Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2016 i T3

Woah! Where’s the rest of the TV? It’s slim, huh? When this beauty debuted at CES 2016, jaws dropped for several reasons, one of which was the skinny frame. This TV is part of LG’s new range of luxury goods: fridges, freezers, washing machines and, of course, tellies. Sod the fridges – gimme more on this TV, quick! You’re only saying that because you didn’t see that Samsung fridge at CES. It was positively insane! But sure, let’s get back to the G6. This is one of the most stunning slimline TVs around, thanks to the ‘picture on glass’ display that encloses the panel within a 2.57mm-thin sheet of toughened glass. All the electrics are housed in the base unit/AV box, which pivots to form the supports for wall-mounting. If…

SPRAY AS YOU GO 01 RYOBI ONE+ P620 Even if old Trumpy never gets into the White House, he could still live in a white house. The Ryobi One+ P620 paint sprayer can help him to achieve this in record time. It can coat both indoor and outdoor surfaces, in three patterns and at any angle. What’s more, it uses up every drop of paint in the cylinder, meaning there’s no waste at the end. And we all know that Donald’s on a tight budget. £87, diy.com SHOOT TO (NOT) KILL 02 PETRON STEALTH PISTOL During his presidential election campaign, the Republican leader declared, “I could shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters” (ignoring the fact that if he shot someone who was going to vote for him, he’d…

A phone call. “Hello, is that Duncan? Uber for you.” “Er, I’m in Wales. I didn’t order an Uber.” [At the other end of the line, someone arrives and talks to the driver.] Driver: “Are you Duncan?” Guy speaking with an urban accent: “Yeah, bruv, I’m Dankan.” Me: “Woah, woah, I’m Duncan. You just phoned me, remember?” Driver: “It’s OK, he’s here.” Me: “What do you mean, ‘He’s here’? I’m Duncan, and I’m HERE, you fu…” Driver: [Click]. What a good start to the evening. Computer says no When you get used to having online services at your beck and call, with Threads choosing your clothes, Zip dry-cleaning your clothes, Deliveroo bringing your meals, Pact providing the coffee for afterwards and Uber getting you just about everywhere, it feels a…

SO, ANOTHER BLUETOOTH SPEAKER? HOW BORING… Hold your horses there, fella, for this is no ordinary speaker. This one, wait for it, you can swallow. EH? Yep, you heard me. Audiopill then “starts beating at preset BPM. Techno party you can’t escape!” It’s part of a conceptual art project by Jan Poope based on a medical ultrasound device. You swallow it, so it goes down into your guts, where you can control the beats per minute (BPM) of the speaker using a magnet. It can go from a chilled 95BPM to a rather hectic 143BPM. THAT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE FUN. No, and mister Poope’s Indiegogo spiel doesn’t really sell it, either. Check this: “Audiopill (pill) will make you feel like… you are standing in a factory workshop full of metal…

Even if you live in a house where the lounge has a perfectly sized, and oriented, wall to project onto, it’s not going to deliver the absolute best home-cinema experience. A dedicated projector screen will reflect back more light, because of the material’s special coating, and therefore make images and colours brighter and much more vibrant. That doesn’t mean you have to turn your living room into a dedicated home-cinema paradise. Screens that’ll fold away at the drop of a hat, or even the press of a button, are more affordable than ever. Yep, a motorised screen, that can roll up at the beck and call of a remote control, can be yours. Now you just need to figure out where to stick the projector itself. To ceiling-mount or not,…

Naim Mu-so Qb This cube comes in black, blue, orange or red, but looks stunning however it’s dressed. It’s compatible with AirPlay, aptX Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, Tidal and internet radio, and you can stream Hi-Res files! £595, naimaudio.com Bose SoundTouch 10 The SoundTouch 10 can be used as part of a multiroom set-up, but excels as a standalone Bluetooth speaker. Retro styling means it stands out in a segment dominated by curious shapes, and the sound quality is ace. £170, bose.co.uk Creative Woof 3 This tiny Bluetooth speaker packs a real punch! As well as streaming over Bluetooth, it’s a media player on its own, thanks to a Micro SD slot, and comes in a variety of lovely metallic colours. £40, uk.creative.com…

Hi-Res music is pretty confusing. And no wonder, because it’s not a universal standard, so there isn’t a definitive format or bit rate. A good general rule is that it has a higher bit depth and frequency than CD quality – 24-bit/192kHz are the most common Hi-Res Audio figures you’ll see, compared to 16-bit/44.1kHz for CD. FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF and DSD are the most common Hi-Res Audio formats, but it’s worth noting that just by converting something into one of these formats doesn’t mean it’ll be Hi-Res; it has to have the higher bit depth and frequency. Something really cool is the new MQA format (see www.mqa.co.uk), which encodes original master recordings for streaming. The file size is only a little bigger than that of a CD. Meridian Audio,…

