Inhoudsopgave van December 2021 - Stuff UK

Halfway through a HIIT workout probably isn’t the perfect moment to appreciate sonic clarity, but even audiophiles need their exercise. Sony’s WF-C500 true wireless in-ears promise to improve the playback quality of your motivation playlist for less: while many buds go big on bass, Sony’s Digital Sound Enhancement Engine instead aims to accentuate high-frequency sounds for more authentic audio. The moulded design means they should lock snugly into your lugholes, while IPX4 waterproofing ensures sweat won’t stop your flow. The batteries will see you through 10hrs of star jumps, with a 10-minute visit to the charging case adding an extra hour. More burpees, anyone? £90 / sony.co.uk…

After the mixed bag of last year’s Marvel’s Avengers game, Square Enix is now turning its attention to another ragtag society of superheroes: the Guardians of the Galaxy. But few would have predicted that this follow-up effort would be an entirely single-player third-person action game. In Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, you play exclusively as Peter Quill, better known as Star-Lord, the self-appointed leader of these intergalactic outlaws. Our hands-on plonked us straight in at chapter five, where we find the squabbling Guardians heading to pay a fine to the Nova Corps, essentially the intergalactic police. Though the game doesn’t star the original MCU cast, Drax’s blunt delivery is just as amusing here as it is on the big screen, while Rocket Raccoon’s sneering dismissal of most of Quill’s ideas…

Whether you’re working out some of history’s finest spreadsheet formulae or crafting a curt comeback to a beleaguered customer service representative, keyboards are pretty crucial. Trouble is, they’re not always the easiest things to transport. Logitech’s compact MX Keys Mini ditches the numberpad and arrow keys of its full-size sibling in favour of a streamlined metal build that’s easier to tote alongside your tablet. Sculpted keys and improved stability promise a typing experience that won’t disturb the cafe crowd, while it also comes with dedicated buttons for dictation tools, muting your mic and diving straight into the emoji menu (shocked face) – plus a 10-day battery. £100 / logitech.com…

Ever wondered what’s up with the links in Stuff? We’ve got a team of retail pros who scour the web to find you the best gadget deals – visit any stuff.tv link in this guide and you’ll be taken to the best deal for that product. If you make a purchase, we may get a small commission. It’s that simple, and has no impact on how much you pay.…

Four and a half years and nearly 90 million shifted units later, Nintendo’s masterstroke of a hybrid console has returned its maker to the top… but there’s no denying the Switch is starting to show its age, and that’s why bubbling rumours of a ‘Switch Pro’ were easy to believe. When Nintendo confirmed its first significant Switch revision since 2017, however, it was not the Pro we were expecting. 4K upscaling on the telly? Forget it. A 1080p handheld display? Nope. In fact, if we’re talking raw power specs, the Switch OLED is entirely unchanged. But, as the name suggests, it does bring something new to the table, namely that display – as well as a handful of other hardware tweaks that frankly should have been there from the beginning.…

from £479 / stuff.tv/iPadMini When Apple made its first foray into teeny tablets with the 2012 iPad Mini, it was responding to increasing Android competition. But in terms of power and app capability, Apple’s cutey always had the lead – and that continues with the latest iteration. At £479 and up, it’s clear Apple is not in a scrap with lower-end Android offerings here. You get the full iPad experience, broadly without compromise, and in the smallest of form factors – it looks like an iPad Air that shrank in the wash. And the Mini tops the Air’s specs: it has an A15 chip that’s zippy with the most demanding apps and games; Touch ID in the power button; a True Tone ‘wide colour’ display that ramps up the brightness…

What’s the story? The Dell XPS range has been around for ages, and for good reason: these machines consistently balance quality components, excellent displays and sleek enclosures, and they’re often at the forefront when it comes to embracing new features. The latest XPS 13 excels in all areas, and Dell has managed to keep the prices surprisingly low. Is it any good? Even if you go entry-level you’re getting top-notch design and ergonomics here. The latest version combines aluminium, carbon fibre and a Gorilla Glass display to create a machine that’s sturdy and good-looking, and at just 14.8mm thick and 1.2kg it’s comparable with any other ultraportable. The tiny bezels, stainless steel logos and scratch-resistance are all impressive in the flesh. And there’s no shortage of practical features. It has…

