Stuff UKNovember 2022的目錄

Hello and welcome to this creator-focused issue of Stuff! That’s right – the spotlight’s on making your own digital creations this time around, and our cover feature takes you through a bunch of top accessories and add-ons to improve your lot – whether you’re shooting a 4K promo video, recording another podcast about football, DJing to your local political-party-agnostic members’ club, designing your wedding invitations or power-editing your best photos. And that’s not all on the creative front – we’ve got a whole extra section on creator hardware in association with Nvidia. So you can enjoy the best in high-end laptops, tablets, mirrorless cameras, action cams and more to push your projects to the next level. Elsewhere we’ve previewed all of Apple’s new gear, including the iPhone 14 Pro with…

YOU CAN SWAP OUT THE WINGS DEPENDING ON HOW BIG YOUR TELLY IS Are there lolly sticks stuck to that thing? What do you think this is, Blue Peter? That’s Bang & Olufsen’s new soundbar you’re talking about, and there aren’t a load of yoghurt pots and washing-up liquid bottles behind those ‘lolly sticks’ either. They’re actually made of solid oak and are designed to match B&O’s Beolab speakers, but you can also choose a plain fabric cover if they don’t match your decor. The metal surround is aluminium – in silver, gold or black – with swappable wings depending on how big the telly you’re pairing it with is: 55in, 65in or 77in. So what is underneath, then? A whopping 12 separately powered drivers, including two bespoke 6.5in woofers…

Podcasting: it’s dead easy, right? Plonk yourself down in front of a microphone, hit record, and you’ll be top of the charts in no time. Sorry, but there’s more to it than that: controlling volume levels, mixing channels and balancing EQs makes all the difference. And without dedicated hardware, that can be a fiddly job. Not so with the RodeCaster Pro II. This compact audio mixer has all the inputs, sliders and FX pads a budding podcaster could want, and is flexible enough to also appeal to music producers and game streamers. Recording is brilliantly slick, either directly on the unit with a microSD card or to a connected computer. The 5.5in touchscreen shows the most important info – volume levels, active channels, recording time – while Rode’s PC software…

Whatever music software and platform you use, it’s not very rock’n’roll to paw at a glass screen or click a mouse. But when starting out, the sheer range of kit available for live play can be intimidating. IK Multimedia’s iRig Keys I/O 25 does a good job of packaging everything you need into a compact gadget that won’t take over your house. Plug it into a computer or tablet – irritatingly short proprietary USB-C, USB-A and Lightning cables are bundled – and you can smash out a chart-topper on the 25 full-size keys and eight pads. There are knobs to twiddle, two sliders, and buttons to trigger secondary functions and (in theory) play/record in software. Around the back, there’s a 3.5mm headphone port, stereo jack outputs and a pedal input.…

The rise of really good tablets put a dent in the idea of artists defaulting to Wacom kit for digital drawing work; but there’s no denying the company makes some stellar products, notably its droolworthy high-end Cintiq pen displays. The Wacom One isn’t one of those… but it’s enough to give dabblers a taste for a considerably lower price. Construction is sturdy. The unit’s chunky, resembling a tablet yet to learn the concept of thin bezels. But having all that space around the 13.3in 1920x1080 display makes sense for art: you get something to hold without your fingers getting in the way, space to draw sweeping curves with the battery-free stylus, and a setup that lets you really focus on what you’re doodling. Elsewhere, the lack of buttons is a…

PROCREATE Available in iPad and iPhone forms, Procreate is, suitably, a pro-grade art studio. The minimal interface gets out of your way but the rich toolset provides plenty of power, whether you want to dig into custom brushes or even paint with filters. £8.99 / iPad £4.49 / iPhone INFINITE PAINTER While they are also available to Apple fans, it’s fair to say Infinite apps have most taken hold on Android. On that platform, Infinite Painter is a peerless option for digital artists who demand a powerful toolset, a refined interface and beautiful brushes. £free (IAP) / Android, iOS CONCEPTS Instead of bitmaps, all marks you make in Concepts are vectors. This means every stroke remains endlessly editable – and infinitely scalable. The free version gives you an infinite canvas…