What brings these three machines together is that you put coffee beans in at the top and you get coffee out of the bottom. And often with as little as one button-press inbetween. Pretty cool, right? The obvious question here is: how can De’Longhi ask for £1,500 for its machine when Smarter wants so much less for the same basic idea? We’ll cover the whole gamut of differences, but let’s start with the basics. Where the De’Longhi PrimaDonna Elite and the Gaggia Anima Deluxe are really espresso-makers with smart grinders stitched onto the top, at its heart the Smarter Coffee Machine is a filter-coffee device. The difference? Espresso machines fire steam and a small amount of hot water through tightly packed coffee grounds relatively slowly, whereas drip-filter machines literally plonk…

1st Gaggia Anima Deluxe PRICE: £699 URL: gaggia.uk.com T3 RATES: It’s not stupidly big, it’s not difficult to use and, while it doesn’t offer presets for lattes and the like, the simple button-led approach means you can make almost any coffee drink dead quickly. T3 SLATES: You need to know what goes into milky drinks to have a chance of making good ones with this. It also has no smartphone smarts. T3 SAYS: Are you willing to put in a little effort? The Anima Deluxe is a bean-to-cup machine that seems like it has the real coffee fan in mind. And that’s actually rarer than you might think. 2nd Smarter Coffee Machine PRICE : £179 URL: smarter.am T3 RATES: Phone control works a treat, and it can make an awful…

01 HAVE YOUR GARAGE DOOR OPEN Belkin’s WeMo Maker is a Wi-Fi-enabled switch that can replace the on/off button of a mechanical device, such as an automatic garage door. And because it works with IFTTT (If This Then That), you can write a recipe that triggers the door mechanism when your smartphone crosses the geofence you created. £69.99, www.belkin.com 02 MAKE COFFEE WITH YOUR WATCH Scanomat’s TopBrewer is a bean-to-cup coffee machine that lurks under the work surface so that all you see of it is the spout. The interface is on your iPhone – or, if you prefer, your Apple Watch. Just select your favourite from the menu and brew. From £6,000, www.scanomat.com 03 SEND MESSAGES VIA THE TRIBY The Invoxia Triby is a magnetic radio and Bluetooth speaker…

SAMSUNG FAMILY HUB REFRIGERATOR This is the smartest thing you’ll find in the kitchen. The full HD screen gives you not just the Web but access to all of your other SmartThings devices. It’ll also show you a feed from the cameras inside, so you don’t need to open the door to see what you need. Price tbc; www.samsung.com LG HOM-BOT TURBO+ This is the first robot vacuum cleaner to use augmented reality to help it clean your floor. Thanks to its triple-eye camera, it can beam what it sees onto your smartphone, so if you think it’s missed a bit, all you need to do is touch that area of the screen. Price tbc; www.lg.com BOSCH HOME CONNECT DISHWASHER A Works With Nest product, this can find out from…

Microsoft Surface Book IT’S THE NEXT CHAPTER IN COMPUTING, BUT IS MICROSOFT’S HYBRID TOO AMBITIOUS? FROM £1,299, MICROSOFTSTORE.COM DESIGN The Surface Book’s flexible hinge (which keeps its removable display steadfast) looks like it’s from the future, but it leaves a distracting gap. Elsewhere, the gorgeous aluminium body and glass trackpad are distinctly Mac-like. FEATURES Click a button and you can detach the Surface Book’s 13.5-inch, 3,000 x 2,000-pixel touchscreen to watch movies, play games or doodle with a Surface Pen. Go large with a 512GB SSD model (£2,249) to banish storage woes. PERFORMANCE Intel’s sixth-generation processor and up to 16GB of RAM mean this hybrid can rip through tasks, and its Nvidia GTX 940M GPU can even handle modern games. Microsoft claims 12 hours of battery life, but we found…

Get involved We’d love to know about any tech you’ve bought. Tell us about it at inbox@t3.com – and please include a pic of yourself Ruark R1 Mk3 REVIEWED BY MANDY ELLIS FROM WOLVERHAMPTON £199, RUARKAUDIO.COM Why I bought it I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, baking cakes and soufflés, and wanted something to play the radio on. I previously used the TuneIn Radio app on my smartphone, but the sound on my iPhone 6 is just too tinny – not ideal when you have the blender on or kids running around. What I like about it The compact size of this DAB radio means you can put it just about anywhere and it doesn’t get in the way. With its wood finish, it’s elegant in a…

