Indholdsfortegnelse for Winter 2018 i T3 Australia

Each year the Big Apple is host to the most legendary car show around, and this year’s New York International Auto Show has more than 1,000 vehicles on display over four floors. There’s an eclectic mix of metal, from burly muscle cars to electric concepts, and there’s even a few family wagons thrown in. Of course, when we say family wagons, what we mean is Audi’s brand-new 331kW RS5 Sportback (it’s got four seats and a big boot, duh), which is the wilder version of the regular S5 Sportback, complete with oodles of carbon fibre, an irresponsible amount of power and four-wheel drive. Want more space, and speed? There’s Maserati’s take on the mega SUV: the Levante Trofeo. Obviously it’s a huge hunk of metal, but it also has a…

Paranoid about losing your possessions? Bontag has the solution with its wide selection of arty trackable stickers, tags and labels that can be used on smartphones, suitcases, laptops, wallets and sports equipment. Each Bontag security sticker, label or tag has a unique ID code, along with the message “If found, go to bontag.com. Reward given”. Bontag will then call you (or your chosen contact) to arrange safe return of your lost gear, which you can then track. Bontag also provides the reward for the good samaritan who finds your stuff. The cost of the self-adhesive labels (from $6.60, bontag.com) includes Lifetime Alerts for each individual item you stick a label or tag to.…

MSR WINDBURNER STOVE SYSTEM For cooking on a windy beach or mountain slope, MSR’s windproof radiant burner and pressure regulator are ideal. The stove system also comes with a ceramic-coated 2.5 litre sauce pot and handy eight-inch skillet. $249.82, msrgear.com LEATHERMAN SQUIRT PS4 It’s illegal (possibly) to go camping without a penknife or multi-tool. Leatherman’s stainless steel beast boasts nine tools, including bottle opener, scissors and knife, to open, cut and prep food in your campsite kitchen. $84.95, leatherman.com.au HELINOX TABLE ONE Avoid chopping a hole in your leg as you dice those vegetables for dinner with this lightweight (638g) collapsible table. Two cup holders should prevent annoying spills, but if one does occur, the table’s strong mesh is easy to clean. $128, helinox.com.au…

I, TONYA A vicious black comedy telling the story of ice figure skater Tonya Harding that’s billed as “totally true”. This tell-all mixes (fake) vox pops with more conventional scenes. HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE The BAFTA-winning and darkly decadent Hellblade has just been released on Xbox. Join a quest to the underworld and soak up the gruesome sights. CHUCHEL This PC adventure puts you in charge of a fuzzy furball on his journey to find a cherry. Playful and unapologetically surreal, it feels like it’s been plucked from the head of Terry Gilliam.…

DOPPEL A case of winter blues can become SAD when stress enters the mix, so use Doppel to keep stress levels in check. It does this by creating a silent vibration on your wrist, the slow rhythm of which encourages you to take a few breaths when you’re agitated and find your inner zen. US$179 ($238), feeldoppel.com LIFX MINI DAY & DUSK LIGHTS Creating customisable schedules of warm lighting in your home can mimic natural dusk and dawn patterns regardless of how little daylight winter offers, helping you to maintain a sleep routine. LIFX’s lights are ideal for single rooms or whole-house coverage. From $44.99, lifx.com.au TELSTRA SMART THERMOSTAT UK health professionals say staying warm can reduce winter blues by half. Telstra’s Smart Thermostat enables you…

FENIX PD32 TACTICAL If you’re going to a country known for its startling darkness, a torch is a must-have. No, you can’t rely on the bulb on your smartphone. Handily, this best-in-class flashlight from Fenix can shine super bright at 900 lumens, and lasts up to 10 hours and 25 minutes on its medium setting. $99.95, brightnite.com.au GORILLAPOD FOCUS Built for DSLR cameras, the GorillaPod Focus Tripod is tiny and super flexible, which means it’s ideal for capturing still images almost anywhere, as well as long exposure shots, without carrying around a big tripod or bulky equipment. $249.95, joby.com SOREL MEN’S CARIBOU WOOL Sorel’s Caribou Wool boots manage to do something unheard of; they’re durable, waterproof and look good. With a full grain leather upper and…

hen you think of the next generation of TVs, your mind immediately goes to 4K, and with the new and improved format offering four times the amount of pixels as regular Full HD it’s easy to see why. 4K is certainly a big step forward in the detail stakes, but there’s another technology that’s arrived alongside it that offers almost as big a step forward for picture quality. That technology’s name? High dynamic range. While 4K (also known as Ultra HD) offers more in the way of pixels, HDR’s focus is on improving the quality of individual pixels. If you’re buying a new 4K TV that doesn’t have it, you’re missing out on almost half of the benefits of the next generation of television. WHAT IS HDR? Thankfully, the benefits…

