Sommaire pour March 2022 de Stuff UK

Hello and welcome to this smart home special issue. This time around we’re focusing on new upgrades to add to your existing setup rather than leading you through the basics; there are oodles of cool new bits for you to peruse. We’ve got the latest networking gear to speed up your connectivity, fresh smart lighting innovations, hot thermostats, kitchen gear, outdoor tech and much more besides. On that note, we’ve also reviewed the latest Facebook Portal video-calling smart displays, which offer a major improvement on their predecessors. And our first test is the seriously impressive Garmin Fenix 7, the sports watch that can track pretty much any activity you throw at it. We’ve also spent quality time with Oppo’s Find N foldable phone and some Philips bone-conducting headphones, while in…

$279 / withings.com Withings’ latest smart scales will do much more than tell you how much Pom-Bear weight you’ve put on this week ● Toned bring me down Have you ever wondered just how fat your arms are? Or suspected that your left leg isn’t really pulling its weight in the gym? Withings’ Body Scan has four weight sensors and 14 electrodes integrated into its glass base, plus four more electrodes built into a retractable handle, so when you step aboard it can give a much more rounded picture of your rounded physique. And as well as showing your vital stats on the 3.2in LCD screen, it also sends everything to the Withings app. ● Got my mind sweat on you Of course, the Body Scan will tell you how…

Er, it’s a breed of dog. But isn’t this supposed to be a gadget magazine? That’s very observant, but Labrador’s Retriever gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘man’s best friend’. This domesticated robot looks like a cross between a cupboard and a Dalek, and is designed to give people with reduced mobility a bit of help around the house. Use it to ferry shopping bags from the front door to the kitchen, safely transport a pot of scalding hot tea to the living room, or just ensure that important things like medication or the phone are only ever an Alexa voice command away. How do you stop it running over the actual dog? The Retriever uses 3D vision to find its way around, with a dual layer of…

MICROSOFT BUYS BLIZZARD Don’t worry, you haven’t accidentally picked up the Financial Times, but Microsoft’s $68.7bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard could have a serious impact on what games you’ll be able to get for your PS5 in the future. Despite the deal, though, Activision says “the next few” Call of Duty games will still be available on PlayStation. Phew. SONY TEASES PSVR2 While we still don’t know what it’ll look like, Sony has revealed the name, one game and some specs for its upcoming PS5-compatible headset. While the name ‘PlayStation VR2’ won’t win any awards for originality, we can’t wait to play Horizon Call of the Mountain (and other stuff) with its 110° field of view and 4K HDR visuals. APPLE GETS FITTED UP Need help perfecting your yoga poses,…

SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION OFFER Receive your first 6 issues for only £12 Continue to save 33%* off the shop price after your trial Have each issue delivered directly to your door – FREE Never miss an issue of the world’s greatest gadget magazine TWO EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE: ONLINE shop.kelsey.co.uk/STUP322 CALL US 01959 543747 Please quote STUP322 Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-5.30pm (calls charged at your standard network rate) Offer ends 17 April 2022 Terms and conditions: Trial offer is for UK Direct Debit customers only. You’ll pay £12.00 for your first 6 issues and then continue to pay £19.99 every 6 months, saving 33%. Savings are based on the standard cover price of £4.99. Offer ends 17 April 2022. Your subscription will start with the next available issue, and you will receive…

TRAVEL TRIMMERS The rugged razor Wahl Lifeproof Wet/Dry Shaver Wet shaves are all well and good, but soapy paws can make it tricky to keep a grasp on your grooming tool. Wahl’s waterproof number helps your hands with a sculpted rubber housing. Good for 90 minutes on a charge, its shockproof shell should survive the fall if it somehow slips from your grip. £65 / wahl.co.uk The pocket pruner Philips PQ206/18 Business beards can be tough to maintain if your trade takes you travelling. Go from five o’clock shadow to boardroom-ready with this battery-powered buzzer. Designed for dry shaves on the fly, it’s small enough to fit in any toiletry bag, yet its floating rotary heads still serve up a close shave. £17 / philips.co.uk The capped cutter Braun MobileShave…

