.
TV OF THE YEAR
P H ILIPS 4 8OL ED+93 5 Supporting all the major HDR standards and available in three useful sizes, the OLED+935 is all about whatever works for you. The smallest 48in size is ideal for those who don’t have acres of space, but across the whole range there’s little sign of compromise in performance. That screen serves up visual delicacies with Michelin-starred levels of aplomb, and garnishes 42
everything with surprisingly good audio courtesy of the integrated Bowers & Wilkins soundbar. We believe it’s the best-sounding onboard audio system of any TV on the market. Impressive upscaling and the inclusion of Philips’ four-sided Ambilight smart LED system make this a shower and a glower. Next-gen gamers will bemoan the lack of HDMI 2.1 compatibility,
which means no variable refresh rate, but other than that it’s tough to find nits to pick with this gem of a telly. £1800 / philips.co.uk HIGHLY COMMENDED Samsung 75Q950TS NOMINEES O Sony KD65A8 O LG OLED 55CX O LG OLED 65GX
STUFF AWARDS 2020
TV GADGET OF THE YEAR
ROK U STREA MBA R
STREAMING SERVICE OF THE YEAR
N E T F L IX
Brains over brawn, they say – so while most soundbar makers (like Sennheiser, Sonos and Bang & Olufsen) have gone big and beefy to target showoffs with snooker-table-sized smart TVs, Roku has stuck up for those of us with relatively tiny tellies packing puny built-in speakers and a lack of on-demand services. Its ingenious antidote is the Streambar, a sensibly proportioned and very capable soundbar with built-in streaming skills to support all the good stuff, like Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+. What’s more, it’ll deliver content in 4K HDR and double as a Bluetooth speaker for an absolute steal of a price. Not everyone will need one, but the Streambar feels like a true facepalm moment for those who didn’t think of it before. £130 / roku.com
We could sit here and say Covid kept us indoors for most of 2020… and it’d be true, but streaming services were equally to blame for record levels of antisocial living. Big love goes to Bandcamp for its fee-free Fridays and for supporting music artists while lockdowns cancelled live shows; but with a vast supply of high-quality original content plus a dizzyingly huge library of third-party series and movies, Netflix stood out as the one on-demand service that felt truly essential. Movie highlights included David Fincher’s Mank and the Safdie Brothers’ unnerving Uncut Gems, while binge-worthy shows like The Queen’s Gambit, The Last Dance, Tiger King and the fourth season of The Crown kept us sane during the endless weeks of lockdown. from £5.99/m / netflix.com
NOMINEES Chromecast with Google TV O Sonos Arc O B&O Beosound Stage O Amazon Fire TV Stick
NOMINEES Bandcamp O Apple Music O Amazon Prime Video O Spotify
O
O
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STUFF AWARDS 2020
HEADPHONES OF THE YEAR
IN-EARS OF THE YEAR
SO NY WH -10 0 0XM 4
BOSE QU I ET C OM FO RT E AR B UD S
In truth, there wasn’t much we disliked about Sony’s WH-10000XM3s – but any minor quibbles were addressed by their 2020 successors, resulting in a near-flawless pair of noise-cancelling cans. Sony kept the XM4s as great-sounding and comfortable as before, improved the already excellent ANC and added new features like automatic wear detection, the ability to connect to multiple Bluetooth devices at once and ‘Speak-to-Chat’, which pauses audio and allows ambient noise to pass through when it detects your voice. Should you have this function enabled, it does mean an end to singing along to your music… but we dare say that your loss is everyone sitting in close proximity’s gain. No offence. £349 / sony.co.uk
O
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NOMINEES Microsoft Surface Headphones 2 O Philips Fidelio X3 O Marshall Monitor II ANC O Bowers & Wilkins PX7
Bose knows what it’s doing when it comes to ridding your music of undesirable background racket, and its QuietComfort over-ear headphones are the gold standard in active noise-cancelling. But now it’s put its name on a pair of wireless earbuds with ANC… and, well, they’re not messing about. The noise-killing is astoundingly impressive for in-ears, and they sound brilliant too. It’s a shame the charging case is positively hippo-sized – but we’ve tested enough true wireless buds to fill a socially distanced ball-pool this year, and a chunky charger isn’t going to hold Bose back here. Just find a bigger pocket for it. £250 / bose.co.uk
O
NOMINEES Huawei FreeBuds Pro O Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 O Technics EAH-AZ70W O SoundMagic TWS50
STUFF AWARDS 2020
Arc at you The speaker might look one-directional, but Marshall’s True Stereophonic audio tech gives the sound a 360° arc with no fussy sweet spot.
Rock and stroll A hardwearing silicone shell and IPX7 water-resistance make this one tough little cookie, ideal for accompanying you on outdoor escapades.
SPEAKER OF THE YEAR
M ARSHA LL EMBERTO N If, in a moment of madness, Rick Moranis stole one of Slash’s stage stacks and blasted it with a shrink ray, we’d be faced with a rather flimsy pitch for the Honey, I Shrunk… franchise. On the flip side, Rick would have created something similar to the Marshall Emberton. The brand’s smallest speaker by some margin, it’s dinky enough to grasp in the palm
of your hand – but this is one movable beast that packs a serious sonic punch. Its energetic multidirectional audio is way more refined than you might expect from a speaker of this size and price. Bass is rich and rumbly, and you can crank up the volume without fear of the sound getting crowded or pushed. The Emberton’s also a joy to live with, thanks to a
stonking 20-hour battery life, waterproof build and unflappable Bluetooth 5 connection. £130 / marshallheadphones.com HIGHLY COMMENDED JBL Flip 5 Eco NOMINEES Ultimate Ears Hyperboom O Klipsch The Fives O Small Transparent Speaker O
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STUFF AWARDS 2020
Metal band Precision-machined stainless steel or titanium adds some Apple-rivalling elegance, and there’s a surprisingly wide selection of straps.
Wrist spinner Spin the bezel, scroll the options – it’s a delightful way to navigate through the Watch3’s features and a clever alternative to Apple’s excellent Digital Crown.
S M A R T WAT C H O F T H E Y E A R
SAMSUNG GALAXY WATCH3 Man, it ain’t cheap by any shake of the wrist… but with the Galaxy Watch3, Samsung has delivered a wearable with personality and style. Well, you can cram in as many smart functions, tracking features and apps as you like, but if they’re all going into a watch that looks like a bland medical device, where’s the fun? The Galaxy Watch3 understands this, and is first and foremost 46
a dapper timepiece with premium touches you won’t want to hide under a shirt cuff. Yes, it costs more than an Apple Watch, but we reckon Samsung has edged out its great rival thanks to the Galaxy Watch3’s winning combination of effortless fitness tracking, a slick Tizen OS that’s more than a match for Wear OS, high build quality, a class-leading Super
AMOLED screen and an intuitive rotating bezel, which makes it a pleasure to control as well as to show off. from £399 / samsung.com HIGHLY COMMENDED Apple Watch SE NOMINEES Apple Watch Series 6 O Fitbit Sense O Garmin Fenix 6 O
STUFF AWARDS 2020
SMART HOME GADGET OF THE YEAR
AM A ZON ECHO (4T H G EN ) In a year where Amazon, Apple and Google went head to head (to head) with sub-£100 speakers they all claimed would do your streamed songs justice, in the end it was the newly orb-shaped Echo’s smart home capabilities that won us over. The inclusion of a built-in Zigbee hub – alongside our go-to robo assistant, Alexa, responding to requests in half the time thanks to a new AZ1 neural processor – proved an irresistible combination that the admittedly musically talented Apple HomePod Mini and Google Nest Audio couldn’t match. And when it comes to streaming, Alexa supports all major services too. Such a giver. £90 / amazon.co.uk NOMINEES Ring Indoor Cam O Google Nest Audio O Apple HomePod Mini O Dyson 360 Heurist O
FITNESS GADGET OF THE YEAR
MI S M ART BAN D 5 Like non-league Marine in the FA Cup third round, Tadej Pogacar cycling his little Slovenian socks off in the final time trial of the Tour de France and Captain Sir Thomas Moore offsetting some government PPE deals, the Mi Smart Band 5 represents a victory for the underdog – and in a category where the value-tastic tracker found itself up against not one but two seriously hi-tech exercise bikes costing roughly £2k each. A bigger and brighter display than its predecessor, five new sport modes, the inclusion of stress tracking, call and text notifications, and an overhauled magnetic charging system, all combine to make the Smart Band 5 a genuine bargain that really raises the bar for affordable trackers. £30 / mi.com
O
NOMINEES Polar Grit X O Peloton Bike+ O Wattbike Atom (Next Generation) O Huawei GT 2 Pro
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STUFF AWARDS 2020
GAMING GADGET OF THE YEAR
GAME OF THE YEAR
S ONY P S5
HA D E S
If there was anything that kept our chins up in this most craptacular of years (other than the ongoing development of lifesaving vaccines, obvs), it was the promise of shiny new games consoles at the end of it. And boy did they arrive. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are both large, ridiculously powerful machines that will only get better with time – but out of the gate, Sony’s offering edges it. The likes of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Demon’s Souls (reviewed on p76) and Sackboy (p80) mean there’s something for everyone in the launch line-up, while the pre-loaded Astro’s Playroom is a tremendous showcase of the clever tech in the new DualSense controller. Yep, the PS5 is off to a flying start, with some huge games coming in 2021. Given Amazon could have delivered us an air fryer, we’ve even started to warm to the ‘giant router’ design. £450 / playstation.com
We were pretty sure this one would be a heavyweight clash between The Last of Us Part II and the only-just-out-at-long-last Cyberpunk 2077. But while we were wowed by Naughty Dog’s relentlessly bleak take on the post-apocalypse and look forward to hanging out with Keanu in Night City, it’s this fantastic dungeon-crawler that takes the big one – and represents an inspiring win for indie developers. While in most games death is a punishment, in Hades it’s something you look forward to, with each return to the Underworld promising a fresh exchange with one of its residents, a stat boost or a new weapon. Thanks to its endlessly varied combat, consistently entertaining script and vibrant art direction, we’ve found this to be the best distraction during a time in which distractions have never been more welcome. from £18 / PC, Switch
NOMINEES Razer Kishi O Oculus Quest 2 O Microsoft Xbox Series X O Evercade O
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NOMINEES The Last of Us Part II O Half-Life: Alyx O Ori and the Will of the Wisps O Final Fantasy VII Remake
O
STUFF AWARDS 2020 Silent assessin’ This is a laptop that’s as silent as it is swift, with a fanless design that won’t bombard you with white noise when you’re working into the night.
Scissor sisters Keyboard controversies are a distant memory. The MacBook Air (M1) retains the excellent scissor-switch mechanism from the previous 2020 model.
FULL REVIEW p29
LAPTOP OF THE YEAR
A P P LE MACBOO K AIR (M1) In terms of speed, the name ‘M1’ has had some vastly different connotations. There’s BMW’s rapid M1 sports car from the late ’70s… and there’s the southern stretch of the M1 motorway, one of the country’s worst traffic black spots. When it comes to the M1 chip in the new MacBook Air, you can forget congestion and start dreaming of sporty performance coupled with
ruthless efficiency – because it’s the brains and brawn of the most insanely quick and able laptop you can get for a grand. Apple has developed a habit of shoving increasingly rapid chips inside its phones and tablets, so why should its laptops be any different? Here we get not only a 13.3in backlit beauty that’s 3.5x faster than the previous model, but also offers 5x better graphics
performance and 9x faster machine learning. Apple’s most affordable laptop is undoubtedly better than ever. from £999 / apple.com HIGHLY COMMENDED Apple MacBook Pro (M1) NOMINEES O Microsoft Surface Book 3 O LG Gram 17 O Acer Swift 5
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STUFF AWARDS 2020
All the right lens With the full range of Fuji X-mount lenses, the X-T4 can be tailored to just about any task. You can snap one up with a 16-80mm kit lens for under £2000.
Dear future selfie Attention, vloggers: the X-T4’s touchscreen is fully articulated and flips 180° to face all the way forward, making this a fine choice for selfie-shooting.
CAMERA OF THE YEAR
FU JIFI LM X-T 4 Fujifilm’s flagship is a bona fide all-rounder – the Ian Botham of mirrorless cameras, if you will (minus the questionable politics and addiction to blowing away grouse with a shotgun). Its 15fps continuous stills shooting capabilities make it ideal for snapping subjects on the move, including grouse, and it’s no slouch when it comes to video either: it’ll capture pristine Ultra 50
HD footage at a slick 60fps, or 1080p at up to 240fps for smooth slow-motion playback. As with most Fujis, its colour science is a strong point, with the company’s famed film simulation modes giving you a range of filters for striking images straight out of the camera. Even with standard settings you can rely on the X-T4 to serve up sharp, natural-looking shots that need
minimal tweaking later. Factor in the super-sturdy build, in-body stabilisation and long battery life, and this is a cam for all seasons. £1549 / fujifilm-x.com HIGHLY COMMENDED Fujifilm X-S10 NOMINEES O Canon EOS R6 O Sony A7C O Nikon D780
STUFF AWARDS 2020
Prop will eat itself Shell out another £130 for the Combo kit to add two spare batteries and two spare propellers that could be a shoot-saver on location.
FULL REVIEW p74
Big flat base The camera’s gimbal smooths out pans and auto-levels footage like a dream, ensuring you won’t need to hand out sickbags when showing off your work.