So you’ve got your shiny new HDR-enabled TV – what should you start watching? Thankfully, there’s enough HDR content out there in 2018 that you don’t have to watch something just because it supports HDR. Plenty of the bigger TV shows and movies that have been released over the past couple of years support it, so the challenge is more about finding content that makes the most of HDR rather than simply including it as part of the package. In terms of TV shows, both Amazon Prime Instant Video and Netflix have committed to producing their original shows in HDR, so you have plenty of options. The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime is a great showcase. It turns out that its expensive cars look even better on expensive tellies. Our…

Everybody knows Fitbit for its fitness trackers, but now it’s moving up to fitness-tracking smartwatches too. With the Fitbit Ionic it’s produced a hybrid device that does the smartwatch essentials (ie, telling the time and sending notifications), makes it fun to track steps and sleep, then adds extra in-depth fitness tracking. It’s not really like an Apple Watch; it’s more akin to Garmin’s hardcore Forerunner 645 Music. Hero or zero? The Ionic wants to be iconic, design-wise, and it’s certainly, er, distinctive. The square face means you have to be quite careful in choosing from the plethora of colour/strap combinations. Go for muted tones and it looks quite striking; the more garish combos are a bit too striking. Made from aluminium, it’s lighter than many rivals and the plastic and…

If you’re looking for the very best tech available today, you have definitely come to the right place. Best of the Best is the most useful gadget-buying guide you will ever encounter. To create it, we’ve ruthlessly filtered down to the biggest groups, to bring you rock-solid recommendations for your home life, daily commute and the tech you use all the time. Within each of those groups, we’ve got a dozen categories for key tech buys. We’ve picked one product for every category that we think is the best you can get on balance, taking into account price, quality and features, so it’s easy to know what you need in your life. You should also check out T3.com, where you’ll find even more categories, if you’re looking for something that…

Some tequilas are made to be pounded, wedge of lime in salty hand. Some are perfect bedfellows for cocktails. Precious few are so damn exclusive you’re content to simply sniff their honeyed fumes and admire their warm golden hues before finally taking a nectarous sip. The Serie 2 is one of the precious few, an exceptional blend of the rarest Patrón tequilas, aged for eight years in a combination of American oak, French oak and sherry barrels to produce heavenly notes of sweet honey, fruit and light agave. Presented in a crystal decanter handmade by Lalique, and handcrafted at the Hacienda Patrón distillery in Jalisco, Mexico, Patrón’s exclusive, 40 per cent alcohol Serie 2 delivers a long-lasting finish and is best enjoyed neat, served in a tequila flute or snifter.…

Winter is here, and it’s one of those seasons that encourages people to hunker down indoors. We’ve got you covered whether you want to hibernate, escape it, or – even smarter – beat it! For those who want to hibernate and make the most of the long dark nights, we have our mega guides to the best 4K setup, from Blu-ray to barn-storming sound systems and the all-important display. A great home cinema is nothing without something to watch, so we’ve also compiled the top TV shows and movies you’ll find on streaming services and disc to make the most of your tech. If you’d rather escape it, check out our extensive travel feature that shows off the best places to go and sights to see – plus the essential…

ZUS SMART CAR FINDER AND CHARGER This simple gadget acts as both in-car charger – supplying juice for up to two devices simultaneously – and vehicle finder, enabling you to retrieve the previous location of your wheels by using the companion smartphone app. $49, nonda.co OBDII CAR GPS TRACKER This box of tricks plugs into your car’s OBD port and relays a wealth of info to your phone. GPS shows you the location of your motor, even if it’s moving at the time, and geofencing sends an alert if the vehicle leaves a certain prescribed area. $67.95, dealiotronics.com TRACK MY RIDE Want to lock down who can drive your motor? This tracker comes with keyfobs that must be scanned before the car starts, and will keep tabs on the whereabouts…

