January 2024

Stuff UK

The world's best-selling gadget magazine

Stuff UK1 min read
Welcome
Hello and welcome to our New Year fitness issue. As you’d expect, we’ve picked out some incredible tech, apparel and equipment for the coming months. Naturally we’ve covered wintry activities like skiing, but there’s also some top swimming gear (whet
Stuff UK1 min read
Stuff UK
Head of Investment Mike Pyatt (01732 442243) mike@talk-media.uk Production Executive Nadia Wojcik (01732 447007) nadia@talk-media.uk Chief Executive Steve Wright Chief Operating Officer Phil Weeden Publishing Director Oswin Grady Subscription Directo
Stuff UK4 min read
Hot Stuff
Humane AI Pin Most phones these days go really big on screen. In fact, most are pretty much all screen. If you buy a folding one you’ll even get two screens, but Humane’s AI Pin takes things in completely the opposite direction. The only ‘screen’ her
Stuff UK3 min read
Sing When You’re Wiiming
£299/wiimhome.com WiiM’s new streaming amplifier might look like a knock-off Mac Mini, but it has big potential Amplifiers with built-in streaming skills will often set you back the best part of a grand (or more), which is just one of the things that
Stuff UK2 min read
Stream
In a month where murder, war, mayhem and crime dominate the streaming releases – well, yes, that is pretty much the same as every month – here’s a mouth-cleansing sorbet (but for your eyes and ears): a sweet Japanese stop-motion series about a lady w
Stuff UK2 min read
Ayaneo Retro Mini PC Am01
from $200/ayaneo.com This ‘I Know What a Macintosh Classic Looks Like’ medal can go back in its box, then. But those who don’t have a brain like a computing hall of fame, or weren’t around when Apple released its famous all-in-one computer in 1990, m
Stuff UK1 min read
News Feed
Grand Theft Auto VI has finally been announced – but you’re going to be waiting a long time to actually play it. Set in Vice City and the wider Leonida area – Rockstar’s fictional versions of Miami and Florida – it’s not due to be released on PS5 and
Stuff UK3 min read
First Play Persona 3 Reload
Persona is one of the biggest role-playing game franchises to have emerged from Japan. These games revolve around a group of students banding together to fight shadows from a parallel dimension while often also challenging corrupt adults in society,
Stuff UK3 min read
Polestar Synergy ORIGINAL SYN
The Synergy might be just a wild concept for now, but it is real and was recently showcased at the inaugural Polestar Day. Held inside a cavernous hangar in Los Angeles, this event also saw the Swedish manufacturer preview several new production mode
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DROP EVERYTHING & DOWNLOAD
Android/£1.99/m Android users have long been made to feel like second-class citizens by Apple’s refusal to let them join the iMessage party, marking them out to iPhone owners with those telltale green text bubbles. But now their cellular shame could
Stuff UK3 min read
STUFF MEETS Cyril Dupuy
Vaonis was founded in 2016 in Montpellier, where I was born, but the idea of a smart telescope came to me a few years before that when I was an optics and aerospace student. My passion for astronomy started after a visit to the Nice Observatory durin
Stuff UK1 min read
Win A Proofvision Smart Bathroom TV Worth £1280!
Fancy watching Corrie in the bath without having to risk balancing your iPad on the mixer tap? Treat yourself to the ultimate bathroom luxury with a 24in bathroom TV (RRP £1280) from ProofVision, courtesy of this month’s competition. Combining modern
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SUBSCRIBE, SAVE & GET A PAIR OF JLAB IN-EARS!
