Innehållsförteckning för Issue 206 från T3 Australia

PRO-JECT VINYL NRS BOX S3 A slight crackle is a part of the joy of listening to vinyl. But if you’re a collector of classic and second-hand records, you’ll know only too well you can have too much of a good thing. Fortunately, Pro-Ject has come up with an innovative solution for taming pops and hiss on your older LPs. Stick this innovative device in after your phono preamp and its digital de-crackle algorithms will get to work reducing the peaks of pops and clicks by up to 8dB, depending on how high you set its potentiometer. Still not happy with the amount of fuzz reaching your ears? Then hit the Vinyl Noise Reduction System switch! This splits the audio into two distinct frequency bands and runs it through two…

CHRISTOPHER WARD, C1 BEL CANTO For the first time, one of the most complex mechanical complications has been made accessible by Christopher Ward. Chiming on the hour, the Bel Canto is limited to 300 pieces in Azzurro blue. $5,400, christopherward.com OMEGA, SPEEDMASTER X-33 MARSTIMER Creators of the first watch worn on the Moon have anticipated humanity’s next giant leap with a Speedmaster designed for life on Mars. It’s made in partnership with the European Space Agency. $8,200, omegawatches.com MONDAINE, CLASSIC Launching its most recent sustainable innovation; Mondaine’s iconic Classic Collection is now available with brand-new vegan grape leather straps, made with high-quality composite grape material at the same competitive price. $299, mondaine.com.au RADO, DIASTAR ORIGINAL 60-YEAR ANNIVERSARY EDITION For this very special launch, Rado worked with Swiss designer Alfredo Häberli,…

Cripes almighty, reader. The wait is over, and Guru has nothing but good things to say about the Steam Deck. That is a lie, of course. Guru is nothing if not a grumble fountain. Let’s give his gripes their due: the fan gets really loud if it’s tested, the battery is decent if not spectacular, and the process of configuring games to get the very best out of its hardware is the kind of secret sauce that reminds Guru that his brain has been around for over 40 years and is now calcifying with alarming speed. Apart from those things it’s absolutely lovely, and Valve’s upgraded manufacturing process means you can now get your hands on one within about a week. GaGu has thoroughly abused his connections to get a…

IF THE WATCH FITS... The Apple Watch Ultra’s 49mm case is larger than its siblings, and its bulk might dictate when you choose to wear it. The 48mm TicWatch is slightly smaller, while the Garmin is the largest of the trio, at 51mm. Most analogue watches fall between 34 and 42mm, so the extra size of a rugged smartwatch should be considered before you buy. PAY PER VIEW Although essentially tool watches, your rugged wearable still deserves to look good. Apple and Garmin both sell additional straps that use their own proprietary connections, offering a range of styles to pick from. Mobvoi uses industry standard 22mm lug bars for the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, so any strap of that size should fit fine. YOU AND VALUE Rugged smartwatches are expensive,…

01WASSERSTEIN ANTI-THEFT MOUNT An accessory like this can help and add a layer of protection if your camera is situated outside – it’s designed for Google Nest cameras, but similar mounts are available for other models. $24.99, store.google.com 02 RING SOLAR PANEL Battery-powered security cameras need recharging: solve this with a solar panel. This particular model is for Ring cameras, and needs just a few hours of sunlight every day to keep an outdoor camera charged. $69, ring.com 03 ARLO RECHARGEABLE BATTERY If you do go for a battery-powered camera, it might be worth investing in an additional rechargeable battery – like this one for Arlo security cameras. Simply swap the batteries over when a recharge is needed. $74, arlo.com…

