Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2016 i T3

A Hi-Res Audio player, eh? But surely, Spotify on my phone is fine? You’d think so, right? Sadly, the boom in hugely compressed digital audio files means you’re only hearing a fraction of the magic your favourite artists laid down in the recording studio. Hi-Res Audio delivers tracks exactly as they were meant to be heard. Just ask Neil Young... So this little green box is going to give me all that? Yep! The machined-aluminium Astell&Kern AK70 supports 24-bit/192kHz audio. To put that into perspective, Apple Music streams at just 44.1kHz, so you’re getting a monumental leap in quality, clarity and depth of sound. Imagine being in the studio with the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Radiohead recording their music. That’s the Hi-Res Audio effect. Nice, huh? Very, but won’t…

THE READER Ben Morley T3 reader and tool-belt lover Ben converted his garden shed into a mancave, complete with La-Z Boy, pool table and bar. Now he’s looking to add some top tech to help him unwind. THE EXPERT Chris Haslam Home-tech writer Chris is planning his own man cave, so there’s no-one better this month to help T3 reader Ben track down the best gadgets for his posh shed. 01KEF MUO There’s no point having a mancave if you can’t rattle the rafters with some Hawkwind or, erm, Jean-Michel Jarre. Save room for the Muo, a Bluetooth speaker that’s a gorgeous chunk of industrial design to boot. There’s plenty of volume here, as well as a delicious mid-range that’s punchier than the Muo’s size would suggest. Oh, and if…

Guru’s rant about smart tape measures a few issues ago seems to have borne some sort of spiteful revenge in the form of the Bagel Smart Measure (left, $79/£60, bagel-labs.com), now available for pre-order on Kickstarter. With three measuring modes, a built-in OLED screen, voice notation and Bluetooth connectivity to its companion app – all of which means you’ll never have to write anything down again – GaGu may be forced to admit that this digital tape measure looks rather good. Curses! Also kicking around on Kickstarter is the intriguing Basslet (¤139/£116, lofelt.com), a square subwoofer you wear on your wrist. Not so much for the concept of an otherwise-silent sub – what are neighbours if not the perfect target for anti-social musical performance? – but for the tech inside,…

01 Initial set-up You’ll probably have a Philips Hue Starter Pack – which comes in different variations. We’re setting up the White Ambience bulbs, but the process is pretty much the same no matter what pack you’ve got. Start by screwing your lights into the sockets you want them in. If you have a bayonet fitting, you can buy an adaptor from Maplin (maplin.co.uk) for around £5 to convert the fixture. 02 Install the Bridge The next job is to install the Hue Bridge. Plug it in and connect it to your router using the supplied Ethernet cable. Once the three little lights on the front of the Bridge are illuminated, you’re ready to connect your house lights to it. Make sure the lights are switched on, then head over…

1 WeMo Insight Switch Belkin’s smart-home ecosystem is pretty comprehensive – and the WeMo Insight Switch fits perfectly into it. Differing to the normal ‘Switch’ (£40) by the fact that it’ll give you energy-consumption readouts, it Works With Nest and IFTTT. £50, belkin.com/uk 2 Hive Active Plug The British Gas-owned Hive has added to its smart thermostat with a range of other smart-home devices. The Hive Hub (£80) hooks everything together, including the Active Plug, which lets you remotely control and schedule your appliances. £39, hivehome.com 3 Samsung SmartThings Power Outlet Samsung has created its own range of smart-home devices – called SmartThings. As with most smart plugs, you’ll need a hub to control it all (£99), as well as the SmartThings Power Outlet itself. £45, samsung.com…

1 GET YOUR COFFEE MACHINE TO START BREWING AS SOON AS YOUR FITBIT REGISTERS THAT YOU’RE AWAKE Can’t be bothered to climb out of bed to put the kettle on of a Saturday morning? This IFTTT recipe uses your Fitbit’s motion sensor to kickstart the WeMo-enabled Mr Coffee machine as soon as you wake up, ensuring that a cup of Joe isn’t far away. 2 HAVE ALL YOUR LIGHTS GO OFF THE MOMENT YOU LEAVE HOME Running around the house switching the lights off before you go out will be a distant memory with this recipe – using your smartphone’s geolocation chops, it’ll shut down your Philips Hue lights when you exit the front door (or any other defined area). 3 HAVE ALL YOUR LIGHTS TURN RED IF YOUR NEST…

