Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2023 i Stuff UK

Hello and welcome! Whatever headphones you use, chances are you feel pretty strongly about what’s good about them… and what’s not so good about them. Well, we’ve taken that theme and looked at 36 of the very finest pairs in our cover feature this issue. Whatever your desires for aural pleasure, we’ve got options for you: there are over-ears for sitting at home, true wireless in-ears where ultimate portability doesn’t have to mean substandard sound, and fitness buds in case what you really want to do is look better at the gym or pound out the training miles. Elsewhere we’ve looked at the latest in VR, including giving our definitive verdict on Sony’s new PSVR2 headset for the PS5 as well as the Meta Quest Pro, the most advanced goggles…

People often bang on about how fast cheetahs are, but if we had to back any beast in an all-animal-kingdom drag race it would be the peregrine falcon. It’s been clocked diving through the skies at speeds of almost 250mph, so no wonder the three speedy 50MP snappers on the back of Honor’s Magic5 Pro are named after this rapid little raptor. The phone’s Millisecond Falcon Capture algorithm is designed to speed up focus time and shutter speed, so you can capture sharp shots of fast-moving subjects – although the 3.5x optical zoom is nothing compared to a falcon’s eyes, which can pick out prey from nearly two miles away. But you won’t find a 6.81in OLED screen on the bird, especially not one with 2848x1312 resolution, a 120Hz refresh…

A big battery and even bigger screen make the first OnePlus tablet a serious iPad rival Pad influence It’s been nearly 10 years since OnePlus appeared on the scene and upside-downed the tech world with its unusually affordable phones – and now it could be about to do the same with its first tablet. Cut from aluminium and finished in an eye-catching green, the rear of the Pad features a central 13MP camera while the front is almost all 11.61in LCD, with the slimmest of bezels around the 2800x2000 display. It has a 7:5 aspect ratio, which OnePlus reckons gives it a book-like feel, and a rapid 144Hz refresh rate. Pad behaviour Powered by a Dimensity 9000 CPU and 8GB RAM, the Pad isn’t lacking in oomph, although the 128GB…

Finally, a Shakespearean search engine. Nice idea, thou gorbellied, fat-kidneyed hedge-pig, but Google Bard does much more than help you look up some of Quill Bill’s best insults. This AI-powered chatbot uses a natural language model to answer questions in a more sophisticated and human-sounding way than a standard search engine, so you can ask complex, open questions and get more considered answers, rather than just a list of websites to trawl through. It means you can ask things like, “Is it easier to learn the guitar or the bagpipes?” rather than just factual stuff like how many strings a Telecaster has. That’s easy, it’s six. Well done. With brains like that you should be safe from being replaced by a robot for a few years yet. That said, Google’s…

ONEPLUS IS TAKIN’ IT TO THE PLEATS OnePlus has a folding phone on the way. Due to launch before the end of the year, the device doesn’t have a name or any pictures yet – but as OnePlus is owned by Oppo, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if it ended up looking not unlike the recently launched Find N2 (pictured). NOW iPHONE PICTURES CAN ERASE THEIR GAME The Google Pixel’s nifty Magic Eraser is now available on all phones, including iPhones – but it’ll cost you. The smart photo-editing tool, which uses AI to remove unwanted distractions from your pics, has been added to the Google Photos app, but only if you’re a Google One subscriber. That starts at £1.59/m. SONY’S CHEAP CANS ARE A V1 CHIP OFF THE…

SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION OFFER Get 6 issues of Stuff for just £15 Receive a free welcome gift worth £25.50 Save 52% off the shop price Have each issue delivered to your door Never miss an issue TWO EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE: ONLINE shop.kelsey.co.uk/STU423P CALL US 01959 543747 Please quote STU423P Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-5.30pm (calls charged at your standard network rate) Offer ends 30 April 2023 JUST WANT DIGITAL? You can get 13 digital issues for £24.99 – go to shop.kelsey.co.uk/STU123P and click the digital option. Sorry, the free gift isn’t available with digital subscriptions. Terms and conditions: UK offer only. Direct Debit only. You will pay £15 for 6 months then £22.99 every 6 months. Saving is based on the standard cover price of £5.25. Offer ends 30 April 2023. Your…

