Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2015 i T3

£1,159, dji.com What’s this, then? It’s a top-of-the-range drone for capturing aerial footage. What can it do? It can shoot stabilised 4K video and take 12-megapixel photos. It also features a Live HD view, which means you can see – via an app – what the drone is filming. Where can I fly it? The CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) has rules on where you can and can’t fly drones. Drones with cameras must always be flown at least 50 metres away from a person, vehicle, building or structure. Before you start, visit www.caa.co.uk/uas to read more. How easy is it to fly? DJI tells us that the Phantom 3 is easy – it has a dedicated controller and app, plus an autopilot function. How long will the battery last? You’ll…

READER ONE Nirave Gondhia AGE: 28 OCCUPATION: Freelance technology reporter and web developer LIKED: I don’t get to plunge through burning hoops in my day job, and the ability to feel the thrill of doing a stunt without putting my life at risk was a big plus. DISLIKED: Speaking as a glasses-wearer, there is clearly an issue with Oculus – it’s just not designed for us speccies. VERDICT: There’s something truly thrilling about Oculus Rift; as soon as you use it, you want to keep using it. I can see uses for it from education to gaming and design to construction. READER TWO Marcus Baker AGE: 36 OCCUPATION: IT project manager LIKED: I’m actually "3D blind" – I can’t get on with 3D TVs and IMAX – but Oculus Rift…

THE READER Iain Spencer T3 reader Iain, 38, has booked a romantic break in Rome. He wants to know what camera kit he should pack to do the historic city justice and will shoot during the day and at night. THE EXPERT Angela Nicholson Head of Testing for T3's sister titles Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, and N-Photo, what Angela doesn't know about camera technology definitely isn't worth knowing. 01 OLYMPUS OM-D E-M10 SYSTEM CAMERA The E-M10 is small, but it’s packed with features and produces superb-quality 16MP images. What’s more, unlike some small compact system cameras, it has a viewfinder built in, so you don’t have to squint at the screen in bright Italian sunlight. Speaking of the screen, it’s a tilting, touch-sensitive job, which is useful for changing settings quickly…

A Gadget Guru is in regular contact with the police, helping them with their enquiries (about tech). His friends in the fuzz tell him there’s some concern about drones at present, so GaGu is happy to help them by spelling out to you places it might not be wise to fly a drone, in case you’re an idiot. One: near airports. Anyone who’s been in a plane during a bird strike and had to limp to the nearest airport with a destroyed engine and the smell of burnt seagull permeating the cockpit will be in a cold sweat about what a drone could do if sucked into a turbine. It also won’t do your drone much good. Two: near official buildings. You know MI5’s HQ in London, or the US…

Gadget Guru has historically found Nokia and Sony phones to have the best cameras. However, these days, Apple, Samsung, HTC and the rest all have perfectly decent options. However, one device that crushes all of those is the Panasonic LUMIX CM1. That’s because, rather than being a phone with a camera in it, it’s a camera with an Android phone in it. There’s a proper control ring, a one-inch, 20-megapixel sensor, proper manual and auto modes, and everything. Mind you, it will set you back about 800 quid, and battery death is a constant and looming threat. “RATHER THAN BEING A PHONE WITH A CAMERA IN IT, THE LUMIX CM1 IS A CAMERA WITH AN ANDROID PHONE IN IT”…

The Apple Watch. The most anticipated gadget of the year, or actually for as long as I can remember. Getting your hands on an Apple Watch is very much like purchasing any other Apple product – well, in terms of the unboxing and initial excitement, that is. And a matter of days before T3 went to press, I was finally able to strap the 38mm Sport version with white strap to my wrist and embark on a day-long test to see if it could live up to the hype. A typical day for me is probably much the same as yours: wake up, have a quick workout (if I can muster up the energy), get the kids ready for school, drive to work and then maybe squeeze in a quick…

01 PEBBLE STEEL The Pebble Steel has oodles of kudos. Its E-Paper screen may be a little low-fi for some, but it gives you battery life the Apple Watch can only dream of. It looks almost as swish, too, and there’s a similarly huge number of apps available. £180, getpebble.com 02 LG WATCH R A smartwatch that will appeal to die-hard watch enthusiasts. The P-OLED display is one of the best out there, meaning you can show off its array of watch-like backgrounds in super-high quality. Two days’ battery life is double that of Apple. £200 LG.com 03 MOTO 360 It’s hard not to get excited about Motorola’s offering. This thing looks seriously space-age, yet it has a refined, minimalist feel. And though battery life trumps the Apple Watch, a…

It’s short-sighted to say that phones made of plastic are always bobbins – don’t forget that Bugatti makes its car roofs out of the stuff. Plastic not only sheds weight, it also better absorbs dings from those inevitable drops. Plus, it lets that pesky phone signal through much easier. But there’s a simple reason why manufacturers are making phones out of metal, and that’s because it feels premium, with a more satisfying weight. What’s more, thanks to the clever boffins in the various engineering departments, the signal in metal phones has never been better, even though the handsets are effectively wearing a tin hat.…