STARTING OUT TV TCL P615 There’s no way you can buy a good 55-inch TV with comprehensive smarts and still have enough change left to buy a potent soundbar to go with it, right? Wrong. Despite costing just $595, the TCL P615 combines a fully functioning smart system with better HDR contrast, stronger 4K detailing and more impressive colour than many TVs costing twice as much. $595, tcl.com SOUNDBAR SONY HT-SF150 Sony’s HT-SF150 is nearly a metre wide, deploys a mighty 120W Sony S-Master amplifier to feed its stereo speaker setup, uses a Bass Reflex speaker design to bolster its low-frequency sounds, boasts a wide-ranging roster of connections, and pumps out enough dynamic range, impact and raw power to fill a good sized living room. In fact, the only thing…

T ruly audiophile-level Bluetooth cans is a market segment largely ignored until now. French company Focal has long had an strong range of extremely high quality wired headphones, and now it’s just owned the scene with this rather incredible listening delight. Sonically, the Focal Bathys are more than worthy of their enviable heritage. And aside from the quality wireless listen, chuck in the USB-C cable in DAC mode and you’ve got high-res up to 24-bit/192kHz too. Oh, and in case it needs to be stated, they’re utterly stunning to look at. The Focal Bathys are not the French audio specialist’s first foray into beautiful cans – indeed, the company makes some of the best over-ear headphones we’ve ever had the pleasure of wearing. But this is Focal’s first foray into…

SONY WH-1000XM5 $548, sony.com.au These headphones boast an unbeaten suite of features and audio quality. The sound is dynamic and full, offering rich bass and bright, clear treble. The active noise cancellation is impressive too. BOSE NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES 700 $399, bose.com.au These cans deliver great, well-balanced sound. They’re especially good if you want a pair of top-tier noise-cancelling Bluetooth headphones for calls and using voice assistants. JBL TUNE 660NC $129, jbl.com If you’re looking for a comfortable pair of Bluetooth headphones that offer great detail, these are ideal. They’re relatively heavy on the bass, which is fine for lots of music genres. SONY WH-1000XM4 $399, sony.com.au These were once the best wireless noise cancelling headphones money could buy. Now they look like a bargain. They fold better than the…

MEZE AUDIO RAI SOLO $350, mezeaudio.com With a single-driver design capable of excellent dynamic range, these can pull from a deep well of bass as well as shimmering treble. A well-priced, unfussy and great-sounding pair of headphones. FLARE AUDIO FLARES JET 3 $190, flareaudio.com Maintaining the quality of the Flares Pro (see Bluetooth headphones), removing the DAC element and thereby slashing the price, these audiophile in-ear headphones are a tremendous option. SOUNDMAGIC E11C $89, soundmagicheadphones.com Can we really be recommending a pair of headphones for under £55? Yes we can! The grown-up sound quality and exemplary comfort of the 11c make them the sonic bargain of the year. KLIPSCH T5M WIRED $139, klipsch.com The fitting is unusual, but nonetheless immediately felt comfortable and solid. The audio is boosted, primped and…

TESLA OPTIMUS If you were born between the release of The Jetsons and The Terminator, there’s a good chance you’ve always dreamed about owning your own robot. Lucky for you, Tesla has finally demoed its first walking, fully articulated robot. Now, there are some definite questions that remain to be answered here. Why does the robot need bipedal movement, given how notoriously unreliable that is on uneven surfaces? Why design a robot that looks like a human being to work in factories where essentially no one will ever see them? Why give it a detailed recreation of a human hand, when clawed pincher or vacuum systems are simpler, more reliable and, crucially, more sci-fi-y? But that all falls by the wayside when you consider Elon Musk is also making them…

Iiiiiiiiit’s Christmas! That magical time of year where we focus on the true spirit of the season – making sure children don’t listen to the words of Xmas songs too closely. We all have our own Xmas traditions. Mine is to drink enough spiced booze for my blood to congeal into mulled wine and play computer games until my brain resembles three-day old trifle. But apparently some people actually exchange gifts on Christmas Day now. So for the sake of this newfangled custom, we’ve been taking a look at some of the cracking gadgets you can give your loved ones. Whether you’re looking for a VR headset to escape into, rugged watches to go bushwalking with or a home cinema upgrade that’s a gift for the whole family, we have…

