Innehållsförteckning för Issue 194 från T3 Australia

CANON EOS R6 Once upon a time, mirrorless cams were deemed something of a compromise, offering faster snapping and a lower weight at the cost of sensor size. Fortunately, those days are long behind us, as is evidenced by Canon’s latest mirrorless flagships, the EOS R5 and R6. While salaried shutterbugs might opt for the former, the latter has more than enough power to please the experienced enthusiast: its 20.1MP full-frame CMOS sensor captures gloriously detailed shots and it can shoot up to 20fps silently or 12fps with its mechanical shutter. And on top of shooting 4K at up to 60p, its sophisticated Dual Pixel CMOS AF II autofocus can pick out and track eyes, faces and animals. On top of this, it has a 0.5-inch OLED colour electronic viewfinder…

1 AUDIOLAB 6000A PLAY $TBA, audiolab.co.uk Does your home stereo need a new heart? Transplant in Audiolab’s exquisite 6000A Play and it’ll beat stronger than ever before. Cheesy cardiac intro aside, this is something of a hybrid device, comprising the amplification electronics of the company’s highly-rated 6000A and the streaming smarts of its class-leading 6000N. What results is a finely-balanced and delicate-looking amplifier that’s as adept at blasting out the signal from your CD transport as it is streaming 24-bit/192kHz hi-res audio. The core of that streaming platform is DTS Play-Fi – quickly becoming something of a standard in audio streaming – which links the 6000A Play to a laundry list of music services, streaming radio stations, or your own hi-res collection via the Play-Fi app. That’s not its only…

Let there be (smart) light: this is one of those smart home upgrades where once you’ve made the jump, going back feels like returning to the dark ages... almost literally, in this case. Getting up to physically push a switch feels almost antiquated. With smart lights, you can turn lights on and off with a tap or a voice command, of course, but you can also get them to light up or go dark based on a schedule for extra convenience. Brightness and colour can be adjusted with a button press or with an automated routine, and if you really want to invest in a smart light future, you can even have your lighting change in time to music or the movie you’re watching. As one of the first parts…

SONOS BEAM If you need high-quality audio for music and movies, go for Sonos – the Beam works as a soundbar for your TV, but also streams tunes from all the major streaming services, and has Alexa and Google Assistant on board. $545, sonos.com GOOGLE NEST MINI Cheap, versatile, compact, simple – the Google Nest Mini has a lot going for it, not least the ever-impressive Google Assistant. This will tie in really nicely with all your Google apps and other Nest smart home gear as well. $79, store.google.com AMAZON ECHO STUDIO The Echo smart speaker has come a long way since 2014, and the Amazon Echo Studio model is proof of it: high-fidelity audio, Dolby Atmos to offer immersive sound, a built-in Zigbee smart hub, and of course Amazon…

HALO: INFINITE His green-armoured-ness is back for the sixth game in the Halo series. Coming to Xbox Game Pass on launch – a lovely flex from Microsoft – Master Chief is returning with all new technology for Series X. The Slipspace engine has been designed to deliver more emotional performances than ever before. SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE 2 Ninja Theory’s original Hellblade is a tour-de-force of an action adventure game with a strong focus on mental health. The trailer for Senua’s sequel doesn’t give much away other than the fact that it’s on its way but pencil in 2021 for another dark journey on Xbox Series X. SCORN Horror doesn’t get much more HR Gigerinfluenced than Scorn. From the minds at Ebb Software, this atmospheric first-person experience describes itself as non-linear…

Just as it did with the very first – and very momentous – EOS interchangeable lens camera launch back in 1986, Canon has unveiled two new EOS models simultaneously. But this is 2020 and we’re talking about the next stage in the development of Canon’s EOS R full-frame mirrorless camera system. The company believes the new pro-level EOS R5 and its enthusiast-level sibling, the EOS R6 (along with the associated lens announcements), represent a “new era”, which is certainly true in terms of Canon’s ability to compete much more aggressively in this sector. Another thing is more certain – Canon has got its old mojo back. Bodyshell: External covers are magnesium alloy with weather sealing at all junctions, and insulation to enable shooting in sub-zero temperatures. The R5’s weather protection…

