Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 184 i T3 Australia

HIUNI SMART TELESCOPE The night sky may look pretty much the same as it did 50 years ago (give or take the odd cepheid variable), but the tech that enables us to examine it has expanded. Available for pre-order now, the Hiuni Smart Telescope is a true gamechanger, offering all the fun of a traditional telescope and adding a layer of connected smarts for enhanced viewing. Not only can you control this portable telescope from your tablet or smartphone, you also have the option to share its live views with astronomers all over the world, facilitating debates about the existence of alien life forms. Our favourite feature is Sky Map, which enables you to locate a celestial landmark from an interactive diagram, then kick back as the telescope, which boasts…

NIKE BREATHE Recycled Breathe fabric with sweat-wicking Dri-FIT tech improves air-flow and reduces chafing. Nike’s soft-touch Breathe top also expels excessive body heat, making your training sessions more comfortable and odour-free. $50, nike.com/au ADIDAS 4KRFT ELEVATED SHORTS Cooling Climalite fabric wicks moisture away from clammy areas, keeping you dry and comfortable throughout your workout. The stretchy fit is also great for full-motion exercises. $60, adidas.com.au ICEBREAKER MULTISPORT ULTRALIGHT SOCKS The merino wool in these lightweight socks banishes sweat, keeping pongs and blisters at bay. A breathable top panel provides extra cooling and ventilation, which is handy during runs. $29.95, au.icebreaker.com…

SHARP OBJECTS Amy Adams stars in this dark HBO miniseries about a woman investigating murders of girls in her home town. Quietly thrilling, evoking the first season of True Detective. ALOE BUD Do you sometimes get so busy you struggle with self-care? This iOS app sends you gentle reminders throughout the day to take short breaks and drink water, all in beautiful pixel art. BATMAN #50 This milestone issue from Tom King brings us to the long-awaited Batman and Catwoman wedding. It’s rare to see a gentle side of Batman, making this one of the most tender DC stories.…

George Lucas famously said that sound was 50 per cent of the movie-watching experience. With Dolby Atmos, we think it could be a good deal more. Basically 3D for your ears, it’s the biggest thing in home cinema audio since the launch of Dolby Digital 5.1, and has opened up a totally new way for TV and films to deliver sound. A big change in Dolby Atmos is that sounds become ‘object-based’, rather than ‘channel-based’ as in Dolby 5.1. With channel-based tech, the engineers could direct sounds to specific speakers. In an object-based system, audio designers can place individual sonic elements inside a 3D soundfield, with their movement and position reflected by the speaker arrangement. This technology, says Dolby, creates an ‘illusion of an infinite number of speakers’ and it…

So it seems that Dolby Atmos is only the beginning. Dolby has a new next-gen audio format waiting in the wings, which evolves the concept of object-based audio for broadcasters. AC-4 builds on the core idea behind Atmos, but offers an even more versatile toolset. With AC-4, broadcasters can flag specific objects during the encoding phase, which an AC-4 decoder in a TV will understand. For example, dialogue, often criticised for being indistinct, can be raised without affecting any other element in the soundfield. Specific effects, such as birdsong or gunshots, can be tagged. While AC-4 can handle 126 objects, that number would never be transmitted at the same time. Most TV broadcasts are expected to consist of around 12 objects at a time, plus a conventional 5.1 sound mix.…

GOOGLE PIXEL 2 Background blur, incredible low-light performance, built-in image stabilisation and a comprehensive set of video-specific features unite to make the Google Pixel 2 stand out. It also benefits from unlimited online photo storage for its users. From $1,079, google.com APPLE iPHONE X Apple has gone all-out with the X’s photography smarts. It has dual 12MP cameras: one wide, and a telephoto to give you plenty of creative options. Portrait mode offers advanced 3D lighting options for pro-looking images with minimal fuss. From $1,579, apple.com HUAWEI P20 PRO Packing in three sensors that all capture photos in different ways, no other phone camera comes close to the finely tuned abilities of the P20 Pro. A partnership with premium camera manufacturer Leica and a fully featured…