Apple users are no strangers to battery sadness but, with their 2014 handsets, it looked like the Android brigade had finally nailed it – 24 hoursplus being a reachable target. So why have they suddenly gone backwards? It seems as though Lollipop is taking juice from the Samsung and the HTC, with the latest version constantly calling for updates. However, the Galaxy S6 also has to contend with a hyper-res QHD screen, which pulls that percentage bar down way too fast.…

It’s long been known that Apple’s had the best apps. And, if you’re a smartphone owner, it’s usually had them first. But in 2014 things began to change: Google’s Play Store finally offered more apps than the App Store, and the revenue being chucked out to developers is also getting closer to Apple’s sums because Android phones keep selling by the bucketload. However, that doesn’t mean the apps are better on Android – the boost in growth is from developing nations like India, where free apps are more popular. So if you’re looking for a new smartphone with tip-top apps, Apple still holds the crown for the premium experience – but that gap is getting smaller by the day.…

1 SPORTS HEADPHONES Samsung’s S Health app will get you in the mood for exercise, and the JVC HA-ETR40 ear buds (£40, jvc. co.uk) will enable you to listen to your tunes as you do so. No matter how vigorous the workout, they won’t fall 2 WIRELESS CHARGER The S6 offers two methods of wireless charging, so make use of it with the QiStone+ Wireless Power Bank (£45, fonesalesman.com). Not only does this double as a battery pack, it can also stand in for a piece of rockery if needs be. 3 BRILLIANT SPEAKER The upgraded S6 speaker is still nowhere near as powerful as the UE Megaboom (£250, ultimateears.com). Waterproof and with 360-degree sound, this is the ideal way to blast your tunes. 4 CAMERA TRIPOD The S6 has…

01 BLUESOUND NODE If you already own an epic sound system, the idea of having to upgrade your set-up to future-proof it is a bit of a nightmare. Thank heavens, then, for Bluesound and its Node box. This box of tricks adds wireless streaming abilities to your hi-fi, giving you services like Spotify or Tidal, as well as access to files on your network of devices. It even supports hi-res audio. £399, bluesound.com 02 CAMBRIDGE AUDIO CXN Streaming boxes are the ultimate tool for music freedom, and Cambridge Audio’s CXN is a shining example of this multi-faceted ideal. It boasts every ability imaginable, including AirPlay, aptX Bluetooth, and network access to a NAS box or your computer’s drive. It’ll play hi-res audio files, and even upscale lower-res tunes for maximum…

55-INCH SAMSUNG 4K TV Full review inside p94 OUR MISSION IS TO BRING YOU THE CLEAREST RECOMMENDATIONS WE CAN – AND THAT MEANS A GREAT DEAL OF HARD WORK HAPPENS BEFORE A PRODUCT EVEN REACHES OUR PAGES! Because we only feature products the T3 team would happily use ourselves, we end up discarding a significant number of options in each category before settling on a final shortlist to review. In this respect, T3 Select does exactly what it says on the tin, picking only the best of the best to test; the gear we know you’ll want to seriously consider purchasing. And that should mean an end to you having to undertake hours of painstaking research and product comparisons. You won’t see any duff products featured in our tests, but…

BROKEN AGE: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURE A beautiful-looking game about a girl and a boy leading parallel lives, who must break free from family constraints and duties in order to fulfil their own destinies. £18.99, PS4 TITAN SOULS This much-loved action adventure is going down a storm. Titan Souls is about gods, monsters and one solitary hero on the quest for truth and the source of all things. £10.99, PC, Mac, PS4 ODDWORLD: NEW ‘N’ TASTY In this stunning remake of Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, now with enhanced audio and gameplay, you can explore ancient ruins, fight carnivorous beasties and foil evil plans. What more could you possibly want? £14.99, Xbox One MLB 15: THE SHOW Featuring updated player rosters and new running and sliding animations to enhance your gaming experience, The…

01 SKYSCANNER CHEAP FLIGHTS Search flights from hundreds of airlines to bag unbeatable deals. Hotel deals and car hire are also featured. Free, App Store & Google Play 02 WEATHERPRO SEVEN-DAY REPORTS Offering forecasts, including wind speed, humidity and cloud coverage, for over two million locations. £2.49/£1.99, App Store & Google Play 03 PACKPOINT PACKING LIST Creates a custom packing list based on where you’re holidaying, how long you’re going for and what you’ll be doing. Free, App Store & Google Play 04 ONAVO EXTEND MOBILE DATA SAVER By compressing the data you download, this app helps you avoid roaming charges while travelling abroad. Free, App Store & Google Play 05 ENTRAIN JETLAG BUSTER Plug in your sleep-habits data and the time zone you’re heading to, and Entrain adjusts your…

Smartphones 01 SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 EDGE www.samsung.com PRICE FROM £760 TESTED N/A As well as that gorgeous ‘infinity pool’ build, the Edge packs a brilliant camera and a pin-sharp QHD display. It’s pricey, though. T3 SAYS A stylish glass-and-metal design, a stunning screen and a great camera. 02 APPLE iPHONE 6 www.apple.com/uk PRICE FROM £619 TESTED T3 238 Apple is at the top of its game right now. The iPhone looks better than ever, the battery life is improved and the camera still delivers the best phone photos. T3 SAYS The best iPhone ever made – it’ll make you consider giving up your Android. 03 HTC ONE M9 www.htc.com PRICE £580 TESTED T3 242 The One M9 is like the One M8 but even better, with fantastic design and intelligent…