There’s many factors to think about when choosing your mirrorless camera, including the type of photography you want to do, the size of the camera, and, of course, budget. All of the main brands are offering something in the mirrorless format, so we’ve tried to include a variety of different manufacturers. There’s arguably no such thing as a ‘bad’ camera these days, just the ‘wrong’ one, so there should be something for you. Whether your budget is on the limited side because you’re just starting out or you’re heading into enthusiast or seasoned pro territory, one of these should meet your needs. ALL ROUNDER NIKON Z6 If you’re somebody that likes to shoot a bit of everything, but doesn’t want to compromise too much on image quality, then Nikon’s Z6…

From $3,595 lg.com The GX is LG’s latest and greatest series of ‘Gallery’ TVs, meaning that it pairs the same fantastic 4K OLED panels and processing you’ll find in the cheaper CX TV with a fancier and thinner design, and beefed-up speakers. This does put it in a slightly awkward spot: LG’s generosity in putting its best panels in its lower-priced TVs means that with little to separate the higher-tier models on image quality, it falls to fancy cosmetics to define the hierarchy. Beyond the panels, feature attractions include the brand’s latest AI-enhanced image processing technologies and webOS smart functionality – again, shared with other models in the range. This sharing of the top tech is what’s always kept LG’s OLEDs so high in our lists of the best TVs,…

If you’re looking for the very best tech available today, you’ve 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 extensively tested the best tech the world has to offer, to bring you rock-solid recommendations for your home life, daily commute and the tech you use all the time. In different categories, we’ve chosen the top four products, so you can choose one that’s just the right mix of features and budget for what you need. These rankings come from real testing by our team of experts – they’re the products we’d choose for ourselves, and we can’t recommend any higher than that. Look for the links above each category that take you to the…

If there’s one thing the last six months has made me realise, it’s how much more connected our homes are these days. Don’t get me wrong: lockdown did see my already rusty conversational skills corrode into linguistic dust. And there was that one weekend I went feral and had to be lured out of hiding with a trail of fried halloumi nuggets. But all in all, the most surprising thing about it all is how the world didn’t feel that much further away. While lockdown still hasn’t been easy, the technology in our homes has kept us closer than many of us thought possible, not only allowing us to stay in contact but join each other for drinks, check out livestreamed gigs and standup and discover that, literally, everything is…

TNF NORTH DOME 2 STRETCH WIND JACKET This helmet compatible, harness friendly and highly breathable stretch outer keeps the wind out (>10 CFM permeability), then packs down into its chest pocket for simple stowage. Everything you need in a cragging jacket. $220, thenorthface.com.au TNF CAMPSHIRE PULLOVER HOODY The warmest - and cuddliest - hoodie we’ve ever donned, the Campshire Pullover is back for another season. 670g of high-pile, 300 weight fleece easily keeps you toasty through the cooler months. $220, thenorthface.com.au…

LONGINES HERITAGE CLASSIC TUXEDO The new Tuxedo creations are inspired by two historic Longines pieces from the elegant and stylish 1940s. Now fully modernised, but with the same design flair as the originals. $2,700, longines.com TAG HEUER, 160 YEARS MONTREAL LIMITED EDITION Tag Heuer is celebrating its 160th birthday by reimagining the iconic Heuer Montreal from 1972. Using the same white, blue, red and yellow colour palette, but featuring a modern Calibre Heuer 01. $9,900, tagheuer.com HAMILTON, KHAKI NAVY BELOWZERO Cased in lightweight titanium, this features a blue- or red-tipped second hand (referencing the key colours in the movie, Tenet). It comes in packaging made by production designer Nathan Crowley. $2,200, hamiltonwatch.com NOMOS GLASHÜTTE TETRA IMMORTAL BELOVED Looking to treat someone special? This new Tetra is handcrafted in Germany, with…

THINK ABOUT THINGS If you’ve somehow missed the sweet, funny, funky song that would have walked Eurovision 2020 if it had happened, seek out Daði Freyr’s music video on YouTube. It’s a peach. EUROVISION AGAIN Pop fever still not sated after this year’s cancellation? Guru’s nights have been filled with old concerts livestreamed on YouTube, a fan-led effort which will leave many online forever. THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA GaGu will admit to having not seen Will Ferrell’s Iceland-in-Eurovision Netflix movie yet but there’s little that could go wrong with it, right? Yes? GaGu has his fingers tightly crossed.…