What does the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, and luxury horologer Maximilian Büsser have in common? Well, both had childhood dreams of travelling in rockets to space. To be fair, there are a lot of children who have fantasies of heading towards the stars but only the billionaires get close to achieving it. Unlike Musk with his real-life SpaceX programme, watch-maker Maximilian is living out his galactic fantasy with this collaboration between his own MB&F brand and fellow Swiss luxury pen designers Caran d’Ache. Titled the Astrography, the pen is a feat of technology in its own right having required a total of 99 polished ruthenium and rhodium-plated components to complete the rocket-shaped pen body and more than 500 manual operations to produce each instrument. The pen comes fitted with…

QUALITY OVER OPINION This is Louis Cole’s new album. He’s one half of Knower, part of metal/jazz combo Clown Core, and a committed musical nonconformist. These tracks will convince you of his genius. LOST JUDGMENT Guru is obsessed with the Yakuza series, so Sega’s sneaky PC release of this side story is a treat, and suggests any likeness issues with lead Takuya Kimura are all sorted. THE BEAR This isn’t actually about a bear at all, it’s about a sandwich shop. As long as you can get over that, this weirdly touching series – available on Disney+ – will fully maul you.…

BEST FORsound GRADO GT220 Here the Brooklyn-based specialist ignores niceties like active noise cancellation in favour of concentrating on what’s most essential: brilliant sound. The GT220 are the best-sounding pound-for-pound true wireless earbuds around, no question – they’re open, detailed, extraordinarily dynamic and never less than thrillingly musical. $365, gradolabs.com BOWERS & WILKINS PI7 When they launched, the PI7 seemed just a little pricey. But now they’re down a level that makes them Not Quite the Most Expensive in this entire list, they make total sense. The sound here is exquisitely poised, beautifully balanced and utterly convincing – and they come with a charging case that turns any source of music into a wireless source. $599, bowerswilkins.com DENON AH-C830NCW One person’s ‘lack of function’ is another’s ‘purity of purpose’ –…

Under $100 1 ECHO DOT (5TH GEN) The latest Echo Dot is dramatically different from the 3rd gen, both in terms of its shape, which is a sphere rather than a puck, and in terms of sound quality, which is considerably improved. It too is frequently available with huge discounts, so if you want to listen to music as well as news or podcasts, this is the Echo to get. $75, amazon.com.au 2 ECHO SHOW 5 Amazon’s smallest Echo/Alexa device with a built-in screen has just five inches of display, making it ideal as a small room speaker, a kitchen recipe helper or a bedside speaker. If you need a home hub or plan to watch video, you’re better off investing in one of its bigger siblings, but it’s…

A pple’s brand new, flagship tablet, replacing the previous M1 model as the very best iPad, has the same M2 chip as the latest MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. That’s a lot of power for a laptop, let alone a tablet. This means that the iPad Pro can be used for far more than the usual set of tablet tasks – browsing websites, watching movies and playing games. This is a proper creative tool, designed for use by photographers, videographers and graphic designers. You can edit RAW images or ProRes video files, with the benefit of the mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR display for accurate colour reproduction. Or you can use the second-generation Apple Pencil to sketch or draw directly on the screen. SPECIFICATIONS Display 11-inch 2388x1668 LED / 12.9-inch 2732x2048…

S mall is generally beautiful, right? Especially where price is concerned. It always seemed a bit weird that one of the most expensive products in the entire Sonos catalogue should be a subwoofer – and so finally, here’s the brand’s Sub Mini. It’s smaller and more affordable than the Sonos Sub, so ought to be an altogether more realistic proposition for most Sonos users. In broad terms, the Sonos Sub Mini is a successful little speaker. It brings a whole stack of low-frequency presence to a Sonos soundbar, and makes for an altogether more cinematic experience as a result. Bass extension here is very agreeable indeed – the Sub Mini reaches a long way down the frequency range, and hits with well-controlled resolve. The decay of sounds is dealt with…