HOW DO I CHOOSE A STAT? The range of smart thermostats can be quite overwhelming at first glance, but narrowing down your choices won’t take too long… and you can start by focusing on the five we’ve mentioned here. Of course, one of your first checks should be that a stat is going to work with your central heating, but that shouldn’t take long (and the answer will probably be yes). SUSSED STUDIO After that, make sure a stat is going to work happily with your other connected kit. You can have a smart home powered by Google Assistant, Alexa or HomeKit, for example, so your stat needs to be compatible. Plus, if there’s a specific feature you need – such as room-by-room control – make sure it’s covered in…

Linksys Velop MX4200 from £180 / linksys.com Asingle Wi-Fi router works fine for small flats and studios, but in a large or odd-shaped dwelling it can result in a whole lot of ‘not-spots’: dead zones where Wi-Fi slows to an intolerable crawl or drops out entirely. With the sheer amount of connected kit we’re adding to our homes now, having a fast and reliable hook-up throughout the place is essential, but problems caused by walls, ceilings and plain old distance can make a mockery of our smart home dreams. That’s where a mesh Wi-Fi setup comes in – and the Linksys Velop MX4200 is a fine mid-priced example. WOULDN’T IT BE THRICE This tower-shaped node, available in packs of one, two or three, supports Wi-Fi 6 for fast, secure, high-capacity…

WHAT’S THE MATTER? One of the biggest barriers to smart home adoption? It’s fragmentation. No, we’re not talking about your video doorbell falling to bits, but the fact that lots of smart home gear doesn’t play nice with lots of other smart home gear due to the fact that Amazon, Apple, Google and Samsung each have their own standards. SAVE A PAIR Enter Matter, an alliance between those four tech titans that promises to simplify the way smart devices talk to each other. Matter works across existing techs like Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Bluetooth – if you see its logo on a device, you’ll know it works with pretty much everything. Due to be available to developers by mid-2022, it should be in some products by the end of the year.…

IKEA BERGENES You could get a flashy metal stand for your kitchen-based device. Or you could come to your senses, realise it’ll get covered in muck and plump for something cheap. This bamboo holder is sturdy and can be wiped clean with a damp cloth. £1.50 / ikea.com TRYONE GOOSENECK TABLET HOLDER If you’re rocking an older device that you want level with your face while you’re chopping carrots, this stand can be yanked into submission for precision placement. It clamps to any worktop up to 75mm thick. £25 / amazon.co.uk MOFT SNAP-ON (MAGSAFE) Another good option for propping up an iPhone is this MagSafe foldable stand – which has the added benefit that you can take it with you and use it as a wallet. Moft also does self-adhesive…

LUMAFUSION If you want to edit your GH5 MkII’s videos on the go, LumaFusion on iPad and iPhone is a powerful editing suite that supports up to six audio and video tracks. £25.99 / iOS AMAZON PHOTOS Prime customers ahoy: your sub includes unlimited full-res backups on Amazon Photos. Simply sync your phone and camera’s snaps and upload. £free / Android, iOS LALALAB If you want to print photos taken on your GH5, try this. Download the app, fill a photo box with snaps, add messages, or make wall art or a book – it’s easy to use and the prices are reasonable. £free / Android, iOS…

Ever wondered what’s up with the links in Stuff? We’ve got a team of retail pros who scour the web to find you the best gadget deals – visit any stuff.tv link in this mag and you’ll be taken to the best deal for that product. If you make a purchase, we may get a small commission. It’s that simple, and has no impact on how much you pay.…

1 Google Pixel 6 Pro from £849 / stuff.tv/Pixel6Pro The Pixel 6 Pro is a true flagship device and the best Google phone yet. With smart shooting modes adding flexibility and a trio of lenses delivering delightfully detailed images under every kind of lighting, this Pixel is trading blows with the best. It has one or two weak spots, but Android 12’s slick user experience mostly makes up for them. It’s the fact that cameras are now only a part of the package, rather than being the main benefit, that will give Apple and Samsung owners serious pause for thought. Stuff says Ambitious and uncompromising, this is Google’s finest smartphone by far NOW ADD THIS Google Pixel Stand (2nd Gen) This wireless charger will juice up your Pixel at the phone’s…

1 Apple Watch Series 7 from £369 / stuff.tv/WatchS7 If you’ve got an Apple Watch Series 3 or even earlier, upgrading to this one will be like walking into a lighting shop from a dark and foggy winter evening: the display is bigger and clearer, and there are new input options too. As a wearable it can’t be beaten simply because it does so much, especially if you’re into fitness; just bear in mind that it’s probably not worth upgrading from a Series 5 or 6 – and of course, its usefulness remains totally dependent on you having an iPhone. Stuff says The mighty Apple Watch cements its place at the top of the wearable tree 2 Garmin Fenix 6 £533 / stuff.tv/Fenix6 Anyone who’s truly into their fitness will appreciate the…

