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Kirin A1 Self-developed Wearable Chip

2 Weeks of Battery Life*

2 Satellite Systems & Precise Location

7x24h Heart Rate Monitoring

Triathlon, Climb, Elliptical, Rower and More

Bluetooth Call

consumer.huawei.com/za Product colour, shape, interface and functions for reference only. The actual product may vary.

MEET T

WiPHONES HE BEST MOBILE AMERAS EVER? GADGETS / GAMES / GEAR

A Link from the past

SORTING THE DUDS FROM THE BUDS

TESTED

E-bikes ridden Fuji’s medium format f-bomb Serious cases of projection MSI’s monster mastered and LG’s NanoCell TV Mightier than the sword

The power of three

Solar system sidekick

Shiny happy speaker

Novemb R42.90 ( Other co R37.30 ( www.stu

NOC STEL TUR N L A R STAR GAD AL T LIT S GETS ECH AFA FO RIS

Welcome

Subscriptions hotline 0860 070 700 Email subscriptions@ mdafrica.co.za Advertising Business director Sally Hudson sally@stuff.co.za Senior account manager Thalia Pallotta 083 375 2418 thalia@stuff.co.za

They mostly come out at night. Mostly. I’m talking about stars rather than xenomorphs, but the general sentiment is the same, even if the terror level is way, way down. Unless that star’s rapidly getting closer, but that’s a whole other story. This month is all about night-time tech, of which star-observing equipment is a particular favourite. Recently I was at ScopeX, the only telescope expo I’m aware of in South Africa. It’s a specialised crowd, but one that knows its stuff. We have that in common. Hop to p46 if you’re eager to get your ‘scope on but know that effortless stargazing comes at a price. So does difficult stargazing, but that’s not the point. This month is also somewhat of a milestone. Stuff has made its century – you are holding the 100th issue of the magazine. A hundred of anything is special, even if it’s something like prison convictions. You start to ask questions like: “How did we get here?” “Where do we go next?” “How does that guy keep getting out of jail?” The trick is to answer them. The answers for the first two are easy. We got here because of you, dear reader, and next… next we’re off to look at more stuff. That’s what this is all about. Stuff – how it works, what it costs, why it’s cool (and why it’s not, if it isn’t). For some cool stuff in this issue, head to our Samsung Note 10+ (p74) and LG 65SM9500 NanoCell TV (p80) tests. For something more relaxed, there’s upping your digital comic-book game (p90). I suspect more than a little time will be spent poring over Apple’s new iGear (from p8) before anything else takes place. Just remember to take care of each other. And also remember that, sometimes… it’s fun to go play in the dark.

www.stuff.co.za

Account manager (Cape Town) Bernice Blundell 073 618 1882 bernice@stuff.co.za Management Stuff South Africa is published by the Stuff Group (Pty) Ltd. Directors: Toby Shapshak, Sally Hudson PO Box 74, Melrose Arch, 2096 Kelsey Publishing UK Stuff UK content is published with the permission of copyright holder Kelsey Publishing Ltd, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG ... and a word about prices Generally, we show the manufacturer’s recommended price. Occasionally we (or suppliers) can make mistakes. Please remember that prices listed in Stuff are intended as a guide only. We make every effort to confirm that all information is correct (and triple checked) when we go to print.

Brett Venter, Editor brett@stuff.co.za @DrakonisZA

StuffSA

Stuff competition terms and conditions: Apple is not a sponsor, nor is it involved in any way with any Stuff Magazine contests or sweepstakes. Stuff Magazine does not offer Apple products as contest or sweepstake prizes. 1 Promotions, giveaways and competitions are entered through Stuff Group’s website www.stuff.co.za and are opened for Issue 100, 2019 on 28 October 2019 and close on 24 November 2019. 2 The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence can be entered into. 3 Employees of Stuff Group and their families are not allowed to enter. Advertising and public relations representatives may not enter competitions in the issue in which their promotions, giveaways or competitions are carried. 4 Prizes are not exchangeable for cash and/or other products. Prizes are available while stocks last. It is at the discretion of Stuff Group and the custodian of the prizes to ensure that, should there be a problem with the stipulated prize won, a reasonable replacement of the same value will be offered. 5 Stuff Group carries promotions, giveaways and competitions in good faith and cannot be held responsible for any misrepresentation on the part of the custodian of the promotions, giveaways and competitions. 6 Winners will be notified telephonically and by mail. It is the responsibility of the winner to ensure that the correct address and contact details are given. It is the responsibility of the custodian of the promotion, giveaway and competition to ensure that prizes are sent out correctly and within the specified time. 7 Prize delivery will take four to six weeks from the time the winner has been notified. 8 Promotions, giveaways and competitions are open to South African residents only. 9 All prize-winners will be published on www.stuff.co.za the following month, once the competition lines have closed. 10 Readers may not claim for more than one prize at a time, and once announced as a winner in any Stuff promotions, giveaways or competitions, will not be eligible for another prize for three (3) months thereafter. 11 By entering any promotions, giveaways or competitions, or by accepting any prize, entrants agree that their personal details may be retained by the promoter and/or Stuff magazine and used for the purpose of sending them information about future promotions, events and news, as well as for internal administration and analysis. 12 Unclaimed prizes will be kept for three months and will not be resent. 13 Participation in any promotion, giveaway or competition and/or acceptance of any prize implies full knowledge and acceptance of all rules.

© Stuff South Africa. All due care will be taken with material submitted, but the magazine and publishers cannot be held responsible for loss or damage. Stuff South Africa assumes no responsibility to return unsolicited editorial, graphic or other material. All rights in letters and unsolicited editorial and graphic material will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and material will be subject to Stuff South Africa’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially. Stuff South Africa is fully protected by copyright and nothing may be reprinted in whole or part without written permission from the publisher. While reasonable precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of advice and information given to readers, the editor, publisher and proprietor cannot accept responsibility for any damage or inconvenience that may arise therefrom. Stuff is published in Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Middle East, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Galaxy S10+ | Note10+

Power of

Now with powerful software upgrades

Image simulated.

CON S P12

ON THE COVER

P82

p38 Light jazz

HOT STUFF 8

20 22 24 26 30 32 34

The Hot Nine ● Apple iPhone 11, 11 Pro & 11 Pro Max ● Fitbit Versa 2 ● Sonos Move ● Nebula Soundbar Fire TV Edition ● LG G8X ThinQ ● Huawei Mate 30 Pro ● Motorola One Zoom ● Razer Blade Stealth 13 (2019) Vital stats Apple Watch Series 5 With a display that never sleeps Games Including John Wick’s Hexcellent Adventure Apps Don’t be downcast, download Start menu Speculative sensations in supertech Icon Sony Walkman NW-A100TPS Sorry, it doesn’t actually play tapes Wheels Frankfurt Motor Show special We pretend to drive the Honda E at last Stream Is Rick & Morty still funny? Really? Really?

TESTS

p8 Oceans of 11

p46 Astro boy

69 Tested MSI GT76 Titan A gaming beast that lives up to its name 70 Tested Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Goof around with this doodle-friendly tablet 71 Tested Sony Xperia 5 Glimpse the latest gleaming compact 74 Long-term test Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ Grab yourself a grand’s worth of superphone 76 Tested Xiaomi Mi Tru Wireless Earbuds Can’t afford AirPods? Xiaomi’s gotcha 77 Versus Mini projectors Gaze at the living-room wall 78 Tested Honor Band 5 Fancy fitness for far less 79 Tested Fujifilm GFX100 Go large with Fuji’s medium-format monster 80 Tested LG 65SM9500PUA TV Could a NanoCell defeat Goku? This one might 82 Tested Libratone Track Air+ Get your groove on with these wireless buds 84 Versus E-bikes Glide up hills without even pedalling 92 Tested Games Gears 5, Control, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

11.19

WIN! p96

P49 P110

FEATURES 36 Cover feature Night tech special As winter sneaks out of the back door and we ready ourselves for a scorching summer, here are the best new gadgets to light up your nocturnal life 68 Mini meme Multiplayer mobile games Because staring at your phone doesn’t have to be antisocial 72 Upvoted Organisers Imagine a world where you don’t lose stuff… 88 Instant upgrades Sonos Beam This is what you get when the (sound)bar is set this high. 90 Beta yourself Digital comics Downloadable options for people who prefer their stories with nice big pictures 112 Random access memories Casio Databank The first ever smartwatch… well, smart-ish

TOP TENS 98 Smartphones What’s the handiest, handsomest handset? 99 Phablets As above, just for bigger hands (or egos) 100 Tablets, mobile games Slick slates and ways to kill your battery 101 TVs All you need for a lazy night/day/year in 102 Laptops Porta-powerhouses to warm your knees 103 Wearables, smartwatches Strapping smart tracking tickers 106 Drones, compact cameras Shoot from the sky or from the hip 108 Headphones In-ears and on-ears, hear hear! 111 Games 10 ways to avoid adult responsibilities

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I SAW A VISION OF A RWC FINAL

I SAW THE WORLD IN SLOW MOTION

By the time this appears in print, the Rugby World Cup will be in its final stages and the Springboks will hopefully be on track to play in the final. Being a rugby fan, I used this World Cup year as a good reason for a TV upgrade, which I have done with the excellent LG OLED65C9PVA. It’s a giant 65in OLED thing of wonder. Its picture is remarkably good, with amazingly clear resolution. The OLED technology is just fantastic and well worth its accolades for clarity. The smart TV runs apps for Netflix, Amazon, Showmax and DStv Now (with dedicated buttons for the first two on its clever Magic Remote) making it an entertainment centre in its own right. Hopefully the Bokke will perform as consistently. Toby Shapshak, Publisher and Editor-in-chief

This month, just before the deadline madness really kicked off for this issue, I spent some time with the chaps from Sony. The point? Finding out just what the new Sony A7R IV (which, by now, will have launched in SA) can really do. The highlight? Listening to photographers gush about the 61MP mirrorless camera’s skills, before seeing them in action for myself. They say seeing is believing and I certainly believe… but I can’t wait to get my hands on that mad shooter so I can try and replicate that water-splashing demo for myself. I’m going to need a kiddie’s wading pool, a case of Guinness, and someone who doesn’t mind washing their hair a couple of hundred times when we’re done. Brett Venter, Editor

Making Stuff up Publisher and Editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak toby@stuff.co.za Editor Brett Venter brett@stuff.co.za Deputy Editor Marcé Bester marce@stuff.co.za Art Director Brandon van Rensburg art@stuff.co.za Digital Publisher Nic Boerma nic@stuff.co.za Selling Stuff Business Director Sally Hudson, sally@stuff.co.za Senior Account Manager Thalia Pallotta 083 375 2418 thalia@stuff.co.za Getting Stuff to you Printing CTP

OUR MONTH

What this issue has brought us by way of geekery I TOOK A WALK ON THE LITE SIDE

Nintendo recently released its stripped-down sibling of the Nintendo Switch in SA and I got to play with one. It is called the Switch Lite and I got my hands on the grey version (the colour of my soul, mind you). It’s slightly smaller than the Switch and surprisingly fun to use, though there’s sadly no TV docking. Ninty’s gone back to its GameBoy roots, that’s for sure.This time around the Joy-Cons aren’t removable, so it’s a true one-player experience. I proceeded to download as many free games as possible, and found out you definitely need an SD card. Most notably, I couldn’t load Warframe because it exceeds the onboard storage space of 16GB. Guess Paladins would have to do until I save up for a 128GB micro-SD. Marcé Bester, Deputy Editor

I TOOK PRIDE IN A LEONINE HIKE

As the supposed athlete in the office, I joined Cape Union Mart for its Cape Union Mart Festive Adventure. We were kitted out in activewear and equipped with backpacks before departure to an unknown hiking destination. Luckily we tested our hiking shoes on varied (indoor) surfaces and terrains as I needed to go up a size to avoid the dreaded black/blue and bruised toenails. There was a cold chamber in the store where we got to test out the insulation on the sports jacket – handy as it was 30-degrees outside. We put the kit through its paces on Lions Head hiking trail, clambering over the rocks on the Cape beaches at high tide to get to the sunset G&T destination. Sally Hudson, Business Director

Distribution RNA 011 248 3607 (Caitlin) Contacting Stuff Call us 087 087 7055 Email us stuff@stuff.co.za Subscribe stuff.co.za/buy-now Find us www.stuff.co.za StuffSA @StuffSA Caxton House, 368 Jan Smuts Ave, Craighall, Johannesburg, 2196

South Africa

Gold digger Deep Fusion is Apple’s new image-processing system. It uses machine learning to optimise the details in your pictures by combining the best bits of several shots to create the ultimate snap.

HOT NINE #1 PRO’S POETRY Apple iPhone 11 Pro & Pro Max

Apple has been making Macs, MacBooks and iPads for ‘Pros’ for a long time now, but we’ve had to wait until number 11 for it to stick the ‘P’ word on the end of an iPhone. But you can’t accuse the iPhone 11 Pro of not taking its title seriously. It’s forged of hardy surgical-grade stainless steel and has a new Super Retina XDR display, which means HDR10+, spatial audio, Dolby Vision and Atmos support. And at 1200 nits, you’ll be able to see it from Mars. The iPhone 11 Pro is available in 5.8in and 6.5in screen sizes; pick up the latter and you’ll see ‘iPhone 11 Pro Max’ written on the box – size aside, the specs are the same. From the front the Pro looks near-indistinguishable from its recent predecessors, sporting the ‘controversial’ notch that people got used to so very quickly. Flip it round, though, and you’ll be greeted by the three beady eyes that make up a new triple-camera setup. With wide, ultra-wide and telephoto lenses (all 12MP), as well as a new Night Mode, it seems Apple has done some overdue catching up on the competition. As hot as… apple pie laced with lava from R22 000 / myistore.co.za 8

25 PAGES OF THE BIGGEST STORIES FROM PLANET TECH

Slow jams The brutally powerful A13 Bionic chip doesn’t just supercharge AI – it also helps deliver 4K video at 60fps and slow-motion selfies (‘slofies’, if you must) for gimmicky giggles on the HDR OLED display.

Run this down The 11 Pro claims four additional hours of battery life over the iPhone XS, while the Max version gets an extra five hours over the old XS Max. There’s still no USB-C connection, just Lightning.

Dedicated follower The stainless steel band around the edge has been colour-matched to the phone, so there’s a dark rim on the midnight green and space grey, but lighter on the other colours.

See my lens While the camera UI shows you what a photo taken through the standard lens will look like, it also previews the result if you were to switch lenses – which can be done with a simple tap.

HANDS-ON iPHONE 11 PRO After rumours that Apple might be running a little low on smartphone innovation, the iPhone 11 Pro’s three cameras, faster processor and better battery life make it a more tempting proposition than we were hoping for. The 11 Pro looks just like the iPhone XS from the front, but flip it and the differences are obvious. There’s a matt finish to the rear glass and an additional midnight green model to join the existing space grey, silver and gold. A design difference to divide opinion is the camera bulge, but with the lenses jutting out just a little, the final result is better than expected. That camera isn’t just the biggest change to the iPhone’s look – it’s the most significant new feature as well, and the first shots looked amazing. The processor promises lightning responses and gorgeous graphics, though we’re still to truly assess its power; but if the trio of cameras deliver images anywhere near as awesome as the ones Apple showed off during the unveiling, it’ll give rival flagships a real run for their cash.

Picture book Other camera effects include bleaching the background white and bringing the subject into sharp relief. The image is bled dry of colour for a high-contrast monochrome shot. Very classy.

Sunny after afternoon Night Mode kicks in automatically when the camera detects a dark scene. It then captures multiple frames, depending on light and steadiness, before fusing them.

HOT NINE #2 FRUIT PASTELS Apple iPhone 11

Watermark sunset YoumaynoticetheApple logohasdroppedtothecentre ofthehandsetandtheword ‘iPhone’hasbeenremoved. Ifthisbothersyou,you probablyshouldn’tbe allowedaphone.

So long, iPhone XR. Apple’s entry-level handset is now the iPhone 11. It looks superb, with a back milled and sculpted from a single piece of the ‘toughest glass on a smartphone’, according to our Cupertino overlords, and comes in a range of new colours including a rather fetching pastel green. But it’s the new dual-camera system that’ll really catch your eye – and capture the world with the ultra-wide 12MP camera that grabs four times more scene. On the front, the TrueDepth camera also gets a significant upgrade and is now capable of 12MP and 4K. Elsewhere, this device is mostly about raw power. Last year’s A12 Bionic chip is almighty, but Apple has somehow found it within itself to give this little phone the same A13 Bionic chip found on the new Pro models. This doesn’t come at the expense of battery life either, with the 11 said to beat the XR by an hour – great news whether you’re filming your latest masterpiece, watching a film using the new spatial audio system with Dolby Atmos support, or frantically swiping for your gaming life in Apple Arcade. As hot as… apple strudel stuffed with fiery peppers from R15 000 / myistore.co.za

Moves like Collins The Move uses two class-D digital amps tuned to match the drivers, and there’s a far-field microphone array to ensure no mistakes when you say “Alexa, play Sussudio.”

HOT NINE #4 BABY, IT’S BOLD OUTSIDE Sonos Move

HOT NINE #3 TALK TO THE HANDS Fitbit Versa 2

She’s in your soundbar, your GPS, your headphones and your alarm clock. She might even be in your toilet. And with the Fitbit Versa 2, she’s in your smartwatch as well. Yes, Fitbit’s latest watch can summon Alexa with a tap of its button, letting you check the weather, set timers and remind yourself you’re supposed to be going for a jog, all hands-free. And if you’re an Android user you’ll be able to send voice replies to messages. The Versa 2 sports a more premium design than its 12

predecessor, with a larger AMOLED display and optional custom-woven bands. There’s an always-on mode, which still purportedly gives you several days of battery life, while a new processor should make app-hopping a breeze. Then there’s Sleep Score, a new feature that rates your sleep and tells you how to doss better, which is something we can all get behind. Add to that a proper Spotify app and you’ve got a much-improved wearable. As hot as… a flaming Alexa elixir from R4 000 / fitbit.co.za

The thought of a Sonos speaker roaming free, uninhibited by wires and Wi-Fi, seems weird – but gone are the days where it’s contained by walls, behind the safety of doors and given names that imbue utter domestic dullness such as ‘Bedroom’ or ‘Kitchen’. The Move is a bit of a heifer at 3kg but it connects to other speakers via Wi-Fi… or switch on Bluetooth and you can take it further afield and out of its Sonos networkcomfortzone. A high-end outdoorsy star, the Move is promised to involve no compromise on sound quality. It incorporates Sonos’s Trueplay tech, whereby the speaker alters its behaviour dependent on surroundings. Rated IP56, it should be able to sustain snow, drizzle and a few heaps of sand, and it plays nice with just about any music streaming service. Alexa and friends are on board should you like to make verbal demands, plus there’s AirPlay 2 in case the Sonosappshouldfailonyou. Throw in 10 hours of playback, a charging station that comes in the box and the ability to boost the battery via USB-C, and we’re delighted Sonos has finally found the courage to leave the house. Ashotas…abonfirepartyatBeelzebub’s R8000/sonos.com

Drop some moves This Sonos can cope with fairly extreme temperatures and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drop-resistant, although a nice carry handle at the back should help when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re off to the park.

Bass fishing Inside you’ll find stereo mid/high drivers with an additional subwoofer channeling Anker’s BassUp tech. There’s no Dolby Atmos support, but linking to other Echo speakers should be possible.

HOT NINE #5 HIT US WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK Nebula Soundbar Fire TV Edition

At this point we’re all so used to jabbing dongles and cables into our TVs that we barely notice we’re doing it, but Amazon and Anker are taking a slightly more unified approach to home entertainment. The Nebula Soundbar promises 100W of cinematic sound with deep bass thanks to its dual built-in subwoofers; but it also doubles as a massive Fire TV Stick, giving you two devices in one with the ability to stream 4K video, play music via Bluetooth and talk to its Alexa remote. Now, you’d be right in thinking this is essentially a mid-range soundbar that’s been mashed together with an Amazon dongle. As great collaborations go that might strike you as a bit Ozzy Ozbourne and Miss Piggy (that’s an actual thing that happened) but since this’ll breathe new life into a pining-for-the-fjords TV set, it’s more like Eminem and Elton John teaming up. It’ll turn up from November, when it’ll cost around R3 500... before you attempt to ship it over here. As hot as… music executives hoping these teams’ll work Rtba (Nov 2019) / amazon.com 14

On-the-fly fishing Can’t find the Alexa remote? No need to panic: the soundbar also houses a near-field microphone for voice commands, such as summoning specific streaming apps.

HOT NINE #7 HOT NINE #6 TRUMP CARD

Huawei Mate 30 Pro This has been an elephant in the tech cupboard here for Stuff. Huawei makes undeniably great hardware but factors outside its control have resulted in software for its new devices being borked. If you don’t know what we mean, you haven’t been paying attention. Back to Twitter with you. So while Huawei’s new Mate 30 Pro is a hardware hero, with a 6.53in OLED ‘Horizon Screen’ display, a 5G-sporting Kirin 990 CPU, 8GB of RAM at its command and a gorgeous new design (though the rear camera port is… divisive), it’ll be a mission to use the same way we would any other Android. 16

Never mind the fact that there’s a quad-camera system with a 40MP f/1.6 wide-angle lens, an 8MP f/2.4 telephoto, an(other) 40MP f/1.8 ultrawide, and a 3D ToF camera just sitting there, we can’t play with it. Yeah, really. At the time of writing, Huawei has suspended the launch of the handset in South Africa. We may still see it launch, but it’ll be closer to (or alongside) the next P-series smartphones and it’ll likely include Huawei’s own operating system. As hot as… a smoking Kirin 990 processor Rtba (maybe) / huaweistore.co.za

TWIN PEEKS LG G8X ThinQ

While a number of smartphone makers are trying to put forward a case for extremely expensive foldable phones, LG has decided to use an actual case to kind of cheat its way into contention. So here’s the G8X ThinQ. On the surface it looks like a standard Android, but fit it with the new and improved Dual Screen attachment and it’ll double the display size – with a 360° hinge so you can lie it fully flat or go into ‘tent’ mode. Combined, it effectively turns the G8X into a foldable phone while sidestepping the issue of screen-creasing that has plagued some other would-be innovators in this field. Aside from that, the G8X features a 6.4in Full HD+ OLED screen (the same size as the doubling attachment), an in-display fingerprint sensor and a 32MP front camera that complements the 13MP super-wide rear setup. It uses the latest version of LG’s UX user interface, based on Android 10. There’s no concrete pricing or release date at the time of going to press, but if you’re looking to get into the fold (sorry) this might be the perfect way to double up your options. As hot as… smartphone calzone Rtba / lg.com/za

www.circuitcity.co.za

Razer thin Razer calls the Stealth 13 the world’s first gaming ultrabook. It packs everything into a 15mm-thin body weighing just 1.3kg that’ll leave commuters and work colleagues none the wiser.

HOT NINE #8 LOVE THE ONE (ZOOM) YOU’RE WITH

Motorola One Zoom It’s easy to get swept up in a heady trance of shiny things that promise the world but will burn literal holes in your pocket. So when the king of mid-rangers Motorola announced its newest flagship with a quad-camera setup for very little money, we had zero complaints. The front-facing camera totes a 25MP sensor too, which trumps many phones twice the price. And all of that fancy kit is backed up by optical image stabilisation, night vision software, and Quad Pixel tech to help ensure every single one of your snaps – from low-light landscapes to professional portraits – looks absolutely stunning, dahling. Rounding out the One Zoom’s impressive feature set is a 6.4in OLED display, a fast-charging 4000mAh battery and an integrated fingerprint reader. Add all of that up and it puts the One Zoom slap-bang in Google Pixel 3a territory. We look forward to the inevitable celebrity smartphone death-match. As hot as… Nataniel’s wardrobe Rtba / lenovo.com

Razer sharp It’s available in a black GTX edition packing all the goodness of Nvidia power, while the entry-level Mercury White edition is aimed more at students and takes Intel’s Iris Plus innards instead.