Being lost can feel overwhelming even for the most seasoned adventurers. If you’re lost on a hike or walk you’ll need a calm head and some navigational nous to prevail. But could tech help you find your way back faster and safer? Michelle McLaren is T3’s art editor and acceptor of intense physical challenges. In the name of tech journalism we dropped her in the remote countryside with zero information and a handful of outdoor gadgets. Can tech help her find her way safely through our challenging route to back again?…

KEEP IT SLOW If you dart around the sky, veering the craft from one direction to the other, the footage you shot will look messy. The best approach is to keep things moving slowly, without sudden changes in direction. This lets the sensor capture the level of detail it’s capable of. PANNING TECHNIQUE Never pan from a static position using the drone’s yaw control (ie, don’t rotate the drone in a flat circle). Instead, slowly fly at low altitude from one side of the scene to the other, perhaps while adding a smidge of yaw rotation in the process. FIT A FILTER Although there’s been no announcement yet, you can be sure that third-party accessories supplier PolarPro will soon produce a set of neutral-density and polarising filters for the Anafi.…

COASTER COMBAT If you’ve got the stomach for thrill-seeking and think roller coasters could do with extra firepower, this one’s for you. In Coaster Combat you hurtle along roller coaster tracks while trying to shoot fast-moving targets. Totally immersive and massively fun. OCULUS ROOMS Create a shared, customisable virtual space where you can hang out with other Oculus Go-wearing pals, each represented by your avatars (well, your floating heads). Play games together or share photos and watch videos, interacting the entire time. NETFLIX VR Step into a virtual living room free of distractions. Sitting in a virtual den, you’ll fire up a giant screen in front of you and browse Netflix’s catalogue. The video itself isn’t VR – it sits in 2D on a faux TV – but it’s a…

Have you always longed for a pair of in-ear buds built to allow through the sound of the world around you, that also constantly regales you with emails, texts and your next diary appointments? No, us neither. But that’s what Sony’s undeniably intriguing and innovative Xperia Ear Duo does. You have 9,000 messages Now usually, headphones allow in ambient sound thanks to either a microphone or bad design. Here, there is an actual hole in each bud. The resulting effect is like spreading a fairly thin layer of music over the surrounding world. The funny thing about this is that if you put your fingers over the holes – or perhaps a brace of small corks – they sound pretty good. Obviously you’re not meant to do that, but it…

If you’re looking for the very best tech available today, you have definitely come to the right place. Best of the Best is the most useful gadget-buying guide you will ever encounter. To create it, we’ve ruthlessly filtered down to the biggest groups, to bring you rock-solid recommendations for your home life, daily commute and the tech you use all the time. Within each of those groups, we’ve got a dozen categories for key tech buys. We’ve picked one product for every category that we think is the best you can get on balance, taking into account price, quality and features, so it’s easy to know what you need in your life. You should also check out T3.com, where you’ll find even more categories, if you’re looking for something that…

ANDROID PHONE SAMSUNG GALAXY S9 Samsung’s super-slick smartphone is the most refined Android experience to date. An excellent camera, gorgeous Infinity Display screen and some smart exclusive features make for a truly fantastic phone. From $1,199, samsung.com/au MID-RANGE PHONE HUAWEI NOVA 2i Coming in at half the price of a flagship phone, this is truly a hidden gem. It looks great, with minimal bezels, and its cost completely belies its specs – especially its excellent dual cameras, front and rear. $499, huawei.com SMARTWATCH APPLE WATCH SERIES 3 Nothing in the smartwatch market does more than the Apple Watch, and this third generation can do it all without a tethered phone – perfect for keeping your life in order whatever you happen to be doing. From $459,…