For all its head-turning looks, the Merc lets itself down with a dated interior and clunky infotainment. There’s no touchscreen or character recognition – instead, you interact with the seven-inch screen via the rotary controller, with main functions listed at the top of the screen, and sub-menus at the bottom. Twirling the dial to enter a Wi-Fi passcode or postcode can be laborious, and the fact that not all functions are intuitively labelled compounds the frustration. Our car gets optional internet access, but why faff around trying to access Web pages with a flawed interface when you can grab your phone? It’s all a bit pre-Apple. Talking of which, the Porsche and Merc are available with Apple CarPlay, but not the Audi. While the new Audi TT remixes the original’s…

1st Porsche 718 Boxster S Price: £50,695 URL: porsche.com/uk T3 RATES: The Boxster does very little wrong. It backs up its jaw-dropping looks with sweetly balanced mid-engined handling, slick steering and gear change, and the perfect driving position. Intuitive tech and a roof that’s thickly insulated and drops in just 12 seconds seals the deal. It’s even quite practical! T3 SLATES: Some of the character has gone with the switch from a flat-six to a flat-four turbo engine, but it’s super-responsive and even faster than the old motor. T3 SAYS: Got £40-50k to drop on a convertible? Well, this is the place to drop it. 2nd Audi TT 2.0 TFSI Quattro S Line Price: £37,030 URL: audi.co.uk T3 RATES: Good value; surefooted chassis; speedy roof. T3 SLATES: It generates too…

SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 EDGE The Galaxy S7 Edge is currently the ultimate flagship phone. It has a better screen, punchier cameras, a more sultry design and longer battery life than the OnePlus 3 – but it’s double the price. £639, samsung.com APPLE iPHONE 6s PLUS The OnePlus 3 isn’t an iPhone, and if you want a bigscreen handset from the Cupertino firm, look no further than the 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus. Again, though, it’ll cost you a fair old whack. £610, apple.com ONEPLUS 2 If your budget can’t quite stretch to the latest OnePlus, its predecessor is still on sale at a lower price. It doesn’t reach quite the same level of performance as the third-gen phone, but it offers value for money nonetheless. £249, oneplus.net…

Urban Armor Gear iPad 9.7 case REVIEWED BY LAWRENCE MELPH FROM NORFOLK £44, URBANARMORGEAR.COM Why I bought it I’ve got a long history of ruining good tech through my clumsiness – whether it’s dropping phones, spilling coffee on laptops or losing Bluetooth speakers (I’m not even joking!). While a sturdy new case from Urban Armor Gear wouldn’t prevent me from leaving my iPad 9.7 on a train, it would protect it from bumps and grazes – at least I hoped so! To accompany it, I bought an Urban Armor Gear Screen Shield (also £44) so that I couldn’t damage the display. What I like about it The case is as tough as nails! I’d read that it had been military drop-tested, and, sure enough, when someone barged past me in…

BROKEN SWORD: SHADOW OF THE TEMPLARS The first – and still the best – entry in the point ’n’ click series, Shadow Of The Templars sends you around the world with sleuth George Stobbart. £3.99 (Director’s Cut); iPad, PC DEADLY PREMONITION In a game that plays like a Japanese tribute to Twin Peaks, it’s up to you to track down a serial killer in America’s weirdest town. Unsettling indeed. £19.99 (Director’s Cut); PC, PS3, X360 LA NOIRE A motion-capture marvel in its time. The excellent voice acting and authentic recreation of post-WW2 LA make this detective simulator an underrated gem. £4.99 (Complete Edition); PC, PS3, X360 THE VANISHING OF ETHAN CARTER The eerie yet enchanting Red Creek Valley makes a perfect setting for this supernatural detective thriller. £14.99; PC, PS4…

