Innehållsförteckning för December 2020 från Stuff UK

Whisper it quietly, but launching two new games consoles as the country toys with going back into lockdown could be considered – in a twisted sense – perfect timing. After years of rumours, and our Hot Stuff Editor’s insufferable reminders that he’d bagsied review samples, we’re getting four at once – and each offering something different depending on your budget, broadband speed and penchant for physical media. So which one to buy? A full-fat PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X? A Digital Edition PlayStation relying solely on streaming and downloads, or the compromise of curtailed power with the compact and affordable Xbox Series S? Head to p34, where our expert guide will help you decide. Don’t despair if you’re not a gamer, because this issue is about much more than…

Which particular sense are we talking about here – common? In a way, yes. You know that stage in life when your parents are getting on a bit and you start feeling like the grown-up, not the other way around? Ugh, the responsibility. Well, MySense is a wellbeing analytics platform that lets you keep an eye on someone’s health from anywhere in the world – like Thailand, Ibiza or Pontins, for example. Sounds well nosy… tell me more. Using a combination of passive sensors placed around the home and interactive wearable sensors placed on a person, MySense measures data points across five themes of wellbeing (hydration, anxiety, independence, nutrition and mobility), while an app dashboard displays an individual’s ‘normal’ behaviour then highlights and notifies families or first responders to any…

£450 / xbox.com Take a look at this hulking block of a games console. Microsoft has abandoned the flatter footprint of past Xbox machines in favour of something more akin to a minimal PC tower, standing about 30cm tall and 15cm wide, and weighing in at 4.5kg. The PS5 is taller, but also curvier; the Xbox Series X looks like a dense brick. But there’s no doubt Microsoft has packed every inch of that brick with top-tier components to deliver gaming experiences you’ve never seen outside of a scary-expensive PC rig. The Series X uses a custom 8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU and RDNA 2 GPU with up to 12 teraflops of raw graphics-processing power available. That’s double the total graphical output of the Xbox One X and about 1.7…

£799 / stuff.tv/Xperia5ii Meet the latest ‘shrunken flagship’. You know the drill by now: take the whizz-bang range-topper, cut a few features here and there, then find a way to squeeze it all into a more pocket-friendly shape. Seeing just how much Sony packed into the Xperia 1 II, scaling it down sounds tough… and yet the Xperia 5 II might be its most competitive phone to date. For a start, the 5 II’s skinny dimensions make it easier to hold. The glass and metal sandwich styling remains, as does water-resistance, while the three-lens rear camera array is largely unchanged – so it still sticks out, but only a bit. The physical camera shutter button returns and there’s one dedicated to Google Assistant, while the power button and fingerprint sensor…

from £1499 / stuff.tv/OLED805 The 805 hasn’t broken any moulds when it comes to design. It looks identical to last year’s 804, with minimalist styling and a bezel that sits almost flush to the screen. It stands on dinky chrome feet that raise it just a few millimetres, but adaptors are bundled if you want to lift it to make room for a soundbar. Ambilight is of course on board, in its three-sided guise, setting off a soft glow behind the TV that you can customise to your liking. You can have it as one static colour, make it adapt to whatever is on screen (our favourite) or have it pulse in time to music. The fourth-gen P5 processor brings AI smarts: frame-by-frame analysis is at play no matter what…

Wahl Aqua Blade What’s the story? Wahl might not be a big name like Philips or Panasonic, but chances are you’ve seen its kit being used in your local barbershop. If it’s good enough for a professional to give you your monthly skin fade, then it’s got to be good enough for tidying up your face, right? Especially with a lifetime blade guarantee… Is it any good? The Wahl looks far cheaper than its price suggests. While it feels weighty enough in the hand, the plastics used for its waterproof chassis just feel a bit crappy. Rubberised bits down the side do make it easier to hold, but you’d expect something a bit less basic for £90. Obviously performance is the most important thing, however, and the Aqua Blade gives…

£90 / stuff.tv/NestAudio Google’s Nest Audio is a squat, rounded-off rectangle, similar in height to a Sonos One but half the depth. It’s weighty and well built, its plastic fabric punctuated only by four LEDs and top touch controls that remain hidden until activated, plus a mic button on the back. Setup is straightforward via the Google Home app. Opt for Google Voice Match and the Nest Audio will recognise your voice, and offer personalised results from Gmail or Google Calendar. Three far-field mics do a great job of making out commands at regular volume, even from the other side of the room. In control of the sound are a 75mm woofer and a 19mm tweeter, replacing the single 50mm driver in the original Home. These are sited at the…