01 HMRC Boring it may be, but this official HMRC app helps you calculate your income tax and find the correct paperwork. Free; App Store, Google Play 02 METER READINGS Track up to nine meters in your home (gas, electricity, water, etc) and regulate them for less-painful bills. £0.99; App Store, Google Play 03 METATRADER 4 Use this mobile trading-platform app to track and adjust your shares on the Foreign Exchange Market. Free; App Store, Google Play 04 CLEARSCORE The mystery (and the impact) of your credit rating will never be an issue again thanks to this handy tracker. Free; App Store, Google Play 05 XPENSETRACKER Struggling to understand where all your money’s going each month? Download this and wonder no more. £3.99; App Store, Google Play 06 MORTGAGE MENTOR…

Wileyfox Storm The Storm offers dual SIMs along with a massive 5.5-inch HD screen (from LG), a decent 20MP camera (from Sony), 32GB of storage and a nippy Snapdragon chipset, and all at a great price. Frankenstein’s phone? Perhaps, but it’s no monster. £199, wileyfox.com Lenovo Zuk Z1 It’s tricky to get hold of in the UK, but Lenovo’s Zuk Z1 is certainly one for the heavy user with its highly capacious 4100mAh battery far in advance of its rivals. The rest of the guts are acceptable at best, but it doesn’t cost the earth. £290, www.lenovo.com BQ Aquaris X5 O2’s endorsement means this is the first Cyanogen OS phone to be supported by a major network. It’s low on specs – 1.4GHz Snapdragon, 2GB of RAM – but its…

TVs 01 PANASONIC TX-50CX802B www.panasonic.co.uk PRICE £1,799 TESTED T3 246 Incredible 4K imagery, matched to 4K services from Netflix and Amazon, plus the combination of Firefox OS and Freeview Play, make this masterpiece a dream to use. T3 SAYS As modern as screens get, this TV will future-proof your lounge. 02 SAMSUNG UE55JS9000 www.samsung.com PRICE £3,099 TESTED T3 243 This beautifully designed TV is capable of an amazing picture and clear sound. It needs its settings tweaked to get the best picture, though, and standard def looks horrid. T3 SAYS This 55-inch is amazing in Ultra HD, but also brilliant in regular HD. 03 PANASONIC TX-50AX802 www.panasonic.co.uk PRICE £1,299 TESTED T3 236 Great looks, as well as superb picture quality and motion handling. Upscaling isn’t as spectacular as other budget…

Why wouldn’t it be safe? Streaming services aren’t invincible. Rdio, for example, has recently shut its doors, leaving hundreds of thousands of users without their favourite playlists and without its unique features. Others are struggling – Tidal hasn’t had the uptake in subscriptions that its high-bandwidth, highend nature probably requires. Spotify won’t close, right? All indications say no, but don’t be surprised to see more of your favourite artists and labels sprinting away from the service thanks to its relatively low 0.006pper-play royalties. The company is also in a spot of legal bother for uploading tracks for which it doesn’t know the copyright holder. So is streaming doomed? Absolutely not. There are plenty of streaming services, they’re (mostly) financially stable, and the major labels and artists are (mostly) getting on…

Smartwatches 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 are loads…

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 TRANSCEND DRIVE PRO 200 uk.transcend-info.com PRICE £89.99 Transcend’s wide-angle HD dash cam includes a G-sensor to protect recordings from being overwritten if you have a prang. T3 SAYS Crisp glass-lensed footage and a discount…

Rob Carney EDITOR This month, Rob has been assembling a high-end (ish) hi-fi setup, complete with a Rotel RA-1570 amp and Bowers & Wilkins CM6 S2 speakers. Sadly, it hasn’t improved his taste in music. Nick Odantzis DEPUTY EDITOR Nick’s on a health kick, so he’s been gorging on fruit smoothies made in the rather excellent NutriBullet Pro 900. He’s also on the hunt for whoever dropped his Ruark DAB radio. Be warned! Duncan Bell LIFESTYLE EDITOR, T3.COM Duncan sometimes buys video games, but doesn’t actually play them, instead keeping them just in case he’s ever skint. Well, since Christmas he’s been playing a LOT of Grand Theft Auto. Claire Davies ASSISTANT EDITOR Claire loves all things vintage-looking, so when the Lomography Lomo’Instant camera came in she was on it…

ONE TO WATCH! GALAXY TABPRO S £TBC Samsung’s made another tablet? How exciting Someone got out of the wrong side of bed this morning! Listen, pal, we may be flooded with tablets at the mo, but this isn’t just a tablet – it’s one of those cool two-in-one PCs that will soon take over from laptops. To clarify, the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S is a fully-functional, well-specced tablet that clips onto a keyboard to become a full-on Windows PC within seconds. So this is the new iPad rival? No. iPads aren’t the productivity devices (read: a more portable type of laptop) that Samsung has made here. While both devices have a similar amount of power under the hood, plus a sharp screen, the iPad lacks ‘proper’ apps that you’d find…