Pay just £44.99 for 13 issues Get a set of JBuds Mini earbuds Have each issue delivered directly to your door Never miss an issue of the world’s greatest gadget mag Pay only £34.99 every year: simply select ‘digital only’ Pay just £2.69 per issue Rea
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All I Have To Do Is Stream
Sony is no stranger to handheld gaming, but the first thing to say about the PlayStation Portal is that it isn’t a console in its own right. This is not the Vita 2. Essentially just an 8in tablet with two halves of a DualSense controller stuck on eit
Stuff UK2 min read
The Alternatives: 3 More Handheld Heroes
£330/logitechg.com This Android-powered handheld for cloud gaming doesn’t care which console you have – or even if you have a console at all. It’s got Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now apps built in, plus Play Store access for downloading thir
Stuff UK3 min read
Upvoted torches
Besides showing you the way, tactical torches are designed to dazzle ruffians. Take this little light fantastic: just 8.1cm long, it has a switch that lets you adjust brightness levels for normal usage… but bop the button on the back and you’ll get a
Stuff UK2 min read
The Best Is Sweat To Come
A set of weights is one of the simplest and most affordable pieces of gym equipment. But weights are bulky and oh so analogue, which is where the app-connected, algorithm-driven Vitruvian Trainer steps in. This carbon fibre platform uses algorithmic
Stuff UK3 min read
Home Gym
Get your own bargain plunge pool and enjoy the recovery-boosting, mind-stimulating benefits of ice-cold water. This inflatable one is suitable for people up to 6ft 7in. £80 / polar-recovery.com These recovery slides are made from eco-friendly injecti
Stuff UK3 min read
Actual Gym
Despite spending a healthy (enough) amount of time in gyms, I’d never really considered the need for a dedicated gym training shoe. But after spending some time with the TriBase Reign 5, I can appreciate the benefit of the added support – especially
Stuff UK3 min read
Running
This app is a running coach in your pocket, designed to get you through plans for everything from your first 5km to Ultra Marathons with motivation and loads of useful stats. £15.99/m / Android, iOS Obviously tighten the lid before you start your rec
Stuff UK3 min read
Hiking
I’ve been wearing this Garmin for four months. It’s a huge, but hugely impressive, all-action premium smartwatch. There’s barely a sport or activity it can’t track, the heart-rate and GPS tracking is accurate, and there’s a dizzying amount of health
Stuff UK3 min read
Swimming
Keeping your extremities warm will enable a more comfortable and enjoyable swim in cold water. These neoprene gloves will keep you warm and agile thanks to their ace craftsmanship. £55 / c-skins.com These booties provide maximum insulation for feet w
Stuff UK3 min read
Winter Sports
Slash is Austrian freeride legend Gigi Ruf’s vision of what snowboarding should look like. The ATV is his board of choice… and if you’re an experienced rider who loves pushing hard from first lift to last, this directional twin all-mountain fun machi
Stuff UK2 min read
Squinter Wonder Land
Monsters get a bad rep, mostly because of their tendency to go GRAARHHH and eat people. Not this one – it just wants to build snowmen. The snag: all the snow sits inside claustrophobic gardens surrounded by hedges. To make the snowmen, you must caref
Stuff UK3 min read
I’m Handy, Fly Me
from £689 / go.stuff.tv/Mini4Pro It’s only been 18 months since the Mini 3 Pro landed, but DJI has already given its snack-sized quadcopter several camera and usability upgrades for the Mini 4 Pro… and without raising the price too much. The model on
Stuff UK3 min read
INSTANT UPGRADES iPHONE 15 PRO MAX
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the ultimate iOS gaming phone with its mighty A17 Pro chip, making it a perfect match for this gamepad. Get the PlayStation Edition if you’re big on PS Remote Play, and the standard one for Xbox or on-device gaming. You’ll ne
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Missed An Issue Of Stuff?