Sony WH-1000XM4 £349 / stuff.tv/XM4 With their perfect balance of wearability, active noise-cancelling prowess and audio performance, there just 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, it’s tough to justify the upgrade; but it’s going to take something extraordinary 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 Sony WH-1000XM3 £237 / stuff.tv/XM3 Only just outshone by the new XM4s, Sony’s previous flagship over-ears still offer reliable Bluetooth, great active noise-cancellation and…

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 Sonos Arc £799 / 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…

Sony PlayStation 4 Pro £335 / stuff.tv/PS4Pro Yes, the PS5 is coming… but for now, the PlayStation 4 is the best gaming platform around – which makes the PS4 Pro the best of the best. Games optimised for the console look stunning on a 4K HDR TV, and are substantially improved by the extra grunt inside this slightly bigger machine. Sure, it can’t match the Xbox One X for sheer power or resolution, but it makes up for that with an impressive line-up of games – including Death Stranding, God of War and Dreams – and VR support. Stuff says Nintendo Switch £280 / stuff.tv/NintendoSwitch Nintendo’s console earned a promotion in our list after it impressed us with a growing list of fantastic games. Plus, no other device here offers…

Half-Life: Alyx from £46 / Oculus, Vive, Valve Index 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 Beat Saber from £23 / Oculus, Vive, PSVR Gleefully swing your twin lightsabers to…

Fujifilm X-T4 £1549 / 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. £769 / wexphotovideo.com Fujifilm X-T3 £899 / stuff.tv/XT3 It may…

£N/A (concept) / nissan.co.uk It’s Leaf, Jim, but not as we know it… Excellent punning. Yep, this really is a Nissan Leaf, but unlike any we’ve ever seen before. It’s been decked out with off-road suspension, ultra-tough tyres and LED lighting to make it look like an emergency response vehicle. Oh… so it’s not an emergency response vehicle? Not really, as Nissan says this is just a working prototype, but it does highlight how great battery tech is for disaster management. Designed as a first responder, the Re-Leaf – a pretty excruciating pun in itself – features external 110/230v plug sockets that can power things like jackhammers, medical ventilators and water treatment devices when mains electricity has been knocked out. In fact, Leafs (Leaves?) have been powering stricken homes in…

How peculiarly attractive… like Benedict Cumberbatch or Serge Gainsbourg or something. If you say so, but yes, the first ever active speakers from British brand Q Acoustics are definitely quirky and we like them – especially perched on those geometric wire stands that, Q says, are inspired by the 1951 Festival of Britain’s Skylon structure. Only shame is they’re an additional £349 per pair. The Festival of Britain? Is this a Nigel Farage thing? In fact, what are festivals? Feels like forever since our ears were bleeding next to a main stage sound system, doesn’t it? Still, at least you can save the money you would have spent on tickets and wet wipes and get some proper speakers for your home. The Q Active 200 (out November) and floorstanding Q…

Apple Watch SE from £269 / apple.com What’s the story? Of course, the most obvious alternative to the Series 6 is Apple’s new, cheaper Watch SE. Whether you choose the 40mm or 44mm version it looks identical to its pricier sibling (although you can only choose aluminium for the case), and there’s nothing stopping you from jazzing it up with a fancier strap if you start to feel inferior – it fits all the same ones as the S6. Is it any good? The key differences between the SE and S6 are the cheaper wearable’s lack of ECG and blood oxygen sensors, and the absence of an always-on display. The latter is a bigger deal, but 99 times out of 100 it still illuminates on demand. It’s easy to coax…

£450 / playstation.com Launching on 19 November in the UK (and an agonising week sooner in the US), the PS5 looks to continue Sony’s momentum from the PS4 – whose gaming-only focus, better pricing and constant flow of excellent exclusives gave it a lead that the Xbox One never came close to making up. But with Microsoft clearly learning lessons from its last-gen mis-steps, will Sony see the same kind of surging success with the PS5? There’s reason to be optimistic, but also plenty of evidence the Xbox is a more capable opponent this time. The new PlayStation has similar chips to its rival, but as mentioned on the previous page, it doesn’t hit quite the same maximum output at around 10.3 teraflops. We doubt there’ll be a noticeable difference…