That’s a funny-looking movie projector. No, silly! Movi isn’t a projector, it’s a ‘live event camera’. When used in conjunction with its dedicated iOS app, Movi can capture multiple live shots, even though it’s just one camera. Eh? How does it do that? The Movi has a 150-degree all-glass lens and a 4K sensor that work with the app to enable you to manipulate up to nine virtual HD cameras. You can live-edit footage using gestures to pan, zoom and cut between multiple live shots. The Movi also has an automated editing mode with movement tracking and people detection so that you can focus on a particular person or action during filming. Clever, eh? Can I share and stream the footage I capture? You can record, edit and share (via…

THE READER Tim Bevan Tim recently moved to the Lake District and is keen to start hiking there. He needs gear to keep him warm and dry on his adventures, plus a rugged camera to capture the scenery. THE EXPERT Damian Hall Having conquered some of the UK’s toughest trails, Damian knows the kind of tech that can make or break a hike. His book, Long Distance Walking In Britain, is out this summer. 01 ARC’TERYX ZETA LT This jacket has been created from a new Gore-Tex fabric called C-KNIT. Lightweight (335g), waterproof and compressible, it’ll keep you snug as you walk, delivering impressive wicking and breathability. The ‘trim fit’ holds the jacket close to your body, while leaving room for layers, and the circular soft knit is rustle-free. The…

01 SUPERCHARGE ROAD RIDES WITH A HUD Cyclists have never had it so good, now that Garmin has unleashed its latest gadget: a heads-up display designed to make your rides faster, safer and more connected The future of pedalling tech is here, people! The Garmin Varia Vision is a new heads-up display (HUD) that attaches to your existing cycling glasses to beam relevant data directly into your line of sight as you ride. This instant stats gratification is great from a safety standpoint, but it also works well from a performance one. Without the constant up/down head movement you get when your cycling computer is mounted on your handlebars, the Varia Vision should, in theory, make you a faster rider, as that up/down movement is one less thing sucking at…

High dynamic range (HDR) is the next big thing for televisions, and was the main tech buzzphrase floating around at this year’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. Where 4K Ultra HD TVs are all about bringing more pixels to the screen, HDR is all about making them better pixels, and arguably gives more of a boost to the visual fidelity of an image than the move from 1080p to 4K did. HDR ensures that you see greater depth in shadows and darker images, as well as far more accurate colours than before – with a greater range of shades available to compatible panels. The common example is of a ray of sunlight that would normally appear as white and washed-out – with both an HDR source and display,…

For the very best audio quality, you need wires. However, with the emergence of Hi-Res Audio, you can have a wireless set-up that gets close enough for all but the purist. Firstly, you need a fast broadband connection with minimal dropout. Get hold of a specialist router and ensure you have no Wi-Fi black spots – a decent Wi-Fi range extender or booster will eliminate those bad signal areas around the home. Then you need a Hi-Res network player, and to pair it to the best-quality speakers you can afford – this should be your biggest financial outgoing – but do ensure that they’re a good fit for your amplifier. Test the speakers out in-store, and bring your amp with you if possible. Finally, it’s no good having a stunning…

When it comes to the important business of generating top-quality sound, headphone makers tend to stick to the tried-and-trusted solution of moving-coil drivers. They do the job and there are any number of ways in which manufacturers can eke better performance out of them, but the basic technology works the same way as it did in 1925. The world of nanotechnology might provide a new direction for headphones tech, though: researchers in China have been working on a thermo-acoustic process that rapidly heats and cools down carbon nanotubes to generate sound. It can be used to build tiny speakers and earphones with no moving parts; and while there are challenges along the way, such as providing adequate venting for all the generated heat, ensuring that the technology scales to full-size…

01 SYNC YOUR LIGHTS WITH YOUR SMARTWATCH Operating all of your lights from the touchscreen of your smartphone is convenient, but doing so from your watch is even better. Screw Elgato’s Avea Bulbs into your light fittings, download the Avea WatchOS app onto your Apple Watch and set the mood from your wrist. Avea Bulbs, £39.95 each; www.elgato.com 02 SET UP A DEFCON 1 SECURITY RESPONSE With Samsung’s SmartThings Starter Kit, you get a choice of window and door alarms, which will send you a text alert or set off the optional burglar alarm when tripped. But you can also link it to your Hue lights using the IFTTT app on your phone, and make them flash red. SmartThings Starter Kit, £199.99; www.samsung.com 03 TURN YOUR HOUSE INTO A NIGHTCLUB…