1 Amazon Echo (4th Gen) £60 / stuff.tv/Echo Having morphed from a cylinder to a sphere, the latest Echo is an excellent newsreader, weather forecaster, personal assistant and intercom straight out of the box; but it’s now also a capable speaker and a very accessible smart home hub. It doesn’t sound as good as the Sonos One or Apple HomePod for listening to music, but it’s significantly smarter than both and considerably cheaper too. Stuff says An all-round upgrade that makes the Echo a smarter speaker than ever • NOW ADD THIS Honeywell T6R This Zigbee-enabled thermostat is wireless so you can place it where it’s most convenient. £178 / amazon.co.uk TIPS & TRICKS • The Echo’s built-in Zigbee hub can hook up hundreds of smart home devices without a bridge.…

1 GoPro Hero10 Black £380 / stuff.tv/H10B At a glance it’s almost impossible to tell the Hero10 Black apart from its predecessor. Each is a little box with screens front and rear, and a lens housing that juts out. Under the hood, however, GoPro has truly levelled up its latest action camera – and much of that is down to the new GP2 processor. It’s more responsive and captures better images in all lighting conditions, while ‘nice to have’ features (better livestreaming and webcam support, faster wireless and wired transfer of video) iron out some old issues. Stuff says Beefed-up internals make the Hero10 Black a nippy, powerful, polished action cam 2 DJI Air 2S £880 / stuff.tv/Air2S DJI’s laurels remain assuredly un-rested-upon, and this may be its best drone yet: an…

1 Lego Mindstorms Robot Inventor £250 / stuff.tv/Mindstorms It’s clear Lego has prioritised immediacy and fun with its latest build-your-own-bots kit, which lets you and/or your little ones create five different coding-controlled mecha-beings. Yes, the set lacks a proper screen and relies on a separate device for programming; but it offers great clarity and scope, plus an attitude that encourages tinkering… whatever your age. Stuff says A fun, versatile set for Lego electronics newcomers and old hands alike 2 Sphero RVR £264 / stuff.tv/SpheroRVR Pulling off the balance between serious coding and knockabout fun, this is an all-terrain rover with real programming chops. Just be warned that Sphero is still warning of supply chain disruptions, so you might have to wait. Stuff says Enough fun to convert any coding-phobe 3 Mario Kart Live:…

1 Fujifilm X-T4 £1399 / stuff.tv/XT4 The Fuji X-T4 might be the high-end mirrorless camera of your dreams. Relatively affordable for a flagship, it excels at stills and video thanks to in-body image stabilisation, high-speed shooting and 4K recording at up to 60fps. Rapid shooting is backed up by fancy AF tricks that feel equally fast and reliable, and even the battery life goes above and beyond the usual standards. There’s no doubting this is a worthy successor to the already fabulous X-T3. Stuff says A superbly capable mirrorless camera for shooting pretty much anything in style 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 2 Sony A7C £1599 / stuff.tv/A7C Putting full-frame…

1 Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen) from £30 / stuff.tv/Dot This fabric-covered take on Marvin the paranoid android in disguise as a Magic 8-Ball feels playful yet classical. It can’t match a full-size smart speaker for audio, but as a little radio and an Alexa assistant for the bedside table or kitchen worktop, this cutey gets the job done. It’s worth paying £10 more for the ‘with Clock’ version, which adds extra functionality beyond telling the time. Stuff says With the optional clock, this is our favourite bedside wondergadget NOW ADD THIS Sportlink Wall Mount This minimalist acrylic mount for the Dot will keep it clear from wet surfaces in the bathroom or kitchen. £13 / amazon.co.uk 2 Microsoft Xbox Wireless Headset £90 / stuff.tv/XboxHeadset These black cans are unmistakably Xbox, with…

If you’re at a party and somebody starts telling you about their Wi-Fi router, there’s a clause in the Human Rights Act 1998 that allows you to punch them in the face until they stop. But that law might need updating – because the TP-Link Archer AXE200 Omni demands an exemption. It has four motorised antennas that wiggle around in search of the best signal – and if you own a router that does something as sci-fi as that, it’s your duty to tell everyone all about it. Take your tablet upstairs for a Netflix marathon and if you hit ‘Enhance’ in TP-Link’s app the router will adjust the position of its protrusions to make sure you’re getting the best connection possible – and with tri-band support, it certainly means…