SOLGAARD LIFEPACK Live like a digital nomad with the Solgaard Lifepack, a roomy backpack with three-in-one power bank, Bluetooth speakers and a solar charger. It’s comfortable to wear, sturdy, water resistant, and designed with secret pockets. It even has a decent travel lock to fend off pickpockets. US$269 ($357), solgaard.co ECEEN SOLAR POWERED FLASHLIGHT Did you forget to pack batteries for your torch? Camping fail! That wouldn’t happen to you if you’re sleeping out with Eceen’s solar flashlight, which can be charged via the built-in solar panel or USB cable. It also has a range of 20 metres, so no more tripping over tent pegs in the dark for you. $23, eceen.com POWER MONKEY EXTREME Stay charged up whether you’re scaling a mountain or are deep in the bush. The…

fter a 10-year absence, F1 returns to France this European summer when the French Grand Prix takes place at the Circuit Paul Ricard, near Marseille in Provence. And if Daniel Ricciardo fancies a slightly less intense drive afterwards, we’ve got the ultimate road trip – the Route Napoleon. This spectacular journey links Golfe Juan and Grenoble, and winds through two of the country’s prettiest regions: Provence-Alps-Côte d’Azur and Rhône-Alpes. It follows part of the 324-kilometre route taken by Napoleon and his men in 1815, when the exiled French statesman marched from Elba to Grenoble. Equally spectacular (although in a castles, not coastline, sense) is the Romantische Strasse (Romantic Road), which passes through southern Germany. Highlights include the dramatic Neuschwanstein Castle (Disneyland’s version was based on this 19th century fortress) and…

KINDLE OASIS Built for the beach, the Kindle Oasis is waterproof and super light, and its high-resolution, seven-inch display looks just like printed paper. That means there’s absolutely no glare – even in the hot, tropical sun. $389, amazon.com.au POWERVISION POWERRAY UNDERWATER DRONE If you want to explore magical realms under the sea but don’t fancy diving, this underwater robot from PowerRay can dive for up to four hours down to depths of 30m, so you can capture footage with its 4K camera. $2,860, riseabove.com.au CGEAR SAND-FREE MULTIMAT If you love the beach but can’t stand the way sand gets everywhere, this mat is for you. It’s specially constructed so that when sand lands on its surface, it falls straight through the mesh and out of…

ulture vultures are flocking to Poland, and the capital, Warsaw, now holds even more appeal, because March saw the opening of the five-star Raffles Europejski. Raffles’ newest property opened in the cobbled historic district, next to the Presidential Palace. Nearby attractions include the Historical Museum of Warsaw and the Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature, a tribute to Poland’s greatest writer. For an additional culture fix, head over the border to the German city of Hamburg, officially known as the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (try saying that with a mouthful of bratwurst). Its name reflects its historical importance to the Hanseatic League, founded in the 14th century by north German towns and merchant communities abroad to protect their trading interests. Learn more about Germany’s biggest port with a visit…

01 HDR10: THE BASELINE HDR10 is the minimum HDR standard you should look for. It’s the most widely available, and also includes support for 10-bit colour and wide colour gamut, meaning images using it have more vibrant hues, as well as better brightness management. Image performance is solid, but it uses static metadata, meaning dark and brightness levels are set for the whole video – see the next box for why that’s a bit basic. A new version, HDR10+, is on the way to fix that. 02 DOLBY VISION: THE PREMIUM CONTENDER Dolby Vision includes everything from HDR10 along with nice extras, such as dynamic metadata and 12-bit colour. The former offers scene-by-scene HDR mastering, meaning instead of a brightness level being set based on an average of the whole…

ZIVIX JAMSTIK+ After connecting ‘the world’s first smart guitar’ wirelessly to your smartphone or laptop, you can delve into a variety of apps to hone your skills. What’s more, this is one guitar that never needs tuning. $368, JamStik.com APPLE iPAD PRO When you’re learning to play with the aid of apps (like JamTutor for the JamStik+), you’ll need a smart device to download them to. The iPad Pro’s screen provides generous real estate for lessons. From $979, apple.com/au KEF SPACE ONE These over-ear Bluetooth cans are designed by Porsche, and it shows. Opulent comfort combines with high-end sound quality to give you the perfect accessory. You can also use them with cables. $599, au.kef.com ROLAND TD-1KV An ergonomic electronic drum kit packing 15 different digital drum sets. This will…

