Innehållsförteckning för July 2023 från Stuff UK

Hello! This issue is all about travel, and the gadgets that help you get on the move. Whether that’s the latest headphones, watches, sunglasses or action cams – and whether you’re nipping to the beach or travelling to the other side of the world – we’ve got you covered. Seems wild that this time two years ago we were barely allowed to leave the house, doesn’t it? Elsewhere, we’ve cleaned up with the latest cordless vacs to hit the streets, plus in our other roundups we’ve annoyed the neighbours by playing tunes at full volume with the best outdoor speakers and weighed up some trendy rucksacks. Reviews-wise, we’ve checked out Amazon’s top-end new Fire TV Omni, tapped away for hours at Asus’s Zenbook Pro 14 OLED, listened intently to Beats’…

£1999/huawei.com Formerly a China-only model, Huawei’s foldable makes its rivals look like absolute bloaters – and it’s coming to the UK ● A flatter of trust While most folding phones still look a bit like two normal ones stuck together, Huawei has filleted its Mate X3 so effectively it’s almost as if a regular phone had just been sliced through the middle. Measuring 11.08mm when closed, it’s just a couple of millimetres thicker than the distinctly unfoldable Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and at 239g it’s only about the weight of a pencil heavier. Opened up it’s 5.3mm thick, making it both thinner and lighter than the (admittedly more pocketable) iPhone 14 Pro Max. ● You may be bright In between the Mate X3’s two halves is a 7.58in OLED screen…

Fancy a summer under the stars? Then you’ll want to get involved with this month’s competition to win an amazing Vango six-berth AirBeam tent, which uses the latest air technology to inflate, making juggling long metal poles a thing of the past. It comes courtesy of family-run business Outdoor World Direct. Having been around since 1999, the Outdoor World Direct team know as much about camping as Tim Cook knows about Apple. The premium Vango Homestead II Air 650xl tent they’ve put up for this prize is a hybrid model with four main AirBeams plus one alloy pole to the front, which makes for super-quick pitching. Designed for up to six people, the Homestead II Air 650xl is a spacious 440cm wide, with a front porch for storage, a large…

Samsung Galaxy A54 from £449/go.stuff.tv/A54 What’s the story? With similar styling, a virtually identical UI and some capable cameras, the A54 is purpose-built to appeal to Galaxy S23 fans who can’t stomach paying flagship money for a phone. Last year’s A53 was hampered by underpowered internals, but this latest generation puts that right. Is it any good? The frame is plastic and its screen bezels are on the chunky side, but the A54 is otherwise stuffed with features – like IP67 water-resistance, an under-display fingerprint sensor and a punchy AMOLED display. You’ve got to look closely to tell it’s not a Galaxy S23. The 50MP main camera takes vibrant, dynamic photos, and the other snappers are decent enough for the price. Performance is much smoother than the outgoing A53, and…

RAY-BAN STORIES WAYFARER £299/go.stuff.tv/Stories Google Glass may have prematurely shattered, plummeting from grace like some optical Icarus by reaching too far, too fast, but its spirit lives on Ray-Ban’s social shooter shades. These rig up some of the brand’s iconic spectacle silhouettes with twin 5MP cameras, three microphones, two speakers and a tap-to-snap interface. It’s all discreetly done and, amazingly, adds only 5g to the weight of regular Ray-Bans. You peep me hangin’ on Simply touch the frame’s right arm, and cameras will capture stereoscopic stills or 1184x1184 video at 30fps – while an LED glows to alert people that they’re being recorded. With the glasses paired up to your phone, you can share your fresh content right away via the Facebook View app. That’s right, you’ll need a Facebook account…