ORDER ONLINE AT GO.STUFF.TV/BACKISSUES Call the hotline: 01959 543747 Hours: Mon-Fri 8.30am-5.30pm (calls charged at your standard network rate) ■
Stuff UK2 min read
Portable Smart Lamps
This is a simple indoor wireless lamp with a rechargeable battery and a nice soft handle for carrying around your home. Control it using your phone or voice assistant, or via the touch panel. The headline feature here is its flexibility with colours:
Stuff UK3 min read
808 Statement
£1299 / go.stuff.tv/OLED808 Given that last year’s OLED807 was pretty much universally acclaimed as one of the best pound-for-pound OLED TV ranges ever produced, this new Philips OLED808 has a lot to live up to. While that’s not an enviable task for
Stuff UK3 min read
Deck’s On Fire
from £479 / go.stuff.tv/DeckOLED Two years ago, the original Steam Deck conjured up a whole bunch of emotions. I was thrilled by its power and usability, slightly underwhelmed by its display, terrified of its size, and frankly appalled by its battery
Stuff UK2 min read
Borne Flippy
£430 / go.stuff.tv/AcePro ■ The Ace Pro has a touch-based interface: you tap on-screen icons to bring up various menus and tool-tips, and swipe to access recorded content and settings. It’s fairly intuitive – but there are also gesture and voice cont
Stuff UK3 min read
Tech Titans Amazon
The original Kindle sold out in hours, yet it never went beyond the US. That’s just as well, because it was bonkers – like a deranged prototype that had fled the labs at Bezos Towers. Its display was rubbish. The navigation, which used an oddball scr
Stuff UK2 min read
Baby Cam On Home
With no viewfinder, taking photos can be a bit hit-and-miss. There’s a detachable ring in the box that can be used for basic framing (and as a handle), but you’ll have to compensate for the fact that it sits higher than the lens’s eyeline. The shutte
Stuff UK8 min read
I Believe In Mirrorless
This is a natural successor to the D850 and an exciting upgrade for Nikon fans. It’s the tenth Z-mount camera, and the seventh with a full-frame sensor, featuring all the power of the flagship Z9 in a smaller, cheaper body. It’s at least 400g and £10
Stuff UK3 min read
My Heart Will Go On
from £799 / go.stuff.tv/SurfGo3 Microsoft’s affordable Surface laptop has entered its third generation. And while little has changed from its predecessor the Laptop Go 2, the Go 3 is a very different machine. Both configurations use the same low-volt
Stuff UK3 min read
Beta Yourself mobile Gaming
Resident Evil Village on an iPhone is a great technical feat, but it’s horrible to play without a controller – and not ideal with one. For some titles, then, it’s best to stick with a console or PC. So rather than replicating your console experience
Stuff UK3 min read
M3 Your Pockets
from £1399 / go.stuff.tv/iMacM3 Apple’s MacBooks might only be available in dull ‘computery’ hues like black and silver, but 2023’s sleek new desktop marries the colour explosion from the original iMacs of the late 1990s with a modern skinny frame. A
Stuff UK2 min read
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
If you saw the name of Call of Duty’s latest war-fest and thought it sounded familiar, that’s because it is. Modern Warfare III is a reimagining of a 12-year-old game, updated for today’s graphical expectations and geopolitical realities. It puts you
Stuff UK2 min read
Super Mario RPG
Super Mario RPG was originally released on the SNES in 1996 (though not in Europe); and while it’s been re-released here multiple times, it’s never enjoyed the full remake treatment… until now. Taking Mario outside of the Mushroom Kingdom and beyond
Stuff UK1 min read
Order Our Next Issue Now And Get It Delivered Direct
ON SALE 19 JAN Pay the normal shop price and get the next issue delivered direct to your door ORDER ONLINE AT SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK OR CALL NOW ON 01959 543747 Terms and conditions apply. UK delivery costs £2.75. Order by 8 Jan; you should receive your c
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Top Ten Of Everything
NEW Straight outta testing and into our rankings. HOT BUY A product of techy genius that’s set our hearts aflame. BARGAIN BUY A proper steal. Worth owning regardless of cashflow. UPDATE Time changes everything, including Stuff Top Ten entries. HOW TO
Stuff UK1 min read
In-ears
HOT BUY £219 / go.stuff.tv/WFXM5 The WF-1000XM5 in-ears are significantly smaller than the XM4s, which were themselves a whole lot more compact than their predecessors. And yet Sony has still squeezed even larger drivers inside each earbud, along wit
Stuff UK1 min read
Over-ears
HOT BUY £315 / go.stuff.tv/WHXM5 Nobody was able to displace Sony’s WH-1000XM4 headphones from the top of this list for two years… yet the latest model manages to be even better. Key to the XM5s’ overall quality is the new carbon-fibre composite 30mm
Stuff UK2 min read
Smartphones