01 TAP TO SET UP Before you begin setting up HomePod, make sure your iOS version is up to date. Do this on your iPhone or iPad in Settings > General > Software Update. Once this has completed, tap your iPhone or iPad against the HomePod to start setup. It will automatically recognise your device - tap ‘Set up’ to begin the process. 02 FINISH INSTALLING Choose where your HomePod is going to live – select an area from the list – and if you’re not already signed up for Apple Music, an option to try it will appear. You can ignore this for now, by tapping ‘Not Now’. Tap ‘OK’ on the next screen, tap ‘Transfer Settings’ and your HomePod will finish setup. Tap ‘Done’ on the last screen.…

We already have robots that cut the grass, do the vacuuming and order our groceries. Now comes a brigade of bots to help us sleep. The most popular of these is the Somnox (€499/$763, somnox.nl), a cuddlesome sleep companion that claims to help you sleep faster, for longer. How? By regulating your breathing – the pillow breathes, encouraging you to breathe at a relaxed pace – and cocooning you in soothing sounds. With the global sleep aid market estimated to reach $76.7 billion by 2019, other sleep robots abound. The Sleep Number 360 sleepnumber.com) smart bed is, in essence, a giant sleep robot, being completely geared to regulate your body temperature, beat snoring by gently turning you over, and keeps you comfortable in the night.…

$1,099 huawei.com/au SPECIFICATIONS OS Android 8.1 Oreo Screen 6.1-inch 1080x2244 Processor Kirin 970 RAM 6GB Storage 128GB Camera 40MP wide-angle, 8MP telephoto, 20MP B&W, 24MP front Battery 4,000mAh Dimensions 155x73.9x7.8mm Weight 180g Having shunned its budget image, Huawei is carving out a solid reputation for offering Apple-like hardware with Android software at a premium price. Of course, that price has to be justified with features, and the P20 Pro has quite the showpiece: a triple-sensor Leica camera system. Oh, and its beautiful gradient colour finishes that shift in the light. Familiar face In the rest of the design, there’s no getting around there being a whiff of an iPhone X to the look, though you get a big 6.1-inch screen (with notch) here. That sounds huge, but Huawei has really…

Last year, Apple introduced its cheapest non-Mini iPad ever, the $469 iPad 5th-gen. It came with no bells or whistles, but also few flaws. It was a fast, slick, well-built machine for a great price that makes for an ideal entertainment tablet to have lying around the house. A year later, it’s still more than good enough for that job, yet Apple has given us a new version. More is less So what improvements has it made? Well, barely any, actually. The new iPad now supports Apple Pencil – the company’s own (very impressive) stylus – and has a faster Apple A10 processor. The price has also flatlined for the base version. If you bought last year’s model this one isn’t worth splashing out for, but if you’re upgrading or…

OLED 4K TV SONY A1 SERIES Incredible 4K HDR is only a tiny part of this awesome package. The panel (55- or 65-inch) and bezel are super-slim, it offers lightning response times, and great sound comes from a screen that’s also a speaker. From $4,999, sony.com.au TOP-END 4K TV LG SIGNATURE W7 This is the most amazing-looking 4K HDR TV we’ve ever seen at just 2.57mm thick (it attaches to the wall using magnets!), and the image quality is simply fantastic too. A shape of what’s to come. $13,499 lg.com VALUE 4K BLU-RAY PLAYER XBOX ONE S Yes, this is primarily a games console, but it’s a damn good UHD Blu-ray player too. Why pay more for something that just plays discs when you could be…

ANDROID PHONE SAMSUNG GALAXY S9 Samsung’s super-slick smartphone is the most refined Android experience to date. An excellent camera, gorgeous Infinity Display screen and some smart exclusive features make for a truly fantastic phone. From $1,199, samsung.com MID-RANGE PHONE HUAWEI NOVA 2i Coming in at half the price of a flagship phone, this is truly a hidden gem. It looks great, with minimal bezels, and its cost completely belies its specs – especially its excellent dual cameras, front and rear. $499, huawei.com SMARTWATCH APPLE WATCH SERIES 3 Nothing in the smartwatch market does more than the Apple Watch, and this third generation can do it all without a tethered phone – perfect for keeping your life in order whatever you happen to be doing. From $459,…