HOT NINE #9

SHIRK IN PROGRESS

Razer Blade Stealth 13 (2019) The ‘portability’ of most gaming laptops is immediately called into question when you realise they’re comparable in size to a monster truck. Ultrabooks, on the other hand, are normally designed for boring stuff like spreadsheets – and Razer’s got no time for that. Its latest Blade Stealth 13 has all the portability and all-day battery life of any ultrabook, but with Intel Iris Plus or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics, so

you can spend that day playing games instead. With 16GB of RAM and 10th-gen Core i7 processors, it’s packing plenty of power, although with a maximum of 512GB of storage you’ll need to be picky about which games you install. Still, that’s enough for some serious on-the-go action… and means there’ll definitely be no space for any boring work stuff. As hot as… uninstalling Excel Rtba / razer.com

Razer burn The Blade’s 13in display is available in Full HD or as a 4K touch panel if you’re prepared to spec it up and pay the extra… but you can expect the battery life to suffer as a consequence.

V I

T A L S T A T S

GLANCE WOULD BE A FINE THING Apple Watch Series 5

from R8 000 / myistore.co.za

We loved the Apple Watch Series 4. Not only was it the best smartwatch, but it could literally save your life. Series 5 isn’t such a big upgrade, but its always-on display does make it easier to stealthily check how much longer you have to sit in a boring meeting. ● Always on On every previous Apple Watch you’d need to flick your wrist or tap the glass to illuminate the OLED display. That changes with Series 5, which employs an always-on LTPO display. When you’re not looking at it, the display will intelligently dim just enough to remain visible at a glance. Raise the watch to your face and it’ll switch to full brightness. Each watch face has been optimised to drain as little juice as possible: Apple says battery life matches the Series 4 at roughly 18 hours. ● Always lost Also new is a built-in compass, which can be used in conjunction with an app to see heading, incline, latitude, longitude and elevation. The Maps app has been updated too, and there are three new Compass complications to add to your watch face. If you don’t know where you’re going with this thing on your wrist, you’ve had far too much to drink. ● Always safe If you opt for a cellular-enabled Series 5 (which you can’t in SA) you’ll be able to make international calls to emergency services, no matter where it was purchased and even if you haven’t yet activated the cellular plan. The ECG monitor of last year’s model remains, and the watch can still detect when you’ve fallen over. ● Always consistent Otherwise, not much is new. It’s still available in either 40mm or 44mm sizes, the edges are still rounded, and the digital crown still offers pleasing haptic feedback.

Alongside aluminium and stainless steel, there’s a new titanium option that SA’s not getting!

WATCHOS 6 ADDITIONS ● Level with me

With the latest OS update, your Watch becomes an even better digital doctor. It can now monitor the sound in your environment, notifying you if the level reaches 90 decibels, which is considered a risk to your hearing if you over-expose yourself to it.

In with a Bang

BANG & OLUFSEN BEOSOUND STAGE Soundbars are a home-cinema hot ticket right now, so B&O has caved in and debuted its first, complete with Dolby Atmos and four bass drivers. That last part is important because the Beosound Stage doesn’t require a separate subwoofer – which, when practising the dark arts of Scandinavian minimalism, simply wouldn’t do. In fact, the three-channel system squeezes in 11 drivers powered by an equal number of 50W class-D amps. You also get Dolby TrueHD plus support for AirPlay 2, Chromecast built in, B&O Beolink and Bluetooth. As a result the Stage is just as much a multiroom speaker as it is a tool for making helicopters sound like they’re landing on your head. Rtba / bang-olufsen.com

● Face painting

While we’d still like to see Apple allow third-party watch faces, it’s own selection expands with watchOS 6. New faces include Modular Compact, Solar Gradient and Numerals, each of which can be customised to allow faster access to your apps.

● Big girl’s browse

Somewhat belatedly, Apple is bringing a dedicated App Store to the Watch. You can browse descriptions of third-party apps, search with Siri and install without needing to clog up your phone with Watch-specific apps.

But is it art?

ASUS PROART STUDIOBOOK PRO X

RAISE IT TO YOUR FACE AND IT’LL SWITCH TO FULL BRIGHTNESS

It’s fair to say the Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro X is hardly a head-turner. With its 17in screen, it’s also a bit of a whopper. But what have we always said about not judging a laptop by its chassis? Underneath that hefty frame you get 9th-generation Intel Xeon or Intel Core i7 hexa-core processors and Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 graphics, but it’s the screen tech that really catches the eye. The main 16:10 NanoEdge display is validated by Pantone, so you can be sure the colours you see are as accurate as possible, plus there’s a secondary touchscreen where you’d normally find the trackpad. This can be used for toolbars and palettes, keeping the main screen free for you to craft your masterpiece. Rtba / asus.com/za 21

G A M E S

OUT 2020

FIRST PLAY JOHN WICK HEX PC, consoles tba Going for a fast-paced action shooter would seem to be a no-brainer for anyone making a John Wick game. But brains is exactly what developer Mike Bithell, creator of left-field indie games like Thomas Was Alone and Volume, is looking for: this game wants you to get inside the mind of the puppy-avenger. Billed as a ‘timeline strategy’, John Wick Hex is like Superhot as a fight choreography editor, as time only moves when you move. When an enemy is in sight, you pause to a menu with different possible actions, from 22

close-range melee attacks to shooting with the trademark double tap. If you’re getting ambushed from all sides, you can’t take everyone out at once; so it’s about interrupting one enemy by stunning them then moving into cover, or perhaps shooting the nearest target then finishing off the one you just stunned. RPG-like elements also come into play, such as the accuracy of your shots based on distance or focus. Ammo is realistic, so reloading will empty your magazine even if there are still

bullets left, but you can also scavenge weapons. Perhaps the most action-movie thing you can do is an ‘extreme reload’, where you throw your empty gun at any enemy to stun them and then pick up another gun to fire. Not just another licensed shooter, John Wick Hex is an ingenious game that explores Wick’s tactical mind – with support from the film’s stunt coordinators. And it’ll be even more satisfying, once you’ve finished a level, to replay all your hard work in cinematic real time.

FIRST LOOK FASTER AND POSSIBLY EVEN FURIOUSER

OUT 8 NOV

NEED FOR SPEED HEAT

PS4, Xbox One, PC Really fast, crazily modded cars will always have a place in pop culture (just ask Vin Diesel, who’s made more Fast & Furious movies than he has omelettes). This is why, despite having as many misses as hits, Need

for Speed is still going strong in 2019. The latest in the series to be announced is Need for Speed Heat – which, incredibly, has never been the title of a game in the franchise before. This is an open-world racing game set in the Miami-inspired Palm City that sees you compete in a variety of rubber-burning

street events. And central to gameplay is the cycle of day and night. By daylight, the patrolling cops are fairly relaxed – unless you give them a bash in the bumper, they’ll probably leave you be. During the day you compete in sanctioned events to earn cash and expand your fleet of customisable cars. At night, though, the fuzz aren’t

quite so friendly. Rep-boosting races after dark are of a not-so-legal nature, and rogue cops will be on the hunt for you. You’ll want to learn the locations of safehouses and garages if you want to evade them. With 127 cars available at launch, this one could keep petrolheads busy well into the new year.

BESTOFUPCOMINGGAMESTOPLAYWITHFRIENDS

JUST DANCE 2020

All formats Scissor Sisters secretly did feel like dancing all along, and deep down you know you do too. Luckily for you and your appropriately inebriated pals, Ubisoft is on hand with the latest instalment of its annual and quite possibly never-ending Just Dance series.

MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020

Switch Mario and Sonic are so desperate to find out which of them is faster in a 100m sprint that they’ve turned up to the Olympics about nine months early. Among the 30+ minigames included are several 2D events with retro graphics.

DOOM ETERNAL

All formats As well received as the 2016 Doom reboot was for its single-player mode, the multiplayer wasn’t nearly as memorable. So Doom Eternal introduces 2v1 Battle Mode. One player is a slayer, the other a pair of demons; the slayer must kill both demons without one of them respawning.

INCOMING NOVEMBER ● PLANET ZOO ● DEATH STRANDING ● STAR WARS JEDI: FALLEN ORDER ● SHENMUE III DECEMBER ● LIFE IS STRANGE 2 – EPISODE 5 EARLY 2020 ● FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE ● WATCH DOGS: LEGION

A P P S

This month’s mobile must-downloads

1 Vectornator X

2 Moodflow

3 Vector

4 The TeamTOMM App

5 Sequence Groovebox

6 Retro Notepad

7 Chogue

8 Bullet Hell Monday Black

9 Yokai Dungeon

Free / iOS You don’t need to be a pro illustrator to point your digits at this fab and free vector drawing app. In seconds, auto-tracing can transform your favourite snaps into sleek works of graphic art.

R86 / Android, iOS Often living in a mess of your own making? Hate spending weekends cleaning? The Organised Mum Method app has your phone help, mostly by breaking housework down into manageable chunks.

Free / Android, iOS Merrily smashing together chess and Rogue, this game has you dungeon-crawl with chess pieces, make chess moves, and then watch as the opponent’s king escapes down some stairs. Choguemate! 24

Free / Android, iOS Most diaries track events, but this one’s for moods. Record how happy you are, and see the results build as a colourful calendar grid. Want to dig deeper? There’s journalling and habit-tracking too.

R105 / Android It’s usually iOS that’s top of the pops, but this Android app lets you quickly craft banging tunes. There are knobs to twiddle, buttons to prod, synths aplenty, and an XY pad for pretending you’re a DJ.

Free or R120 / Android, iOS Once, aliens only took the odd potshot. But in this vertical blaster they hurl all manner of neon death, forcing you to dance through the destruction. Intense, shooty fun.

Free (IAPs) / Android  R15 / iOS Mirror’s Edge meets The Matrix in this side-scrolling free-runner that sees players zipping over, under and through obstacles as ‘Big Brother’ tries to stick ‘em back in their cubicles. Aced it? Try Vector 2.

Free / Android Nostalgia’s a weird thing… and in Stuff’s opinion you’d have to be a bit weird to pine for the aesthetics of Windows 95. Still, if that’s you, this notepad hurls you back to those halcyon days.

Free (IAPs) / Android, iOS When the titular Yokai interrupt a festival, it’s time to don your best Ghostbusters kit. Only you lack a proton pack, so must lob boxes at them instead in this fast-paced take on the arcade classic Pengo.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

TELLING LIES

R110 / iOS It’s rare to see new genres appear, but Sam Barlow essentially created one with Her Story. With nods to FMV fare, that game had you sit before an archaic search engine, inputting terms to access video snippets of an interview, and thereby solve a murder mystery. Telling Lies is to Her Story what a blockbuster movie is to an indie: a larger, richer, glossier experience. You delve into hours of stolen NSA footage, unearthing multiple threads linked by a shocking incident. It’s an enthralling combination of non-linear storytelling and investigative thriller… so settle down, take copious notes, and be glad some game designers are still innovating.

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T PAY JUS

3 R296.0

S AN VER MIS AND NE THE WORLD’S F ISSUE OST-SELLING BE ET MAG GADG

ANATOMY LESSON

LOL It’s smart, concise, and frequently funny. We’re not saying you’ll laugh out loud but we’re not NOT saying that either.

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USEFUL INFO Looking to upgrade or make the best of existing tech? No matter your budget, each issue has you covered.

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WHAT TO EXPECT IN EVERY ISSUE 1

Smart Tech

Stuff Mag examines the very best in the world of tech on 10 times a year. Whether it’s freshly launched (love that newprocessor smell), of historic importance, or just a twinkle in Jony Ives’ eye, you can bet that we’ve left our fingerprints on it in our quest to catch and catalogue the best in tech. We do it all for you. ● Visit Stuff: stuff.co.za

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2 Test Match

We test phones, laptops, tablets, headphones, cars, and anything else that recently appeared in a tech keynote so you don’t have to. No tech is too big or too small (except when it is – it happens) for us to poke, pick at, prod, or play with. And we pass the results on to you, for betterinformed gadget purchase choices. ● Image Stuff: instagram.com/stuffsa

BUY YOUR SUBSCRIPTION 3 List Value

Looking for a quick comparison of the very best tech available right this second? Stuff’s Top 10 pages collect and collate the gear you want in an easy-tocompare format. The top item in each list is the best of the best in its category – from phones to laptops to cameras, Bluetooth speakers to headphones to VR to games, it’s all there. ● Tweet Stuff: twitter.com/stuffsa

4 Phone it in

Sometimes you just want to avoid talking to people. Other times… not so much. If you’d like to speak to a real, live human when arranging your Stuff subscription, give the friendly gals and guys at MD Africa a call. They’ll arrange everything you need. You can reach them on 0860 070 700. Operators are standing by... ● Get Stuff: 0860 070 700

DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION R220 / per year If you’re rocking an Android or iOS device and want to save those trees, there’s always the option of a digital subscription. There are three

5 It’s a Snap

Head over to stuff.co.za/new-sub to fill in a form that’ll capture all your pertinent deets. And then, to pay, just point SnapScan at the lovely little image below. Voila. You're part of the gang.

methods for you to choose from – either Android or iOS apps, or via Zinio.com. No matter your choice, it’s just a few simple clicks to set up your digital sub. 25

S T A R T M E N U ST KIC AR K TE R

The latest startups, crowdfunded projects and plain crazy ideas

Street flighter

DRL RACER4 STREET

For some, drones are about fiddling about in the air with a gadget. Not the Drone Racing League (DRL), whose contraptions scythe through the sky at breakneck speeds. After many requests to make one available to buy, this is the Racer4 Street. It retains the DRL racing model’s powerful config, and supports simple part replacements so you’ll be able to fly, crash, and quickly rebuild. And you’ll crash with style, given the black carbon-fibre canopy that its designers reckon sits halfway between a Batmobile and a stealth jet fighter. Plus you get access to the DRL Simulator, so you can learn to fly on a screen first. $599 / thedroneracingleague.com BACK IT STACK IT

ST KIC AR K TE R

Buoq-rocking beats

Arcade gains

Slap on the wrist

Titan things up

These wireless Bluetooth cans keep your ears happy with solid sound and comfy cups. But spin the earpads 180° and you automatically activate speaker mode, to inflict your musical tastes on everyone nearby. You can also wear them around your neck, to make people question whether you actually know how to wear headphones. €79 / buoqon.com

No longer content with just shrinking down arcade cabinets, New Wave Toys has created a 1:6-scale change dispenser. It doesn’t really give change, though: this dinky wood, metal and plastic replica has five USB 2.0 ports and one USB 3.0 quick-charge port, for powering a miniature arcade and all your other electronic kit. from $45 / newwavetoys.com

Even the best headphones can’t compete with the meaty bass WHUMP you feel at a gig. This tiny wearable uses haptics to bring that same physicality to personal audio. Gamers can take things further with Edge Vest: a 2kg contraption with six discs. Just don’t turn it up too much, or a big in-game explosion might blast you out of the window. from $119 / woojer.com

Like the lovechild of an Android and a BlackBerry Passport, this phone has a physical backlit QWERTY keyboard beneath its square 4.6in touchscreen. It’s waterproof and dustproof, with a rugged case that’s designed to survive unplanned trips to the ground – whether you’re out hiking or furiously tapping out an email to your broker. $259 / unihertz.com

BUOQ AXIS

ST KIC AR K TE R

SACK IT

CHARGEMACHINE

WOOJER EDGE

UNIHERTZ TITAN

But where is the kick-starter?

YAMAHA THR30II WIRELESS In case you haven’t heard, Yamaha’s refreshed its THR desktop amplifier lineup. At long bloody last, we believe the saying goes. Musos around the world will shortly get a crack at a new THR-II series of amps. There’s the THR10II and the THR10II Wireless in the family but the favoured son is the THR30II Wireless. Why? A few reasons. Bluetooth support and an internal battery for lugging your axe into the forest (or wherever the drummer is sleeping this week) are tantalizing. Yamaha’s THR Remote editing app, emulation of more than 15 amp models plus flat voicing, if you don’t need any frills, make this a compelling addition to your audio arsenal. Rtba / yamaha.co.za

The phone to have when you go pro

CROSSCALL TREKKER-X4 It’s a phone, it’s a camera! It’s… things that every other phone on the planet already has. But Crosscalls Trekker-X4 has a way to stand out. Sure, it’s rugged, has a huge battery and specs you wouldn’t kick out of bed. But it’s also got something other phones don’t – a built-in action-cam. A pair of Sony-made sensors handle video, up to 4K at 30fps. It’s how the Trekker-X4 manages that video that’s different. Action-grade fisheye and telephoto lenses, with six-axis optical image stabilisation and some software tweakery, are present and ready to give GoPro a run for its money. How hard Crosscall will make action-cam makers gallop remains to be seen but we’ve got a full test coming up soon. R19 000 / crosscall.com

Dumps like a dumptruck

LEGO TECHNIC LIEBHERR R 98000 EXCAVATOR Designed to make you feel that a childhood powered by the magic of imagination is overrated, Lego’s Technic Leibherr R 98000 Excavator (created in partnership with the Swiss multinational) is engineering in action. First you’ll face a detailed 4100-piece build incorporating hydraulics and pistons. Then you’ll make sure the included dual Smart Hubs and motors (seven of the buggers) are in place and functioning, and then… then you’ll find yourself driving this one around using Lego’s Technic Control app, gleefully moving dirt from one pile to another while your offspring look on in vain, hoping for a turn. R8 000 / greatyellowbrick.co.za

DROP EVERYTHING & DOWNLOAD

Gris R80 / iOS

Gris on iOS could have been a disaster: elegant side-on platforming and hand-drawn art destroyed by ungainly touchscreen controls. Fortunately, this conversion from Switch/PC feels solid beneath your mitts, like manipulating a character on a living canvas. The story packs emotional heft, but its wordless nature allows you to infer what’s happening in a semi-abstract world. Occasionally the game’s old-fashioned underpinnings become too apparent, but then a moment will snap you out of it: a dress turning into a ground-smashing rock, a critter sneakily trailing you through the woods. And you’ll go back to revelling in a game with a lightness of touch that’s all too rare on mobile.

Teutonic the head-hog

SENNHEISER MOMENTUM 3 WIRELESS Sennheiser had always been the distinctly German, serious face of personal audio. Then a few years ago its bosses had one too many after-work Jägerbombs and conjured up the Momentum series, with stainless steel sliders and fancy finishes like suede – sehr crazy. They’ve since sobered up, and the result is the Momentum 3 Wireless noise-cancellers – with trademark flawless sound, but made from strokably soft sheep leather and available in sedate colours like black. There are three different modes of ANC, proximity sensors to stop the music when you’ve taken them off, Bluetooth 5.0, 17-hour battery life and Tile tracker integration should they go AWOL at the airport. Rtba / mitechdirect.com

Have I told you slately…

APPLE iPAD (7TH GEN) According to Apple, almost two-thirds of new users plump for the cheapest iPad. So it’s a good thing the king of tablets has been given some love at the lower end of the range. Not too much love, mind. The new 7th-gen iPad doesn’t get the Pro’s sleek design, nor a new chip (it still has the A10 Fusion), nor even USB-C. But the screen has been bumped up to 10.2in, so you’ve got more space to get artistic, while the new smart connector lets you attach your tablet to Apple’s full-size Smart Keyboard. And of course, it’ll also take advantage of the new dedicated iPadOS for greater multitasking between apps, the ability to drag and drop files, plus plenty more. Rtba / myistore.co.za 28

That’s a wrap

XIAOMI MI MAX ALPHA How do you make a smartphone stand out? They’re all vaguely rectangular slices of glass and metal, right? Not so, cries Xiaomi from the back. But that’s because its new Mi Max Alpha smartphone features a stunning 180.8% screen-to-body ratio. No, no laws of physics have been broken. The handset features a 7.92in wraparound screen that covers most of the device. Antennae are housed in the top and bottom and the rear strip creates space for a huge 108MP camera sensor – one of three that live inside this device. There’s a 12MP telephoto and a 20MP ultrawide in there as well. Also on-board are a Snapdragon 855+ processor, 512GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. Unusual enough for ya? Expect it around year-end. Rtba / mia.africa.com

Biggus processus

LENOVO LEGION Y740 Available in 15in and 17in versions (though we’re all about that 17in IPS screen), Lenovo’s newest Legionnaire wants you to get your game on in relative silence. There are Nvidia RTX options for your GPU, with the RTX 2060 being mighty popular. Chips start at the Intel Core i5-8300H and climb to a Core i7-8750H, you can pack it with up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM, and Lenovo have gone all skinny with the RGB-styling chassis. Fully loaded it’ll clock in at roughly 3kg so it’s not especially portable – but we’ve yet to meet an ultra-light laptop that’ll hammer frame-rates without also attempting to melt its way through your desk. SA’s gaming notebook wars just got another soldier. from R26 000 / evetech.co.za

Sorry about ‘slofies’, we’re tired

CANON EOS 90D

Take a 32.5MP CMOS sensor, stick Canon’s DIGIC 8 image processor (the same seen in its EOS M50, EOS R, and EOS RP shooters) in, and plop it into a compact, weather-sealed frame and you’ve got the EOS 90D. Besides the sensor and processor upgrades, there’s 4K video at 30fps, 1080p video at up to 120fps (yay slofies?), and high-speed shooting at up to 11fps. The adjustable 3in LCD touchscreen will turn 180-degrees, if you need to point it at your own mug and stay in shot, and the unit supports both EF and EF-S lenses. At around the R20k mark, this mid-ranger isn’t out of range for the apprentice-to-journeyman photog. It’ll also suit a pro looking for something light and versatile that doesn’t have a SARS-bothering price tag. R19 000 (body only) / canon.co.za 29

I C O N

SONY WALKMAN NW-A100TPS R7 480 approx / sony.com I appear to be reading an issue of Stuff from the late ’70s. I didn’t know it existed then? Much as we’d have loved having an Atari 2600 on the cover, Stuff did not exist then, and you remain very much in the present day. But your eyes do not deceive you: that is a Walkman. In the September issue we marked the 40th anniversary of Sony’s legendary portable cassette player with a look back at the icon that is the TPS-L2. We can only assume our considerable influence has led one of the world’s biggest consumer electronics companies to create this: a 40th anniversary NW-A100TPS personal music player with a specially designed soft case and retro packaging. Nostalgic nerds everywhere owe you a drink, Stuff. We’ll accept renewed subscriptions. On the back of the NW-A100TPS you’ll find a fancy anniversary logo, and it comes in a fancy box that’ll make you go all Comic Book Guy, handling it with white gloves to keep it preserved. Obviously it swaps cassette tapes for stored digital music, up to 16GB. But wait, there’s a twist: when you select a track, the song title appears on the 3.6in HD display as a mixtape. Does it sound as good as it looks? Well, Sony being Sony, this player supports hi-res audio. We also like the idea of the ‘vinyl processor’ that aims to give a bit of analogue warmth to digital tracks. Based on an Android 9 OS, the NW-A100TPS supports Bluetooth with aptX HD, NFC, Wi-Fi for direct downloads and streaming, USB-C charging, and microSD cards. Battery life is up to 26 hours. When can I buy one? It’ll be available from November, priced at around R7 500.