FIRST ADD THESE… ONE NOTHING PHONE 1 CASE Don’t hide your Phone 1’s glyph lights with an opaque case – pick up a transparent jacket to protect it while still letting it glow. This one wraps around the back and sides of the phone to shield it from nasty shocks without sacrificing its flashy lights or wireless charging, while the pre-fitted screen protector keeps the front safe. £25 / nothing.tech TWO JOBY BEAMO RING LIGHT FOR MAGSAFE A MagSafe accessory, for an Android phone? Yes indeed. The Joby Beamo balances out your Phone 1’s back lights with some selfie ring-light illumination, and ships with a sticky converter to make any plastic case MagSafe-compatible. So you can enjoy all the convenience of MagSafe without an iPhone in sight. from £46 /…

£300 / bit.ly/Momentum4 DAY 01 No sensible manufacturer ever decides avant-garde is the way forward when designing a pair of wireless headphones, but before now it was at least possible to pick out a pair of Sennheiser Momentums in a line-up. Not any more. The Momentum 4s, which are available in black or white, are bland to the point of anonymity (if you’re not keen on the whole ‘understated’ thing), or minimal and sophisticated (if you are). What they most definitely are not, though, is any kind of visual continuation of the Momentum design language. Even after a week’s use they haven’t needed charging – they’ll last 60hrs, and will be fully charged in just 2hrs The earcups fold through 180° and will lie flat in the supplied (and handily…

Welcome to this guide to top-notch creator hardware in association with Nvidia. Whether you’re looking to run a YouTube channel, edit 4K video footage, host your own podcast, stream your gaming or just edit photos without a spinning beachball/hourglass getting in the way, this is the guide you need. After all, time is money, right? Well, at least it’s blooming annoying losing time to sluggish gear. So in this section we profile some fine options. Looking for a laptop to power your work to the next level? A mirrorless, action or compact camera to get essential shots or video footage? A creative tablet to help you get more done when on the move? It’s all here. Plus, we’ve got the finest power desktops plus some indispensable accessories to go alongside…

The great wearable gets an extreme makeover and an adrenaline-pumping price ● Toughen up Ever wondered what an Apple Watch would look like if it spent its spare time heli-skiing and kitesurfing rather than having to remind you not to spend all weekend sitting on the sofa? It’d look like the new Apple Watch Ultra: a more rugged smartwatch with a bigger 49mm case that’s made from aerospace-grade titanium. It’ll work in more extreme temperatures and harsher environments, including up to 100m underwater, plus its battery will last 36hrs off a single charge, with a 60hr low-power mode on the way. ● Button up The most obvious addition to the Ultra’s chunkier frame is the customisable Action button. This can begin workouts, advance legs of multisport activities and drop compass…

It’s a robot mushroom from the future! It’s not – but sticking one in your house could help stop any fungus becoming part of your own future. While most air purifiers look like mesh routers or electric heaters, LG’s latest resembles a piece of hi-tech furniture. Available in red, yellow or grey and with either a circular top or the flat-edged variant pictured above, it has three filters built into the base for battling airborne nasties: one ultra-fine filtration, one for collecting dust, and one for deodorising. It also uses UVnano technology, seen already inside the case of LG’s Tone Free earphones, to kill bacteria on the fan blades beneath the flat tabletop. So it still functions as a table? Yep, and LG’s blurb helpfully describes what tables are for,…

APPLE FITNESS+ JUMPS ONTO YOUR iPHONE You might know Apple Fitness+ as a Watch app, but you’ll soon be able to toss your wearable into the sea and access those workouts from an iPhone. There’ll be on-screen guidance, while calories burnt will be estimated on the Move ring in your phone’s Fitness app. The £9.99/m price stays the same. AMAZON BEGINS A NEW KINDLE CHAPTER Its screen may still be the same 6in but Amazon’s latest entry-level Kindle has been upgraded in some key areas. The display is much sharper, up from 167dpi to 300dpi, storage has been doubled to 16GB, and battery life has been boosted to six weeks. You can order one now in black or blue for £85. GOLDENEYE ANOTHER DAY… ON GAME PASS Everybody’s favourite N64…

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The pelvic pack Peak Design Everyday Messenger V2 As long as you’re not planning to shoot from the hip literally, this messenger bag will make the most of your waist space. Built with roaming photographers in mind, its wide strap wears comfortably, while a MagLatch clasp lets you in without fuss. Camera compartments can be customised, with flexible pockets for everyday detritus. Need to do some editing on the fly? Its laptop slot can fit a 13-incher. £199 / peakdesign.com SHOOTING SLINGS The sustainable suspender Groundtruth Rikr Camera Bag Telephoto specialist? This shoulder sleeve cuddles your barrel-and-body bundle by holding it in a hammock: slotted in lens-first, a perforated sling inside suspends your pride and joy for extra protection. Eco bonus: this one is crafted entirely from recycled materials. £89…

