Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2024 i Stuff UK

Hello, and welcome to our travel issue! It’s the time of year when many of us are thinking of getting away, and so we’ve selected the very latest and best gear to take with you. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re day-tripping to the coast or going on a grand tour to another continent. Plus you can win an awesome Outwell air tent to help with your adventures on p25. In our first test, we look at the stunning Asus Zenbook Duo OLED – why have one screen when you can have two? Our main group test involves a rather epic selection of premium robot vacuums, and we’ve also rounded up the finest affordable earbuds for you, including the latest from Cambridge Audio. If it’s retro tech that floats your…

With 8K televisions about as common as LinkedIn posts that don’t make you want to cringe yourself inside-out, you might wonder why Insta360 has bothered to make the X4 capable of shooting 7680x3840 video. But when you’re filming everything around you in one go, it helps to have as many pixels as possible in case you want to crop out a slice of your footage to use as a standard ‘flat’ clip later. The X4 works by using two ultrawide lenses pointing in opposite directions, which it stitches together automatically to make a near-seamless all-seeing video or 72MP photo. There’s an AI-powered editing mode too, which analyses your clips, picks out interesting subjects and reframes accordingly. At 8K you’re limited to 30fps, but if you drop the resolution down to…

SOUNDMAGIC’S LATEST BARGAIN BUDS GET USB-C With 3.5mm ports now pretty much consigned to the smartphone history books, SoundMagic has launched a pair of in-ears with a USB-C connector at the other end of the cable. Costing just £40, the E11D buds include a remote, a microphone, and a built-in DAC that supports 24-bit/96kHz hi-res audio. IT’S ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR ONEPLUS’S AFFORDABLE TAB OnePlus’s 11.35in Pad Go tablet is now available in the UK. Previously only on sale in China, the £299 slate is powered by a MediaTek Helio G99 processor and 8GB of RAM, with an 8000mAh battery and 128GB of storage. Hopefully you like mint green, because that’s your only finish option. DENON’S 150 NV REFUSES TO DO AS IT’S TOLD Don’t like the idea of a…

Delta £free / iOS Proper emulators have been a long time coming to Apple’s App Store, but Delta has finally made playing retro console games on your iPhone a reality – and best of all, it’s completely free. While Android owners have spent years stuffing their phones with every classic going, Apple’s increasingly draconian rules meant iOS users were left out, but no longer. There are no games pre-loaded with Delta – you’ll need to supply those yourself – but it supports Nintendo ROMs from the NES to the N64, and Sega Genesis (aka Mega Drive) games if you were more Sonic than Mario. It isn’t without its occasional wrinkles, but this easily one of the smoothest ways to play old-school games on a phone.…

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1 Be neater by the litre A 1L pouch is perfect for travelling light, while 3L makes room for more than the bare necessities. Gearing up for a big day out? Upgrade your accessory allowance with 4L or more. 2 Lock it in a pocket Even the smallest slings are divided inside, with slots to sort your different particulars. The best have separate pockets for essentials like phone and sunnies. 3 Don’t cower from a shower Many cross-body bags are weather-resistant to some extent – and the most durable are fully waterproof, so your stuff will be shielded from showers even if you’re not. 4 Be a super looper Not all straps loop the same. The simplest and safest involve a single band, but most have a buckle for easy…

THERABODY SMART GOGGLES For those of us travelling in economy, achieving a ‘relaxing flight’ is all relative. Whether it’s the cramped space, the constant interruptions from cabin crew or the passenger behind kicking your seat, finding true peace and quiet on a long-haul trip is all but impossible. Well, these goggles aim to solve that. Packed with motors that gently but firmly prod and press your eye sockets, temples and brow while a heater warms the muscles, they’re surprisingly powerful. We’re not just talking pleasant vibrations here, but a full-on face massage. Grey sleeper Out of the box there are three 15min programmes on offer: one to prep you for a good sleep, one to wake you up and increase focus, and one to ease tension. You can cycle through them…