FIRST ADD THESE… ONE SAMSUNG SPORTS BAND It’s simple to swap out the band on your Watch4 for a third-party option, given the fact that Samsung opted for standard strap fittings. That said, the company also makes its own alternatives to the one in the box. Our pick is the white sports band with black accents, perfect for that look-I’m-really-active vibe. from £34 / samsung.com TWO GOOGLE PIXEL BUDS A-SERIES Low-cost, decent-quality wireless sound is what Google’s new wireless earbuds are all about. Pair them with the Watch4 and you can enjoy phone-free tunes, with offline support for Spotify and YouTube Music. Meanwhile, adaptive sound automatically adjusts the volume based on your surroundings. £99 / store.google.com THREE SAMSUNG GALAXY S21 ULTRA 5G If you’re thinking about upgrading your smartphone and…

£599 / stuff.tv/11TPro ■ Xiaomi’s standard Mi 11 blends screen, CPU, camera and design smarts at a price that undercuts the likes of Samsung and OnePlus. Now its successor is here – and it aims to mix the formula up a bit. The 11T Pro goes without a few premium additions in order to drive the price down further, and adds stupidly fast charging. ■ The screen is a palm-filling 6.67in and 2400x1080 is still the gold standard for mid-range phones. AMOLED means flawless contrast, vibrant colours and deep blacks that ensure photos pop, while a 120Hz refresh rate makes scrolling and swiping super-smooth. ■ A Snapdragon 888 with 8GB of RAM guarantees a near-flawless Android experience. Gaming is a delight, even if it can get a little toasty when…

Far Cry 6 is absolutely enormous. The islands of Yara, the fictional South American archipelago where the game is set, are gargantuan, and completists could potentially spend 100 hours exploring its every corner – sniffing out loot, crafting materials or finding bad guys to machete in half. But it’s not just the map here that’s big (probably too big, in all honesty). Far Cry 6 has scaled up the action to unprecedented levels. This has always been a series where absolute chaos was only ever a few misplaced bullets away, but here misplaced bullets are pretty much encouraged from the get-go. Yes, there’s stealth, but you might as well accept that if a game gives you an airstrike backpack and a giant flamethrower within its first 90 minutes, it is…

HOT BUY 1 Sony WF-1000XM4 £250 / stuff.tv/WFXM4 A worthy successor to the XM3 buds that sat atop this list for what seemed like decades, Sony’s latest true wireless noise-cancelling in-ears are smaller, smarter and better. With the arguable exceptions of call quality and app slickness, the WF-1000XM4s aren’t quite the best at anything; but they’re so close to being the best at everything that their all-round game is untouchable. No other wireless earbuds are so consistently accomplished across the board. Stuff says The finest true wireless noise-cancelling earbuds around – this is the complete package 2 Devialet Gemini £279 / stuff.tv/Gemini There’s nothing special about their design, charging case, battery life, ANC or app… and the sound out of the box is arguably overhyped. But what you’re getting here,…

HOT BUY 1 Samsung QE65QN95A £2199 / stuff.tv/QN95A This is Samsung’s single most expensive 4K TV for 2021 (unless you buy a bigger version), but the pictures justify the outlay. The Korean giant’s implementation of the new Mini LED tech is, on this evidence, something to be reckoned with. It’s difficult to imagine how any of the other sets that are incoming this year could be better. Stuff says This Mini LED television is a fearsomely accomplished set – and the one to beat • NOW ADD THIS Samsung Q-Series soundbars Pairing your QLED with one of these is a stress-free way to get 3D object-based sound. from £449 / samsung.com TIPS & TRICKS You can configure this TV to work with the voice assistant of your choice, not just…

