July 2019

Stuff UK

The world's best-selling gadget magazine

Stuff UK1 min readTelecommunications
Welcome
In Britain, we spend an average of 24 hours a week watching TV. If you’re devoting a seventh of your life to the gogglebox, it’s important you choose the right one. But don’t go thinking you have to spend thousands of pounds on one of the latest OLED
Stuff UK2 min read
Our Month
Has summer been cancelled? That’s how it feels when you’ve spent the weekend in the wet and blustery Outer Hebrides. Thing is, life is joyous anyway when you’re in the comfort of the new Nissan Leaf, zipping along open roads in cyclist-spooking silen
Stuff UK4 min readTelecommunications
Hot Stuff
For a long time, OnePlus was known to cool kids as the cheap and cheerful alternative to Apple or Samsung. But even the budget-priced trailblazer of the smartphone world couldn’t resist slapping a ‘Pro’ label – which, as we all know by now, is code f
Stuff UK3 min read
Slice Of The Action
From now on, DJI isn’t just a drone maker – it’s an action cam company too. Look no further than the new Osmo Action, the first true rival to the GoPro Hero7 Black we’ve seen… and it’s £50 cheaper to boot With a proper 1.4in front display supporting
Stuff UK2 min readTechnology & Engineering
Jarre Aeroframe Hd1
Ah, No Man’s Sky. That’s a name we haven’t heard in a long time. Here’s another one: Jean-Michel Jarre. The French keyboard botherer and laser fan might still be gigging but his days of playing to 3.5 million people in Moscow are behind him. Now he s
Stuff UK1 min read
FUTURE STUFF FOLDING PCs
With some review samples of Samsung’s Galaxy Fold phone breaking after just a few hours in the hands of their testers, the era of folding gadgets hardly got off to a glorious start. But that hasn’t stopped Lenovo developing its own folding PC. Essent
Stuff UK3 min read
First Play Ghost Recon Breakpoint
PC, PS4, Xbox One Ghost Recon games typically arm players with the best guns, gear and intel, ensuring they have everything they need to complete their missions. Ghost Recon Breakpoint isn’t having any of that. The latest in the Tom Clancy tactical s
Stuff UK3 min read
Apps
£free / Android, iOS Watch a Big Bang starting in your hands, and then amble about your creation as if you’re a deity – albeit one who has Tilda Swinton narrate how a universe comes to be – in this brief but wondrous AR app. £2.99 / iOS A sound toy w
Stuff UK2 min read
WTF Is The Playdate?
In both senses the answer to that is a resounding no. This little yellow terror is the Playdate – a genuine attempt to do something different with mobile games. And while initial impressions might suggest things have taken a turn for the Trevor Bayli
Stuff UK2 min read
Stream
Achtung, subtitles! But we’re enthusiastic recommenders of this underrated German sci-fi series, which feels like Stranger Things made by Wim Wenders. Suicide, murder, time travel and atomic devastation all feature heavily in this second season of a
Stuff UK2 min readTechnology & Engineering
Start Menu
INDIEGOGO You’re an absolute rock Technology wants to fill every gap in your life, which can leave you exhausted and stressed out. Moment Pebble bucks the trend. Fashioned like an actual rock, this 60g device is designed to act as a simple physical r
Stuff UK2 min readAutomotive
Citroen 19_19 BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG SETTEE
£n/a (concept only) / citroen.co.uk Sure, it could have rolled straight off the set of a Tron sequel, but Citroen reckons the 19_19 concept could actually hit our roads… in a decade or two. It’s the maker’s 100th birthday present to itself, but also
Stuff UK1 min read
Win One Of 10 Kitsound Diggit XL Outdoor Speakers Worth £79.99
Total prize value £800 (give or take 10p) You know what the problem with the great outdoors is? It doesn’t have walls around it. This is obviously good news if you’re planning to go wingsuiting, but it does mean the sound from most weedy little Bluet
Stuff UK3 min readTelecommunications
Pro-ing Up In Public
So, OnePlus has levelled up. This, the 7 Pro, is easily its most tech-packed phone to date. It has an amazing screen, the most discreet selfie cam you’ve ever met, and a brilliant rear camera. Nothing is free, though – not in this world. Yes, OnePlus
Stuff UK2 min read
Your Month July
26th NEXT ISSUE August Photography special On sale 11/7/19 2nd Spoilers if you haven’t seen Avengers: Endgame, but Spider-Man is no longer a pile of dust. In his latest outing we find Peter Parker struggling to come to terms with that death, and real