If you spend a lot of time editing video and audio tracks, you’ll be vividly aware that a standard computer keyboard isn’t exactly ideal: as much as rubber overlays can help you remember rarely-used shortcuts, there’s no substitute for the buttons and knobs you’ll find on dedicated editing consoles. There’s a precision and an intuitiveness to actual physical controls that’s like bashing out a beat with a pair of drumsticks instead of painstakingly programming it; adjusting colours in particular is so much easier with a rotating control than stabbing away at a keyboard. That physicality is what the Loupedeck+ brings to photo and video editing on PC and Mac. Designed primarily for Adobe software, the Loupedeck+ is a useful editing add-on that integrates tightly with Adobe CC apps such as…

The X-H2S brings new-found continuous shooting abilities to Fuji’s X range, thanks to a fifth-gen image sensor that rattles off an astonishing 40 frames per second. That should raise wildlife and sports snappers’ eyebrows, while improved video support and ergonomic changes will please everyone else. It ditches the double-stacked ISO and aperture dials in favour of a single mode dial and fewer physical controls. That widens the appeal to those coming from rival camera systems, but will irk Fuji diehards. Not that it takes long to adjust: the layout is superb, with every crucial button perched near your thumb or index finger. The 3in touchscreen flips out for angled shooting, or around for vlogging, and the LCD on the top is very handy for at-a-glance aperture or shutter speed checks.…

£949 / bit.ly/Xperia5iv The rest of the phone world might be happy to put their cameras in the hands of algorithms and AI, but Sony is going in the opposite direction. The latest Xperias are a content creator’s dream, full of manual modes and physical controls… and the Xperia 5 IV is no exception. It’s a flagship-lite, with most of the same killer hardware as the (very pricey) Xperia 1 IV, only squeezed into a more compact 6.1in form factor. While it goes without that phone’s 4K display and continuous zoom lens, it’s packing an almost identical set of rear cameras: a 24mm main snapper, 60mm telephoto and 16mm ultrawide, all with 12MP sensors. The first two also get optical image stabilisation to help cut down on camera shake. That…

£90 / bit.ly/UEWBoom3 ■ The Wonderboom 3 is, like both Wonderbooms that preceded it, a straight-up Bluetooth speaker. So you won’t be AirPlaying anything to it, there are no voice assistants to chat to, no app being pushed upon you, and no aux-in for your non-wireless sources. Pair your device and you’re good to go. ■ There are buttons on the top for power, pairing and play/pause, and one on the bottom that lights up when pressed – useful when you’re partying in the dark. The familiar outsize ‘plus’ and ‘minus’ buttons on the front are, of course, for changing the volume. ■ Not only does it go very loud, but the 360° sound this thing pumps out is rich and balanced. The low end is fuller than you might…

1 Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra from £1149 / stuff.tv/S22Ultra If you’re a tech-loving Android fan and can justify the outlay, this is the most fully-featured phone of the 2022 crop. The first ‘S’ model to have a built-in S Pen, it also offers a wonderfully sharp 6.8in QHD+ screen with super-smooth 120Hz scrolling and a stellar zoom camera, aided by a new neural processing unit that creates Samsung’s best pictures yet. Stuff says This is the most capable smartphone you can currently buy ● NOW ADD THIS Samsung Smart Clear View Cover This clever case reveals a small portion of your display so you can do basic stuff without opening it. £22 / samsung.com ● TIPS & TRICKS ● Swipe up from the bottom of the screen for the app…

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 7 from £600 / stuff.tv/Fenix7 If your budget stretches, the impressive…

1 Apple iPad Air (2022) from £569 / stuff.tv/iPadAir2022 This tablet has enough power to rival the flagship iPad Pro – and even quite a few current MacBooks. And though you might need to add a keyboard, a stylus and even a gamepad to make the most of it, the 2022 Air reinforces the growing sense that an iPad really can be a laptop replacement for doing proper work (or play). Slight storage dilemmas aside, this is a top-notch device, supported by an ecosystem that makes it highly versatile for an increasingly wide range of users. Stuff says It’s not perfect, but this latest iPad Air is a top-quality package – not least because of that M1 chip 2 Apple iPad Pro from £749 / stuff.tv/iPadPro The iPad Pro’s display…