SELECT A TRACK AND THE SONG TITLE APPEARS ON THE DISPLAY AS A MIXTAPE

More t, vicar?

JABRA ELITE 75t The true wireless earbuds market has gone bonkers in the last year; and while Apple’s AirPods are still the ones you see protruding from people’s lugs most often, they’re by no means the best. We’ve been raving about Sony’s WF-1000XM3 in-ears, so it’s no surprise that Jabra has hit back – after all, for a long time its Elite 65t buds were the ones to beat. The 75t version isn’t a major upgrade, but the tweaks are significant: battery life is now 7.5 hours, or 28 if you consider the extra juice supplied by the case, which is now charged by USB-C. Jabra says a wireless case is coming next year. They’re 20% smaller too, which is claimed to make them more comfortable to wear for long periods. Rtba / jabra.co.za

WTF IS THE ACER PREDATOR THRONOS AIR? Hang on a second. Haven’t I seen that ludicrous mechanised gaming throne somewhere before?

Yes and no. This is Acer’s Predator Thronos Air, and it looks strikingly similar to the original Predator Thronos, which did indeed land a spot in this magazine. Presumably, the ‘Air’ in the sequel’s name indicates that you can now pick up the whacking great frame with one hand. Or maybe Acer’s slightly pushing it.

So what’s different?

Last year’s maiden Thronos weighed in at an appropriately monstrous R300 000. At just about R200 000, you’re probably thinking the Air sounds like an absolute bargain… but know this is a slightly streamlined model. The first Thronos enveloped you in its cockpit with a motorised monitor arm that you could control with buttons. While it was very cool, the tech powering it wasn’t cheap – so that arm is now adjusted manually.

But otherwise pretty much same deal?

Track and yield

GARMIN VENU Garmin’s campaign to make you toss your Apple Watch into a bush has just had a boost in the shape of the AMOLED-packing Venu. The first of Garmin’s smartwatches to get the vibrant screen tech, it also has GPS on board and is absolutely packed with health and fitness tracking skills, including heart-rate, pulse ox, sleep and menstrual cycles. That bright 1.2in screen is used for workout animations and notifications, while a five-day battery life will make sure you don’t have to worry too much about charging it between triple marathons. It comes in various finishes, which will dictate how much you pay for it, and you should be able to strap one on some time before Christmas. Rtba / garmin.co.za

Make no mistake, the Thronos Air is still the height of gaming decadence. It still allows you to mount three monitors (that you’ll unfortunately have to fund separately), and comes with an adjustable keyboard and mouse tray, as well as a foot rest. The chair can also tilt 130° while you’re inside the cabin and 180° outside, while teal blue lighting on the exterior glows as you play. There’s room to fix a camera above the middle monitor if you’re a streamer.

Maybe I’ll start. Anything else?

There is one more thing. The Thronos Air might ditch the motors, but it does gain a massage function. Hit a button on the remote and two illuminated blue orbs will get to work on your back. Well, everyone needs a little TLC after slaughtering an army of virtual aliens.

W H E E L S

Honda E

A HONDS-ON REVIEW Rtba / honda.com Hondahasbeengleefullyteasing usforawhilenowwithitsupcoming Emodel–thecheekyall-electric vehiclethatboastsretro-futuristic stylingandawholenewtakeon in-carentertainment. The model was once again on Honda’s stand at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, but now in full production guise and touting information on price, specifications and release dates. The Honda E will

start overseas from R490 000 for the 100kW version, rising to R535 000 for the ‘Advance’ grade that includes the awesome Side Camera Mirror System and motor output increased to 113kW. Nobody has been allowed to drive one yet, but we snuck behind the wheel during the show and prodded a few buttons to get to knowitbetter.Theinteriortrulyis lounge-like, with the relatively flat

floor (thanks, battery packs) allowing designers to create comfortable, luxurious seats that wouldn’t look out of place in a trendy office. Surfaces are covered in smooth wood veneers and the dual-screen infotainmentsystemwrapsaround the majority of the dashboard. The menus are laid out in an intuitive tile system, but it’s possible to swipe between the two screens. Driving

Dual 12.3in LCD touchscreens make up most of the dash, so there’s something for the front passenger to look at and interact with on a road trip.

These cameras reduce drag by 90% compared to normal mirrors, while smooth surfaces bring a 3.8% aero improvement all round.

and can’t decide on a soundtrack? Swipe the media menu over to the other screen and let your passenger deal with it. Honda’s designers don’t really like you referring to its little EV as retro, but there’s no denying there are nods to 1980s hatchbacks in the lines – yet it still feels fresh, and more like an environment in which occupants can chill as well as whiling away the highway monotony.

TOP FIVE CARS OF THE FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW

AUDI AI:TRAIL

Like something borrowed from Blade Runner 2049, Audi’s brilliantly macho off-road vehicle gives us a glimpse into a fully autonomous future. Drones act as pathfinders, feeding back live video, while large windows allow occupants to enjoy the scenery as they roll through it… hands-free.

LAMBORGHINI SIAN

It is going to be a while before we see a fully electric Lambo, but its angular Sian is at least a toe dipped in the EV stream. Its monstrous V12 engine develops over 785hp, but additional shove is provided by an e-motor, which in turn draws power from a supercapacitor.

MERCEDES VISION EQS Sleek, slippery, seductive: all perfectly good ways of describing Merc’s electric concept. The marque claims its powertrain brings 350kW of total output and a 0-100km/h sprint of 4.5s, while an ‘intelligent operating strategy’ allows a ‘comfortable’ range of a ‘mere’ 700 km.

VOLKSWAGEN ID 3

Is this the car that willbring emissions-free motoring to the masses? With prices starting at half a bar andan all-electric range of upto 550km, this VW offers an extremely enticing package. The interioris clean and simple, but more importantly, it’s as practical as a Golf.

CUPRA TAVASCAN

Lamborghinihasprovedan SUVcanbeexcitingtodrive withitsUrusmodel,but Seatbelievesthesame sortofmadcaphilaritycan beachievedwithoutfossil fuels.Poweredbytwo electricmotors,itssystem developsameaty306hp, propellingthisbigSUVto 100km/hinaclaimed6.5s.

Beneath the sleek shell lies a 35.5kWh water-cooled lithiumion battery pack that delivers power to a motor driving the rear wheels.

S T R E A M This month’s watch-when-you-want TV offerings are unusually strong on titles beginning with the word ‘The’

The Laundromat

The King

Steven Soderbergh takes on the true story of Mossack Fonseca’s Panamanian money-laundering and tax avoidance scheme, used by many of the world’s richest, most powerful people. With an all-star cast and the same sort of bleakly comic satirical approach as The Big Short, it promises to entertain and enrage in equal measure. Film / Netflix

In yet another new Netflix original movie, Timothee Chalamet dons the bowl haircut and plate armour of Henry V. Big shoes to fill, given King Hal’s many screen treatments over the years, but this biopic looks both lush and gritty – and we expect the Battle of Agincourt to be a highlight. Robert Pattinson and co-writer Joel Edgerton also star. Film / Netflix

The Crown

Rick and Morty

After two seasons with Claire Foy playing Elizabeth II, Netflix’s lavish royal drama jumps forward a few years and pushes the reset button on its entire cast. Now the queen is played by Olivia Colman (arguably even more of a national treasure than the actual monarch), who’ll have a new series of crises – both national and personal – to face. S3 / Netflix

Sometimes it’s hard to look past the deranged, loud and irritating fanbase, and recognise that this animated sitcom about a teenage boy and his mad scientist grandad might be one of the best bits of sci-fi currently on TV. This is the fourth series – and while no more than 10 episodes are promised, there could be more to follow. S4 / Netflix

The Man in the High Castle Amazon’s original shows tend to start strong then fade, and we don’t expect many new viewers to tune in for this final serving of the alternative history drama in which the Nazis won the war. Anyone who’s stuck with it this long, however, will be itching to return to this bizarro version of the ’60s. S4 / Amazon Prime Video

The End of the F***ing World Yes, the first series of this black comedy about misfit teens going on a murderous run had an almost perfect ending – but people loved it, so a second series had to follow. It’s been written by Charlie Covell again, so we’ll be there even if it tells a completely different story with a completely different cast. S2 / Netflix

As Breaking Bad’s final episode drew to its bittersweet end, Jesse Pinkman sped away into the night – bruised, traumatised, laughing, crying and presumably destined for a boring, law-abiding, meth-free life. That was way back in 2013, and six years later we’re seemingly about to find out where Jesse’s drive into the darkness actually led. El Camino is Netflix’s feature-length follow-up, shrouded in mystery but almost certainly a ‘what happened next’ sequel set after the tumultuous events of the final season. We can’t wait.

DO M N’ TH ISS T IS

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie Film / Netflix

NOCTURNAL TECH

WHO’S AFRAID OF THE DARK? Whether you’re reading up for camping or hell-bent on twilight escapades, we’ve got the right tech for an illuminating experience

JBL Pulse 4 Do you know what synesthesia is? It’s a condition that causes people to taste words, feel scents or see sounds. If you’re not lucky enough to experience the world like this, JBL’s new Pulse 4 Bluetooth speaker might be able to give you a flavour of what it’s like. With a load of LED lights installed beneath the speaker’s surface, it’ll light up the night in sync with your tunes, plus you can use your phone’s camera to scan colours for it to replicate. That colour-changing coat doesn’t mean it needs to be kept in cotton wool, as there’s IPX7 waterproofing, and despite all that illumination it’ll still bring the noise for 12 hours before needing a re-up via the USB-C port. Rtba / jbl.com

NOCTURNAL TECH Blue Monday

High-res 360° LED lights are married with a 360° speaker array for an AV show at just the right height for cats.

Ruby Tuesday

Feeling opulent? We quite like JBL’s expensive idea of sticking several on your stairs as musical night lights.

Lazy Sunday

The Pulse 4 can be used to pump out nothing but ambient light, whether you’re winding down or waking up.

NOCTURNAL TECH

The dark world

Projectors pop best in dark rooms, so sleepovers are perfect for unleashing the LED module with its 30 000hr lifespan.

Far from home

Choose a cable source from HDMI, USB-C and microSD, or go wireless with a Wi-Fi dongle or Bluetooth.

Infinity roar

As well as having a backlit remote, the X10-4K is ready for voice controls via both Google Assistant and Alexa.

NOCTURNAL TECH

HERMIT HELPERS Draw the curtains and tap ‘do not disturb’ on your smartphone – you’ve got a date with a duvet and nobody’s going to spoil it

Viewsonic X10-4K Most projectors have a face that only an IT procurement manager could love – plus they tend to give us the Powerpoint presentation chills. Viewsonic’s X10-4K isn’t most projectors; it might be the prettiest HDR home cinema powerhouse we’ve clapped eyes on. It’s short-throw, which means you can cast a 100-inch image from around two metres, and it’s portable, which means it’s easy to tuck away when not in use. And there’s integrated Harman Kardon sound, so should you decide to switch things to the bedroom you won’t need to haul a soundbar with it. The projector also includes a magnetic leather cover to hide the cable inputs – it’s these little touches that ensure it looks cool on a coffee table and is compact enough to fit those essential snacks alongside it. R30 100 / amazon.com

Laser X

Ikea Symfonisk

Scrape yourself off the couch for something remotely resembling exercise with a bit of ‘home Laser Quest’. Each set contains two blasters that have a 90m range and a built-in voice coach, and you get a choice of games. R1 000 / takealot.com

Sean Paul’s Gimme the Light is way more fun when you’re playing it on a table lamp. Ikea’s partnership with Sonos means the Symfonisk lamp/speaker can bring multiroom goodness with your existing home speakers. R2800(import)/ikea.com

Oculus Go We can’t think of a better way to block out the real world than wireless VR; but aside from gaming, the Go is really designed for sitting back in bed and streaming movies to your own private cinema. from R5 500 / 180by2.co.za

Cleer Enduro 100

Samsung Q60R

Manhattan T3-R

Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2S

Curling up in bed, closing your eyes and sticking on Slayer sounds like a textbook early night… but better get some decent noise-cancelling cans, like these 100hr endurance kings, in case the neighbours throw an impromptu party. R2 700 / cleeraudio.com

A 4K HDR panel, Samsung’s Quantum Dot and upscaling tech, soundbar optimisation and a delightful Ambient Mode mean you’ll never want to leave the house. Samsung’s smart home tech is also supported. from R30000 / takealot.com

Going down the projector route means no smart TV platform, so enter this magic box of tricks featuring Freeview Play, all the major catch-up services and up to 600 hours of recording space. from R3500 / amazon.co.uk

WiFi support and app control are just the start of this Xiaomi air purifier. It also features a laser sensor and a delivery rate of 310 cubic metres an hour. R2 400 / mia.africa.com 39

NOCTURNAL TECH

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES Never mind a bit of darkness – these kit-list essentials will help you step off the beaten track and explore beyond your boundaries

Swiss Safe Emergency Thermal Blanket If you find yourself lost in the wilderness, wrapping yourself in foil could save your life. This survival blanket can help you retain up to 90% of your body heat. R210 / swisssafe products.com

LED Lenser MH11 Take light into the dark with the MH11, with Bluetooth (for adjusting settings, including a timer), a rechargeable battery, and brightness of up to 1000 Lumens. R2 500 / capeunionmart. co.za 40

Rino

Inov-8 Trailroc G 280 Summer has a habit of turning perfectly good off-road routes into a slippery death traps. These light and fast trail shoes stack the odds back in your favour with graphene-coated super-grip soles that cling tight to slippery climbs and let you bounce around like a goat. R2 150 / runnerinn.com

You don’t need a nature documentary to know the world’s weather has gone batpoo… so this complete survival system has everything you need to keep two people supplied for 72 hours in an emergency. Come at us Eskom. R5400 / rinoready.com

LynQLong-Range Location Tracker

Pelican Go G40 Case

Grayl Ultralight Water Purifier

If you’re hacking out into the unknown in a group, this person-to-person GPS tracker can help you find anyone who gets lost. Link up to 12 of them and they’ll stay connected within a 5km range. R1650 / lynqme.com

Smartphones and other everyday valuables are not compatible with smashing around in remote places… unless you’re smart enough to stick them in one of these virtually bulletproof cases. R1375 / importitall.co.za

Water,watereverywhere but not a drop to drink? Not so fast. This portable purifier works much like a coffee press, letting you scoop up – and clean up – the H2O from almost any supply in 15 seconds. R940 / blackleaf.com

Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar Built to support the toughest adventures on and off the tarmac, the new rugged Fenix has all the tracking features you’d expect from a top-end multi-sport outdoors watch. And then some. These include TopoActive maps with turn-by-turn navigation, round trip routing, altimeter, barometer and compass. But the killer USP for even longer off-grid adventures is solar charging. Inside the Fenix’s tough DLC-coated titanium bezel there’s a 1.4in Power Glass lens that sucks up sunlight to extend battery life to a whopping 56 days in expedition mode – an ultra-low GPS option for letting you explore further between charges. Rtba / garmin.co.za

NOCTURNAL TECH

Ration book

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll get 15 hours in standard GPS mode; the power manager reveals which sensors use the most energy.

Hill seeker

Pace Pro serves up grade-adjusted guidance as you run to help you pace intelligently across changing terrain.

Wish wrist

This watch also offers contactless payments with Garmin Pay and offline music with Spotify and Deezer.

NOCTURNAL TECH

Sput-nicked

The twin antennae make this look like a prop from a Russian space movie, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IP67 weather-resistant.

Oi, leave it!

You can record your own greeting (or warning) that will trigger when somebody trips the sensors.

Blast off

If your pre-recorded message fails to deter an intruder, fall back on the 100dB siren and full-on strobe light.

NOCTURNAL TECH

BURGLAR B E AT E R S The latest in smart home security is so much more effective than that dusty old cricket bat under the bed

ZeroVision Alarm

Ezviz C3WN Given we all know that burglars wear black and white stripes, full colour night vision might seem like a smart tech feature too far. But in truth, the pitch-black performance of this Ezviz camera is phenomenal, producing brilliantly detailed videos from dusk until dawn. The 1080p Full HD cam also includes two spotlights plus motion detection to make sure it captures all the action. All features are tweakable to prevent the cats/ neighbours/ghosts waking you every hour, there’s two-way talk if you want a chat, and the night vision can record images up to 30m away. If you don’t want to pay for a cloud subscription, there’s a microSD slot with a capacity of up to 256GB. Rtba / ezvizlife.com

Burglars beware, this professionally installed wireless smoke-bomb is triggered remotely when intruders are detected and will fill any room with impenetrable non-toxic fog until the cops arrive. from R5 560 (import) / verisure.co.uk

Klevio An innovative approach to smart security, this intercom system allows you to open multiple doors via a smartphone app using Wi-Fi or 4G, as well as sharing (and revoking) digital keys with visitors without needing a new lock. from R9 300 / klevio.com

D-Link DCS-8515LH

Neos SmartCam Putting the majority of smart cam brands to shame, this mini marvel has night vision, motion detection, geolocation, 1080p resolution, Alexa and free cloud storage for your incriminating footage. R1 500 / manicaa.com

Netatmo Smart Alarm System

Hive View Outdoor

Combine a camera that recognises faces, door/ window security tags and a 110dB alarm, and you’ve got yourself a fully primed security system that can tell serial killer from sister-in-law. from R1300 / netatmo.com

Finally, a camera stylish enough to grace the front of your chateau. Hive’s IP66-rated cube has a built-in microphone and speaker, 130° field of view, 1080p sensor and IFTTT support. R3300 / hivehome.com

Step up to Sauron levels of home security with this Wi-Fi-connected HD cam with 360° vision and auto-tracking tilt-and-turn tech that will track – and record – any moving objects around the room. Rtba / d-link.co.za

Yale Keyless Connected Use PIN codes of up to 10 digits to secure your home – provided the door opens inwards. Yale’s smarter lock can be retrofitted to 60mm back-set night latches. R4 000 / takealot.com 43

NOCTURNAL TECH

SLEEPING BEAUTIES Snooze, don’t lose: make sure you wake up ‘reborn’ every morning with the help of these shuteye-ensuring gadgets

Snoooze Mom told us to keep clear of sleep-inducing drinks, but the boffins who created Snoooze (ironically they’re the same people behind Red Bull) assure us its blend of passion flower, poppy and lemon balm will help us relax. from R56 / snoooze.co

Simba Mask Pillow and App

Snoo Smart Sleeper Take all the tedious effort out of parenting (well, some of it) with this designer cot, which boosts a baby’s sleep by combining gentle rocking with white noise and snug swaddling, imitating the calm of the womb. R19 500 (import) / happiestbaby.com

Groclock Sun and Stars

Glow Light

Get the kids involved with the Groclock. Simple visuals tell the littlest ones it’s still time to sleep. Older kids can learn to tell time on the adjustable digital display. R500 / takealot.com

This touch-controlled bedside lamp can be twisted to adjust brightness, uses an app for an illuminating wakeup, and has built-in light sensors so you can take it to the loo without waking the whole house. R3 100 / bigapplebuddy.com

Better Sleep White Noise Machine This is a super-cheap white noise box to help block out the voices in your head. Choose from five sounds, including a calming ocean, and set the auto-off time to 30, 60 or 90 minutes R600 / takealot.com

Mattress people Simba want you to enjoy a good night, and to help they’ve developed a coaching app with real-time sleep tracking and a luxury eye-mask to take the sunrise out the equation. R750 / simbasleep.com

Dreem2 Headband An FDA-approved medical tool in the US, this brain-reading EEG headband provides a detailed report about your sleep and offers tools, exercises and coaching to deal with any problems. R6 700 / dreem.com

Kokoon Designed for long-haul regulars and anyone who sleeps on their back, these do-it-all headphones are loaded with sensors, boast ANC and come with… drum roll… a smartphone app that tracks your sleep and adjusts output to help you get better rest. As the wearer falls asleep, the audio changes in response to movement and brain activity, gradually fading out the content and introducing white noise to mask out disturbances. The system also tracks sleep and learns what works – so if you enjoy drifting off to the ear-bleeding melodies of Manowar, the ’phones will adjust the algorithm accordingly. Thankfully they’re also super-comfy noise-cancelling cans with a 13hr battery life, and at 350g they won’t weigh you down. R6 500 (import) / kokoon.io

NOCTURNAL TECH

Nap app

With a mixture of CBT exercises, relaxing music and natural soundscapes, the app is an expert sleep-bringer.

Soft play

Fully breathable earcups covered in natural fabrics mould to the shape of your head for all-night comfort.

White out

As well as ANC and natural isolation, Kokoon uses â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;active white noiseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to pump your brain full of anti-sound.

NOCTURNAL TECH

Clean air act

A digital filter strips away light pollution so even city dwellers can get clear views of the next lunar eclipse.

All-nighter

Long-exposure images can take 30 minutes or more, which is why the Stellina has a 10-hour battery life.

Galaxy note

The motorised scope focuses itself on your app-selected galaxy and sends a close-up view to your phone.

NOCTURNAL TECH

STA R G A Z I N G S U P E R N OVAS K2-18b is 650 million million miles away, so you’ll be needing some decent kit to check out those interplanetary waterfalls

Vaonis Stellina Make the most of the long, gloomy nights with this app-controlled hot-spot-generating telescope. Point it skyward, connect the app, choose your preferred constellation and let the Vaonis do the rest. No bigger than a briefcase, this motorised smart scope takes total control of the image processing, tracking the star, planet or constellation while combining and overlaying multiple exposures to reduce noise and create a spectacular galaxy-worthy photo. With 3096x2080 resolution, 400mm focal length and 80mm aperture, the Stellina will sit patiently and perfectly still for hours to get stunning long-exposure images, so all you need to do is have a nap and take the credit when you post them online. R65 800 / vaonis.com

Stellarium Mobile Sky Map

Celestron PowerTank

A real-time planetarium app that’ll reveal the secrets of the solar system in seconds: hold it up to the sky and investigate over 600,000 stars, satellites and space stations on the zoomable map. R47 / iOS, Android

If you’re rocking astro gear, you’ve gotta power it. Celestron’s PowerTank is compact, lightweight and will run your kit all night. The Lithium Ion Phosphate battery gives it a ten-year shelf life, too. R3600 / glagencies.co.za

Canon 18x50 IS All Weather When the shakes get the better of you, these pro-quality binos boast 18x magnification, 60.3° field of view and Canon’s fantastic optical image stabilisation to help you focus on objects far, far away. R19 000 / incredible.co.za

Homestar Flux

ScopeDome 2m

Celestron 80AZS

Nikon Monarch 5 10x42

The most advanced home planetarium available will splatter your ceiling with 60,000 stars, mimicking real constellations and celestial movements. The quality glass lens and 5W LED bulb can focus at up to 290cm. R2 800 / segatoys.space

Just your standard at-home observatory, this 2m-diameter motorised dome wants nothing more than a patio, a power supply and a telescope to create ideal conditions to view the solar system. R51 150 / scopedome.com

Exploring the night sky for the first time? An 80mm f/5 short-tube is your best bet for compact, easy to set-up stargazing. But don’t bank on this wide-field wonder staying your only ‘scope. Add a 10in Dob. R4 600 / glagencies.co.za

Nikon’s binoculars' wide objective, ED glass and nitrogen purging make these waterproof watchers ideal for a chilly night of constellations. R6500 / capeunionmart. co.za 47

NOCTURNAL TECH

NIGHT SHIFTERS If you were born to run, light yourself up and stay safe on the streets with this selection of the best hi-viz gear

Safety Skin Don’t want your entire running wardrobe to be sweetshop-coloured? This reflective roll-on is an alternative: swipe luminous stripes onto your skin when you need to be seen, wash it off when you’re done. R510 / safetyskin products.com

Proviz Reflect360 RunningBackpack Asics Nimbus 21 Lite Show The running equivalent of cyclists’ glow-in-the-dark spokey dokeys, these shoes turn the main moving part of every runner – your feet – into a fine safety feature. When darkness descends and car headlights hit the 360° reflectivity, they light up like a ’90s raver. R2 400 / runnerinn.com

UA Flash Wireless

Nathan Light Spur

Pound the night pavement as Under Armor’s waterproofing shrugs off sweat, while TalkThru and Ambient Aware tech keep you aware of your surroundings. R3 000 / takealot.com

Clip these spurs to your shoes and you can stride lazily around town like a midnight cowboy, safe in the knowledge that 40 hours of 5-lumen strobe lighting will let other road users know you’re there. No dying with your boots on here. R360 / amazon.com

2XU Reflect Run Compression Tights It may be summer but South Africa's weather may not be aware of this. Warmth is needed. This reflective option offers a triple whammy of warmth, compression and road safety. R1700 / 2xu.com

If there’s a brighter night-ready backpack, our headlights haven’t hit it yet. This 10-litre waterproof pack has reflective strips and webbing all round so people can see you coming and going. R840 / provizsports.com

FlipBelt Reflective Probably the best solution for stashing your keys, cards, cash, phone, gels and other paraphernalia on runs, the FlipBelt system is simple: stick it all in the reflective tubular belt, flip it over and everything stays put. R630 / flipbelt.com

Vollebak Black Squid Jacket Windproof and waterproof, this Technicolor jacket’s design is based on the alien-like adaptive camouflage skills of deep-sea squid that change their colour and appearance at high speed to avoid predators. With three layers created using lasers and resin, it packs over two billion microscopic glass spheres. In its natural state it appears a gently metallic oily black, but that explodes into life when it hits bright light: those spheres take nanoseconds to absorb and reflect every colour in the visible spectrum, making you as impossible to miss as a neon cephalopod in the headlights of a scientific research submarine. R15 000 / vollebak.com

NOCTURNAL TECH

Shifty shades

Cape sphere

The 40,000 glass spheres embedded in each square centimetre reflect and scatter all visible light.