Stuff UK2 min readTelecommunications
The Alternatives: 3 More Fancy Flagships
What’s the story? We’re all aware of recent Huawei headlines, but that doesn’t stop this seriously shiny handset from being a contender for the Pro phone to own. Glorious OLED visuals, a screen doubling as a speaker, a stupidly powerful CPU, masses o
Stuff UK10 min read
Let’s Talk About Sets
Samsung’s dedication to QLED once felt like it was sticking its fingers in its ears and singing loudly while the rest of the TV world shouted about OLED – the screen technology spearheaded by its rival, LG. Now, it seems like a hand well played. With
Stuff UK2 min read
Mini meme FEED YOUR EARS SOME ROUGHAGE
Although Auntie’s radio output mostly wants to fill your ears with music, the organisation has long pumped out audio news, drama and sport as well. BBC Sounds is dedicated to such material, from live shows to top-notch podcasts. The interface is swis
Stuff UK3 min read
Upvoted Razors
Gillette SkinGuard Sensitive Dragging scratchy steel along your jawline is no way to treat those sweet cheeks. If yours is a sensitive visage, Gillette’s SkinGuard is the way to go: between the blades sits a rubber guard that raises the sharp edges a
Stuff UK2 min read
Fore The Win
£520 / stuff.tv/Forerunner945 ■ The successor to the 935, Garmin’s latest Forerunner gets a chunky, fibre-reinforced polymer plastic shell and super-stretchy silicone strap, which helps keep it comfy. What it doesn’t get is a touchscreen – just butto
Stuff UK2 min readTechnology & Engineering
Hallowed Be Thy Naim
£1299 / stuff.tv/Mu-so2 ■ “This new one looks exactly like the old one! Brilliant!” said no one, ever. And no one ever added, “Great, it’s quite a lot more expensive than the old one too!” But while the second-gen Naim Mu-so looks a lot like the huge
Stuff UK1 min read
Pack To The Future
Vagabond or city slicker, one-bag travel is the ultimate goal. You know, flouncing through the arrivals hall while the sorry masses hoard around the baggage belts. Keen to cut free from checked-in commitments? Make the switch to a single sack with th
Stuff UK2 min read
City Breaks
Those big city lights might inspire you, but sirens all around are enough to spoil your serene state of mind. Need beats to make you feel brand new? These wireless AirPod alternatives aren’t noise-cancelling, but each 7g bud can block most background
Stuff UK2 min read
FESTIVALS & CAMPING
You know all those festival promo videos with carefree souls swaying at sunset as some long-haired bohemian strums away on stage? Strange how they never show anyone drunkenly slinging their smartphone in a swampy puddle, sobbing uncontrollably then t
Stuff UK2 min read
Beach Holidays
No beach retreat is complete without a raft of Instagram uploads, but those standard effects are no way to treat your tropical shots. Do something different with DIY filters: smear lotion on your lens for a dreamier look or stick sand in your camera
Stuff UK2 min read
Backpack Escapes
You’ve got to lose yourself to find yourself, but you don’t need to leave your backpack on a bus to Bogota to discover you don’t deal well with lost belongings. Stay calm and keep track by attaching one of Tile’s Bluetooth pucks to your rucksack. Lau
Stuff UK2 min read
Outdoor Adventures
Face paint and a beret might make you feel like a marine, but no amount of khaki can camouflage your inability to read a compass. Bring your orienteering arsenal up to military spec with Casio’s toughest smart ticker to date. Besides GPS for accurate
Stuff UK3 min read
Instant Upgrades Nikon Z7
ONE Already a Nikon convert? Your expensive F-Mount lenses risk gathering dust when you make the switch to mirrorless. Don’t let that happen – the FTZ Mount Adapter works seamlessly with any Nikkor glass and adds an extra element of smoothness to any
Stuff UK3 min readScience & Mathematics
Taking TV To The Next Level
If you’re in the market for a new telly, you’ll have no doubt heard about QLED and OLED during your search – two rival TV technologies that might sound similar, but are actually very different. Those differences are important to understand, because t
Stuff UK2 min readTelecommunications
A brighter Dre
£220 / stuff.tv/PowerbeatsPro ■ Ever since parent company Apple released its first AirPods in 2016, Beats has been crying out for a pair of truly wireless earbuds to call its own. And so, at last, we have the Powerbeats Pro. ■ The buds and their matt
Stuff UK2 min read
Tech Specs