HOT BUY 1 VanMoof S3 £1998 / stuff.tv/VanMoofS3 VanMoof’s second-gen S3 (or X3 if you’re under 5ft 8in) looks like a normal bike, rides like a normal bike and, crucially, doesn’t cost a ridiculous amount of cash. The chunky 50mm tyres, slightly swooped bars and upright riding position all combine to make it super-comfy, and 30 miles with the power assistance set to level three (out of four) left us completely sweat-free with 20% still in the tank. Plus, for such a looker, the S3 has a lot of tech hidden away to make it a less than ideal target for thieves. Stuff says This smart-looking e-bike offers a great ride, great features and some genuinely useful security smarts NEW 2 Cowboy 4 £2290 / stuff.tv/Cowboy4 The Belgian maker’s latest…

HOT BUY 1 Oculus Quest 2 from £299 / stuff.tv/Quest2 The original Quest felt almost too good to be true. Its successor lacks the same wow factor, but you can’t argue with a better display and processor – not to mention a lighter, more comfortable build – for less money. Are there more powerful headsets? Is motion sickness still an issue? Yes to both, but superb tracking and a total absence of wires make this the VR package to get… that is, unless you’re boycotting Facebook, because you have to be logged in to use it. Stuff says Not a complete reinvention, but our favourite VR headset is now even better… and cheaper! 2 Valve Index £919 / stuff.tv/ValveIndex While not revolutionary, the Index carries enough subtle upgrades to put…

HOT BUY 1 DJI Air 2S £899 / stuff.tv/Air2S DJI’s status as overlord of the consumer drone world is pretty much unchallenged, but there’s no sign of laurel-resting here. The Air 2S may be its best drone yet: an almost perfect balance of portability, performance and price, ideal for novices but still able to produce nigh-on pro-level results. The richness of colour in conditions where a smaller sensor would struggle is the real killer feature; that this camera is bolted onto such a stable and easy-to-fly drone just makes it all the better. Stuff says DJI cranks up the magic once again with the best all-round camera drone on the market 2 DJI Mini 2 £419 / stuff.tv/Mini2 Just light enough to avoid having to be registered with the CAA,…

When you think about it, screwing a metal dish to the outside of your house just so you can have Modern Family beamed into your living room from space is a little bit ridiculous. So don’t bother. Sky Glass, which is available in 43in, 55in and 65in screen sizes and five different colours, ditches the dish and the box, streaming everything over Wi-Fi instead; all you need to do is plug in the power cable. It’s chunkier than a lot of tellies, mainly because there’s a built-in Dolby Atmos speaker system that uses six drivers for room-filling sound – so you can probably chuck your soundbar too. Those with bogus broadband might need to explore an upgrade, because the 4K HDR Quantum Dot display means you’ll want to be streaming…

Alexa has been helping out around the house since 2014, but there’s only so much a disembodied voice can actually do for you before you start craving something a little more, well, robotic. Clear a path for Astro, then: basically Alexa on wheels with a 10in tablet for a face. Let Astro loose in your home and you’ll have a roving bot that’s always on hand to respond to your usual Alexa queries and will follow you around while you use it to make video calls or listen to music. It can even ferry stuff about in the storage bin on its back, identifying individual faces to make sure it’s delivering its cargo to the right person. You can set out-of-bounds areas that Astro will avoid, and there’s also a…

Army of Thieves Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead may not have set the world alight, but Netflix is already serving up a (relatively zombie-free) prequel focusing on nebbish safe-cracker Ludwig Dieter. In a world distracted by the undead uprising (well, it would be…), he joins a band of criminals looking to loot Europe’s most secure safes. Film / 29 Oct, Netflix The Shrink Next Door The gripping true-crime podcast about the perils of becoming too close to your therapist gets some lavish adaptation treatment in this Apple-made series starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd. No spoilers here, but suffice to say Rudd’s Dr Ike has an unusual concept of doctor-patient boundaries, and a taste for the finer things in life. S1 / 12 Nov, Apple TV+ Shang-Chi and the…