With 2018 in full swing, we’ve seen some excellent tech launches, and they tend to range from the sublime to the ridiculous. We’ve tried to focus on the former in our gadget wishlist (page 22), but sometimes you’ve got to let the hype sweep you up and feature some futuristic robots, too. So we did. If you want to stay in the present, there’s our rundown of Dolby Atmos and what it can bring to your home. Pair an Atmos system with a 4K TV (you’ve got one of those, right?) and you’re in for a treat. It’s one of those experiences that can truly envelope you in audio, enhancing what you see on screen to an incredible degree. Nor do you need a whole load of space, as some…

1 INTUOS DRAW If you’re new to digital art, you’ll need a graphics tablet. There are a number of options, but the most affordable are pen tablets. You plug these into a computer and draw on them with a stylus, which functions effectively like a mouse. Wacom is still the big player in this category and its entry-level offering is the Intuos Draw. This compact packages comes with drawing software, plus access to online tutorials, making it ideal for novices. From $119, buywacom.com.au 2 APPLE iPAD PRO The iPad Pro 12.9-inch is the best tablet for digital art that money can buy. It offers impressive processing power and an brilliant display. Pair it with the Procreate app for professional-standard art. While the mammoth screen size provides plenty of…

There is a massive disconnect between what the media, lawmakers and regulators want from tech brands, and what punters want. In some ways, this disconnect defines many of the bad bits about the world in which we live today, from web security to fake news. The difference in attitude can be simplistically summed up like this: (some) journalists and regulators can see that lax internet security and the way mega tech brands do business is causing massive danger, potential harm and actual harm. And customers just want their damn devices to work so they can download this video clip or meme they’ve been sent. Anyway, I thought about this again recently, when the EU slapped Google with a massive $6.8 billion fine for, as far as I can make out,…

01 MARANTZ SR8012 This eleven-channel flagship AVR combines huge power (11x 205W per channel) with a fearsome feature array. It has eight 4K-ready HDMI inputs, three outs, supports Dolby Atmos (7.1.4) and DTS:X, and has reference-class DACs on all channels. $5,740, marantz.com 02 PIONEER VSX-LX503 The LX503 is a versatile, nine-channel Dolby Atmos design (9x 180W per channel), suitable for 7.2.4 speaker configurations. It features seven 4K-ready HDMI inputs and Pioneer Direct Energy amplification to deliver dynamic maximum dynamics. $1,999, pioneeraudio.com.au 03 YAMAHA RX-V685 If you want Atmos on a budget, look out for Yamaha’s RX-V685. This seven-channel (7x 90w per channel) Dolby Atmos (5.1.2) receiver has a neat party trick: it can use wireless MusicCast speakers for rear channels. It has five 4K-ready HDMI inputs…

Smartphones have evolved from tools of communication to our one-stop shop for life, and a window into the world of others. Images sit at the heart of phone use, partly because it’s so easy to capture them in this way. But smartphone cameras are no longer basic point-and-shoot compromises; some of the specs can rival the might of DSLRs. Isaac Reynolds, the product manager for Google’s Pixel 2 phone, knows more about smartphone technology, imaging and their use than almost anyone; his job centres around bringing together smartphone technology and software to take image capture to the next level. We recently caught up with Isaac and asked for a few tips and tricks for getting the most out of smartphone cameras, and added some extra tips from our own photography…

DARKR (iOS) Mobile images can look somewhat clinical, especially when they are converted to black and white. The Darkr app enables you to harness traditional black and white film effects, such as grain and contrast, to add further mood and drama to your photos. The app features a range of tools such as Stripes, which enables you to see test strips of your image that show the results of different exposure settings. Darkr also enables you to take photos as if you were using a traditional large format camera, getting you in the right mood. From $1.49, analogueapp.com CAMERA MX (Android) Packed with features that make capturing images easy, Camera MX may not be aimed at the serious photographer but, with innovative features such as the tap-and-hold live…