NOW APP THESE DUOLINGO Kids generally pick up new languages faster than grown-ups, and this hugely popular learning app can also give them a better sense of the country you’re travelling to. It’s simple and friendly (if naggy with its reminder notifications). £free/Android, iOS TICKET TO RIDE Keep the travel theme going by constructing a train route across America in this excellent adaptation of the board game. Older kids and adults will soon find themselves addicted – but learning at the same time. £4.99/Android £8.99/iOS NOW ADD THESE RETROID POCKET FLIP One for kids and adults alike, this dinky hinged handheld console brings to mind Nintendo’s old clamshells. It’ll run all manner of retro titles via emulation or Android – perfect if you want to school the younger types on…

● ChatGPT The most famous large language model (LLM), ChatGPT can churn out answers to questions, write synopses for pasted text, or just chat when you’re feeling glum. A word of warning, mind: LLMs are effectively fancy autocomplete, and the free version of this one isn’t blessed with very recent knowledge. So it’s quite often wrong, but in a highly confident way. Don’t assume you can use its output as-is. £free/iOS, web ● Bing Earlier this year, the AI-powered Bing was unleashed in deranged form, calling itself Sydney, attempting to break up a journalist’s marriage and mulling over its own existence. It’s now been defanged, but that’s no bad thing. Bing’s now less mad – and arguably less fun – but can help you generate content and hone in on…

APPLE AIRPODS PRO (2ND GEN) If you use Apple kit, these earbuds are like magic. They instantly pair, work with Siri, and automatically switch between devices. On Android they’re more limited, but you can still use double-tap gestures and noise-cancellation. £249/apple.com SAMSUNG SSD T7 1TB You could use a cheaper hard drive to make local backups – but this portable SSD is absurdly small and light, more or less indestructible, and fast. Backups take a minute or two, rather than having you sit there glaring at your watch. £80/samsung.com IKEA BEKANT SIT/STAND DESK If you’ve room at home to carve out a decent office space, try a standing desk so you’re not seated all day. Ikea’s is solidly built, with a handy cable-net on its underside and really simple up/down…

In the mag We pick out the best price for every featured product Online Choose from our roster of great-value retailers Ever wondered what’s up with the links in Stuff? We’ve got a team of retail pros who scour the web to find you the best gadget deals – visit any go.stuff.tv link in this mag and you’ll be taken to the best deal for that product. If you make a purchase, we may get a small commission. It’s that simple, and has no impact on how much you pay.…

£200/go.stuff.tv/V2Pro ■ The 2023 BlackShark V2 Pro is an exclusively wireless headset: you either plug in the dongle or pair over Bluetooth. Razer’s proprietary ultra-low-latency 2.4GHz connection checks multiple channels to avoid cross-bleed, so you’ll get a stable signal even when you’re surrounded by other wireless kit. ■ Sound is balanced for gaming, with plenty of bass punch, but whumpy explosions never drown out the rest of the mix. Razer’s software replaces EQ frequency bands with words like ‘footsteps’, ‘gunshots’ and ‘item pickup’, so you know what to boost. ■ THX Spatial Audio is the other neat trick here, although it’s a little boomy in anything other than Game mode. Custom profiles can kick in automatically for supported games, of which there are over 50, and they do a great…

TIPS & TRICKS • The Dynamic Island makes it easier to control a call: tap it and hang up without switching apps. • AirPods also show up in the Island when connected, and you can see their battery status. • In Apple Maps, you can see turn-by-turn directions overlaid at the top of the phone’s screen. Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max from £1199/go.stuff.tv/14ProMax This is essentially the same phone as the 14 Pro, but with a bigger screen and a bigger battery. So on paper it’s Apple’s best ever… but while that justifies its promotion to top spot, we should point out that it’s only worth it for people who really need that extra screen space. Do you? Well, it does make photo, video and audio editing (and gaming) easier.…

Apple Watch SE (2022) from £259/go.stuff.tv/WatchSE If you’re talking about value, the SE is the best Apple Watch hands-down. It tracks sleep and all the exercise you need, supports Apple Pay, works great with your iPhone and… what more do most people require? The user experience is broadly identical, and while the screen bezels are a bit larger than on the Series 8 it’s hard to tell them apart without getting right up close. If you want a stainless steel case you’ll have to splash out on a Series 8 – but first ask yourself if it’s really worth the extra. Stuff says Offers most of the Apple Watch Series 8 experience for a whole lot cash less Garmin Fenix 7 If your budget stretches, the impressive mix of rugged…