Better Call Saul If you’ve not had a chance to watch the Breaking Bad spin-off prequel yet, you’re missing out. The series charts the development of Saul Goodman from ‘slipping Jimmy’ to shyster lawyer. Compelling stuff, and it’s available in 4K, too! www.netflix.com Star Wars: The Digital Movie Collection The epic saga makes its way to the land of digital high def, via Amazon Instant Video. Blot any Jar Jar Binks references out of your mind, sit back and enjoy (nearly) every film instantly from your sofa. £59 (bundle), www.amazon.co.uk Monaco Grand Prix Sky Sports F1 HD Using your Now TV box, you can enjoy the 2015 Monaco GP as it happens, culminating in race day on 24 May, all in crystal-clear HD. A day pass costs £6.99, or a…

Home audio 01 YAMAHA YSP-2500 uk.yamaha.com PRICE £800 TESTED T3 242 Sixteen 2.8cm drivers deliver an astonishing soundstage, while there are three HDMI 2.0 inputs with 4K passthrough, and outstanding DSP processing options. T3 SAYS Futuristic sound-reflecting technology offers amazing cinema sound. 02 NOCS NS2 AIR MONITORS V2 www.nocs.se PRICE £299 TESTED T3 236 Rock-solid AirPlay streaming, a Spotify connection and, considering their size, they can go pretty loud without distorting. T3 SAYS The perfect blend of wireless convenience and great design. 03 NAIM MU-SO www.naimaudio.com PRICE £895 TESTED T3.com A single, minimalist box offering an unforgettable music-streaming experience. Awesome design, brilliant sound and a flexible plethora of inputs. T3 SAYS A stunning object in its own right, and as an audio system it’s brilliant. 04 SONOS PLAY:1 www.sonos.com PRICE…

Garmin Forerunner 920XT + Sony Xperia Z3 Compact The Forerunner 920XT is a serious watch for serious athletes, and you can get more functionality by pairing it with your smartphone. The ideal companion is the Sony Z3 Compact (p120). It’s sweat-proof and small enough to carry. Fitbit Charge HR + Fitbit Aria So you’ve got your Charge HR fitness- and sleep-tracking watch. The Fitbit Aria smart scale (£99) will help you get a lot more from it – it will monitor your weight, body fat and BMI, and upload all the data over Wi-Fi so that you can take a look at it on your Fitbit account. LG G Watch R + Wear Buddy A good way of keeping tabs on your smartwatch-smartphone relationship is to download the Wear Buddy…

Rob Carney EDITOR Although he sometimes wakes up in a cold sweat at the thought of his robo-mowers ‘doing a Skynet’, Rob always seems fresh enough to get hands-on with the latest golf gear and audio tech. Claire Davies ASSISTANT EDITOR The newest addition to the T3 team is rapidly proving herself one of the most valuable, although camera tech does have a habit of going missing when our Welsh lass is in the vicinity. Matt Hanson PHONES AND TABLETS WRITER Matt specialises in everything mobile, but his other main passion is audio. Thankfully, his music taste doesn’t extend to the similarly named boy band from the 90s, Hanson. Maybe. Nick Odantzis REVIEWS EDITOR Frequently seen juggling the cutting-edge contents of T3’s reviews cupboard, or finding excuses to test the…

£2,599 (55-inch), sony.co.uk It’s a new BRAVIA! What’s so great about it? Well, it’s one of the first Sonys to run Android TV, Google’s much-hyped home-entertainment (film, TV, music and games) platform. OK. What can I watch with that? Loads of stuff. Android TV alone features many apps, including Netflix – and yes, you can stream in 4K on this BRAVIA. But there are also the usual catch-up services built-in, including BBC iPlayer, 4oD, ITV Player and Demand 5. What else can I do with it? Using the PlayStation Now service, you can play PlayStation 3 games directly on the TV – there’s no need for a console. But what’s it like as a TV? Very impressive. As well as being 4K, it features Sony’s new X1 image processor, which…

£430, nikon.co.uk CHECK THIS… Today's best cameras revealed p123 So, what’s this? A small SLR? Nope, it’s a new Compact System Camera with retro styling and ultimate portability (it measures 98.3 x 59.7 x 31.5mm). It can take 20.8-megapixel stills and shoot video in 4K. Impressive. Tell me more. Well, it’s the first Nikon 1 camera to feature a large, back-illuminated CX-format sensor, designed especially to capture a huge amount of light. It’s got a wide ISO range of 160-12,800, and some excellent noise-reduction features. Can I change the lens? You sure can. The 1 J5 can use any 1 NIKKOR lens and, for even more versatility, you can buy an FT-1 Mount Adapter that lets you use NIKKOR DX- and FX-format F-mount lenses. What other features are there? It…