T3’s mission is to help you find the best products for every area of your tech lifestyle. From traditional gadget buys like phones and TVs to connected home security and sports sensors, if it can make your life better, we’re here to make sure you get the right one for you. The products we feature are chosen by our expert writers, with years of experience in their key areas. We wouldn’t recommend something we wouldn’t be happy to live with ourselves – the tat is filtered out long before we print a page. This goes for reviews too – you won’t us wasting your time with products you don’t need to know about. More than that, our aim is to make sure you get the most out of the things…

FORTIGIS AI PRIVACY & SECURITY VPN ROUTER Worried about hackers targeting your connected home? This wireless VPN router controls who can see your data, and ensures all traffic is private and safe. US$385 ($509.20), indiegogo.com Q&C NANO Give ocean-killing plastic bottles the heave-ho and invest in the world’s smallest and smartest water cooler and purifier. The Wi-Fi- and Bluetooth-enabled Nano provides instant hot and cold water at the press of a button. US$739 ($977.27), qcwatercoolers.com…

GaGu just had to take time out of his day and use up precious self-promotion space from the Magic Box to tell you about the GoBone. It’s the world’s first SmartBone. Isn’t that just fantastic? $180 worth of rubbery electronics that you control with your smartphone to befuddle your hound. You don’t even have to be there – you can set it to annoy your dog on a schedule. But that doesn’t matter, because the fun will only last until your dog destroys it. Judging by the Amazon comments, this will happen within minutes of the Kickstarted nonsense-machine entering its enthusiastic jaws. You may have noticed that Ol’ Lovable Uncle Guru is a tad angry this issue. It’s not you, reader (well, it probably is a bit) but a combination…

Winter brings with it shorter days, less sunshine and a duller sun. If you feel less interested in activities, your appetite changes and you want to sleep more, you could be suffering from the ‘winter blues’, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The latter is the more severe of the two – but how do you know if you’re suffering from the winter blues or a form of SAD? Helen Hanson, Chair of the Seasonal Affective Disorder Association (SADA) charity, describes winter blues as a milder expression of SAD, the latter now recognised medically as a form of depression. “Lack of light causes SAD,” explains Helen. “This lack of light creates a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain which regulates many bodily functions. This explains why SAD…

NINTENDO SWITCH Nintendo’s latest release is kind of a big deal, because it makes the console-quality gaming experience portable in a compact and colourful design that will keep gamers entertained whether you’re in the living room, the back of a car, on a plane, or at a beach. $469, nintendo.com.au TOMTOM GO 520 Location tech specialist TomTom brings us the Go 520, a state-of-the-art sat nav boasting worldwide mapping smarts, a built-in SIM card and Wi-Fi connectivity, so you’re always in the know about routes and traffic when you’re on the go. $299, tomtom.com HUAWEI E5770 4G MOBILE WI-FI If the thought of not having internet access to entertain the kids on your next road trip makes you feel queasy, you need the Huawei E5770. It…

Sometimes, the post-Christmas fallout leaves you wanting to get as far away from people as possible. If that’s you, forget the fairy lights and focus on the Northern Lights with a trip to Lapland – but don’t worry, you won’t find annoyingly perky elves or ruddy-cheeked Santas at the particular destination we’re recommending. At the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort in Finnish Lapland, you can spend the night in a cosy glass igloo, allowing you to admire the Northern Lights without stepping outside. We’re also huge fans of Sweden’s Icehotel, which became a permanent fixture in 2016. This year’s version will have 35 suites, an ice bar and an ice ceremony hall, and you’ll be able to sign up for Northern Lights snowmobile tours and arctic yoga lessons. Although a word of…

Pack smarter and capture the sights with our top picks OLYMPUS OM-D E-M10 MARK III Picking a travel camera isn’t easy. This compact system camera from Olympus is our pick thanks to its top image quality, five-axis image stabilisation and shooting up to 8.6fps. It’s stylish and small enough to carry all day. $949, olympus.com.au FENIX 5X Like many of Garmin’s products, the Fenix 5X is a state-of-the-art multi-sports tracker. But what sets it apart from the rest is its preloaded European mapping smarts, for easy navigation from your wrist without fiddling around with paper. $999, buy.garmin.com iPAD 6TH GEN Keep yourself occupied on the plane with the latest iPad that boasts a big, high-res display, ideal for an in-flight movie or TV show binge. Pair…