£free / iOS, Android Pinterest is no stranger to augmented reality (AR) tech, having already launched features for trying on clothes and makeup. But now the social media platform has taken the next step: trying out furniture in your home using AR. Who wouldn’t want to see what a sofa looks like in situ before forking out for it? The feature is rather awkwardly called Try On for Home Decor, but hey, you can’t have everything. It looks a lot like the Ikea Place app, but is much wider in scope: Pinterest is teaming up with a number of retailers (only in America for now) to offer it, and initially more than 80,000 items will be available in AR.…

WHICH SMART HOME ECOSYSTEM? Amazon Alexa Alexa remains the GOAT of smart assistants. The number of Alexa-powered Echo devices out there is now in the hundreds of millions, and Alexa’s prowess shows in its accurate responses. And it’s no longer audio-only: the Echo Show range of smart displays is getting better at serving as an effective touch interface, rather than just being voice-controlled with a tacked-on screen. Alexa copes fine with many requests (though localised info remains a weak spot), while we especially like the excellent support for music services like Deezer and Apple Music. Apple HomeKit Once seen as a part-time lover, Apple’s HomeKit is now a serious smart home ecosystem with hundreds of devices supporting it – and, of course, native support on Apple devices via the Home…

Ring Video Doorbell 4 £179 / ring.com The fact that Ring has made four versions of its standard wireless doorbell – plus quite a few other variations besides – tells you it knows what it’s doing when it comes to these devices. And you certainly get plenty of features for a good price with Ring No.4. Most crucial is the ability to check who’s at the door from wherever you and your smartphone happen to be in the world: that’s the whole point of investing in a smart video doorbell in the first place. This is all handled very capably, with crisp video quality (and night vision) as well as two-way audio so you can speak to your visitors. DO PASS ME BY Then there are the bonus features… and…

BUT DO I NEED THIS STUFF? Despite being the hub of many homes – where mouths are fed, homework is done and beer-pong is played (and not necessarily in that order) – the kitchen is often overlooked in the tech department… and for the most part, that’s fine. You don’t need a Bluetooth-enabled santoku knife after all. But it’s a pity to stick to the old gear when there’s so much more potential out there. CRUMBS A TIME From versatile gadgets that can replace 10 others to instant recipe suggestions, the right tech can make cooking a breeze, with faster prep times and less mess to clean up. There’s nothing wrong with beans on toast, mind, but wouldn’t it be exciting to have something worthy of a Gregg Wallace lip-smack…

n The clean genie The device itself is a compact, minimalist black box with nothing but a BT logo on the front. This has a ring around it that lights up when the box is in use – it’s unlikely to distract you from what’s on the telly. n Place oddity You’ll need BT’s Smart Hub or Smart Hub 2 to use the box (they’ll send you one if required). Keeping the two fairly close together is advised, so if you’d rather go wired than Wi-Fi there is an Ethernet cable included. £various / stuff.tv/BTPro ? With the BT TV Box Pro you can watch 4K HDR content over Wi-Fi, stream Dolby Atmos-supported shows and films, and record up to three Freeview HD shows at once while watching a fourth.…

£tba / stuff.tv/FindN DAY 01 Foldable phones remain a niche pursuit, but they’re the kind of niche pursuit everybody wants to get involved with. So we unpack Oppo’s Find N with glee; like other foldables we’ve seen (especially Samsung’s Z Fold3), it feels fresh and different to the multitude of glass rectangles out there. But there is one key difference with the Oppo: it’s more compact than its rivals, and is designed to be more pocketable. Certainly it sits in a jeans pocket comfortably. You’ve got to really prod the screen to tell that it’s anything other than pancake-flat – it’s just not an issue Compared to the Z Fold3, which has 6.2in and 7.6in displays, the Find N keeps it tidy with 5.49in (external) and 7.1in (internal) screens, both…