01 MISTER MAKER The man with the rictus grin offers up a load of creative canvases for the kids to get messy with on their tablet. £2.99, App Store; £1.99, Google Play 02 EASY MUSIC Help teach the little ones basic music theory via fun mini-games (there’s even the option to compose songs). £2.99, App Store; £3.59, Google Play 03 PICSART KIDS A great app for teaching nippers how to draw and colour in, using a variety of simple tools and techniques. £Free, App Store and Google Play 04 MINECRAFT Allow their imaginations to run free with this Pocket Edition of the world-building and exploration game. £4.99, App Store and Google Play 05 DOGBISCUIT Great for toddlers and early learners, this app is a fun canvas for teaching them the…

Keyboards and mice A broken touchscreen needn’t be the end of your Android smartphone; plug in any old mouse and you’ll be able to poke around without interfacing your fingers with broken glass. A keyboard might seem like overkill, but something super-portable tossed in a bag is an ergonomic, laptopfree option for typing long documents while on the move. Flash drives iOS users need to resort to special Lightning drives and adapters to transfer their files, but lucky Android folk need only a USB OTG adapter (around £5) and any old flash drive. Back up your photos in the field for extra piece of mind. Game controllers Touchscreens are rather poor when it comes to controlling action games, but many Android titles are compatible with proper controllers. Plug in an…

TVs/ TV STREAMERS 01 PANASONIC TX-50CX680B www.panasonic.co.uk PRICE £649 TESTED T3 255 Proof that you don’t need to spend a mint to get a great 4K TV with superb picture performance, clean styling, as well as the Freeview Play and Firefox OS smart platforms. T3 SAYS A belter of a screen bargain – just add a soundbar and it’ll be perfect. 02 PANASONIC TX-65DX902B www.panasonic.co.uk PRICE £3,299 TESTED T3 258 This big 4K beast certainly has the wow factor, delivering stunning picture clarity, terrific sound and a range of features that include Netflix and Amazon streaming. T3 SAYS Getting the cinema experience on your home TV has never been closer. 03 PHILIPS 55PUT6400 www.philips.co.uk PRICE £629 TESTED T3 255 Another 4K bargain – this Philips isn’t quite up there with…

TuneIn A huge choice of global stations and a decent app make TuneIn our go-to choice, and the benefits of the premium subscription – US sport and Premier League commentary, a big audiobook library and adfree stations — cap it off nicely. Free/£5.99 per month; Android, iOS Radio FM It isn’t the most complex app around, but Radio FM carries a whole host of different stations, and we like it mainly for its alarm clock and sleep-timer features. Perfect if you like falling asleep to talk radio and waking up to rock. Free; Android RadioTunes OK, so it doesn’t rebroadcast actual FM or AM stations – it’s all internally programmed stuff – but RadioTunes’ genre-specific channels are just the ticket for all occasions. Try its seasonal stations at Christmas for…

FitPay Pagaré NFC Smartstrap Make contactless payments from your Pebble; FitPay claims compatibility with most MasterCard and Visa cards, and the Pagaré pin-protects itself when the watch is removed, to prevent misuse. $69/£52 (pre-order), pagare.me TYLT VÜ Pulse Coveting the heart-rate monitor of the new generation of Pebbles? The VÜ Pulse adds that very functionality to the regular Pebble Time and Time Steel using its own custom app. And, just for kicks, it adds wireless Qi charging, too. $49/£37 (pre-order), tylt.com Aria Strap When you move your fingers, the tendons in your wrist tense up in specific ways. Aria reads and translates these patterns into commands, letting you control your Time, Time Steel or Pebble 2 onehanded using four unique gestures. £64 (pre-order), ariawearable.com…