In regular sunlight, the jacket takes on the appearance of liquid metal with swirling pools of colour.

Zipper street

It has waterproof seams, zips and sealed front pockets, plus a wool-lined collar for comfort. 49

NOCTURNAL TECH

Manual labour

There’s no continuous AF, eye-tracking, stabilisation or other automatic systems… so get practising.

Snap out of it

The touchscreen menu and easy access to basic settings make it easy to use if you know what you’re doing.

Hyper links

As well as a standard 3.5mm microphone port, there’s a mini-XLR socket for pro mics plus USB-C and HDMI.

NOCTURNAL TECH

LOW-LIGHT LUMINARIES With the latest in gloom-busting camera tech you can take pics like Lionel Richie: all night long (all night), all night long (all night)

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Admittedly it looks like your nan’s old film-loaded snapper, but this hunk of retro love is a powerhouse of cinema-quality video tech. For a start it shoots in 6K and has a massive 6144x3456 Super 35 sensor and EF lens mount. The result is professional-quality images in all light conditions – with 13 stops of dynamic range and dual native ISO up to 25,600 – with a shallow depth of field conjuring up a soft, cinematic look. In terms of affordable Hollywood-level video recording you simply won’t find better than this, outperforming the current crop of mirrorless cameras. Not to be mistaken for a point-and-shooter, this is for budding directors, not bloggers; and the ability to shoot RAW 6K gives you endless possibilities in post-production. R49 720 / ormsdirect.co.za

Equinox Z2 Night Vision Monocular

Samsung Galaxy S10+

There’ll be owl-spotting aplenty with this monocular that sees clearly in pitch black up to 180m away. You can record any goings-on in 1080p or stream to the companion app on your smartphone. R6 610 / loot.co.za

This is about the most feature-packed Galaxy ever, and the upgraded Night Mode function can be switched on manually when the lights go out to minimise noise and boost colours. R16 000 / samsung.com/za

Lumix G90 This is an exceptional all-round Micro Four Thirds choice for bloggers and vloggers that delivers pin-sharp 4K and superb slo-mo; plus the 20.3MP sensor means you’ll get beautifully detailed images in the gloom. Rtba / panasonic.com

Sony RX0 II An impossibly small 4K camera with a murk-loving 1in sensor, this travel blogger’s delight is smaller than a GoPro, waterproof to 10m, dustproof, shockproof and crushproof, with eye-tracking AF for selfies. Rtba / sony.co.za

Bushnell Core DS Low-Glow Trail Camera This motion-activated night-vision camera with 30m range, 30MP sensor and Full HD video with audio should finally reveal which of the neighbour’s cats is crapping on your patio. R5 000 / kloppers.co.za

Thumbs Up Ring Light Take influencer-style selfies without the pain and expense of lip fillers with this dinky smartphone-mounted LED ring, which gives your mug an evenly exposed light however dingy the nightclub. R186 / asos.com

DJI Osmo Pocket A gimbal at night is fun with the Pocket’s new NightShot update. Beats attempting to find where you’ve dropped your smartphone in the dark. R7100 / capeunionmart. co.za 51

NOCTURNAL TECH

RISE AND SHINERS Make the unavoidable bearable with the best wake-up tech and smart alarm clocks to ease you into the working/shirking day

Sensorwake

Oura Ring

Wake up to the smell of fresh-cut grass, peppermint or the ocean, among other options: this capsulebased alarm clock fills your nostrils with sweet scents, which will make a change from last night’s discarded socks. Rtba / sensorwake.com

A mere 6g of subtle sleep-tracking smarts, this titanium ring has optical pulse measurement, accelerometer, gyroscope and body temperature sensor. It will analyse your sleep brilliantly. R5170 / ouraring.com

Lexon Miami Sunrise This stylish ‘light therapy alarm clock’ mimics the rising of the sun in the morning, with the added bonus of seven natural sound effects. Thankfully the sound of clubbers rolling home at 6am isn’t one of them. R1 250 / amara.com

Bigben Retro Alarm Clock

Lifx

Night tech doesn’t have to be all smart, all the time. This batterypowered (take that Eskom) digital bedside clock supports two alarms and an FM radio in a stylish retro casing. R700 / raru.co.za

Lifx’s Day & Dusk mode mimics natural sunlight throughout the home, so bulbs start off soft in the morning, gradually brighten through the day for focus and then become calmer in the evening to help you relax. from R1 500 / pclinkshop.com

Soma Smart Shades & Soma Connect Add a solar-powered motor to your existing blind cord, sync the Connect box to your Wi-Fi for voice control, and tell your blinds when you want to wake up. from R1 650 / somasmarthome.com

Philips Wake Up Light The slow to wake will find themselves gently ushered into the new day by Philips’ gradually brightening alarm clock. It simulates sunrise, giving you a natural start to the day. Minus all those wild animals. R1 175 / ubuy.za.com

Lenovo Smart Clock Despite having a 4in screen of its own, this is designed to encourage you to put down your smartphone at bedtime. Essentially a pared-back Lenovo Smart Display, it makes the most of Google Assistant so can stream music and radio, control any smart home kit and even help you unwind. How? There’s a built-in wake-up routine, which can tell your smart lights to begin gradually brightening 30 minutes before your alarm goes off and cycle through the weather forecast, daily schedule and news headlines. The Smart Clock’s own screen will also get progressively brighter before it teases you from your slumber. It works in reverse at night, and you can have it play sleepy ambient sounds as you drift off. R1 500 (import) / lenovo.com

NOCTURNAL TECH

Screened off

The 800x480 resolution and teeny speakers won’t wow, but that hardly matters when you’re asleep.

Beddy buddy

At just 11cm wide this dinky fabric-covered dude won’t get in the way, and its USB port will juice your phone.

Hub club

Nest Cam owners can use the Smart Clock to check their live feed; it can also control other smart home devices.

NOCTURNAL TECH

MORE E-BIKES p84

Tour cure

The smart lock can be deactivated wirelessly via Bluetooth, and you can grant access to a friend in need.

Chain gang

No need to fiddle your chain. It's completely enclosed and will automatically adjust its tension.

Vuelta melter

If anyone tampers with the immobiliser, the alarm will sound and the motor will eventually be disabled.

NOCTURNAL TECH

NIGHT RIDERS Cycling safe doesn’t have to mean being a head-to-toe beacon of fluoro lameness… here’s the finest illuminating bike tech

Rapha Roll Top Backpack

Vanmoof S2 Described as the Tesla of electric bikes – albeit without a megalomaniac at the helm – the S2 is crammed full of practical and way-cool tech. The 250W pedal-assisted motor hidden in the front wheel hub maxes out at 35km/h – but it’ll still whisk you sweatlessly up the steepest slopes – while the 166-LED display on the crossbar shows speed, battery level and locked status. And if you press and hold the button on the right side of the handlebars, you can access the four power levels. Naturally you get integrated front and rear LED lights and a pile of impossibly smart Bluetooth security features R48 100 / vanmoof.com

By day it’s a stylish Rapha commuter pack with laptop sleeve and multiple hidden pockets; but caught in a post-dusk headlight beam, the reflective base will light up faster than an Olympic Rasta. R2 050 / rapha.cc

Lumos Matrix

Exposure Six Pack MK10 Not for road use – unless you want to imitate a runaway train – this insanely powerful 3600-lumen MTB light will bring daylight to dark trails, adjusting brightness depending on your speed and ascent. R9 000 / exposurelights.com

Beryl Pixel

SmartHalo

This little loop of luminescence is a featherweight and waterproof flip-over light for the casual commuter that can shine either red or white for 10 hours straight and easily clip onto bike, bag, helmet or body. R370 / beryl.cc

A light with real smarts, this handlebar-mounted unit will light up at the slightest hint of dusk; and when paired with your phone, the LED display can give you turn-by-turn directions, track your speed and wail to ward off thieves. R2100 / bikeinn.com

Giro Empire ACC Reflective Road Shoes Giro’s ultralight road shoe has a one-piece upper coated in reflective Evofiber to boost your visibility in traffic, while the comfy carbon sole gives plenty of power through the pedals. R3165 / bikeinn.com

Landing this month, the latest Lumos helmet features a 77-dot RGB LED matrix display customisable to any pattern – oh, the potential – and is twice as bright as the old model. There’s even a ‘hairport’ for ponytails. R3700 / lumoshelmet.co

Garmin Varia Rearview Use the Varia in the evenings for radar warning of traffic from the rear. The rear light also notifies motorists they’re not hallucinating reflective strips. R3 500 / capeunionmart. co.za 55

It all started at Musica in 1963... A need to provide the general South African public with music. To become a destination where something new awaits... browsing your favourite genre of music, hoping to discover your next favourite song you didn’t even realise existed. Enter movies... owning your favourite movie for you to binge watch whenever you desired. Then video games happened. The adrenaline of beating your favourite game allowed for multiple hours of pure entertainment and of course bragging rights! And now we have dramatically expanded our technology and accessories offering to enhance your experience, featuring top brands in headphones and speakers, exciting photography ranges, as well as board games, collectables and loads more. One thing is certain... entertainment remains at the heart of it all. Musica - All the entertainment you and your family could ever expect under one roof, by bringing you the:

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79995

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24995

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399995

WAS 119995

NOW 99995

SAVE 200

SIGNA S2

MAGNIFI MINI

3999

5999

899995

Available end November

374995

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MAGNIFI MAX

899995

569995

Available end November

WAS 279995

NOW 239995

149995

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329995

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21995 39995

32GB 64GB

29995 44995

32GB 64GB

24995

19995

24995

6995 EACH 14995 EACH

Wide range of characters available

24995 EACH

BASE SET

89995

EXPANDALONE

STARTER KIT

59995

29995

37995

WHO IS POPSOCKETS BEFORE POPSOCKETS GRIPS THERE WERE BUTTONS. In 2014, David Barnett—a philosophy professor in Boulder, Colorado—glued two huge, horrendously ugly buttons onto the back of his phone to solve the age-old problem of the tangled earbud cord. Sixty prototypes later, the PopSockets grip was born—an expandable, collapsible grip and stand for your phone that could still be used to tame the tangle. The business has grown from David’s garage to having offices in Boulder, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Finland. To date, we have sold over 160 million PopSockets grips globally.

Available end October

Blue Nebula 95

149

Festive Marvel season Black95Panther pricing 199

Marvel Captain America 95

199

TESTED APPS

Mini meme

● Spaceteam

Your spaceship’s trying to outrun an exploding star, but the controls were designed by a sadist. They’re shared between screens owned by up to eight players, and commands that appear on yours may not refer to your own set of switches and buttons. This is the only game where someone will scream “Can someone PLEASE turn on the Eigenthrottle?” before bursting into tears. Free / Android, iOS

● Fruit Ninja

We’re getting dangerously close to the point where some mobile games can be considered ‘retro’. Tasty slice-’em-up Fruit Ninja is of a 2010 vintage, but still feels fresh today as you use a finger to make salad of whatever’s lobbed on-screen – as long as it’s not a bomb. Head-to-head bouts pit you and a chum against the clock, or have you fight tense battles where three strikes means you lose. Free / Android, iOS 68

PLAY WITH YOUR FRIENDS Here are six high-quality multiplayer mobile titles that you can learn in an instant, but that’ll keep you screen-bound for hours

● Battle Golf

Much of developer Colin Lane’s catalogue would fit here, not least his demented and bouncy sports titles Rowdy Wrestling, Touchdowners and Dunkers. But this one gets the nod with its one-button gameplay, holes that randomly appear from a lake, and the ability to unsportingly bean your opponent with a golf ball when they’re threatening to take the lead. Free / Android, iOS

● Keep Talking and

Nobody Explodes

A bomb’s about to go off and only you can stop it. Except you don’t have instructions. Your friends do, as on-screen PDFs, or – if going old-school – printed on a bundle of dead tree. The twist? They can’t look at your jumble of modules, and you can’t look at their convoluted printouts while you try to stop everyone going out with a bang. R135 / Android, iOS

● Badland

With roughly even helpings of mad, pretty, infuriating and compelling, Badland is a good bet in single player, as you tap to nurse a winged beast through a forest packed with traps. But in multiplayer, up to four players do battle in a madcap survival race through the kind of woods you’re sure to get a big surprise in. Deranged fun – especially when you’re all sitting around a smallish phone. Free / Android ● R7 / iOS

● SenSense

Rather than ramping up tension by making a group yell at each other, SenSense’s collaborative multiplayer echoes the three wise monkeys: three players don headphones, but one is deafened by audio, one is barred from speaking, and another must shut their eyes. Only then do you tackle the puzzles – and realise how tricky communication is when everyone’s robbed of one of their senses. Free (IAPs) / Android, iOS

T E S T E D M S I G T 7 6 T I TA N D T 9 S G

Champion of Cronus Named for the colossi of ancient Greek myth, MSI’s GT76 Titan lives up to its namesake by being ponderously powerful

Better than real life HD not your thing? MSI offers this notebook with a UHD (3840x2160) IPS panel as well. Expect to pay more.

from R79 000 / evetech.co.za ■ It’s big, it’s shiny, it’s got grilles and fans all over, and a spot of carbon fibre below. It’s not a supercar, though it brings one to mind. MSI’s GT76 Titan has left the company’s signature red-andblack behind for gunmetal and an evocative design. A design that makes it look like the competition. ■ Under the godly skin, though, the GT76 is all business. Intel’s unlocked Core i9-9900K CPU is there, as is 64GB of RAM and a GeForce RTX 2080. Them’s fighting specs, if you’re comparing digital er… endowment (that’s a thing that totally happens). In practise, the only way to slow the Titan down is to set it on fire. ■ You won’t want to do that, though. The 17.3in panel sports skinny bezels and a slim – though tough – thickness. Most of the bulk here is the internal system. The 240Hz display is speedy enough for all your gaming needs. And all of the others. There’s also a 4K panel option, but that doesn’t have quite as fast a refresh rate. ■ The keyboard’s a chiclet type, with deeper travel than you’re expecting. We’ve seen these machines with mechanical keys in the past but they’ve been dropped here. You’ll be able to use the keyboard for fragging but the trackpad, while solid, is just begging to be replaced with an adjustable-DPI gaming mouse.

Tech specs ■ Seen the light

It’s not gaming hardware without garish (but customisable) lighting all over. The GT76 Titan uses MSI’s Mystic Light for the Steelseries keyboard but it’s especially Need for Speed-y thanks to the new underglow strip.

■ Feel the heat

A great touch is the cooling system, comprising four fans and eleven pipes, that speed heat away from the main bits. It’s quite an attractive arrangement, which is (partly) why MSI’s left them visible from the underside.

Display 17.3in FHD 240Hz CPU Intel Core i9-9900K RAM 64GB DDR4 GPU Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 4GB Storage 1TB HDD, 1TB SSD OS Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Battery 90Wh Connectivity 4x USB 3, 2x USB-C, 3.5mm Dimensions 397 x 330 x 42mm

STUFF SAYS The weapon of choice when attempting to slay an online god ★★★★★

Want to mess with the best? Pay more than the rest

The GT76 Titan’s price tag seems excessive but this is a true desktop replacement. You can swap everything bar your headphones and gaming mouse with a single 4.2kg unit with everything from a high-end 240Hz monitor to some of the best internals available. Just the processor, GPU, and RAM – for a desktop system – will cost more than R30k. When you factor in the clever cooling, the rest of the tech, and that you don’t have to set up a thing… 69

T E S T E D S A M S U N G G A L A X Y TA B S 6

Swanky doodle Samsung’s latest tablet sets its sights on Apple’s iPads with a slick design and a fab scribbly stylus R16 500 / samsung.com/za ■ Most tech firms have left the tablet game to Apple. Amazon makes plenty of cheap options, but only Samsung is really competing with the iPads, and the Galaxy Tab S6 is its latest offering. It is, almost without question, the best Android tablet in the world.

Pic sides This is one of the few tablets to have dual rear cameras. Results are decent for a tab, but no match for a decent modern phone.

■ Samsung has flirted with glass backs on tablets but this one is aluminium and it feels fantastic. There’s a shallow groove where the S-Pen stylus lives – a magnet keeps it in place and a wireless charging panel tops up its battery. ■ The Tab S6’s wireless S-Pen is a pretty serious piece of drawing tech, comparable with the Apple Pencil. It can sense 4096 levels of pressure, the screen knows when the nib is hovering above the screen, and the tip’s design makes drawing feel smooth and natural. ■ The 10.5in Super AMOLED screen is a good size for sketching. Side by side with the Galaxy Tab S5e there’s little difference – either gets you a sharp image, rich colour and excellent contrast – but the older model actually has more colour modes to choose from. ■ The Snapdragon 855 glides through games with all optional visual extras switched on, and that’s one of the main reasons to choose this over the Tab S5e. It’s a brilliant gaming tablet.

Tech specs Screen 10.5in 2560x1600 AMOLED Processor Snapdragon 8150 RAM 6/8GB OS Android 9 Cameras 13MP + 5MP rear, 8MP front Battery 7040mAh Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-C, microSD Storage 128/256GB Dimensions 245x160x5.7mm, 420g

■ Touching bass

There are four speakers tuned by sonic specialist AKG and they’re distinctly louder, bassier and beefier than the average tablet sound-spitters. This is a big bonus for apps like Netflix and YouTube, and for gaming.

■ It’s PC gone pad

This tablet supports Samsung’s Windows-style DeX interface. It’s wasted without the optional keyboard accessory, but buy one and this becomes just about the best possible Android-based laptop-replacer.

STUFF SAYS This is the Android tablet to get if you like doodling or gaming ★★★★✩

A brilliant tab if you really, really don’t want to buy an iPad 70

Should you buy this over an iPad Pro, iPad Air or Galaxy Tab S5e? That’s a tricky one. The iPad Pro is more expensive, but the iPad Air isn’t (even if you include the Pencil). And the cheaper Tab S5e has several of this model’s highlights, including a great screen, high-end design and support for DeX. Still, if you’re an Apple hater with a good chunk of cash to spend, this is the best tablet for you.

TESTED SONY XPERIA 5

Sony tech’s cheerier We’ve barely made up our minds about the Xperia 1 yet, but the firm’s new dinkier version could be a real compact contender Rtba / sony.com/za ■ When we first met the Xperia 5 on the crowded IFA show floor, we just didn’t think there was enough going on to make it really pop. But running side-by-side comparisons with rivals like the OnePlus 7 Pro and Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro, one thing hits home: Sony does ‘premium’ very well.

Dongle boogie There’s no headphone port, but you do get a dongle in the box. There’s also a microSD card slot to boost the storage.

■ This is a safe, classical design that sums up the whole Xperia 5 experience. The screen is 6.1in – big, but not too big – and framed by a decent amount of bezel. But it’s light at just 164g, and slimmer than the new iPhone 11. ■ The HDR OLED panel is bright, viewing angles are exceptional, and it’s easy to see in dazzling conditions outdoors. And Sony’s video image enhancements crisp things up to shine a light on detail in a way that the OnePlus 7 Pro, for example, doesn’t. ■ Sony makes camera sensors for everyone, but its own phones have never quite clinched that crown. The Xperia 5’s triple-lens array gets it closer than ever. Images have a healthy amount of detail, colours are rich and low-light performance is pleasantly realistic. ■ A Snapdragon 855 with 6GB of RAM makes short work of everything from games to UI swiping. The only area where this phone seemingly fails to deliver is the flaky fingerprint scanner, although Sony says this was down to an issue on our early sample.

■ Splitting comfortably

Multitasking is sweet thanks to the phone’s tall display: Twitter scrolling at the bottom, YouTube playing a video at the top, easy peasy. Sony’s even included a multi-window shortcut on your homescreen by default.

■ Side effects

‘Side sense’ means you can double-tap the edge of the screen and, bam, a thumb-friendly menu pops up for quick access to your most used apps. When it works, it’s excellent… but we only had a 70% success rate firing it up.