ACTION CAM / DRONE OF THE YEAR
DJI M INI 2 The second-gen edition of DJI’s Mini drone is a dinky dream. Folding up small enough to slip into a coat pocket, it makes capturing stunning aerial photos and videos almost effortless. With a huge flight range of up to 10km, 31 minutes of flying time per charge, a robust level of wind-resistance and the most intuitive controls we’ve used on a quadcopter, it’s a joy
to pilot – and the 4K footage and 12MP photos it produces are far beyond what you’d expect from such a tiny device. The revamped controller might be the star of the show, though. A major improvement over the original, it now offers a clever spring-loaded clasp for your smartphone and a massive 5200mAh battery that can be used to top up the Mini 2’s flight
time on the move. When you weigh all that up, it’s clear that DJI’s latest soars above the aerial imaging competition. £419 / dji.com HIGHLY COMMENDED GoPro Hero9 Black NOMINEES Insta360 One R O DJI Mavic Air 2 O DJI OM 4 O
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STUFF AWARDS 2020
MUSIC GADGET OF THE YEAR
TECH TOY OF THE YEAR
BOSS GT P OC KET
LEGO MIN D STO R M S
On the one hand, the spring lockdown brought a dramatic surge in guitar sales. On the other, now that all the neighbours are working from home it’s no longer acceptable to blast out your Eddie Van Halen tributes through a 100W Marshall full stack from breakfast until teatime. Put those two hands together, and what you’ll find nestling snugly between them is this, the ultimate tool for silent widdling. About the size of an extra-chunky smartphone, the Pocket GT is packed with the same digital effects and amp models you’ll find in Boss’s hugely popular multi-FX stompboxes. Plug your axe in at one end, your headphones in at the other, pair your phone over Bluetooth and jam along with YouTube videos. It’s what Eddie would have wanted. £219 / boss.info
The warm fuzzy feeling of nostalgia was strong with Nintendo and Lego this year, so it’s no surprise to see the pair dominating this category. Our eventual winner is the second coming of a robotics brand that helped save Lego in the 1990s. Even though the term ‘educational toy’ should strike fear into the heart of every kid, the new Mindstorms Robot Inventor is a 5-in-1 kit of coding creations that our eager six-year-old tester couldn’t put down. Top of the bots out of Lego’s fivesome was Charlie, a square-jawed tyke who trundles around on two wheels, but every Mindstorms creation is packed with character to make this a very worthy winner – plus there’s plenty of support for extending the kits if your future engineers want to go off script. £330 / lego.com
NOMINEES Roli Lumi O Senstroke O Audient Evo 4 O Teenage Engineering PO-133 Street Fighter O
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NOMINEES Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit O Lego Mario O Lego Super Mario NES O Raspberry Pi 400
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STUFF AWARDS 2020
Love is the key The My Honda+ app can create a digital car key that you can share with others – handy for shared ownership (and avoiding “You had them last” squabbles).
I’ll be your mirrors The two six-inch screens for the side camera mirror system (SCMS) are placed so your eyes don’t have to veer from the road to check them.
ELECTRIC VEHICLE OF THE YEAR
H O NDA E The Honda E has an HDMI input that lets you park up, plug in a console and play games on the dashboard display. It’s far from the car’s most important selling point, but being able to bash out some Mario Kart at Cobham Services summarises exactly what EVs should be: fun. From Mario Kart to go-kart, Honda’s rear-wheel-drive retro rascal has been built from the
ground up instead of adapting an existing platform. The ’70s-style dash and brown seatbelts play beautifully with a bank of five touchscreens, the transmission controls are just where you want them, and this is one EV where having cameras instead of wing mirrors actually works. Yes, we wish it could go faster, we wish it had better range, and we wish Honda would make a
Type R hot version looking even more like the original concept… but Apple didn’t perfect the Watch first time. from £27,160 / honda.com HIGHLY COMMENDED Polestar 2 NOMINEES O Porsche Taycan O Cowboy 3 O VanMoof S3
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STUFF AWARDS 2020
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Transistors of mercy
Like a rolling tone
The MacBook Air’s M1 chip is packed with 16 billion transistors and Apple claims it matches peak PC performance using a quarter of the power.
A 13.3in 2560x1600 Retina display delivers 25% more colours than the sRGB equivalent, while True Tone tech adjusts colours to be easier on the eyes.
STUFF AWARDS 2020
GADGET OF THE YEAR
AP PL E MACB OOK AI R (M1 ) Something strange happened as the Stuff team sat down to thrash out what would be 2020’s overall Gadget of the Year: only minor insults were muttered, no chairs were thrown, and no limbs were lost. Unprecedented. Perhaps this debate passed off so peacefully because we’d been deprived of the usual raucous deliberation in the pub. Perhaps we worked out that the only victims of violence on a Zoom call would be our webcams. Perhaps we were all just too exhausted with life this year to argue. Or perhaps, just perhaps, there was genuine harmony… harmony heralded by the arrival of Apple Silicon, a tech breakthrough set to make our lives easier and much faster. Yes, the real star of 2020 turns out to be the M1 chip in the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini; and while each model has its charms, it’s the incredible portable power for a grand provided by the Air that’s simply too good to ignore. from £999 / apple.com
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Sony PS5 This next-gen console didn’t just catch our eye because it looked like an iceberg sticking out of the TV cabinet. It was more to do with the stellar selection of launch titles tapping into its immense power from day one.
Sony WH-1000XM4 If there’d been an award for the best incrementally improved gadget of 2020 these cans would have won it, somehow improving on the near-perfection of the XM3s.
READERS’ GADGET OF THE YEAR
S O N Y PS 5 Amazing what a bit of hype can do, isn’t it? Most of you won’t even have got your hands on one, and yet we fully understand why the PlayStation 5 edged out the MacBook Air (M1) as your gadget of the year – it’s all about desire. Sony has not only delivered an almightily powerful console to transform loading times and take HDR gaming to the next level – with all the ultra-realistic joys of ray-tracing – but it’s done so with a mouthwatering selection of launch titles, a haptic DualSense controller that’s central to the extra-sensory experience, and a price that isn’t as scary as we thought it might be. The wait may have been excruciating (just imagine if we’d had it last Christmas before Covid kicked off!), but Sony definitely delivered – even if the courier didn’t. £450 / playstation.com SECOND PLACE Apple MacBook Air (M1) JOINT THIRD PLACE OnePlus Nord & Marshall Emberton
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Getting lost is part of the fun when you’re out riding, but sometimes it’s nice to make it to the pub before they’ve stopped serving food BEST FOR EASE OF USE
TES WIN T NER
BEST FOR SIMPLE ROUTES
Beeline Velo
BEST FOR DEEPER DATA
Wahoo Elemnt Roam
Garmin Edge 1030 Plus
What’s the story?
What’s the story?
What’s the story?
Simplicity is the selling point here. Open the app on your phone, tap in your destination, give it a quick once-over and mount the unit to your bars (or stem) with its silicone strap, and you’re good to go. Now all you have to do is follow the big arrow. Neat.
Not as basic as the Beeline and not as complicated to use as the Garmin, the Roam sits somewhere in the middle (literally, in the case of this page). It’s happy to live across a selection of bikes – for commuting, club rides at the weekend and holiday touring.
The luxury selection of the three, the 1030 Plus can do pretty much everything you could possibly imagine a bike computer doing and then some. It’s also considerably easier than strapping a laptop, a professional coach and a nutritionist to your bike.
Is it any good?
Is it any good?
Is it any good?
For cruising about town and heading to unknown spots, it’s a breeze. The gigantic arrow is easy to glance at while keeping an eye on traffic, and the lack of all the usual data you get on bike computers is quite refreshing. But while the design is clever and switching it between bikes is super-easy, the strap does have its limitations – occasionally we were forced to turn round and retrieve it from the road after we’d ridden over some rougher city streets.
The Roam doesn’t suffer from the absence of a touchscreen and we quite enjoyed the novelty of pressing buttons; it’s more intuitive to use than the Garmin, but offers similar levels of data if you need it. Routes are easy to load – either automatically synced through the usual phone apps or generated on-device – and easy to follow thanks to the nicely detailed maps. Turns are indicated with flashing LEDs and subtle noises, and it will reroute you on the go if you stray off course.
It’s great. The 3.5in touchscreen manages to accommodate every kind of metric you could want, plus more if you have power meters, HR monitors and more synced up. It displays routes on an easy-to-follow map, noisily beeping when a turn or sharp bend is coming up and rerouting on the fly if you miss one. Setup is fiddly, but once you’ve mastered adding additional apps and figured out the different swipes, you’ll be flying around it like iOS 14. Still though, that price does chafe a bit.
Price £99 / stuff.tv/BeelineVelo
Price £300 / stuff.tv/Roam
Price £520 / stuff.tv/1030Plus
Stuff says ++++,
Stuff says +++++
Stuff says ++++,
Almost too basic, but a great way to have a ride free of distractions
Simplicity and easy-to-follow routes make this an obvious recommendation
Costs as much as a bike, but it’s worth it if you can afford it 57
TESTED APPLE iPHONE 12 PRO MAX
Oops upsize your hand 1
With the smaller iPhones getting so tempting it’s ridiculous, can Apple still convince you to cough up extra for the palm-stretching Max?
[ Words Craig Grannell, Natalya Paul ]
from £1099 / stuff.tv/12ProMax For the most part, the iPhone 12 Pro Max matches the basic Pro model for features. An A14 chip deftly deals with any app you throw at it, and provides extra headroom for computing-heavy tasks. The 6GB of RAM helps when editing 4K video – and if you live in a next-gen network area and don’t mind battery life taking a hit, there’s 5G. MagSafe provides scope for clipping accessories neatly onto the back without having to worry about lining them up properly first; while to keep your iPhone safe, Apple claims this one is water-resistant down to 6m for up to 30 minutes, with ‘super-tough back glass’ and Ceramic Shield glass on the front bringing 4x more drop-resistance than before. The differentiators? Aside from its outsize dimensions and a 6.7in OLED display suited to giants, the Max has a superior camera system – and that’s where your extra outlay is really going.
GOOD MEH EVIL
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4
Steep on the heft side There have been two truly iconic iPhone designs: the beautiful original and the flat-edged iPhone 4/5 era. The 12 Pro Max is a love letter to the latter and feels like Apple’s Porsche 911. But, like its predecessor, this phone is heavy and unwieldy (1) – if you have tiny hands, forget it. Display with fire The bright screen has accurate colours and superb contrast (2). Clocking in at about half an iPad Mini, but with a far higher pixel density, it’s also marginally better than the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The extra space is a boon, but at this price we’d have liked a 120Hz display, not 60Hz.
Chide the Lightning Bad bits? It uses Lightning rather than USB-C (3), lacks Apple Pencil support, and has no Samsung DeX equivalent for external displays. Yes, Apple wants us to buy iPads too, but it’s frustrating that this can’t be your sole computing device when it clearly has the power.
Are you steady for love? Like the iPhone 12 Pro, it has ultra-wide, wide and telephoto cameras, but the Max also has a 2.5x optical zoom (4) and a new sensor-shift stabilisation system. The main camera sensor is 47% larger, which Apple states offers a massive 87% improvement in low-light performance.
I show dim so well Shoot RAW in low light and that improved optical zoom suddenly becomes interesting. At first it feels like you’re zooming in too close, but you’ll soon realise you can’t live without it. The larger sensor and software skills make for shots that range from impressive to unreal.
Excellent new design…
Almost unfeasibly powerful
…but big, bulky and heavy
Edges are a fingerprint magnet
Lightning instead of USB-C
Impressive camera setup
TESTED APPLE iPHONE 12 PRO MAX
Night thiever The larger sensor means you needn’t depend on Night mode. With nothing more than street lamps, you can still capture loads of detail.
Tech specs Display 6.7in 2778x1284 OLED HDR Processor A14 Bionic RAM 6GB OS iOS 14 Storage 128/256/512GB Cameras 12+12+ 12MP+ToF rear, 12MP front Battery 3687mAh Dimensions 161x78x7.4mm, 226g
Or, for barely half the price…
Apple iPhone 12 Mini from £699 / stuff.tv/12Mini
2
3
If the iPhone 12 Pro Max feels like a phone the size of a hamster cage, the pocket-friendly iPhone 12 Mini is the hamster. With its diddy 5.4in OLED display it’s certainly cute, but underestimate its power and speed at your peril. This is the world’s smallest 5G smartphone after all, packing the lauded A14 Bionic chip and the same dual 12MP cameras as the iPhone 12, and it’s capable of 10-bit HDR video recording with Dolby Vision – albeit only at 30fps compared to the 60fps of the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. If you’re weary of big phones but can’t face sacrificing camera quality and performance, the
There’s no doubt the 12 Pro Max is a quality iPhone – on paper, the best Apple’s ever made. So it might be the iPhone you want… but you need to decide whether it’s the iPhone you need. That will hinge on your level of comfort with a device of this size, and the strength of your desire for its deeply impressive camera system. @craiggrannell
iPhone 12 Mini is up there with the Sony Xperia 5 II as a near-perfect solution. Battery life certainly isn’t world-beating, and 64GB of storage on the base model feels a tad measly (you can spec it up to 256GB); but make no mistake, this is pure pocketable gold for under £700. Like the iPhone 12 and the well-received new iPad Air, it’s also bursting with colour choices, which while superficial, make the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max look possibly rather bland in comparison. Our (Product) Red sample of the Mini looked absolutely sensational. Stuff says +++++
STUFF SAYS +++++ The only choice if you want to fully Max your iPhone experience… but make sure that’s you before splashing out 59
TESTED AMAZON FIRE TV STICK WITH ALEXA
Rewrite my Fire Amazon has tweaked the spec sheet for its latest Full HD streamer by adding HDR, Dolby Atmos and a claimed 50% speed boost over the old model £40 / stuff.tv/FireStick Q Amazon has updated 2019’s Fire TV Stick to include HDR and Dolby Atmos support. Confusingly, the new third-gen Stick sports exactly the same name as its predecessor and sits below the 4K version launched in 2018, but above the new no-frills Fire TV Stick Lite. Q This dongle is slightly smaller than the 4K-flavoured model so it’s an even neater fit behind your tellybox. It consumes 50% less electricity than the older model, says Alexa, so it’s a winner if you’re concerned about killing the planet and lowering your utility bills. Q Setup could not be simpler: just plug in the stick and follow the on-screen instructions. You’ll even get to pick your favourite apps so they’ll be added straight to your homescreen, and the voice remote is really intuitive once you manage to prise off the fiddly battery cover.