HOT BUY from £1199 / go.stuff.tv/15ProMax This is the best iPhone Apple has ever made. The camera revisions are great, USB-C was long overdue but is fantastic now it’s here, and the action button is genuinely useful. It’s probably only worth upgradin
Stuff UK1 min read
Smartwatches
HOT BUY from £219 / go.stuff.tv/WatchSE The SE is easily the best-value Apple Watch, even without the £40 price-drop prompted by the arrival of the Series 9. It tracks sleep and all the exercise you need, supports Apple Pay, works great with your iPh
Stuff UK1 min read
Fitness Tech
HOT BUY £630 / go.stuff.tv/1040Solar Ideal for multi-day adventures and training camps, the Edge 1040 Solar harnesses the sun’s power for a massive 45hrs of riding time on one charge. It has all the mapping, navigation and training firepower you’ll e
Stuff UK2 min read
TVs
HOT BUY £1699 / go.stuff.tv/OLED907 It’s no one’s idea of a bargain, but nevertheless the 55OLED907 will be money well spent for even mild telly addicts. For once, here’s a TV with audio quality that truly matches its image quality – and be in no dou
Stuff UK2 min read
Laptops
HOT BUY from £1149 / go.stuff.tv/AirM2 With its super-powered M2 processor, the latest version of Apple’s ‘basic’ laptop leaves the M1 model – an excellent machine in its own right – in the dust. This revamp redefines the Air in a meaningful way, set
Stuff UK1 min read
Soundbars
HOT BUY £1799 / go.stuff.tv/AmbeoMax Utterly convincing Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D sound, ample power and lots of inputs mean no other soundbar currently available can perform sonic feats with the solidity and confidence of this Sennheiser. The sheer r
Stuff UK1 min read
Tablets
HOT BUY from £669 / go.stuff.tv/iPadAir 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 latest A
Stuff UK1 min read
Streamers
HOT BUY from £19/m + setup / go.stuff.tv/SkyStream Functionality-wise, it’s hard to find fault with this little puck. The basic package seems a little pricey compared to a subscription to Sky’s £10/m Now Entertainment deal, which gets you access to m
Stuff UK1 min read
Consoles
£390 / go.stuff.tv/PS5 The PS5 is not a modest upgrade. Its hulking design means it’ll make a bad first impression on some (although the incoming slimmed-down design will help), but spend time playing it and it’ll soon win you over. This is essential
Stuff UK2 min read
Games
HOT BUY £45 / Switch How do you follow a classic that not only tore up the Zelda rulebook but set a new gold standard for open-world game design? You go large – very large indeed. If you lost weeks of your life to Breath of the Wild, prepare for a bi
Stuff UK2 min read
Speakers
HOT BUY £449 / go.stuff.tv/Move2 The ‘2’ means our favourite speaker is now even better. Sonos has upgraded the Move in the areas that matter most – sound quality and battery life, the latter of which has more than doubled. Our only criticisms are ab
Stuff UK1 min read
E-bikes
HOT BUY £1599 / go.stuff.tv/Uni4 This urban e-bike is designed to be as maintenance-free as possible, with no gears, integrated lights, and a hub that swaps the oily chain for a nice clean belt. The non-removable battery might make it a poor choice f
Stuff UK1 min read
Electric Cars
HOT BUY from £45,245 / go.stuff.tv/EV6 This Korean crossover arrived with a properly head-turning design and a roomy cabin packed with tech features, including dynamic AR navigation graphics that make it virtually impossible to go the wrong way. It’l
Stuff UK2 min read
Smart Home
HOT BUY £110 / go.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 access
Stuff UK1 min read
DRONES & ACTION CAMS
HOT BUY £340 / go.stuff.tv/Hero12 The Hero12 Black is a fantastic first action camera and a solid upgrade for anyone with a Hero9 or earlier. GoPro has brought back the same sensor first introduced on the Hero11 Black but made it even easier to use,
Stuff UK1 min read
VR Headsets
HOT BUY £249 / go.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 comfy build – and the fantastic Be
Stuff UK2 min read
Cameras
HOT BUY £1599 / go.stuff.tv/XT5 Fujifilm’s most popular compact system camera gets a sensor upgrade while keeping up tradition everywhere else. This means you’re getting identical stills performance to the more modern X-H2, while retaining the old X-
Stuff UK2 min read
Rim Blackberry 850
Now yer talking. This one had a proper keyboard, unlike your newfangled phones. Yes – and that was a big deal at the time. The BlackBerry 850 was tiny, yet had all the keys you needed to rapidly smash out messages – even if you did sometimes wish you
Stuff UK2 min read
Budget Buys
HOT BUY from £55 / go.stuff.tv/Dot5 The latest Dot offers improved sound quality over the 4th Gen model. Not surprisingly given its size, it still doesn’t have the heft of a full-scale Echo, but this Dot is more than good enough for bedside table or

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