PACK-DOWN PUFFERS The intrepid insulator Fjallraven Expedition X-Latt Packable doesn’t need to mean unpadded, and this Fjallraven jacket has just enough insulation to keep you cosy when there’s a nip in the air. Its shell and lining are made from recycled polyamide, while the filling is 80% recycled polyester – so you get the added warmth of an eco-feelgood glow. £195 / fjallraven.com The fish-friendly filler Patagonia AlpLight Fish are highly sensitive to temperature. They’re also sensitive to ocean waste. So while this insulated jacket won’t keep a cod cosy, it does at least reduce pollution: its synthetic down filling is made entirely from NetPlus, a nylon fabric hewn from recycled fishing nets. £280 / eu.patagonia.com The old-school overcoat The North Face 1996 Nuptse Seen on red runs and red…

BOSE QUIETCOMFORT EARBUDS II Given that Bose is the company that invented noise-cancelling headphones in the first place, you’d hope its latest true wireless in-ears would be there or thereabouts when it comes to dealing with external sounds. And sure enough, the QCEIIs do a more thorough and complete job than any alternative design, at any price – so if you really want to banish the sound of the outside world, these are the earbuds for you. What makes these the best true wireless earbuds you can currently buy, though, is also the stuff that Bose hasn’t always been the greatest at. Comfort, for example – they’re smaller, lighter and loads more comfy than the model they replaced. And while they’re not the lightest buds around, the way Bose has…

BOWERS & WILKINS Px8 You might think technology would limit the amount of performance you could eke out of a pair of wireless headphones. You might think that value could only be added by using more luxurious materials or a better standard of finish, or by incorporating an elaborate control app. But B&W disagrees – and with the Px8 ’phones it’s shown what can be done within the confines of wireless streaming tech. At a glance, these cans aren’t that different from the recently launched Px7 S2 model. But look a little closer and you’ll notice the diamond-cut earcup edges, the elegantly reflective company logo running down each one, and the indulgent texture (and smell) of the leather elements of the earcups and headband. The cast aluminium arm-structure and headband…

GRADO GS3000X STATEMENT Luxury, when it comes to headphones, lies in the eye and beneath the fingertips of the beholder, as well as in the ear. These Grados are our favourites in the ‘very expensive indeed’ category, and for good reason – even if the luxury aspect is, to be fair, a little bit patchy. They’re big open-backed ’phones that feature a whole lot of cocobolo wood for their driver housings, as part of a hybrid metal acoustic chamber. The company puts forward a lot of reasons why this particular wood is so desirable in acoustic terms – but the fact that it looks and feels so dramatic and, yes, luxurious doesn’t do any harm. Elsewhere, the foam earpads and minimally padded leather headband – with only rudimentary adjustment –…

£1000 / go.stuff.tv/MQPro ■ Meta’s pitching the Quest Pro as the ultimate workplace productivity tool, but there’s more to it than a focus on augmented reality. The headset has been overhauled with 1920x1800-per-eye optics – a 37% resolution boost over the Quest 2. ■ Next to the old headset’s monochrome passthrough mode, the Pro’s full-colour system is a big step forward. The exterior cameras also deliver more accurate motion tracking, while five IR sensors track your eyes to give facial expressions for your Metaverse avatar. ■ Moving the battery to the rear means it isn’t so front-heavy, and pancake lenses help keep the size down, but this is still a weighty headset. A cushion distributes that weight over your forehead, with an adjustment wheel for the headband, but you’re still…

