Table of contents for November 2025 in T3

HARMAN KARDON SOUNDSTICKS 5 Great audio is a delight for your ears, but shouldn’t it be easy on the eyes too? That’s the kind of experience offered up by the Harman Kardon SoundSticks 5. Originally conceived by legendary Apple designer Jony Ive, SoundSticks are an instantly recognisable sight wherever they appear. They’ve just been updated to their fifth iteration, and that brings improved audio with new tweeters in each satellite speaker, which Harman Kardon says creates an ‘enhanced’ three-way acoustic design. There’s also a new ambient lighting system that can adopt any static colour or one of five nature-themed presets, from Ocean to Sunrise, for a visual light show that sets the scene for your music. The way you use the device has also been modernised, with touch-sensitive controls installed…

1 META RAY-BAN DISPLAY • From $799 (around £600), meta.com Meta’s collaboration with Ray-Ban, which thus far has stuck to audio-only smart specs, has now crested the inevitable wave: we have a screen. Unlike what remains the most famously dorky entry in the smart glasses canon, Google Glass, Meta’s engineers have made its integrated display reasonably discreet by integrating it into the right lens, though we still think you’ll be able to see these chunky frames coming a mile off. While connectivity issues famously derailed Mark Zuckerberg’s initial demo at the MetaConnect 2025 keynote, they didn’t hurt ours. The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses are highly impressive in practice. The display is crisp, clear and colourful, disappearing after 25 seconds so as not to provide a constant distraction from the real…

Nike’s new Adjustable Weight Bench (£490, uk.nikestrength.com) brings serious flexibility to your home gym with 28 different back and seat angle options. The rear pad adjusts from 0° to about 85°, while the seat moves between 0° and 30°, allowing you to shift smoothly from a flat bench to an incline or seated press. Built with 11-gauge steel and foam padding in synthetic leather, it balances durability and comfort. Though it weighs around 46kg, a knurled handle and TPU wheels help make repositioning easier.…

GRAHAM BELL, HEREFORD Q What’s all the excitement about lossless music? A The contemporary excitement is down to Spotify’s long-overdue concession to providing its customers with high resolution audio. In this case, it’s better-than-CD 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC across almost its entire library. Very nice, though Guru does suspect that more artist-friendly rivals such as Qobuz might start to pick up speed as Spotify’s reputation takes a long-overdue dip in the mud. GaGu does suppose that your question might have been more about lossless music in general, rather than why it’s in the news, so let’s tackle that. You probably already know that many popular formats are compressed to save space and bandwidth. A CD holds just over 700MB of data; turning that into MP3 files isn’t simply a case of applying…

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Watching video in vertical format on your phone – reels, stories and TikToks – is nothing new. What is new is the popularity of ‘vertical dramas’. A vertical drama is different because it’s in many episodes (40, 60 or more), and each episode is short, typically just a minute or two. The drama is all over in about the length of a traditional cinema film. Cliffhanger-filled narratives and exaggerated plots are optimised for fragmented viewing habits. Clickbait titles suggest some steamy activity – How to Tame a Silver Fox, or Escape With Boss’s Baby for example. The producers use similar engagement metrics to those avidly studied by successful YouTubers to discover what keeps viewers watching. Micro-drama apps such as DramaBox and Reelshort, many operated by the dramas’ producers, provide convenient…

There’s no denying it – winter is just around the corner, so it’s time to hunker down and crank up the heating. Or alternatively, embrace the colder weather and make the most of the world’s winter wonderlands. If you’ve got cash to splash, it’s hard to beat our first suggestion – an aurora-spotting flight over the Yukon wilderness. The experience is offered by Northern Lights Resort and Spa as part of a £5,780 seven-night package which includes international flights to Canada, an aurora-spotting flight in a private plane and a stay in one of the resort’s igloos or chalets. But don’t hang around – it’s only available between 12 to 17 February 2026, when the current solar cycle reaches its peak of activity. Fancy some aurora-spotting closer to home? Consider…

I love old technology. I’ve got shelves and crates full of vintage I film cameras, a record collection that would dwarf that of some small shops, and a love of old mechanical watches which borders on the obsessive. Maybe it’s a way to escape the ever-more-dystopian state of affairs around us. Maybe I’m just a hipster. But there’s a lot to love in those old bits of kit – the kind of build quality and longevity that feels alien in the modern age, and a keep-it-simple approach to problem solving. It’s a far cry from the modern world of technology, which can sometimes feel like a race to do things for the sake of doing them. It’s something I’ve felt with the recent spate of slim phones, like the iPhone…