PHILIPS HUE GO The Hue Go lamp can work via Bluetooth or via a Hue Bridge, giving you a choice of 16 million colours – it’ll even work on battery power for a few hours if you want to take it out to the garden. $149, philips-hue.com LIFX A60+ Lifx bulbs like the A60+ operate directly via your router, no hub required, and they all come with a polished app with plenty of tricks up its sleeve. More than a billion different colours can be had from this funky-looking bulb. $109, lifx.com.au HIVE LIGHT COOL TO WARM Smart bulbs don’t have to be boring and regular, as the candlelight-shaped Light Cool to Warm bulbs from Hive prove. Adjust the brightness and colour temperature with a tap inside the mobile app…

The humble smart plug may not attract the same kind of attention as other smart home kit, but don’t underestimate the usefulness of having a plug socket that you can turn on or off as needed, right from your phone (or on a timed schedule) – basically, it lets you add smarts to all kinds of other electrical appliances. Those appliances could be lamps, for example, or fans in a room. Add a smart plug to the mix and all of a sudden you can turn them on and off from the other side of the house. Perhaps more practically, you could start up a kettle or a slow cooker while you’re en route home from work (or still in bed). The more you get used to what smart plugs…

Kitting out your home with some surveillance equipment is no longer the expensive, involved job that it once was – these affordable, easy-to-use, compact cameras will very happily keep an eye on your property, your pets and your kids while you’re away from home (or just upstairs). They all come with the same basic functionality, which is to ping your phone if motion is detected in front of the camera. On top of that, these cameras add all kinds of additional features, including two-way audio (for putting off dodgy characters or admonishing naughty pets), night vision, people recognition (so a person triggers an alert but a passing car doesn’t), as well as sirens and spotlights if you need them. The majority of cameras on the market come with the option…

LG CX From $3,959, lg.com/au WE’RE IMPRESSED Gorgeous picture quality, thrilling gaming features and affordability (by OLED standards) make this an eminently appealing 4K set. WE’D IMPROVE It struggles with bass. Also, the lack of HDR10+ support and potential for image retention aren’t ideal. THE LAST WORD The LG CX’s combination of exquisite pictures, cinematic nuance and all-round solid features at a comparatively low price make it LG’s most irresistible OLED TV yet – and, indeed, the most tempting in its bracket. However, its problems handling the bass parts of big movie soundtracks may force you to add a soundbar. SONY XH9505 From $2,195, sony.com.au WE’RE IMPRESSED Extremely punchy HDR pictures, dynamic sound and decent value. WE’D IMPROVE No HDR10+, lacks some gaming features and backlight blooming issues. THE LAST…

WEBER PREMIUM TOOL SET This high-quality BBQ tool set comes with the three most popular grilling utensils: a pair of long-armed tongs for turning the majority of ingredients, a two-pronged fork for lifting and turning chunky cuts and a flat turner for burgers and halloumi. $65, weber.com NAPOLEON JETFIRE CHIMNEY STARTER This speeds up the charcoal ignition process by about two-thirds. Load it with charcoal and place it on top of the fire grate, then light firelighters beneath it. When ready, pour the contents onto the fire grate. Voila. $TBC, napoleon.com WEBER CONNECT If you tend to burn food a lot and wish to make your barbecuing session go without a hitch, consider this new meat probe system that uses an app to monitor the food’s internal temperature, producing perfectly…

PLAYSTATION 5 There’s no denying it. 2020 has been a turbulent year. And now, for the first time since the original grey game changer 25 years ago, Sony is launching a console generation with a colourful box. Well, monochrome and some blue lighting. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. The PS5 has finally been revealed with a striking design in two flavours. If you’re buying a next-gen console for access to 4K Blu-rays as well as games, you’ll want the full fat version with the UHD disc drive, but if you’ve chosen a physical-media-free future, there’s a slightly slimmer Digital Edition. This should also slim down the wad of cash you’ll be handing over but no pricing has been revealed as yet. So what’s inside the so-clearly-designed-for-maximum-airflow box?…