Tech specs Screen 6.1in 2520x1080 HDR OLED Processor Snapdragon 855 RAM 6GB OS Android 9 Cameras 3x 12MP rear, 8MP front Battery 3140mAh Storage 128GB Dimensions 158x68x8.2mm, 164g

STUFF SAYS A pocketable flagship with a sensational screen and a great camera ★★★★★

Sony’s still not found perfection, but it’s ramping up the specs

The only bad thing about our Xperia 5 was an unreliable fingerprint scanner; but given Sony’s assurances that this is being handled, we’d rather discuss the epic display, the ample power for gaming, and the refined camera. IP68 water-resistance and Gorilla Glass 6 make it hardier than anything else in its price category, and with battery life also improved from the Xperia 1, this is a great all-round phone. 71

PERKY POUCHES

FANCY FOLIOS

SENSIBLE STOWERS

UPVOTED

The frisky folder

Peak Design Tech Pouch For an instant answer to accessory overload, get yourself an origami organiser. Inspired by the Japanese art of paper-folding, this sturdy storage solution has dividers that keep your tech separate without sapping space, while the recycled nylon canvas shell is properly weatherproof. R1 055 / ubuy.za.com

The hipster holdall

Waterfield Developer’s Gear Case Become a digital nomad, they said. You just need a laptop and a taste for matcha lattes, they said. Now you’re knee-deep in dongles and can’t find your headphones for all those braided cables. Find freelance freedom with this capacious case, divided inside and shipped with matching mouse pad. R3 520 / sfbags.com

ORGANISERS The neon neatist

Knomo Thames Knomad Want the compartmentalised order of a classic organiser in a shell bold enough to get you noticed? You need the Thames Knomad: slim but spacious, this zip-up sleeve has dedicated sections for cards, cables, powerbanks and more. There’s even a padded tablet slot. R2 550 / uk.knomo.com

The bang-tidy burrito

Mantidy Gaucho TechRoll The day will come when we can roll up smartphones like they’re slices of salami. Until then we’ll make do with this cord roll: styled like a polo player’s trouser strap, slip six of your roundest accessories into its elastic belt before bundling it up like a taco of tech. R1 115 (import) / mantidy.co.uk

HOW TO DECIDE 72

The cable collector

Thule Subterra Powershuttle This might be the most internally-popular organiser at Stuff Towers. And not just because it’s cheap and easy to get. With enough space for all your cables (even our publisher Toby is sated), power banks and still more tech incidentals, all packed into a compact shape, this one’s an essential. R500 / thulestore.co.za

Tangled up in tech, Stuff goes full Marie Kondo to find nine of the best organising solutions to keep everything in its right place

The classy clutch

Bellroy Classic Pouch Bellroy’s bijou blue number is the most versatile pouch this side of a young marsupial’s snoozing place. Made from sustainable fabric and ethically certified leather, there’s space inside to stash your most important daily essentials – and, like a baby roo, it’ll go anywhere with you. R840 / blackleaf.com

1 Case the joint A good organiser should match your lifestyle, so assess your carrying needs before you buy. For nick-nacks and peripherals, keep it compact; if your laptop is never left behind, go for a folio.

The snazzy sleeve

Harber Nomad A briefcase disguised as a sleeve, complete with optional carry strap: tote this planner in the boardroom and you’re bound to be a hit. Sure, you’re only there to fix the projector, but once the CEO spots your fine taste in leather accessories you’ll be chief technician in no time. from R4 700 / harberlondon.com

The rugged rambler

Trakke Laggan Travel Accessory Pouch Cresting the ‘Berg should be achievement enough, but your ascent won’t be worth the mud on your boots if you can’t boast from the peak to prove it. Luckily, this waxed canvas pocket can buckle onto the side of your backpack to keep your walkie-talkie safe until the top. R1 565 / trakke.co.uk

2 Wrap it up Knotted cords are the bane of every backpack, so use leather cable-wraps to keep leads tangle-free. Just wind your wire around the pop-shut loop then thread in the ends.

UPVOTED

The airborne asset

Stow World Class Tech Case Storing your mile-high ensemble in a folio hewn from sumptuous Spanish leather and Alcantara, complete with perfectly formed pockets, a slew of sleeves and a 4000mAh powerbank? R8k. Not having to rummage in the dusty depths of the seat pocket to find your iPhone charger? Priceless. R8 200 / stowlondon.co.uk

3 Play the field Keeping neat in the wilderness is no mean feat. While leather organisers might look the business in the boardroom, stick to hardy nylon canvas if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re taking your tech out into the elements.

4 Get strapped in Satchel too small for a proper organiser? Bring order with a Cocoon Grid-It panel. Fronted by a flexible web of elastic straps, this slimline insert can secure all manner of miscellany.

TWO WEEKS WITH THE SA

Styl(us) f

Samsung’s biggest-screened superphone costs a VW Golf, including the improved S Pen stylus… Stu R23 000 / samsung.com/za

DAY 01 This year Samsung launched two Notes into the enormo-phone universe, and the Galaxy Note 10+ is the pick of the pair. This super-sized version is packed with extra tech, including a larger battery, yet remains as skinny as the Galaxy Note 10 at 7.9mm. In Samsung style it follows that edge-to-edge curved glass design we’ve come to expect, and has an impressive 94.2% screen ratio. But it’s the S Pen stylus that makes the Note models stand

both hands. It’s fairly hardy, with IP68 protection against water and dust, but dropping it would still be catastrophic. Finally the headphone jack has been dumped, but at least Samsung sorts you out with a pair of USB-C AKG buds. The ‘aura glow’ finish brings the disco with iridescent flickers of orange, green and everything in between… but there’s also a discreet black option for those of us who don’t want to advertise our fabulous wealth. The power button, which doubles as a Bixby summoner,

The Note 10+ is a giant slab of forged glass and metal, and using the thing is really a job for both hands out – and this is the best version yet, which gives this phone a truly unique selling point. This is the most ‘extra’ of smartphones and could still be considered a phablet given its sheer size and multitasking credentials. Bezels, like clowns, are either detested or merely tolerated these days; Samsung’s clearly in the former group, giving this handset the skinniest frame we’ve ever seen. This is the epitome of premium smartphonery – a giant slab of forged glass and metal – and using the thing is really a job for

is on the left with the volume slider. If the phone weren’t so girthy that would be fine, but for a right-handed human it can be a little tricky to reach. The 6.8in AMOLED display is an incredibly generous sheet of glowing goodness, yet the Note 10+ is both thinner and lighter than the Note 9. There’s a tiny interruption to that ocean of screen for the centrally located front camera, but it’s too small to be a genuine pest. Oh, and you get an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, which is a breeze to use – and speedy.

You get 256GB of storageand there’s a microSD slot for expansion, which the Note 10 doesn’t have.

LO N G -T E R M T E S T

Donut of Truth™

02 03

01 The screen is huge and quite stunning 02 This is a phone with some serious processing power 03 The S Pen stylus is better and more useful than ever

04 Camera performance is superb… but should be even better at this price 05 The battery is a whopper but can struggle to last a full day with intensive use

mAh B m,

DAY 02 The colours on that screen are punchy, and watching TV on the Note 10+ is spectacular. Viewing angles are impressive and the brightness is enough to compete with sunny days. Black levels are gloriously inky and there’s amazing dynamic range – which becomes clear when we watch the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood trailer and see Margot Robbie’s face lit up by the blue light of a cinema screen.

DAY 03 Right, enough messing, today we’re going to get on with the important stuff: taking pictures of pancakes. As with the Galaxy S10+, the main 12MP sensor does a lot of the heavy lifting. The 12MP telephoto and 16MP ultra-wide lenses join the party and there’s even a depth sensor (as on the Huawei P30 Pro), which is omitted from the standard Note 10. Overall, there’s little to fault in the camera department. Night photography could be better and the ‘food’ setting is not very good, but all-round photography is excellent, video is even better thanks to the image stabilisation, and even the 10MP front camera is surprisingly great.

DAY 05 Ooh, we’ve just found another neat camera trick: the Live Focus colour point, a great way to highlight a subject. For instance, you can grey out the entire background and have the main subject in colour. This works across video and even when using the front camera.

DAY 09 Putting pen to paper is one of life’s simple pleasures – and the digitised version with the Galaxy Note 10+ is just as satisfying. Handwriting can be transcribed into text, which was available on the Note 9 but is now a lot more accurate. There are also some new gesture-based tricks, but we’ve concluded that they’re all a bit silly.

DAY 14 The Note 10+ has been more than able to contend with everyday use. Loading apps is speedy and the massive 4300mAh battery trumps the one in the Galaxy S10+. But some days have ended with the phone in zone red, which is disappointing. If you want excess and luxury, the Note 10+ is money well spent; but S Pen aside, there are better phones in this dizzying price range.

STUFF SAYS A capable and glamorous phone with a little too much swagger for some ★★★★✩ 75

TESTED XIAOMI MI TRUE WIRELESS ANC EARPHONES

A couple of ‘buds Xiaomi’s wireless active noise cancelling earphones take the fight to Apple, at a fraction of the Airpods’ price from R1 200 / smartphoneshop.co.za ■ Expect a comparison to Apple’s AirPods. The reason is obvious. They look awfully bloody similar, down to the case. The difference? Well, everything on the inside. And the fit of Xiaomi’s Mi True buds, combined with its thicker stalk, will make you look like you’re headed to a Jack Parow gig with cigarettes poking out your ears.

Rest period While these buds’ll keep you in blissful audio for a day, they run down after a couple hours and need to return to the case for a few minutes. Happily, they top up fast.

■ The odd fit is mostly a visual thing and probably not true for everyone. Comfort is another matter. Even folks who detest in-ears will find themselves forgetting these are in place until there’s a tap on a shoulder to remind them that the Mi True Wireless’ ANC is active. Again. ■ Don’t let that put you off, though. Setup is mighty simple, as is general control. A long-press on the case’s lone button will get you connected to up to two devices (one per bud. Yes, really); but we used ‘em with a lone smartphone. Double-tap left for a digital assistant (if that’s set up), double-tap right for play-pause. Double-tap either to answer or dismiss calls and long-press either (for three seconds) to activate or deactivate noise cancelling. ■ Sound quality isn’t neglected. Bass is clear, minus mindless doef-doef. There’s a good spread to audio, from detailed mids to clear highs. Nothing overpowers anything else and the only way to get these buds to sound bad is to feed them nothing but 96Kbps MP3 files. Don’t do that, ‘kay?

Tech specs Impedance 16 ohm Connectivity Bluetooth 4.2, USB-C (case) Range 10m Battery 4 hours (10 hours with case) Weight 39g (in case), 4.2g (each)

■ Communication errors

Considering where Xiaomi is from, it’s no surprise audio updates are in Mandarin. It took a while to work out the Mi True buds were turning active noise cancelling off and on during review. Cos the battery was low.

■ Placement is everything Unlike the AirPods, the Mi True ‘phones can’t be wirelessly charged in their case. You need to connect the case to a USB-C cable. That port? Directly beneath the case. Really, Xiaomi? No need to copy Apple’s mouse too.

STUFF SAYS Just some ‘buds, trying to fit in with the crowd ★★★★✩

Well aren’t these just the friendliest little fellows…? 76

Want to get your AirPod on without Apple prices? Sure, these don’t come with Apple’s H1 headphone chip but they seem to do just fine without it. The price is a significant fraction of Apple’s offering to boot. Setup is mighty easy, you’ll get more than a day on a charge (if you’re returning the Mi True to its case between sessions), and they’ve got active noise cancelling. We’re not sure how many more boxes need ticking.

VERSUS MINI PROJECTORS Rainbow six A battery lasting up to 6 hours could see you through a film trilogy… but higher brightness settings will slash that to 2 hours.

Famous five The GV1’s stumpy base houses a 5W speaker. We also like the fact that it supports 5G Wi-Fi for wireless streaming.

TES WI T NN ER

Classic projection ViewSonic M1+ Portable projectors aren’t super-bright or sharp, but they can go where TVs can’t. The ViewSonic M1+ fits in a small bag and its stand lets you swivel the image around to just about any angle you like, including straight up at the ceiling. Being realistic, the 480p resolution isn’t going to make everything look its best. And while the software is a version of Android and there’s a third-party app store, you can’t install Netflix or YouTube without ‘hacking’ them on. You can play movies off a microSD card, plug in sources over HDMI, or stream wirelessly – that’s great news for a mini projector, especially as the Harman Kardon speakers mean it will always sound on point wherever you drag it.

Resolution 480p Brightness 300 lumens Battery life Up to 6 hours Connectivity HDMI, microSD, USB-C, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Audio 2x 3W speakers Dimensions 146x126x40mm, 800g

1. DESIGN

This is just about the cutest projector you’ll find anywhere. The BenQ GV1 has a little nodding head that lets you aim the image up the wall without a decor-ruining stand. You won’t find a better fit for the kids’ room, or for movies in the bath.

2. IN USE

You can use the GV1 as a Bluetooth speaker, Netflix and YouTube can be installed directly, and it’s more responsive than some R20 000 projectors we’ve used. Image quality is good, with more natural colours than the ViewSonic.

3. FEATURES

1 2 3

● Price R5 600 (import) / viewsonic.com

★★★★✩

BenQ GV1

Looking to plug in your PS4? This one doesn’t have an HDMI port, just USB-C. And while you can connect things to it using the DisplayPort standard, you will need an adapter. You don’t get one in the box. Stingy much?

Resolution 480p Brightness 200 lumens Battery life Up to 3 hours Connectivity Wi-Fi, USB-C, Bluetooth Audio 1x 5W speaker Dimensions 155x80x80mm, 708g

● Price R7 100 / amazon.com

STUFF SAYS

★★★★✩

The ViewSonic is a point-anywhere whizz, but the BenQ pips it for image quality 77

TESTED HONOR BAND 5

Scout’s Honor Simple presentation disguises a host of features at a price point designed to make the competition despair

Rtba / hihonor.com ■ We can argue that you’re not really into tech if you’re not wielding a wristable these days. Happily, if you’re looking at the cheaper side of the scale, you need not settle for a no-name tracker that’ll stop working the moment you huff moisture on it. Honor’s Band 5 makes budget look better than ever. ■ The Band 5’s band? That’s made from durable thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and makes up the bulk of the wearable. It’s soft (for plastic), comfortable, and is set up like your average watch. There’s no cheap clip-on solution here. Either you’re gonna catch it hard enough to wrench it off your wrist or it’s staying in place. If it parts ways with you, you’ll notice. ■ Going outside? Good, you’re supposed to. The Band 5 tracks steps, sleep, heart-rate, and SpO2 (oxygen saturation), displaying results on a clear, bright AMOLED display. Custom faces supply a choice of colourful screens with varying levels of info, and there are a range of onboard tracking options covering indoor and outdoor movement. ■ Looking for smarts as well? Basic notifications are supported. The app lets you choose which alerts are beamed to your wrist. If you’re a Twitter influencer, you don’t want your arm vibrating every time someone retweets your pithy brilliance. Do you?

Tech specs Screen 0.95in AMOLED Connectivity WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, GLONASS, NFC Battery 100mAh Sensors SpO2, heartrate, six-axis Dimensions 43x17.2x11.5mm

■ Power to the people

Honor’s Band 5 takes the Apple Watch’s 18-hour uptime and soundly spanks it. Two weeks is promised and that’s what you’ll get. That’s long enough to make you forget that you’re supposed to charge the Band 5. We checked.

■ Fatal flaw

If there’s anywhere the Band 5 falls down, it’s the same place as Huawei’s wearables – the app. The Health app has improved steadily over the past year but there are still questionable UI choices in evidence.

STUFF SAYS Don’t leave home unless you’re honourably armed ★★★★✩

Honor’s making everyone else look bad here 78

Honor’s Band 5, while not much of an upgrade on the Band 4, does its level best to make everyone else look like they’re not even trying. The Band 5 has two-week uptime, on-device GPS, an SpO2 oxygen saturation sensor and continuous heart-rate tracking. All this, with an AMOLED display, in a wearable that costs roughly a fifth of the current gold-standard, the Apple Watch Series 5. Other trackers offer similar features but will likely cost you more. 78

TESTED FUJIFILM GFX100

Love me spender This medium-format Fuji camera will cost nearly R150k at its January 2020 launch, and that’s for the body only. Better be decent, then…

Off your own batt There’s space for a second battery inside the camera, making this a high-stamina option for use outside the studio.

R141 000 (est.) / fujifilm.co.za ■ At a shade under R1 50 000 (and that’s before you’ve even thought about a lens), this is by far the most expensive camera in Fujifilm’s entire range, and quite possibly the priciest camera that’s ever been reviewed in Stuff. ■ As a weighty medium-format camera with over 100MP at its disposal, you might assume it’s designed for the studio. In fact, Fuji has incorporated most of the features you’ll find in its smaller mirrorless models, including face detection and eye autofocus, making this entirely usable as a strolling-around camera. ■ It’s a big, heavy unit, with an extra grip at the bottom for more comfortable portrait shooting, a tilting 3.2in touchscreen and a removable OLED viewfinder. The mode dials of other Fujis are gone, replaced by a huge LCD panel. ■ There’s 5-axis in-body stabilisation, which works well and gives you a few stops’ grace when shooting without a tripod. The AF system is the same as you get in the X-T3, and it’s brilliantly accurate. ■ The huge sensor and its 102MP resolution give the GFX100 qualities you won’t find on APS-C and full-frame mirrorless cameras. It’s easier to achieve a shallow depth of field for moody portraits, and the sheer detail – at least in decent lighting conditions – is quite incredible.

■ High concept

You can use Fujifilm’s excellent film simulation modes to give your images the look you’re after straight from the camera. And of course you can shoot in RAW if you want maximum editing capabilities after the fact.

■ High roller

This is definitely a stills camera first, but its 4K and 1080p options do produce sharp, detailed and smooth video. There’s some ‘rolling shutter’ effect, as you might expect given the sensor’s size, but nothing to moan about.

Tech specs Sensor 102MP CMOS ISO range 50-102,400 AF points 256 Max burst speed 5fps Video 4K @ 30fps Displays 3.2in 2.6m-dot LCD touchscreen, 5.8m-dot OLED Dimensions 164x156x103mm, 1.4kg

STUFF SAYS A quite outstanding camera (that you probably shouldn’t buy) ★★★★✩

This is a great camera… but who is it actually designed for?

There’s no denying the Fujifilm GFX100 is an exceptional camera that takes fantastic images… but it’s heavy as well as crazily expensive. In truth, 99.9% of people would be better off with something like Fujifilm’s own X-T3, a wonderful camera at a fraction of the price, or Sony’s 61MP A7R IV, which promises huge levels of detail in a significantly smaller, lighter and cheaper body. 79

T E S T E D LG 6 5 S M 9 5 0 0 P U A

Private screening LG’s TVs dominate in most areas. Can its NanoCell panels break from the pack without the assistance of OLED?

R35 000 / lg.com/za LG’s on to a good thing with its OLED screens. Power-efficient and capable of inky blacks that would make a squid jealous, there’s a lot there to love. But can the company make an impression without it? All 65in of the SM9500PUA reckons the company can. It doesn’t have the same ‘made from a pane of glass’ feel of LG’s organic LED TVs but the extra bulk comes with a reduced price, LG’s NanoCell screen tech, and the best operating system in the business. NanoCell, in case you’ve missed the marketing spiel, apparently absorbs unwanted colours when reproducing |them onscreen. Reds and greens are more vivid, while tweaks to in-plane switching offer better viewing angles for those vivid colours. In practise? Yeah, LG’s not just blowing smoke. It’s easy to tell that OLED’s missing, leaving plain ole LED, but what’s left over looks mighty good to us.

1. Wand to watch We’ve got a collection of LG’s Magic Remotes stashed in a drawer, because we keep failing to return them. Soz, LG. This one’s little different – there’s a new layout that requires some getting used to. LG’s added voice control, so you can yak into it like a CB radio. Breaker, breaker, over.

GOOD MEH EVIL

2 Panel-beater LG loves to toot the ‘has great colours and awesome viewing angles’ horn. It’s one they’re entitled to. This HDR-sporting UHD panel holds up at even extreme angles, looking good past the point it should collapse. You’d have to jam your face into the screen to see individual pixels.

Easy to set up… even solo

3 Feeling bright The difference between NanoCell and OLED is easy to see – just move the Magic Remote over a dark section of screen. There’s edge-of-field brightening around the pointer, because this screen’s not organic. LG’s Full Array Dimming means this is mostly visible when you’re navigating.

…but the eye adjusts quickly

Going from OLED to NanoCell…

Do all the things! How does voice control work?

Thanos never looked better

T E S T E D LG 6 5 S M 9 5 0 0 P U A

Tech specs Screen 65in 3840x2160 HDR Nano Cell IPS OS webOS Smart TV Connectivity Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi, Ethernet, 4 x HDMI, 3 x USB, optical audio out Dimensions 1452x906x62.5, 28.8kg

Keep your eye out The SM9500’s going to get a lot of looks. Make sure they’re the right ones by exploring all webOS offers

■ Under control

■ Vocal exercise

■ Thinking ahead

■ Team effort

LG’s TV offers to control most of your other entertainment devices. It’s got a thing for set-top boxes but will also take over (some) duties in other areas by turning the Magic Remote into a universal one.

Voice control’s not a gimmick any longer. This screen understands English well enough to give you vocal control over your entertainment. Bellow out “Play Breaking Bad” and it will. Provided it’s available on your TV.

5 4 Down with the thickness At just over 6cm at its thickest point (not counting the base’s dimensions), the SM9500PUA is hardly a super-thin screen. It’s not chunky, the internals are just more fairly distributed. It’s barely going to stand out from your wall. Still miffed? LG has skinny bezels for you to marvel over.

5 Come in, base The only thing that gave us pause? Assembling the multipiece base. It looks (and feels) a little spindly but as long as you actually use all the screws provided, you won’t see it crash to the ground any time soon. Unless you too own a bastard feline that likes to kill tech.

Over time, LG’s TV will offer you suggestions based on what you’ve watched before. Big deal, you say. Netflix does that. But Netflix isn’t watching what you’re up to on YouTube and ‘other’ services as well, is it? Is it?!

AI smarts meet basic smart home functions, voice control, and some of the most vivid imagery streaming services can provide. If you’re more inclined to group sessions in front of the set, LG’s 65SM9500PUA will see you well served. An ample screen, 4K and HDR along with LG’s NanoCell pixel tech see to that. It’s not OLED but nothing ever is (besides OLED).

There’s not much setup needed out of the box. DStv Now, Showmax, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play Movies&TV and ErosNow are installed from the outset. Spotify? You’ll need to snag that one.

STUFF SAYS ★★★★★ LG’s TV successfully locks onto bigger game than just OLED-mad gamers – folks into sports, series and slick colours 81

T E S T E D L I B R AT O N E T R A C K A I R +

Pairy wee triangles Libratone’s true wireless buds offer classy sound, superb noise-cancelling and a solid Bluetooth link – enough to leave their rivals cheesed off? R3 350 (import) / libratone.com If Doritos, samoosas and the world’s least challenging musical instrument are anything to go by, triangles are good news… yet most in-ear headphones resemble round blobs, or some variation on Apple’s sticky-outy AirPods. Not these. Libratone, the Danish audio firm and wire-free specialist, has never been one to follow the pack. You only need to cast your eyes over its range of wireless speakers, which come dressed in an array of colourful zipped pullovers, to know that. The Track Air+ true wireless earphones add a fresh, more triangular dimension to the in-ear aesthetic; and on design alone these are arguably the best of the bunch. It’s not all about looks, though. When they also offer impressive active noise-cancelling, last six hours on a single charge and pack Qualcomm’s aptX codec, it’s hard not to find yourself caught up in some kind of love triangle.

She loves Gruyere, yeah, yeah At just 5.6g each, these are some of the lightest, most compact in-ear headphones you can buy (1). Yet they feel robust and well made rather than plasticky. And with IPX4 certification, they’re resistant to sweat and water, making them perfect workout companions.

GOOD MEH EVIL

Slick and comfy design

Gouda vibrations Available in black or white, they come with a charging case and three pairs of tips (2) to find the best fit for your earholes. The Libratone app is due an update which will give you feedback to detect if you’ve managed to get the necessary airtight fit to get the most out of them.

Excellent sound for the money…

…but no AAC for iPhone users

Brie prepared Libratone’s charging case (3) is no double-decker bus like that of the Sony WF-1000XM3s. It’s a very satisfying contraption that sits in the palm of your hand like a perfectly smooth pebble. It’ll give your buds up to three full charges, and can itself be refuelled via USB-C.

Great battery life

Snug and sweatproof for the gym

Good ANC with lots of flexibility

T E S T E D L I B R AT O N E T R A C K A I R +

Tech specs Connectivity Bluetooth 5.0 (SBC, aptX), USB-C charging Battery life Up to 6hrs, 24hrs with charging case Weight 5.6g each, case 36g

Nobody does it Feta Libratone’s little buds sound ace across the frequency range, and allow plenty of scope for tuning the ANC

3 ■ Rock-fort

■ Camembert with me

■ Mozza-yeller

■ Halloumi-nating

Provided the fit is snug, the bass response is much more powerful than we were expecting from such timid-looking buds. Higher frequencies ring out clear and crisp, and vocals are well articulated.