TIPS & TRICKS • Google Assistant wakes with a press of the remote; Alexa users can use a linked smart speaker. • The picture menus are extensive, but well worth a visit to rein in the motion control and noise reduction. • Only two of the HDMI ports are at 2.1 standard, so check before plugging in your games console. Philips 55OLED907 £2199/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 doubt, the image quality available here is very impressive indeed. The Ambilight illuminations are as slick as ever too. Resign yourself to a long stint sorting out…

TIPS & TRICKS • The Echo’s built-in Zigbee hub can hook up hundreds of smart home devices without a bridge. • Pair a compatible thermostat and the Echo’s temperature sensor can activate the heating. • Alexa Flash Briefings deliver bursts of news or trivia; choose from 5000 sources in the app. Amazon Echo (4th Gen) £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 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…

TIPS & TRICKS • It’s easy to set up the X-T5’s customisable Q button: just hold it down for a couple of seconds for options. • Give your pics a retro vibe with film simulations, which mimic the look of classic 35mm shots. • Fuji’s free Pixel Shift Combiner software merges multiple RAW snaps into giant 400MP images. Fujifilm X-T5 £1699/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-T4’s dials and compact dimensions – making the X-T5 the sweet spot of Fuji’s lineup, and a top all-rounder. The sensor is even better at low-light shooting than before, and the wide choice of lenses means everyone…

That there is a camera. Why’s it special? It looks far too normal for this page. Galaxy NX was ‘business in front, party in the back’. To the untrained eye, it looked like any other mid-range camera. You could mount lenses, prod a button to take a snap, and revel in the large (for the time) 20MP sensor. But spin the thing around and you were bathed in the glow of a 4.8in touchscreen. And that existed because this was the world’s first mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera to run Android. You know, the phone OS. Android on a camera, in 2013! Blimey! Could you play Angry Birds on it, then? Indeed. In fact, since this snapper had the clout of a pretty good Android tablet, it could go a lot further.…

Amazon Echo Pop Alexa has come in all shapes and sizes since she first popped up in 2014’s original Echo. From cylinders and spheres to pucks and panels, Amazon seems to be on an eternal quest to make a smart speaker that’ll fit into every nook – and the Pop is its latest addition. With a rounded rear end and a flat front that’s almost entirely speaker grille, it looks like a Dot that’s been sent to the guillotine, which is quite apt considering the Pop usurps it as the most affordable offering in the Echo range. A light strip along the top edge lets you know when Alexa is listening, and it uses the same AZ2 chip as the Echo Show 15 to do all the usual smart-speaker jobs:…

£tba/lexus.co.uk What is this, a people-carrier but for elephants? If you’re getting tired of standard SUV designs, why not go large? This luxury hybrid is a neat twist on an old theme – because Lexus has reinvented the minivan. The LM will come with up to seven seats, offering lots of space and lots of tech. What’s under the bonnet? The powertrain is a 2.5-litre mild hybrid, which can self-charge as you cruise around. As befits this premium brand, there’s a full suite of driver aids, which centres on the Lexus Safety System+. Parking and other manoeuvres can be made easier by Proactive Driving Assist, while Adaptive Cruise Control takes care of changing speed limits. So what about that interior tech? If you’ve been sensible and ordered the four-seater model,…

PRINT SUBSCRIPTION Pay just £10 every 3 months Save 36% off the shop price Have each issue delivered directly to your door – FREE Never miss an issue of the world’s greatest gadget mag DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION Pay just £8 every 3 months: simply select ‘digital only’ Save 49% on the shop price Read on any device, whenever you want Easily find specific articles TWO EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE ONLINE shop.kelsey.co.uk/STU623P CALL US 01959 543747 Please quote STU623P Hours: Mon-Fri 8.30am-5.30pm (calls charged at your standard network rate) Offer ends 31 August 2023 Terms and conditions: UK offer only. Print offer: You will pay £10 every 3 months by continuous payment. Digital offer: You will pay £8 every 3 months by continuous payment. Saving is based on the standard cover price…

