Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2023 i Stuff UK

Justified: City Primeval This miniseries is a one-off return for Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, the quick-drawing US Marshal who brings an Old West approach to modern-day police work. The Kentucky setting of the original Justified series is swapped for Detroit, where Givens has been sent to track down the ‘Oklahoma Wildman’. He sounds nice. S1/Disney+, 6 Sept Welcome to Wrexham Anyone with a passing knowledge of football will be aware of how this second season’s story ends (hint: it’s almost too ‘Hollywood’ to be true). But who cares? This reality show about the transformation of non-league Wrexham AFC under new owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds is so entertaining that you’ll relish the journey. S2/Disney+, 13 Sept Love & Death Another true crime tale gets the Hollywood treatment courtesy…

● SONY XR-55A80L Some TVs try to grab your attention with slim design. Some try to catch your eye with a fancy control app or an integrated webcam. But the XR-55A80L doesn’t do any of that – it asks you to judge it on the quality of the images it delivers. And when you get an eyeful of what this Sony is capable of, the relative bulk of its cabinet and its lack of added features are easy to overlook. This is a 4K OLED with the same Cognitive Processor XR that was so impressive in last year’s Sony OLEDs. It has new XR Clear Image processing to assist with upscaling, and it’s compatible with Dolby Vision. It uses Google TV as its smart interface, and navigation can be done…

You may have heard of Philips Ambilight, but have you seen it? Really seen it? To understand this transformative TV technology, it needs to be experienced first-hand – and few who’ve witnessed it in action leave the room unimpressed. In fact, they’re often planning their next TV purchase and – spoiler alert – it’s going to be one with lights on the back. First, here’s a bit of background for the uninitiated. Introduced 20 years ago, Ambilight is an intelligent lighting system built into the top and side panels of selected Philips tellies. Its clever LED light arrays shine onto the wall behind, matching the hue and intensity of the colours on screen to provide a kaleidoscopic backdrop to whatever the viewer is watching. But this isn’t just a pretty…

■World leader append The Go 3 can be attached to a sticky pad, a clip or even a pendant that you wear around your neck. The camera itself is magnetic, so you can also fix it to lampposts, car bonnets and other similar flat surfaces. ■Everybody blurts The Action Pod has the same clip-assisted magnetic clamp, so it can be mounted on many of the same accessories. Whack it on a handle, flip up the screen to face forwards and it becomes a fine lightweight vlog camera. from £380 / go.stuff.tv/Go3 ■ The Insta360 Go 3 comes in two main parts: the camera itself and the Action Pod. The camera looks fairly familiar, with the same tiny white pill form as the Go and Go 2. It weighs just 36g…

You needn’t have mulled over thick rulebooks and perfected your D20 dice rolls to immerse yourself in Baldur’s Gate 3. Even newcomers to Dungeons & Dragons will appreciate some of the most epic and absorbing role-playing stories ever conceived. Things kick off a century after the events of the previous game, with an (almost) entirely new cast. Moulding your own character is part of the experience, or you can play as one of the fantastic pre-set ones such as sneaky vampire Astarion, Githyanki warrior Lae’zel, or half-elf cleric Shadowheart. They’re a terrifically diverse mismatch of personalities and loyalties with one commonality: they’ve all been abducted by an eldritch race of Mind Flayers and infected with a tadpole that will eventually transform them into tentacled slaves. Time for swords and spells,…

1 Philips 55OLED907 £1943/go.stuff.tv/OLED907 It’s no one’s idea of a bargain, but nevertheless the 55OLED907 will be money well spent for even mild telly addicts. For once, here’s a TV with audio quality that truly matches its image quality – and be in no doubt, the image quality available here is very impressive indeed. The Ambilight illuminations are as slick as ever too. Resign yourself to a long stint sorting out the initial setup (as is always the way with Philips) and you’ll never look back. Stuff says A great OLED television with impressive brightness and top-class audio ● NOW ADD THIS Apple TV 4K Fills the one hole in Android TV’s streaming lineup, and is a must if you’re all-in with Apple’s other tech. from £149 / apple.com ● TIPS…