Automatic Pop this adapter in your OBD-II port and run the app to diagnose car issues, with engine codes translated into plain English – it’ll also give you feedback on your driving style. Perfect for keeping an eye on your teen’s road behaviour. $89.95 (£68), automatic.com OBDLink MX Wi-Fi While this is a great device for diagnostics, we’d be inclined to use it just for its compatibility with apps like Dash (Android, iOS) – if you’re looking to get maximum fuel efficiency out of a slightly older car, this is a good way to keep tabs. $79.95 (£60), www.obdlink.com Waylens A combination of a beautiful dash camera and an OBD-II module that feeds data about your ride back to it, enabling you to record the most immersive driving footage possible.…

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! THE SUPER SIX 01 HTC FETCH www.htc.com/uk PRICE £17 Press the button and it’ll activate your HTC phone’s ringtone, pointing you to the sofa cushion it’s slipped behind – and it’ll beep if your phone and keys are…

Rob Carney EDITOR This month, Rob has been grinding meat. And then grilling it. On six top-ofthe-range barbecues, no less. Discover the culinary results in our Man vs Tech feature on p82. Paul Dimery PRODUCTION EDITOR Paul has a massive telly. He’s very proud of it. It’s 65 inches of pure Panasonic 4K magic. And it’s oerfect for watching 80s comedy shows and re-runs of Going for Gold. Robert Jones FEATURES EDITOR, T3.COM This month, Robert flew to Tokyo, Japan, to get hands-on with Nissan’s new ProPilot autonomous drive technology. He also drank saké, lots and lots and lots of saké. #pooroldrob Nick Odantzis DEPUTY EDITOR Nick has been driving around France in his specced-up VW Golf. He’s also curated a list of 20 gadgets for under £200, all of…

HOT WHEELS 01 ROCKETSKATES Like most of us, Jase would’ve enjoyed a roller disco when he was a kid, whizzing round his local leisure centre, hair-gelled to the nines, in pursuit of some girl in a Wham! T-shirt. Alas, nowadays it’s ruthless crims he has to pursue, so he’ll need some better wheels. With the RocketSkates, he’ll be able to whizz along at up to 12mph, a 90-minute charge affording him around ten miles of travel. Hair gel not included. £699.99, firebox.com DOESN’T MAKE SCENTS 02 AIR-FRESHENER CAMERA RECORDER That air-freshener on your nan’s sideboard is to hide the pong from her colostomy bag, right? Well, maybe not… There could be a camera hidden in there, like there is in this spy-friendly gadget. It shoots in 720p HD, takes microSD…

I ’m one of a relatively small number of people who’ve written about ‘tech’ both before and after the launch of the iPhone. I also remember a time both before and after mobile phones in general. And the internet. It’s amazing I’m still so youthful and idealistic, really. I remember the launch of the first iPhone quite distinctly, because we live-blogged it – itself a rather futuristic concept to the T3 office at the time. We barely had a website at that point. The guy doing said blog appeared to have lost his mind. “It’s an iPod! It’s a phone! It’s a computer! It’s all three! Oh my God, the humanity! Incredible scenes here! Gooooooooaaaaaaaaaaallllll! Sony Ericsson! Microsoft Windows Mobile! Nokia Symbian! Your boys took one hell of a beating!…

WHAT ARE THESE? A pair of Nineties-esque eye goggles mixed with Bluetooth headphones. WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT THAT? What do you mean? With these speaker-sunnies, you won’t have to shove anything into your ears – the sunglasses will play-back your tunes without the need for earphones. EH? WHAT WIZARDRY IS THIS? Bone conduction. Most commonly used to stick Justin Bieber in the mouths of teen girls to encourage them to brush their teeth, bone conduction sends sounds to your ears by literally vibrating your skull. There are already a few headsets on the market using this tech and, while it’s not Guru’s preferred method of listening, it’s a good way to listen to music while keeping an ear out for oncoming articulated lorries. WHAT ELSE CAN THESE WEIRD SUNGLASSES DO? Naturally,…