£200 / stuff.tv/BoseFrames ■ Fed up with having sunglasses and earphones attached to your head? The Bose Frames could be for you. The arms contain an impossibly teeny Bose system that fires sound directly into your ears. There’s a button for pausing
Stuff UK5 min readTelecommunications
Blinded By The Lites
What’s the story? The Pixel 3a is a handset shorn of gimmicks: there’s just the one rear snapper; it’s made from (gasp) plastic instead of glass and metal; and you won’t need a bank loan to buy one. Also rather amazing is the fact that Google has bro
Stuff UK3 min read
Beta Yourself Primephonic
Head to primephonic.com and click Try For Free. You can sign up using Facebook or Google; better, set up a new username. Once you’re done, you’ll be able to stream restriction-free for 14 days – without adding any payment details. Use the web player
Stuff UK3 min read
Mac Of All Trades
It’s an iMac! That’s the feeling you get on freeing the latest iteration of Apple’s 27in desktop from its trapezoid box. Plonk it next to 2017’s model – or even 2015’s (from the front) – and you won’t be able to tell the difference. The case remains
Stuff UK2 min read
Rage 2
Rage 2’s obnoxiousness is baked into its very DNA. It’s unapologetic and uncivilised, stuffed to the gills with lairy lawlessness in a way that comes across as a little bit needy: neon graffiti scuffing up every environment and hot punky pink squirti
Stuff UK2 min read
Blood & Truth
For all the talk of immersion, VR titles have a habit of putting you in the role of a blank avatar, ironically making you more of a cipher merely observing the action. Blood & Truth puts you in the head of a character with real family ties and stakes
Stuff UK2 min read
Everybody’s Golf VR
For a lot of people, the main draw of virtual reality is the way it allows you to live out your daydreams. You can be a character in Star Trek, an Avenger and a Cockney action hero (see opposite) before you make your Saturday morning bacon sandwich.
Stuff UK2 min readTelecommunications
1 Huawei P30 Pro
Huawei’s latest superphone sets a stratospheric benchmark for camera power, with no cost to overall performance. Everything about the design is top-notch, with only screen sharpness failing to hit the very highest marks – at least by Huawei’s own gid
Stuff UK1 min read
1 Apple iPad Pro
The latest iPad Pro isn’t cheap, but it’s a mobile powerhouse like no other, with a diverse and rich app ecosystem, tons of power, a gorgeous screen, and the kind of focus on creativity and productivity that just doesn’t exist on other tablets. If yo
Stuff UK1 min read
1 Data Wing
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 qu
Stuff UK1 min read
1 RHA TrueConnect
Wireless in-ears usually come with compromises. Great sound, poor fit. Great design, no waterproofing. And that’s before we start on the biggest bugbear: connection stability. But the RHA TrueConnects seem to nail all the important stuff, and arguabl
Stuff UK1 min read
1 Sony WH-1000XM3
Sony’s WH-1000 series was already a top performer, and the WH-1000XM3s make for an even more compelling package. With Bluetooth wireless and great noise-cancellation, they’re the ultimate public transport stress killer… well, aside from a chauffeur o
Stuff UK1 min readTelecommunications
1 Apple Watch Series 4
The Apple Watch Series 4 has everything going for it – the larger screen, improved processor and louder speaker mean it’s easier to actually do stuff on it than any previous Watch, and it has a load of health features that just aren’t on other wearab
Stuff UK1 min readTelecommunications
1 Moov Now
Slow and steady wins the race, and the Now has gone on to prove that with a marathon-like pace helping it finally make it to the top of this list. We’ve long considered this tracker a bargain, but further reductions have helped it enter the realm of
Stuff UK2 min read
1 Apple MacBook Pro
While the Touch Bar versions of the MacBook Pro have been treated to an internal shake-up, most notably with speedy 8th-gen Intel Core chips, the basic Pro is still running on last year’s specs. But with a Kaby Lake processor under the hood, this is
Stuff UK2 min read
1 Panasonic FZ802B
As 4K TV prices continue to tumble, there’s been a mad dash from manufacturers to convince the world their OLED panel looks better than everyone else’s. So which one really does? This Panasonic, showcasing one of the best 4K HDR displays on the marke
Stuff UK1 min readTechnology & Engineering
1 Sonos Beam
Sonos’s home cinema gear has always been a little expensive, but with the Beam it’s created a great-value soundbar. It sounds ace, c omes with loads of features and is compact enough to fit into the average living-room AV setup without taking over. I