01 OLD-SKOOL VANS LXVI AUTHENTIC LITE The classic white Vans. The Authentic Lite has been re-engineered to improve fit. But most impressive is the UltraCush outsole and footbed, making the trainer super-light. www.vans.co.uk, £47 02 LOOK AT ME NEW BALANCE FRESH FOAM ZANTE Whether you’re running or partying, the Fresh Foam Zante in lime green is a solid and striking choice. It’s sleek, snug and built for speed – or dancing! www.newbalance.co.uk, £95 03 SURFER CUSHE GETAWAY The chilled-out Cushe (it’s pronounced ‘cushy’) Getaway boasts a soft, memory-foam sole and a collapsible back for those who can’t be bothered to put their trainers on properly. www.cushe.com/uk, £45 04 RETRO PUMA ARIL Classic styling in a Puma lightweight trainer that’s equally at home in the gym or on the circuit as…

A With Philips Hue having forged the way, smart LED bulbs are in right now. To my mind, there’s simply never been a better time to shell out £50 on a damn lightbulb! Happy days. There are four options for automation: movement sensors that activate lights as you approach; timer functions that switch them on and off at set times; fine control from your smartphone or tablet; or a high-tech combination of all three. Mind the dust In GaGu’s opinion, based on painful experience, timers are by far the best option, because movement sensors whack up the already-daunting cost even further, and are prone to being set off by minute specs of dust settling nearby, yet are unable to recognise your presence, even if you happen to be an elephant.…

HOW DO VEHICLES ACTUALLY DRIVE THEMSELVES? In short, much like humans drive them: by receiving stimuli from their senses and processing them with a brain. Anyone who’s been in a taxi will be aware that not a huge amount of brain power is required to drive a car [steady on, GaGu, some of my best friends are cabbies – Ed], so the sensors are key. WHAT KIND OF SENSORS? There’s a plethora of them, from long- and short-range radar to cameras, lasers and GPS. Take Volvo’s system, which works by comparing what it ‘sees’ with its sensors to where its GPS tells it it is, to build a full picture of its position. The AI then needs to be able to distinguish between unexpected elements – braking if a person…

A This is one of GaGu’s hot-button issues, having spent the past five years trying to find the perfect robo-vac after his cleaner ran away with that bloke from Homebase. iRobot’s range is great at cleaning but has all the grace and carefulness you’d associate with a rampaging Terminator. To date, the others have all proved to be either impressively clever but useless at sucking up stuff, or vice versa. All except the Vorwerk VK100, that is. This is actually a Neato robo-vac, but it’s been re-engineered – ie made better, stronger and suckinger – for the demanding German market. It costs £649, so not exactly peanuts, but GaGu's has now been giving strong vorsprung durch technik for three joyous years, while contenders from other brands have come and gone.…

01 WORKOUT APP The Workout app is pre-installed. Hit the digital crown to bring up the home screen, then tap on the Workout app. You’re presented with a screen giving you different workout types – for a run, choose Outdoor Run. Once you’ve hit this, you can choose your goals. 02 SET YOUR GOALS On the next screen, you can choose a calorie goal. Simply hit the + and - buttons to set a number of calories to burn. Swipe across to add a time you want to run for in the same way. Swipe across again and you can set a distance. After hitting start, you get a countdown. 03 TRACK PROGRESS On your run, you can quickly see your progress – simply swipe across the bottom of the…

A decade ago, we scoffed at the idea of a phone under two centimetres thick, laughing mercilessly as various brands tried to prove that a handset could be ‘ultra-slim’, as it was seen back then. Now we’re at the point where even 5mm is hefty (Chinese manufacturer Oppo has made a phone that’s just 4.85mm thick yet can still smash open a watermelon) – but it’s all coming at a price. Battery life is nowhere near where we want it to be, and that’s because there’s no space for a decent capacity. Put it this way: if the iPhone 6 was as thick as a Nokia 3310, it would last a week. But who wants to carry that brick around with them?…

There’s no point jamming in ever-more-sensitive sensors if you’re not able to use them to take brilliant pictures. HTC’s UltraPixel camera of last year was more impressive than the 20.7MP one we have in the M9 because at least the UltraPixel cam was stellar in low light. Samsung has shown that 16MP can take brilliant snaps, so let’s just set the bar there and call it done, OK? Then you can get back to developing better battery life for your phones.…

Your current smartphone might be amazing, but you’ll have it a while - what about in 2017? Will it still be whizzy fast, or a crumbling dinosaur that hasn’t been updated for years? If you’re worried, simply stick with Apple. The brand works to make its new software as backwards compatible as possible, with the four-year-old iPhone 4S still rocking iOS 8. It’s not a great experience, but you get most of the new toys. Android is a different story entirely. Each brand has to work on each phone separately to bring the new OS to the phone, which can take months and months. So Android Orange might offer holographic video chat, but your Galaxy S6 certainly isn’t guaranteed to get it.…

01 HARMAN KARDON OMNI 10 It’s wireless, elegant and offers great sound quality. Additional speakers can be added with ease and an iOS and Android app enables you to set up the speakers as separate zones so you can have different music in different rooms, or synchronise music playback throughout your house with ‘Party Mode’. Get the Omni 20 model if you have particularly large rooms. £160, harmankardon.com 02 BOSE SOUNDTOUCH 20 Incredibly simple to set up. You can change the settings either with the free SoundTouch app, or via touch controls on the speaker. The SoundTouch 20 can stream music from a local source via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or connect to online services such as Pandora. Adding additional SoundTouch speakers is easy and, as you’d expect, sound quality is…