01 SONY A1E A phenomenal OLED screen and Sony’s class-leading image processing and upscaling tech create the ultimate 4K picture. Topnotch speaker smarts make it sound great. From $4,999, sony.com.au 02 OPPO UDP-203 This Ultra HD Blu-ray player is perfect for your favourite movies – the 4K playback quality is second to none, and it supports Dolby Vision HDR. $949, oppodigital.com.au 03 APPLE TV 4K The most flexible streaming box around, this is the only place to get Netflix, Amazon Prime and iTunes 4K content all together. It even supports Dolby Vision HDR. From $249, apple.com/au…

ELGATO EVE ENERGY A smart plug is a pretty essential smart home gadget. The Eve Energy allows you to control your devices remotely and check their energy consumption. LOGITECH CIRCLE 2 The Circle 2 is wire-free and weatherproof, meaning you can keep an eye on your home from anywhere, and features a crisp 1080p wide-angle lens. NETATMO THERMOSTAT Netatmo’s smart thermostat lets you control your heating from afar, but since it auto-adapts your home’s heating, you probably won’t even need to delve into the Home app.…

PUT IN ITS PLACE If you’re going to be using your button to control a specific area of the house most of the time, it makes sense to place it where it’ll attract the most traffic. If not, either place it somewhere central, or carry it in your pocket. CREATE A SCENE If a button is Apple HomeKit compatible, you can create scenes, allowing you to perform multiple actions with a button press. If not, you can simply add more actions to a single button press within an app to achieve the same effect. GET MORE BUTTONS Want to make your smart home really easy to control? The answer might seem obvious, but you just need more smart home buttons. Pop is a good choice for whole-home coverage, and individual…

NOMOS GLASHÜTTE AUTOBAHN This sporty new automatic watch draws heavy inspiration from a car’s speedometer, so its name was only natural, really. The piece uses Nomos’s new neomatik date calibre (DUW 6101), and looks distinctive at 41mm in diameter. Its design makes reference to the mechanism beneath, with the date ring running along the outer edge under the face, shown off with an elongated date window way down at six o’clock. “I love speed,” says the designer, Werner Aisslinger, whose work can be found in the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Fonds national d’art contemporain in Paris and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Nomos has also released ‘Tetra Petit Four’, four square watches in spring colours that have a certain ’60s speedometer charm of their…

ELITE DANGEROUS Ever wanted to pilot your own spaceship? Here’s your chance! This is a sandbox space exploration game, so you make your own story. Flying through space in the cockpit of your hard-earned ship is a real VR high. US$29.99 ($39.22), elitedangerous.com THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM VR Get in touch with your inner Aragorn and immerse yourself in a giant fantasy adventure. The lush world is perfect to get lost in with the high-res Vive Pro, and the sense of scale fighting a dragon in VR is incredible. US$59.95 ($78.40), elderscrolls.bethesda.net L.A. NOIRE: THE VR CASE FILES Become a hard-boiled 1940s detective in Los Angeles, solving cases built for exploration in VR. You’ll pore over crime scenes in depth for clues, and study the facial tics…

EASYACC SOFT ANTI-SLIP CASE No, this isn’t the sturdiest case in the world, but if you want something to add enough protection for a light drop, and that still lets you see the full glory of the P20 Pro’s design, this is perfect. $16.71, amazon.com/au HUAWEI SMART VIEW FLIP CASE This official Huawei case gives you front and back protection, with a clever translucent portion of the front cover that shows the time and any notifications even when it’s closed. $32.99, mobilezap.com.au…

Budget phones have changed. For so long going budget meant a terrible screen, a catastrophic CPU or something else that made using your phone a deeply unpleasant experience. But there’s a new baseline. While the high end spirals upwards in price, offering curved glass, ubiquitous notches and more storage space than is absolutely necessary, lower-end handsets now get the tech that really matters: decent processors, high-end screens, and affordable camera sensors that produce stunning results. And when a handset costs $600 or less, that’s more than reasonable enough to justify the purchase outside of a contract. They’re perfect to get for a family member, or just to save some cash. 1 ONE FOR FEATURE FIENDS NOKIA 8 $599, nokia.com Nokia’s 5.8-inch QHD handset didn’t start in this price…