How deep is your contrast? The Fire TV Stick’s HDR support extends to HDR10+ and HLG, but not Dolby Vision. For that you’ll need the 4K version.
Q Amazon claims the souped-up 1.7GHz quad-core processor is 50% faster than the previous model’s, and it certainly feels very responsive when you’re whipping around the Fire TV interface hunting for new and edgy shows before settling on that thing you’ve already seen a million times. Q The Full HD picture looks ace, with no lag or buffering; and with more HDR content landing all the time, the newly added support for that is a welcome addition. Add some Atmos-compatible speakers and you’ll get awesome 3D surround sound too.
Tech specs Max resolution 1080p with HDR Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, HDMI, Ethernet (via optional adapter), microUSB Dimensions 86x30x13mm, 32g
Q Stack for good
Q It only talks a minute
Amazon Prime unsurprisingly gets the most exposure in the UI but all the usual apps are here, from BBC iPlayer and All 4 to Netflix and Disney+, while YouTube seems much slicker than on the previous model.
The Alexa remote means you can fire up voice search just by holding down the mic button. It works brilliantly on Prime and well enough on Netflix, and is a genuine time-saver compared to typing in your viewing orders.
STUFF SAYS A solid little HD streamer for all the best bits of Amazon and more +++++ Everything changes for the better with this slicker Stick
Libby Plummer
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This is another brilliant streaming stick from Amazon, especially if you’re a Prime subscriber. It’s not vastly different from the old model, but the addition of HDR and a punchy processor make it worth the upgrade. Spending a tenner more will get you the 4K version – but at a time when every penny counts, this is a solid plug-and-play streamer if you’re not fussed about the extra pixels.
T E S T E D N I N T E N D O G A M E & WAT C H : S U P E R M A R I O B R O S
Plumbing around again To celebrate the original Game & Watch turning 40, Nintendo’s new handheld goes big on period-correct nostalgia £45 / stuff.tv/GameWatch Q Yes, we’re going to start with the box. No, we haven’t lost it – and that’s because the box exemplifies the entire experience of this device. Slide off a plastic sleeve and the overly busy modern packaging design is gone, leaving you staring at something that would pass for a 1980s Game & Watch box. Q Open the flap and images of Mario and Luigi say: “Special thanks to you.” It’s clear Nintendo is sweating the details and turning up the charm – and if you’re of a certain vintage, what you find inside will plaster a massive grin all across your (sagging) face. Q This anniversary edition is almost identical to a unit from four decades ago, from the rubbery action buttons to the sturdy frame, with just a couple of concessions to the modern world: it charges via USB-C and there’s a vibrant 2.36in colour LCD display.
Plumbs a time The digital clock plays 35 animations through the day, including guest appearances from Mario’s friends and foes.
Q There’s also a clock mode (as promised by the name), featuring animated characters bounding about. But this leads to our first disappointment: the old Game & Watch included a wire kickstand, and this version doesn’t have one.
Q Plumb as you are
Q Plumb on Eileen
Despite the tiny screen bordering on squint-o-vision, it’s sharp. The D-pad is responsive and the buttons, while a bit odd, are OK. Things can get crampy after a while, but you can pause a game and pick it up later.
We’re less impressed with the selection of titles. Ball has a brainless charm, but it gets old quickly and makes you wonder why Nintendo wasn’t more generous when the NES Classic Edition got 30 games.
Q Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels and the Mario version of Ball are all bundled and there’s no disputing the sheer quality of the original title, which remains a superb platformer that’s hugely replayable. It’s also a smart introduction to the franchise for younger gamers without forcing them to raid eBay.
Tech specs Screen 2.36in colour LCD Battery life Up to 8 hours Connectivity USB-C Dimensions 112x76x12.5mm, 68g
STUFF SAYS Beautiful and packed with detail, but a bit of a missed opportunity +++,, It’s stingy with its games, so we’re stingy with our stars
Craig Grannell
It’s hard to know who the new Game & Watch is for. It’s a beautiful piece of hardware, albeit a curious mashup of NES and original Game & Watch bits. As a collector’s piece, it’s a nice item to own or gift to someone, despite the lack of a stand for when the thing’s propped on a shelf. As a handheld, it’s lacking… but if Nintendo had only bundled more games, we’d feel a lot more generous about that.
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BETA YOURSELF
SELLING ON EBAY Hitting the new year surrounded by old tat? Need some extra cash in a hurry? Craig Grannell explains how to get the most out of the (in)famous online marketplace… THE BASICS
couriers – and note that eBay sets maximum postage prices for categories, regardless of what it might cost you.
Q Protect yourself Do what you can to avoid scammers. Give your account a complex password and activate 2FA in eBay’s settings. On desktop, head to ‘Account settings’ > ‘Site preferences’ to block buyers with non-payment strikes and manage a block list. Cancel bids from anyone with negative feedback, and send expensive items via fully trackable post.
Q Get it write Put searchable keywords in your listing titles, and check spellings carefully — errors can cost you sales because fewer people will find your listings. Examine successful auctions for the titles and descriptions they used, and be wary of eBay automatically adding
Q Set yourself fee
information — if you do include it, check every detail against what you’re selling.
Q Weigh it all up Weigh what you’re selling, in the packaging you’ll ship it in, and check against current postal prices. Anything thicker than 2.5cm will cost at least £3.10 via Royal Mail. Packages over 2kg can get expensive, even when using cheap
For everything you sell, eBay and PayPal take a cut (10% including postage for eBay; 2.9% plus 30p for PayPal). Set up a fees calculator in Google Sheets or Soulver to help you price items, being mindful of postage and packaging costs. Take advantage of ‘Maximum selling fee’ offers from eBay when selling expensive items.
Q Watch the watchers Periodically check in with your active listings to see how things are going (or use ebay.co.uk/sh/lst/active on desktop). The Active list under Selling will provide tips about useful information you can add to improve your chances of a sale.
PRICE IT RIGHT Q Save your love
I think we’re a clone now Find a listing similar to what you’re selling, select ‘Sell one like this’ and eBay will clone the listing. Just remember to change the details!
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Search eBay as normal to view items along the lines of what you’re selling. If you’re not quite ready to sell but want to track sales over a period of time to get a handle on pricing, save the search and occasionally check it.
Q Compare the market In any list of search results, select ‘Sold items’ from the filter. Then sort by price or ‘Ended recently’. This will show you what people are paying, so you can decide if your price is ambitious or too low — or if it’s not worth selling something at all.
OR USE ONE OF THESE…
FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE Yes, the all-conquering Facebook is a good bet for selling locally — and for ‘freebay’ sites when you just want to offload something. Make sales cash-only, though, as Facebook lacks the clear feedback system of eBay. An added bonus: there are no selling fees.
GUMTREE SNAP SOME SLICK PICS Q Go phone-first
BE RESPONSIVE Q Get the message Head into the settings in the eBay mobile app and make sure you have message notifications on. Activating them for selling and shopping too (but definitely not for recommendations) can prove handy for tracking auctions.
Q RSVP Don’t ignore messages. Sometimes scammers try their luck, but you’ll more often have people asking about shipping, item details or offers. (With the last of these, just direct them to the auction page if you’ve set it up to allow offers.)
Pics needn’t be prize-winning, so just use your phone. If you prefer creating listings on a PC or Mac, you can still begin one on your phone, close it to save a draft and pick it up on your computer later.
Q Be piccy, not picky People are more likely to buy if they can be sure about what’s being sold. With hardware, take pictures from several angles. Even do this with books and records, so buyers can check the condition of covers and spines.
Q Get up offa that ding Don’t zoom in on damage in your first photo; but if there is a tear or a scratch, shoot a close-up – and do mention this in the description as well, so the buyer gets no nasty surprises that might cause them to complain.
SHIP FAST
Still alive and well despite being owned by eBay, this UK-centric site is good for local sales. Because the site relies on in-person trade, it has the benefit that you won’t be charged processing fees… but factor in the usual safety concerns when selling valuables face to face.
Q Send, send, send In the Selling overview on desktop, you’ll see items you’ve sold and also the latest date you need to send each item by. Adhere to these timeframes unless you want grumpy negative feedback sent your way.
Q Be willing and label If you’ve access to a printer, use it to create postage labels at home rather than messing around with stamps or holding up a Post Office queue. Where possible, though, do drop off your parcels with Royal Mail so they can be scanned straight into the system.
PRELOVED This site has history but lacks eBay’s position in the public consciousness. Still, its basic tier is free, and for a fiver a year you can include multiple photos in your ads. £15 brings priority placement and, um, YouTube videos, should you fancy enticing buyers with a movie.
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VERSUS SLEEP EARBUDS
More snore QuietOn’s buds won’t play any music but there is a transparency mode to let noise in, for some reason.
Chill drill The Sleepbuds will only play Bose’s soporific sounds, not your favourite lullabies playlist on Spotify.
T S E T ER NN WI
Snooze operators Are sleep-coaxing earbuds a real life-improver or merely marketing pillow talk?
QuietOn Sleep It’s a good job QuietOn’s buds are designed for night-time because they’re not pretty – they look like something a chain-smoking roadie might wear. The charging case is nice and compact but the whole package is… well, utilitarian. With their hard plastic build, you might think these things would be impossible to sleep in. But get the fit right and they’re not uncomfortable, even if you like to lie on your side – although you won’t forget you’re wearing them. QuietOn’s buds have active noise-cancelling built in, and they do help to block out some room sounds, but it’s the foam eartips that seem to be doing most of the work – and a normal pair of those don’t cost £200.
Eartip sizes 3 Battery life Up to 20 hours Charging microUSB Weight 2x 2.6g
VS
1. DESIGN
The Sleepbuds II come in a lovely metal case with a sliding lid and magnets to hold them in place while they charge, which you’ll need to do before your first night together. A QR code in the box takes you straight to the required app.
2. COMFORT
These buds are coated in super-soft silicone, with fins that mean they fit so snugly it’s almost a chore to take them out again. They sit flush with your lugs too, so you can comfortably wear them right through the night.
3. SNOOZAGE
While the QuietOns just block noise out, Bose’s app has a library of 40 hubbub-masking soundscapes to help you reach the land of nod and stay there. They’re effective, and can be set to switch off after a while to save the batteries.
1 2 3
[ Words Tom Wiggins ]
O Price £199 / stuff.tv/QuietOn
++,,,
Bose Sleepbuds II
Eartip sizes 3 Battery life Up to 10 hours Charging USB-C Weight 2x 2.3g
O Price £230 / stuff.tv/Sleepbuds2
STUFF SAYS
++++,
Both pairs are pricey, but only Bose’s buds do anything like enough to justify the cost 65
VERSUS COUNTERTOP COOKERS
You make oven fun A multi-functional microwave is cheaper than employing a sous chef, so we tested two to see if they could handle cooking Christmas dinner
[ Words Chris Haslam ]
Panasonic 4-in-1 NN-CS89LB
66
Sage Combi Wave 3 in 1
What’s the story?
What’s the story?
A drop-down door design in glossy black with three shelves makes the Panasonic appear closer to a traditional oven than a nuke-it microwave. But it’s packing radio waves, alongside convection cooking (basically a regular oven but faster), a grill and a steam option, courtesy of a removable 800ml water tank. Panasonic’s roast boast is a 40% faster cooking time than most rivals thanks to its Inverter tech, which uses up to three heat modes simultaneously – so you can crisp a lasagna after cooking from frozen. Being able to cook on multiple levels means you can fit more in, and there are 36 presets.
This chunk of shiny metal is a microwave, convection oven and air fryer, meaning you can’t play next-gen games on it but you can bash out ‘healthy’ chips and chicken wings in the air fryer, reheat your leftovers in the microwave, and cook a perfect pizza all in the same device. Like the Panasonic it has combination modes to help you cook more effectively, so a frozen salmon steak (or Findus Crispy Pancakes) can be cooked straight from the freezer, plus you can expertly melt butter and chocolate, cook popcorn and basically do a bucketload of culinary tasks with consummate ease.
Is it any good?
Is it any good?
While the control panel is nowhere near as intuitive as the Sage’s, this multi-function powerhouse roasted a medium-sized chicken in 35 minutes and smashed out crispy roast potatoes and honey-covered veg in just 23. It was also able to steam our Christmas pudding to perfection. Having the extra shelf capacity meant we could cook more than one dish at once, and the manual was easy to follow. Once we knew that preset 17 meant roast potatoes, we naturally added them to a fry-up the next day too. Bonus.
If it weren’t for the Panasonic’s insane speeds we’d be hugely impressed by the Combi’s ability to cook a bird in one hour, and by how easily you can adjust its considerable power. Roasties in air fryer mode came out deep and crisp and even, and sprouts with butter and bacon tasted better than they should have. We appreciated its oomph for everyday tasks, although knowing how long to cook stuff isn’t obvious – and batch cooking for lots of people is tricky as you have to wait for it to cool before starting a cycle again.
Price £470 / stuff.tv/CS89LB
Price £400 / stuff.tv/CombiWave
O 1000W microwave, grill, steam, convection (max 230°C) O 31-litre capacity O 50x48x39cm, 21.5kg
O 1100W microwave, air fryer, convection (max 230°C) O 32-litre capacity O 52x51x32cm, 20kg
Stuff says +++++ A smart all-rounder to make you think twice before you start preheating your main oven
Stuff says ++++, An awesome time-saver, just as soon as you work out how long to cook things for
DON’T HEAT IT ALL AT ONCE… ’Tis the season to gorge senselessly on grub, so to do our two cookers justice we tackled Christmas dinner. Admittedly we had to swap turkey for chicken (dictated by oven size and bare supermarket shelves), but both were also required to cook roast potatoes, roast parsnips, boiled or steamed carrots and pigs in blankets, plus a Christmas pudding. Given the limited capacity of both ovens, we enjoyed roast chicken followed by hot crispy spuds some considerable time later, then veggies, then pudding soon after that. The moral: you can’t cook a whole family Christmas dinner in a microwave. But for pumping out quick and delicious dishes, both our cookers performed brilliantly.