1 Mi Smart Band 5 £33 / stuff.tv/MiBand5 With no installable apps, Xiaomi’s dinky wearable can’t stack up to smartwatches or reply to notifications, but it can relay alerts and track everything from sleep to workouts. It’s better than the Mi Smart Band 4, thanks to a bigger and brighter screen, smarter software and a charger that’s much less annoying. The slightly reduced battery life really isn’t an issue – and with the addition of activity, stress and menstrual cycle tracking, this is a £30-ish gift that keeps giving. Stuff says Fantastic value and decent features make this an easy fitness tracker to recommend 2 Myzone MZ-Switch £140 / stuff.tv/MZSwitch Myzone’s modular heart-rate tracker can be attached to different parts of the body, while the app gamifies your activity. It’s a versatile…

1 Samsung QE65QN95A £2399 / stuff.tv/QN95A This is Samsung’s single most expensive current 4K telly (unless you buy a bigger version), but the pictures justify the outlay. The Korean giant’s implementation of the new Mini LED tech is, on this evidence, something to be reckoned with. It’s difficult to imagine how any of the new sets that are incoming in 2022 could be better. Stuff says This Mini LED television is a fearsomely accomplished set – and the one to beat NOW ADD THIS Samsung Q-Series soundbars Pairing your QLED with one of these is a stress-free way to get 3D object-based sound. from £549 / samsung.com 2 LG OLED65G1 £2199 / stuff.tv/65G1 Well over £2k is a lot of money for a television, even one as slim and well-specified as this,…

1 Apple iPad Air from £540 / stuff.tv/iPadAir The 4th-generation iPad Air ushers in big changes. It looks the spit of an 11in iPad Pro (at least from the front), and supports Apple’s snazzy Magic Keyboard and second-gen Pencil… and the A14 chip makes it blazingly fast, leaving its predecessor in the dust. Sure, there are compromises, but none are critical. So if you were considering an iPad Pro but don’t really need the extra power of that phenomenal M1 processor, it might be wise to save yourself a few quid and buy the Air instead. Stuff says Pointing to the iPad’s future rather than its past, this is a meaningful, impressive, powerful Air update 2 Apple iPad Pro from £749 / stuff.tv/iPadPro The iPad Pro’s display is wonderful and the M1…

In the olden days, after a hard day hunting woolly mammoths and trying not to get eaten by sabre-toothed tigers, our ancient ancestors would retire to their caves and start a fire. With nothing to watch on TV yet, they had to find other ways to while away the evenings – but while back then the shadows their hands cast on the wall would probably be enough, these days most of us demand something a little bit more sophisticated. Samsung’s The Freestyle still only requires the wall of your cave/house to work, but with the ability to pump out a 100in Full HD picture, a speaker that offers 360° sound, a Tizen-powered OS that includes all your favourite streaming services, plus mirroring and casting from both Android and iOS mobile…

AS WELL AS HAVING INPUTS FOR EXTERNAL SOURCES, IT CAN BE USED AS A STANDALONE MUSIC PLAYER So that’s where all the headphone ports have gone… Well spotted. While it’s pretty much impossible to find a phone with a socket for your cans on it these days, Astell&Kern’s ACRO CA1000 has four of them – but you’d have to be a headphone mega-nerd to make use of every one. Across the front you’ll find unbalanced 3.5mm and 6.35mm (quarter-inch) plus balanced 2.5mm and 4.4mm outputs, so it’ll cater for pretty much any type of wired headphones you could possibly want to plug in. And if you’re the type of person who’d consider spending £2000 on a headphone amp, chances are you’ve got a few. Ah, so that’s what it is!…

Nanoleaf Lines from £180 / nanoleaf.me Nanoleaf has been gracing rooms with customisable smart lights for the past decade, most notably with funky Wi-Fi-controlled modular panels that can be connected any which way you see fit. From stamping your own mark on a gaming setup to adding subtle mood lighting in your living room, they’re versatile and easy to install too, with some sticky 3M mounting strips and your imagination the only two things needed to create your illuminatory masterpiece. And now, enter the Nanoleaf Lines – the latest modular kit designed to light up your room with geometric precision. RASPBERRY ARRAY Unlike the shaped panels of the rest of the range, the Lines are made up of a series of RGB-powered sticks that can be arranged in any way.…

CAN MY PHONE BE MY KEY? Forever getting locked out but never forget your iPhone? One of the coolest features of iOS 15 is the sadly underused Home Key. As long as you have a compatible lock, such as Schlage’s Encode Plus (£tba, schlage.com), you can add a digital key to your Apple Wallet and use the phone’s NFC chip to let yourself in just by tapping it against the door. It’ll also work with your Apple Watch. EYE GET AROUND Worried about someone stealing your phone and then taking the contents of your house as well? You can add an extra layer of security that requires Face ID before it’ll open. And if your phone does get pinched but you don’t have that turned on, marking it as lost…