01 DJI OSMO MOBILE 2 Designed as a grip for your mobile phone, the OSMO Mobile 2 gimbal features fast precision motors that work to stabilise footage and take out any wobbles that might naturally occur. A small joystick, direct control buttons and an app give you all the tools you need for serious mobile filmmaking. $209, dji.com 02 OLLOCLIP FILMER’S KIT One issue with mobile filming is the lack of lens variety. Olloclip is the solution. This specially designed kit includes a Telephoto, Super-wide, Ultra-wide and Fisheye/Macro lens, outfitting you plenty of options and more control over the creative look of your movie. $329.95, olloclip.com 03 STEADICAM VOLT The Volt is Steadicam’s latest mobile gimbal, built to take smooth video footage to a level even…

DJI MAVIC AIR Folds down into a super-compact package, and captures smooth, pro-level 4K HDR footage from its gimbal-mounted camera. The Mavic Air records to on-board storage, or live streams to the DJI app. It flies itself and everything. $1,299, dji.com LIFESTRAW GO Fill it up from any cleanish natural source and its two-stage filtration means you’ll sip only healthy water through the straw. No power required, and no iodine or similar chemicals that can leave a weird taste or discolouration. $39.95, lifestraw.com HANDPRESSO AUTO CAPSULE Powered from your car’s charger port, pop in some water and a Nespresso capsule and you’ll get a lovely fresh espresso. Perfect for preparing yourself before heading out into the wilderness. $269, blackleaf.com LAND ROVER EXPLORE OUTDOOR With a big battery inside, and a…

01 HOOK THEM TOGETHER Pull your LIFX Tile set out of the box and wire it together, connecting the power cable to the unit with the green dot. Arrange the set in the same way as you’re intending to have it on your wall and plug it in. The tiles should blink in unison. Now download the LIFX app and fire it up. 02 CONNECT YOUR PHONE Open up the LIFX app and tap the plus button, followed by ‘Connect Light’ to begin the process of adding a new LIFX device. After a short period of grinding and whirring – it can take a while, depending on your specific network conditions – the app should find your new Tile setup. 03 CONFIGURE YOUR NETWORK Individual LIFX devices use Wi-Fi to…

STYLISH AND SMART FURBO DOG CAMERA $359, furbo.com Smart pet feeders aren’t the sexiest of home devices, but Furbo’s treat cam bucks the trend with its curved construction and wood-panel feed lid. It’s also got a capable 1080p camera on board, which offers crisp visuals via the smartphone app, day or night. Its USP is a treat-dispensing port, which unlike the Pawbo, shoots out kibble with such vigour that it can cover some serious distance. This didn’t work so well with cat treats – they’re smaller than dog kibble, and cats don’t seem to like objects fired at their face – but as this is marketed as a dog cam, then fair game. Within the app you have lots of options, including the ability to record a treat noise upon…

Naturally, the more a smartwatch can do, the more battery it needs. So it’s probably not surprising that while the Apple Watch’s battery life isn’t bad by smartwatch standards (about three or four days, despite Apple’s conservative estimate), if you’re usually using it as a sports watch there’s no question that you’ll need to charge up daily, which by sports watch standards is not fantastic. Fitbit claims four-plus days of battery, though as ever that’s very dependent on usage. For a running watch that’s not bad. For a smartwatch, it’s great. At seven days with general use and 14 hours in GPS mode (without music) – about four days of use if you’re working out regularly – the Garmin is superior here.…

Let’s face it, there are still far too many portable Bluetooth speakers that look like cheap plastic oblongs with gutless audio. These budget blasters might be acceptable for the garden shed, but if you like to take your music further afield you need a rugged speaker that can perform on the go, unphased by a day at the beach or an all-night campfire shindig. The travel-friendly speakers we selected for this test needed to tick a few boxes before being considered. Namely, are they built to survive in the outdoors? Are they small and light enough for carry-on luggage, a rucksack or beach bag? And, critically, does the sound do justice to our cool summer jams? Time to press play to see which one tops the chart… 01 ONE FOR…

