Innehållsförteckning för Issue 214 från T3 Australia

SONY REON POCKET 5 With the weather remaining stubbornly unseasonable depending on which way the capricious climate is leaning, it’s not always that easy to know whether you should dress for warm or cool weather. Fortunately, Sony’s Reon Pocket 5 means you’re no longer at the mercy of the seasons – a ‘wearable thermal device’, it sits at the nape of your neck and warms or cools you based on the temperature. Not only can the device directly detect your body heat and react accordingly, but the included Tag actively monitors ambient temperature, humidity, sunlight levels and movement to intelligently predict how the heating and cooling you require will change. And its battery should more than cover your daily commute: it can provide up to 8 hours of heating or…

GARMIN HRM-PRO PLUS The Garmin HRM-Pro Plus features a tool-free battery cover, offering the same sensor, design and functions as the HRM-Pro. It’s ideal for watch users seeking advanced running metrics and multi-device connectivity. $159, garmin.com HAMMERHEAD HEART RATE MONITOR Hammerhead’s Heart Rate Monitor is the perfect workout companion for cyclists. It has a long battery life, is easy to configure and delivers dependable stats that cyclists will find hugely beneficial (and so will runners and gym-goers). $89, hammerhead.io POLAR H10 The Polar H10 heart rate monitor offers accuracy across various sports, featuring built-in memory for solo workouts and connectivity with multiple devices simultaneously via Bluetooth and ANT+. It’s also suitable for swimming. $129, polar.com…

Guru’s latest best friend in the whole world is the lovely person from Onyx (or is it Boox?) that sent him the Onyx Boox Palma (around $499) to test. To summarise, it is an e-reader in the form factor of a phone – or, as it turns out, it might be a phone masquerading as an e-reader. Maybe. Look, Guru hasn’t had it apart, but he knows this: it has a SIM card slot, runs Android, and could probably be convinced to be a phone if you were willing. His experiences of Boox (or is it Onyx?) software have, in the past, been less than positive, and there’s still a dash of shonkiness to the Palma’s interface – it’s decent, but far better once you’ve wrestled your own book reading…

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR BOSE QUIETCOMFORT ULTRA HEADPHONES It’s not often that a design team is able to run through the entire list of product bugbears and cross each of them out, but Bose’s cabal of level 20 device wizards has done it. The QuietComfort Ultra Headphones succeed in every department, raising the bar in one of tech’s most competitive arenas. A considered, calm and – most importantly – supremely comfortable design is the first winning move. These might be only two grams lighter than the Bose 700s, but an adjusted, extra-padded headband makes them feel much lighter without sacrificing any passive around-the-ear coddling. They fold flat and come with a compact carrying case, neatly ticking the box for travellers, and they’re so low-fatigue that you’ll have no problem wearing…

To call the iPad Pro a tablet seems reductive. It’s like calling the Star Wars films a space drama – it’s true but it’s so much more. This latest model continues to push the boundaries of what any tablet – let alone an iPad – can do. It introduces a number of firsts across the entire Apple range, from the screen technology to the first M4 chip. We’ve spent a week using the iPad Pro, for everything from painting and song creation to watching films, and even writing this review. We have to admit we love it. It won’t be for everyone but is it the best tablet Apple has ever produced? Without doubt. At first glance, the iPad Pro looks very similar to the older model. While it is…

Huawei has a bunch of exciting wearables, but one of the most intriguing models we’ve come across is the new Watch Fit 3. It’s a fitness tracker that’s been promoted to a smartwatch, is larger than it used to be... and looks eerily similar to the second-generation Apple Watch SE. The watch’s predecessor had a smaller, more rectangular shape. The Watch Fit 3, made from aluminium alloy, has a 1.82-inch AMOLED screen with a 77.4% screen-to-body ratio. Better still, the maximum brightness is 1500 nits, 500 more than the Apple Watch SE 2. This is also the one with the red watch crown, which we’ve seen on Apple Watches before. Of course, there, it means the watch can take eSIMs, whereas here, it is purely a fashion choice. Huawei’s Watch…