MEGALODON This Mastodon client is a joy to use. The interface is slick, providing fast access to your saved hashtags, yet there are enough options to bend the app to your liking. Need more? Splash out £2.39 on Fedilab, where almost everything can be customised. £free / Android TUSKER This Mastodon app prizes efficiency: with two taps, you can get anywhere you need to be. And there are loads of options, including one to disable infinite scrolling. If the text-heavy nature of Tusker grates, try the prettier (if less efficient) Ice Cubes. £free / iOS ELK Mastodon’s a playground for native software, but experimentation goes beyond app stores. Elk is a progressive web app that rethinks Mastodon with a user-friendly interface, and it feels a lot like Twitter – minus…

from £849 / go.stuff.tv/S23 DAY 01 I get a strong whiff of familiarity when taking Samsung’s latest hero phone out of its box. The Galaxy S23’s design changes are certainly on the subtle side, and there’s been no growth spurt from last year. There are no flashy new cameras like the much spendier S23 Ultra either, sticking with the same sensor trio as the outgoing S22. But bigger changes lie beneath its glass/metal exterior, namely Qualcomm’s latest and greatest mobile processor and a bigger battery. The next 10 days should reveal if they’re enough to justify a sizeable price bump over the old model. A year of processing improvements means fantastic photos even though it uses the same sensors as the S22 With a flat matt finish that effortlessly shrugs…

1 Sony WH-1000XM5 £335 / 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 £300 / 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…

Ultimately, I’m the one who’s responsible for making whatever game I’m working on fun. I work on everything from how the player’s character moves and reacts to the world around them to how enemies behave, the gadgets and abilities, the progression systems – just about everything, really! A core part of my job is to create and communicate the vision of the gameplay. I have to make sure everyone on the team understands what the game is and what’s going to make it fun, and then work with everyone to realise that vision and bring it to life. I’ve had the pleasure of working on a few games that turned out pretty good. I was the lead game designer on Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Splinter Cell: Conviction and Assassin’s Creed III,…

Arriving on the wrong side of Christmas, and costing more than the PS5 that you need to play games on it, Sony’s second stab at a VR headset might seem like a hard sell. But with an improved design, 4K visuals, better controllers, 3D audio and eye-tracking tech, there’s no doubt that, on paper at least, the PSVR2 represents a generational leap forward. While Meta’s all-in-one Quest headsets (see p56) can be used completely wirelessly, there’s a single 4.5m-long USB-C cable here that you need to plug into your PS5, so you can never truly forget you’ve got the headset on. But that does also mean you don’t have to worry about the battery dying halfway through a game of Pistol Whip. There’s no built-in audio either, so you’ll need…

1 Packing tape Most packable jackets have some kind of repellent coating that causes light rain to run off. But only fully waterproof options with taped seams can withstand prolonged exposure. 2 Multi-pack Every coat relies on layers. Breathable types use an outer to block some of the rain, backed up by a second membrane that lets sweaty vapour leave while keeping water out. 3 Packing heat The lightest cagoules use technical fabrics to stop windchill while reflecting body heat back in. A few have panels for targeted reinforcement, but the warmest insulate with filling. 4 Pack it in Some jackets stuff into a separate sack, while others stow away in their own pocket or hood. Packed size depends on a coat’s construction, ranging from teeny pebbles to bulky packages.…

BOWERS & WILKINS Pi7 S2 A couple of years on from the first-gen Pi7 in-ears comes a successor. We didn’t experience any dropout issues as some did with the old model, but B&W has redesigned the antenna system anyway to ensure connectivity consistency this time around. And it seems to have worked. As before they’re pretty big in the ear, but they do have dual drivers in each earpiece: a 9.2mm unit alongside a balanced-armature driver for the higher frequencies. Still, they’re really light and comfortable, as long as – and this is key – you get the fit right. Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive tech is at the core, with adaptive ANC thanks to six mics and transparency mode. Unfortunately, the ANC isn’t the best. Rivals work better – and on…

RAZER BLACKSHARK V2 Offering all you could need from a pair of gaming cans, and not anywhere near as expensive as you’d think, these Razers are the perfect choice for most people. Thanks to being wired, they’ll work with all your consoles and/or PCs. There is a wireless version, but we’d stick with what’s here for the sake of convenience. Razer uses its TriForce Titanium 50mm drivers to fantastic effect, splitting the audio into three distinct parts – lows, middles and highs. This original approach means you get great audio at all frequencies, with clarity the real priority. Playing the Dead Space remake is a chilling affair here as you hear every footstep and alarmingly horrific sound in the distance. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II also benefits from the…