Stuff UK1 min readComputers
1 Sky Q
Sky Q works flawlessly and could change the way you watch TV – especially now 4K’s arrived. With Sky Movies’ huge range of films and Sky Sports in stunning Ultra HD, along with the new addition of Netflix, there’s something for everyone to treat thei
Stuff UK1 min read
1 Sony PlayStation 4 Pro
As a gaming platform, PlayStation 4 is the best around – which makes the PS4 Pro the best of the best. Games optimised for the new console look stunning on a 4K HDR TV, and are substantially improved by the extra grunt inside this slightly bigger mac
Stuff UK1 min read
1 Sonos One
Making an amazing speaker was an easy job for the multiroom champs, but getting Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant to dance along in time with it… well, that wasn’t such a simple task. But the One is now an altogether more well-rounded device than it was
Stuff UK2 min read
Red Dead Redemption 2
Believable characters, a world to lose yourself in, top-class voice acting and a story that intrigues all the way through. Warts and all, with improvements from other games ignored, this is Rockstar at its most arrogant but also its most powerful. Re
Stuff UK1 min read
1 Lego Boost Creative Toolbox
Building Lego models is already ridiculously good fun, so think what great a time you’ll have when the completed model turns into a functioning robot. With the accompanying tablet app, you can use simple coding to make the robot move, fire projectile
Stuff UK1 min readAutomotive
1 Jaguar I-Pace
Not content with simply making an electric vehicle that can get you from A to B with minimal fuss (and fuel bills), Jaguar has created something desirable, fun to drive and impressively capable when the going gets tough. This car offers Amazon Alexa
Stuff UK1 min read
1 Oculus Quest
The Quest offers all manner of fully interactive, roamable virtual worlds that you can throw in your backpack without a single wire. That’s a mindblowing technical feat. Yes, the battery life is average, but the inside-out tracking and total absence
Stuff UK1 min read
1 Superhot VR
Superhot has found its home in VR – just watch those slow-mo bullets skim the tip of your nose. The enemy will only move when you do, so time your attacks to perfection and dodge, duck and dive to survive. There’s something really cool about hiding b
Stuff UK2 min read
1 Tado Smart Thermostat
It might not be as pretty as the Nest 3.0, but Tado has quietly evolved into the best all-round smart heating system around. Like autopilot for your boiler, it senses when you’re leaving home or coming back thanks to the app’s geolocation. And Tado’s
Stuff UK1 min read
1 DJI Mavic 2 Pro
The Mavic 2 Pro keeps all the good bits of the old Mavic Pro while making genuine improvements in almost every area. Aimed at the enthusiast willing to spend a little more to fly and film a little further, it’s undeniably pricey – but we think said e
Stuff UK1 min readScience & Mathematics
1 Sony DSC-RX100 V
We wouldn’t recommend buying this camera if you already own the old IV model, but a few improvements have ensured Sony remains the top dog in our compacts list – and we’re keeping this model above the newer RX100 VI simply because of the huge price d
Stuff UK2 min read
1 Fujifilm X-T3
It’s really hard to find anything bad to say about the X-T3 – it’s just consistently great in so many ways. Fuji has looked at virtually every feature on the X-T2 and upgraded it. With substantial tweaks made to the pro-level video options, the high-
Stuff UK2 min read
1 SNES Classic Mini
Why bother splashing out over £200 on a games console when you can get the SNES Classic Mini for a fraction of that? Especially when you get 21 classic titles pre-installed on this nostalgia-inducing machine, including the likes of Super Metroid, A L
Stuff UK2 min readTelecommunications
How To Buy A Smartwatch
Just how smart do you want your new smartwatch to be? If ‘Brian Cox smart’ is your answer, you need an Apple or Wear OS watch. These are the only ones with a fat and juicy app store. And only Apple’s really has a hope of getting the pulse racing, if
Stuff UK2 min read
Next-gen Shoe Fittings
Snazzy creps, where can I get a pair? From a different decade to the one you’re living in, clearly. You do realise nobody uses words like ‘snazzy’ in 2019? Anyway, however you want to describe them, what they look like isn’t the important thing here

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