01 What’s in the box? The Nest Learning Thermostat may be supersmart but it prides itself on its simplicity, so it’s no surprise that the contents of the box are sparse. As well as the beautiful metal-andglass HAL9000-esque thermostat, you get the more mundane but just as essential backplate and Heat Link hub. There are also a couple of screws, but you could get an engineer to install it for you… 02 Installation by a pro Once you’ve receive your box of tricks, you’re advised to get the device installed by one of Nest’s approved local experts. Why? Because it isn’t just a case of screwing the thing to the wall; they’ll need to check that your heating system is working and conforms to safety standards; find the best place…

1 Elgato Eve Eve by Elgato is a suite of HomeKitcompatible kit enabling you to monitor air quality and temperature, weather, consumption of devices, check on windows and doors, and manage your heating schedule. Tight integration with Siri is a bonus. £Varies, elgato.com 2 August Smart Lock Want to lock and unlock your door using your smartphone? Or even open your door using Siri? Well, you can with the August Smart Lock. Use the companion app to check your lock’s status and lock. You can also share ‘keys’ with friends. $199, august.com 3 Philips Hue Bridge The original smart lighting is now compatible with HomeKit – but only you have the new Hue Bridge. The best part? Being able to turn your lights on or off, create a different ambiance…

1 SMEG STAND MIXER A beautiful-looking, retro-style machine, with a 4.8-litre steel bowl, the Smeg Stand Mixer makes short work of many cooking and baking tasks. It comes with a range of nifty accessories, with extra attachments available, including the SMMG01 Multi-Food Grinder (£60). £299.95, smeguk.com 2 SAGE THE BOSS The high-power Boss blender is a real dream machine; its high-velocity ProKinetix blade and bowl system pulverises food fast. Making soup? It’ll heat your ingredients while blending them. The Boss even has a onetouch button for green smoothies. Slurp! £400, sageappliances.co.uk 3 CHAR-BROIL T-22G Enjoy juicier BBQ food that’s cooked evenly, with this affordable performance grill. The Tru-Infrared cooking system means no flareups or burns, and those easy-fold side tables are just the ticket for holding ingredients, BBQ utensils and…

Pocket premium The OnePlus 3 is your next flagship phone p96 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…

SMART DRONES DJI Phantom 4 MARKET-LEADER DJI PACKS ITS FOURTH-GEN PHANTOM WITH STYLE AND KILLER FEATURES £1,229, DJI.COM DESIGN Phantom quadcopters have become modern design icons, with their white body and Appleesque stylings. The smooth lines and premium look of this model, including integrated gimbal and camera, make it the best-looking drone out there. FEATURES Top of the list is an Obstacle Sensing System: front sensors that scan and avoid objects within a 15-metre range. It’s not completely infallible, but it makes the Phantom 4 the most confidence-inspiring drone we’ve tested. PERFORMANCE The addition of a Sport mode makes this the fastest, most accurate Phantom to date. 4K footage is judder-free, smooth and cinematic, although fixed landing gear means there’s no seamless 360-degree filming. USABILITY Push-and-release propellers hasten set-up, while…

PAUL DIMERY DENON DESIGN SERIES Over the next three months, I’ll be trying out Denon’s new Design Series of hi-fi products: a CD player, a network receiver and a Class-D amp. CLAIRE DAVIES LG G5 This issue, I’ll be seeing how this new flagship smartphone copes with playing games and watching films. The quality of its screen and sound will be key. WARREN BROWN JURA IMPRESSA Z6 Can this luxury coffee machine turn a bona-fide tea fan into someone who’s bonkers about the bean? Turn the page to find out… ROBERT JONES PANASONIC DMP-UB900 We’ve established that this 4K UHD Blu-ray player is fabulous at playing discs, but what’s it like as an all-round entertainment centre?…

£9.99-£18.99, KAVSON.CO.UK Why I bought it There are loads of mobile power banks on the market, and I couldn’t really be bothered to research them all, so I just plumped for this one because it looks nice (I’m all for turning heads when I get my gadgets out on a train!). It resembles a slightly longer cigarette lighter, so lovely sleek lines and very easy to hold. The model I bought packs a whopping 10,000mAh li-on battery, but other models in the range offer 2,500mAh, 5,000mAh and 7,500mAh. What I like about it I love the fact that, when the Eclipse is fully juiced, it’ll charge my Samsung Galaxy S7 three times – saying that, if I had an iPhone 6s, it would be more like five times. It also…