SPECIFICATIONS Display 6.7-inch, 120Hz, 1,500 nit 1440 x 3120 always-on OLED CPU Google Tensor G2 Memory 12GB Capacity 128GB / 256GB /512GB Battery life up to 72 hours OS Android 13 Camera 50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, 48MP telephoto rear; 10.8MP front Connectivity USB-C, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 Dimensions 162.9x76.6x8.9mm Weight 212g The Pixel 7 Pro quickly establishes itself as being in the running for one of the best phones of the year, especially given its fair asking price. But does it strike pure Android phone perfection or do some of its features fall short? When we first pulled the Hazelfinish Pixel 7 Pro out of the box, it was a bit of a wow moment. The look isn’t going to be for everyone, but we think this new colourway is…

SONY WF-1000XM4 $389, sony.com.au Sony’s latest high-end buds have slimmed down in size and weight considerably, but improved on battery life, boosted audio quality, and polished their noise cancellation even further. PHILIPS FIDELIO T1 $387, philips.com Powerful and crisp with a great level of detail, you won’t find many wireless buds that sound better. With effective noise cancelling and battery life of up to 48 hours with the case, the T1s are a winner. CAMBRIDGE AUDIO MELOMANIA 1+ $130, cambridgeaudio.com Cambridge Audio offers high-end sound for a lower-mid-range price. With support for AAC, apt-X and SBC and drivers made of miracle substance graphene, the Melomania 1+ are uniformly excellent. BOSE QUIETCOMFORT BUDS $429, bose.com.au The first set of ANC earbuds the company has put out – these buds’ noise cancelling…

BEYERDYNAMIC DT 900 PRO X $299, beyerdynamic.com.au These studio headphones deliver incredibly precise sound for either listening to music or making, mixing or mastering. When listening to well-produced music, they absolutely sing. FOCAL CLEAR MG $2,199, focal.com Simply sumptuous, with soft microfibre on the earpads and a headband that you can sink into; then comes the rich, warm sound to totally lose yourself inside. They’re just fantastic in that regard. RØDE NTH-100 $239, rode.com Many headphones delivering this kind of impressive sonic signature would set you back five or 10 times the asking price. These are probably the best affordable wired headphones you can buy. GRADO SR325X $419, gradolabs.com When you factor just how good these sound, they’re a bargain. In a quiet room, they sound as good as headphones…

PHILIPS HUE From $29, philips-hue.com Hue dominates the smart lighting sector for good reason: it’s a superb system with the widest range of bulbs and a simple, useful app. Rivals may be cheaper but they can’t compete with Hue’s variety. LIFX From $29, lifx.com If you fancy a Hue system but don’t want to spend so much, LIFX has a strong product range and integrates with your favourite personal digital assistant. Philips still wins, but only just. NANOLEAF ESSENTIALS From $39, nanoleaf.me A line of bargain-priced bulbs and light strips that support Thread, an upcoming protocol a bit like Zigbee. We love the faceted look, but they’re only available in E27 or B22 fittings. IKEA TRÅDFRI From $12, ikea.com Ikea’s Zigbeecompatible system doesn’t have the range of Hue, but if…

SONY ALPHA 7R V $5,899, sony.com It’s time to make two bold and controversial statements. One, the quality of Sony’s recent camera output now places it directly next to Canon and Nikon in pro cameras’ upper tier. Two: the DSLR is dead. Mirrorless sensors open up new possibilities, and manufacturers are only now scratching the surface of what’s possible. Right now, the Alpha 7R V is utterly remarkable for its AI subject detection engine, which utilises deep learning to pull off what Sony calls ‘next-generation autofocus’, able to not only accurately pick out subjects in frame but to analyse their pose to ensure the 7R V never locks onto a foreground finger. Five years down the line? The entire mirrorless market will be brainier than your cat. The Alpha 7R…