The Razer Phone classifies itself as a gaming phone, but it’s also the perfect device for entertainment, whether that’s watching movies or listening to music, thanks to an amazing screen with technology not seen in a phone before, brilliant speakers, and a design that makes it easy to hold in landscape mode. Taking inspiration from Razer’s range of gaming laptops, the phone is crafted from matt-black aluminium, giving it the appearance of a stealth jet. The rear casing features a contrasting black Razer logo on the back giving away its identity (a limited-edition launch model will feature a venom-green logo). It still manages to be understated, though, and should appeal to gamers and non-gamers. The slab-like design isn’t as sleek or elegant as the iPhone X or Samsung Galaxy S8,…

OLED 4K TV SONY A8F SERIES Sony’s next-gen 4K HDR TV looks fantastic thanks to its OLED display and advanced image processing. Because of ingenious tech that uses the screen itself as a speaker, it also sounds superb. From $3,999, sony.com.au TOP-END 4K TV LG SIGNATURE W7 This is the most amazing-looking 4K HDR TV we’ve ever seen at just 2.57mm thick (it attaches to the wall using magnets!), and the image quality is simply fantastic too. A shape of what’s to come. $13,499 lg.com/au VALUE 4K BLU-RAY PLAYER XBOX ONE S Yes, this is primarily a games console, but it’s a damn good UHD Blu-ray player too. Why pay more for something that just plays discs when you could be getting your game on with…

FAMILY CAR VOLVO XC60 Well-appointed and exquisitely designed, this mid-size hybrid SUV has all the entertainment options you need, the poise to make those long journeys smooth and enjoyable, and is safe as houses. From $62,990, volvocars.com/au CITY ELECTRIC CAR BMW i3 The i3 is a responsive, highly practical electric runabout packed with connectivity options and enough power in its 125kw motor to hit 100km/h in just 7.3 seconds. Perfect for a daily commute. From $63,900, bmw.com.au CAR DISPLAY NAVDY An innovation that takes the concept of the car heads-up display to the next level, with translucent mapping in your eyeline and gesture control so you can answer calls or dismiss alerts with a wave. $799, navdy.com DASH CAM GARMIN DASH CAM 55 Constantly…

ULTRAPORTABLE LAPTOP HP SPECTRE 13 An incredibly thin, light and beautiful laptop, with a dense, high-end HD panel. Despite being 1cm thick, it doesn’t skimp on the power either, thanks to an Intel Core i7 processor. From $2,999, hp.com/au GAMING LAPTOP ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS GX501 This is an amazing piece of engineering. Despite being incredibly thin and light (2.2kg), it packs insanely powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics, a quad-core processor, and a 120Hz 1080p display.. $4,999, asus.com ALL-IN-ONE APPLE iMAC WITH 5K RETINA DISPLAY There’s never been a screen like this. Big enough for every task, detailed, bright, colourful, and it happens to have a Mac stuffed in the back of it as well. From $2,699, apple.com/au GAMING HEADSET STEELSERIES ARCTIS 7 Super-comfortable…

ENTRY-LEVEL DSLR CANON EOS 800D Make no mistake: the EOS 800D’s tech, trickled down from higher models in the line, is remarkable. It offers up 45-point autofocus, a touch-sensitive screen and awesome image quality. $1,199, canon.com MIRRORLESS CAMERA PANASONIC LUMIX G9 A super-fast focus makes it easy to grab the moment in beautiful detail on this camera’s 20-megapixel sensor. Add in 4K video, a viewfinder and a top-mounted LCD for settings, and you’ve got a winner. $3,499, panasonic.com ACTION CAMERA GOPRO HERO6 BLACK The most advanced action camera on the planet can shoot stunning 4K video at 60fps, with advanced stabilisation making footage super-smooth and realistic. It’s also waterproof to 10m without a case. $599.95, gopro.com RUNNING WATCH GARMIN FORERUNNER 935 The Forerunner 935…