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR THE VERY BEST TECH AVAILABLE TODAY, YOU HAVE DEFINITELY COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE. T3 Elite is the best gadget-buying guide you will 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.…

SMARTPHONES / TABLETS 01 SAMSUNG GALAXY S7/S7 EDGE www.samsung.com PRICE From £569 TESTED T3 255 The S7 duo are superbly designed phones with brilliant cameras, beautiful screens and some innovative additions. T3 SAYS These Galaxies are simply the best phones of the year, whichever you go for. 02 HTC 10 www.htc.com PRICE £570 TESTED T3 256 HTC finally delivers with its new handset, with loads of power, a responsive interface, great battery life and incredible audio capabilities. The camera is terrific, too. T3 SAYS HTC’s flagship smartphone absolutely lives up to the hype. 03 APPLE iPHONE 6s/6s PLUS www.apple.com/uk PRICE From £539 TESTED T3 249 The best iPhone ever, now with 3D Touch technology, a beefed-up 12MP camera with 4K video, and added processor power. T3 SAYS The best iPhone…

Microsoft Sculpt Touch It’s at the lower end of the price equation, but don’t be fooled: with four-way scrolling, a brilliant (if low-resolution) BlueTrack sensor and an ambidextrous design, the Sculpt Touch is a great little pointer with a nine-month battery life. £25, www.microsoft.com Logitech Marathon M705 This mouse has been around a few years now, but there’s a reason it’s endured. It’s ergonomic, comfortable to use on most surfaces, and has a scrollwheel that can quickly switch between smooth and ratcheted rolling. £39, www.logitech.com Penclic B3 If you’re really struggling with wrist or hand pain, Penclic’s Bluetooth mouse/pen hybrid could make all the difference. It’s been designed to counteract RSI, and it’s symmetrical thus suitable for use in either hand. £79.99, www.posturite.co.uk…

HOME AUDIO/ HEADPHONES 01 NAIM MU-SO QB www.naimaudio.com PRICE £595 TESTED T3 256 With powerful, room-filling sound, exquisite detail, a rock-solid build and eye-popping design features, the Qb is a stunning wireless speaker in a condensed package. T3 SAYS It might be smaller than the original Mu-so, but the Qb is every bit as incredible. 02 B&O A1 www.beoplay.com PRICE £199 TESTED T3 257 This portable speaker has an astonishing 24-hours battery life, making it perfect for long-listening on the move, aided by the hard-wearing, splashproof design. The sound is also remarkable, given the size T3 SAYS Small, powerful and portable. B&O A1 www.beoplay.com PRICE £199 TESTED T3 257 This portable speaker has an astonishing 24-hours battery life, making it perfect for long-listening on the move, aided by the hard-wearing,…

SMARTWATCHES/ FITNESS TRACKERS 01 PEBBLE TIME STEEL www.getpebble.com PRICE £229.99 TESTED T3 249 De-throning the Apple Watch, the Pebble Time brings with it ease of use, a devastatingly funky colour interface, Android support and great battery life. T3 SAYS All the features of previous Pebble smartwatches, but even more impressive. 02 APPLE WATCH www.apple.com/uk PRICE From £299 TESTED T3 242 Apple’s wearable is packed with features and offers a wide range of customisation options to give you some individuality. The only real downside is the limited battery life. T3 SAYS The wearable that properly kickstarted the smartwatch revolution. 03 PEBBLE STEEL www.getpebble.com PRICE £199 TESTED T3 240 The always-on, monochrome e-ink screen might not be for everyone, but it works brilliantly, and you get up to seven days’ battery. There…