1 Apple iPad Air from £669/go.stuff.tv/iPadAir This tablet has enough power to rival the flagship iPad Pro – and even quite a few current MacBooks. And though you might need to add a keyboard, a stylus and even a gamepad to make the most of it, the latest Air reinforces the growing sense that an iPad really can be a laptop replacement for doing proper work (or play). Slight storage dilemmas aside, this is a top-notch device, supported by an ecosystem that makes it highly versatile for an increasingly wide range of users. Stuff says It’s not perfect, but this latest iPad Air is a top-quality package – not least because of that M1 chip 2 Apple iPad Pro from £899/go.stuff.tv/ProM2 There’s so much you can do with this stunningly…

1 Sonos Move £399/go.stuff.tv/SonosMove The Sonos range of wireless speakers had been crying out for a battery-powered portable model for ages – and finally our favourite multiroom audio specialist caved in. Luckily, the Move was worth the wait. Its adaptability and sound quality mean it’s fine value for money, and a no-brainer for anyone who’s already a fan of the brand. This is the speaker Sonos should have launched years ago – and for even better portability, see the Roam model at No4 on this list. Stuff says Sonos finally gets up to speed with the portable speaker craze, and in style ● NOW ADD THIS YouTube Music Premium If you’d like a side of optional visuals with your audio, look no further than the ad-free tier of YouTube Music.…

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 up the X-T5’s…

HOT FIVE #1 FIXING A WHOLE Fairphone 5 There’s a famous scene in Only Fools and Horses where Trigger, a pal of Del Boy and Rodney who works as a roadsweeper, has been given a medal by the council for using the same broom for 20 years. The problem is, in that time Trigger’s ‘same’ broom has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles. Well, if Trigger had a smartphone it’d surely be a Fairphone 5. With 10 parts that can be replaced easily by the owner, including the 6.46in 90Hz OLED screen, the 4200mAh battery and both the 50MP main and 50MP ultrawide camera sensors, it’s Fairphone’s most repairable model yet – so you can keep it as good as new for as long as the octa-core Qualcomm…

It wasn’t the first flip-style foldable phone, but the original Galaxy Z Flip quickly usurped the reborn Moto Razr and made Samsung the brand to beat through three generations. Now, though, rivals have started to muscle in with convincing clamshells of their own. To maintain that lead, the Z Flip5 tackles its predecessor’s two biggest pain points. Instead of a compact external screen of limited usefulness, there’s now a giant Flex Window display that lets you do more without having to unfold the phone first; and the unwanted gap is gone, courtesy of a new hinge that means this foldable is able to close completely. Add in the latest Snapdragon CPU and some streamlined software that takes full advantage of the form factor, and suddenly those rivals are going to…

● TCL 55C645 It’s a fine line between ‘bargain’ and ‘false economy’ sometimes. So it’s nice to be able to say that the TCL 55C645 is much more the former than the latter. If you want to get a big 4K television with some smart TV functionality, extensive HDR compatibility and the ability to exploit some (but not all) of your current-gen games console’s clever features, and don’t want to pay a fortune, this could be just the ticket. In fact, it’s hard to know how you might better spend this modest amount of money. Specs like this – including an Android smart TV interface, QLED panel tech with full-array backlighting, three HDMI inputs with one at 2.1 specification, Dolby Vision and HDR10+, and the ability to deal with Dolby…

ALTERNATIVELY… Samsung QE65QN900C If it’s cutting-edge tech you want, and lots of it, then you’ve come to the right place. The QE65QN900C is absolutely brimming with it… but it’ll cost you. Of course it will. This is an 8K telly, which means it fits four times as many pixels in its 65in panel as the equivalent 4K set does, and it uses Mini LEDs to backlight its pixel-heavy LCD panel. They’re just 1/40th of the size of the more common backlighting LEDs, and the advantages of this arrangement are obvious: the dimming zones can be far more numerous, and far better targeted, which means backlighting should be more accurate. 8K content is thin on the ground to put it mildly, so to upscale 4K content to fit its colossal resolution…