Garmin Forerunner 45 What’s the story? The slimline Forerunner 45 is the go-to watch for most runners. With an optical heart-rate sensor and up to seven days of battery life (13 hours with GPS on), it covers the basics in a comfortable no-frills package, while stats like VO2 Max and Body Battery help you to understand how healthy you are without requiring a degree in sports science. Wear it while you’re not out running and it also counts steps, calories burned and Zs caught, with support for notifications from your phone too. Unless you’re training to run 150 miles across the Sahara, the 45 should match you step for step. Is it any good? Simplicity is the 45’s selling point. It has five buttons for navigation, which – once you’ve…

LG Wing What’s the story? Alright, the LG Wing is weird, but that doesn’t stop you admiring LG’s cojones in trying to make a T-shaped phone with two screens actually work. The Wing is the first handset in LG’s new Explorer Project, and it looks likely to be the first of several out-there models. We spent some time getting to grips with its so-called swivel mode, activated with a flick of a thumb to reveal an almost-square display behind the main one. It looks like a gimmick, LG knows that, and it’s owning it. Unfortunately, as with many recent LG phones, finding one in the UK might be tricky. Is it any good? There are several ways to take advantage of that extra display – you can watch a video…

THE BASICS Fidget with widgets No longer are iOS’s widgets confined to Today view… and the new ones look superb. Tap-hold a blank space on a Home Screen and then ‘+’ to view available options. There are four widget sizes, and they can stack if you lack space. Just be mindful that moving them around too much might mess up your carefully ordered app icons. Go at a fast Clip App Clips are bits of an app you can run without downloading the whole thing. They delete themselves after 30 days and are mostly used by companies trying to sell you stuff: scan a code, get a pop-up, settle up with Apple Pay. But devs use them for game previews too: see firigames.com/phoenix2 Enjoy the Mag Apple adds a couple…

Data Wing £free / Android, iOS This game starts off as if Asteroids had a baby with a top-down racer: your triangular craft blasts around circuits, gaining speed when its bum scrapes neon track edges. Soon you discover you’re part of an OS ruled by a deranged AI. Story and game quickly expand, as you glimpse the world beyond the screen and battle gravity in cavern-based sections that recall 8-bit classic Thrust. Rarely do mobile titles pack in so many hours of clever, thoughtful narrative. Pretty much never are such games free. Stuff says A mobile game we’d happily recommend if it cost a fiver – for nowt, it’s an absurdly generous bargain Sky: Children of the Light £free (IAPs) / Android, iOS Now available on Android as well as…

Apple Watch Series 5 from £349 / stuff.tv/WatchS5 There’s no great secret to Apple’s continuing smartwatch domination: it’s all down to a seamless relationship between hardware and software, plus impressive health features that other makers still haven’t been able to match. And while the Series 5 didn’t arrive as a huge upgrade on the previous model, the addition of an always-on display was key. Probably the only reason not to buy a Watch S5 now, then, is the fact that it’s in the process of making way for the S6 tested on p29. Stuff says An always-on display makes the best smartwatch even better… but the Series 5 is on its way out Samsung Galaxy Watch3 from £399 / stuff.tv/GW3 It isn’t cheap, but this handsome mix of leather and…

Sky TV from £25/month + setup / stuff.tv/SkyTV Already home to the biggest selection of 4K content, from blockbuster films and original dramas to top-flight sport, Sky has adopted a can’t-beat-’em-join-’em approach to streaming by incorporating the likes of Spotify, Netflix and Disney+ in its user-friendly interface. It’s also restructured its packages to make them more affordable and include rivals like BT Sport. The box has 2TB of storage, while multiroom and mobile options round off the most comprehensive content system money can buy. Stuff says Sky has come out fighting to move with the times and its selection of shows is unrivalled Amazon Fire TV Cube £110 / stuff.tv/FireTVCube The Fire TV interface is easy to use and all the big catch-up services are available via this tidy box…