01 SPOTIFY CONNECT If you have a Premium account, this gives you direct audio streaming from app to speakers, laptop or TV, and you can even take calls or watch videos without interrupting playback. www.spotify.com 02 GOOGLE CAST In addition to streaming music to supported devices, Cast goes a step further and enables you to stream visual content to your TV, such as video via Netflix, or even your entire Web browser on Chrome. www.google.com/cast 03 APPLE AIRPLAY Like Google Cast, AirPlay allows lovers of Apple devices like MacBook or iPad to stream video and images - as well as lossless audio - to compatible gadgets via a tap of the AirPlay button. www.apple.com/airplay…

Says Colin Marshall, Notebook On Cities And Culture podcaster, “If you look at the West in general’s ideal of a future city, I’d say that Seoul captures it through the sheer speed of its development. In just 40 or 50 years after the Korean War, the city went from nothing to everything. This goes especially for its infrastructure: first, look at the amenities of the subway — its extensiveness, its frequency, its climate control, its mobile and internet connectivity, the robust economy operating in its stations, the fact that it has toilets — then look at how quickly they’ve built it. “South Korea, unlike the US and England, never lost its focus on creating a future city. In fact, one could argue that the country has almost concentrated too much…

ON TEST THIS MONTH THE GADGETS WE’RE LIVING AND BREATHING ROB CARNEY, B&O PLAY H8 If you’re going to invest £400 in a pair of headphones, you want something that’s going to do a decent job for you. The H8s look amazing – will they have a performance to match? NICK ODANTZIS, BMW C EVOLUTION Electric auto tech feels ‘in’ right now and, as a keen motorcyclist, I’m intrigued to see if BMW’s new charged-up bike will be better than the petrol options. CLAIRE DAVIES, FUJIFILM X-A2 With its cool, retro looks and reasonable price, the X-A2 seems like a great choice for budding photographers wishing to dip their toes – but we shall see… MARC CHACKSFIELD, NEXUS PLAYER The Nexus Player is one of the latest smart TV gadgets…

Kindle Paperwhite REVIEWED BY CHARLIE SHAW FROM CARDIFF £109, AMAZON.CO.UK Why I bought it I’m a keen reader of horror and fantasy novels, and my bag used to be stuffed with such tomes. After developing a back injury while playing rugby in 2011, carrying around books was no longer an option, so I bought a Kindle. After a few glorious years together, it was nicked from me a few months back, so I went out and bought a Kindle Paperwhite. What I like about it It’s lightweight and packs more features than my original Kindle. The home page is easy to navigate, with six book titles displayed per page. I love the highlight function – it’s a good way to pick out cool quotes – and the built-in front light…

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR THE VERY BEST TECH AVAILABLE TODAY, YOU’VE DEFINITELY COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE. T3 Elite is the best gadget-buying guide you’ll ever encounter. To create it, we’ve ruthlessly filtered all the categories that count, to bring you rock-solid recommendations. We’ve selected a Super Six of elite gear for each of the categories listed below. If something’s not included, we don’t rate it – it’s that simple. Each Super Six is ranked in order, and the number-one product makes it into The Elite (p118), which is our pick of the 12 best products you can buy today. To make your next purchase as straightforward as possible, we’ve also included useful buying advice, and highlighted the hottest gear you can get for £100 and under. Stay up to…

How big is too big? There’s no clear-cut answer here, so you’re best off going into a shop and trying phones in your hand. For most people, the preferred size tends to be between 4.7-5.1 inches, but if you’ve got bigger palms (and pockets), 5.5 inches is achievable. Got smaller mitts? Then look at 4-4.5 inches. Which operating system is the best? There are three key players here: Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Phone. iOS offers iTunes integration, of course, making it easy to transfer your music. Android will offer you the greatest range of handsets, covering everything from top-ofthe-range flagships all the way down to budget blowers. Windows Phones will give you a different look and feel to the main players, and the interface is very simple…

Laptops 01 DELL XPS 13 www.dell.com PRICE £1,060 TESTED N/A Brilliantly designed and outperforms its competition under the hood. Infinity Display gives you the expanse of a 13.3-inch screen on an 11.9-inch laptop. T3 SAYS Fantastic performance and build. It will serve you well for years to come. 02 MACBOOK PRO 13-INCH WITH RETINA DISPLAY www.apple.com/uk PRICE £749 TESTED T3 227 Lightweight, with improved performance and battery life – it will delight road warriors and coffee-shop loungers alike. T3 SAYS A reliable, powerful and practical MacBook, this is Apple’s best laptop. 03 ASUS ZENBOOK UX305 www.asus.com PRICE £650 TESTED N/A Thin, light and attractive, with excellent build quality, the Zenbook UX305 offers a great balance of components, a perfect 1080p screen and an alluring price tag. T3 SAYS One of…

What do you need it for? The first thing you need to ascertain is what you want to use your NAS or media server for. Is it for saving important documents, backing up photos or keeping all your media in one place? Is there enough storage? Once you’ve clarified what it is you want to store, make sure the device comes with enough storage space to hold everything. You can get devices with terabytes of storage – ideal for holding highdef movies and Spotify-shaming music collections – but they’re not cheap. That kind of space is overkill if you just want to hold the odd media file. Some NAS drives and media servers enable you to install your own hard drives, giving you a bit more flexibility. What will you…