LG CX If you love everything the GX has to offer but can’t afford to pay a premium to pick up style points, the CX is the obvious alternative. Packing the exact same features in an only marginally less sleek design, it’s great value. From $4,295, lg.com PHILIPS 65OLED984 This floor-standing TV has a ludicrously broad range of features: universal HDR support, a bright 4K OLED screen, a built-in Bowers & Wilkins speaker system and Philips’ four-sided Ambilight system. All it lacks is Dolby Atmos. $4,999, philips.com SAMSUNG Q900TS While a sizeable step up in price, with the smallest 65-inch set almost £1,500 more than the equivalent GX, this offers an amazing 8K picture, AI upscaling, great HDR performance and incredible contrast with its local dimming. $11,595 (75-inch), samsung.com…

$899, sony.com Essentially a sequel to the hugely popular Sony HT-X8500 that’s long been a favourite of ours, the Sony HT-G700 is like so many great sequels: it builds on what came before to deliver something bigger, better and more epic. The Sony HT-G700 was released in June 2020, and it helps that the soundbar itself is smaller than most Dolby Atmos bar rivals: it’s small enough to fit under 43-inch TVs but can do the business for everything up to 65-inch sets. It’s a 3.1 speaker system, meaning that it includes three full-range drivers in the soundbar section, plus the dedicated separate subwoofer. Using Sony’s audio processing prowess, it promises it will rival a 7.1.2 full surround Atmos system. This is overblown, as is always the case with these…

The BlazePod flash reflex lights ($500, blazepod.com) offer an entertaining workout experience all while testing and improving your reflexes and reaction time. The pods have durable, smash- and weather-proof shells, making them suitable for both indoor and outdoor activities. There are eight colour-options for the LED lights and these can be changed via the BlazePod App real-time, a feature which might come in handy using the pods outdoors and in bright light conditions. Get ready to be quick, as the preset workouts in the BlazePod App will test your reaction time and agility. There are tons available in the app that can be filtered based on the type of workout you’re planning on doing, number of players involved, number of pods you would like to use and so on. All…

GRAHAM WHEATMAN, PENRITH How do I improve my TV reception? A An admission: by now GaGu is pretty far detached from over-the-air TV. After his roof aerial went on the wonk some 15 years ago, and the ever-prognosticating Mrs Guru cleverly predicted that any trip to the roof would mean a subsequent trip to the hospital, it’s been all cable and streaming in Guru Towers. If you’re jamming a coat hanger into that ever more irrelevant RF input in the back of your TV, you deserve everything you get That said, many of the classic principles remain relevant. A good aerial pointed in the right direction is the first step. If you’re on Android, try the app Digital TV Antennas (free) which maps out where your local transmitters are and…

One of the more heartening things about the recent global apocalypse has been that people have still been taking the time to stay fit. Many people quite reasonably assumed the population would come out of the other end of this twice as wide as when it went in. Not so, statistics say, and really it’s not so surprising. When the news is full of nothing but the grim fate awaiting the unwell, booming interest in fitness and health seems like a natural reaction to me. If you are one of the many people who have been trying to avoid becoming half man, half sofa while stuck at home, you will probably know it has not been easy. Not just for the usual reasons to do with willpower or lack of…

It was way back in 2014 that the Amazon Echo was unexpectedly unveiled, launching a product category that has grown to become essential for a lot of us – many households now have at least one smart speaker installed, and as we’ll show here, there’s never been a broader choice of options to pick from. The flexibility of voice control has played a big part in making the smart speaker a success. These devices can answer questions, read out messages, make phone calls, play music, give you the weather forecast, tell you the news, and of course control all the bits and pieces that make up your smart home system. And the stars of these smart speakers are the digital assistants: Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant. They’re getting…

MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES Insomniac’s webbed PS5 launch title isn’t quite a full blown sequel to the PS4 original but is a standalone game similar in scope to Uncharted: Lost Legacy. Miles’ adventure takes place in a snowy version of Marvel’s New York with new villains and unique quests. HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST Aloy is back. Well, not in time for PS5’s launch but Sony has announced a 2021 release date for our reunion with our favourite robodinosaur battler. As if the original wasn’t big enough, Guerrilla is promising an even larger world where Aloy will be diving underwater as well as hurtling across a new, well, horizon. GRAN TURISMO 7 Adding a squirt of nitrous to the series’ overly long loading screens isn’t the only improvement coming to Sony’s exclusive…