NIMBLE NOISE-BRINGERS The wily wedge Sonos Roam Don’t know your way around an equaliser? This satchel-friendly Sonos does the adjusting for you: shift to a different arena and Auto Trueplay tunes the output to suit your surroundings. Its premium build is worthy of a headline slot, while an IP67 rating makes it an all-weather performer. £179/sonos.com The flexible floater Bose SoundLink Flex Boat parties might be a holiday highlight, but a submerged speaker will soon sink the vibes. Keep the fun afloat with this hardy hailer: buoyant by design, it’ll bob back up if you drop it in the drink. PositionIQ smarts optimise the audio based on its orientation, whether lying on deck or hanging up to dry. £130/bose.co.uk The clip-on cranker Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Nothing says rugged…

NOW APP THESE PACKING PRO If you’re fretting about what you need to pack (and how much of it), this app helps you and your family generate a full, shareable checklist to tick off, complete with reminders to ensure you really don’t forget your toothbrush.  £2.99/iOS LUGGAGE HERO Do you need somewhere to stow your suitcases for a few hours or even days? This app will point you in the right direction, offering secure (and fully insured) storage at over 1000 places in Europe and the US. £free/Android, iOS ALTERNATIVELY… FINISTERRE DRIFT 35L TOTE BAG This rugged tote is ideal for beach trips, with room in its main compartment for a wetsuit, a towel, vital provisions and more. It’s made to last too, with an IP64 rating for waterproofing and…

XGIMI MOGO 2 PRO £529/go.stuff.tv/MoGo2Pro Home cinema projectors have always been a banquet for the eyes… but also a largely immovable feast. Well, that isn’t that case here: the MoGo 2 Pro is one projector that’s designed to be moved. Lightweight and compact enough to fit in a small backpack or tote, it can run off any USB powerbank of 65W or more to provide up to 200in of al-fresco big-screen joy – although, if you’re watching outdoors, you’ll need to wait until after sunset to get a clear and punchy picture. Baby, I love view The 1080p image quality is superb for such a small projector, with vivid colours and strong contrast when used in a dimly lit location, but the best part is how easy it is to set…

◼ Pair it again The Beats Studio Buds+ are fully compatible with Google Fast Pair on Android. With iPhones and other Apple devices they operate just like a pair of AirPods, even though the chip inside isn’t the H1 found in Apple’s earphones. ◼ Flying without strings There’s around 6hrs of battery life in the buds, though you can extend this to 9hrs if you’re not using the active noise-cancelling. The ANC isn’t as effective as on many more expensive rivals, but is decent given the buds’ size. £180/go.stuff.tv/BeatsPlus ■ Although Beats has been part of Apple for the best part of a decade, one of the best things about its products is that they still play nicely with Android. That remains true of the Studio Buds+, which work with…

ONE SHIFTCAM LENSULTRA Your Galaxy S23 Ultra has four cameras, but only one of them is a 200MP behemoth. LensUltra is a new collection of lenses unlocking zoom, fisheye, macro and even anamorphic capture – and it’s optical, not digital, so results should be supremely crisp. Just clip on the mount and snap the lens in place. TWO MOUS SPECKLED FABRIC PHONE CASE We love MagSafe. Whether it’s for wireless charging or mounting your phone, it’s so useful – but only iPhones support it out of the box. A Mous case can give your S23 Ultra MagSafe support, opening up a world of accessories and levelling up its protection too. Plus it looks mighty fine in the Speckled Fabric finish. £45/uk.mous.co THREE REMARKABLE 2 The ReMarkable 2 is a stellar…