Connected home 01 NEST LEARNING THERMOSTAT www.nest.com PRICE £180 TESTED T3 242 A stylish and sleek design that integrates with other smart gadgets around the home. Easy to use and learns your heating habits. T3 SAYS Nest is a great first step in creating a smarter home. 02 HUSQVARNA AUTOMOWER 330X www.husqvarna.com PRICE £2,575 TESTED T3 242 Looks incredible. Great, even cut. Packed full of teeth. Excellent for large gardens. Operates very quietly indeed. T3 SAYS Expensive but perfect for people with bigger lawns. 03 iROBOT ROOMBA 880 www.irobot.co.uk PRICE £599 TESTED T3 237 Impressive pet-hair performance and efficient carpet cleaning – you’ll be astonished by just how much it picks up. It’s simple to program, too. T3 SAYS You won’t find a better robotvacuum performance. 04 NETGEAR R7000 NIGHTHAWK…

You don’t always have to spend big money to get something you’ll love to bits. That’s why we’ve put together a list of our favourite products for £100 and under. Some of our chosen gadgets also happen to be the best things you can get in their particular category, others are great-value alternatives to bigger ticket purchases, but all are brilliant products we’d be happy to use ourselves. So next time you get paid and there’s spare cash burning a hole in your trouser pocket, make sure you consult T3’s £100 Hotlist! 01 BRAUN CRUZER6 FACE www.braun.com/uk PRICE £70 A wet-dry shaver, beard trimmer and goatee tamer, with loads of attachments. Can handle long growth with ease, and create clean, precise sideburn lines. T3 SAYS A sleek shaver with a…

SWISS SAVVY As smartwatches get smarter, luxury brands are searching for a response. Famed for its aviation-centric timepieces, Swiss marque Breitling has perhaps sensibly opted not to try and take the likes of Apple and LG on at their own game. It is instead putting the smartphone into the service of the B55 Connected, making it easy to adjust settings and access advanced features that would otherwise require wrestling with fiddly buttons and crowns. COCKPIT COMPANION An evolution of Breitling’s Cockpit B50, the B55 is an analog/digital hybrid with an electronic tachometer, a countdown/countup system, and the ability to record flight times in addition to take-off and landing data PILOT PRECISION A COSC-certified chronometer, the B55 utilises Breitling’s in-house SuperQuartz movement for accuracy ten times greater than a standard quartz…

Save 60% On a new T3 subscription p58 To say I’m excited to introduce the all-new T3 is an understatement. This is T3 renewed: the next generation of gadget magazine that gives you everything you need for better living in a world where everything connects to everything else. So, what’s new? Well, everything, actually. You have four brilliant new sections: T3 Hype, T3 Agenda, T3 Select and T3 Elite. In T3 Hype (p12), we bring you all the hottest new gear. Then there’s T3 Agenda (p37), where we serve up seven new adventures to have with tech every month. T3 Select (p93) gives you expert reviews and recommendations, helping you to buy only the best gadgets and kit. And T3 Elite (p117) is simply the ultimate buyer’s guide. Elsewhere this…

$699, reconinstruments.com These look like Google Glass! Yes, they do a bit, but the Recon Jet glasses are aimed squarely at runners and cyclists wanting to view data that’s relevant to their activity, and capture what they see in an unobtrusive manner – ie without wearing an action cam in a mount. So, what do they do? They’re loaded with software that’s tailored to cyclists and runners. You can see your performance data, such as pace/distance, duration, ascent/descent and heart rate. You can also get smartphone notifications in your vision. Can you talk to them? They’ve got a built-in speaker and microphone, but you can’t currently speak to them. There will probably be some third-party app support soon. So, you can get apps for them? They currently work with Recon’s…

£120, asus.com/uk What’s this, then? It’s a beautiful smartwatch from the makers of ZenWatch, this time aimed at people with an interest in fitness. OK, so what features does it have? There’s lots to get excited about here, including the Sleep Tracking function, which will help you catch betterquality zzzzs, and VivoPulse, which helps you exercise efficiently while offering data on calories burned. The vibrating alarm, activity reminders, heart-rate tracking and vibrating call notifications are also handy. How will it improve my well-being? VivoWatch features a Happiness Index (HI), a score calculated using your sleep and exercise data. It’s scored out of 100, and if you hit 75+ on the HI each day, you’re on track for happiness and vitality! What if I want to see data in detail? VivoWatch…

WHAT A CORKER 01 LE CREUSET CHAMPAGNE OPENER Driving through the streets for hours in a turbo-powered oven, Lewis’s hands are going to get sweaty, so if he wins he might end up popping a cork right into the Prince of Monaco’s eye. With the Le Creuset champagne opener, he can loosen and capture corks with ease, leaving him free to spray champagne into the faces of unsuspecting passers-by. £20, selfridges.com APPY DAYS 02 FLOPSY DROID ON ANDROID WEAR Handily, Lewis has the best car, which means he’ll finish races sooner than most this season. So we think he should swap whatever bling watch he’s sponsored by for an Android Wear one, such as LG’s G Watch R (p125). That way, he can play addictive Flappy Bird clone Flopsy Droid…