T3’s mission is to help you find the best products for every area of your tech lifestyle. From traditional gadget buys like phones and TVs to connected home security and sports sensors, if it can make your life better, we’re here to make sure you get the right one for you. The products we feature are chosen by our expert writers, with years of experience in their key areas. We wouldn’t recommend something we wouldn’t be happy to live with ourselves – the tat is filtered out long before we print a page. This goes for reviews too – you won’t us wasting your time with products you don’t need to know about. More than that, our aim is to make sure you get the most out of the things…

Good hiking kit starts with proper boots. So no, your flyknits won’t cut it. Instead, stride into the hills wearing Salomon’s Quest 4D 3 GTX boots ($429.95, salomon.com/au), designed with fatigue-reducing tech to keep you light-footed throughout your hike. The boot is cushioned in all the right places, and there’s a rubber toe cap protecting your pinkies from any loose rocks. Heading to the hills means you’re at the mercy of the weather, so it’s sensible to pack a spare waterproof layer. At a mere 108g the inov-8 Ultrashell Waterproof Jacket ($189, inov-8.com) is practically unnoticeable in your pack, yet provides excellent protection when the heavens do inevitably open. Hydration is important not just on hot days. Sadly, water bottles add significant weight to backpacks. The slimline LifeStraw Go ($39.95,…

GaGu’s slumped, hunched, scrunched-up spine has been shouting at him, but your semi-folded gadget hero isn’t entirely sold on the Alexa-addled Giiro robot. It’s a little minion cyclops that goes on your desk, and combines with a floor mat in order to spot when you’re flopping about like a miserable teenager on a bus stop and give you specific guidance to fix your posture. GaGu hates being bossed around by electronics, especially those which look like the sort of foot-punishing plastic thing that’s scattered all over GaGu Jr’s floor, so let’s see if Giiro passes its crowdfunding goal. Something that has been funded is Beeline’s new navigation circle the Moto (approx $195). It’s an update to the existing tech, but the white-on-black screen, and the option to pick between compass…

Audio-Technica ATH-DSR5BT Audio-Technica puts a lot of gadget know-how into simple-looking headphones, and these are its most advanced in-ears yet. They use the company’s ‘Pure Digital Drive’ system, which allow the drivers that actually make the sound to be controlled directly by the digital audio signals, instead of having to go through a conversion to analogue audio first (which can spoil the sound if done badly). And with aptX HD for higher-quality streaming, they’re perfect for getting every drop of crystal-clear audio piped directly to your ears. $599, audio-technica.com.au DJI Osmo Mobile 2 Steadicam-style gimbals are definitely not something that only professional video makers should be using. Whether you’re recording a family holiday or your next vlog for your millions of viewers, the Osmo Mobile 2 will be…

01 KINGSTON BOLT DUO 64GB The Bolt DUO is a smart device designed for iPhone that enables you to store your media directly to it rather than your phone’s internal memory. The accompanying app is simple enough to use and features a basic camera app. Alternatively, you can record using your chosen imaging app and transfer the footage. $89.99, kingston.com 02 SANDISK ULTRA 256GB Not all microSD cards are the same, and although your card may have the storage it might not have the right speed. The Ultra is a mid-range card ideal for storing 4K footage in quantity. Not all phones can read cards this big, so you may need to go smaller. $199, sandisk.com 03 MANFROTTO LED LIGHT LUMIMUSE 8 LED A constant light…

Mercifully, the team made sure I was outfitted properly for my challenge. First up, the Salomon X Ultra Trek GTX hiking boots ($260, salomon.com/au) are lightweight, have a supportive high ankle and are waterproof. The Arc’Teryx Beta AR Jacket ($819.95, bogong.com.au) is equally waterproof and also windproof thanks to cutting-edge Gore-Tex Pro. Patagonia’s Stormfront Pack 30L Backpack ($399.95, patagonia.com.au) kept my gear dry and made the weight comfortable. Finally, a merino wool base layer like the Tech Top Long Sleeve Half Zip ($149.95, au.icebreaker.com) gives much needed warmth.…