VERSUS COUNTERTOP COOKERS
TES WI T NN ER
1 1 Tray tracing
2
We’ve never used a glass roasting tray before, but the one in the Panasonic has converted us. It gets seriously hot, food rarely sticks and it’s a breeze to clean.
2 Dual sense The combined modes are really useful: ‘steam + microwave’ is good for fish, there’s ‘grill + steam’ for kebabs, and convection with steam makes souffles soar.
3 Quick resume The tiny button that says ‘A bit more’ is simple genius from Sage, doing just that: giving your food an extra 10% of cooking time without any added faff.
4 Upgraded chip
3
4
Why bother with an air fryer? Well, we cooked fried chicken and chips in a teaspoon of olive oil and none of it was even slightly inedible. Midweek meals, elevated.
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TESTED SONY A7C
Teeny-gauge kicks Sony’s A7C is the smallest interchangeable-lens full-frame camera on the market, but there’s nothing lightweight about its performance £1899 / stuff.tv/A7C Q Despite its 24.2MP full-frame sensor, the A7C isn’t much bigger than Sony’s APS-C models. That’s quite the feat, and it’s been pulled off without losing key features: you still get weather-sealing, in-body image stabilisation, a vari-angle LCD touchscreen and an OLED viewfinder.
Shoe me what you got The A7C comes with a multi-interface hot shoe up top for flashes and other attachments, including digital microphones.
Q The screen swings sideways to face fully forward, making it ideal for self-shooting and, along with the camera’s low weight and stabilisation, making this Sony’s best full-frame lens-swapper for vloggers. But there’s no HDMI output, leaving a USB-C port to handle data transfer and charging, alongside a single SD card socket. Q With 10fps continuous shooting and Sony’s fast autofocus system, it’s quite the speed demon. You can rattle off shots at a brisk pace, and capturing fast-moving subjects is relatively painless. Q In-body 5-axis stabilisation gives plenty of help when shooting handheld, but the A7C also comes with a built-in gyroscope that embeds motion metadata for stabilising in post-production with Sony’s Catalyst Browse software. Q Sony claims 200 minutes of video or 700 photos on a charge. That’s best-in-class level – and our field testing suggests it’s broadly accurate. It’s just a pity Sony hasn’t used the A7S III’s much-improved menu system.
Tech specs Sensor 24.2MP full-frame Exmor R CMOS ISO 100-51,200 (50-204,800 exp) Video 4K @ 30fps Screen 3in 921k-dot LCD Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-C, 3.5mm mic, 3.5mm aux Dimensions 124x71x60mm, 503g
Q Return to sensor
Q King of the mode
The benefits of full-frame – like better low-light results, dynamic range, noise control and bokeh effects – are all on display here. With help from Sony’s in-camera processing, the 24.2MP sensor delivers fantastic stills.
Filming 1080p at up to 120fps and 4K at 30fps produces incredible results, but you also get profile modes such as S-Log2, S-Log3, Cinema and HLG that will appeal to videographers who want to grade and tweak footage later.
STUFF SAYS Superb quality and full-frame goodness from a half-pint camera +++++ A big sensor in a small chassis spells ace results on the road Sam Kieldsen
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Putting full-frame sensors in small bodies is one of Sony’s greatest strengths, and the A7C minimises things even further. There’s a lot of imaging power here in a compact package with plenty of battery life. For photographers and video makers who want to carry everything with them in a modest bag (or hanging around their neck), the A7C fits the bill better than any other interchangeable-lens camera.
T E S T E D AT G A M E S L E G E N D S U LT I M AT E
Playing with the joys Not feeling the next-gen console vibes? Try this connected arcade cab with joysticks and more… £799 / stuff.tv/LegendsUltimate Q These days, you can barely swing a space-cannon without clonking its barrel on an arcade cabinet looking to help you relive gaming’s glory days. This one is different, though: it offers a unique mix of connectivity and inputs, while still being easy to use.
Streamy Windows The ArcadeNet service lets you stream games to the cab, but it’s laggy. For better results, stream from your PC.
Q There are 350 games installed, but dozens are antiquated Atari 2600 efforts that need lobbing into a skip. Fortunately you get plenty of genuine classics too, including Bubble Bobble, Asteroids, Tempest, Centipede and Space Invaders. AtGames is two licences (Namco and Capcom) from magnificence. Q As with most retro cabs, you get joysticks to wrench and buttons to thump; these are responsive and clicky, whatever you’re playing. But the prize is the other bits: play Tempest with a spinner or Missile Command with a trackball — as they were meant to be — and the other controls will be dead to you. Q The stereo speakers are loud and the 24in screen is bright and clear, even if the software needs more filters. You get scanlines that half-heartedly ape old-school displays, but it’s a long way from convincing you that you’re staring at a CRT. Q The cab feels robust, although it’s not pretty: logos on the front, a boring marquee, slightly floppy screwed-on side art. Still, the last of these can be left off, or swapped for a third-party design.
Q Could USB loved
Q Retry a little tenderness
Want more games? Plug in an AtGames Blast! or a USB stick of UCE files you’ve compiled. Or trawl YouTube and discover how people are plugging consoles into this arcade, transforming it into a huge external display/controller.
In case you mess up just at the point of triumph, quite a few games let you hit that big red rewind button to have another go. Save states are included too, so you needn’t finish Bubble Bobble in a single sitting.
Tech specs Display 24in LCD Controls 2x joystick/six-button combo, 2x spinners, 1x trackball Connectivity HDMI, USB 2, USB 3, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Dimensions 169x76x55cm, 36kg
STUFF SAYS A top-notch arcade cab that’s ideal for reliving gaming’s classics +++++ This is very nearly the perfect modern arcade cabinet
Craig Grannell
This cab isn’t cheap (you could buy two Arcade 1Ups for the same price), but what you get is impressive: the game selection is solid and you can play titles the way they were originally designed, while the system’s extensibility ensures longevity. When you’re causing carnage in (a sideloaded) Robotron with two joysticks or using the trackball to zoom around in Millipede, you’ll be smitten.
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FI R TH ST ES AD E… D
SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD2
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ONE HUAWEI FREEBUDS STUDIO As excellent as the stereo speakers on the Fold2 are, nothing beats premium noise-cancelling wireless audio. The FreeBuds Studio over-ear headphones match the phone’s massive screen masterfully, making for immersive sound with their crisp, broad sonic profile – complete with handy touch controls. £230 / huawei.com
TWO ZHIYUN SMOOTH-XS
THREE HONOR WATCH GS PRO
Samsung’s do-it-all foldable has pared-back camera specs compared to phones like the Note20 Ultra, so why not give your photos and videos a boost with some extra stabilisation? The Smooth-XS is a fun and affordable two-axis gimbal that steadies your smartphone for crisper photos and silky-smooth 4K video. £75 / amazon.co.uk
When you know it’s worth the best part of two grand, you might be treating your Fold2 like antique porcelain… but at least you can let your Watch GS Pro out to play. This smartwatch handles temperatures from -40°C to 70°C, holds off water, sand and dust, and will relay notifications from the Galaxy you’ve tucked away safely in a padded pocket. £200 / hihonor.com
TH TH EN ES GE E… T
NO TH W IS DO …
GENSHIN IMPACT
1 SWIPE IT UP
2 EDGE YOUR BETS
3 RELEASE THE CREASE
Make the most of both of the Fold2’s screens and ditch the Android navigation buttons. Switching out the ‘back’, ‘home’ and ‘recent apps’ on-screen icons for gesture navigation means your Fold2 can go properly full-screen, with swipes replacing each button function. To activate gestures, open up Settings, tap ‘Display’ and select ‘Navigation bar’. Here, select ‘Swipe gestures’.
The little lip on the right side of your screen isn’t just there for fun – that’s your Edge Panel waiting to pop out. Swipe it into the screen to get a bunch of app shortcuts that you can mix and match: press the pencil icon and drag-and-drop apps into it. This is also handy for multitasking: swipe in the Edge Panel and pick up an app with a long press. Now drop it over another app to create a hovering app window.
When opened up, the Fold2 has a crease down the middle. Don’t fight it, just fire up split-screen multitasking. This will fling one app to each side of the unfolded tablet, and the crease will be a subtle divider between them. There are a few ways do this, but the first step is always to open one of the apps you want. Now you can swipe in your Edge Panel and drag another app into the left or right side.
The smash-hit RPG has stunning graphics and fast gameplay, taking full advantage of the Fold2’s octa-core power and expansive speakers. £free (IAPs)
DISNEY+
[ Words Basil Kronfli ]
Becoming a bit of a Mandalorian addict? You could do worse than match your Fold2 with the Disney+ app, which looks fantastic on its bright and zingy HDR10+ screen. £5.99/m
4 LINE ’EM APP
5 SPLIT YOUR SNAPPER
6 GO THE DISTANCE
App Pair gives you one-tap access to your favourite duo of apps. Simply fire up the two apps you want to use together then, in split-screen view, tap the three dots in the middle and select the symbol on the right – your duo will be added to the Edge Panel. You can even split-screen across three apps by dragging a third app into the bottom right, or run four by adding a floating window.
If you half-fold the phone it becomes its own tripod… and Samsung has customised the UI to take advantage of this. Fire up the camera app and the top half now acts as a viewfinder while the bottom half displays photo controls. Better yet, tap a picture in the gallery and you’ll see it in the top half… while in the bottom is a touchpad, so you can pinch, zoom and swipe without obstructing the view.
If you know you’ll be away from a charger for a while, you can do a few things to boost the Fold2’s battery life. First of all, drop the screen refresh rate by hopping into the display settings, tapping ‘Motion smoothness’ and selecting ‘Standard’. Next, make sure adaptive brightness is on. Finally, in Settings, select ‘Device care’ then ‘Battery’, go to ‘Power mode’ and choose ‘Maximum power’.
YOYU When’s the best time to refuel your phone? Ask Yoyu. This simple app shows when your local power comes from renewable sources, so you can make your tech habits that little bit greener. £free
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TESTED APPLE HOMEPOD MINI Ball and response Even with music playing, the Mini’s four mics mean Siri is keen to respond. There’s rarely any need to raise your voice.
Ball of duty Can Apple’s diminutive Siri-packing smart speaker be an even more well-rounded performer than the new Amazon Echo? £99 / stuff.tv/HomePodMini Q The Mini is much smaller and more rounded than the original HomePod, but there’s no doubt they’re related – it wears the same fabric coat (available in space grey or white) and has an almost identical touch-sensitive disc on top, which illuminates when it’s playing music or Siri’s listening. Q You’ll need a relatively recent iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch (remember those?), but getting the HomePod Mini up and running really is a masterclass in simplicity: plug it in and hold your iThing nearby to transfer the Wi-Fi details. Apple’s process puts most other tech companies to shame. Q With Siri on board, the Mini can do all the usual smart speaker stuff – set timers, check the weather forecast, add events to your calendar – but it also works as a HomeKit Hub for control over products from the likes of Philips Hue, Netatmo and Belkin. Q This speaker produces a far more well-balanced sound than you’d expect from something the size of an orange. It inevitably falls short on sheer room-filling power, but linking two to form a stereo pair takes just a few taps in the Home app and adds some real sonic heft.
Q Too close to ball
Q Conference ball
If you’ve got an iPhone 11 or newer, you can transfer songs between it and the HomePod Mini just by holding them close together. The novelty might wear off but it’s a decent substitute for the flexibility offered by Spotify Connect.
The intercom function allows you to send short voice messages to other Apple devices inside and outside your home. It could come in handy if you’ve a family of Apple fans, although it’ll struggle to usurp the trusty WhatsApp group.
Q For now, you’ll still need an Apple Music subscription to make the most of a HomePod Mini. There’s an AirPlay-based workaround that allows you to use other services, but that rules out voice control and makes things feel a bit disjointed.
Tech specs Drivers 1x full-range, 2x passive radiators Processor Apple S5 Connectivity Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Thread, U1 ultra-wideband Dimensions 99x98x84mm, 345g
STUFF SAYS This smart speaker is a sonic success – but old issues remain ++++, A great little Apple Music speaker with Siri on top Tom Wiggins
As a smart home hub it might not be quite as capable as an Amazon Echo, but from a musical point of view the HomePod Mini comfortably outperforms expectations… although it’s currently a little too picky about where it gets its tunes from. Apple fans won’t mind those limitations much, and there’s still a lot to love here, but for now the Mini falls just short of greatness.
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TWO WEEKS WITH THE DJI MINI 2
All drone up DJI’s second-gen dinky flyer has arrived, refined in all areas and capable of 4K capture – so Basil Kronfli finds out if it’s the new king of the compact copters £419 / stuff.tv/DJIMini2
Fold up the Mini 2 and this capable flyer will fit in a large jacket pocket or a bag with ease.