Buy your mate a book and they’ll get a window into another world. Buy them a MateBook 14s and they’ll get, er, a Windows 11 upgrade at some point soon. Underwhelmed? Get a better look: Huawei’s latest laptop packs a 14.2in display with 2.5K resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. It’s powered by an 11th-gen Intel i7 chip; and while it won’t trouble lighter rivals at 1.43kg, the aluminium alloy chassis is hardly chunky at 16.7mm. Two tweeters and two woofers take care of audio, while a quartet of mics with AI noise-cancelling should improve your Zoom calls – and best of all, the webcam is back up in the bezel, unlike the MateBook 14’s notorious ‘nostril cam’. Thanks, mate! from £1200 / huawei.com…

from £18,990 / zeromotorcycles.com Now that looks cool – have you ridden it? Yeah baby! We dug out our tatty leathers and “threw a leg over”, as all the cool bikers say. There’s a lot of scepticism surrounding electric motorcycles, but twist the throttle when a Zero SR/F is in Sports mode and many of those gripes get left behind. Along with your kidneys and spleen. So it’s fast? Blistering barnacles, it’s insanely quick. Zero doesn’t really bother with traditional 0-62mph times, but 190Nm of torque ensures an exhilarating take-off. Top speed is pegged at 124mph; and although power bleeds off a little beyond 70mph (on the track, of course), it’s enough to tickle the adrenal gland of any seasoned biker. OK, now bore us with the EV stuff. This…

Built-in speakers might improve your glasses, but it takes the right look to make them truly smart. So Anker’s new Soundcore Frames ship in 10 interchangeable styles to suit every face. Whether you opt for aviators or wayfarers, with prescription lenses or moody shades, you’ll find two audio drivers in each arm for the OpenSurround stereo effect. A private listening mode reduces sonic leakage on calls, while noise-masking mics mean friends and voice assistants should hear you clearly. They have touch controls, and Anker reckons you’ll get over five hours of playback from a charge – long enough to blast through any ‘bespectacled rock idols’ playlist. from £150 / uk.anker.com…

New iPhone launches have become a bit predictable, haven’t they? But bear with us here. While the iPhone 13 Pro doesn’t look wholly dissimilar to last year’s offering, it comes with a bunch of tweakments that add up to something more significant. With a better brain, a better battery and Apple’s most powerful camera yet, it’s hard not to get a little bit excited. Apple knows that Apple fans love creative stuff – enjoying it and producing it. That’s why this is pound-for-pound the best little media machine imaginable. For starters, there’s a totally new camera array. Both the wide and ultrawide cameras have been redesigned with wider apertures, meaning loads more light pouring into the lenses for better night shots, portraits and more. Thanks to the new A15 Bionic…

Look at any ‘best games of all time’ list online and you can bet you’ll see at least a couple of Metroid games near the top. Expertly combining platforming, action, puzzling and nonlinear exploration in a sci-fi universe rich in atmosphere, the adventures of Samus Aran are up there with anything gaming has to offer. Intended as a Nintendo DS game but eventually cancelled, presumably due to the console’s limitations, Metroid Dread is the series’ first brand-new 2D game in nearly 20 years, and one that most fans understandably gave up on long ago. Samus it ever was You play as once again as Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who heads to the unexplored planet ZDR after receiving an unsourced video transmission suggesting that the extremely dangerous shape-shifting X parasite…

The Game Boy had a D-pad and buttons. The DS got a stylus. The Playdate has… a crank handle. Why? You’d have to ask its creators, but presumably the crank’s there mostly because it’s fun. In fact, everything about this dinky handheld seems designed to raise a smile, from its vibrant yellow hue to the way new games rock up weekly (which is where the name comes from). The Playdate is the brainchild of Mac software darlings Panic, publishers of Untitled Goose Game and Firewatch. But hardware geeks Teenage Engineering devised the crank, in part to encourage people to make games for this console that you wouldn’t be able to experience anywhere else. The crank’s not the only oddity. The 2.7in 400x240p display is 1-bit. Even the first Game Boy’s…

● Book Track Got e-books all over the shop? Not sure what you’re reading at any given time? Juggling a dozen wishlists across various apps and stores? You should be using Book Track. You can search or scan to add titles, organise your collection with tags, record loans of real books, track reading, and save favourite quotes for when you want to prove to yourself (and others) that you’ve taken everything in. £free + £4.49 / iOS ● Goodreads This app combines a digital library manager and a recommendation engine. Feed it your likes and it’ll suggest new titles to read. Each has its own set of ratings and reviews… which you can add to, if you believe ‘literary critic’ is your true calling but you’ve been cruelly spurned by…