INSTA360 X4 Glad tidings for those who want to document their splashy exploits: you now have an abundance of waterproof cameras to pick from. Heck, there’s a good chance you can even use your phone for a bit of wet work – which is why the Insta360 X4 has to be more than just a waterproof action cam. It’s a 360° camera that captures everything around it via a pair of ultrawide lenses, auto-stitching the two images together into a single round-the-world shot. Big deal, you might say – Insta360 has been making cams like this for years. But never this powerful. Frames without frontiers Demand detail? You can shoot pixel-packed 8K movies of that scenic kayak trip. Need smooth action for your frantic rafting? Switch down to 5.7K and record…

Townscaper A city-building game without the busywork, Townscaper dumps you in an endless expanse of water and has you tap the screen to plonk down little islands. Depending on where blocks are positioned, oddball structures and features automatically appear, such as lighthouses, gardens, washing lines and – bizarrely – UFO-like buildings improbably suspended by way of gigantic fans. £4.49 / Android £4.99 / iOS I Love Hue Too Ostensibly a puzzle game, I Love Hue Too avoids smashing out your brains and instead gives a loving massage to your eyes. Each of its many levels scrambles tiles within a colourful mosaic; your job is to rearrange them into perfect spectrums. If you want more of a challenge, tap ‘replay’ and try doing the same level in fewer moves. Either way,…

APPLE TV+ Like the menu in a good restaurant, Apple TV+ serves up plenty of quality but not a huge amount of choice. At least pay for one month and binge Severance, Ted Lasso, For All Mankind, Loot and – ooh – loads more. Or just buy Apple One and dip in at will. £8.99/m DISNEY+ Soon, all entertainment will be Marvel and Star Wars on an endless loop. Get a glimpse of that terrifying future with Disney+, which also lobs in a load of Pixar movies, quite a lot of Muppets and National Geographic plus Star – a dumping ground for ‘everything else’. from £4.99/m FREEVEE Essentially Bargain Bin Prime, this is Amazon’s ad-supported service, giving you a bunch of films and shows you’ve probably already seen… and many…

1 Garmin Edge 1040 Solar £580 / go.stuff.tv/1040Solar Ideal for multi-day adventures and training camps, the Edge 1040 Solar harnesses the sun’s power for a massive 45hrs of riding time on one charge. It has all the mapping, navigation and training firepower you’ll ever need, including accuracy-boosting dual-band GPS, best-in-class route planning and detailed training insights via Garmin Connect. The screen could be brighter, but we love the custom ride profiles that make it easy to exploit all that performance data. Stuff says A do-it-all beast of a bike computer with unrivalled battery life, reliable GPS and useful training smarts 2 JLab JBuds Air Sport £70 / go.stuff.tv/AirSport The third-gen JBuds Air Sport seriously flex JLab’s value muscle: with a solid earhook fit, custom EQ, an ambient awareness mode plus…

1 SennheiserAmbeo Soundbar Max £2199 / go.stuff.tv/AmbeoMax Utterly convincing Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D sound, ample power and lots of inputs mean no other soundbar currently available can perform sonic feats with the solidity and confidence of this Sennheiser. The sheer room-filling scale of its sound is remarkable – and see also the more affordable (but still hugely powerful) Plus version. Stuff says The Ambeo Soundbar Max is a big unit but the sound it makes is bigger still 2 Sonos Arc £899 / go.stuff.tv/SonosArc Don’t expect this soundbar to do everything a multi-speaker Dolby Atmos setup can do, but its up-firing and side-firing drivers give a real sense of cinematic scale. See also the much more affordable Ray model. Stuff says Big-screen sound for your big-screen binges 3 Roku…