Gozney Roccbox from £399 / gozney.com At some point around 250 years ago, a wonderful, ingenious Neapolitan decided to marry cheese, tomatoes and dough together in a beautiful symphony of flavour. We don’t know their name, but we’re eternally grateful – for a quality pizza is one of the most delicious culinary creations of all. And while once the only way to enjoy authentic cheesy goodness was to go to a pizzeria with an old-school pizza oven, times have thankfully changed. To save you desperately trying to put together a giant woodfired oven in your back garden, a crop of easily manageable and portable pizza ovens have emerged in recent years… and the Roccbox is up there with the best. UNION CITY CHEW This fierce-looking machine can use either wood…

THE BASICS ■ Dedicate a device If you only own one smart device, use it when cooking. But ideally work with a spare phone or tablet in the kitchen so it doesn’t matter if it gets covered in flour. Give it a permanent spot on the counter, and ensure its stand (see panel opposite) and charger are stable so it won’t topple into your casserole. ■ Keep your kit clean Naturally, a charging port you somehow fill with jam during baking is something you’ll need to fix. But it’s also vital that you don’t transfer germs from gadgets to food. So whether or not you’re using a dedicated device, give yours a wipe with a suitable anti-bacterial cleaner before you start cooking. ■ Be hands-off Cut the risk of germ-transfer…

Alienware x15 What’s the story? Alienware has long been a big beast in the field of gaming laptops, and that’s set to continue with the x15. It’s a tweaked version of the firm’s m15, and pairs a sleeker design with superb components and top-notch display options. As usual there’s a wide selection of customisable specs, and this rig is also available in a hefty 17.3in form factor as the x17. Is it any good? The x15’s updated design is unmistakably Alienware thanks to its honeycomb vents and RGB LEDs. It’s hewn from magnesium, aluminium and plastic, and has near-flawless build quality. It’s also lighter than its predecessor. Gaming grunt comes from Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 cores and you can choose from a trio of displays: combine the…

1 Sony WH-1000XM4 £279 / stuff.tv/WHXM4 With their balance of wearability, active noise-cancelling prowess and audio performance, there hasn’t been a better package than the Sony XM3s… until now. The XM4s look and sound almost identical, but a range of new features – including Speak-to-Chat, which stops the music when you start talking – aims to lure you away from your current ’phones. If those are the XM3s (still available at a super-low price, by the way), it’s tough to justify the upgrade; but who’s going to knock Sony off its perch now? Stuff says Not surprisingly given their heritage, these are the best all-round noise-cancelling headphones you can buy 2 Bowers & Wilkins PX7 £300 / stuff.tv/PX7 B&W’s second ANC headphones place greater emphasis on comfort and are all the better…

1 Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar £2199 / stuff.tv/AmbeoSoundbar Utterly convincing Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D sound, ample power and lots of inputs mean no other soundbar currently available can perform feats with the solidity and confidence of this Sennheiser. The sheer room-filling scale of this device’s sound is remarkable, and it’s hard to think of any content that wouldn’t benefit from being Ambeo’d. That’s why, as well as being the biggest and the most expensive, it’s the best you can buy. Stuff says The Ambeo Soundbar is a big unit but the sound it makes is bigger still 2 Sonos Arc £899 / stuff.tv/SonosArc Don’t expect this soundbar to do everything a multi-speaker Dolby Atmos setup can do, but its up-firing and side-firing drivers give a real sense of scale for an immersively…

1 Half-Life: Alyx Announcing Alyx as not only a ‘midquel’ but a VR exclusive got some Half-Life diehards riled up… but in classic Valve fashion, the end result is utterly brilliant. Alyx succeeds because its universe just happens to be a perfect fit for the format. It’s also larger and much more robust than most VR games, at a meaty 12-15 hours. And though it unfolds at a different kind of cadence to past Half-Life games, it feels like a fully fledged solo campaign and a key part of the franchise narrative. Stuff says Valve’s beloved series returns… and offers one of the strongest arguments to date for VR gaming 2 Beat Saber from £23 / Oculus, Vive, PSVR Gleefully swing your twin lightsabers to chop blocks that are flung your way…