£199 / stuff.tv/pi5 ■ When we looked at the Bowers & Wilkins PI7 headphones earlier in the year, we liked them a lot. An awful lot. The drawback is that they’re £349 – and despite the awesome sound quality, that kind of outlay for a pair of buds is quite an ask when the true wireless market is packed with superb rivals from Apple, Bose, Technics, Sennheiser, Sony and more. ■ So here’s B&W’s answer: the PI5s, which slip in under the £200 mark. That’s still premium, but in a price range that more are willing to stretch to. They use aptX wireless tech, like so many competitors, and come in white or charcoal. ■ Many in-ears have connection problems and sync issues between the two buds. None of that…

from £319 / stuff.tv/iPad While the Mini has been brought up to speed on both specs and design, the ninth generation of Apple’s entry-level iPad keeps things a lot more familiar with a Home button, a Lightning port and even a cheeky little headphone socket. The chip inside has been upgraded to the A13, which was first introduced with the iPhone 11 in 2019, so it won’t cope so well with more pro-level apps, but in general use there’s barely any difference between this and the Air or the new Mini. It is only compatible with the first-gen Pencil and Smart Keyboard, but iPadOS 15 means this is still a highly capable productivity tool, even if adding both peripherals will significantly bump up the cost. There are a number of…

What’s the story? The LG is the only machine in this group that holds a Guinness World Record: at just 1.19kg, it’s officially the lightest 16in laptop on the planet. Beyond the disarming lack of heft, it has a battery that lasts for almost 22 hours when playing media and 12 hours in a tough work benchmark. That makes it one of the only notebooks that could last two days before running out of juice. Is it any good? The Gram 16 impresses beyond the scales. It has a 16:10 display with 2560x1600 resolution, which means plenty of space for work and fun, and quality levels are consistently good – there’s loads of contrast and great colour accuracy thanks to its wide colour gamut. The speakers have good detail and…

from £26,000 / stuff.tv/MiniElectric DAY 01 Essentially the 2021 Mini Electric is a facelift of last year’s first-gen model to bring it in line with the rest of the Mini range. There’s less chrome, replaced by a sleek black trim and more body-coloured detailing. The grille is wider and boasts a fine-looking black surround. The separate fog lights have been removed, replaced by air inlets. The Mini Electric fluorescent ‘E’ branding remains and is echoed inside, including on the LED lighting around the central driver display. It’s almost immediately obvious when you get behind the wheel that this year’s model is loads of fun to drive Pricing starts at £26,000, but only the best for Stuff: we borrowed a top-of-the-line Mini Electric Collection model (from £32,550), which includes plenty of…

One-nil is the most common scoreline in football, but if you played FIFA 21 you’d be forgiven for thinking it was 6-5 or 5-4. The end-to-end goalfests might have been entertaining to some, but matches often bore only a passing resemblance to the real thing. With FIFA 22, EA has brought the game back down to earth. The tempo has been noticeably reduced, passes have less zip, defenders are better at standing their ground and intercepting the ball, and goalkeepers are much harder to beat – not least because they’re less inclined to push the ball out into dangerous areas, instead redirecting shots safely past the post. That’s not to say goals are now impossible to come by; scoring just requires a little more patience. With defences better at keeping…

HOT BUY 1 Apple MacBook Air from £999 / stuff.tv/Air The early-2020 version was already the best MacBook Air ever – and this one brings a real step up in power. Apple’s amazing new M1 processor means that, for once, we aren’t hankering after a Pro for video editing and graphics-heavy gaming. It’s a pity about the rubbish webcam – a real annoyance in the age of video calling – but this is a stunning machine in every other respect, and the best all-round work laptop you can get for under a grand. Stuff says Our go-to MacBook just keeps getting even go-to-er • NOW ADD THIS Anker PowerExpand 7-in-2 Hub Turn the Air’s twin USB-C ports into a media hub with a mix of HDMI, USB, microSD and SD…