1 Fujifilm X-T5 £1449 / go.stuff.tv/XT5 Fujifilm’s most popular compact system camera gets a sensor upgrade while keeping up tradition everywhere else. This means you’re getting identical stills performance to the more modern X-H2, while retaining the old X-T4’s dials and compact dimensions – making the X-T5 the sweet spot of Fuji’s lineup, and a top all-rounder. The sensor is even better at low-light shooting than before, and the wide choice of lenses means everyone will find something to like. Stuff says Slick modern internals meet the manual controls loved by Fuji diehards NOW ADD THIS Fujifilm XF 16-80mm f4 This versatile lens covers a bigger zoom range than most and adapts to pretty much any requirements. £699 / jessops.com TIPS & TRICKS It’s easy to set up the X-T5’s…

I set out to make games as accessible as movies and music. Antstream came to be because I saw what was happening with music, movies and books: everything was going online and to subscription. I could get any piece of music I wanted on Spotify or iTunes, and most movies I wanted could be found on Netflix or Amazon – certainly the old classics like Back to the Future. There was no similar service for the games I loved. That was partly because it’s much harder to take something from an old console and make it work on any screen. But I’ve been in tech for my whole life and could think of the ways to accomplish it, so that’s what I did. Childhood computer games kickstarted my career. My…

There’s only so big you can make the screen on something that has to slide into a backpack, so Asus has decided to double up instead. When closed, the Zenbook Duo OLED (2024) looks like any other premium laptop, and when you open it up you might not initially twig that it has two screens rather than one. The keyboard sits right where you’d normally find one, and is held firmly in place with magnets. Slide it off, though, and that second screen – a full-scale affair, not like the discreet strip on the Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED – bursts into life. You can then pop the keyboard wherever’s comfortable (it connects via Bluetooth and charges through pogo pins), or put it to one side and type using the…

OM SYSTEM TOUGH TG-7 Is this Tough tough enough? Unquestionably. In fact, the latest iteration of OM System’s action-ready compact camera is nigh-on indestructible: the Tough TG-7 is waterproof down to 15m, works in temperatures as low as - 10°C and can withstand 100kg of crushing force. Its ports are protected by double-locking flaps and its rear LCD is covered with toughened glass. Everest climbers, Sahara hikers and Amazon navigators can all put this point-and-shoot in their pockets, secure in the knowledge they’ve got something capable of commemorating their adventures in situations where a regular cam or phone would perish. It also comes with a built-in sensor package that records GPS, compass, temperature and atmospheric pressure data, so you’ll know exactly where you were and what was going on when…

NOKIA T10 KIDS EDITION Only a billionaire or a fool would hand bored kids a luxury tablet; this is a role for which Nokia’s compact and cheerfully cushioned slate was born. It’s cheap enough that a fatal Capri Sun bath or trip off the top bunk isn’t the end of the world, while its padding should keep it safe in less perilous situations. Now, this isn’t a cutting-edge device. With a UniSoc T606 brain and a 60Hz sub-Full HD screen, it doesn’t so much fly along as plod steadfastly onwards. If your kids are desperate to play the latest mobile games, this isn’t the tab for that. But for the basics, it’s ideal. Stall the young punks The T10 Kids Edition relies upon Google’s Kids Space app for its child-friendly flavour.…

OAKLEY SPHAERA Oakley has been selling sleek sporty sunglasses since 1984, and its distinct wraparound look is retained in the Sphaera, the brand’s latest foray into eyewear for the active. With a flexible, featherlight frame constructed of Oakley’s patented O Matter (a sweat-resistant nylon composite) and nosepads and earsocks made from non-slip Unobtainium, these shades grip your bonce with vice-like strength. I certainly found them pleasantly unobtrusive while scorching along the seafront on a road bike. Cyclists, golfers and climbers can relax too, because they’ve been designed to work in tandem with helmets and caps. Ticket to wide The lenses afford a wide-angle view of the scene ahead, whether it be a golf course, a running track or the open road. Oakley’s Prizm tech enhances certain colours depending on the…