Here’s the tech dream: your home is almost a living thing, learning your personal habits, reacting to you as you move around, making your life as simple, and your energy use as efficient, as possible. You are Man 2.0, in your space-age bachelor pad. Here’s the tech reality, as it stands: you’ve got a load of mundane or gimmicky bits of kit that won’t talk to each other, and you have to reboot your router to turn your lights on, and call a help centre to heat your house. In the past year, I’ve been sent plenty of these ‘connectables’, the new wave of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled home devices. They make everything into a smartphone accessory, regardless of whether it needs to be or not. I’ve tried plug sockets that…

Have you ever wanted to stream CDs to elsewhere in your home? Panasonic’s 2015 line of AllPlay speakers includes the SC-ALL5CD, which can do exactly that. Given that it’s small and portable, maybe you might want to just pick it up and take it with you, rather than buying a second box and streaming to it. Who am I to say? Are you an impatient man who likes barbecuing and tech, but doesn’t have many friends? The Lotus MiniGrill (left) is just 240 x 225mm and, thanks to a built-in fan that raises the flames like a twisted firestarter or, indeed, a punkin’ instigator, it’s ready to brown your meat in just four minutes. You know when you’re in an unfamiliar location and really need a qualified drone pilot? Well,…

A Speaking as someone who once tested a smart blood-pressure monitor at its launch party and was advised to seek medical help immediately, Gadget Guru is reluctant to recommend these things, but there are fine offerings out there from Salter – the maestro of all things homely and essential but unglamorous (the MiBody at £60) – as well as Withings, Qardio and iHealth (all at £100). GaGu is assuming you’re talking about blood-pressure monitors that connect to an app on your phone or tablet, given that this is T3 magazine. If you’re after something more olde worlde, there are umpteen options.…

01 WATCH APP Open up the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. Then simply hold your Apple Watch in front of your iPhone’s camera to pair. 02 NEW DEVICE The next step is to set up your watch as a new device. You’re then asked which wrist you’ll be wearing the watch on. This is important, as the display will flip. 03 AGREE? The next step is a few screens asking you to agree to Location Services, Siri and Diagnostics. It’s just a matter of choosing the option you want. 04 PASSCODE Set up a passcode and choose whether to unlock the watch with your phone. A few more screens later and your new Apple Watch will be ready to wear.…

There’s no denying it: the very first things that grab your attention when you’re out browsing for a new phone are the look and feel of it. The second you pick the handset up will either see you recoiling in horror at the creaking, plastic mess, or cooing with excitement at the high-quality, premium device that rests quietly in your hand. Samsung is the true phoenix of this particular sub-test, graduating from the disappointing plastic-ugly that was the Galaxy S5 to the resplendent, rounded metal and glass of the S6, a phone that feels lightweight but well-balanced. The bottom of the handset looks rather familiar, though – put it side by side with the iPhone 6 and you’ll see that they’re almost identical. This isn’t a complete reimagining from Samsung,…

When you’re investing in a new smartphone, of course you want it to look awesome and do all sorts of amazing things. But more than that, you want it to work incredibly well on a day-to-day basis, never letting you down and continuously backing you up so that life (in the small universe of your phone) is just a little easier to manage and stay connected to. That’s why you’ll see the big brands spending so much money on creating great software, offering clever abilities and gimmicks to tempt you towards buying into their sultry wares. We’ll begin this final leg of the test with the iPhone 6. Of course, Apple’s iOS platform needs no formal introduction. Save for a mad battering of colour in 2013, it’s remained largely the…

1st Samsung Galaxy S6 PRICE: FROM £600 URL: samsung.com T3 RATES: The camera deserves a special mention, as it not only takes brilliant snaps when in auto mode, but gives near full control for the more seasoned snap-fan, meaning you can tweak all manner of settings to get the picture you really want. T3 SLATES: The only issue revolves around the battery life, and Samsung needs to improve it soon with software updates to make this a phone that’s entirely without flaws. T3 SAYS: It didn’t ace every test, but the impressive design, sharp screen, oodles of power and amazing camera make the Galaxy S6 a winner. 2nd Apple iPhone 6 PRICE: FROM £539 WEB: apple.com/uk T3 RATES: The App Store still outflanks whichever betterspecced rivals appear. T3 SLATES: The…

1 MERCEDES-BENZ G350 CDI 4X4 The Merc held all of my kit, including the Haibike. It might not have the most modern tech (although there’s plenty inside, including a DVD player and a thumping Harman Kardon stereo), but it’s a lesson in reliability. From £81,665 mercedes-benz.co.uk   2 OSPREY ATMOS AG 65 BACKPACK The webbed support system on this rucksack made a 20kg load feel like half as much. By taking the weight off my back and shifting it down through my hips to my legs, it made lugging all that tech around a possibility. £180 ospreyeurope.com 3 POWERTREKK 2.0 POWER PACK There are plenty of auxiliary power packs that you charge with mains power at home. But in a zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic scenario like mine, you’re far more likely to…