BILLINGHAM HADLEY SMALL PRO These beautifully crafted camera bags are both stylish and practical. Waterproof, sturdy and durable, they come in a range of classic colours. The dividers inside can be repositioned and there are handy pockets for all your accessories too. $359, billingham.co.uk BELKIN POCKET POWER 10K PORTABLE POWER BANK CHARGER Slinging a power bank in your bag ensures you’re always topped up with charge for those special moments. This simple option from Belkin is great value. $29, belkin.com LEXAR PROFESSIONAL 2000X SDXC UHS-II 64GB CARD Most mirrorless cameras use SD memory cards. This great option is the fast UHS-II format, great for keeping up with cameras that offer super-fast shooting speeds. A little pricey, but comes with a lifetime warranty. $140, lexar.com…

HOW WE TEST In T3, we feature only the finest gadgets out there, and we believe that you – our loyal reader – deserve only the best tech in your life. We don’t want you to waste time, and money, on inferior products, and that’s exactly why our Tested section exists. In here you’ll find only the latest and hottest tech. Each product has been handpicked and tested by T3’s experts. We only choose people with specialist knowledge for each test, so you know you’re going to get an outcome based on many years of experience in their respective field. As well as our traditional five-star rating system (right), we also give out awards to particularly exceptional gadgets, using the line-up below – so when you spot one of these,…

$1,499 dji.com DJI’s brand new Mavic Air 2 is quite a different bird to the one we were expecting. In fact, in terms of size and to some degree weight, it’s actually closer to the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom than it is to the previous Mavic Air. But a pleasant surprise is the plethora of extra advanced features this new drone brings to the table, along with a new, vastly improved camera. We were never going to be disappointed by how well the Mavic Air 2 flies. And sure enough it’s impeccable in every respect – very confidence-inspiring and steady as a rock, even in a stiff breeze. It’s also one of the quietest DJI drones we’ve (n)ever heard – a pleasant low silky tone that almost disappears when…

From $549 samsung.com.au If you don’t need a premium-level tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is terrific value. It’s a ‘pure’ tablet in every respect, not bundled with a Bluetooth keyboard or billed as a multifunctional productivity powerhouse, but it is excellent for sketching, digital note-taking, web browsing, zoom calls and consuming content. At 10.4 inches with 2000×1200 resolution, the screen is big and bright, retaining a premium look and feel due to satisfyingly slender bezels. The screen is LCD, which unfortunately compares unfavourably to the OLED and AMOLED screens we’re seeing in its betters and contemporaries. Even using Android’s dark mode, the screen still has that energy-draining blue-light feel, whereas the OLED and AMOLED screens are able to create softer hues. However, you’re still able to get a…

From $1,529 samsung.com.au The Samsung Galaxy Book S is undoubtedly aiming to be one of the sleekest Windows laptops on the market, the ultimate in portability (if not power), the laptop you can take anywhere you’d take a tablet... so has it succeeded in its lofty aims? The Windows 10 laptop comes with a 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 TFT LCD display, with thin bezels, and is a gem of a laptop in terms of its aesthetics. We have to admit to being rather taken with the design of the Samsung Galaxy Book S – it’s a lovely looking laptop, available in a sort of brown and bronze combination that Samsung is calling Earthy Gold. It’s a pleasure to move your fingers across the textured, matte metal chassis. The laptop tips…

$1,395 sonos.com The Arc is Sonos’ first foray into the world of Dolby Atmos and 3D audio. Sonos has been making home cinema products for seven years now, since the Playbar, and took a big step into the waters of surround sound with the ability to combine satellite speakers with the soundbar for a 5.1 system. But home cinema technology moved on, Dolby Atmos arrived, and 3D audio with height became the big new thing. Really, the only flaw the fantastic Sonos Beam had was a lack of Dolby Atmos height support, and actually we didn’t mind that because it was an excellent price and Atmos support in speakers that size and price range is pretty limited. But there was still left an Atmossized gap in Sonos’ range, and that’s…