Like it runny? These Libratones make great jogging buddies: ours stayed firmly in place and comfortable during a 5K park run.

Touch and (Manche)go You get customisable double-tap controls for play/pause, skipping tracks, adjusting the ANC and launching your preferred voice assistant. Different functions can be assigned to the left and right buds through the app, and they’re always quick to respond to taps.

Danish Blue(tooth) Our buds always maintained a solid connection between left and right; and after initial Bluetooth pairing with a phone, the connection never failed us. The signal remained strong walking to the kitchen from the Stuff office, which is a good 15 metres.

Noise-cancelling shouldn’t be a case of all or nothing, and that’s why we love the manual mode offered here. There are 30 levels to choose from, from zero to 30dB ‘block out the whole world with my tiny ear-samosas’ mode.

These might be the new wireless earbuds to beat. The AirPods just don’t sound all that good for the price, while the Sony WF-1000XM3s are costly and not much use in the gym. These Libratones are excellently designed and sweatproof, provide up to 24 hours of battery life, offer active noisecancelling, and are neat in all senses of the word.

If you’d like to tweak the EQ to match your own demanding tastes, Libratone has you covered via the sound profiles in its app. Phone calls work a well too – the person on the other end will never guess you’re hands-free.

Don’t fancy fiddling with that? Just switch between Smart ANC mode, which sets the level in real time by monitoring outside sound, and Ambient, which amplifies your surroundings so you can hear what’s happening.

STUFF SAYS ★★★★★ For great design, sound and versatility, Libratone’s little noise-cancelling wireless buds are just about unbeatable 83

VERSUS ELECTRIC BIKES

Buoyed racers Either you’re in the fold or you’re not, with these two contrasting e-bikes aiming to boost your commute

Cowboy What’s the story?

With a 70km range and top speed capped at 29km/h, the Cowboy is a slick-looking single-geared Dutch e-bike built for taming longer commutes. Automatic power assistance senses torque on the back wheels to give you oomph when you ask for it on the pedals. It also packs hydraulic brakes, integrated app-controlled lights, smart tracking and anti-theft trickery, via an app that also reveals how much CO2 you’ve saved on your ride.

Is it any good?

The Cowboy looks the part and rides like an electric dream. There are no boost buttons to press or throttles to tweak to unleash the extra electric power – just get jitter-free speed when you step it up on the pedals. Throw in grippy wide tires and you feel like you’re gliding around town on an airport travelator. At 16kg including the removable battery, it’s easier to charge than fixed-battery bikes and takes 3.5 hours to go from flat to full, which should see you through a working week of commutes. The partner app is basic but easy to use, including a feature for toggling the lights on and off. However, it’s potentially risky that you can only unlock your bike’s e-powers with your smartphone paired via Bluetooth.

What’s the story?

Retro Raleigh Vektar looks merged with cutting-edge e-bike tech and a folding design that can be collapsed in under 10 seconds – the GX is primed for urban professionals who aren’t prepared to fully grow up and buy a Brompton. GoCycle’s bikes are British and built from the ground up to be electric, and there’s some real genius in the design… but is it enough to persuade us to shell out nearly R55 000?

NOW ADD THIS

Is it any good?

Using electric assist to cycle up hills on the GX makes you feel like a superhero, even if the top speed is limited to 25km/h. The ride is super-smooth and a hidden drivetrain means no oily mishaps. Folding the GX is fast, but it takes some time to perfect the technique. It’s then designed to be rolled rather than carried, which is just as well given it weighs almost 18kg. The app includes City, Eco and Custom modes, but we preferred the on-demand button for boosts when moving through its three gears. If you can justify the outlay the GX is awesome for ditching public transport; but a lack of location tracking and theft recovery, plus added cash for mudguards and integrated lights, make it a smidge too pricey to stomach at present.

Price R32 700 (import) / cowboy.com ● Range 70km ● Weight 16kg

Price from R54 000 / gocycle.com ● Range 65km ● Weight 17.8kg

Stuff says ★★★★✩

Doesn’t fold up, but has enough built-in features to make it something of a bargain

GoCycle GX

Awesome and expensive in equal measure, this is the e-bike for management types

Hedkayse One

R2 800 / hedkayse.com Designed to fold in half, this helmet uses a new polymer claimed to be stronger than rivals and reusable after a crash. Like memory foam to the touch, it has Velcro size adjustments for a perfect fit.

Hexr

R6 500 / hexr.com A custom-fit foam honeycomb helmet made from natural materials, each Hexr is made to order following a cranial scan. It’s claimed to be safer than other foam helmets and offers a 30-day risk-free trial.

VERSUS ELECTRIC BIKES 1 City slicker

A basic LED strip of five red lights counts down as your battery diminishes while darting through city streets – check the app for a more detailed assessment.

2 City even slicker

4 Light relief

Cowboy claims a smooth, clean ride with low maintenance thanks to a rubber and glass fibre belt, although it isn’t an enclosed mechanism.

TEST WIN NER

3 Light exercise

The Cowboy app allows you to track your rides using the bike’s built-in GPS, locate where you left it and get alerts any time it moves unexpectedly.

The GX’s lithium-ion battery can be charged while on the bike or removed and plugged in. A full charge takes 7hrs, or just 4hrs with the optional fast charger.

TWO WEEKS WITH THE BOSE 700 HEADPHONES

Prattle do nicely Bose claims its latest noise-cancelling cans will let you chat in peace while hell is busy breaking lo R8 800 / makr

DAY 01 When noise-cancelling headphones first became a thing, their mission statement was clear: allow the user to listen to their Cliff Richard megamix uninterrupted by the piercing screams of a nearby baby. And with its previous headphones, the QuietComfort 35s (and then the QC35 II version), Bose continued to raise the bar above everyone else. So what’s next? Well, having sorted out what you can hear when you’re wearing a pair of

improved, and the 700s’ new design is undoubtedly a premium step up from that of the QC35s. USB-C charging is a welcome addition too. The only question is, has Bose done enough to take back the crown from Sony’s WH-1000XM3s? The first thing you’ll realise when you pick up the 700s is that they don’t fold up. The headband is forged from a single piece of stainless steel, which gradually thins out into two cylinders that run through cutouts on the outer surface of the earcups. There are no

Voice pickup is amazing – you can easily walk alongside a busy road and have a conversation without raising your voice its cans, Bose is now focusing on how well other people can hear you. With its Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 (the first and last time we’ll refer to them by that stupidly cumbersome full name), Bose is able to isolate your voice from 360° of undesirable racket. The idea is that you’ll be able to have a conversation with someone at the height of rush-hour without needing to shout to be heard above taxi hooters and yelling sweaty drivers. Now adjustable, the traditional noise-cancelling has also been

visible hinges here. Your immediate concern is likely to be that this makes the ’phones less portable, but the earcups do rotate to lie flat in a shallow carry case. To adjust the headphones for fit you simply slide the earcups into position. While it’s undoubtedly slick and adds to the 700s’ minimalist, premium aesthetic, there’s a fair bit of friction involved, which can make readjusting them when they’re already on your head a bit trickier than with a traditional clicky mechanism.

The right earcup is touch-sensitive, letting you control playback with swipes and taps.

LO N G -T E R M T E S T

Donut of Truth™

02 03

DAY 02 We’ve been playing with the 11 levels of noise-cancellation. Handily, you can select one of three favourites with the dedicated button. By default it’s 0, 5, and 10 (maximum), and in practice this seems very sensible. The lowest setting lets all surrounding noise pass through the earcups, while 10 totally cocoons you.

DAY 04 The 700s make use of eight microphones. Six are dedicated to noise-cancelling, while two combine with two others to significantly enhance voice pickup. The results are pretty amazing. This morning we found it quite easy to walk alongside a busy road and have a conversation without needing to raise our voice, and we managed to aggressively rustle a packet of chips completely unbeknown to the colleague on the other end of the phone.

DAY 05 A huge advantage that Bose’s cans continue to have over Sony is their ability to be connected to two different devices at once. For example, we can seamlessly hop

01 Great new design 02 Noise-cancelling is as brilliant as ever, and now fully customisable 03 Peerless voice pickup and voice assistant support

04 Not quite as comfortable as the QC35 IIs, and the Bose app is still buggy 05 Sony’s WH-1000XM3 over-ears are cheaper and sound better

between listening to a song from an iPhone and a film trailer we want to watch on an iPad. The Bose Music app’s clean UI is nice, but we’ve encountered some buggy behaviour. More than once we’ve returned to the app minutes after using it and found ourselves signed out, and occasionally it fails to connect despite the headphones being close by.

DAY 09 Audio quality hasn’t had the same dramatic overhaul as the design and noise-cancelling capabilities, but we think they’re subtly a bit more balanced than the QC35 IIs. They’re punchy and sharp, with each instrument being given ample room to breathe, and the bass never knocks your head off its neck.

DAY 14 These cans’ USP is undoubtedly the new voice pickup system. If you’re someone who makes a lot of calls on the go, you won’t find better. Meanwhile the already exceptional noise-cancelling tech is even better. Other features, such as the slick touch controls, are also winners. It’s just a shame that, for now at least, the app is a bit temperamental.

STUFF SAYS There are better-sounding cans, but as all-rounders these are hard to beat ★★★★★ 87

FI R TH ST ES AD E… D 88

ONE AMAZON FIRE TV

TWO SONOS PLAY:5

THREE APPLE iPAD

Plug in the latest Amazon Fire TV dongle and enjoy 4K HDR videos, pick from 200,000 movies or tune into one of over 10,000 channels knowing that whatever is pumped out of the compact Beam will sound great. It’s compatible with Alexa skills, so you can yell at the Beam to turn off when you’re done bingeing.

The largest home speaker in the Sonos range is predictably one of the most powerful, and this mighty wireless unit is capable of filling your home with intense bass and rich highs. It’s also compatible with Apple AirPlay and easy to tether to a Beam, making it a great way of pumping tunes to every room.

With built-in AirPlay 2 technology, the Beam is designed to play nicely with iOS products, so with an iPad you can quickly blast the soundtrack from a YouTube video through your diminutive soundbar via the prod of a finger. Plus, y’know, it’s an iPad, so you can use it to do loads of other great iPaddy things.

R1 000 / incredible.co.za

R13 000 / takealot.co.za

from R6 000 / myistore.co.za

NO TH W IS DO …

DO A TH WN ND ES LO E… AD

INSTANT UPGRADES

BLACK PANTHER

1. SILENT NIGHT

2. GET ALEXA SKILFUL

3. RUN THE HOME

If the kids are sound asleep upstairs, or if you just want to maintain amicable relations with the neighbours who don’t always appreciate being kept awake by the deafening blasts of late-night explosions, you can head straight to the Sonos app and activate Night Sound. This, for your convenience, maintains the clarity of hushed voices but reduces the volume of sudden noisy bits.

With Alexa voice control handily built into the Beam, it doesn’t matter if you’ve misplaced the TV’s remote control again (of course you’ve checked down the back of the couch cushions already), because when you are finished with the 100th episode of Game of Thrones you can affect your best Westeros-style accent to command the soundbar to swap channels or switch off.

If you’ve already embraced the age of the smart home and have hooked up connected lightbulbs, a Nest camera and wireless door locks, it’s possible to control these items via Alexa Routines and the Sonos app. You can even use Routines to automatically dim the lights as you’re about to start a movie, just like they do in the cinema. Sadly, it doesn’t come with a big tub of popcorn.

4. SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE

5. ROOM WITH A TUNE

6. THE CLEAN SPEECH

The Sonos app features an intuitive setup process that analyses the acoustics in your chosen soundbar position, so you can get the optimum audio settings tuned for your room. Simply fire up the app and follow the prompts for Trueplay EQ technology to tailor the sound according to the room’s size, layout and decor. It uses the microphone on your iPhone or iPad.

Speech Enhancement tweaks the dynamic range to ensure you never miss an understated but important piece of dialogue. This extra boost does away with the need for subtitles – unless you’re struggling with a different dialect or language, of course – so finally you can enjoy mumbling BBC dramas or add clarity to an epic Daniel Day-Lewis monologue without making everything super-loud.

Adding other Sonos speakers is as simple as pressing and holding the play/pause button, meaning it’s quick and easy to expand your sonic picture. This includes the ability to create a fully wireless home cinema surround-sound system when you connect a pair of rear One or Play:1 speakers and a sub to your Beam. Sonos sells the full setup in one kit.

Not only is Black Panther one of the best Marvel Studios creations in a long time, but also it features tunes from Future, The Weeknd and Vince Staples. Turn it up loud.

DUNKIRK

Christopher Nolan’s Second World War epic creates so much tension, you’ll be nibbling the edge of your chair by the end of it. Artillery fire never sounded so terrifying.

BLADE RUNNER 2049 A pulsating electro score, penned by Hans Zimmer, accompanies retina-singeing visuals in this modern sequel. Fans of the Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer won’t be disappointed.

BETA YOURSELF

DIGITAL COMICS They’ve come a long way since forcing you to squint at crappy scans on a PC screen – Stuff reveals how to get started with comic apps and sites, and how to find a bargain THE BASICS

■ Grab freebies

We’re not suggesting you download comics from dodgy sites – the more who do, the less likely that comics have a future. Instead, see how you like digital with legit freebies. 2000 AD’s store has some, and Comixology offers loads of issue-ones and specials. If you’re signed up to Amazon Prime, Prime Reading has a rotating selection of comics.

■ Get a tablet

You could read a comic on a PC (too bulky) or a phone (too small). But your best bet by far is a tablet – 10in or larger gives you enough space to comfortably read a standard US-sized comic, and even double-page spreads. Avoid E ink devices, unless you only love black and white comics.

■ Dodge the lockdown

Digital comics come in two flavours: wrapped in DRM (digital rights management) or DRM-free. With the former, you’ll usually be locked to a single service or app, whether on a Netflix-like sub (which is fair enough) or buying single issues/volumes from a publisher (which is not). DRM-free comics can be read in any compatible app.

■ Delve into history

Comics didn’t explode into being with the Iron Man movie, and digital enables you to peruse the medium’s rich, long history. Check out the many public domain volumes on archive.org, comicbookplus.com and digitalcomicmuseum.com. For strip art try gocomics.com, where decades of Calvin and Hobbes are a click away.

■ Save a bundle

Digital comics are usually cheaper than the paper ones anyway, but if you’re canny you can net some serious bargains. Get on Humble Bundle’s mailing list – that site regularly offers virtual piles of DRM-free books for R280. Keep an eye on Comixology too, which has regular sales offering must-have collections for a few bucks a pop.

MAKE IT MARVELLOUS ■ Go unlimited

Create your own

Want to try your hand at comics but can’t draw? Cheat with Comic Life 3 on iOS, mashing snaps into panels and adding speech balloons like a modern Alan Moore.

Want to fill those hours when you’re not watching Marvel movies with Marvel comics? Grab the Marvel Unlimited app, and for R170 a month you can delve into an archive bigger than Thanos’s jawline. Not sure? On Android you get some freebies; on iOS there’s a week’s trial.

■ Find lost classics

Want to head a bit off the Marvel app’s beaten track? Go to Reading Lists, tap Hidden Gems, and revel in the fantastical Silver Surfer, the wonderful Vision series, and Neil Gaiman’s 1602.

THE BEST COMIC APPS

CHUNKY

This superb comic reader wants to stay out of your way so you can get on with reading. The self-organising library sorts series, and viewing options fix tinted pages and faded ink from old scans. Pay the one-off IAP to download from a PC, Mac or NAS. Free or R75 / iOS

2000 AD MASTER THE ’OLOGY ■ Download backups

HEAD ONLINE ■ Try Aces Weekly

From David V for Vendetta Lloyd, acesweekly.co.uk is a web comic with seven-part volumes that costs R20 a week. The short episode lengths tend to make the pace of storytelling swift, but you get great material at a wallet-friendly price.

■ Read web freebies

As monthly comic sales dwindle, more creators are publishing online prior to selling paper (and digital) collections. Stuff faves include Girl Genius (girlgeniusonline. com) and Atomic Robo (atomic-robo.com).

Marvel and DC like DRM, but many other publishers don’t. Their book pages on comixology.com will have a download symbol. Head to the My Books link, and from the Backups tab, grab CBZ or PDF versions of books you own.

■ Spread it

Comics designed to be read on paper often use doublepage spreads. In Comixology, rotate your device sideways. If only a single page is shown, tap the comic, then the cog, and then Show Two Pages.

■ Sync with Marvel

If you use the Marvel mobile app or website, you can sync your collection. On comixology.com, click your name and select My Account. Under Marvel Sync, start the sync – but note that this can’t be reversed.

GET ANIMATED

Publisher Rebellion now more or less owns UK comic history, and is putting out the best bits as the treasury of British comics. Even better, anything you buy in-app can also be downloaded DRM-free from 2000ad.com. Free / Android, iOS, Windows

■ Check out Madefire

Motion comics get a bad rep, probably because most of them are rubbish. Madefire (madefire.com) bucks the trend with well considered animation and audio that enhances rather than detracts from the reading experience.

■ Try Crunchyroll

Although perhaps best known as being a repository for more anime than any one human could conceivably hope to consume in a single lifetime, a Crunchyroll sub (R120/m) also gives you access to a ton of manga, including the likes of Attack on Titan.

COMICAT

Comics on Android are a bit of a crapshoot, with most apps free but flaky. If you’re willing to pay a few rands, you can get this feature-rich option, which makes it a cinch to access your comics, peruse a collection… and read them. R41 / Android

TESTED GAMES

Xbox One, PC / xbox.com/za

Gears 5

Bigger, bolder and better than ever, with a stunning open world to explore… finally, Game Pass subscribers have something to make the PlayStation crowd Xbox-green with envy

ears of War has always been about making statements. Changing the way movement works in third-person shooters. Changing the human anatomy to make room for extra muscles. Changing the way guns reload. And now with Gears 5 (the ‘of War’ has been chainsawed off the game’s title), new series developer The Coalition is making a statement about what a Gears game can actually accomplish. This is a bigger, more expansive and

broader game than ever before, but also tighter, smoother and more refined. If Gears 4 felt like a new studio trying its hand at one of gaming’s most established franchises, this is a more confident team planting its flag in the blood-soaked ground, and truly redefining what these games can be. For the first time in the series, there are open-world elements. You’re given huge areas to explore on a skiff (essentially a land-boat); and while you’re constantly

directed towards story objectives, there are little side missions too. It makes the world feel much larger than before and helps to vary the pace of the action. Despite the new open approach, this is still a cover-combat game, and the action has never felt slicker. And it also looks absolutely stunning – a real showcase for the power of the Xbox. One true twist to the gunplay, though, comes in the form of robot ally Jack. This guy’s been around since the early days, but

now he’s a real support character with upgradeable skills who can be controlled in combat. It all adds up to the main event that the Xbox One needed after years of disappointing exclusives. It’s significantly better than the enjoyable Gears of War 4 – and amazingly, if you’re paying for the Xbox Game Pass, you get it for no extra charge. That’s an astonishing proposition, and it’s clear Gears 5 is the title that Game Pass needs to take it to the next level. Because life’s better with a Lancer in hand.

STUFF SAYS Huge, thrilling and luxurious at every turn – this is absolutely essential ★★★★★ 92

TESTED GAMES

Escape to victory

You’ll know this look if you’ve ever tried to make small talk with a bouncer.

“Damn, they didn’t fall for my ‘massive fountain of fire’ distraction.”

Joining multiplayer and the always entertaining Horde is a new mode called Escape. Imagine a combination of Overwatch’s abilities and Left 4 Dead’s against-all-odds survival, combined with Gears’ signature violence and gunplay. Here three new characters, each with their own abilities, must escape a Swarm hive, all while the venom bomb they planted creeps through the hive behind them. Hang about too long and you’ll die, rush ahead too quickly and you’ll… yeah, you’ll die. Each mission becomes a puzzle, as you figure out the most efficient way of clearing each room using the different characters’ abilities and taking out enemies without running out of ammo or dying. Areas are broken up by safe rooms where you can catch a breather (and restart if you wipe), and each mission culminates in an epic firefight that will push you and your team to your limits. Victory unlocks new ways of making the challenge even trickier next time, which in turn unlocks more rewards. It’s a fantastic mode that breathes new life into the package – especially if you’re tired of Horde and lack the nerve for multiplayer.

TESTED GAMES

PS4, Xbox One, PC / gamecontrol.com

Control

Prepare to be plunged into a world of untold strangeness as the newly appointed boss of a government agency that’s all gone a bit scary or most of your time with Control, you won’t have a clue what’s going on. From the moment you arrive in the Oldest House – an eccentric place in both name and nature – you’re not merely thrown into this weird, mysterious tale as much as you’re catapulted into it: head-first and without a safety net. The game’s creative choice to blend full-motion video with computer graphics adds a peculiar realism despite its supernatural undercurrents, but the story that unfolds around the Federal Bureau of Control doesn’t have time to bring you up to speed over a coffee. You must hit the ground running, adjusting to the organisation’s maddening acronyms, red tape and internal policies on the fly. There’s a pervasive murmur that accompanies your travels through the FBC, stretching out like aural tentacles. Bodies hang motionless, suspended in mid-air. Though it’s colloquially known as The Hiss, no-one, least of all new director Jesse Faden – that’s you,

by the way – knows what’s happened to the poor folks of the FBC or why… but it’s a hell of a premise, and one that’s sure to hook you from the off. Prepare to scrap often as well. Thanks to a myriad of modes and abilities – your gun morphs into different models and generates its own ammunition, and Faden is imbued with incredible psychic skills – combat rarely feels stale, but you’ll frequently feel overwhelmed by the number of enemies, especially early on. Keep your distance, switch up your attacks and use that all-important cover system – despite her abilities, Faden’s truncated life-bar is a testament to her humanity, and she’s no bullet sponge. While wilfully obtuse, there’s much to wring from Control’s meaty campaign; and though it’s the story that’ll keep you moving forward, it sure is fun battering enemies with fire extinguishers and CRT monitors along the way. A must for horror lovers and pure story fans alike. We’d expect no less from the folks at Remedy.

In the sequel, you’ll play a hard-bitten janitor who has to clean all this mess up.

“Er… you all seem to be very busy… shall I come back in 15 minutes?”

STUFF SAYS A slick shooter that’ll turn you into a control freak in all the right ways ★★★★✩ 94

TESTED GAMES

Switch / nintendo.co.za

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Nintendo proves that it’s been making excellent games far longer than some of us have been playing them with this revamped relic veryone and their grandmother have a remake on the way. Not even Nintendo is immune to the drawcard that is re-releasing something that did well two decades ago. But when Ninty does it, they’ve got some serious games to draw from. Case in point: The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, a remake of Game Boy title Link’s Awakening. Harking from back in 1993, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and all the internet was fresh, players will note a lot of older game mechanics in place. Because the game’s 26 years old. It’s legally old enough to drink and has been for a while. A top-down dungeon crawler, in the vein of Pokémon if you need a more modern equivalent, Link’s Awakening relies on a very specific set of steps to complete. If you know exactly what’s up (and old hands will) then this title is over in a matter of hours. But it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. And the journey here is pretty damned slick. Familiar scenes,

There are shades of Pokémon in interior locations but just look at all that detail.