£249, pmtonline.co.uk Why I bought it I’ve been making dance music on my desktop computer for years, but now I have two kids I just don’t get time to hole myself away in the spare room and set it all up. The Novation Circuit is a synthesiser workstation that enables you to make sweet music on your lap. What I like about it The sounds you can get from this thing are incredible. With a decent pair of cans, your humble creations can sound like something the Ministry of Sound might churn out. The multi-coloured display is funky, and you can record your work to play back to your mates or export to a Cubase project, for example. What I don’t like about it I’d heard that it comes with…

XCOM 2 Want to see the ugly face of war? The turn-based squad warfare of the XCOM is merciless, with its permadeath rules making every member of your team a bullet away from eternal slumber. £29.99; Mac, PC BATTLEFIELD 4 Before the inevitable announcement of entry number five, check out the full-scale warfare of a multiplayer match in DICE’s semi-realistic shooter. £19.99; PC, PS3, PS4, X360, Xbox One TOTAL WAR: ATTILA Mr the Hun had a pretty good crack at world domination – mix that with the complex real-time strategy of Creative Assembly’s Total War series and you’ve got a wartime general’s wet dream. £29.99; PC CALL OF DUTY: HEROES Call Of Duty: Heroes eschews the classic FPS format and brings its low-fantasy military universes to the world of tower…

Free; App Store, Google Play Gyms, if you have the motivation, are a great place to sculpt your body into the form you’ve always wanted, but we don’t always have the time to devote to the treadmill or free-weights corner. So it’s no surprise to see a boom in fitness apps focused around homebased workout routines, and one of the latest, Freeletics, is aiming to break away from the pack with its focus on instruction and support. The app comes in two forms – a free version that includes all the main facilities you need to track your bodyweight and fitness levels, and a premium subscription that adds a real-life personal trainer who tailors your workout plan, conducts fitness tests and offers general advice. At £24.99, £44.99 and £59.99 for…

In 1995, David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails teamed up for the Outside tour. Even though the tour confused the hell out of both camps’ fans at the time, there’s no denying the talent recorded on this double CD. The trade-off in energy between Bowie and NIN’ Trent Reznor is electrifying, with Bowie riffing on NIN tracks and Reznor bringing a grittier edge to his hero’s darker material. The NIN set is atmospheric and dirty. Piggy and Closer bring the heavy, and Bowie and Reznor trading lyrics on Bowie’s Scary Monsters is exhilarating. Bowie’s set begins with a brooding take on NIN’ Hurt, and that’s when the starman really takes flight – through upbeat stomper Look Back In Anger, and onto bold live cuts of songs like Andy Warhol and…

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR THE VERY BEST TECH AVAILABLE TODAY, YOU’VE DEFINITELY COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE. T3 Elite is the best gadget-buying guide you’ll ever encounter. To create it, we’ve ruthlessly filtered all the categories that count, to bring you rock-solid recommendations. We’ve selected a Super Six of elite gear for each of the categories listed below. If something’s not included, we don’t rate it – it’s that simple. Each Super Six is ranked in order, and the number-one product makes it into The Elite (p120), which is our pick of the 12 best products you can buy today. To make your next purchase as straightforward as possible, we’ve also included useful buying advice, and highlighted the hottest gear you can get for £100 and under. Stay up to…

Smartphones 01 SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 EDGE/EDGE+ www.samsung.com PRICE FROM £760 TESTED T3 243 As well as that gorgeous ‘infinity pool’ build, you get a top camera and a pin-sharp QHD display. The Edge+ is a 5.7-inch beauty. T3 SAYS We love the glass-and-metal body, stunning screen and fantastic camera. 02 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 ever made – it’ll make you consider giving up your Android. 03 HUAWEI GOOGLE NEXUS 6P consumer.huawei.com PRICE £449 TESTED T3 251 Huawei’s super-sized phone offers an incredible package – a 5.7-inch AMOLED screen, a brilliant camera and Android 6.0 Marshmallow – all for…

Plenoptic? What? Alright, that’s the technical term, but you’ll probably know plenoptic cameras by the slightly more consumer-friendly term ‘light-field’, as exemplified by the rather unique Lytro. Take a plenoptic pic and you’ll be able to shift the focus and even look around in three dimensions (to a certain extent) after the fact. How is that possible? A plenoptic sensor, or at least that of the Lytro, differs from a traditional CCD in that it collects information about both the intensity of light reaching the camera and its direction. Plenoptic images are measured not in megapixels but in megarays; ten megarays are roughly equivalent to 1.2 megapixels on a 2D plane. Is it just a gimmick? Well, it is a gimmick. But just? Don’t be so sure. The nature of…