ARC’TERYX SQUAMISH HOODY Weighing only 140 grams, this windshell is made with the Tyono 30 nylon, a highly wind-resistant fabric that offers a lot of strength for its weight. The Squamish Hoody is a masterclass in ultralight minimalist construction. $250, arcteryx.com SALOMON BONATTI CROSS WIND JACKET This jacket from Salomon offers full freedom of movement thanks to its lightweight fabric construction and stretch back panel. The bold design features one zipped chest pocket for your essentials, and a hood. $99, salomon.com THE NORTH FACE RUN WILD JACKET TNF’s Run Wild jacket is light and flexible, allowing you to move around on mountain trials (or local park runs) easily without the wind biting into your limbs. It’s made from recycled materials and has light-reflection detailing. $169, thenorthface.com.au…

By the time you read this, Black Friday should be upon us. Or it may be happening shortly, or it might have just have passed. It doesn’t make a great deal of difference, as you’ll also have the pre-Black Friday sales, the post-Black Friday sales, the pre-Christmas sales, Boxing Day sales and then the New Year sales to enjoy. Just last month, Amazon had its first ‘Early Access Sale’, AKA Prime Day 2. Soon, I predict, we will start having names for the increasingly rare days and weeks where there aren’t any sales going on. Taupe Wednesday, perhaps. Rich and ostentatious people could show off how wealthy they are by making all their purchases on Taupe Wednesday, the one day of the year when everything is full price, and you…

Until the Apple Watch Ultra arrived, rugged smartwatches mostly flew below the radar. While the regular Apple Watch, along with rivals from Samsung and the new Google Pixel Watch, commanded most of the smartwatch limelight, others quietly took the path less trodden. Made by the likes of Garmin, Mobvoi and Polar, rugged smartwatches are larger and tougher than those most are familiar with. They cost more too, but justifying this outlay with a battery life measured in days instead of hours, tougher cases, solar panels and advanced mapping capabilities. The rugged smartwatch market was, until this year, a place avoided by the biggest technology companies. While they wowed with ECG apps and fall detection, Garmin and the like produced watches with gradient data for climbers, trail info for mountain bikers…

T here’s now a plethora of devices in the smart home category, with more seemingly arriving every week – but the security camera remains hard to beat as one of the most useful and valuable in terms of bang for your buck. These compact devices act as all-seeing eyes guarding your home, making sure that if someone is there who shouldn’t be, you’re going to know about it straight away. If you don’t already have a security camera system set up at home, it’s the perfect time to invest in one: the days are getting darker earlier, giving would-be intruders more time under the cover of darkness. We’re also getting to that period of the year where it’s traditional to spend time away from home visiting friends and family, and…

What can easily get lost when it comes to choosing a security camera is that it’s also going to have a companion app for your smartphone. While the quality of the app might not be vitally important, it’s still worth thinking about – and you can usually check these apps out in advance on app stores. It’s in the app that you’ll be able to configure features like the sensitivity of the motion alerts, and whether or not you want to set up particular ‘zones’ in the camera’s field of view where motion is ignored (this can save you from getting alerts every two minutes). Some apps will let you enable motion alerts when you leave your home, and disable them again when you come back, using location data sent…

T here’s no doubt that the iPhone 14 Pro Max offers an upgrade. The specs show advances in almost every area of the phone, from the brighter always-on display and new 48MP camera to the A16 processor and longer life battery. But does it offer enough to tempt users to upgrade from their iPhone 12 or iPhone 13? Slightly unusually for Apple, the design of the iPhone 14 Pro Max has changed very little from the 13 Pro Max, and the 12 Pro Max. Holding the three phones next to each other, the only clear differences come in the shape of that notch or Dynamic Island and the exclusive colours that each year brought. In previous years the iPhone has undergone a more physical change at least every two years,…