• Lego Builder Disaster: your Lego pride and joy cannot fly, and now lies in pieces on the floor. Double disaster: you recycled the manuals in a fit of tidying. Luckily, Lego Builder lets you search for sets back to 2006 and download digital instructions. A handful of sets take things further, with a 3D building experience – and Build Together, which divides projects between several builders. £free / Android, iOS • Brickit Got loads of random bricks but no ideas? Brickit uses fancy tech to scan pieces and suggest builds to try. Don’t expect too much and it’s fun: brick recognition is solid, and models range from cute kiddy fare to intricate vehicles and animals. The £40/yr sub for better brick recognition (1600 vs the most popular hundred) feels…

£519 / go.stuff.tv/Mini3 ■ DJI’s Mini 3 Pro was the first sub-250g drone where camera performance didn’t feel like a huge compromise. It also flies like a dream and has a bundle of safety features. But what if it’s just a little too rich for your blood? Enter the Mini 3, which strips back a number of features but costs a lot less. ■ Folded up, you’ll fit the Mini 3 into a coat pocket, and being under 250g means you can fly it in places where heavier drones are banned. But it’s still sturdily built, as is the twin-stick remote that connects to your phone. The premium RC controller has its own touchscreen, but adds £150. ■ The astonishing 38-minute flight time is actually longer than that of the…

Galaxy S8 2017 While the S8’s screen didn’t quite stretch from edge to edge, it was the first to really minimise those borders. You could also link it to a monitor via DeX. Galaxy S2 2011 The super-thin and super-powerful S2 put Samsung on the map. We’re glad its accelerometer-controlled browser navigation never caught on, though. Galaxy S 2010 How could we ignore the OG? It looks old and chunky now but it was sleek and sexy in its day, with a 4in screen that made the iPhone’s look washed out. Galaxy S3 2012 Samsung started to flex its muscles with the S3, introducing an innovative (if gimmicky and not totally reliable) eye-tracking feature called Smart Stay.…

FIRST ADD THESE… ONE JOBY GORILLAPOD 500 Sony makes a vlogging handle for the ZV-1F, but you don’t need it – just get this vastly cheaper GorillaPod, whose flexible legs can be wrapped around fence railings or branches, or splayed in a traditional tabletop tripod fashion. The 500 is sturdy enough to hold the ZV-1F, plus these other two accessories along with it… £39 / joby.com TWO RODE VIDEOMICRO II This broadcast-quality miniature microphone plugs straight into the ZV-1F’s 3.5mm socket, giving it a real audio upgrade without adding much bulk (it’s a mere 39g). Its suspension mount prevents unwanted sound from shocks and vibrations being picked up, while foam and furry windshields take the sting out of blustery weather. £79 / rode.com THREE ULANZI VL49 The ZV-1F isn’t a…

1 Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max from £1199 / go.stuff.tv/14ProMax This is essentially the same phone as the 14 Pro, but with a bigger screen and a bigger battery. So on paper it’s Apple’s best ever… but while that justifies its promotion to top spot, we should point out that it’s only worth it for people who really need that extra screen space. Do you? Well, it does make photo, video and audio editing (and gaming) easier. Stuff says Really moves the Pro Max on… though all this quality has a price • NOW ADD THIS Belkin BoostCharge Pro This solid MagSafe charging dock lets you top up your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. £140 / belkin.com • TIPS & TRICKS • The Dynamic Island makes it easier to control…

1 Apple Watch SE (2022) from £259 / go.stuff.tv/WatchSE If you’re talking about value, the SE is the best Apple Watch hands-down. 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 8 it’s hard to tell them apart without getting right up close. If you want a stainless steel case you’ll have to splash out on a Series 8 – but first ask yourself if it’s really worth the extra. Stuff says Offers most of the Apple Watch Series 8 experience for a whole lot cash less 2 Garmin Fenix 7 from £600 / go.stuff.tv/Fenix7 If…