CONNECTED HOME/ AUTOMOTIVE 01 CANARY www.canary.is PRICE £160 TESTED T3 254 Though a little on the hefty side, the Canary looks slick. It offers excellent 1080p video day or night, and motion-triggered events, while the app is feature-packed and intuitive. T3 SAYS The Canary is the best all-round connected security camera you can get. 02 3D ROBOTICS SOLO www.3drobotics.com PRICE £979.95 TESTED T3 250 If you’re planning to use a drone for more than just skimming your neighbours’ gardens, this is the one for you. The Solo is fast, capable and future-proof. T3 SAYS It’s expensive, but perfect if you’re serious about aerial photography. 03 NEST LEARNING THERMOSTAT www.nest.com PRICE £180 TESTED T3 242 Stylish and easy to use, this smart thermo integrates with other connected-home gadgets, and learns your…

SAVE CASH! By subscribing to T3 today p62 Your home is connected. Or at least it should be. We tell you what to buy and how to set it up in our Smart Home Manual… Looking to give your home a connected make over? Don’t touch a bulb until you’re done reading our Smart Home Manual, a complete guide to smartening up your home the tech way. To come up with the best Manual possible, we turned T3’s house into the smartest gaff in town, testing everything from smart thermostats and home controllers to smart plugs and lighting (yes, lightbulbs can be fun). In the Smart Home Manual, you’ll also find our no-nonsense guide to Google Home, Apple Home Kit and IFTTT (and the 10 cool things you can do…

A new smart fitness watch? Cool, I broke my last one. Tut, tut! Well, you’ll be hard-pressed to break this beast in a hurry. It’s designed specifically for the multi-disciplinarian sportsperson, and it’ll track you round the clock, never missing a step – whether you’re walking to the gym, completing a triathlon or hitting the powder on your snowboard. And it’s built like a burly Spartan from 300? This bad boy would do King Leonidas proud. The colour touchscreen sits behind solid sapphire glass, with a choice of stainless-steel or titanium bezels. And it’s waterproof to 100 metres, so you can take it swimming (wild-water swimming, naturally, ’cos swimming pools are for wimps). I’m a data geek, too. Is it generous with stats? However hard you train, tracking on the…

Woah, that’s a chunky bit of kit. What the heck is it? Say hello to Alienware’s latest gaming notebook – aka the Alienware 13, the world’s first laptop to have a proper OLED screen. OLEDs are pretty common in smartphones and tablets, but they also make for some of the most expensive TVs and monitors. I’m sensing this could be great for on-the-go gaming. You sense correctly! With superior brightness and unrivalled colour reproduction, the OLED used in this laptop will revolutionise your gaming on the move. Can it handle graphics-card-melting triple-A games? With that extra size, the Alienware 13 has the space to support serious hardware – so yes, you can play those big-budget games with ease. Inside this notebook, you’ll find the latest Intel 6th-gen Skylake Core series…

€250 (£209), thenorthface.com 01 UNDER COVER On your daily commute, are you loaded up with more tech than a Currys store? Us too. That’s why we’re wild about The North Face’s new backpack. An innovative bag with patent-pending features, it has several inner compartments to cradle your smartphone, laptop, tablet, headphones and other gadgets. It also assumes a low-profile design so as not to draw the attention of thieves 02 THE BODYGUARD The Access Pack is designed to withstand the bustle of a commute. The sprung steel frame and foam body form a protective bubble around your tech; integrated ladder locks in the shoulder straps enable adjustability, and a FlexVent suspension system ensures comfort. That same system also provides ventilation to the contents of your pack 03 EJECTOR SEAT The…

INSIDE 01 WORK OUT WITH A TRUE AI PERSONAL TRAINER 02 IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF YOUR HEART 03 PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY AND SECURITY ONLINE 04 MAKE A BIG SPLASH WITH FLYBIKING 05 COOK AND TRACK YOUR FOOD THE SMART WAY 06 TURN YOUR iPHONE INTO A DSLR CAMERA 07 RELIVE YOUR GAMING YOUTH WITH NINTENDO 01 WORK OUT WITH THE WORLD’S FIRST TRUE AI TRAINER Embrace the future of fitness tech with an AI trainer who ‘lives’ inside a pair of bio-sensing earphones, ready to learn your body Health and fitness tech has grown exponentially these past few years, with fitness bands, smartwatches and bio-sensing clothing here to track your performance and feed back via a host of metrics. This year will see the release of a new wave of…