HOT BUY 1 Sony PlayStation 5 £450 / stuff.tv/PS5 The PS5 is not a modest upgrade. Its hulking design means it’ll make a bad first impression on some, but spend time playing it and it’ll soon win you over – and then some. This is essentially a high-spec gaming PC for the living room: stupendously powerful, with greatly reduced loading times compared to the PS4. Most last-gen titles will run fine, many with a boost, and the line-up of new games is strong; we just hope developers make use of that fascinating DualSense pad and its haptic feedback trickery. Stuff says Huge power, clever hardware and a guarantee of great games to come make the PS5 hard to resist 2 Nintendo Switch £279 / stuff.tv/NintendoSwitch Now four years old, the…

HOT BUY 1 Porsche Taycan from £72,850 / stuff.tv/Taycan It was about time someone took the fight to Tesla, and boy has Porsche delivered with the Taycan. This electric four-door saloon is the EV that petrolheads have been waiting for. In full-fat Turbo S flavour, the Taycan hits 62mph in 2.8 seconds – and adding more drama to proceedings is how it shifts up through its two-speed gearbox. The Taycan has a dynamism that can’t be matched by other electric cars, with a surefootedness that encourages you to press on. Stuff says Big power, sports-car handling and lots of clever tech make the Taycan the most exciting EV yet 2 Honda E from £29,165 / stuff.tv/HondaE Born to be a city commuter (its maximum range is just 137 miles), the…

A console named after a bodily function. Top work, Nintendo naming department! Pee-pee jokes aside, ‘Wii’ signalled that Nintendo was doing something different, ditching a drab codename (Revolution) for something fun. You remember fun – it’s what gaming is before nerds start banging on that you’re only a real gamer if you spend every waking hour glued to their preferred console. Mind you, ‘Wii’ possibly also referred to the sound you made as the Wiimote flew through the air towards the telly, having inevitably escaped someone’s slippery hand. Yeah, I was happy with a gamepad. And an intact television. Bad Nintendo! No, good Nintendo! Again, this was about doing something different. Having had its face punched off during the GameCube era, Nintendo wanted to avoid an unwinnable straight fight against…

Buying an iPad these days is a bit like booking a flight with Easyjet – there are all kinds of optional extras you need to add to really get the best out of it. But the Surface Laptop Studio comes ready for action right out of the box, with a proper keyboard and a 14.4in tilting touchscreen that lets you effortlessly switch formats for the task at hand. In laptop mode you get a clever Precision Haptic Touchpad; pull the screen forward to hide the QWERTY and it becomes a kind of digital easel (or the perfect setup for watching films on the train thanks to Dolby Vision support); while folding it flat gives you a rather hefty tablet, with 120hz PixelSense Flow tech making it a dream to draw…

Virtual reality is great, but when it comes to the vast majority of headsets – which tend to be enormous and often tethered to a PC – the only reality you can leave behind is the one in your living room. What if you could fight futuristic pirates, or nip off for a meditation in space, while you’re sitting in an airport departure lounge? This is, we think, the idea behind the Vive Flow, the latest VR headset from HTC… although, as you can see, it isn’t really a headset at all. Its maker would rather you call it ‘lightweight immersive glasses’, apparently weighing little more than a chocolate bar and sporting a dual-hinge design with soft face gasket that allows it to fold down to a backpack-able size. As…

When you’ve got a product called the Zeppelin you’re pretty limited in what you can make it look like. But while this latest incarnation of the famed speaker looks pretty much identical to its shapely predecessors on the outside, B&W says its innards have been totally reimagined. Powered by 240W of amplification, its two double-dome tweeters, two 3.5in mid drivers and one 6in subwoofer can be fed via AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect or aptX Adaptive Bluetooth, or using one of the many streaming services that are included in the Bowers & Wilkins Music app. There’s also Alexa onboard, and multiroom support coming in early 2022. It still doesn’t actually fly, though. £699 / bowerswilkins.com…