VACS THE WAY I LIKE IT: WHAT TO LOOK FOR Think about your own living space before you get hung up on features. A home with hard flooring throughout may demand a model with a robust mop feature, but for plush carpets you’ll be better off with a high-powered vacuum-only model. If you have a furry friend or two, look for a vacuum with strong suction and brushes designed to cope with hair collection. The best also come with pet (and child) locks. The ability to automate your cleaning routine, and therefore minimise your own involvement, is a real gamechanger – but it only works if the robo-vac you choose is clever enough. Look for features such as object recognition and obstacle detection. If you’re on a budget, don’t make…

£749 / go.stuff.tv/M40 ■ If you took a pair of Q Acoustics’ excellent M20 powered speakers and stretched them on a rack for a month, you might end up with the M40. This is a self-contained micro tower system with stacks of power – a convenient two-box setup for stereo streaming from your smartphone, a turntable or a streamer… or even your TV. ■ Everything you need is in the box aside from input cables, so there’s an interconnector to link the two speakers, screw-in feet and two foam bungs to dampen the bass ports should you wish. These speakers are available in white, black or natural walnut; the grille is always black and can’t be taken off. ■ Q Acoustics has decided to make this product Bluetooth-only for streaming…

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1 Sony WH-1000XM5 £299 / go.stuff.tv/WHXM5 Nobody was able to displace Sony’s WH-1000XM4 headphones from the top of this list for two years… yet the latest model manages to be even better. Key to the XM5s’ overall quality is the new carbon-fibre composite 30mm drivers: they bring even greater clarity than the previous generation, and the sound reproduction is beautifully precise. The simple fact is that these are the best noise-cancellers around by almost every measure. You really won’t regret buying them. Stuff says Sony keeps its grip on the top spot with an unrivalled combo of great sound, ANC and comfort 2 Sennheiser Momentum 4 £279 / go.stuff.tv/SM4 These are headphones that sound naturalistic, engaged and entirely musical, making every recording sound like an event. And they’ll last a…

Whether you’ve lost the left one to a cruelly positioned drain, or the right one has just decided it no longer wants to charge, true wireless earbuds can feel worryingly disposable. And while squirting petrol onto the mercilessly roaring flames of late-stage capitalism is what makes the world go round, best not let the temperature get too high… so buying a pair of Fairbuds is probably a good idea. If you lose one, or it gets sacrificed to Zanussi the Roman god of clean pants, you can replace it for £40. And each one also has multiple replaceable parts, including the batteries: £12 for the one in the case, £9 for the two inside the buds. The latter will last up to 6hrs before conking out, with an extra 20hrs…

That’s a lot of money for not a lot of watch. You can say that again – turn it sideways and it disappears. While phone companies have largely recovered from their obsession with thinness, there’s something of an arms race going on between high-end watchmakers Bulgari and Piaget. Over the past decade the two have been trading the title of world’s thinnest mechanical watch… but when Richard Mille released the 1.75mm RM UP-01 Ferrari in 2022, the gauntlet was laid down. The result is Bulgari’s latest Octo Finissimo, which shaves 0.05mm off the record. That doesn’t seem like much. Hey, when you’re dealing with such slim margins, that’s frickin’ miles! With so little space to play with, pretty much all of the watch’s 170 components are arranged on one layer,…

£109,905 / maserati.com Great, another SUV… Oh, it’s more than just that: this is a 4WD all-electric offering that sits at the premium end of the SUV market. Well, that six-figure price tag does make many of its high-class rivals look like bargains from the middle aisle at Lidl. Looks conservative, though. Maserati might be moving in the direction of an all-electric future, but the Italian brand is anxious not to alienate its core customer base. It already has the electric GranTurismo and there’s a convertible EV on the way too. All stick to the classic styling of its earlier petrol-powered cars. And the performance? Well, c’mon, this is a Maserati. The electrified Grecale (‘folgore’ is Italian for ‘lightning’) is perky enough considering its 2.5-tonne weight, with 550bhp of grunt.…