Combat is teleported to the present day direct from the 90s. The 1990s, that is.

characters and stories stand alongside upgrades both visual and technical. The art style has been vastly improved from the original 8-bit animation, while control has been updated for a console that has more than two buttons and a D-pad. Link’s Awakening looks and handles like a modern-day game. But gameplay has definitely finished varsity already. It mostly relies on players doing something new with whatever item they earned last, but in a dynamically charming way. Because that’s just how Ninty rolls. Deceptively simple gameplay gives way to gorgeous visuals and audio that draws players in. And if you were about the last time, there’s something new for you too: Chamber Dungeon, a little DIY section where players can create their own challenges. It takes a while to get through as you unlock new tile sets during the normal course of play. While not worth the price of admission on its own for those who were here in 1993, it’s still worth checking out.

STUFF SAYS A charming throwback from 1993 that impresses throughout ★★★★★ 95

GADGET DOCTOR

ALWAYS ON CALL

facebook.com/stuffsa ● @StuffSA stuff@stuff.co.za

MAIL OF THE MONTH Q

IRRE(WR)ISTABLE

Hi, I have been thinking of getting a fitness watch with a budget of R4000. I am looking for one with long battery life and accuracy for trail running. The ones that I found are the Polar Vantage M and the Garmin Forerunner 235. Should I get one of them, or is another one better? Kai

Taking a look at your two nominated fitness watches, we’re going to have our work cut out for us. If you’re looking at

includes drawing and illustration amongst other things. The new iPad Pro is fantastic, but on the expensive side (like most Apple products). Do you know of a slightly cheaper iPad that can still do the job? Stephan

multiple disciplines, like swim tracking, then the Polar Vantage M is the best buy. But… don’t count on wearing it out when you’re not in running shoes. It’s not especially comfy. If you’re after something you can also wear when being a civilian, the Forerunner 235 is the watch for you. When it comes to plain running, both devices offer similar features – so you might as well pick the one that looks best. But if you’re after a (very practical) all-rounder, the Polar is the one to beat.

You've got the first step right: settling on an iPad. iPads are certainly a great choice when you're planning on designing digitally. When it comes down to details, it really depends on your budget. The updated iPad Mini has Apple Pencil support, meaning you can use it for designing. We're not promising world-class performance though. We'd recommend going with a previous-gen iPad Pro (from 2017) which features a 120Hz refresh rate on the display. Pair this with an Apple Pencil (first gen is fine), and you're in line to be the next Picasso.

Send us your FAQs and you could win! This letter wins a Lego Creator Expert Ford Mustang worth R2 299.99

PRECIOUS PRECISION

I wish to replace my sevenyear-old Dell Precision laptop with a Precision 7740 17in variation with an i9 processor but I am struggling to find it in South Africa. Distributors don’t seem interested in distributing it. Any idea how I can source one? George

It looks like it'll be a while before the Dell Precision 7740 lands in South Africa. So you have three options: wait for it to land (it could be months!), import it or buy a similarlyspecced machine. You can import it for $5 580 which

loosely converts to R85 000. Remember to add import taxes and you're set.

HIT THE HUAWEI

I love my P20 Pro and was excited to see the camera tech on Huawei’s new Mate 30 Pro. Will the Huawei Mate 30 phones be available in SA considering it doesn’t have Google apps? Jeremy

Welcome to the club. Everyone was hoping to see Huawei pull some miracle out of its collective hat at the Mate 30 launch event. But it seems the US ban has severely affected Huawei's Google

TO IN E RITND W WA US

Next month’s mail of the month w a Google Home Mini worth R1 0 courtesy of Circuit City 96

accessibility. It runs opensource Android, but will not launch with Google apps preinstalled. Huawei South Africa has delayed the local launch, and we’re guessing they need to bulk up their app store or tweak their own OS before it will roll out.

TABLO PICASSO

I am looking at the different iPads that would work best for my creative pursuits. This

This gadget leapt straig outta testin and into ou rankings.

OF EVERYTHING

NEW

Time changes everything, including Stuff Top Ten placings.

HOT BUY BARGAIN BUY UPDATE Searing with techy genius, a product thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s set our hearts aflame.

A solid gold bargain. Worth owning, regardless of cashflow.

Smartphones Phablets Tablets, mobile games TVs Laptops Wearables Budget buys

98 99 100 10 1 102 103 104

Drones, action cams & compact cameras VR headsets & games System cameras Headphones Wireless speakers Consoles Games

105 106 107 108 109 1 1 0 111

HOW TO USE THEM

TOP TENS SMARTPHONES

TIPS & TRICKS

Samsung Galaxy S10

Charge up your mates – turn on Wireless PowerShare, flip the phone face down and place a Qi-compatible device on it. That’s it.

It may be bigger but is it really better than the Galaxy S9? We’re going to have to go with ‘yes’. The Galaxy S10 is trying something new with the punch-hole display. The screen is excellent, the Exynos innards are speedy as ever, assisted by 8GB of RAM and 128 or 512GB of storage. There’s a triple camera to play with (running a 12/12/16MP split) with 2x optical zoom and ultrawide functions. Samsung proves you don’t need all the megapixels to make a great camera.

Bye, Bixby – swipe to the Bixby panel and select options […]. Hit Settings, then Bixby, and then assign the dedicated button to something else.

Stuff says ★★★★★ A solid contender but Samsung’s got its work cut out to hold this spot next year.

Paranoid much? – Set up auto-wiping by going to Settings – Lock Screen – Secure Lock Settings. After 15 failed logins, your device will factory reset itself.

UPDATE

● NOW ADD THIS Samsung Galaxy Buds If you missed out on the pre-order bonus, you should still snag these skilled wireless wonders. R3 000 / samsung.com/za

UPDATE

There’s a gap between the stock P30 and the P30 Pro. They’re both amazing phones, even if you’re giving up some features to get a significantly cheaper smartphone. Much of the camera tech remains intact, though, and Huawei’s kept the power and style in place as well.

So you’re wondering if you should grab the P30, the P30 Pro, or the P20 Pro. This one’s undergoing price drops and specials, making it a magnificent deal for anyone who was sitting on the fence. In terms of tech, power, and camera ability, the P20 Pro is a mighty fine phone.

Stuff says ★★★★★ The P30 is priced the way we wish all flagships were. Worth every cent.

Stuff says ★★★★★ It’s fallen a step or two but Huawei’s heavy hitter is still on the podium.

R10 000 / huaweistore.co.za

Apple iPhone 8

UPDATE

R13 000 / huaweistore.co.za

UPDATE

HOT BUY

★★★★★ from R13 000 / samsung.com/za The S9 was all small, excellent updates. It still is, but now it’s got competition from its own stablemates.

Huawei P30 Lite

UPDATE

Huawei P20 Pro

Samsung Galaxy S9

Trumped?

Huawei P30

★★★★★ from R20 000 / myistore.co.za We’re not used to the iPhone here. Apple’s hardware is top-notch, but 2019’s proving to be a tough year.

Apple iPhone XR

UPDATE

If the lazy approach to The Art of War interests you,head to p16 and p96 to read more.

Apple iPhone XS

UPDATE

★★★★★ from R13 000 / myistore.co.za This ‘budget’ iPhone still packs a punch, including killer battery life and the best LCD money can buy.

★★★★★ R5 325 / huaweistore.co.za Not content with sewing up the top spots, Huawei’s budget entry is lifting eyebrows and dropping jaws.

★★★★✩ from R10 000 / myistore.co.za The iPhone 8’s days on this list are numbered, but for now it’s still the truly ‘budget’ iPhone option.

Sony Xperia 10

★★★★✩ from 6 200 / sonymobile.com/za A 6in 21:9 display, the way only Sony does, makes this mid-ranger a great choice for the media mad.

Nokia 6.1

★★★★✩ from 3 000 / hmdglobal.com All-new innards, Android One pedigree, and nary a price bump? Is it our birthday, Nokia?

FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS VISIT STUFF.CO.ZA OR STUFFSA ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM

● Prices quoted are for handset only unless otherwise stated

from R14 000 / samsung.com/za

PHABLETS TOP TENS TIPS & TRICKS

uawei P30 Pro

Go dark – sa battery (why your eyes (ok hitting Settin Battery – Da interface colo

000 / huaweistore.co.za

when you thought it was safe to upgrade r phone on contract, Huawei comes along h another sizzler. The P30 Pro may have best smartphone camera we’ve ever seen, h 5x optical zoom (thanks, prism!), and up 0x digital zoom. Because there are four era sensors there: 40MP, 20MP, 8MP Huawei’s own Time-of-Flight camera. nslation? The best low-light images you’ll from any smartphone for the rest of 2019.

Manage thos minutes. Pop Settings – D Balance – Tu screen time managemen Dangerously – Open the c then Settings top-right. Se Audio Contro then say ‘che to take photo

ff says ★★★★★ nyone pulls ahead of Huawei at any nt in 2019, we’ll be very surprised.

Trumped?

If the lazy approach to The Art of War interests you,head to p16 and p96 to read more.

● NOW ADD THIS Huawei Supercharge 10 000 mAh The P30 Pro’s huge battery is no reason not to get it a high-speed power bank of its very own. R800 / huaweistore.co.za

Samsung Galaxy Note 9

★★★★★ from R14 000 / samsung.com/za Still the only phone to purchase if you must have a stylus, even if it’s slipped down the ranks a tad.

UPDATE

Apple iPhone XS Max

Samsung Galaxy S9+

Huawei Mate 20 Pro

Samsung ruled the roost in 2018 but competition is fiercer than ever. Case in point: Samsung’s best phone ever hasn’t claimed the top spot. Don’t let that put you off. The S10+ is still a beast of a machine, elegantly styled, powerful and with a camera not to be sneezed at.

With the Mate 30 Pro out now (we don’t know the Android-status at the time of print), the Mate 20 Pro is ready for a price drop. The trade war has caused Huawei devices to drop in value – which is good for us. The Mate 20 Pro is still one of the most boss devices out there.

Stuff says ★★★★★ If you like them big, slick, and stylish, the Galaxy S10+ is the one.

Stuff says ★★★★★ Even without a price drop this would be an absolute steal.

from R19 000 / samsung.com/za

R11 500 / huaweistore.co.za

★★★★★ R17 300 / samsung.com/za Off the podium but still a solid choice if you want the best of Samsung and don’t need a stylus.

Apple iPhone 8 Plus

Honor 8x

UPDATE

Samsung Galaxy S10+

★★★★★ from R22 000 / myistore.co.za Apple must do something big to claw its way back. The XS Max proves they’re capable of that.

★★★★★ from R12 500 / myistore.co.za Short stay on the podium notwithstanding, the iPhone 8 Plus is looking cheap vs the XS Max.

★★★★★ from R5 200 / hi-online.co.za Our fave budget handset right now holds its own against far pricier ones, and looks the part, too.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro

NEW

★★★★✩ from R23 000 / samsung.com/za Samsung has pumped up the specs on its excellent phablet, including more S-Pen features.

★★★★✩ R3 700 / mia.africa.com/za Going long on a budget , Xiaomi’s packed in power, storage, and a dual camera system.

FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS VISIT STUFF.CO.ZA OR STUFFSA ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM

TOP TENS TABLETS & MOBILE GAMES HOT BUY

100

UPDATE

HOT BUY

Apple iPad Pro

Data Wing

The latest iPad Pro isn’t cheap, but it’s a mobile powerhouse like no other, with a diverse and rich app ecosystem, tons of power, a gorgeous screen, and the kind of focus on creativity and productivity that just doesn’t exist on other tablets. If you just want to faff on Facebook or Netflix it’s massive overkill, but then there’s the standard iPad or a slew of other tablets for doing that. Still, even if you don’t actually need the new iPad Pro, you’re going to want one if you have it in your mitts for five minutes.

This game starts off as if Asteroids had a baby with a top-down racer: your triangular craft blasts around circuits, gaining speed when its bum scrapes neon track edges. Soon you discover you’re part of an OS ruled by a deranged AI. Story and game quickly expand, as you glimpse the world beyond the screen and battle gravity in cavern-based sections that recall 8-bit classic Thrust. Rarely do mobile titles pack in so many hours of clever, thoughtful narrative. Pretty much never are such games free.

Stuff says ★★★★★ Once again Apple blasts ahead of the pack, with a stylish, powerful tablet full of creative potential

Stuff says ★★★★★ A mobile game we’d happily recommend if it cost R100 – for free, it’s an absurdly generous bargain

from R15 000 / myistore.co.za

Apple iPad Air (2019)

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4

Apple iPad (2018)

Apple iPad Mini (2019)

UPDATE

from R9 000 / myistore.co.za Admit it, you’ve been waiting for a new iPad Air. An A12 Bionic procesor, improved specs across the board and an option of 64GB or 256GB of storage. It’s a very good time to be an Apple fan. Stuff says ★★★★★ Still the best all-purpose iPad for most

from R14 500 / samsung.com/za If you want a tablet that isn’t made by Apple, you don’t have many choices. Fortunately, Samsung’s Tab S4 is a mighty fine Android slate. It marries improved power with a 10.5in panel and sound by AKG. Netflix? Why not. Stuff says ★★★★★ Your best choice for something non-Apple

★★★★★ from R6 000 / myistore.co.za We’ve got pencil support and an amazing price. Plus, it’s an iPad. Come on, no brainer.

★★★★★ from R7 500 / myistore.co.za Apple’s finally updated the mini iPad, with the A12 Bionic chip and a general upgrade.

Free / Android, iOS

Jumpgrid

Oddmar

Bring You Home

Knight Brawl

R50 / iOS Pac-Man and Frogger meet Super Hexagon and buckets of adrenaline in this superb game, a twitch/arcade/punishment crossover masterpiece. It’s a stunning ride that will leave you a quivering wreck. Stuff says ★★★★★ The best twitch arcade game on mobile

R66 / Android, R80 / iOS Oddmar looks like it could have breezed in from a PS4. It’s packed full of superb level design, arresting set-pieces and lush animated visuals, as a beardy Viking oaf sets out to save his tribe. Stuff says ★★★★★ Touchscreen platformers can be great after all

★★★★★ R50 / Android, iOS Make your own future with this imaginative, brilliantly designed and devious puzzler.

★★★★★ Free / Android, iOS If Monty Python made a sword-fighting game for mobile… it still wouldn’t be this silly.

FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS VISIT STUFF.CO.ZA OR STUFFSA ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM

101 HOT BUY

TVs TOP TENS

UPDATE

LG OLED 65C8 R50 000 / lg.com/za

LG’s new 65C8 is all screen from the front. From the side, though, it’s barely there. LG’s intuitive webOS er… OS guides you through a very simple setup. After that you just have to bask in the reverse-glow of inky OLED blacks, crisp picture reproduction and upscaling (for when you don’t have anything 4K on hand), and a refresh rate that’ll make your PS4 Pro or Xbox One X transform into a Disney princess and start singing. Cue harmonious woodland critters.

Stuff says ★★★★★ It’s a choice between this one and LG’s wallet-busting E8. We picked this one TIPS & TRICKS

LG’s TV is smarter than ever so if it offers you a settings change, take it. The interface is simple enough that you can revert whenever you like but… you won’t.

● NOW ADD THIS Sony PlayStation 4 Pro You’re going to want to use your 4K screen to display 4K bits and the PS4 Pro is going to help you to do that. Best when paired with Sony’s PlayStation VR headset (R4 800). R7 000 / playstation.com/za

Difficult neighbours? Swap between eight different audio output options in the Settings menu, including alwaysconnected headphones or a Bluetooth device.

3 HOT BUY

LG 65SK9500

Hisense 65U8A

Samsung 55Q7F

LG OLED 65E8

UPDATE

Samsung 55Q8C

R30 000 / hirschs.co.za

★★★★★ from R30 000 / lg.com/za 4K UHD but there’s no OLED here. Nano Cell, HDR, and webOS make up for it.

★★★★★ R18 000 / hisense.co.za A huge UHD panel, enough ports to make you feel like a sailor and a price that’s kind to the wallet.

★★★★★ R18 000 / samsung.com/za Samsung’s 4K TV supports HDR and has a price that means you’ll still able to eat at month end.

★★★★✩ R120 200 / lg.com/za LG’s heavy hitter is amazeballs, but the price hits your wallet harder than the pixels pummel pupils.

Samsung Frame TV R26 000 / takealot.com

Okay, it’s still curved and we’re kind of past that but Samsung’s big screen hits your eyes with a 4K panel toting their neato Quantum Dot tech. It also looks the part, with no bezels and minimalist styling, making sure that this one fades into the background… until you turn it on, that is. Samsung’s Q HDR 1500 also helps in that regard.

Say you want a TV but don’t want people to know you have one. Samsung’s designer Frame TV mounts on your wall and pretends to be artwork when not in use, disguising the fact that you’ve got a 65in UHD 4K TV on the wall. Pity that folks can see the Xbox One X is plugged into the side of that abstract painting.

Stuff says ★★★★★ If you can look past the curve, there’s a lot to love here

Stuff says ★★★★★ If your house looks like a magazine ad, this TV will fit right in

8 HOT BUY

UPDATE

Hisense 75N9700UWG

★★★★✩ R50 000 / hisense.co.za Hisense lobs Quantum Dot colour tech and a humongous 75in 4K ULED screen at you.

Skyworth 55G7200

★★★★✩ R8 800 / iskyworth.com A 55in 4K display for under R10k? For that combo, we’ll forgive the user interface missteps.

LG 49UK6300PVB

★★★★✩ R7 000 / lg.com/za UDH and HDR combined in a package designed to make you feel like you spent far more money.

FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS VISIT STUFF.CO.ZA OR STUFFSA ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM

TOP TENS LAPTOPS Who needs a Touch Bar? You can log into your Mac with your iPhone’s Touch ID using the MacID app.

102

The universal clipboard lets you copy text on your iPhone and paste it directly to your Mac.

HOT NEW BUY

Apple MacBook Pro 2019

from R23 000 (13in) / myistore.co.za

The entry-level MacBook Pro received a noteworthy spec bump this year, and the base 13in variation won’t necessarily break the bank. What this also means, is the previous-gen Pro’s have received a price cut. Which makes them even more desirable. But the 2019 Pro’s now run 8th- and 9th-gen Intel Core processors, and the 15in model packs up to 8-cores. It retains the Touch Bar, Retina Display, Touch ID, some nifty SSDs and the trusty Apple T2 Security Chip. Now if we could just get these a little cheaper, that’d be grand.

Stuff says ★★★★★ A bump in spec is exactly what the best MacBook needed to dominate ● NOW ADD THIS Satechi Type-C USB 3 Combo Hub Two ports not enough? This hub adds loads more and sits snugly against the MacBook Pro’s side. R800 / amazon.com

UPDATE

NEW

Apple MacBook Air 13in

★★★★★ from R15 000 / myistore.co.za As stylish as it ever was, Apple’s Air is due for a refresh locally after an international update.

MSI GT76 Titan

★★★★★ from R55 000 / evetech.co.za It packs a punch with at least an RTX 2070 GPU and up to an Intel Core i9 in a weighty chassis.

Apple MacBook

★★★★★ from R18 000 / myistore.co.za It may be about to join the ranks of the obsolete but it’s still a top bit of tech. UPDATE

MSI PS63 Modern

★★★★★ from R24 000 / evetech.co.za Does MSI’s multimedia editing-slayer still play games? Yes. Yes, it bloody well does.

Dell XPS 13 (2019)

Asus Zenbook UX331UA

The Dell XPS 13 is one of the best, most consistent Windows laptops in the world. There are no gimmicks, no flimsy parts: every element is top-quality. You get style, portability, performance and great battery life. And every part of it just feels, well, good.

Asus’ new 1.12kg Zenbook 13 might look less like a MacBook than its predecessors did but that’s okay. It’s not like a Mac inside either, with a Core i7-8550U, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD and other metrics that make Apple’s machines look slow.

Stuff says ★★★★★ Royalty among Windows laptops: everything about this is top-notch

Stuff says ★★★★★ Something this fast shouldn’t be this light

from R19 400 / dell.co.za

Huawei MateBook X Pro

★★★★★ from R19 000 / huawei.com/za A stylish Windows laptop with some clever ideas to get the maximum display for your rand.

from R15 000 / asus.com/za

9 1

UPDATE

Asus ZenBook Pro 14

★★★★★ R32 000 / asus.com/za A sizable second screen makes the ZenBook Pro 14 a very unusual proposition indeed.

Acer Swift 5

★★★★✩ R15 000 / acer.co.za Lacks gaming chops but it’s light, portable, and powerful enough to make office life lovely.

FOR UP-TO-DATE NEWS VISIT STUFF.CO.ZA OR STUFFSA ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM

103

SMARTWATCHES, FITNESS TRACKERS TOP TENS HOT BUY

HOT

UPDATE

Apple Watch Series 4 (GPS)

Garmin Fenix 5

The Apple Watch Series 4 has everything going for it – the larger screen, improved processor and louder speaker mean it’s easier to actually do stuff on it than any previous Watch, and it has a load of health features that just aren’t on other wearables. Whether you’re navigating somewhere using Maps, going for a run without your phone, or just wanting to keep track of your activity during the day, this Apple Watch does a great job of handling all these things and more.

So you’re the kind of sporty that makes the seriously fit look at you kinda strange and wonder if you’re ever going to slow down, you need the sportiest sportswatch. You’re going to need something that tracks all the things. Our fitness champ does everything from swimming to sprinting to… skydiving? Really? Yeah, really. The Fenix 5 is the ultimate sportswatch, so much so that you’ll feel you need a degree in sports fitness to understand all the stats. But that’s why we love this one.

Stuff says ★★★★★ Best wearable ever: a sleek, sophisticated redesign of the previous generation with some hearty upgrades

Stuff says ★★★★★ If you’re going to be the sportiest of your pentathlonbeating mates, you’re going to want the Fenix 5

from R4 000 / myistore.co.za

UPDATE

Samsung Galaxy Watch

from R7 000 / garmin.co.za

UPDAT

R4 700 / samsung.com/za A sturdy and stylish smartwatch with plenty of power and a truly lovely user interface. Those with an iPhone are still likely to get a better experience and more functionality om an Apple Watch, though. uff says ★★★★★ The best smartwatch for Android users

R2 500 / fitbit.com For a broad range of tracking without making your wallet sad, Fitbit’s versatile Charge 3 offers up all of the basics, a whack of actual sports smarts, and more than a few bits cribbed from its smartwatch brethren. Stuff says ★★★★★ The Jonty Rhodes of fitness trackers

Huawei Watch GT

UPDAT

Fitbit Inspire HR

R3 300 / huaweistore.co.za A smartwatch that lasts two weeks on a charge? Sign us up. The Huawei Watch GT is still one of the best-looking smartwatches with a host of features to match.

R2 000 / fitbit.com Fitbit’s latest is a great little tracker. As well as step-counting, it’s surprisingly capable for proper run-tracking if you go out with a phone. Add notifications and that’s just about everything we want in a low-key band. Stuff says ★★★★★ All the tracking skills that most people need

Stuff says ★★★★★ Stay fit while looking fly

Fitbit Alta HR

Garmin Vivosmart HR+

Garmin Forerunner 945

UPDATE

Fitbit Versa

UPDATE

NEW

UPDATE

★★★★★ from R11 100 / garmin.co.za A well-built, comfortable and feature-rich smartwatch, perfect for fitness freaks.

★★★★✩ R3 500 / fitbit.com Decent battery life and a smattering of smarts make this an attractive watch.

Fitbit Charge 3

★★★★★ R1 300 / fitbit.com The slim design, HR monitor, and notifications make this the best discreet wristable.