Echelon Row What’s the story? Echelon makes smart indoor bikes, treadmills and even workout mirrors… and also offers one of the more affordable routes to get that connected rowing feeling. But its smart rower does require you to provide the screen and pay for a subscription (from £20/m) to access its extensive library of on-demand and live classes. The machine is simple to put together, but it’s not a light thing to assemble so may require an extra pair of hands. It can fold up, but still remains a sizeable rower even in that slightly more compact state. Is it any good? If you’ve used a Peloton or stepped into a gym class, the experience of using the Echelon Row will feel familiar. There are more on-demand workouts than live…

Believe it or not, 2023’s most long-awaited Nintendo sequel isn’t Tears of the Kingdom. First confirmed way back in 2015, Pikmin 4 is the latest entry in this strange but charming real-time strategy series that follows a bunch of diminutive space explorers who crash-land on a planet that looks an awful lot like Earth. Your task is to find the missing members of your crew – with those you rescue possessing different skills to help in your quest, whether that’s carrying stuff, flying, breaking through objects or glowing in the dark. You also get assistance from Oatchi – an adorable space pup who can be used as furry transport or to take on tasks that would normally require much larger numbers of Pikmin to achieve. He really is a very…

1 Sony WF-1000XM5 £259/go.stuff.tv/WFXM5 The WF-1000XM5 in-ears are significantly smaller than the XM4s, which were themselves a whole lot more compact than their predecessors. And yet Sony has still squeezed even larger drivers inside each earbud, along with the firm’s best active noise-cancelling yet. The feature list is as extensive as ever, and they’re priced to compete with Bose’s best. Add in decent battery life and a strong app, and you won’t find anything more well-rounded for less. Stuff says Sony’s already fantastic flagship in-ears get even better ANC, a more comfy fit and simply stellar audio 2 Beats Fit Pro £169/go.stuff.tv/FitPro These Beats are excellent on many levels. Unless you really love the earhook design of the Powerbeats Pro, they’re definitely the best workout ’phones in the Apple/Beats range…

1 Sony PlayStation 5 £400/go.stuff.tv/PS5 The PS5 is not a modest upgrade. Its hulking design means it’ll make a bad first impression on some, but spend time playing it and it’ll soon win you over – and then some. This is essentially a high-spec gaming PC for the living room: stupendously powerful, with greatly reduced loading times compared to the PS4. Most last-gen titles will run fine and the lineup of new games is strong, while developers have found increasingly clever ways to use that DualSense pad and its haptic feedback trickery. Stuff says Huge power, clever hardware and a guarantee of great games to come make the PS5 hard to resist 2 Nintendo Switch OLED £310/go.stuff.tv/SwitchOLED While it’s identical to the standard Switch in terms of raw power, the…

1 Honbike Uni4 £1599/go.stuff.tv/Uni4 This urban e-bike is designed to be as maintenance-free as possible, with no gears, integrated lights, and a hub that swaps the oily chain for a nice clean belt. The non-removable battery might make it a poor choice for flat-dwellers, and the fixed gearing limits its touring appeal, but the Uni4 is an otherwise fantastic performer. The display is slick, the app strong and the styling distinctive. It undercuts similarly stylish rivals on price yet doesn’t skimp on features. Stuff says An appealing blend of outstanding looks, minimal maintenance and a relaxed electric ride 2 Cowboy Classic from £2190/go.stuff.tv/CowboyClassic The Belgian maker’s flagship steed has 50% more torque than its predecessor, but the slinky profile and simple interface with GPS remain… and there’s also an equally…

1 Meta Quest 2 £299/go.stuff.tv/Quest2 The original Quest felt almost too good to be true. Its successor lacks the same wow factor, but you can’t argue with a better display and processor – not to mention a lighter, more comfy build – and the fantastic Beat Saber now thrown in. Are there more powerful headsets? Is motion sickness still an issue? Yes to both, but superb tracking and a total absence of wires make this the VR package to get… and you no longer have to be logged in to Facebook to use it. See also the work-orientated Pro model. Stuff says Not a complete reinvention, but our favourite VR headset is now even better in all sorts of ways 2 PlayStation VR 2 £530/go.stuff.tv/PSVR2 This is an improvement on…