DAY 01 The Mini 2 promises a lot of drone for your dollar, but its true pulling power is its size. We’ve heard the story before, but it remains pivotal to fuss-free flying: weighing 249g means it doesn’t need to be registered with the authorities. So, rather than being stuck in an administrative holding pattern, you can charge it up and take off almost instantly. Folded up, this quadcopter resembles an insect-a-like
Autobot; but once you lift it out of the box and unfurl its arms, everything starts to make sense. On the front is a 12MP camera. It looks a bit wobbly, to be honest, but that’s because it’s placed on top of a stabilising gimbal to smooth out pans and swooshes for super-steady footage from the air. The battery slots into the back under a flap and there’s a microSD card slot for storage,
The new controller is a multi-function marvel, and a big improvement over last year’s chonk of an accessory
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so you’ll want to pick a good 4K-supporting card before you head off into the wilds and start filming. Oh, and after you’ve cooed over the drone for a few minutes, prepare to get every bit as geeky over its controller — a multi-function marvel, and a big improvement over last year’s chonk of an accessory. As well as navigating the Mini 2, it has a potential lifesaver of a party trick: screw on the joysticks, secure your smartphone with the spring-loaded clasp then plug it in, and the controller becomes a portable charger thanks to its massive 5200mAh battery. It also
keeps the Mini 2 connected at a range of up to 10km. Before take-off, I’ve installed a couple of apps. The first is DJI Fly, available for Android or iOS. Next, AirMap could save you thousands. How? It tells you where you can and can’t fly your drone, so you can avoid fines and stay safe by checking local guidelines before you take to the sky. After all that, let’s go and fly a drone. Set the Mini 2 on a flat surface, connect your phone, lock on your GPS and register a home location. Then long-press the take-off button and we’re up, up and away.
LO N G -T E R M T E S T
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Donut of Truth™
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DAY 02 After a day getting to grips with the controls of the Mini 2, it has to be said this is categorically the most intuitive drone Stuff has used. Push the left stick up to go higher, down to go lower, then left or right to rotate. Meanwhile, the right stick moves the Mini 2 left and right or forward and back. These basic controls are all you really need to get started, with everything the drone sees displayed in real time on the phone using the DJI Fly app, which is also where you can start shooting your 4K masterpiece.
DAY 05 Tech specs Sensor 1/2.3in CMOS Video 4K @ 30fps Stills 12MP Battery life Up to 31 minutes Max speed 36mph Dimensions (folded) 138x81x58mm, 249g
Playing back our first few days’ footage, it’s clear this is a little beast that grabs stellar aerial video. To really get the most out of it, though, it’s time to dive into the QuickShots. These set the Mini 2 on a series of predefined flightpaths to capture high-impact clips around a subject. Think of it as your own Ben Fogle Castaway expansive pan fantasy and you’re on the right track.
DAY 07 I’ve pushed the limits with the DJI Mini 2 in my local park. Sure, you’re
01 Easy to fly and fast enough in ‘Normal’ mode 02 Switching to ‘Cine’ mode brings luxurious pans 03 ‘Sport’ captures speedy objects with ace stabilisation
04 This is a solid all-round upgrade on the Mavic Mini… 05 …but it is a little pricier than its predecessor 06 There’s no mode to make it follow you like a willing pup
allowed to fly a drone there, but you can’t really test this pocket rocket’s potential with people around. And so, after a week of sticking to sensible distances, it’s time to plan a beach shoot. I’ll pick a day that’s clear (drones can’t hack rain) and get ready for a road trip.
DAY 10 Before my beach trip, it’s important to really understand what footage shot on the Mini 2 looks like. Taken into an editing app (Premiere Pro), the colours are a bit flat, slightly underexposed, and may seem lacklustre. Don’t be fooled, though: this drone’s footage is anything but weak – it’s tuned to give editors room to boost levels. Brighten up the shadows and exposure, ramp up the saturation, and things come to life very quickly.
DAY 14 Thanks to its ability to hold things together in wind speeds of up to 10.5m/s, my blustery coastal shoot with the Mini 2 has been a solid gold success. The 12MP RAW photos, 4K videos and seaside scenery have all come together beautifully to illustrate exactly why drones like the DJI Mini 2 exist.
STUFF SAYS Fly, shoot, repeat: DJI’s latest dinky drone soars above the competition +++++
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TESTED GAMES
PS5 / stuff.tv/DemonsSouls
Demon’s Souls
An obscure Japan-only RPG from over a decade ago has become an unlikely launch hit for the PlayStation 5. Could this be the first genuine must-play of the new console generation?
ardcore action RPG Demon’s Souls gained reverence through word of mouth, eventually leading to the Dark Souls trilogy that influenced countless developers. And now the once-cult game has become a handsome blockbuster launch title for the PS5 – remade from the ground up, but with a happily familiar setup. Your hero (the aptly named Slayer of Demons) is out to save a dark fantasy world consumed by powerful fiends. Bound to a
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mysterious place called the Nexus, it’s up to you to journey through the kingdom of Boletaria to defeat archdemons and increase your power in preparation to face ‘the Old One’. While this game has way higher production values than the original, it isn’t a complete reimagining like Final Fantasy VII Remake. Instead it uses the same code, retaining its treacherous level layout, challenging gameplay and uncompromising design. They haven’t snuck in Dark Souls’
plunging attacks or included more checkpoints to make life easier; and when you die, not only do you lose all your souls (your currency for upgrades), but your health is also halved. Still, thanks to the PS5’s incredible load times, death is fleeting and you can jump back into the action in seconds. There are some tweaks from the original, such as the removal of a few glitches, while online multiplayer increases the maximum number of players and adds a password system
for people who are too shy to play with strangers. This is an incredible and lovingly attentive remake that transforms an old game into a next-gen must-play. It’s going to make you work for it, though, as underneath that shiny new coat it remains a uniquely foreboding challenge. It might not feel like an instantly accessible festive title to kickstart the PS5 celebrations, but overcoming Demon’s Souls is its own reward. Alan Wen
STUFF SAYS A gorgeous and faithful remake of a hugely influential cult classic +++++ 76
TESTED GAMES
PS5: a demon among consoles
“I don’t mind a fixer-upper, but this is nothing like the pictures on Zoopla.”
“And look at the state of this bedroom – we’d have to get pest controllers in.”
Demon’s Souls is a true graphical showcase for the PlayStation 5. It’s uncanny seeing characters’ faces so clearly, complete with lip movements – and the same can be said about your own character, as there’s a richer array of presets and customisations than the original, including the option to choose a style for your teeth. Can a remake look too good? Purists might nitpick over a few embellishments, but you’ll still be walking cautiously shield-first into often very dark spaces or becoming enraptured by the other people you meet in the Nexus. More importantly, a Performance mode option gives the game a solidly smooth framerate. Even the DualSense controller’s rumble, while a lot more subtle than the effects you get in Astro’s Playroom, helps immerse you in its atmosphere. The game is very vague and cryptic in its narrative, but that only serves to increase your curiosity about its beautifully detailed world, whether you’re exploring the dragon-scorched ruins of Boletaria Palace or sniffing around in the dank pits of the charmingly named Valley of Defilement.
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TESTED GAMES
PS5, PS4, XSX, XSS, XB1, PC, Stadia, Luna / stuff.tv/Valhalla
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
It’s not very Viking to lurk in the shadows, so forget Assassin’s Creed games of old… because the pillage people are in town and they don’t mind announcing their arrival
ivor is a Viking, and has no desire to conceal her ‘Hidden Blade’ from anyone. True warriors have no time for that kind of cowardice… which makes this game an odd fit for the Assassin’s Creed brand. Never mind all that stealthy scouting – Eivor and her clan announce their arrival with the blast of a warhorn. Raids are noisy, bloody affairs, with bodies littering the ground. Fights are not always easy to win, though – and many of the things
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we’ve taken for granted in prior games, like the leap of faith or the stealth assassination, aren’t available from the off. Valhalla forces you to play differently… and it’s no bad thing. Combat and controls have been refreshed, taking a couple of hours to retrain your muscle memory; and unlike Origins, which forever threw gear at you, this game tasks you to upgrade it as you go. Despite the brutality of the Vikings’ approach to international relations, they were a spiritual
bunch. How perfect, then, to have a skill tree up in the skies, where Eivor can draw on the strength of Odin and pals to buff her stats. While loosely categorised (the Bear line for melee, Raven for stealth, Wolf for ranged combat), it’s difficult to follow one single branch as much is hidden in fog and only revealed as you progress. If you’re a cagey player rather than all axes blazing, this results in quite a well-rounded warrior. And it’s not all about slaying and looting: Valhalla also touches on life
as a Viking. You’ll have drinking competitions and poetry battles, build settlements and forge alliances, and your choices impact on your adventure regardless of whether you’re sailing or hoofing it through the countryside. The game is stunning in scope and looks truly mesmeric on next-gen hardware, albeit marred by technical glitches and a lack of last-minute polish that could have turned a great game into an unmissable one. Vikki Blake
STUFF SAYS A brilliant instalment with meaty combat and a world ripe for pillaging ++++, 78
TESTED GAMES
Tour of booty (not that kind)
And oh, how they danced, the little children (not pictured) of Stonehenge.
Please drink irresponsibly (legal disclaimer: but only in the game).
If you spent time with either of the most recent Assassin’s Creed offerings, Origins and Odyssey, this one won’t feel completely unfamiliar. Some argue Ubisoft’s routinely recycled open-world template is feeling a little stale, but it works best in the Assassin’s universe. The world is huge, yes, but ripe for exploration, and stunning in a way that’ll have you forever reaching for that photo mode, especially on a next-gen console. At first you’ll be restricted to the glacial glory of Norway, but eventually Eivor and her brother Sigurd scout further afield and capitalise on the Viking expansion across Europe, including Anglo-Saxon England. Here you’ll wander through the ancient counties of Mercia, scaling heights to unlock its secrets. The map is overwhelming at times, the endless blinking of mysteries, side missions and unclaimed treasure can be repetitious, and the mechanics of the gameplay haven’t changed much – there’s loot to find, people to kill and mountains to climb – but it works so well it would be churlish to complain.
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TESTED GAMES
PS5, PS4 / stuff.tv/Sackboy
Sackboy: A Big Adventure LittleBigPlanet star Sackboy hasn’t quite achieved Sonic levels of mascot status, but his very own 3D platformer shuffles him further into the spotlight ackboy’s peaceful world has been invaded by the wicked Vex, a sort of evil jester who kidnaps and enslaves the simple sackfolk, forcing them to help build a device that will transform Craftworld from a place of happy dreams and imagination into a barren wasteland of nightmares. Luckily, Sackboy manages to evade capture and soon learns of a prophecy that tells of a Knitted Knight who will save the world from such terrible schemes… Perhaps not a tale to put you on the edge of your seat, but this 3D platformer feels like a proper big-budget exclusive, with characters brought to life by the likes of Dawn French, Richard E Grant and Simon Greenall (Michael from I’m Alan Partridge). Collecting orbs to unlock levels, you’ll find a boss battle at the end of each world, which grants you space travel to the next. Each world has a theme, from snowy mountains to jungles and underwater settlements, and all appear to have been made
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from a combination of cardboard and household junk. And toilet roll – loads of that about. A Big Adventure does some pretty amazing things with music too. The soundtrack is a mixture of original stuff and licensed tunes cleverly edited to play in sync with where you are. This being a game starring Sackboy, there are also countless costumes to discover; within the first few hours I dressed as both a ninja and an Elvis tribute act, before settling on a wrestler in a tiger costume. The ‘arts and crafts’ theme has been done to death, but in 4K HDR at 60fps on the PS5 this becomes a very fine-looking game, and one that makes good use of the DualSense controller’s haptics and speaker – including, disturbingly, the echo of Sackboy’s panicked wailing when you accidentally walk him off a cliff. This might not be the most headline-grabbing title in the PS5’s launch line-up, but that doesn’t mean it’s not well worth a few hours of your time. Matt Tate
In Craftworld, nobody bothers leaving drainage gaps between the boards of their decking.
In Craftworld, nobody bothers washing their woollens with a gentle action at 40°C.
STUFF SAYS Not groundbreaking, but it has plenty of ideas and looks great on PS5 ++++, 80
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TOP TEN
This gadget has leapt straight outta testing and into our rankings.
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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 Headphones Smartwatches, fitness tech Laptops Speakers TVs Soundbars, streamers
83 84 85 86 87 88 89
Tablets, consoles Games E-bikes etc, electric cars Smart home VR headsets & games Drones & action cams, tech toys Cameras Budget buys
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97
HOW TO USE THEM
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SMARTPHONES TOP TENS
1
HOT BUY
Samsung Galaxy S20 5G The bigger and flashier S20+ and S20 Ultra models are the headline-grabbers, but the ‘basic’ Galaxy S20 feels like the Goldilocks of flagship phones right now – and it’s a fair bit cheaper than some. It delivers excellent battery life, a phenomenal display, blistering performance and superb photo quality. Until someone else does it better, this is the Android handset to beat.
TIPS & TRICKS Slide your thumb in from the edge and back for one-handed mode, which adjusts the screen layout.
Stuff says +++++ All the features you’d want in a flagship smartphone, plus a few more
Screen recording is great for capturing Instagram live sessions. You’ll find it in system settings.
O NOW ADD THIS SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive 128GB This USB-C drive will double your S20’s 128GB storage to 256GB for a lot less than you might expect. £23 / shop.westerndigital.com
Single-take mode uses all the lenses to snap various stills and video clips to cherrypick from.
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Apple iPhone 12
OnePlus Nord
from £799 / stuff.tv/iPhone12
from £379 / stuff.tv/Nord
We loved the iPhone 11, and its successor carries a whole host of improvements. If you can live without the telephoto camera of the flagship 12 Pro (and most can), you should save yourself some cash and get the 12 instead. In many ways it’s the same phone.
OnePlus wanted to get back to its bargain roots with the Nord, and it’s mostly pulled it off. You may not get a top-end CPU, but the rest is here: reliable performance, a solid camera, a strong OLED screen and plenty of storage… and it’s still classier than a Moto.
Stuff says +++++ A top display and all the power you’ll ever need in an iPhone
Stuff says +++++ This is one of the best-value 5G smartphones you can buy
8 9 10
Apple iPhone 12 Pro +++++ from £999 / stuff.tv/12Pro An iPhone for the few and not the many, the 12 Pro is suited to serious photo fiddlers and AR explorers.
Realme X50 Pro 5G +++++ £489 / stuff.tv/X50Pro Realme’s high-spec, mid-price marvel makes for a compelling alternative to a OnePlus.