Home audio 01 HEOS BY DENON www.denon.co.uk PRICE From £199 TESTED T3 245 With its unique design, great audio performance and affordable price tag, HEOS by Denon is the system of choice for multi-room audio in the home. T3 SAYS Upgrade your home audio experience with great sound in any room. 02 ACOUSTIC RESEARCH M2 www.acoustic-research.com PRICE £900 TESTED T3 246 A portable high-res player that boasts incredible sound, support for all file formats, and stylish looks. The Androidpowered five-inch screen is a bonus. T3 SAYS Want to get the best from your music on the move? This is the way to do it. 03 YAMAHA YSP-5600 uk.yamaha.com PRICE £1,600 TESTED T3 251 The world’s first Atmos-enabled soundbar, giving you cinema-authentic sound in your front room. It’s also MusicCast-, AirPlay-…

What’s the big problem? The growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) is an inevitable future, but it’s not the most pleasant prospect for your router as-is. Your fridge, toaster, shower and the like hammering your Wi-Fi frequencies means traditional tech will struggle to keep up, and the stuff that needs bandwidth can’t properly be catered for. It’s happening: we’ve had problems with thermostats and baby monitors already. Is this all my fault? Technically, a good ISP should make this issue go away, but routers are burdened with certain limitations that mean even the best traffic shaping won’t help. Limited spatial streams is the most crippling: your Wi-Fi router can only handle so many incoming and outgoing signals at once, and too many devices vying for attention means speeds suffer.…

THEY MAKE CARS, TOO… While the 911 Soundbar is one of the oddest car-company creations, Porsche isn’t the first to move away from its natural habit. Take Peugeot, for example, which has been making racing bicycles for years, and still produces rather splendid pepper grinders. Lamborghini has a line of bling-tastic smartphones (left) for rich T3 readers, and Mercedes-Benz has dabbled in what can only be described as ‘unique’ auto-inspired furniture. LOUD AND PROUD Like the car that shares the same exhaust system, the 911 Soundbar is capable of some weighty audio. Its 200 watts of output is aided by the bass-enhancing chamber of the exhaust backbox perched on top WIDE BOY While you probably won’t be able to fit your telly on it, this is a top-performing soundbar with…

SAVE 54% on a new T3 subscription p66 What do you like to watch? Football? Formula 1? The latest Blu-rays or streaming movies? Or maybe you’re more of an audio junkie? Whatever media entertains you, make sure you’re watching or listening to it in the right way. And by that I mean you need the right tools for the job. And by that I mean the best TVs, AV receivers, multi-room audio systems, speakers and more. Give your senses the thrill they deserve and check out our main feature, beginning on p46, that’s dedicated to the very best entertainment technology. Elsewhere, T3 production editor Paul Dimery has donned his chef’s hat and armed himself with a suite of kitchen tech. Will his high-tech dinner party be a success? Find out…

It looks like an oil diffuser. Is it? Not even close. This curiously shaped device is a geo-driven thermostat for your home. Dubbed a ‘life-responsive thermostat’ for use with all heating systems, the Ween aims to save you big bucks on your energy bills by accurately sensing whether you’re in the house or out. So basically, what you’re saying is, it’s just another smart thermostat? There’s a little more to it than that. The Ween delivers energy savings in real time by constantly updating and displaying your heating usage via its app. To make savings, the Ween takes into account your absences – even unplanned ones like an impromptu holiday (a similar feature can be found with the Nest Learning Thermostat’s Auto-Away). How does it do that? Using an algorithm…

NEXT MONTH TECHY GYM WEAR ON SALE TUES 15 MARCH 01 SMART SNEAKERS The nine-axis sensors embedded in each sole pick up the movements of the shoe in real time. This data can then be used to wirelessly control various external devices, enabling the shoes to function as a musical instrument, video-game controller and so on 02 CUSTOMISABLE LEDS The Orphe shoes feature 100 full-colour LEDs in the soles, with the shoes’ sensors detecting foot movement and changing colours accordingly 03 BLUETOOTHCONTROLLED The lights can also be controlled via a smartphone or tablet app called Scene (connecting via Bluetooth), so you, or others, can change the appearance of your soles as you please. Orphe shoes are available to pre-order now for $330 (£250) at en.orphe.shoes…

Asics has long made fine running shoes, but the look of them has been what the unkind might call ‘psychedelic vomit’. Now it’s addressing that with the FuseX line. Aimed at a younger market, they’re a lot more cool looking, but retain Asics’ technical acumen. Scalextric Track Day featuring Arc Air (£199, scalextric.com) brings the big kids’ favourite up to date with vibrating Bluetooth controllers and configuration of cars and track via iOS or Android apps. Guru still can’t get round the courses without his car flying off, mind. Gillette has a new razor out! Building on the success of its super-pivoty Flexball, the Fusion ProShield adds more lubrication, with super-fine blades slicing away Guru’s hairs in even fewer attempts for less irritation (from £6, gillette.co.uk). The “Fitbit for your…