1 Amazon Echo (4th Gen) £90 / 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. £144 / cityplumbing.co.uk • TIPS & TRICKS • The Echo’s built-in Zigbee hub can hook up hundreds of smart home devices without a bridge. • Pair a…

1 Fujifilm X-T5 £1699 / 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 f/4 This versatile lens covers a bigger zoom range than most and adapts to pretty much any requirements. £699 / wexphotovideo.com • TIPS & TRICKS • It’s easy to set…

If you thought it took a long time to get through Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies, wait till you sit down to build this 6167-piece model of Middle-earth’s most famous Elven stronghold. It’s not clear whether the 18+ on the box is an age rating or how many hours it’ll take to construct, but when finished it measures 39cm tall, 75cm across and 50cm deep, with 15 minifigs – including Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn and Legolas – to guard its three sections. The first includes Elrond’s study, Frodo’s bedroom and The Council Ring, with its ring of chairs and the plinth where the ring is first revealed; the second is the Elven tower, complete with five grey minifig statues of famous warriors past; and the final one features a…

That mouse has got holes in it. And we always thought it was supposed to be the rodents that ate the cheese, not the other way around. However that particular branch of the food chain works, if you want to become an apex predator of PC gaming you might want to add Razer’s new Viper Mini Signature Edition to your arsenal. The game-tech masters have hollowed it out and removed any unnecessary bulk, cutting the weight down to just 49g – that makes it the lightest pointer Razer has ever made, and only about as heavy as a couple of the ones with whiskers living under your floor. And what’s the point of that? Well, if you want to make a car go faster, one of the easiest ways is…

£N/A (concept) / audi.co.uk Oh what an Activesphere, we love a party with a happy Activesphere. Indeed, but this is no party wagon. It’s a mash-up of luxury coupé and pickup, with lots of features aimed at those with a penchant for the outdoor life, including beefy 22in wheels. And at almost 5m long, it’s a beast. Is it practical, then? Well, at 2m wide and 1.6m high with a 2.97m wheelbase it’s certainly roomy – and occupants get a good view of the road with all that glass. Meanwhile, the Sportback-style rear end includes a panel that folds out to offer pickup-style versatility. It’s a real weekend warrior able to handle skis, bikes, tents and more. So, premium or pure utility? This is an Audi, so it’s reasonable to…

If you like the idea of a cross-trainer but need something much more compact, this month’s competition is for you – because up for grabs is a Max Trainer M9 from Bowflex, worth £2399. Though smaller than a standard elliptical or stepper, the M9 has all the benefits of both. The 10in JRNY console provides a personalised experience that analyses your fitness level and guides you through daily adaptive workouts. Choose from trainer-led videos and scenic global routes that auto-adjust in real time to match your speed. You can even watch your Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video accounts on the HD touchscreen, while keeping track of your workout metrics without toggling between screens. There are 20 resistance levels on the M9, while the handlebars offer four different hand positions…

Horizon Call of the Mountain This is a new entry in one of PlayStation’s biggest modern franchises, and one that was built from the ground up for VR. The opening five minutes – a Jurassic Park-style boat ride that replaces real dinosaurs with the series’ robotic equivalent – are simply breathtaking. Whether you’re scaling rock faces, pinging arrows at a vicious Walker, gasping in awe at a giant Tallneck or simply leaning in too close to in-game characters while you’re talking to them to see how they react (it’s funny, try it), Call of the Mountain is an incredibly immersive 6-8hr romp that should absolutely be the first game you play on your new hardware. Vibrate pretender The scale is incredible and the world constantly rewards you for interacting with…