◼ Radio pure There are no clever adaptive ANC modes, but the AZ80s do a great job of stripping out the sort of background chatter that can cut through other noise-cancelling in-ears. They’re a step behind the very best – but only a small one. ◼ Heavy metal plumber Technics’ companion app puts basic control over ANC and EQ settings within easy reach, while keeping the fiddly advanced stuff hidden from view. You’ve got to go digging to change codecs or customise the tap gestures. £259/go.stuff.tv/AZ80 ■ One pair of earphones for the gym, another for quiet commuting, and a third for kicking back at home – bit excessive, no? So the Technics AZ80s aim to do it all, promising a firm fit that isn’t exercise-averse; effective ANC for silencing…

Sony WF-1000XM4 £199/go.stuff.tv/WFXM4 A worthy successor to the XM3 buds that sat atop this list for what seemed like decades, Sony’s latest true wireless noise-cancelling in-ears are smaller, smarter and better. With the arguable exceptions of call quality and app slickness, the WF-1000XM4s aren’t quite the best at anything; but they’re so close to being the best at everything that their all-round game is untouchable. No other wireless earbuds are so consistently accomplished across the board. Stuff says The finest true wireless noise-cancelling earbuds around – this is the complete package Beats Fit Pro £169/go.stuff.tv/FitPro These Beats are excellent on many levels. Unless you really love the earhook design of the Powerbeats Pro, they’re definitely the best workout ’phones in the Apple/Beats range and rival any others at the price.…

Garmin Edge 1040 Solar £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 ever need, including accuracy-boosting dual-band GPS, best-in-class route planning and detailed training insights via Garmin Connect. The screen could be brighter, but we love the custom ride profiles that make it easy to exploit all that performance data. Stuff says A do-it-all beast of a bike computer with unrivalled battery life, reliable GPS and useful training smarts JLab JBuds Air Sport £70/go.stuff.tv/AirSport The third-gen JBuds Air Sport seriously flex JLab’s value muscle: with a solid earhook fit, custom EQ, an ambient awareness mode plus rapid charging and Tile finder tools,…

Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max £2199/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 room-filling scale of its sound is remarkable – and see also the more affordable (but still hugely powerful) Plus model. Stuff says The Ambeo Soundbar Max is a big unit but the sound it makes is bigger still Sonos Arc £899/go.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. See also the much more affordable Ray model. Stuff says Big-screen sound for your big-screen binges Roku Streambar £130/go.stuff.tv/Streambar It’s a compact soundbar…

Sony PlayStation 5 £480/go.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 and the lineup of new games is strong, while developers have found increasingly clever ways to use that 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 Nintendo Switch OLED £310/go.stuff.tv/SwitchOLED While it’s identical to the standard Switch in terms of raw power, the OLED model…

Fairphone Fairbuds XL Kermit the Frog famously sang about how difficult it was to be green, but Fairphone’s new foldable Fairbuds XL make it easy on multiple counts. Not only are they available in this froggish hue, but they’re also made from recycled and responsibly sourced materials, while their 11-part modular design means you can fix them yourself if something goes wrong. Whether the headband just starts to look a bit knackered or the cable that links the two 40mm dynamic drivers wears out, Fairphone will offer affordable spares so you can extend their lifespan rather than adding to the ever-growing mountain of landfill and buying a new pair. And features haven’t been sacrificed for greenness, with active noise-cancelling, two-point Bluetooth, support for your phone’s built-in voice assistant, and a…

£1299/teenage.engineering NASA called – it wants its, er, whatever that is back. It might look like something you’d find in the cockpit of an old Apollo module, but the fact that the TP-7 has ‘Teenage Engineering’ written on the back gives you a clue as to what it’s really all about. The Swedish company is known for its quirky musical gadgets and this palm-sized field recorder is arguably the coolest yet, with a built-in stereo microphone that you can use to make recordings of hummed melodies, full-on demos and everything in between. So it’s a glorified dictaphone? Only a philistine would say that (although, if you do record an interview, there is a smartphone app that will use AI to transcribe the conversation for you). There’s always a functional beauty…