If you’re old enough to remember Pez candy dispensers, you’ll know how special it is to be able to switch the flavour of your sweets. But now that we’re all adults, what in the world of gadgets can offer us such a gateway to swappy joy? Enter the Astell&Kern A&futura SE180 hi-res portable music player (RRP £1399), the first of its kind to support interchangeable DAC modules, offering audio fanatics mindblowing levels of customisation… and alongside it, the SEM2 DAC module (£319), which gives you the option to summon a totally different sound to that provided by the player’s bundled module. On top of that, Astell&Kern’s latest kit promises better audio, an enhanced interface with a 5in Full HD touchscreen, and advanced connectivity with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5. Find out…

The Switch has a lot going for it, but you wouldn’t catch one boasting about its specs in a bar. If we’re going on raw power, Valve’s upcoming handheld crushes Nintendo’s without breaking a sweat. The idea is that any game in your Steam library, from mini indies to AAA blockbusters, will be playable on the Steam Deck. To ensure this was possible, Valve partnered up with AMD to design a custom APU that pairs a Zen 2 CPU with an RDNA 2 delivering the graphics. Factor in 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB of fast NVMe SSD storage and you’re looking at a serious rig for your backpack. Into the rate wide open Valve is targeting a solid 30fps for any game you choose to boot up,…

The keenest of mobile gamers (or just your average Candy Crush fiend) would argue that the iPhone has always been a worthy handheld gaming device. And that’s probably true. But it’s never been better than right now. From indie hits to rock-solid ports of console classics, the App Store is teeming with games to play. Whether you want a more traditional gaming experience or something that was specifically designed for the iPhone’s multitouch interface, you’ll find it here. And the Apple Arcade subscription service takes iOS gaming a step further, offering a slowly growing collection of premium (and mercifully ad-free) games for a monthly £5 fee, many that launch alongside their console counterparts. Oh, and you can also effectively turn your iPhone into an Xbox thanks to Game Pass. Pad…

£380 / stuff.tv/H10B At a glance it’s almost impossible to tell the Hero10 Black apart from its predecessor. Each is a little box with screens front and rear, and a lens housing that juts out. Under the hood, however, GoPro has truly levelled up its latest camera. Most significantly, this is the first really responsive GoPro we’ve ever used, thanks to a nippy new GP2 processor. In addition to overall speed boosts within menus, the Hero10 can also upload your footage 30% faster than the Hero9 could, which makes a real difference when you’re dealing with gigs of 5.3K video. You can also directly hook it up to your phone for even faster transfers. In addition to all that, the Hero10 is equipped with better processing skills for photos and…

Tile Pro VS Apple AirTag 1. DESIGN Tile has recently revamped its array of Bluetooth trackers. This is the premium one with replaceable battery, improved 120-metre range plus more robust waterproofing – yes, we did run it under the tap – and a new ‘lozenge’ design. The AirTag is intended a general purpose tracker – unlike Tile’s range, it’s one size fits all from Apple with this round puck. If you want to attach one to your keys or bag, you’ll need an accessory to do that as there’s no keyring hole. 2. IN USE One of Tile’s strengths is that it’s cool with whatever devices you use: iOS and Android are both supported with the Tile app. You can easily track your stray item to a room, then the ringer on…

What’s the story? Gaming laptops are some of the most popular portables around, but we can’t all afford a beast like the Razer on p62. If you’d like some serious gaming power without the serious price, this Asus is your best option by miles. Its price ranges from £899 to £1399, so every model in the series is far cheaper than a Razer Blade, and these affordable notebooks have good components and impressive displays. Is it any good? The Dash F15 uses a variety of different graphics cores, and each is tempting in its own way. At the top end you’ve got the GeForce RTX 3060 and RTX 3070, which can play top games at fast framerates, while the cheaper models have RTX 3050 and RTX 3050 Ti cores that…

What’s the story? This HP is one of the best laptops you can buy… and that means it’ll give you a brilliant Windows 11 experience. It’s a 2-in-1 device, so it works as a laptop or tablet, and the high-quality screen, powerful internals and superb ergonomic design make it a fantastic all-rounder. Is it any good? Very. For a start the Spectre x360 is one of the best-looking laptops on the market, clad in machined aluminium that comes in black, blue or silver with bevelled copper edges. There’s a smart speaker grille, tidy logos and a crisp backlit keyboard. It’s a notebook that will turn heads. And the 360° hinges mean it can turn into a tablet too, improving productivity and making it easier to play touchscreen games; plus it…