1 Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) from £55/go.stuff.tv/Dot5 The latest Dot offers improved sound quality over the 4th Gen model. Not surprisingly given its size, it still doesn’t have the heft of a full-scale Echo, but this Dot is more than good enough for bedside table or kitchen listening – and light years away from the lame sound of the early models. Be sure to consider the £65 ‘with Clock’ version, which offers a better and much more useful LED display than the previous model. Stuff says The 5th Gen brings a nice upgrade to an already excellent little gadget ● NOW ADD THIS Sportlink Wall Mount This mount for the Dot (and other small speakers) will keep it clear from wet kitchen surfaces. £19/amazon.co.uk ● TIPS & TRICKS ●…

PC, PS5, XSX The Witcher was responsible for putting Polish fantasy on the map – so can The Invincible do the same for Polish sci-fi? We’re not talking on the same scale as Cyberpunk 2077; but when this game has the pedigree of 11 Bit Studios, publisher of such hard hitters as Frostpunk and This War of Mine, it’s worth sitting up to take notice. An adaptation of the 1964 novel of the same name from Polish author Stanislaw Lem, this ‘atompunk’ narrative adventure has you playing as astrobiologist Yasna, whose exploration of the mysterious planet Regis III turns into a search mission for a crew that’s gone missing. There’s a hint of Firewatch in the way you use a radio headset to keep in constant touch with an off-screen…

● SENNHEISER AMBEO PLUS Somehow, Sennheiser has taken its original Ambeo soundbar and made it smaller, more affordable…yet managed to get the word ‘Plus’ in there. It’s a leap of imagination that we don’t really understand. But that doesn’t matter much – because what’s most important to understand about the Ambeo Plus is that it is, on a pound-for-pound basis, the best Dolby Atmos soundbar around. And by ‘best’, we mean across the board. Where build and finish, specs and (most importantly) audio performance are concerned, there isn’t a price-comparable product around that can lay a glove on this Sennheiser. It may be smaller than its Max sibling, but there are still big numbers attached to the Ambeo Plus: 400W of power generated by nine blocks of Class D amplification…

HiB Platform Mirror What’s the story? If you want a smart mirror that offers some bathroom storage but not the bulk of a cabinet, this one has an illuminated glass shelf for your essentials and doesn’t scrimp on luxe minimalist looks. It has a touch-free sensor, an integrated electric toothbrush charger, a wireless phone charger and a heated pad that reduces condensation on the mirror’s surface. Is it any good? First off, the HiB Platform Mirror looks great installed, with clean lines and a hotel-esque feel. Thanks to the heated pad it stays clear even when you’ve just used the shower; illumination is nice and bright, the toothbrush charger works well… and while we weren’t sure we’d want to use a phone charger in the bathroom, we did and it…

Back in the ’90s, Mario and Sonic were the undisputed GOATs of 2D platforming… but Mickey Mouse wasn’t far behind with his Castle of Illusion and World of Illusion. To mark Disney’s 100th anniversary the series is making a return, allowing you to guide Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy through the hand-drawn world of Monoth, which gradually opens up as you acquire new abilities. While the various skills on offer animate differently for each character – Mickey glides using a propeller on his tail, Minnie descends with a mini polka-dot parasol, Goofy squeezes a huge bottle of mustard, and Donald flaps a pair of feathers – none are unique or significantly change how you traverse the world. Many classic Disney games were retrospectively unforgiving, but the action in this one…

1 Sony WH-1000XM5 £312/go.stuff.tv/WHXM5 Nobody was able to displace Sony’s WH-1000XM4 headphones from the top of this list for two years… yet the latest model manages to be even better. Key to the XM5s’ overall quality is the new carbon-fibre composite 30mm drivers: they bring even greater clarity than the previous generation, and the sound reproduction is beautifully precise. The simple fact is that these are the best noise-cancellers around by almost every measure. You really won’t regret buying them. Stuff says Sony keeps its grip on the top spot with an unrivalled combo of great sound, ANC and comfort 2 Sennheiser Momentum 4 £279/go.stuff.tv/SM4 These are headphones that sound naturalistic, engaged and entirely musical, making every recording sound like an event. And they’ll last a startling 60hrs – even…