1 Amazon Echo (4th Gen) £90 / 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 for listening to music, but it’s significantly smarter 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. £170 / screwfix.com ● TIPS & TRICKS ● The Echo’s built-in Zigbee hub can hook up hundreds of smart home devices without a bridge. ● Pair a…

1 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. £699 / wexphotovideo.com ● TIPS & TRICKS ●…

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro from £850 / lenovo.com Video editing is the No1 job of a content-creation laptop. That leads us to a checklist that the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro nails, even in its lower-spec versions. We want 16GB RAM, because you’re going to feel the pinch with 8GB. Tick. At least 512GB of storage is a must because video eats through data like nothing else. Done. And a 12th-gen Intel CPU is top of the list, because the Quick Sync feature offers a real speed boost when working with high-quality 10-bit video. Well, all Slim 7i Pro Gen 7 models use ’em. VISIBLE TOUCH Of course, a lot of laptops tick these boxes, but this one does it with real style. At a seriously tasty price, the…

Panasonic Lumix GH6 £1999 / panasonic.com With full-frame mirrorless cameras now more affordable and compact than ever, the Lumix GH6 – which has a relatively tiny 25.2MP Micro Four Thirds sensor – might look like a duff choice to the casual observer. Surely it can’t match the full-frame big boys? But while it might not your best bet for recording in low light, the GH6’s small sensor actually proves advantageous for vloggers and on-the-hoof creatives. Its lenses are smaller and cheaper and the image stabilisation is more effective, making it ideal for handheld video. Plus you can pack it in a smaller bag, even with a couple of extra lenses, and won’t end up with a sore back after a day of shooting. LET’S BEND THE LIGHT TOGETHER It’s no…

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra from £999 / samsung.com There’s no getting away from the fact that the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is a bit of a niche device, but it’s one that’s brilliant for creators thanks to its huge 14.6in display. That pushes the boundaries of portability (remember the largest iPad is 12.9in) but there’s no doubt it makes for a useful and stunningly large creative canvas. Its screen is mesmerising because it uses AMOLED tech rather than LCD. With 240 pixels per inch it’s nicely crisp – and thanks to a 120Hz refresh rate, menus glide fluidly. The only strike against it is good but not great brightness. Unlike any iPad, the Tab S8 Ultra ships with an S Pen stylus that delivers the lowest latency of any…

Apple Mac Studio from £1999 / apple.com The Mac Studio looks a lot less serious than Apple’s old Pro desktops, but this little brick of aluminium is a content creation monster. Even the base model has 32GB of unified RAM – pure video-editor fuel. Professionals may immediately jump to the double-the-price option with an even faster M1 Ultra processor, but creative types just starting out will be more than happy with the ‘cheap’ one. Apple has done a full 180 on some of its annoying habits here. The Mac Studio has two USB-C connectors and an SD card slot up front – handy for connecting a camera to quickly ferry over your latest footage. DRIVING ’PHONES FOR CRISPNESS Around the back we get four Thunderbolt 4 ports plus HDMI. You…

The lines between tablets and laptops have become awfully blurry of late: the latest iPad Air has the same processor as a MacBook Pro, while devices such as Asus’s Vivobook 13 Slate OLED offer a terrific tablet and a great laptop in a single device. So how do you choose what’s best for you? The first issue is price. The very cheapest tablets are best considered toys: while at the time of writing Amazon’s Fire HD 8 is just £90, we wouldn’t want to use it for anything serious for any period of time. The sweet spot for tablets is £200 to £400, which is where you’ll find the entry-level iPad, Microsoft’s Surface Go 3 and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A8. Decent laptops can be found for well under £500, rising…

iPhone 14 The standard iPhone 14 still has the old-style notch and doesn’t get the always-on screen or A16 chip, but there’s a new 12MP camera on the back with a larger sensor for better snaps in low light. from £849 AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) The new Pro buds might look the same but there’s some niftily improved tech inside – like Adaptive Transparency, which still lets in some sounds from the outside world but reduces the intensity of sudden loud noises. £249 Watch Series 8 All the new iPhones now have Crash Detection, and that’s part of the Apple Watch Series 8 too. There’s also a new temperature sensor, as on the Ultra (see p14), that can be used to better predict menstrual cycles. from £419…