T o many an Apple fan the iPhone 14 could be seen as just an ‘iPhone 13S’ – because the design, screen and processor in both iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 are one and the same. But, as ever with the iPhone, it’s all about familiarity: it doesn’t shake the tree too hard, delivers on what’s tried, tested and is frankly loved by millions of people. The iPhone 14 is really a carbon copy of the iPhone 13. It’s the same size and (near enough) weight and features the same 6.1-inch display with a notch top and centre. It’s a bit of a shame Apple hasn’t upped the refresh rate of the iPhone 14’s screen with ProMotion, as the iPhone 14 is 60Hz only, not the adaptive 120Hz of the…

T he Samsung Odyssey Ark is clearly aiming to blow all other gaming monitors away. It’s completely ridiculous, from its gigantic 55-inch size to its portrait ‘cockpit’ mode, to the sheer number of different features that it has on offer. And there is of course a price attached – a price that’s going to put it beyond reach for a lot of people out there. There’s no doubt about it, this is an absolute monster of a monitor, and getting it assembled isn’t straightforward. It’s definitely a job for two people, as there are three main pieces to put together: the base slides into the stand, and the stand then clips into the back of the monitor. Included is an Ark Dial, plus a more conventional-looking Ark Remote. You use…

SPECIFICATIONS Drivers 2 x 40mm dynamic full range Connectivity USB-C, Bluetooth 5.2 with aptX Adaptive Microphones 6 (4 x ANC, 2 x voice) Battery life 30 hours Dimensions 189x63x233mm Weight 320g F resh from this summer’s success with the PX7 S2, Bowers & Wilkins is back with what looks like more of the same. Despite the superficial similarities, though, the PX8 are meant to be an across-the-board improvement – in every respect, from aesthetic to sonic. So can lightning strike twice? Is it a spoiler to start by saying the PX8 sound great? With any type of music, at any volume level and in any environment. They’re a deeply accomplished pair of headphones, as the asking price insists they should be. They can turn their hand to anything. A massed…

BANG & OLUFSEN BEOSOUND A1 V2 $375, bang-olufsen.com If you want a full, punchy sound that’s fairly expansive, and that doesn’t crush when going loud, then this is the place to start. It’s also an object of desire, and is available in a great range of colours. ULTIMATE EARS WONDERBOOM 2 $129, ultimateears.com The Wonderboom 2 doesn’t really try to straddle home and outdoors: it’s clearly meant to be taken to wherever the party is. It’s waterproof, and well protected against grit, dust and beachside sand. BOSE PORTABLE SMART SPEAKER $467, bose.com.au One of the best portable speakers money can buy. Connect it to Wi-Fi for Alexa or Google Assistant functionality, or use it over Bluetooth, for powerful, accurate, 360-degree sound. JBL FLIP 6 $143, jbl.com.au This speaker is small…

SONY WH-1000XM5 $469, sony.com.au These wireless headphones with multiple microphone noise cancelling keep out high and mid frequency noises, while the Auto NC Optimizer adjusts to wearing conditions and the environment. BOSE QUIETCOMFORT 45 $495, bose.com.au Comfortable, and great sounding, these feature some of the best noise cancelling we’ve (not) heard. Elsewhere, there’s no manual EQ, and you can’t turn noise cancelling off, but this is rarely a problem. SONY WF-1000XM4 $349, sony.com.au These offer one of the best, most dynamic and detailed audio experiences we’ve had from in-ear earbuds, thanks at least in part to the DSEE Extreme audio processor with Edge-AI. The ANC is exceptional. JBL TUNE 660NC $129, jbl.com.au The Tune 660NC combine excellent noise-cancelling capabilities with a weighty, punchy sound, so there’s no chance of the…