1 Apple MacBook Air (M2) 13in from £1149 / go.stuff.tv/AirM2 With its super-powered M2 processor, the latest version of Apple’s ‘basic’ laptop leaves the M1 model – an excellent machine in its own right – in the dust. This revamp redefines the Air in a meaningful way, setting a yardstick by which Apple’s entry-level devices will be judged… including the newer 15in version, which isn’t quite such a good deal. Stuff says Shame about the price hike, but this is still the Mac to buy for most users ● NOW ADD THIS Belkin 4-Port GaN Charger 108W This brick lets you charge your Mac laptop through its 96W USB-C output… while juicing up three other devices. £80 / belkin.com ● TIPS & TRICKS ● If you can afford it, the 512GB…

1 Sky Stream from £26/m + setup/go.stuff.tv/SkyStream Functionality-wise, it’s hard to find fault with this little puck. The basic package seems a little pricey compared to a subscription to Sky’s £10/m Now Entertainment deal, which gets you access to most of the same channels via an app that’s available on all sorts of smart TVs and streaming devices. But if you want to watch movies too, and especially if you’re willing to pay to watch Premier League football and can’t have (or don’t want) a satellite dish, this is the ideal solution. Stuff says Making it more affordable and accessible than ever, this is the best way to watch Sky TV 2 Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K £60/go.stuff.tv/FireStick4K This streaming stick offers 4K plus a faster processor than the original…

1 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom £45 / Switch How do you follow a classic that not only tore up the Zelda rulebook but set a new gold standard for open-world game design? You go large – very large indeed. If you lost weeks of your life to Breath of the Wild, prepare for a big dose of the same… only this time there’s a world above for Link to conquer too. The result is a game that’s even more enormous and engrossing than its predecessor. Stuff says An astonishing open-world adventure that challenges you at every turn ● OR PLAY THIS The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild The original open-world Zelda masterpiece is still a brilliant option for newcomers to the series. £45 /…

1 Kia EV6 from £45,245/go.stuff.tv/EV6 This Korean crossover arrived with a properly head-turning design and a roomy cabin packed with tech features, including dynamic AR navigation graphics that make it virtually impossible to go the wrong way. It’ll manage up to 300 miles on a charge and can handle a heady 350kW when it’s time to plug in, so you’ll only need a 20min pitstop before you can get back out on the road. Everyday driving is a real treat, thanks to a refined ride and light steering, but it also impresses through the twisty bits. Stuff says A fantastic family-focused EV, with so many features you’ll be making excuses to go for a drive on your own 2 BMW i4 from £49,995/go.stuff.tv/i4 The i4 makes a lot of sense…

1 GoPro Hero11 Black £400/go.stuff.tv/Hero11 The Hero11 Black introduces a sensor with an almost square 8:7 aspect ratio, capturing footage that can be losslessly cropped at high quality for YouTube, Instagram, TikTok or whatever other format you want. That aside, the design is practically identical to its predecessor – so it’s still compatible with almost all existing accessories. Most importantly, its lightweight build is just as durable as past GoPros, and with HyperSmooth stabilisation you can expect footage with best-in-class smoothness. Stuff says An innovative and powerful camera that’s good for creators and adventurers alike 2 DJI Air 2S £719/go.stuff.tv/Air2S DJI’s laurels remain assuredly un-rested-upon, and this may be its best drone yet: an almost perfect balance of portability, performance and price, ideal for novices but still able to produce…

Oh, look – a proper smartphone OS. Not like the rubbish system iPhone users have. Well, arguments still rage about what impact the iPhone had on Android. We know it began as a camera OS, before pivoting to phones and being swallowed up by Google. There’s evidence to suggest early iterations were BlackBerry-flavoured… but Android fans claim it was always designed for multiple input types, and Google long had versions running on keyboard phones as well as touchscreen devices. Which might be why the first Android blower tried to give us both. The T-Mobile G1! What a masterpiece. It even had a real keyboard. It really did. Look up the term ‘hedging your bets’ in a dictionary and there’s a photo of the G1. Instead of the iPhone’s sleek, opinionated…