OnePlus 8 +++++ from £549 / stuff.tv/OnePlus8 The mid-range Android king glides stylishly over the 5G hump. See also the plainer but zippier 8T model.
Oppo Find X2 Pro +++++ £949 / stuff.tv/FindX2Pro Paying nearly a grand for an Oppo seems odd, but this slick Android is about as good as any phone out there.
Motorola Edge +++++ £500 / stuff.tv/MotoEdge Moto takes the mid-price fight to OnePlus with a flagship-like design and superb OLED screen.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 +++++ £1799 / stuff.tv/ZFold2 Still prohibitively expensive, but the first folding phone that doesn’t feel like an awkward prototype.
Sony Xperia 5 II +++++ £799 / stuff.tv/Xperia5ii Everything we loved about the Xperia 1 II, made a lot more affordable with minimal compromise.
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
£899 / stuff.tv/S205G
TOP TENS IN-EARS
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ON/OVER-EARS TOP TENS
84 HOT NEW BUY
HOT BUY
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds
Sony WH-1000XM4
They’re bulkier than the average in-ears and come with a ridiculously large case, but otherwise the QC Earbuds are difficult to knock. The noise-cancelling doesn’t do a disservice to the esteemed QC name, it’s hugely customisable, and the buds themselves sound great: bassier than you might expect, but in a nicely rounded way that retains lots of detail. They’re at the upper end where price is concerned – but if silence is what you seek, you currently won’t find better.
With their perfect balance of wearability, active noise-cancelling prowess and audio performance, there just hasn’t been a better package than the Sony XM3s… until now. The XM4s look and sound almost identical, but a range of new features – including Speak-to-Chat, which stops the music when you start talking – aims to lure you away from your current ’phones. If those are the XM3s, it’s tough to justify the upgrade; but it’s going to take something extraordinary to knock Sony off its perch now.
Stuff says +++++ A fun listen with excellent noise-cancelling skills, these are the best buds to stick in your ears
Stuff says +++++ Not surprisingly given their heritage, these are the best all-round noise-cancelling headphones you can buy
£250 / stuff.tv/QCE
Sony WF-1000XM3 £220 / stuff.tv/WFXM3 The way Sony’s XM3 buds serve up such spectacular sound quality while being truly wireless, while effectively cancelling background noise and while remaining comfortable in the ears, is quite something. Stuff says +++++ Great design and stunning performance
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£349 / stuff.tv/XM4
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Sony WH-1000XM3 £246 / stuff.tv/XM3 Only just outshone by the new XM4s, Sony’s previous flagship over-ears still offer reliable Bluetooth, great active noise-cancellation and fantastic sound quality – and they’re now available at a bargain price. Stuff says +++++ Sony’s last-gen ANC cans remain a class act
Technics EAH-AZ70W
Bowers & Wilkins PX7
£224 / stuff.tv/AZ70W Technics has shrunk down its hi-fi skills to deliver affordable personal audio. While the charging case lacks a little juice, the AZ70s score highly for noise-cancelling and even higher when it comes to sound quality. Stuff says +++++ Technics’ true wireless debut is a sonic triumph
£349 / stuff.tv/PX7 B&W’s second ANC headphones place greater emphasis on comfort and are all the better for it, while the noise-killing is as effective as you’ll find anywhere. Oh, and they sound flipping good too. Stuff says +++++ B&W takes on the best with top-class cans
Campfire Audio Ara
Bose NCH 700
+++++ £1169 / stuff.tv/Ara These exquisite in-ear monitors offer a neutral tone with astonishing clarity.
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 +++++ £279 / stuff.tv/MTW2 A pleasure to listen to, no matter what sort of music you want to hear.
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+++++ £350 / stuff.tv/BoseNCH700 Great ANC, and you won’t find a better voice pickup system than Bose’s.
Philips Fidelio X3 +++++ £299 / stuff.tv/FidelioX3 These bonkers-big cans are one of the best ways we can think of to enjoy some ‘me time’.
TO READ THE FULL REVIEWS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/IN-EAR-HEADPHONES & STUFF.TV/TOP-10/HEADPHONES
TOP TENS SMARTWATCHES
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FITNESS TECH TOP TENS
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HOT BUY
HOT BUY
BARGAIN BUY
Samsung Galaxy Watch3
Mi Smart Band 5
Sneaking into the top berth courtesy of a slightly underwhelming Apple Watch update, Samsung’s gorgeous Watch3 is an easy wearable to love. It’s superbly made and very attractive, and the spinning bezel makes it a joy to use. Samsung’s Tizen OS is slick too, with lots of customisation and shortcut options to keep things feeling fresh – made all the better by a class-leading screen. It also has all the fitness skills you’re ever likely to need, with handy auto-tracking features.
With no installable apps, Xiaomi’s dinky wearable can’t stack up to smartwatches or reply to notifications, but it can relay alerts and track everything from sleep to workouts. It’s better than the Mi Smart Band 4, thanks to a bigger and brighter screen, smarter software and a charger that’s much less annoying. The slightly reduced battery life really isn’t an issue – and with the addition of activity, stress and menstrual cycle tracking, this is a £30 gift that keeps giving.
Stuff says +++++ A beautiful and powerful piece of kit that you’ll be proud to have on your wrist
Stuff says +++++ Fantastic value and decent features make this an easy fitness tracker to recommend
from £399 / stuff.tv/GW3
£30 / stuff.tv/MiBand5
Garmin Fenix 6
Peloton Bike+
£459 / stuff.tv/Fenix6 Anyone who’s truly into their fitness will appreciate the Fenix 6’s endless feature list. This is the finest fitness watch money can buy – if you’re getting more serious about shaping up, you can’t go wrong here. Stuff says +++++ The best fitness-orientated smartwatch
£2295 + £39/m / stuff.tv/PelPlus A fitness phenomenon based around a connected bike with a Full HD touchscreen that streams live and on-demand training sessions 24/7. The ‘+’ version brings some useful upgrades, including a bigger screen. Stuff says +++++ Peloton owners look smug for a reason
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Apple Watch Series 6
Wattbike Atom (Next Generation)
from £379 / stuff.tv/WatchS6 The Series 6 is a superb smartwatch with ambitions to be a total wellness deity; but while the new sensors are useful, they’re not vital for most. This is a fine statement gadget, but there are better deals to be had. Stuff says ++++, A great all-rounder, especially for iPhone users
£1899 / stuff.tv/WBAtom The latest upgrade to the already exceptional Wattbike Atom indoor cycling trainer brings electromagnetic resistance, enhanced sensors that check your data 1000 times every second, plus improved power output. Stuff says +++++ The benchmark for serious indoor cyclists
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Apple Watch SE
Slinger
++++, from £269 / stuff.tv/WatchSE The most obvious alternative to the Watch Series 6 – and it looks identical.
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Oppo Watch ++++, from £229 / stuff.tv/OW This Apple Watch lookalike streamlines Wear OS to put it ahead of many rivals.
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+++++ £780 / stuff.tv/Slinger Finally, a tennis practice partner that genuinely wants you to get better.
Hyperice Hypervolt with Bluetooth +++++ £349 / stuff.tv/Hyperice A sadistic wellness coach that will pummel you into a new personal best.
FOR THE FULL REVIEWS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/SMARTWATCHES & STUFF.TV/TOP-10/FITNESS-TRACKERS
TOP TENS LAPTOPS TIPS & TRICKS
The Sidecar feature on macOS Catalina lets you use an iPad as a second display for your MacBook.
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Apple charges a hefty premium for extra storage, so consider a cheaper external SSD.
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HOT BUY
Apple MacBook Air from £999 / stuff.tv/MacBookAir
The early-2020 evolution of the MacBook Air moved forward to affirm its status as the perfect Apple laptop for most people – and once we’ve finished with the new M1-powered version on p29 it’s only likely to go even further up in our estimation. The refined scissor-switch keyboard is the star of the show here, making it comfortable to type for hours on end, but that’s far from the only thing that’s improved from the already-brilliant 2018 model.
Stuff says +++++ Our go-to MacBook just keeps getting even go-to-er 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 2020 MacBook Air’s side. £55 / amazon.co.uk
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Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
Apple MacBook Pro 16in
from £869 / stuff.tv/SurfaceLap3
from £2399 / stuff.tv/MacBookPro16
The Surface Laptop 3 seems plain on paper – no second screen, no graphics card, no hybrid hinge, no fingerprint scanner – but Microsoft has put supreme attention to detail into every bit that matters. The keyboard, the speakers and the overall build quality are all superb.
The current 16in Pro doesn’t look much different from its 15in predecessor, but all doubts fade away when you start using it. The keyboard is better, the screen is superb, the speakers are great, it only rarely gets warm, and even the battery lasts longer.
Stuff says +++++ Forget frills and gimmicks: this is everything a laptop should be
Stuff says +++++ A serious upgrade to what was already a top-class MacBook
8 9 10
Dell XPS 13 +++++ from £1159 / stuff.tv/XPS13 Style, portability, performance… there’s nothing else out there that’s quite so well rounded.
Huawei MateBook X Pro +++++ from £850 / stuff.tv/MateBookXPro Not massively better than the 2018 model, but this is a real powerhouse of a Windows laptop.
Apple MacBook Pro 13in +++++ from £1299 / stuff.tv/MacBookPro13 A superb little laptop… but wait for our final verdict on the M1 version reviewed on p32.
Google Pixelbook Go +++++ from £629 / stuff.tv/PixelbookGo A light and stylish touchscreen laptop built for those who like to live and work in the cloud.
MSI GS66 Stealth ++++, from £1399 / stuff.tv/GS66 Gets hot and bothered at times, but a great fit for gaming/work jugglers.
Razer Blade 15 Advanced ++++, from £2650 / stuff.tv/BladeAdvanced Razer’s Blade models are our favourite gaming laptops, and this is a worthy flagship.
Microsoft Surface Book 3 ++++, from £1269 / stuff.tv/SBook3 Has the most inventive hybrid design around but lacks the power of a high-end laptop.
FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS AND FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW LAPTOPS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/LAPTOPS
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TIPS & TRICKS
You can control your Move with the touch controls on top, the Sonos app, Google Assistant or Alexa.
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Auto Trueplay adapts the Move’s sound to different rooms, while the app offers additional EQ tweaks.
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 £9.99/month / primephonic.com
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6 7 Sonos One
Naim Mu-so 2nd Generation
£199 / stuff.tv/SonosOne
£1290 / 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 second Mu-so is a fuller, richer, more detailed and louder listen than the model it replaces, with lots of added functionality, and is every bit as handsome and decorative. It’s more than capable of maintaining Naim’s position at the front of the hi-fi pack.
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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
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8
B&W Formation Wedge +++++ £900 / stuff.tv/BWWedge Pricey, weird-looking… and a brilliant illustration of what a wireless speaker is capable of.
Marshall Emberton +++++ £130 / stuff.tv/Emberton A tiny speaker that packs an unexpected punch without scrimping on refinement.
JBL Flip 5 Eco +++++ £120 / stuff.tv/Flip5Eco A portable party speaker that does its bit for the green cause while sounding fantastic.
JBL Xtreme 2 +++++ £149 / stuff.tv/Xtreme2 A hefty portable speaker that growls with confidence whatever you play through it.
Small Transparent Speaker +++++ £450 / stuff.tv/Transparent Stylish, portable, loud enough for any bedside table… and now also available in matt black.
Klipsch The Fives +++++ £829 / stuff.tv/TheFives Stacks of functionality in a couple of tidy speakers that make up a one-plug hi-fi system.
KEF LSX +++++ £999 (pair) / stuff.tv/KEFLSX Fine stereo hi-fi sound without cables… plus look out for the new LS50 Wireless II and LS50 Meta.
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
Filmmaker Mode switches off the picture-processing so you see films the way the director intended.
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Hit the remote’s Ambilight button for a selection of lighting effects based on motion or music.
The soundbar can be used as part of a multiroom system with compatible DTS Play-Fi speakers.
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HOT NEW BUY
Philips 48OLED+935 £1800 / stuff.tv/OLED935
£1800 for a 48in TV is no one’s idea of a bargain. But when you consider the level of audio-visual fidelity this money buys, not to mention the convenience of the integrated soundbar, it’s hard to suggest the 48OLED+935 isn’t worth every penny. Next-gen gamers may lament the lack of HDMI 2.1, but for anyone other than the most ardent button-bashers the lovely picture (with Ambilight) is quite immersive enough.
Stuff says +++++ Expensive for its size, but the wonderful picture and sound justify the price O NOW ADD THIS Philips W6505 This wireless DTS Play-Fi speaker offers 80W of power, is wrapped in Kvadrat acoustic fabric and includes built-in Ambilight LEDs. £249 / philips.co.uk
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LG OLED 65GX +++++ £2299 / stuff.tv/OLEDGX Expensive, yes, but once you see it on your wall you’ll forget all that.
LG OLED 55CX +++++ £1299 / stuff.tv/OLEDCX LG knows exactly what it’s doing with OLED and the results here are mighty impressive.
Sony KD65A8 +++++ £1999 / stuff.tv/SonyA8 What’s a few gaps in specification when performance is as barnstorming as this?
Philips 65OLED+984
Samsung 75Q950TS
£3999 / stuff.tv/OLED984
£6999 / stuff.tv/Q950TS
Only surpassed by the even better OLED+935 above, our second-favourite Philips TV offers outstanding picture performance with universal HDR support, and goes above and beyond what we expect from television sound thanks to a custom-made speaker system from British hi-fi brand Bowers & Wilkins. Plus it looks gorgeous in any living room, particularly with that four-sided Ambilight in full effect.
It’s not like every home has even taken up 4K yet, so who needs an 8K telly? And yet, despite everything – the price, the lack of 8K content to actually watch, the price again – the Samsung 75Q950TS is an absolute stormer in the picture stakes. Upscaling from lower resolutions is stunningly impressive; and if you positively must have the best images you can buy, along with as much future-proofing as possible, then this is currently the TV for you.