AMAZON ECHO SHOW 10 $399, amazon.com.au The most comprehensive Alexa smart speaker to date, capable of doing lots, and with a unique trick: its large screen rotates to follow you around the room, so that you can always see it clearly. AMAZON ECHO SHOW 15 $399, amazon.com.au Amazon’s biggest smart display can be mounted on the wall or on a stand. The 15-inch HD screen looks fantastic, and the brand new Alexa widgets, make this the most useful smart display yet. AMAZON ECHO 4TH GEN $149, amazon.com.au Bigger than the previous model, it has beefed up speakers and features, while the Zigbee smart home functionality that used to be part of the Echo Plus only has been moved into the standard Echo. GOOGLE NEST HUB MAX $349, store.google.com Winner of…

NEST THERMOSTAT E $345, store.google.com This cheaper Nest model doesn’t fit as much information on its screen and doesn’t feel as premium, but that’s it. Same algorithm, same Alexa and Google Home compatibility. TADO SMART THERMOSTAT $162, tado.com Tado is very sociable: it works with 95% of the systems out there. It’s flexible, clever and supports a wide range of accessories too. Price cuts have made it even more enticing. NEST LEARNING THERMOSTAT $499, store.google.com This smart-looking third-gen Learning Thermostat is able to monitor your habits and control the heating accordingly. There’s also an activity sensor which adjusts the heating if it someone’s home. HIVE ACTIVE HEATING 2 $484, johnlewis Hive is developed by British Gas but you don’t have to be a British Gas customer to use it. The…

BRAUN SERIES 9 9390CC $499, braun.com Given that the trend is to shave less nowadays, we recommend the Braun Series 9 foil shaver over Philips’ almost equally impressive efforts. It is slightly better on longer stubble. PHILIPS SERIES 9000 PRESTIGE $549, philips.com.au The second best shaver has a silly RRP but is available for cheaper if you hunt around. It’s good for sensitive skin, mows long stubble and is really close to the shave you get from traditional razors. BRAUN SERIES 7 70-N7200CC $310, braun.com This new offering from Braun, with three foil heads, is an absolute cracker in every respect. It shaves as close as a wet razor, only in half the time. And that’s no exaggeration. PHILIPS SERIES 9000 S9211/31 $389, philips.com.au A rotary shaver that requires a…

PHILIPS SONICARE 9900 PRESTIGE $389, philips.com.au Philips’ most advanced electric toothbrush yet, it features SenseIQ technology. It senses pressure, motion and coverage up to 100 times per second, adapting the intensity if you brush too hard. ORAL-B PRO 2 2500 $89, oralb.com.au This only has two cleaning modes and no ‘smart’ functionality to speak of, but ask yourself… do you really care? It has a timer, pressure sensor, and excellent rotary cleaning. PHILIPS SONICARE 6100 PROTECTIVECLEAN $239, philips.com.au Offering the current best blend of features and price in the Sonicare range, this brush doesn’t pile on too many pointless cleaning modes – just the self-explanatory ‘clean’ and ‘white’ plus a ‘gum care’ mode. ORAL-B IO9 $375, oralb.com.au The RRP for the iO Series 9 is ridiculous, but you can get…

PHILIPS BT9000 PRESTIGE $199, philips.com.au The classiest looking beard trimmer we’ve ever clapped eyes on, it offers an equally classy shave. Designed primarily for neater beardscaping, it whips away whiskers without any snags or pulls. PHILIPS ONEBLADE PRO $99, philips.com.au The best trimmer for those with sensitive skin, this uses innovative OneBlade technology. It’s good for both your face and your downstairs, although you may wish to change heads in between. BRAUN BEARD TRIMMER 7 $79, braun.com This trimmer feels like good value for money, earning it a place on this list. Small, light and easy to use, its tough blades shave cleanly. Battery life is solid, and the unit is waterproof enough for easy rinsing. REMINGTON B5 $50, remington-products.com.au The Remington B5 borrows the rotary dial set-up of rivals,…