1 Nest Learning Thermostat The original smart thermostat, this little disc boasts stunning looks, tactile operation and a delightful user interface. The latest model, the Nest 3.0, includes hot-water control, as well as displaying target temperature and outdoor weather forecasts. £200, nest.com 2 Hive Active Heating British Gas was the first big energy company to dive into the smartthermostat market, with its Hive Active Heating. Its raison d’être is to help you run your home as efficiently as possible – but its second-gen model looks pretty damn cool, too. £249, hivehome.com 3 EDF Energy HeatSmart The Philippe Starck-designed, Netatmo-built HeatSmart has some neat features, though its LCD display lags behind our other two picks. Its Frost Guard and Auto-Adapt functions make it particularly useful in the depths of Britain’s winter.…

1 Belkin WeMo Lighting As with Philips’ Hue, Belkin’s system can be operated via the WeMo app – so, for example, you can create schedules or match the temperature of the lights to your mood. Naturally, it’ll work with other WeMo devices. WeMo Lighting Starter Set, £80; Bulbs, £25 each; belkin.com/uk 2 Hive Active Lights British Gas’s Hive Active Heating smart thermostat has been a roaring success, and the company now also offers window and door sensors, smart plugs… and lights. You can link it all together using the Hive Hub. Hive Active Light bulbs, £19 each; Hive Hub, £80; hivehome.com 3 Philips Hue The most popular smart-lighting solution, Hue will wake you up in the morning, fool potential burglars into thinking you’re at home, and even inform you of…

01 Set up the app The first thing to do is pair your Ring with the Ring app. So download it from either the App Store, Google Play or the Windows Store and install it on your device of choice. Open it up and use the intuitive setup wizard to pair your doorbell and give it a name (such as ‘Front Door’ or ‘Porch’). You’re now ready to attach it to your door (or indeed wherever you prefer your doorbell to be). 02 Wire it in… If you already have a doorbell, you can easily wire in Ring and replace it. Follow the detailed video on Ring.com, but essentially all you need to do is screw the bracket onto your wall and attach your doorbell’s existing terminals to the ones…

Sonos Playbar It’s optical-only, so no HDMI, and you’re forced to control it with your phone or tablet, but that’s not a problem when your soundbar also merges nicely into an existing Sonos set-up. Add a couple of Play:1s to act as 5.1 rear speakers. £549, sonos.com Philips Fidelio B5 Neat engineering helps the B5 jump from 2.1 to 4.1 surround with a pair of detectable wireless satellite speakers, each of which can also be used individually as Bluetooth units in their own right. It’s not 5.1 but you won’t care. £599.99, philips.co.uk Yamaha YSP-2500 With 16 discrete beam drivers (essentially highly directional speakers arranged in a parabola), the YSP-2500 pulls the surround rabbit out of the soundbar hat, fooling the ear with sound thrown this way and that. It’s…

LAPTOPS/ CAMERAS 01 DELL XPS 13 www.dell.com PRICE £1,060 TESTED N/A The XPS 13 is brilliantly designed and outperforms its rivals under the hood. The infinity display gives you the expanse of a 13.3-inch screen on an 11.9-inch laptop. T3 SAYS With its fantastic performance and build, it’ll serve you well for years to come. 02 HP SPECTRE X360 www.hp.com PRICE £849 TESTED T3 244 The X360 is powerful and has a massive 12.5-hour battery life. Its 360-degree rotating keyboard enables you to use it as a tablet or stood upright for hands-free video. T3 SAYS For a relatively modest price, you get a powerful and versatile machine. 03 ASUS ZENBOOK NX500 www.asus.com PRICE £1,699 TESTED T3 239 The diminutive NX500 boasts a stunning design, impressive power and a bright,…