£1499 / stuff.tv/OLED806 ■ On paper, the OLED806 is a TV with everything it needs to keep Philips’ upward trend going. The specs are right, the looks are right, the selection of sizes (48in, 65in and 77in as well as this 55in) is right… and the price is right. ■ You have to hand it to Philips: it knows how to specify a television. HDR is a great example – only Philips and Panasonic tellies are compatible with every worthwhile HDR standard. Two of this screen’s four HDMI inputs are 2.1-compliant, which means every clever feature of your new PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X can be exploited. ■ It also features the company’s proprietary Ambilight technology, and here it’s on all four sides of the rear of the chassis…

This game is incredible. Sorry, is that not a fancy enough intro? It’s just that all we want to do right now is get back to playing it. Forever. You know, like the very premise of the game itself. Deathloop takes you to a secret island, Blackreef, where the usual rules of life and death don’t apply. Its Eternalist inhabitants loll about, safe in the knowledge that no matter what happens to them they’ll still wake up the following morning, refreshed and with no memory of their demise. And every single one of them wants to kill you. In order to escape the loop, you must kill all seven of the island’s leaders (known as Visionaries) in a single day, but you can only make four visits to the isle:…

HOT BUY 1 Sonos Move £399 / stuff.tv/SonosMove The Sonos range of wireless speakers had been crying out for a battery-powered portable model for ages – and finally our favourite multiroom audio specialist caved in. Luckily, the Move was worth the wait. Its adaptability and sound quality mean it’s fine value for money, and a no-brainer for anyone who’s already a fan of the brand. This is the speaker Sonos should have launched years ago – and for even better portability, see the Roam model at No3 on this list. Stuff says Sonos finally gets up to speed with the portable speaker craze, and in style • NOW ADD THIS YouTube Music Premium If you’d like a side of optional visuals with your audio, look no further than the ad-free…

HOT BUY 1 Sky TV from £25/m + setup / stuff.tv/SkyTV Already home to the biggest selection of 4K content, from blockbuster films and original dramas to top-flight sport, Sky has adopted a can’t-beat-’em-join-’em approach to streaming by incorporating the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and BT Sport in its user-friendly interface. It’s also restructured its packages to make them more affordable, while multiroom and mobile options round off the most comprehensive content system money can buy. Stuff says Sky has come out fighting to move with the times and its selection of shows is unrivalled 2 Amazon Fire TV Cube £110 / stuff.tv/FireTVCube The Fire TV interface is easy to use and all the big catch-up services are available via this tidy box – and best of…

HOT BUY BARGAIN BUY 1 The Last of Us Part II £27 / PS4 Just as The Last of Us proved to be the perfect swansong for the PS3 era, The Last of Us Part II is a masterful triumph to see off the PS4 in style: a rare superior sequel that can be mentioned in the same breath as The Godfather Part II. An unparalleled masterclass in everything it does, with an extensive suite of accessibility options that every game should adopt as the standard, it’s a game with a story that challenges us – and one we’ll be discussing long into the new console generation. Stuff says Naughty Dog has done it again with this brutal, bleak and beautiful game OR PLAY THIS Uncharted: The Lost Legacy A…

HOT BUY 1 Half-Life: Alyx from £34 / Oculus, Vive, Valve Index Announcing Alyx as not only a ‘midquel’ but a VR exclusive got some Half-Life diehards riled up… but in classic Valve fashion, the end result is utterly brilliant. Alyx succeeds because its universe just happens to be a perfect fit for the format. It’s also larger and much more robust than most VR games, at a meaty 12-15 hours. And though it unfolds at a different kind of cadence to past Half-Life games, it feels like a fully fledged solo campaign and a key part of the franchise narrative. Stuff says Valve’s beloved series returns… and offers one of the strongest arguments to date for VR gaming 2 Beat Saber from £23 / Oculus, Vive, PSVR Gleefully swing…