Stuff says +++++ A television that goes big on design, performance and sound
Stuff says +++++ Ridiculously extravagant… but no other 75in TV looks quite so elegant
Philips 55OLED805 +++++ £1199 / stuff.tv/OLED805 All the things we love about OLED without the flagship price tag.
Samsung QE65Q65T +++++ £999 / stuff.tv/Q65T Overlook the humdrum sound and this is one of the best pound-for-pound goggleboxes around.
Sony KD-49XG9005 +++++ £799 / stuff.tv/XG9005 Other Sony TVs are bigger and slimmer, but none can match this one for value.
Panasonic TX-58GX800 +++++ £649 / stuff.tv/58GX800 Not the last word in picture excellence, but this is a lot of TV for the money.
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
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Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar
Sky TV
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.
Already home to the biggest selection of 4K content, from blockbuster films and original dramas to top-flight sport, Sky has adopted a can’t-beat-’em-join-’em approach to streaming by incorporating the likes of Spotify, Netflix and Disney+ in its user-friendly interface. It’s also restructured its packages to make them more affordable and include rivals like BT Sport. The box has 2TB of storage, while multiroom and mobile options round off the most comprehensive content system money can buy.
Stuff says +++++ The Ambeo Soundbar is a big unit but the sound it makes is bigger still
Stuff says +++++ Sky has come out fighting to move with the times and its selection of shows is unrivalled
from £25/month + setup / stuff.tv/SkyTV
£2199 / stuff.tv/AmbeoSoundbar
2 NEW
HOT BUY
BARGAIN BUY
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Sonos Arc £799 / stuff.tv/SonosArc Don’t expect this soundbar to do everything a multi-speaker Dolby Atmos setup can do, but its up-firing and side-firing drivers give a real sense of scale for an immersively cinematic TV-watching experience. Stuff says +++++ Big-screen sound for your big-screen binges
Roku Streambar £130 / stuff.tv/Streambar It’s a compact soundbar and a versatile streaming stick in the same box – and both parts of the deal work brilliantly well. This is the simplest and cheapest way to upgrade your TV’s sound and smarts in one go. Stuff says +++++ A punchy little bar with built-in streaming skills
Sonos Beam +++++ £399 / stuff.tv/SonosBeam Sonos’s great-value Alexa soundbar is affordable and packed with smarts.
B&O Beosound Stage +++++ from £1250 / stuff.tv/BeosoundStage A classy offering from the tasteful hi-fi kings, with the performance to back up its price.
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Amazon Fire TV Cube £110 / stuff.tv/FireTVCube The Fire TV interface is easy to use and all the big catch-up services are available via this tidy box – and best of all, Alexa voice control works brilliantly. You’ll never have to worry about losing the remote again! Stuff says +++++ A marvel of voice control for your telly
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2018) £50 / stuff.tv/FireStick4K This streaming stick offers 4K plus a faster processor than the original Fire TV Stick, and comes with an Alexa Voice Remote… but look out for the new version reviewed on p60, and also the bargain Lite model. Stuff says +++++ Simply a great 4K streaming stick
Chromecast with Google TV +++++ £60 / stuff.tv/ChromecastTV A solid buy if you like Google’s casting tricks but also want all your TV apps in one place.
Roku Streaming Stick+ ++++, £50 / stuff.tv/RokuPlus This simple all-rounder is a great choice for the open-minded telly watcher.
FOR FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THE PRODUCTS IN OUR TOP TEN LISTINGS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
TOP TENS TABLETS
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HOT NEW BUY
HOT NEW BUY
Apple iPad Air (2020)
Sony PlayStation 5
The 4th-generation iPad Air ushers in big changes. It looks the spit of an 11in iPad Pro (at least from the front), and supports Apple’s snazzy Magic Keyboard and second-gen Pencil… and the A14 chip makes it blazingly fast, leaving its predecessor in the dust. Sure, there are compromises, but none are critical. So if you were considering an iPad Pro but don’t care about audio apps in portrait, a 12.9in display or more advanced cameras, save yourself a couple of hundred quid and buy the new Air instead.
The PS5 is not a modest upgrade. Its hulking design means it’ll make a bad first impression on some, but spend time playing it and it’ll soon win you over – and then some. This is essentially a high-spec gaming PC for the living room: stupendously powerful, with greatly reduced loading times compared to the PS4. Most last-gen titles will run fine, many with a boost, and the line-up of new games is strong; we just hope developers make use of that fascinating DualSense pad and its haptic feedback trickery.
Stuff says +++++ Pointing to the iPad’s future rather than its past, this is a meaningful, impressive, powerful Air update
Stuff says +++++ Huge power, clever hardware and a guarantee of great games to come make the PS5 hard to resist
from £579 / stuff.tv/iPadAir
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CONSOLES TOP TENS
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5
£450 / stuff.tv/PS5
Apple iPad Pro
2
from £769 / stuff.tv/iPadPro With its huge and super-slick 120Hz Liquid Retina screen, ludicrously speedy internals and double-lens camera, this is one working device to rule them all – and the best tablet to replace your laptop. Stuff says +++++ Apple’s mega-tablet is a performance beast
Nintendo Switch £280 / stuff.tv/NintendoSwitch Nintendo’s console earned a promotion in our list after it impressed us with a growing list of fantastic games. Plus, no other device here offers the joy of portable gaming. Train journeys will never be boring again. Stuff says +++++ This 2-in-1 console is the real deal
Microsoft Surface Go 2
Sony PlayStation 4 Pro
from £399 / stuff.tv/SurfaceGo2 The Surface Go 2 feels less user-friendly and slick than an iPad, but pair it with the optional Type Cover and it turns into a neat mini-laptop. It’s also a surprisingly good way to play games. Stuff says +++++ Just enough power to be a genuine iPad rival
£350 / stuff.tv/PS4Pro If you’re in no great hurry to go next-gen, the PS4 Pro remains a supremely powerful console with a dizzying line-up of top-class games – many of which will look stunning on a 4K HDR TV screen. Stuff says +++++ The best last-gen system for 4K gaming
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+
NEW
++++, from £799 / stuff.tv/TabS7Plus A true iPad Pro alternative that brilliantly balances productivity and entertainment.
Apple iPad (2020) ++++, from £329 / stuff.tv/iPad2020 The A12 Bionic chip turns Apple’s cheapest tab into an absolute powerhouse.
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Microsoft Xbox Series X ++++, £450 / stuff.tv/XSX A fully future-proofed beast of a console that needs more games to make it sing.
Microsoft Xbox Series S ++++, £250 / stuff.tv/XSS Delivers affordability without sacrificing key features, but still falls short on new titles.
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
The Last of Us Part II £35 / PS4
Just as The Last of Us showed the previous gaming console generation at its best, The Last of Us Part II is another masterful triumph: a rare superior sequel that can be mentioned in the same breath as The Godfather Part II. An unparalleled masterclass in everything it does, with an extensive suite of accessibility options that every game should adopt as the standard, it’s a game with a story that challenges us – and one we’ll be discussing long into the next generation.
TIPS & TRICKS Take your time exploring – you’ll find key resources, notes, even some fun Easter eggs.
Stuff says +++++ Naughty Dog has done it again with this brutal, bleak and beautiful game
Not keen on all the violence? A lot of confrontations can be avoided. Just look out for sniffer dogs!
O OR PLAY THIS Uncharted: The Lost Legacy A leaner and somewhat less grim action adventure from Naughty Dog, starring a pair of kick-ass women. £13 / PS4
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Red Dead Redemption 2
God of War
from £23 / PS4, XB1
£12 / PS4
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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.
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.
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Stuff says +++++ Ultra-addictive gameplay in one of the greatest open worlds ever created
Stuff says +++++ The epic return of Kratos is yet another phenomenal PS4 offering
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Resident Evil 2 +++++ from £17 / PS4, XB1, PC Unlike the tame follow-up RE3, this remake will inform the future of the survival horror genre.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice +++++ from £30 / PS4, XB1, PC A brutally punishing action adventure that will get your heart a-pumping.
Forza Horizon 4 +++++ from £29 / XB1, PC This is a bar-raising sandbox-racing game experience that’s worth buckling up for.
Final Fantasy VII Remake +++++ £36 / PS4 The greatest remake of one of the all-time greatest video games.
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales +++++ £50 / PS5, PS4 A visually stunning superhero romp, ideal for showing off the power of your new PS5.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 +++++ from £33 / PS4, XB1, PC A superb remake of two of the best sports games ever committed to disc.
Hades +++++ from £18 / PC, Switch A treat even if you don’t like roguelites… and if you do, it’s the best there is.
FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS AND REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW GAMES, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/GAMES
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HOT BUY
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ELECTRIC CARS TOP TENS
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HOT BUY
VanMoof S3
Porsche Taycan
VanMoof’s second-gen S3 (or X3 if you’re under 5ft 8in) looks like a normal bike, rides like a normal bike and, crucially, doesn’t cost a ridiculous amount of cash. The chunky 50mm tyres, slightly swooped bars and upright riding position all combine to make it super-comfy, and 30 miles with the power assistance set to level three (out of four) left us completely sweat-free with 20% still in the tank. Plus, for such a looker, the S3 has a lot of tech hidden away to make it a less than ideal target for thieves.
It was about time someone took the fight to Tesla, and boy has Porsche delivered with the Taycan. This electric four-door saloon is the EV that petrolheads have been waiting for. In full-fat Turbo S flavour, the Taycan hits 62mph in 2.8 seconds – and adding more drama to proceedings is how it shifts up through its two-speed gearbox. The Taycan has a dynamism that can’t be matched by other electric cars, with a surefootedness that encourages you to press on.
Stuff says +++++ This smart-looking e-bike offers a great ride, great features and some genuinely useful security smarts
Stuff says +++++ Big power, sports-car handling and lots of clever tech make the Taycan the most exciting EV yet
£1798 / stuff.tv/VanMoofS3
from £83,580 / stuff.tv/Taycan
Cowboy 3
Honda E
£1990 / stuff.tv/Cowboy3 The 43-mile range, app-controlled lights, smart tracking and anti-theft tech make this bike a true commuter contender. It’s a handsome steed, and a close match for the VanMoof on performance. Stuff says +++++ A light e-bike that’s ideal for commuting
from £27,160 / stuff.tv/HondaE Born to be a city commuter (its maximum range is just 137 miles), the E is light, nimble and planted, but also delivers a completely comfortable and saloon-like refined ride for longer journeys. Stuff says +++++ Pricier than the equivalent Mini… but more fun
Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ
Polestar 2
£4000 / stuff.tv/VadoSL With the electrics hidden away in the frame, this hybrid bike looks pretty discreet – but it has a mass of added extras, including an extra boost of assistance for daunting hills and a kickstand for statement propping. Stuff says +++++ Pricey, but well built and a real easy rider
from £46,900 / stuff.tv/Polestar2 From Volvo’s EV subsidiary, this five-door all-electric fastback blends elements of a futuristic saloon with bits of an SUV and totally gets away with it… thanks in part to a staggering 660Nm of torque. Stuff says +++++ A speedy five-door EV that’s a joy to drive
GoCycle GX
Nissan Leaf
+++++ £2899 / stuff.tv/GoCycleGX A foldaway e-bike that’s awesome and expensive in equal measure.
+++++ from £26,845 / stuff.tv/NissanLeaf An accomplished family car that packs some serious range, performance and gadgetry.
Ribble Hybrid AL e
Tesla Model S
+++++ £2199 / stuff.tv/RibbleHybrid A secret e-bike that proves you don’t need fancy extras for an excellent ride.
+++++ from £79,980 / stuff.tv/TeslaS This sleek saloon is a true groundbreaker among high-class EVs.
FOR UP-TO-DATE LISTINGS AND FULL REVIEWS OF ALL KINDS OF GADGETS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
O Electric car prices include government plug-in car grant (PiCG)
TOP TENS E-BIKES ETC
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SMART HOME TOP TENS HOT NEW BUY
Amazon Echo (4th Gen) £90 / stuff.tv/Echo
Having morphed from a cylinder to a sphere, the latest Echo is an excellent newsreader, weather forecaster, personal assistant and intercom straight out of the box; but it’s now also a capable speaker and a very accessible smart home hub. It doesn’t sound as good as the Sonos One or Apple HomePod for listening to music, but it’s significantly smarter than both and considerably cheaper too.
TIPS & TRICKS The Echo’s built-in Zigbee hub can hook up hundreds of smart home devices without a bridge.
Stuff says +++++ An all-round upgrade that makes the Echo a smarter speaker than ever
Pair a compatible thermostat and the Echo’s temperature sensor can activate the heating.
O NOW ADD THIS Honeywell T6R This Zigbee-enabled thermostat is wireless so you can place it where it’s most convenient. £155 / amazon.co.uk
Alexa Flash Briefings deliver bursts of news or trivia; choose from 5000 sources in the app.
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Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen)
Amazon Echo Show 8
from £50 / stuff.tv/Dot
£90 / stuff.tv/EchoShow8
It can’t match a full-size smart speaker for audio, but as a radio and Alexa assistant for the bedside or kitchen, this cutey gets the job done. It’s worth paying £10 more for the ‘with Clock’ version, which adds extra functionality beyond telling the time.
This is a bargain smart display that’s big enough for easy video chatting and loud enough to fill most rooms. Its 8in touchscreen may not be the most refined, and the sound won’t worry Sonos, but you can’t really complain at this price.
Stuff says +++++ With the optional clock, this is our favourite bedside wondergadget
Stuff says +++++ The Alexa home invasion continues apace with this superb smart display
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Google Nest Mini +++++ £49 / stuff.tv/NestMini Louder and cleverer than ever… and it’ll only improve over time with updates.