When you’re talking about a PC gaming device like the 45GX950A, there’s no point delaying the blow – its price isn’t something to be overlooked. This ultrawide display retails at a penny off £1,900, which makes it very much the luxury option for both gaming and productivity. That said, it’s a pretty good screen. LG’s curved monitors have stood out from much of the competition for quite some time, because they’re not as thin as many of the others (Samsung’s Odyssey 32:9 ultrawides, for instance). LG uses the 21:9 aspect ratio to get a whole heap of height into the bargain, and it’s a choice you’ll be persuaded by. It doesn’t take as long as you’d think to adjust to having a huge 45-inch curved OLED a couple of feet…

Sony doesn’t refresh every model every year, instead deliberately rolling some TVs across a couple of years. The company’s former flagship OLED model – the A95L – was announced in 2023, but wasn’t replaced until the Bravia 8 II launched in 2025. As such, this TV isn’t a replacement for the Bravia 8 or the Mini-LED Bravia 9, and the A95L is still around too in 77in form. It can be a bit confusing. What’s easier to understand is that Sony uses the same panel in the Bravia 8 II as the excellent Samsung S95F, meaning boosted brightness and impressive colours wrapped in Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology. It can rival the best OLED TVs out there. It’s not all good however. Only two of its four HDMI ports hit…

A Christmas gift guide, in October? Pressie-buying’s a job for Christmas eve, surely. It’s why they invented next-day delivery. But there are a multitude of benefits to riding the Chrimbo train early – it’s less stressful, and if your kids are anything like mine, they’ve had a list of potential presents drawn up since January. If you’re a price-conscious tech buyer, then there’s another bonus to buying gifts early: Black Friday. At this time of year you’ll find many of the presents you’d be buying anyway, but cheaper and delivered to your house so you have plenty of time to wrap them. Our Christmas gift guide normally goes out in the late November issue, but this time it’s a month early, showcasing the year’s best tech gifts (p29) – whether…

POWER WALKERS HOKA MAFATE X HIKE The Mafate X Hike blends super-shoe tech with rugged boot traits, featuring dualdensity foam, a carbon-fibre plate, and a Vibram Megagrip outsole. With a neoprene collar for ankle support and built-in RECCO rescue reflectors, it’s built for long adventures. £220, www.hoka.com VIVOBAREFOOT MOTUS STUDIO MID LEATHER This barefoot-style midcut trainer has a Wild Hide leather upper that’s naturally water-resistant. It has a waved-profile sole offering flexibility from yoga to dance. The lightweight build includes a leather footbed, and means it can deliver minimal-drop, natural movement. £160, www.vivobarefoot.com DANNER N45 MID GTX The Danner N45 Mid GTX is a waterproof mid-height hiking boot with a rugged vibe. It features a Gore-Tex Invisible Fit lining, lightweight nylon/polyester upper, energy-returning EnduroFoam midsole, Megagrip Vibram outsole, and a…

THE DINNER REVOLUTION SAGE ORACLE DUAL BOILER Dubbed its most powerful coffee machine yet, the Sage Oracle Dual Boiler has auto and manual modes for customised brews. It comes with 15 preset programmes and a stunning touchscreen to go with its stunning drinks. £2,499.95, sageappliances.com GOZNEY DOME (GEN 2) Building on the success of its original Dome pizza oven, the Gen 2 is bigger and better. It’s larger inside to cook up to 18-inch pizzas, and it can make food using wood fire, charcoal or gas, for more control over the flame £1,999.99, gozney.com KENWOOD COOKING CHEF Kenwood’s most advanced stand mixer yet has a touchscreen with 60 preloaded recipes. It has a builtin scale so you can measure ingredients into the bowl – and it looks the part, too.…

The latest video doorbell to catch our attention is the Aqara Smart Doorbell Camera G410. While it’s not from one of the biggest names in smart home tech, it still has plenty going for it. For a start, it can double as a smart home hub – it works with Zigbee, Thread, Matter, and just about every smart home standard going (and that includes Apple HomeKit). It’s a doorbell that you can slot into just about any current smart home setup you’ve got. You get a chime included in the package, which handles all the hub connectivity, and is powered via USB (you get a cable in the box, but no plug). The doorbell and chime will actually pair instantly and work right away, though note that Aqara recommends you…

If you’re looking for the very best tech available today, you’ve definitely come to the right place. Best of the Best is the most useful gadgetbuying guide you will ever encounter. To create it, we’ve extensively tested the best tech the world has to offer, to bring you rock-solid recommendations for your home life, daily commute and the tech you use all the time. In 42 different categories, we’ve chosen the top four products, so you can choose one that’s just the right mix of features and budget for what you need. These rankings come from real testing by our team of experts – they’re the products we’d choose for ourselves, and we can’t recommend any more highly than that. Look for the links above each category that take you…