01 MAKE THEM VISIBLE To connect Bluetooth speakers to your phone or tablet, you’ll first need to make sure they can see each other. Usually, on the speaker, you hold a Bluetooth button for a few seconds until a light flashes or a sound plays. 02 SEARCH FOR DEVICES In iOS and Android, you need to make sure Bluetooth is turned on, and then in the settings, tap on the name of your speaker to pair it with your smartphone or tablet. You should now be set up to stream music from your device. 03 LIMITATIONS You can only stream music to one Bluetooth speaker at once – so you can’t just pair a number of speakers with your phone or tablet and expect them all to play what you’re…

SELF–DRIVING CARS Google’s driverless motors are already on the streets of San Francisco. Autoparts maker Delphi’s model recently drove from the city to New York. While there was a human in the car in case of emergency, 99 per cent of the trip was completed in automated mode. DRIVERLESS TRAINS Transport for London last year showcased its new Tube trains, which will be able to run without a driver. The carriages are set to come into service by the mid 2020s. CITYMAPPER The mapping app for iOS and Android works out when you’ve changed cities, serves up live bus times, hooks into taxi services and suggests more efficient routes. 3D PRINTERS Chinese construction firm WinSun last year announced that it had 3D-printed ten houses in just 24 hours. In January…

01 PAUL WELLER: SATURNS PATTERN The Modfather reckons his new album is one of the best things he’s ever done, and with hulking slabs of Stooges-esque rock mixed with meaty riffs Royal Blood would die for, there’s little room to argue. We’ve given it a spin and can confirm that the former Jam man is sounding better than ever. 02 BRANDON FLOWERS: THE DESIRED EFFECT The first solo outing in five years for The Killers’ frontman, The Desired Effect sees him collaborating with producer du jour Ariel Rechtshaid (Haim). Expect keys, power rock and a fistful of rousing anthems. There’s no Mr Brightside, but this is nevertheless a cool soundtrack to the summer. 03 FAITH NO MORE: SOL INVICTUS Hailed by some as the US metallers’ second coming, Sol Invictus…

TVs 01 SAMSUNG UE55JS9000 www.samsung.com PRICE £3,099 TESTED T3 243 Capable of a stunning picture, with amazing design and clear sound. It needs its settings tweaked to get the best picture, though, and standard def looks horrid. T3 SAYS This 55-inch is amazing in Ultra HD, but also brilliant in regular HD. 02 PANASONIC TX-50AX802 www.panasonic.com/uk PRICE £1,299 TESTED T3 236 Great looks, as well as superb picture quality and motion handling. Upscaling isn’t as spectacular as other budget 4K TVs. T3 SAYS If you want a 50-inch TV that has the wow factor – both in terms of looks and picture quality – this is a great choice. 03 SONY BRAVIA KDL50W829 www.sony.co.uk PRICE £579 TESTED T3 228 This 50-inch boasts superb HD image quality, fabulous motion handling and…

Sony DT 16–50mm F2.8 SSM Buying a Sony A77 II? Go for the 16-50mm f/2.8 kit-lens bundle, because if you buy this lens on its own you’ll pay a premium. The 16-50mm f/2.8 is a cut above the average kit lens, with a wider wide-angle setting and a constant maximum aperture so you can shoot at f/2.8 even at full zoom. £480, www.sony.co.uk Tamron SP 70-200mm F/2.8 DI VC USD Heavier and pricier than regular consumer lenses, the f/2.8 constant maximum aperture makes it much better in low light. Fits Canon, Nikon and Sony SLRs and popular with professionals, especially when shooting close-up sports, fashion and weddings. £1,000, www.tamron.eu/uk Sigma 10-20mm F3.5 EX DC HSM Once you have a telephoto zoom for your SLR, your next lens should be a…

Smartwatches 01 PEBBLE STEEL www.getpebble.com PRICE £180 TESTED T3 240 The always-on, monochrome E-paper screen might not be for everyone, but it works great, and you get up to seven days’ battery. Loads of apps and easy to use, too. T3 SAYS Low on techy extras, but bags of charm and great ease of use. 02 LG G WATCH R www.lg.com/uk PRICE £200 TESTED T3 240 All the style and feel of a normal watch, but with all the features of Android Wear. It has a P-OLED screen, which is bright and sharp, and you get two days of battery life. T3 SAYS The best Android Wear smartwatch available so far. 03 MOTO 360 www.motorola.co.uk PRICE £200 TESTED T3 240 Motorola has totally nailed the smartwatch looks with the 360…

Parrot Bebop Drone This 1080p-camera-equipped drone has a range of up to 2km, meaning you can spy over your entire neighbourhood if you so wish. An optional SkyController attaches to your iPad and gives you Top Gun-style controls. £720, www.parrot.com Meccano Meccanoids This pair of personal robots look like the product of a mix-up at the Terminator and Wall-E factories. Once assembled, they initiate conversations, tell jokes, copy what you do and walk around looking for mulleted women to kill. Maybe. From £265, www.meccano.com/uk Sphero Ollie This chunky, brightly coloured ’bot zips about at speeds of up to 14mph. On your smartphone or tablet, you use one thumb to drive, and the other to pull off spins, hops and other tricks. Your kids will love it, if you give them…