£240 / amazon.co.uk Amazon’s latest Alexa vessel won’t let you out of its sight… Swivel service If you’ve had Alexa living with you for a while you’ll know she’s always listening… but pick up an Amazon Echo Show 10 and she’ll always be watching too. Its 10.1in 1280x800 display and 13MP cam are mounted on a swivelling speaker – with two 1in tweeters and a 3in woofer – so when you summon her she’ll turn to face you like the obedient robot she is. You’ll feel like a god… and will also be able to wander about during video calls and always stay in the frame. Swivel partnership Having a built-in rotating camera also means the Echo Show 10 can double as a particularly effective security guard. Using the Alexa…

Oh no, more smart specs? After the Google Glass fiasco you might think they’d joined 3D TV, laser discs and Amazon’s Fire Phone in the great recycling bin in the sky – but Facebook hasn’t given up on the idea just yet. Its new wearable AR venture is called Project Aria. When do they turn up on my face? You won’t find these connected glasses for sale. Project Aria is currently just a research initiative that Zuckerberg and co hope will help them to build the first generation of decent AR facewear. So this is a prototype pair? Nope, they’re not even at that stage yet. Facebook is dishing out ‘research devices’ to a small group of employees. They don’t even include a display, just a camera and mic plus…

RAZER SHARPER Razer has given a refresh to its Blade Stealth 13 gaming laptop (from $1700). With a Full HD OLED touchscreen and new 11th-gen Core i7 processor, away from play time it’s an ultrabook for daily tasks including, Razer says, 2.7x faster content creation and 20% faster productivity… which might depend on how much Doom you’re playing. HOME CHROME TALENT As well as those Pixel phones on p10, Google has released a new Chromecast (£59) complete with a remote control so you no longer need to use your phone. Google Assistant is (obviously) on board to help you find telly content or control smart home devices, and it’s available in white, pink or blue… so a good match for your TV, then? FENDER TRENDER Fender’s latest guitar and bass…

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Demon’s Souls Sony’s remake of the PS3 Dark Souls predecessor looks as terrifyingly taut as ever, with tense showdowns against giant spiders and other monsters. You’d better have an iron will for this one. PS5 Sackboy: A Big Adventure This is LittleBigPlanet in spirit as Sackboy begins a new quest on PS5. It looks a lot like the PS3 originals and still supports co-op, but has more of a 3D look to the action. PS5 Destruction AllStars Sony’s raucous original is a destruction derby featuring transforming cars plus the ability to get out of your ride and battle on foot. Looks and sounds wild; could be a fun PS5 showcase. PS5 Watch Dogs: Legion Ubisoft’s urban hacking fantasy takes on a new tone in a post-Brexit London, in which you…

CONNECTED CRUISERS The solid spinner DKN AM-3i DKN could easily have called this elegant beast the Black Swan, but they went with AM-3i instead. Ah well. It’s got 32 levels of resistance, and four user profiles so the whole family can share sweat residue. There are pulse sensors in the grips, but you can also pair a chest strap over Bluetooth. £499 / sweatband.com The hands-free hero Deskbike Aaarrrrgh, the handlebars have come off! Nah, this fine machine is for riding while you work at a sit/stand desk, so your hands will probably be busy doing something hip and creative. It comes in three sizes and connects effortlessly to the Deskbike app for monitoring and recording your progress. from €295 / deskbike.com The luxury low-rider Schwinn 570R Despite making you…

£360 / stuff.tv/Hyperboom At 14in high and 5.9kg the imposing Hyperboom is probably best left at home, but a pull-out rubber handle makes it easy to lug between rooms. Mesh-wrapped and all black, it looks like it means business… but is only capable of 270° audio, not the full 360. To the left of the silly-massive volume signs is the power button, and to the right the input buttons, where you can jump between two Bluetooth devices as well as aux and optical for use as a TV speaker. Between them is the play/pause button, which can be long-pressed to start a playlist chosen in the app. The Hyperboom is UE’s biggest, bassiest and loudest speaker to date. We didn’t dare push it beyond 75% of its maximum 100 decibels,…

from £549 / stuff.tv/8T DAY 01 If you’re looking for a late-2020 OnePlus fix, the 8T could well be it. We spy a 120Hz screen, a thunderously pointless monochrome camera, a better macro camera and fast charging that tears past the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra like a Tesla racing a clown on a unicycle. The flat front makes it seem less fancy than the OnePlus 8, but is there enough going on inside to make us ignore that? Using flat glass is a simple way to make the phone cheaper to produce, but it means the 8T feels more like the Nord than the 8. Yes, there’s zero functional benefit to a curved-sided phone these days, but as affordable phones get better by the month you’d better care about this…