$299.95 gopro.com GoPro has dominated the action camera world for years, providing adrenaline sports legends and enthusiasts alike with the tools to confidently capture wild footage from unique angles. Aiming to extend their authority into the budget market, the entry-level Hero borrows premium features from GoPro’s flagship Hero 6 and wraps them in a streamlined, wallet-friendly package. The Hero’s design is identical to the Hero 5 and 6, making it compatible with GoPro’s extensive mount and housing range. The camera is also shockproof and waterproof (to 10 metres). The responsive, sunlight-friendly two-inch touchscreen provides rapid access to playback and settings, with the replaceable battery dishing out around two hours of use per charge. Voice control first appeared on the Hero 5 and it’s included here. If the GoPro is mounted…

MULTI-ROOM SPEAKERS SONOS ONE Pound for pound, this is a hell of a lot of speaker for your money, easily filling a room, and expandable through the versatile Sonos speaker range. Built-in Alexa support clinches it for Sonos. $299, sonos.com PORTABLE BLUETOOTH SPEAKER CAMBRIDGE AUDIO YOYO M These portable speakers are made for wireless stereo sound and come as a pair (though you can use one on its own). They offer punchy audio in an impressively wide sound field, and look great, too. $599, cambridgeaudio.com WIRELESS IN-EAR HEADPHONES FLARES PRO These headphones plug into a mini-DAC you need to clip about your person, but the result is truly amazing sound for the size. It’s audiophile stuff, with beautiful stereo channel separation. $545.35, flareaudio.com WIRED…

FAMILY CAR VOLVO XC60 Well-appointed and exquisitely designed, this mid-size hybrid SUV has all the entertainment options you need, the poise to make those long journeys smooth and enjoyable, and is safe as houses. From $62,990, volvocars.com/au CITY ELECTRIC CAR BMW i3 The i3 is a responsive, highly practical electric runabout packed with connectivity options and enough power in its 125kw motor to hit 100km/h in just 7.3 seconds. Perfect for a daily commute. From $63,900, bmw.com.au CAR DISPLAY NAVDY An innovation that takes the concept of the car heads-up display to the next level, with translucent mapping in your eyeline and gesture control so you can answer calls or dismiss alerts with a wave. $799, navdy.com DASH CAM GARMIN DASH CAM 55 Constantly…

VOICE ASSISTANT GOOGLE HOME Google’s home assistant is being woven into more and more devices, but the original Home tower is still one of the best to get. An attractive design and pleasing sound make it a modern must-have. $79, store.google.com SMART DOORBELL RING VIDEO DOORBELL 2 Part motion-detecting security camera, part ring-anywhere doorbell, the Video Doorbell 2 alerts you via your smartphone when you have a visitor – and you can two-way talk even if you’re not home. $329, ring.com LIFESTYLE WI-FI CAMERA NEST CAM This indoor cam streams sharp HD video to your phone or computer, and can alert you when it senses motion or sound, so you can tune in – with an 8x zoom and 130-degree view, you won’t miss a thing.…

ULTRAPORTABLE LAPTOP HP SPECTRE 13 An incredibly thin, light and beautiful laptop, with a dense, high-end HD panel. Despite being 1cm thick, it doesn’t skimp on the power either, thanks to an Intel Core i7 processor. From $2,999, hp.com GAMING LAPTOP ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS GX501 This is an amazing piece of engineering. Despite being incredibly thin and light (2.2kg), it packs insanely powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics, a quad-core processor, and a 120Hz 1080p display.. $4,999, asus.com ALL-IN-ONE APPLE iMAC WITH 5K RETINA DISPLAY There’s never been a screen like this. Big enough for every task, detailed, bright, colourful, and it happens to have a Mac stuffed in the back of it as well. From $2,699, apple.com/au GAMING HEADSET STEELSERIES ARCTIS 7 Super-comfortable…

ENTRY-LEVEL DSLR CANON EOS 800D Make no mistake: the EOS 800D’s tech, trickled down from higher models in the line, is remarkable. It offers up 45-point autofocus, a touch-sensitive screen and awesome image quality. $1,199, canon.com MIRRORLESS CAMERA PANASONIC LUMIX G9 A super-fast focus makes it easy to grab the moment in beautiful detail on this camera’s 20-megapixel sensor. Add in 4K video, a viewfinder and a top-mounted LCD for settings, and you’ve got a winner. $3,499, panasonic.com ACTION CAMERA GOPRO HERO6 BLACK The most advanced action camera on the planet can shoot stunning 4K video at 60fps, with advanced stabilisation making footage super-smooth and realistic. It’s also waterproof to 10m without a case. $599.95, gopro.com RUNNING WATCH GARMIN FORERUNNER 935 The Forerunner 935…