AUDIO-TECHNICA ATH-WB2022 Some people might throw a little party for their 60th anniversary. Audio-Technica decided a high-end pair of wireless headphones with a whole stack of technological highlights, plus some extremely shiny and carefully applied wood, would be more appropriate. And who are we to argue? No two ways about it – AT has pushed the boat out here. Battery life of 9hrs is nothing special, admittedly – but after that it all gets a little more rarefied: 45mm full-range high-definition drivers with a DLC (diamond-like carbon) coating? Check. Multipoint Bluetooth connectivity with LDAC hi-res compatibility? Check. The world’s first headphones with a fully balanced output system featuring independent DACs, op-amps and batteries for each channel? Check, check, check. And then there’s the construction. These ’phones are crafted from an…

BOSE NCH 700 You can’t really talk about noise-cancelling headphones without bringing up Bose. It’d be like interviewing Usain Bolt and not mentioning running. Dr Amar Bose came up with the idea in 1978, when he was on a transatlantic flight and couldn’t hear the music in his headphones over the drone of the plane’s engines, and his company’s active noise-cancelling tech is still the gold standard. These over-ears have eight onboard microphones and 11 levels of hiss-free ANC, so you can find the perfect balance between blocking out the world and making sure a double-decker bus doesn’t sneak up on you when you’re lost in the music. Two of those microphones are dedicated to listening to your voice, while the others look for noises to banish, so if you…

JLAB JBUDS AIR SPORT (3RD GEN) JLab specialises in budget buds that punch above their price tag – and on paper the third-gen JBuds Air Sport seriously flex that value muscle. With an unshakeable earhook fit, custom EQ, an ambient awareness mode plus rapid charging and Tile finder tools, they offer ace performance for well under £100. A whopping 44hr battery life does most of the heavy lifting, smashing pricier rivals on endurance with 9hrs of workout time in the buds and 35 more in the case. That’s potentially more than a month’s training off a single charge – and in our tests they lived up to it. Rapid charging matched the stated specs too, although 15mins for an hour’s juice is nowt special when some buds can do that…

THE BASICS ■ Don’t think it’s Twitter Mastodon’s somewhat bumpy onboarding makes people think it’s tricky. And in use, many assume it’s identical to Twitter. Neither point is true. The service is simpler than it first appears, yet it has nuances that set it apart from the Musk mound. There’s more emphasis on discussion, so dial down the noise – and ramp up thoughtful chat. ■ Select a server Mastodon is decentralised. Choose a server when signing up (either in the app or at joinmastodon.org), from large general-interest ones to niche topic-orientated ones. Ideally, peruse admin policies first and see how feedback is dealt with, and if a server routinely blacklists people. Don’t worry, you can later move servers and retain your social graph. ■ Introduce yourself Make sure you…

Honda Miimo 3000 Live What’s the story? Top of Honda’s robotic range, this machine has a huge mowing area and is packed with clever tech. Its 3G/4G SIM card enables remote monitoring from anywhere via an app (Android or iOS), while GPS tracking lets you view its location and create a geofenced operating area to protect against theft. In a large garden, you can even use GPS to set mowing zones. Max gradient is 27% and the mowing area is a huge 4000m2 – basically an acre. This is a genuine alternative to a ride-on mower. The asking price includes a charging dock that sits at the edge of the lawn, plus perimeter wire and pegs. You can set this up yourself, or budget extra for dealer installation. If an…

1 Hammerhead Karoo 2 £359 / go.stuff.tv/Karoo2 For ages cycling computers have been held back by outdated tech… but Hammerhead’s sharp screen really is a gamechanger, and effectively running a tiny Android phone inside a custom case feels like a no-brainer. The 3.2in display is a delight, helping you spot new trails branching off from routes, all with the nostalgic feel of an early smartphone. Navigating with swipes and taps is intuitive (and works with gloves), and the software is constantly updated with helpful nips and tucks. Stuff says At last, a bike computer for the 21st century – Wahoo and Garmin appear to have missed a trick here 2 Wattbike Atom £2399 / go.stuff.tv/WBAtom This is no beginner bike, but if you’re looking to improve your cycling form at…

1 Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max £1799 / 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 Plus model reviewed on p71. 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…