MID-SIZE MESSENGERS The hardy hauler Heimplanet Transit Line Sling Pocket XL If your daily commute feels like an urban adventure, you need a bag that can handle the hustle. Enter the 3L Transit Line: built for daily durability, it’s the Goldilocks option for getting your gear across town, with a pair of soft pockets, an aluminium buckle and a padded back panel. £85 / heimplanet.com The patchwork pack Cotopaxi Kapai 3L Del Dia Sew your own sling and you’ll end up with a patchwork hatchet-job that even Elmer the elephant would be startled by. For a more positive surprise, leave the stitch-up to Cotopaxi: made from factory leftovers, each Kapai sling is one of a kind. It even has a fleeced section to hug your phone. £40 / cotopaxi.com The…

STUBBLE & CO KIT BAG 30L Made from waterproof recycled materials with a look that manages to be both rugged and streamlined, the Kit Bag makes adventures easier. If you’re off on your hols, you’ll love its carry-on size and find you can fit a lot into its 30L capacity. There’s one main compartment plus a plethora of useful pockets and spaces, including an internal bottle pocket – so you can stay hydrated without looking like you’re on a school trip. Zip hidin’ away Super-comfortable to carry as a backpack thanks to the adjustable chest strap, it also works nicely as a duffel. The zipped compartment on top proved to be a much-used access stash for my phone, keys, wallet and other essentials. With inside and outside stashing spaces galore, once…

SENNHEISER ACCENTUM PLUS There’s never been a better time to be a music-loving noise-hater. The number of headphones now offering active noise-cancellation means you don’t have to look far for an effective escape from the hubbub of public transport, co-working spaces or airports. So what makes these Sennies special? It’s their stamina: with 50hrs of playback available on one charge, these wireless over-ears will be keeping you entertained long after most rivals have given up the ghost. Attired for sound Equipped with 37mm drivers, they serve up sound that, while it can’t quite match class-leaders like the Sony WH-1000XM5s, feels effortlessly pleasing. Bluetooth 5.2 keeps the connection clean and clear, and a cable is included for those who prefer the certainty of a 3.5mm connection. You can tweak the audio…

SONY A7C R In a world where every camera maker seems preoccupied with video, the Sony A7C R defiantly puts photography first. Its 61MP full-frame sensor has resolution to burn, giving shots an astonishing level of detail that’s ideal for the lost art of landscape photography. That high resolution also enables users to crop in quite mercilessly to frame things just right: you can really go to town and still keep large prints looking pristine. Its fast, accurate autofocus makes it ideal for street and portrait work too… and yes, alright, the 10-bit 4K video is pretty great. Squishful thinking That Sony has managed to fit this sensor in a body so compact and lightweight is really impressive, and hugely boosts the A7C R’s appeal for travel when fitted with a…

THE BASICS ■ Nuke the ads The big new Prime Video feature for 2024 was ads. ‘Yay.’ In terms of annoyance factor, they’re about halfway between YouTube and ITV. You can be rid of them by paying three quid per month on top of your existing Prime subscription. Or by, you know, avoiding the service entirely as a silent protest. ■ Stash your shows Assuming you’re happy to pay up (or put up with ads), use the Home tab to explore what’s on offer. If you find something you like, add it to your watchlist from the button on the show/movie’s page. Your watchlist is later found under My Stuff on platforms that have that tab, or under your profile. ■ Check the quality If you’re on your phone, or…

£649 / go.stuff.tv/M23 ■ Smartphones might’ve put the iPod out to pasture, but demand for dedicated DAPs never went away in high-end audio land. FiiO’s latest packs new AKM DACs that bring wider file format support and even more nuanced sound than the old M11 Plus model. ■ This unit is as chunky as you’d expect – about twice as thick as a phone – though it’ll still squeeze into a pocket. So there’s plenty of room at the sides for physical controls, a (very sensitive) volume slider and a hold switch to prevent accidental pauses or skips. ■ Android 10 is a bit behind the times (an update to 12 is due), but does mean streaming apps like Tidal and Qobuz are just a trip to the Play Store…