★★★★✩ R2 500 / garmin.co.za A superb tracker packed with features; it’s just a little bulky for wearing 24/7.

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TOP TENS BUDGET BUYS

104

Why bother splashing out over R7 000 on a games console when you can get the SNES Classic Mini for a fraction of that? Especially when you get 21 classic titles pre-installed on this nostalgia-inducing machine, including the likes of Super Metroid, A Link to the Past, Super Mario World and the never-before-released Star Fox 2. And with two controllers bundled in the box, you’ll be able to start the Super Mario Kart action right away.

Chickens killed you in Zelda again? You can rewind up to five minutes and pretend it never happened. For full-fat nostalgia you can read the instruction manual for each of the SNES games online.

Stuff says ★★★★★ With 21 classic games installed, gamers won’t find better value anywhere

Stop trying to raid Bowser’s castle in one sitting, and use one of the four save slots to take a break.

● NOW ADD THIS 8Bitdo Bluetooth Retro Receiver Fed up of those short cables? Use this clever device to connect most modern controllers wirelessly. R500 / 8bitdo.com

Moov Now

Amazon Kindle

PDATE

Raspberry Pi Zero W

UE Wonderboom

It might be nearly twice the price of the original Pi Zero, but when you’re still getting change from a R200 the wireless Pi is fantastic value. Simplicity is key, with no need to mess about with dongles or hubs. This also means your Pi projects can be squeezed into smaller places.

If you want a cheap portable Bluetooth speaker, you can’t go wrong with either the UE Roll 2 or the UE Wonderboom. But the latter makes this list for offering bigger sound, its nifty design and waterproofing. Quite simply, it’s the best compact speaker you can buy.

Stuff says ★★★★★ The Pi Zero was already brilliant; wireless add-ons make it better

Stuff says ★★★★★ This budget Bluetooth banger is a steal at under R1 500

R210 / pishop.co.za

SNES Classic Mini R1 250 / nintendo.co.za

TIPS & TRICKS

HOT BUY

★★★★★ R1 550 / pclinkshop.co.za The best budget tracker you can buy – gives most Fitbits a run for their money.

★★★★★ from R1 650 / circuitcity.co.za Top of our holiday packing list, the basic Kindle is thinner and lighter than its predecessor.

SoundMagic E10C

★★★★★ R540 /sound-magic.co.za SoundMagic is royalty when it comes to budget buds. For under R600, these are stupendous.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 9

Ryze Tello

Amazon Echo Dot

Google Home Mini

HOT BUY

from R1 000 / superbalist.com

HOT BUY

UPDATE

BARGAI UPDATE BUY

★★★★★ R1 100 / fujifilm.co.za The new Mini 9 keeps the point-and-print charm of its predecessors... and the same film.

★★★★✩ R1 500 / takealot.com Rule the skies without breaking the bank with this affordable toy drone.

★★★★✩ R1 000 / geewiz.co.za This smart home assistant is a lot smaller than the full-size Echo, but it’s a much bigger bargain.

★★★★✩ R850 / takealot.co.za The friendliest and most knowledgeable smart speaker. Looks like a pebble in a sock, though.

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105

DRONES, ACTION CAMS & COMPACTS TOP TENS HOT Y

GoPro Hero7 Black

Sony DSC-RX100 V A

This is basically the excellent Hero6 Black (a five-star action cam that cost R8 500 at launch) with a bunch of improvements added – the most useful of which being the incredibly effective HyperSmooth image stabilisation, which has a huge impact on video quality. It’s great to see a company like GoPro continue to innovate in ways that are genuinely valuable to its main customer base, and the Hero7 Black is the best camera it’s made in years.

We wouldn’t recommend buying this camera if you already own the old IV model, but a few improvements have ensured Sony remains the top dog in our compacts list – and we’re keeping this model above the new RX100 VI simply because of the price difference. It remains one of the finest point-and-shoots we’ve ever seen, with a flexibility that few pocket cameras can muster. While it’s still not exactly cheap, we reckon this is the cam to buy if you want fantastic-looking snaps from your holidays.

Stuff says ★★★★★ GoPro’s smoothest operator ever, and a brilliant flagship action cam

Stuff says ★★★★★ A small improvement over the RX100 IV, but this Sony is close to premium point-and-shoot perfection

R7 000 / gopro.com

UPDAT

HOT

DJI Osmo Action

R6 000 / myistore.co.za The image stabilisation is sensational and the face-optimised metering makes DJI’s action cam an ideal choice for vloggers. It has some idiosyncrasies, but this is a smart shooter that captures great footage without faff. Stuff says ★★★★★ Despite a few quirks, this is a stellar cam

DJI Mavic 2 Pro

Insta360 One X

DJI Mavic Air

UPDATE

from R31 000 / myistore.co.za Aimed at the enthusiast willing to spend a little more to fly and film a little further, this is an undeniably pricey drone – but we think it’s worth every cent. It’s a fantastic flyer that feels superbly responsive in the air. Stuff says ★★★★★ The gold standard in portable flyers

★★★★★ R8 700 / 180by2.co.za Shoot every which way now, choose your point of view later thanks to 5.7K res.

★★★★★ R15 560 / myistore.co.za A stellar gadget that combines the best bits from the Spark and the Mavic Pro.

R20 000 / premiumbrands.co.za

2 3

Panasonic Lumix TZ220

R16 700 / panasonic.com/za This Panasonic compact is a significant upgrade from the TZ110, offering extra reach with the zoom lens, better colour reproduction, and an improved experience when using the electronic viewfinder. Stuff says ★★★★★ Small, neat and not dramatically overpriced

Sony DSC-RX100 VI

R23 700 / premiumbrands.co.za A true all-rounder that shoots 24fps at full resolution and has stunningly fast autofocus, topped off with a whopping 8x zoom lens that’s quite spectacular for such a tiny camera. Stuff says ★★★★★ A dinky yet luxurious point-and-shoot

Panasonic Lumix LX100 II

Fujifilm X100F

★★★★★ R19 000 / panasonic.com/za One of the most capable compacts on the market, with superb stills and HD video.

★★★★★ R17 600 / myfujifilm.co.za The best street shooter around if you don’t need the flexibility of interchangeable lenses.

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TOP TENS VR HEADSETS & VR GAMES

106

HOT NEW BUY

Oculus Quest

Blood & Truth

The Quest offers all manner of fully interactive, roamable virtual worlds that you can throw in your backpack without a single wire. That’s a mindblowing technical feat. Yes, the battery life is average, but the inside-out tracking and total absence of any cables make this the best all-round VR headset to date. It also ships with the Oculus Touch motion controllers included, which means you can play fully fledged Oculus Rift titles without being anywhere near a PC.

Blood & Truth uses every trick available to deliver an absolutely rollicking action thriller – sweaty palms are guaranteed. Covering a huge breadth of environments and sequences that will make you forget its relatively short runtime, it turns London into a playground packed with dazzling action set-pieces, while the story keeps you grounded with a likeable and compelling cast. Anyone with a PSVR needs to play this; and for those who don’t already own one, the time is now.

Stuff says ★★★★★ If you’ve been waiting to board the VR bandwagon, the Quest might be the best reason yet to go for it

Stuff says ★★★★★ A stunning full-length VR action blockbuster with a great story

from R10 800 / 1 80by2.co.za

UPDATE

HTC Vive

R11 000 / makro.co.za Now that prices have levelled out, there isn’t much difference between the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in all honesty. But if you’re thinking of upgrading to the Vive Pro in the future, this is a great gateway headset. Stuff says ★★★★✩ A solid choice for immersive virtual reality

HTC Vive Pro

R15 200 (headset only) / evetech.co.za This high-end headset offers the best virtual reality experience by a long way, but its sky-high price means you should only really buy it if you’re a VR obsessive with a super-powerful gaming PC. Stuff says ★★★★✩ This hardcore headset is overkill for most UPDATE

Google Daydream View

★★★★✩ R1 800 / thegadgetshop.co.za This budget-friendly option is the best way of bringing VR to the masses.

PlayStation VR

★★★✩✩ from R5 200 / playstation.com/za It can deliver incredible experiences, but the PSVR is held back by teething issues.

R700 / PSVR

Superhot VR

Farpoint

Moss

BARGAIN BUY

R400 / Oculus Rift, 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

R330 (R1 000 with Aim Controller) / PSVR If it weren’t in VR, Farpoint would be a distinctly average space-based FPS. But the PSVR headset and Aim Controller lift it above the pack and make it a must-play, not just for VR fans but also for FPS addicts. Stuff says ★★★★★ Simply a thrilling VR experience

★★★★✩ R470 / PSVR This platform puzzler offers a one-of-akind fable that’s perfect for VR.

Thumper

★★★★✩ R320 / Oculus Rift, Vive, PSVR This mesmerising rhythm game is best played in VR, despite the lack of tracking.

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107

SYSTEM CAMERAS TOP TENS HOT BUY

Fujifilm X-T3

R24 000 (body) / myfujifilm.co.za It’s really hard to find anything bad to say about the X-T3 – it’s just consistently great in so many ways. Fuji has looked at virtually every feature on the X-T2 and upgraded it. With substantial tweaks made to the pro-level video options, the high-res EVF, the super-fast autofocus and the burst shooting, what you’re left with is an all-round beast of a camera in a small, beautiful form. As APS-C shooters go, it’s the best there is.

TIPS & TRICKS Pre-shot ES mode starts taking photos and adding them to the buffer as soon as you half-press.

Stuff says ★★★★★ An incredible stills shooter with video smarts to match

Sports Finder mode’s display enables you to see what’s about to come into frame for moving shots.

● NOW ADD THIS Manfrotto 190 Go! Carbon Fibre Tripod You no longer have an excuse for wobbly photos with this carbon-fibre tripod. It weighs just 1.65kg. R4 350 / ormsdirect.co.za

Tapping an area on the 3in touchscreen will let you set the focus point or take an instant shot.

Sony A6500

Fujifilm X-T30

Panasonic GH5S

UPDATE

Panasonic Lumix G9

The A7 III manages to pack in a lot of technology and desirability for less than R60k. It’s a fantastic all-rounder that’s well suited to a bunch of shooting scenarios, coping well with landscapes, portraits, and even a little bit of high-speed sport shooting. As a camera design it’s admitedly not the prettiest thing we’ve ever seen, but it handles well for its compact size.

The G9 is the best Lumix camera to date and a cracking choice for wildlife or action photography. This diminutive cam’s images aren’t up with the best, particularly in low light, but the plus sides are lightning shooting speeds and a great system of small, light lenses. With 4K video and handy shooting modes also on board, it’s one of most versatile high-end mirrorless cameras you can buy.

Stuff says ★★★★★ A fantastic all-rounder that excels in low-light conditions

Stuff says ★★★★★ The perfect companion for the travelling wildlife photographer

R38 000 / premiumbrands.co.za

R29 300 / panasonic.com/za

★★★★★ R14 000 (body) / myfujifilm.co.za You get the X-T3’s sensor in a cheaper, smaller body with more spare change for buying lenses.

★★★★★ R41 000 (body) / panasonic.com/za A compact system camera that’s a pro at video, if slightly disappointing for stills.

Canon EOS 80D

Nikon Z6

Nikon D850

BARGAIN UPDATE BUY

Sony A7 III

★★★★★ R20 700 (body) / premiumbrands.co.za A cracking system cam for action photography, but stick with the A6300 if your budget is tight.

UPDATE

★★★★★ R17 900 / canon.co.za The 80D is so easy to use that even a toddler would get some great shots with it.

★★★★★ R41 000 (body) / nikon.co.za A top-notch and reasonably sized mirrorless camera from the optical experts.

★★★★★ R54 600 (body) / nikon.co.za This super-cam has enough fantastic features to excel in pretty much any situation.

Fujifilm GFX 50S

★★★★★ R93 300 / myfujifilm.co.za It’s not cheap, but no camera we’ve tested takes better photos than this.

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TOP TENS HEADPHONES OT

108

UPDATE

HOT BUY

Sony WH-1000XM3

SoundMagic E10BT

Sony’s WH-1000 series was already a top performer, and the WH-1000XM3s make for an even more compelling package. With Bluetooth wireless and great noise-cancellation, they’re the ultimate public transport stress killer… well, aside from a chauffeur or a lottery win that lets you retire. The leather pads make them incredibly easy to wear, not unlike sitting in one of those ultra-comfy leather chairs, and most importantly of all the sound quality is fantastic.

How do you kick our long-standing earbuds champ off the top of the list? By taking the same headphones and making them wireless, obvs. The SoundMagic E10BT in-ears are the same as the E10Cs, just sporting a lovely new Bluetooth finish which means they’ll play nice with those smartphones that have ditched the 3.5mm. Expect a spot of bass, as well as some very clean treble and detailed mids in a package that keeps the most important thing of all intact: The sub-R1 000 price tag.

Stuff says ★★★★★ Great wireless headphones with effective ANC and a sound that nails just about everything

Stuff says ★★★★★ We didn’t think that SoundMagic could provide more value than they did with the E10Cs but they’ve done it

R6 000 / takealot.com

B&O H9i

Sennheiser PXC 550

Bose QuietComfort 35 II

BARGAIN UPDATE BUY

R8 300 / makro.co.za Like all B&O products, these noise-cancelling cans scream luxury… but they’re not just a pretty face. There’s measured punch in the low end and timing is spot-on, with a crisp and expressive midrange. Stuff says ★★★★★ Some of the best noise-cancellers you can buy

R5 000 / mitechdirect.co.za To choose between these and the Bose below, you could flip a coin – both are wireless headphones with active noise cancelling, though Sennheiser’s touch controls, 30 hour up-time and cool factor are the decider here. Stuff says ★★★★★ Superb build, comfortable and stonking audio

★★★★★ R8 000 / makro.co.za Frequent flyers and long-range commuters: these are the headphones for you.

Sennheiser HD 4.50BTNC

★★★★★ R1 900 / mitechdirect.co.za Priced right, wireless, and with noise cancelling. The catch? The noise cancellation is permanent.

R890 / sound-magic.co.za

Jabra Elite Sport

Apple AirPods (2019)

Samsung Galaxy Buds

Sony WF-1000X

UPDATE

R3 400 / circuitcity.co.za For serious in-ear fitness tech, you have to get Jabra’s Elite Sport wireless buds. In-ear heart monitoring, up to nine hours of battery life, and a gnarly (and detailed) fitness-focussed app are the highlights here. Stuff says ★★★★★ The smartest fitness partner you’ll ever have

from R2 700 / myistore.co.za Yes, you’ll still look silly, but a new chip means the range is even more astounding, calls are still crystal clear, and you get extra battery life. Plus, there’s now the option of a wireless charging case for keeping them juiced-up. Stuff says ★★★★★ Still class-leading, still one-size-fits-all

★★★★★ R2 800 / samsung.com/za Android’s answer to AirPods, the Buds sound great, look subtler, and offer more fit options.

★★★★★ R3 000 / hificorp.co.za Sony’s Digital Noise Cancelling-featuing buds are keen on being your bud, er… bud.

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109 TIPS & TRICKS

With iPhones and Android devices, you can control your Sonos speakers from your lock screen.

WIRELESS SPEAKERS TOP TENS

Sonos speakers use a feature called Trueplay that tunes the sound to your room’s acoustics.

HOT BUY

Sonos multiroom system from R4 000 / audiotronic.co.za If you want to pretend your favourite band is playing in your living room, there’s no better option than a Sonos wireless speaker. They look great, work with your smartphone and boom out your tunes with dazzling finesse – from the compact and Alexa-compatible One, to the flagship Play:5, and the TV-friendly Beam (our reigning gadget-of-the-year champ).

Stuff says ★★★★★ Infinite music in every room without the need for custom installers? Sign us up! ● NOW ADD THIS Spotify Premium Sick of playing your iTunes library on repeat? Sign up to Spotify for more new music than you could ever possibly listen to. R60/month / spotify.com

HOT NEW BUY

UE Megaboom 3

HOT BUY

★★★★★ R3 700 / takealot.com You’ll struggle to find a better, longer-lasting or more feature-laden portable Bluetooth speaker. UPDATE

JBL Xtreme

★★★★★ R3 000 / dionwired.co.za A killer speaker that’s also become a far more affordable one in recent months. UPDATE

JBL Pulse 3

★★★★★ R3 000 / kloppers.co.za Pretty pricey, but potent for its size, and the LED light show is utterly mesmerising.

Braven 705

JBL Clip 2

Fender Newport

BARGAIN BUY

UE WonderBoom 2

DreamWave Tremor

This tiny speaker is a delight. It’s ideal for the park, or even if you’re looking to use one (or two) to supercharge your bedroom setup. Audio quality is ramped up from its predecessor, giving you better bass and more detail, but not at the expense of dinky portability.

With 50W of thumping audio output, a humongous 20800mAh rechargeable battery that provides up to 18 hours at medium volume (or eight at full tilt), and the most rugged body we’ve ever seen in a speaker, the Tremor is a real beast of a portable noise maker.

Stuff says ★★★★★ A rugged little wonder that’ll bring a sonic boost to any occasion.

Stuff says ★★★★★ It’ll last all day: come rain, snow, sand or being rolled down a hill

from R1 500 / takealot.com

from R3 500 / takealot.com

UPDATE

★★★★★ R1 000 / pclinkshop.com A massive price drop makes the 705 such a bargain it’s worth getting two to pair up.

★★★★★ R1 000 / capeunionmart.co.za A pocket-sized party package that delivers pounding performance while being pound-proof.

★★★★★ from 3 100 / takealot.com Great battery life, incredible sound and good looks make this amp imitator utterly irresistible.

Marshall Kilburn II

★★★★✩ R5 000 / makro.co.za The Kilburn II is a speaker with rock-god cred and a 20-hour battery. Weighs 3kg, though.

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TOP TENS CONSOLES

110

HOT BUY

UPDATE

GOT EARS? THEN CHECK OUT…

PlayStation 4 Pro from R7 000 / playstation.com/za

As a gaming platform, PlayStation 4 is the best around – which makes the PS4 Pro the best of the best. Games optimised for the new console look stunning on a 4K HDR TV, and are substantially improved by the extra grunt inside this slightly bigger machine. Sure, it can’t match the Xbox One X for sheer power or resolution, but it makes up for that with an impressive line-up of games – including Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn and Bloodborne – and virtual reality support.

Stuff says ★★★★★ The system for console gamers who have a 4K TV and want the best gaming experience possible Nintendo Switch

from R6 000 / store.nintendo.co.za 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. Long journeys will never be boring again. Stuff says ★★★★★ This 2-in-1 console is the real deal

YOUR ESSENTIAL AUDIO GUIDE TO WHAT’S HOT IN GADGETS

Microsoft Xbox One X

● BITING COMMENTARY ● BRILLIANT INSIGHTS ● (BAD) JOKES! ● GADGET HANDS-ONS

Nintendo Switch Lite

FIND IT ON iTUNES, SOUNDCLOUD OR YOUR PODCAST PLAYER OF CHOICE SIMPLY SEARCH FOR “STUFFED”

PlayStation 4 Slim

from R9 000 / xbox.com/za There’s no doubt the Xbox One X is the most powerful console here, capable of producing stunning 4K visuals… but it simply doesn’t have the line-up of games to usurp the PS4 Pro from top spot. Stuff says ★★★★★ A 4K monster held back by its game catalogue NEW

UPDATE

★★★★★ from R3 900 / store.nintendo.co.za Yeah, it’s a tiny bit smaller. But it’s also cheaper and just as powerful as its big bro.

★★★★✩ from R6 000 / playstation.com/za Haven’t got a 4K TV? This is the best way to enjoy PlayStation’s brilliant exclusives.

www.stuff.co.za/hubs/podcasts-videos/

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111

GAMES TOP TENS

HOT BUY

Red Dead Redemption 2 from R700 / PS4, Xbox One

Believable characters, a world to lose yourself in, top-class voice acting and a story that intrigues all the way through. Warts and all, with improvements from other games ignored, this is Rockstar at its most arrogant but also its most powerful. Red Dead Redemption 2 trusts you to explore, to grow, and to let its world seep into your consciousness. This is a special game and one that was entirely worth the wait.

TIPS & TRICKS Make sure you talk to strangers more than once – you never know what they’ll reveal.

Stuff says ★★★★★ Ultra-addictive gameplay in one of the greatest open worlds ever created

Regularly brushing and feeding Arthur’s horse will increase their bond. It’s what all good cowboys should do anyway.

● OR PLAY THIS Zelda: Breath of the Wild If you’re after a different kind of open-world experience that’s just as expansive and has a lot of heart, this is the one for you. R1 050 / Switch

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Forza Horizon 4

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Resident Evil 2

Super Mario Maker 2

Kingdom Hearts III

NEW

UPDATE

God of War

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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.

It’s no exaggeration to say this is hands-down the best Smash game yet. There’s just so much going on, with a huge array of fighters – it’s a fantastic way to enter into the world of Smash, and long-time fans of the series will not be disappointed.

Stuff says ★★★★★ The epic return of Kratos is yet another phenomenal PS4 offering

Stuff says ★★★★★ Smash is well and truly back, and it’s bigger and better than ever before

R1 000 / Switch

R700 / PS4

★★★★★ from R1 000 / PS4, Xbox One, PC A brutally punishing action adventure that will get your heart a-pumping.

★★★★★ from R900 / Xbox One, PC This is a bar-raising sandbox-racing game experience that’s worth buckling up for.

★★★★★ R1 000 / Switch Crammed with tactical and social depth, this is the best Fire Emblem game so far.

★★★★★ R1 000 / PS4, Xbox One, PC Highly polished and much more than just a remake, this is the series’ best entry yet.

★★★★★ R1 000 / Switch One of Nintendo’s smartest ideas in years feels perfect for the Switch.

★★★★★ R850 / PS4, Xbox One This fantastical trip is a worthy tribute to its Disney heritage.

Devil May Cry 5

★★★★✩ from R700 / PS4, Xbox One, PC A strange blend of world-class combat and old-fashioned design.

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Beep on the brat Teachers hated this kind of watch, thinking easy access to calculators would rot your brains. Kids got their own back by activating the hourly chime — and back then, watches weren’t synchronised.

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES 1984

Casio Databank CD-40 h yes, this ‘classic’ – as elegant as strapping an actual calculator to your wrist. Perhaps you had to be there, but there was something exciting about Casio’s calculator watch. It felt like the future – not only could you tell the time (in digital form!), but you could also do complex calculations right on your wrist. No more arguing about whether or not your friend owed you R2 for their share of the latest Mad magazine, because there was proof, in chunky LCD form! It’d store information too, meaning you could cheat in maths tests.

But Casio didn’t even get there first – there were earlier calculator watches. The snag was they were insanely expensive, fiddly to use, limited in number, or a less than desirable combination of all of those things. The magic of the Casio Databank CD-40 was you could grab one from your local shopping centre without bankrupting your family, then stick it on your wrist and have a fighting chance of mastering the thing before you got home. To use a well-worn phrase, it just worked. That makes it rather Apple-like in execution – you might say the CD-40 was the first properly mainstream smartwatch.

Give it a rest, grandad. It wasn’t that smart, and it’s not like it inspired Apple! Perhaps it should have. Only with watchOS 6 does the Apple Watch finally have a calculator app – and it’s not like the CD-40 was just a calculator anyway. Sure, there were no eBay alerts or weather reports in the 1980s, but you did get an alarm and stopwatch – two key Apple Watch apps. Also, the Casio’s display was always on, meaning you didn’t need to comically flick your arm and risk punching someone in the face whenever you checked the time. Apple’s now caught up with the Series 5, but Casio was way ahead of ’em.

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