GOLIGHTS Enjoy white spectrum tweaking for ceilings and walls with a variety of LED panel (From $62, golights.com.au). The changeable 60cm panel can be a striking centrepiece. NANOLEAF AURORA The triangular alternative to the Tile is also Wi-Fi driven (so doesn’t need a hub). An Aurora kit (from $299, nanoleaf.me) can drive up to 30 individual panels at once. PHILIPS HUE BLOOM Wall lighting highlights on a budget. The wide-angle Bloom ($109, meethue.com) is cheaper than a set of smart panels and the fact that it works with the Hue app is a bonus.…

CHOOSE THE ONE YOU NEED It might sound obvious, but if you want to create an automated feeding routine for your cat or dog with feedback on their eating progress, go for a smart pet feeder – that’s the Petwant. If you just want to show your pet a little extra love, treat them to some special kibble by using a treat cam – that’s the Furbo or Pawbo. The latter are much smaller and more interactive, but they’re no replacement for your pet’s normal feeding schedule. GET THE HEIGHT RIGHT Some smart pet feeders are designed to sit on the floor (case in point – the Petwant), but others benefit from being higher up on a surface. Furbo fires its treats out at an angle upwards, but unless your…

01 GOOD FORM Good technique will help avoid injury and make you a more efficient runner. Get to know the Garmin’s running dynamics – or at least start with trying to get a cadence of around 180 on any sports watch that offers it. This means 180 steps per minute, and is the average rate of elite runners. 02 PEAKING TOO SOON? The Garmin’s Training Status feature is a monitoring tool that automatically evaluates your recent exercise history and performance indicators to let you know if you’re training productively, peaking or overreaching. Listen to it! Overexerting or training when you’re weak helps no one. 03 SLEEPY TIME The world record-breaking Kenyans seriously value their shut-eye time and so should you, especially after bigger workouts. Use sleep tracking features to check…

ARENA OF VALOR This free-to-play game pits two teams of five players against each other in an a battle arena. Choose your preferred champion depending on your playing style, and battle it out to crush your enemies, smash their base and gain victory. TEKKEN The classic multiplayer beat-’em-up has been adapted for Android, giving you 1vs1 bouts in the palm of your hand. Rounds are single 90-second affairs, with simple controls and a card system that gives you special moves with just a touch.…

MULTI-ROOM SPEAKERS SONOS ONE Pound for pound, this is a hell of a lot of speaker for your money, easily filling a room, and expandable through the versatile Sonos speaker range. Built-in Alexa support clinches it for Sonos. $299, sonos.com PORTABLE BLUETOOTH SPEAKER CAMBRIDGE AUDIO YOYO M These portable speakers are made for wireless stereo sound and come as a pair (though you can use one on its own). They offer punchy audio in an impressively wide sound field, and look great, too. $599, cambridgeaudio.com WIRELESS IN-EAR HEADPHONES FLARES PRO These headphones plug into a mini-DAC you need to clip about your person, but the result is truly amazing sound for the size. It’s audiophile stuff, with beautiful stereo channel separation. $545.35, flareaudio.com WIRED…

VOICE ASSISTANT GOOGLE HOME Google’s home assistant is being woven into more and more devices, but the original Home tower is still one of the best to get. An attractive design and pleasing sound make it a modern must-have. $79, store.google.com SMART DOORBELL RING VIDEO DOORBELL 2 Part motion-detecting security camera, part ring-anywhere doorbell, the Video Doorbell 2 alerts you via your smartphone when you have a visitor – and you can two-way talk even if you’re not home. $329, ring.com LIFESTYLE WI-FI CAMERA NEST CAM This indoor cam streams sharp HD video to your phone or computer, and can alert you when it senses motion or sound, so you can tune in – with an 8x zoom and 130-degree view, you won’t miss a thing.…