Back when Philips first started cramming coloured lights into its tellies, 4K was just a cool way of spelling ‘fork’ and our idea of a good night in was Fame Academy or Footballers’ Wives. Fortunately, the world looks a lot different 20 years later, so it’s about time some of Philips’ other tech got the Ambilight treatment. The eight LEDs built into the back of the FS1 speaker can be set to react to the music it’s playing, or simply provide some nice mood lighting. But it’s when you link it to a similarly illuminated telly – either as a satellite in a surround-sound system or as left and right channels in a pair – that it really comes to life, synchronising with the screen’s Ambilight. Inside you’ll find a…

In our building we have a central warehouse that has every piece currently in production. I think it’s maybe 50 million bricks in there or something. Sometimes we’ll just walk around and look at individual pieces. And we’ll be like, “Yeah, that one is really nice!” and grab it for our project. A lot of the basic structural stuff, we already have. Lego models are all designed in this way where they stack upwards – we talk about it as a stacking system. But you can’t really start designing that way, so we’re very good at holding things delicately. And once you have that first version, then you need to start thinking about how it could be built from the bottom up. We only have so many sizes of wheel, so…

PODCASTING Everyone has a podcast these days, so you might as well join them. It’s pretty easy to put one together too, providing you have a great mic… p38 VIDEO EDITING No longer do you need high-end hardware to edit video effectively, but these gadgets and add-ons will help you get your next project over the line. p40 STREAMING Fancy yourself as a YouTuber or Twitcher? This is where you begin, with gear to get you started with broadcasting live from your plush… er, spare room. p42 MUSIC MAKING There’s a truly intimidating amount of gear available, so we round up some solidly tuneful hardware – as well as a few essential apps. p44 PHOTOGRAPHY How to take your best shots and make the most of them – there’s more…

You don’t need a Stream Deck to stream. But it makes your life a lot easier if you have one, because it enables you to automate pretty much everything you do. And it looks pretty great on your desk too, with a choice of white or black and lots of swappable face-plates available to order. The standard Stream Deck connects via USB and has 15 programmable LCD buttons that you can use for whatever features you like, whether that’s triggering specific effects, launching and controlling media files or anything else that demands fast access. It works with Elgato Game Capture, OBS, Twitch, Twitter, YouTube and more, helping you concentrate on the content instead of the nuts and bolts of getting it out to your audience. And despite all those buttons…

If you’re looking for a brilliant beginner/hobbyist two-channel DJ controller, look no further: the DDJ-400 is the perfect place to start, while offering a lot of the functions you’ll find on more expensive CDJ-style controllers. The part-rubberised touch-capacitive jogwheels spin nicely and are very responsive, even if they don’t have the weight of those found on pro-level gear. While this controller is virtually all plastic, it doesn’t feel ultra-plasticky – unlike some cheaper options. The pads are also nicely tactile. It’s nearly £100 more expensive than the DDJ-200, which really is entry-level, but it is a lot more flexible as you move up in your skills: this model adds RCA outputs for connection to speakers plus a microphone input. There are also better FX controls, while you can browse for…

START UP ■ Explore your tools Don’t assume you’ll simply crack open Sketchbook (sketchbook.com) and be hanging your device in Tate Modern by dinnertime. Instead of immediately trying to create a masterpiece, spend time exploring the app’s tools. Once you know what it’s capable of, only then is it time to don your beret and crank out your own classics. ■ Tap and swipe Taps and gestures speed up working in Sketchbook. Two-finger drag to move your canvas, or twist to rotate it. On a tablet, use the grey palette sliders next to the brush palette (or at the far left of the display) for quickly adjusting the size and opacity of the current brush. ■ Make a selection Whether you’re working on a piece with components across multiple layers…

PerfectDraft Pro What’s the story? This is as straightforward a beer-to-glass experience as you can imagine. Put simply, you buy beer in mini kegs and pour it using the somewhat bulky (45x40x29cm) unit. You do need to make sure you’ve got room for this thing, especially because the setup guide asks for 10cm of space around it. You also have to be able to swing open the door so you can get the keg inside. Despite the setup basics being shown on diagrams inside the front door of the PerfectDraft Pro and on the ‘quick start’ guide, for us it was one of those situations where you just can’t quite work out what you need to do from the images, so we had to resort to the full manual. Is…

£599 / bit.ly/OppoReno8Pro ■ Starkly contrasting curved and flat elements plus a premium glass and metal build make the Reno8 Pro feel commanding in the hand; it’s solid, high-quality and familiar, but with a twist: the camera bump rises by way of an elegant curve, making it look bold and feel unique. ■ The FHD AMOLED screen can’t compete with the big hitters, but it’s still sharp and punchy with deep blacks. There’s no dynamic refresh rate – you have to pick between 60 and 120Hz – but it’s super-smooth when scrolling. The tiny bezels make it feel bigger too. ■ The Dimensity 8100-Max CPU outperforms the Google Pixel 6’s Tensor chip in certain benchmarks. The ColorOS 12 interface will take some getting used to if you’re not familiar with…