Samsung Galaxy S20 5G £799 / stuff.tv/S205G The bigger and flashier S20+ and S20 Ultra models are the headline-grabbers, but the ‘basic’ Galaxy S20 feels like the Goldilocks of flagship phones right now: not too big and clever, not too small and basic, just right. It delivers excellent battery life, a phenomenal display, blistering performance and superb photo quality. Until someone else does it better, this is the Android handset to beat. Stuff says All the features you’d want in a flagship smartphone, plus a few more NOW ADD THIS SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive 128GB This USB-C drive will double your S20’s 128GB storage to 256GB for a lot less than you might expect. £13 / amazon.co.uk OnePlus Nord from £379 / stuff.tv/Nord OnePlus wanted to get back to its…

Mi Smart Band 5 £40 / 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 £40 gift that keeps giving. Stuff says Fantastic value and decent features make this an easy fitness tracker to recommend Peloton £1750 + £39/m / stuff.tv/PelotonBike A fitness phenomenon based around a Wi-Fi-connected bike with a 22in HD tablet that streams live and on-demand training sessions 24/7.…

Philips OLED+ 984 £3999 / stuff.tv/OLED984 The new OLED+ 935 looks like a shoo-in for top spot on this list, but until then we’re more than happy with its predecessor: the OLED+ 984 offers outstanding picture performance with universal HDR support, and goes above and beyond what we expect from television sound thanks to a custom-made speaker system from British hi-fi brand Bowers & Wilkins. Plus it looks gorgeous, particularly with that four-sided Ambilight in full effect. Stuff says Going big on design, performance and sound, this is the best Philips TV yet NOW ADD THIS Disney+ Philips’ smart TVs are compatible for streaming content from the new home of Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and even National Geographic. £5.99/month / disneyplus.com Samsung 75Q950TS £7999 / stuff.tv/Q950TS It’s not like…

Apple iPad Pro from £769 / stuff.tv/iPadPro The old iPad Pro was already our favourite tablet by miles, and the latest update only makes it more desirable. As before, it isn’t cheap; but with its huge and super-slick 120Hz Liquid Retina screen, ludicrously speedy internals and double-lens camera (like the one in the iPhone 11), this is one working device to rule them all. Since Apple added cursor support to iPadOS, it’s also the best tablet to replace your laptop. Its only real rival, in fact, might turn out to be the new iPad Air… Stuff says Apple’s mega-tablet evolves into an outstanding piece of kit and pulls even further ahead of the pack Apple iPad (2019) from £299 / stuff.tv/iPad2019 The new model brings some worthy upgrades to the…

Oculus Quest 2 from £299 / stuff.tv/Quest2 The original Quest felt almost too good to be true. Its successor lacks the same wow factor, but you can’t argue with a better display and processor – not to mention a lighter, more comfortable build – for less money. Are there more powerful headsets? Is motion sickness still an issue? Yes to both, but superb tracking and a total absence of wires make this the VR package to get… that is, unless you’re boycotting Facebook, because you have to be logged in to use it. Stuff says Not a complete reinvention, but our favourite VR headset is now even better… and cheaper! Valve Index £919 / stuff.tv/ValveIndex While not revolutionary, the Index carries enough subtle upgrades to put it atop the PC-based…

Sega Mega Drive Mini £70 / stuff.tv/MegaDriveMini There’ll always be rows and online feuds over whether Nintendo’s or Sega’s games are better, but the Mega Drive Mini wins the miniature retro console war in terms of the faithful recreation of both hardware and software – especially as there are 42 games included. It’s taken a long time to get here, but as the saying goes, to be this good takes ages – and the Sega is the must-buy console of the moment. Stuff says Sega’s back – and this really is the ultimate mini gaming machine NOW ADD THIS Retro-Bit Official 6-Button Controller A must for fans of fighting games, this six-button USB pad is also compatible with PCs, Macs and even the Switch. £18 / amazon.co.uk Amazon Echo Dot…