I realised office life wasn’t for me and took a chance. After finishing my studies in management and business administration, I started working in that field, but something told me I wasn’t meant for office life. I decided to change course and travel, to unleash my passion for showing another perspective on destinations. At that time, there were just a few profiles of travellers on Instagram who did this. They were from the USA or Australia, and they went to amazing places. I said to myself, “Why can’t I be one of the first from Spain to do the same?” It wasn’t as idyllic as it sounds. I was entering a completely unknown world – I did everything intuitively at the beginning. I would save for a while, travel, then…

Google has taken the best bits of the Pixel 7 and diluted them, ever so slightly, for its latest ‘a’ phone. The top-tier CPU remains, giving the Pixel 7a more performance punch than mid-range rivals that use more modest silicon. An all-new high-pixel-count camera sensor promises to maximise detail and low-light photography, while features like a high refresh rate and wireless charging also make the cut for the first time. Get one in your hand and it immediately feels like a classier product than the outgoing 6a. The recycled aluminium frame now extends to the distinctive camera shelf at the rear and is a near-perfect match for the Pixel 7. The shelf doesn’t stick out quite as far here, the display bezels are slightly thicker, and the power keys at…

SONY ZV-E1 £2349 (body only)/go.stuff.tv/ZVE1 Even influencers go on holiday… and if you’re harbouring dreams of YouTube or TikTok stardom, your smartphone just isn’t going to cut it for capturing your summer adventures to share with the world. Enter Sony’s video-centric new ZV-E1: the first model in its vlog-friendly ZV range to come with a full-frame sensor. There might only be 12.1MP on this 35mm CMOS, but the sensor’s mammoth physical size makes for astounding image quality. It’s the same one you’ll find in the company’s beloved A7S III, in fact, and its similarly brilliant in low-light conditions. Toss in Sony’s much-improved colour science and you’ve got beautifully cinematic footage straight out of the camera, made all the better by the fact that you can rely on the tracking autofocus to…

WAVE WOODY from £260/go.stuff.tv/Woody Stand-up paddleboarding (aka SUP) has become huge in recent years. Like some beginner-friendly lovechild of surfing and kayaking, it’s got so big that you can’t visit a lake or beach on a calm day without seeing a few SUP-ers (suppers?) gliding gently by. If you’re keen to see what the fuss is about, Wave’s Woody SUP is the perfect way to dip your toes in the water – metaphorically and literally. Sold in a complete package that contains an inflatable SUP with a quick-release fin, paddle, coiled ankle leash, dual-action pump and puncture repair kit, plus a sturdy backpack to store it all in, this is a killer starter pack at an accessible price. Smart-shaped box The board weighs just 7kg and rolls up easily into the…

NOW APP THESE SNAPSEED This venerable free mobile photo editor, now owned by Google, is a simple way to tweak and tune your images on the go. Despite its dozens of tools, the clean interface and lack of ads keep things lightweight and fast. £free/Android, iOS ADOBE PREMIERE RUSH A stripped-back version of the Premiere Pro desktop app, Rush can be used to cut, colour-correct, and add audio and transitions. It works with Pro, so you can finish your work at home later.  from £9.98/m/Android, iOS ALTERNATIVELY… DJI MINI 2 SE Weighing under 250g means this folding drone can be whipped out of your pocket and legally flown almost anywhere, capturing gorgeous 12MP photos and 2.7K videos from the skies. With 31min battery life and the ability to hover steadily…

THE BASICS ■ Make a space Eke out a permanent office space, so you can ‘go to work’ (psychologically) and leave at home time. Good lighting is helpful. Cut clutter and distractions – especially if you do Zoom calls – but make it friendly, somewhere you want to be. If you can customise hardware and software setups, make both work to your benefit. ■ Talk to people Being away from people can feel isolating. Be wary of wasting time on social networks; but if you work in a team, figure out ways to have catch-ups. The virtual office has no ‘watercooler’ moments, so schedule short regular meetings that provide room for ad-hoc ideas. ■ Check your hours It’s common for people to think of the time they once left the…