Whether it’s fighting a robotic uprising, scrounging for supplies while evading zombie hordes, or simply trying to survive the classic nuclear annihilation scenario, there’s something oddly compelling about life after the apocalypse. All that chaos doesn’t sound like much fun in reality, but hand us a controller and it can make for some of the very finest gaming experiences. We chalk that up to the freedom you’re given to explore these open-world sandboxes. If civilisation has only just crumbled, or Mother Nature has reclaimed the land over centuries, there are usually plenty of ruins and abandoned buildings to loot through and outfit your character with all the tools needed to survive. Few genres offer quite so much gameplay variety, with stealth, combat, RPG character-building and hardcore survival modes providing something…

1 Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max from £1199 / go.stuff.tv/15ProMax This is the best iPhone Apple has ever made. The camera revisions are great, USB-C was long overdue but is fantastic now it’s here, and the action button is genuinely useful. It’s probably only worth upgrading from the 2022 equivalent if you’re desperate for that USB port, but there’s no denying this Max lives up to its name. Stuff says Just a solidly sensible advance, but the new camera smarts are an absolute joy ● NOW ADD THIS Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 This solid MagSafe charging dock lets you top up your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. £140 / belkin.com TIPS & TRICKS Select Optimised Battery Charging to limit top-ups to 80%, keeping your battery in prime condition. Create a…

1 Apple Watch SE from £209 / go.stuff.tv/WatchSE The SE is easily the best-value Apple Watch. It tracks sleep and all the exercise you need, supports Apple Pay, works great with your iPhone and… what more do most people require? The user experience is broadly identical, and while the screen bezels are a bit larger than on the Series 9 it’s hard to tell them apart without getting right up close. Note also that your SE will now be carbon-neutral if you take it with a Sport Loop (unless you choose one of the fancy multicoloured options). Stuff says Offers most of the full Apple Watch experience for a whole lot less cash 2 Garmin Fenix 7 from£400 / go.stuff.tv/Fenix7 If your budget stretches, the impressive mix of rugged durability,…

1 Sonos Move 2 £449 / go.stuff.tv/Move2 The ‘2’ means our favourite speaker is now even better. Sonos has upgraded the Move in the areas that matter most – sound quality and battery life, the latter of which has more than doubled. Our only criticisms are about the high price and the weight, which is an inevitable trade-off for the muscular sound. Line-in is also a little bit of a faff with the extra adapter… but if you’re in the market for this excellent box, you’re probably beyond cables. Stuff says Beefed-up audio and a longer-lasting battery – a winning combo 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 tier of YouTube Music. £10.99/m /…

1 Amazon Echo (4th Gen) £110 / go.stuff.tv/Echo Having morphed from a cylinder to a sphere, the latest Echo is an excellent newsreader, weather forecaster, personal assistant and intercom straight out of the box; but it’s now also a capable speaker and a very accessible smart home hub. It doesn’t sound as good as the Sonos One for listening to music, but it’s significantly smarter and considerably cheaper too. Stuff says An all-round upgrade that makes the Echo a smarter speaker than ever NOW ADD THIS Honeywell T6R This Zigbee-enabled thermostat is wireless so you can place it where it’s most convenient. £162 / amazon.co.uk TIPS & TRICKS The Echo’s built-in Zigbee hub can hook up hundreds of smart home devices without a bridge. Pair a compatible thermostat and the…

That reminds me – I really need to check out the new series of Doctor Who. There is a hint of The Doctor’s robot companion K-9 in the original Aibo, although Sony’s design is less clunky than the tin can that used to trundle around with Tom Baker – call it K-9.1, maybe. However, it’s worth noting Sony had several barking-mad ideas before finally settling on a canine form. One was a six-legged mutant; another looked like a plastic ape. Only once all those were discarded did a doggy-style prototype land, reportedly with the nickname ‘Robodog’. Was one of his little robot doggy rules to ‘protect the innocent’? Or at least not scare the wits out of them. Because that was Sony’s cunning plan: to make its home robot cute.…