Tado Smart Thermostat +++++ from £180 / stuff.tv/TadoV3Plus This heating system roasts the competition with its blend of simplicity and smarts.
Ring Indoor Cam +++++ £49 / stuff.tv/RingIndoor This cute little spy-cam is a bona fide bargain for anyone with security worries.
Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd Gen) +++++ £189 / stuff.tv/Nest3 A simple and mess-free smart thermostat with Alexa compatibility.
Philips Hue Starter Kit +++++ from £70 (white) / stuff.tv/Hue Become an indoor god with the smartest way of lighting up your home remotely.
Brisant-Secure Ultion Smart +++++ from £259 / stuff.tv/UltionSmart Tradition and tech partner up in a smart lock to please everyone.
Dyson 360 Heurist ++++, £800 / stuff.tv/Heurist Dyson’s intelligent robo-vac is really pretty great at sucking (in a good way).
FOR FULL REVIEWS OF THE BEST SMART HOME DEVICES, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/SMART-HOME-DEVICES
TOP TENS VR HEADSETS
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VR GAMES TOP TENS
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HOT BUY
HOT BUY
Oculus Quest 2
Half-Life: Alyx
The original Quest felt almost too good to be true. Its successor lacks the same wow factor, but you can’t argue with a better display and processor – not to mention a lighter, more comfortable build – for less money. Are there more powerful headsets? Is motion sickness still an issue? Yes to both, but superb tracking and a total absence of wires make this the VR package to get… that is, unless you’re boycotting Facebook, because you have to be logged in to use it.
Announcing Alyx as not only a ‘midquel’ but a VR exclusive got some Half-Life diehards riled up… but in classic Valve fashion, the end result is utterly brilliant. Alyx succeeds because its universe just happens to be a perfect fit for the format. It’s also larger and much more robust than most VR games, at a meaty 12-15 hours. And though it unfolds at a different kind of cadence to past Half-Life games, it feels like a fully fledged solo campaign and a key part of the franchise narrative.
Stuff says +++++ Not a complete reinvention, but our favourite VR headset is now even better… and cheaper!
Stuff says +++++ Valve’s beloved series returns… and offers one of the strongest arguments to date for VR gaming
from £299 / stuff.tv/Quest2
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Valve Index £919 / stuff.tv/ValveIndex While not revolutionary, the Index carries enough subtle upgrades to put it atop the PC-based headset pack. Everything looks fabulous and the controllers deliver the most fluid-feeling VR interactions to date. Stuff says ++++, The best of the performance-PC VR options
HTC Vive Pro £599 (headset only) / stuff.tv/HTCVivePro No longer the top dog for high-end VR using a PC, the Vive Pro remains a strong headset thanks to its crisp screens and comfy fit. But the Valve Index beats it for sheer immersiveness. Stuff says ++++, Impressive, but not the best around in 2020
HTC Vive Cosmos +++,, £699 / stuff.tv/Cosmos A simple setup with potential for upgrades, but tough to recommend at this price.
PlayStation VR +++,, from £260 / stuff.tv/PSVR Held back by niggling issues… let’s hope the rumoured second-gen PSVR will fix those.
from £46 / Oculus, Vive, Valve Index
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Beat Saber from £23 / Oculus, Vive, PSVR Gleefully swing your twin lightsabers 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’s glorious, especially on the cable-free Quest. Stuff says +++++ A mesmerising musical melee
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.
Blood & Truth +++++ £35 / PSVR A rollicking PSVR-exclusive action thriller with brilliant set-pieces and terrific gunplay.
FOR FULL REVIEWS, AND TO EXPLORE MORE OF THE STUFF TOP TEN LISTS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
TOP TENS DRONES & ACTION CAMS
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TECH TOYS TOP TENS
HOT BUY
DJI Mavic Air 2 £769 / stuff.tv/MavicAir2
HOT NEW BUY
Lego Mindstorms Robot Inventor £330 / stuff.tv/Mindstorms
With the Air 2, DJI has built on the basic platform of a simple entry-level drone and thrown in a heap of pro-grade features, so those dipping a tentative toe into the waters of aerial photography or videography no longer have to put up with mediocre content. The sensor and 48MP resolution produce very sharp imagery, while the ability to shoot in RAW format gives plenty of post-production options and the DJI Fly app allows for fast image filters, movie edits and social media uploads.
It’s clear Lego has prioritised immediacy and fun with its latest build-your-own-bots kit, which lets you and/or your little ones create five different coding-controlled mecha-beings. Yes, the set lacks a proper screen and relies on a separate device for programming; but it offers great clarity and scope, plus an attitude that encourages tinkering… whatever your age.
Stuff says +++++ A great drone for noobs and ace snappers alike, this is DJI’s finest sub-£1K flyer yet
Stuff says +++++ A fun, versatile set for Lego electronics newcomers and old hands alike
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GoPro Hero9 Black £430 (£330 with sub) / stuff.tv/H9B It’s bulkier than the Hero8 Black and needs an add-on to match its ultra-wide video… but better image detail, battery life and features make this one of the most versatile bits of filming and photography kit we’ve used. Stuff says +++++ The pinnacle of action-cam excellence
DJI Mavic Mini £369 / stuff.tv/MavicMini If you just want 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… but see also the new Mini 2 on p74. Stuff says +++++ Dinky drones don’t come more feature-packed
GoPro Hero8 Black +++++ £330 (£280 with sub) / stuff.tv/H8B Overtaken by the Hero9 Black… but this is still arguably a better option if you don’t need 5K.
Nextbase 622GW +++++ £249 / stuff.tv/622GW Much more than just a dash cam – and bordering on a bargain.
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Sphero RVR £260 / stuff.tv/SpheroRVR The RVR pulls off the balance between serious coding and knockabout fun perfectly: it’s an all-terrain vehicle that you can throw around without worrying about it breaking, but also has serious programming chops. Stuff says +++++ Enough fun to convert any coding-phobe
Lego Boost Creative Toolbox £150 / stuff.tv/LegoCreativeToolbox Building Lego is already ridiculously good fun, and when this model’s complete it turns into a functioning robot. Simpler than the Mindstorms kit, it can still be programmed to move, fire projectiles and play games. Stuff says +++++ A programmable Lego kit for younger kids
Sphero Bolt +++++ £150 / stuff.tv/SpheroBolt This little rolling ball of tech is great fun, and educational to boot.
Kano Harry Potter Coding Kit +++++ £50 / stuff.tv/KanoHarryPotter A magical way to make coding accessible and fun to learn.
FOR FULL REVIEWS, AND TO EXPLORE MORE OF THE STUFF TOP TEN LISTS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
TOP TENS CAMERAS
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HOT BUY
Fujifilm X-T4 The Fuji X-T4 might be the high-end mirrorless camera of your dreams. Relatively affordable for a flagship, it excels at stills and video thanks to in-body image stabilisation, high-speed shooting and 4K recording at up to 60fps. Rapid shooting is backed up by fancy AF tricks that feel equally fast and reliable, and even the battery life goes above and beyond the usual standards. There’s no doubting this is a worthy successor to the already fabulous X-T3.
TIPS & TRICKS It’s easy to set up the X-T4’s customisable Q button: just hold it down for a couple of seconds for options.
Stuff says +++++ A superbly capable mirrorless camera for shooting pretty much anything in style
Avoid those wonky horizons by turning on the built-in on-screen level in screen settings.
O NOW ADD THIS Fujifilm XF 16-80mm f/4 This versatile lens covers a bigger zoom range than most and adapts to pretty much any requirements. £769 / wexphotovideo.com
Fujifilm X Acquire is a clever bit of PC/Mac software that backs up all your X-T4’s custom settings.
2
BARGAIN BUY
3
4 5 6
Fujifilm X-T3
Sony A7 III
£899 / stuff.tv/XT3
£1745 / stuff.tv/SonyA7iii
It may have been surpassed by the X-T4, but we still can’t find anything bad to say about the X-T3 – it’s just consistently great in so many ways. With pro-level video options, a high-res EVF, and super-fast autofocus and burst shooting, what you’re getting here is an all-round beast of a camera in a small, beautiful form. And now that it’s a last-gen model, it’s also a lot cheaper than it used to be.
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.
Stuff says +++++ An incredible stills shooter with video smarts to match
Stuff says +++++ An excellent all-rounder that excels in low-light conditions
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Nikon D780 +++++ £1999 / stuff.tv/D780 An all-round DSLR that’s built like a tank and borrows the best tricks of its mirrorless siblings.
Fujifilm X-T30 +++++ £649 / stuff.tv/XT30 Does a brilliant job of distilling the X-T3’s appeal into a cheaper, more compact body.
Canon EOS RP +++++ £1399 / stuff.tv/EOSRP A full-frame mirrorless marvel that’s light enough to not be a burden and offers top picture quality.
Fujifilm GFX 50R +++++ £3199 / stuff.tv/GFX50R The ultimate image quality in a medium-format camera that’s not too ridiculously huge to carry.
Nikon Z6 +++++ £1549 / stuff.tv/Z6 A top-notch and reasonably sized mirrorless camera from the optical experts.
Sony ZV-1 +++++ £649 / stuff.tv/ZV1 With ace video and a flippable screen, Sony’s clever compact is a vlogger’s dream.
Nikon Z50 +++++ £839 / stuff.tv/Z50 One of the best APS-C cameras out there, offering a multitude of pro-level features.
FOR FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THE BEST NEW CAMERAS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10/SYSTEM-CAMERAS
O System camera prices quoted are for body only unless otherwise stated
£1549 / stuff.tv/XT4
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BUDGET BUYS TOP TENS HOT NEW BUY
Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen)
TIPS & TRICKS
from £50 / stuff.tv/Dot
Fed up of yelling? Alexa’s voice can work like an intercom with connected Echo devices.
This fabric-covered take on Marvin the paranoid android in disguise as a Magic 8-Ball feels playful yet classical. It can’t match a full-size smart speaker for audio, but as a little radio and an Alexa assistant for the bedside table or kitchen worktop, this cutey gets the job done. It’s worth paying £10 more for the ‘with Clock’ version, which adds extra functionality beyond telling the time.
Alexa Voice Shopping lets you order from Amazon; add a ‘voice code’ to keep the kids off.
Stuff says +++++ With the optional clock, this is our favourite bedside wondergadget
Dot at your bedside? Saying “Alexa, turn on whisper mode” will stop it waking up sleepyheads.
O NOW ADD THIS Sportlink Wall Mount This minimalist acrylic mount for the Dot will keep it clear from wet surfaces in the bathroom or kitchen. £11 / amazon.co.uk
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Sega Mega Drive Mini
Moto G8 Plus
£60 / stuff.tv/MegaDriveMini
£240 / stuff.tv/G8Plus
There’ll always be rows 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 titles included.
It would have taken something monumental to screw up the affordable formula crafted over eight generations of G phones… so it’s really no surprise the G8 Plus is such a gem. Budget phones are a competitive field, but this is the best you’ll find for the money.
Stuff says +++++ Sega’s back – and this really is the ultimate mini gaming machine
Stuff says +++++ Classic Moto: a smart, well-equipped phone for under £250
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SoundMagic TWS50 +++++ £79 / stuff.tv/TWS50 Expertly judged wireless in-ear performance at an eye-catching price.
Mi Smart Band 5 +++++ £29 / stuff.tv/MiBand5 Fantastic value and decent features make this an easy fitness tracker to recommend.
Ring Indoor Cam +++++ £49 / stuff.tv/RingIndoor This cute little spy-cam is a bona fide bargain for anyone with security worries.
Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2 +++++ £90 / stuff.tv/Wonderboom2 A rugged little wonder that’ll bring a sonic boost to any occasion.
Chromecast with Google TV +++++ £60 / stuff.tv/ChromecastTV A solid buy if you like Google’s casting tricks but also want all your TV apps in one place.
Amazon Fire HD 10 ++++, from £150 / stuff.tv/FireHD10 Amazon obliterates the competition at the lower end of the tab market.
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Ikea Frekvens ++++, from £65 / stuff.tv/Frekvens These modular speakers and lights reaffirm our love of the boffins in the big blue building.
FOR FULL REVIEWS OF ALL THESE GADGETS, AND TO EXPLORE MORE TOP TEN LISTS, VISIT STUFF.TV/TOP-10
Wiki don’t lose that number Assorted artists and lunatics have at various points printed the entire site out, resulting in thousands of heavy volumes and presumably wheezing printers.
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES 2001
h yes, Wiki – the Hitchhiker’s Guide only without wit, charm, personality or froodiness. Yeah, but Wikipedia got something very right with its basic approach mixing dry design with an emphasis on pure content. It rapidly blazed past h2g2.com, Douglas Adams’ own online take on his famous book, and has succeeded where a string of conventional online encyclopaedias failed. By the end of year one, Wikipedia had 19,000 articles and said it wanted to “make over 100,000” — a goal that now seems quaint given that the site has more than six million entries in English alone.
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But I searched for something just now and it’s not there! Citation required! Six million is a big number — and even an online encyclopaedia can’t be totally exhaustive. But Wikipedia also regularly hits controversy by stymying growth on the basis that its editors might not think a subject is noteworthy. Spend hours creating an entry on your favourite band and said editors might deem it unsuitable and consign it to the ether. English Wikipedia has roughly 5000 very active editors — and the editor count has been falling for years, so those who remain hold an immense amount of collective power.
Hang on, you’re just writing this up from the Wikipedia article on Wikipedia, aren’t you? Wikiception! But yes, in researching Wikipedia for this page, Wikipedia’s article on Wikipedia was consulted, which showcases a problem: Wikipedia is today considered a guaranteed source of truth, with people slavishly copying content and forgetting that the site is a community web project built by enthusiastic amateurs. That’s not to say it isn’t a useful resource, but this should serve as a reminder to do your research more broadly — be that online or even using old-school paper books… or perhaps even a magazine.
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[ Words Craig Grannell ]
Wikipedia