Shark Stratos IZ420UKT What’s the story? Aimed at pet owners, this new model sits at the top end of Shark’s range of stick cordless vacuums. It comes with a pet-hair tool and two batteries for an extended run time of 2hrs… and if you’re vacuuming for that long, you need a hobby. You can charge up one or both batteries in the supplied dock, or charge one by plugging in directly. There’s no wall dock or mount to hang the cleaner; instead, press a button and the vac folds for storage, doubling over so its height is halved to fit in a cupboard. Is it any good? The Shark Stratos arrives in plastic-free packaging with four accessories: an upholstery tool with stiff brush, a crevice tool, a thin dust brush…

from £1299/go.stuff.tv/Xperia1v DAY 01 After four generations of Sony steadfastly refusing to follow current tech trends, it’s clear the Xperia 1 series is squarely aimed at the old guard: phone fans who insist on expandable storage, music lovers who refuse to cut the cord on their headphones, and photographers who dream about focal lengths. That approach hasn’t changed for the fifth iteration, which keeps the same 4K display as last year’s model. But that’s not to say progress hasn’t been made: the Xperia 1 V gets a new sensor for its lead camera. And that’s where my testing begins. Gaming is polished – the temperature warnings and performance throttling of the Xperia 1 IV have been eliminated The Exmor T sensor has a high 52MP pixel count (although its stills…

Sony WH-1000XM5 £330/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 drivers: they bring even greater clarity than the previous generation, and the sound reproduction is beautifully precise. The simple fact is that these are the best noise-cancellers around by almost every measure. You really won’t regret buying them. Stuff says Sony keeps its grip on the top spot with an unrivalled combo of great sound, ANC and comfort Sennheiser Momentum 4 £310/go.stuff.tv/SM4 These are headphones that sound naturalistic, engaged and entirely musical, making every recording sound like an event. And they’ll last a startling 60hrs – even with ANC…

TIPS & TRICKS • If you can afford it, the 512GB option brings faster flash storage (and more of it, of course). • Naturally the M2 Air performs better than the M1 version, but that older model is the value buy. Apple MacBook Air (M2) from £1249/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, instantly renders the 13in MacBook Pro obsolete, and sets a yardstick by which Apple’s entry-level devices will now be judged. Stuff says Shame about the price hike, but this is still the Mac to buy for most users ● NOW ADD THIS Belkin 4-Port GaN Charger…

Sky Stream from £26/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 most of the same channels via an app that’s available on all sorts of smart TVs and streaming devices. But if you want to watch movies too, and especially if you’re willing to pay to watch Premier League football and can’t have (or don’t want) a satellite dish, this is the ideal solution. Stuff says Making it more affordable and accessible than ever, this is the best way to watch Sky TV Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K £60/go.stuff.tv/FireStick4K This streaming stick offers 4K plus a faster processor than the original Fire TV…

GoPro Hero11 Black £400/go.stuff.tv/Hero11 The Hero11 Black introduces a sensor with an almost square 8:7 aspect ratio, capturing footage that can be losslessly cropped at high quality for YouTube, Instagram, TikTok or whatever other format you want. That aside, the design is practically identical to its predecessor – so it’s still compatible with almost all existing accessories. Most importantly, its lightweight build is just as durable as past GoPros, and with HyperSmooth stabilisation you can expect footage with best-in-class smoothness. Stuff says An innovative and powerful camera that’s good for creators and adventurers alike DJI Air 2S £899/go.stuff.tv/Air2S DJI’s laurels remain assuredly un-rested-upon, and this may be its best drone yet: an almost perfect balance of portability, performance and price, ideal for novices but still able to produce nigh-on pro-level…