Sony VPL-VW300ES For the pinnacle of home-cinema set-ups, plain ol’ HD projectors just aren’t enough. This high-end Sony beamer is actually the most affordable (yep!) Ultra HD 4K projector out there. If you want the cinema effect in the comfort of your own home, you’d be hard-pushed to get anything as sharp as the VPL-VW300ES, whether you’re playing native Ultra HD content or upscaling from 1080p. £5,849, sony.co.uk Epson EH-LS10000 The EH-LS10000 is Epson’s top-of-the-line projector and, while it’s around the same price as Sony’s 4K beamer, it only delivers Full HD. That said, it offers a little more than the standard 1080p projectors we’ve seen, accepting Ultra HD content and producing 4K-like images, thanks to its longlasting laser-light engine. £5,999, epson.co.uk BenQ W1350 3D movies arguably make more sense…

When you upgrade a Dolby 5.1 set-up to a 7.1 system by adding a pair of ‘back’ speakers, you’re rewarded with a more cohesive surround sound. But add another two (or four) ‘height’ speakers and you’ll be listening to the 3D soundscape of Dolby Atmos. With the extra channels placed in the ceiling, or bounced from upwardfiring speakers, Atmos can simulate spookily realistic overhead effects. In fact, it can place 128 independent audio objects around the room in a 5.1.2 or 7.1.4 configuration (where the 2 and the 4 represent your new height speakers). You’ll find Dolby Atmos soundtracks cropping up on Blu-ray releases like Sherlock and Gravity, and streaming services like Netflix with increasing frequency, while AV manufacturers are all keen to get the Atmos badge onto hardware. As…

Multi-room audio is a revelation, enabling you to stream your sounds to any room in the home wirelessly, but you might find that your Wi-Fi network is ineffective in parts of your abode. The result: your multi-room speakers will struggle to connect, or streaming will be choppy as hell. The solution is, as it’s always been, to extend the range of your wireless network. The easiest way to do this is to buy a wireless repeater that piggybacks onto your network, essentially mirroring its signal to the area you place it. It’s a cheap fix but you’ll get some loss of network speed. Alternatively, T3’s preferred method is to upgrade your system with Powerline. Using your home’s electrics, you can ferry your internet connection from one part of the home…

If you’re hung up on the idea of operating your coffee machine from the other side of the house then, really, the Smarter is the one for you. That’s because the De’Longhi app doesn’t work 100 per cent perfectly, and the Gaggia doesn’t even have an app. That doesn’t suddenly mean the Smarter is the best machine to use, though. Far from it. For a start, you have to clean it out every time you make a coffee, washing the filter. The others clean themselves out, and excrete little coffee pucks that end up in an internal bin; you need only empty this every now and then. Then there’s the coffee itself. The Smarter’s coffee is awful if you try to make only one cup. And we mean really bad.…

ELGATO EVE Elgato was one of the first brands to affiliate itself with HomeKit, and its products and software are always Apple-esque. The Eve kit keeps tabs on the weather, analyses your energy consumption to help you save money, and monitors the air quality in your home – and the data can be viewed on the slick and intuitive accompanying app. Free; iOS NETATMO WELCOME The French IoT specialist has made some particularly smart devices, including cameras, weather stations and a thermostat – but the companion apps are even better. The app accompanying the Welcome camera makes it easy to see a timeline of events without the need for a subscription, and there’s a nifty app for the Apple Watch, too. Free; Android/iOS PHILIPS HUE As the pioneer of smart…

1 MAGIMIX LE BLENDER Whether you want to make smoothies, sauces, baby food or cocktails, Magimix’s retro-styled blender has you covered. It’s powerful at 1,200 watts, yet quiet as a library – and its four presets make using it a piece of cake (or should that be a curried courgette soup?). £130, magimix.uk.com 2 TEFAL CUISINE COMPANION With automated settings for Sauce, Soup, Slow Cook, Steam, Pastry and Dessert, and five attachments for managing different tasks, Tefal’s spaceage gadget is the sous chef you’ve always wanted. An included cookbook makes it easy to pick your dinner menu. £699.95, tefal.co.uk 3 CODLO Simple but effective, this sous-vide system uses a pipe to regulate the temperature of your water, which is fed back to the stylish interface for easy monitoring. Meat, fish,…

PANASONIC TX-65CX802 A superb 4K UHD flatscreen that boasts excellent picture performance with both HD and 4K content, as well as the elegant Firefox smart TV OS. It only has three HDMI inputs, but all support HDCP 2.2. £2,599, panasonic.co.uk SAMSUNG JU8500 This premium SUHD curved screen delivers a terrific image with excellent motion handling. It also benefits from Samsung’s sophisticated Tizen smart TV platform, with voice and motion control. £2,999, samsung.co.uk SONY KD -65X9305C The best screen from Sony’s 2015 range. The front-facing stereo speakers sound superb, and image quality is outstanding. It runs on Android TV and also comes with YouView. £2,599, sony.co.uk…