1 Hammerhead Karoo 2 £359 / stuff.tv/Karoo2 For ages cycling computers have been held back by outdated tech… but Hammerhead’s sharp screen really is a gamechanger, and effectively running a tiny Android phone inside a custom case feels like a no-brainer. The 3.2in display is a delight, helping you spot new trails branching off from routes, all with the nostalgic feel of an early smartphone. Navigating with swipes and taps is intuitive (and works with gloves), and the software is constantly updated with helpful nips and tucks. Stuff says At last, a bike computer for the 21st century – Wahoo and Garmin appear to have missed a trick here 2 Wattbike Atom £1999 / stuff.tv/WBAtom This is no beginner bike, but if you’re looking to improve your cycling form at…

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 cinematic scale.…

1 Sony PlayStation 5 £480 / stuff.tv/PS5 The PS5 is not a modest upgrade. Its hulking design means it’ll make a bad first impression on some, but spend time playing it and it’ll soon win you over – and then some. This is essentially a high-spec gaming PC for the living room: stupendously powerful, with greatly reduced loading times compared to the PS4. Most last-gen titles will run fine, many with a boost, and the line-up of new games is strong; we just hope developers make use of that fascinating DualSense pad and its haptic feedback trickery. Stuff says Huge power, clever hardware and a guarantee of great games to come make the PS5 hard to resist 2 Nintendo Switch OLED £310 / stuff.tv/SwitchOLED While it’s identical to the standard…

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 from £2199 / asus.com Want to feel like you’re sitting at a control centre, not just a laptop? The Zephyrus Duo 16 fits a dual-monitor setup into what on the outside looks like a pretty traditional design. Fit your audience chat below while streaming a game on Twitch. Use Premiere Pro’s dual-monitor mode to tweak your project’s colour without compromising the preview image. Keep an eye on socials while doing admin. This dual-screen laptop has more valid uses for content creators than just about anyone else. TECH A LOOK AT ME NOW Here’s how it works. When you open up the laptop the hinge lifts up the lower screen slightly for easier glancing. It can be used much like an external monitor, but a rather…

Sony ZV-1 £700 / sony.co.uk The ultimate in vlogger-friendly compacts, the ZV-1 packs a 1in sensor, f/1.8 wide-angle zoom lens, fully articulated screen and built-in triple-capsule mic – just about everything you need to take your first steps on the road to YouTube megastardom. The relatively large sensor size and the lens’s wide aperture lend a slightly shallow depth of field to your to-camera pieces, with Sony’s class-leading tracking autofocus doing a sterling job of keeping your eyes and face in pin-sharp focus no matter how much you shift around in the frame. MOTIONAL RESCUE For would-be influencers planning on periodically waving objects in front of the camera during their videos there’s the clever Product Showcase mode, which shifts focus quickly and accurately between your face and anything that comes…

GoPro Hero10 Black £400 / gopro.com t’s no accident that GoPro has cemented itself as the market leader in action cams. This brand name has become a byword for any tough, tiny and lightweight video camera that can be mounted in all sorts of unlikely and tricky spots – a bike, a car’s interior, the front of a surfboard, the user’s chest or head – and capture good-quality video. The Hero10 Black is the latest and greatest iteration of the company’s mainline camera, and it nails all of the above: it’s pocket-sized and light, ruggedly built and waterproof to 10m, and supports a universal mounting system with tons of GoPro and third-party options. HERE COMES YOUR PAN It’s no slouch on the video front, with its wide-angle lens capturing 5.3K…

Focusrite Vocaster One Studio £290 / focusrite.com This all-in-one bundle includes an audio interface, a quality mic and a set of studio-style headphones, plus all the cables you need to get going. The best bit is Focusrite doesn’t assume you know what a preamp does, or what gain is. A button on the interface acts like a personal audio engineer, automatically setting your levels when you talk into the mic for a few seconds. You also get a physical mute button, which is solid gold for streamers and podcasters. The mic itself feels sturdy enough to knock someone unconscious with, and is supremely forgiving. It’s way less prone to electrical interference than some cheap options, and the dark-ish tone makes sibilants mostly a non-issue. GO YOUR TONE WAY If you…