ON TEST THIS MONTH THE GADGETS WE’RE LIVING AND BREATHING SIMON MIDDLEWEEK ORBITSOUND A70 As a massive movie fan, I want something that’ll enhance the sound on my Panasonic 3D TV. Will Orbitsound’s flagship soundbar provide the answers? ROB CARNEY OPTISHOT 2 It’s time for another round with this clever golf simulator. This month, I give my verdict on the graphics and club calibration, and see if it can improve my game. PAUL DIMERY BLACKBERRY PRIV In my second month with BlackBerry’s smartphone curveball, I get stuck into its media-playing capabilities, as well as trying out the camera and video.…

Free; App Store, Google Play With time an ever-diminishing commodity, streamlining time spent at your screen seems more important than ever. That’s the ethos behind Quadro, a ‘smart controller’ that enables you to create shortcuts, flip between tasks quickly and efficiently, and generally speed up your working process. Using your tablet of choice, Quadro doesn’t aim to replace your keyboard but offers a secondary screen with a customisable interface that links to all your files and devices. It connects to your PC or Mac via Wi-Fi, and offers plenty of tools to suit your needs. There’s a modular spin, with the option to tether multiple devices, turning your tablet into a Matrix-style super hub. The ability to create bespoke shortcuts to programs, Web apps and documents will suit home businesses…

01 BEN ABRAHAM: SIRENS Gorgeous, melodic, a bit Mumford & Sons and a bit Andy Burrows, Ben Abraham’s debut long-player is as close to perfection as you could hope for. Haunting opener Sirens unfurls an album packed with majesty, love and honesty, especially songs To Love Someone, She, Collide and This Is On Me. A soul-stirrer of a debut. 02 KANYE WEST: WAVES The king of modesty is back with a three-act album that doffs its cap to Otis Redding, Mobb Deep and Larry Graham. Featuring collaborations with Kendrick Lamar (No More Parties In L.A.) and Ty Dolla $ign (Real Friends), the avantgarde Waves packs some defined hip-hop muscle, with n-bombs and Kanye-style preaching aplenty. 03 ANTHRAX: FOR ALL KINGS Politics also makes its way into the 11th studio LP…

Super-flexible screens LG was showing off this dreamcome-true screen. While it’s slightly too small for your living room at just 18 inches, this panel – almost certainly a by-product of curved TV innovation – could mean some very adventurous screen designs are on the horizon. Modular displays Samsung has a solution for the annoying black bars that crop up when you’re watching superwidescreen films: a panel made of smaller panels that can reform itself into different aspect ratios. This 170-inch example isn’t feasible for the home just yet, though. Transparency Both Samsung and Panasonic demonstrated cool transparent OLED displays, but it was the latter that had the most interesting showing. Built into a bookshelf, the screen flicked from fully clear to showing wildlife footage at the press of a button,…

Laptops 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 APPLE MACBOOK PRO 13-INCH WITH RETINA DISPLAY www.apple.com/uk PRICE £749 TESTED T3 227 Apple’s lightweight laptop boasts improved performance and battery life. It’ll delight road warriors and coffee-shop loungers alike. T3 SAYS Reliable, powerful and practical. 03 ASUS ZENBOOK UX305 www.asus.com PRICE £650 TESTED N/A Thin, light and attractive, with excellent build quality, the Zenbook UX305 offers a great balance of components, a perfect 1080p screen and an alluring price tag. T3 SAYS One of…

Timex IRONMAN Target Trainer The external heart-rate sensor might not be very pretty, but you won’t be wearing it day in, day out – and besides, the IRONMAN’s tap-screen technology means it won’t be a distraction as you run. £139.99, timex.co.uk Mio Alpha 2 Working out is one thing, but it’s important not to go mad. The Mio Alpha 2 includes a configurable LED bezel that’ll tell you at a glance if you’re within your predefined heart-rate sweet spot. It’ll save your activity to your phone, too. £149.95, mioglobal.com Polar A360 No doubt about it, this is a proper fitness tracker – Polar’s Smart Coaching system is a definite indicator. But even if you only want to keep tabs on your heartbeat, its wrist-based sensor and luxurious colour display are…

Connected home 01 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 drone for you. The Solo is fast, capable and future-proof. T3 SAYS It’s expensive, but perfect if you’re serious about aerial photography. 02 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 heating habits. T3 SAYS Nest’s thermostat is a great first step to creating a smarter home. 03 MAGIMIX LE BLENDER www.magimix.uk.com PRICE £159 TESTED T3 252 This is a glorious-looking blender, capable of blending even the hardiest of ingredients. It can rustle up soups, smoothies and more. T3 SAYS Kitchen connoisseurs need…