Welcome to what we reckon is just about the most exciting issue of Australian T3 this year. Well, they’re all exciting, but this one is extra special because... awards! The T3 Awards 2024 showcase the very best of tech, home and active products in the last 12 months. The award winners are truly exceptional and represent the very best on sale. You won’t go wrong if you choose to pick up something that we’ve tapped here. This gear represents the best of the best, and it’s very nice for us to be able to acknowledge these products, and the good people behind them that design, build and support this gear for you. This year we have a total of 83 categories, covering the widespread interests that we feature in T3,…

SKULLCANDY ECOBUDS TRUE WIRELESS EARBUDS Skullcandy’s newest earbuds are made with 65% recycled plastics and have super-fast charging times - a ten-minute charge will give you two hours of playtime. $39.99, skullcandy.com.au VICTORINOX COMPANION NEW YORK STYLE SWISS ARMY KNIFE Victorinox is a seriously sustainable brand and its latest offerings include this Companion New York Style Swiss army knife, which switches things up with a pared-back colour scheme. $118, victorinox.com BRIGGS & RILEY HTA LARGE CARGO BACKPACK Briggs & Riley’s HTA range is all about sustainability and we’re smitten with this backpack – 32 recycled bottles were used to make it. For extra security, the front pocket has RFID shielding. $442, amazon.com.au…

THE END Cody Fry writes songs that feel like they’d fit in the Eurovision Song Contest, on orchestral records, and in the mouths of fine crooners. He’s a talented chap - and this record is lovely. DARK SIDE OF THE RING Vice’s documentary series about the seediest side of pro wrestling is a fascinating and often disturbing watch. It’s compelling even if you don’t care for the ol’ grunt and groan. SHARDLAKE Coming to Disney+, Sean Bean gets his teeth into another period drama, this time solving crimes in Henry VIII’s England. How long before he’s murdered? Guru gives him three episodes.…

We’re glad Beats is back. After years of silence, the Solo 4 is yet another exciting release from the brand. Costing nearly half as much as the Studio Pro and featuring a similar design (albeit more compact), the Solo 4 has broad appeal and is a ton of fun to listen to. Although it looks and handles similarly to its predecessor, the new Beats Solo 4 received a few nifty upgrades. For one, it has the same memory foam as the Studio Pro, which is softer than the Solo 3’s. The cushions are angled at 12 degrees to conform to the shape of people’s heads. Beats’ Solo headphones are known for their distinctive audio profile, characterised by the powerful bass response, emphasised mid-range frequencies and crisp highs. The Solo 4…

1 iPAD AIR (2024) From $999, apple.com/au Apple’s business model works. It may sound basic, but it’s all about choice: you could get the lowest-tier model, but there’s always something loitering around for a small amount more cash that’ll be appreciably better; if you can’t justify the spend on the very top spec, you can spend less and roll back to something pretty much as good. All this is to suggest that the iPad Air, despite the outrageous performance and thinness of the new iPad Pro, might actually mark the sweet spot of the line. Apple’s decision to release two versions means more potential purchasers. It’s typical Cupertino money-printing genius. The $999 11-inch model will certainly catch a few folk who might otherwise have bought the base iPad or the…

Therabody is back to what it knows best: massage guns. The new Theragun Relief ($199, therabody.com) offers an affordable option for fitness enthusiasts seeking percussive massage therapy. Despite its lower cost, it maintains Theragun’s reputation for top quality and ideal for everyday aches and pains. The Relief’s lack of force and accessible price are why the new massage gun will probably become the brand’s best-selling model yet. Theragun has also introduced higher-end models, the Theragun Sense with a built-in heart rate monitor and the Theragun Pro Plus with various therapy options. But the Relief stands out for its accessibility and functionality.…

Opinion Google is putting the brakes on third-party cookies in Chrome, the world’s most popular web browser, starting next year. As you’re probably aware, these data files, placed on our browsers by websites other than the one we’re visiting, track our internet activities in often intimate detail. The files are sold to advertisers who, when we visit a new site, can target us with ads based on the data. Google’s decision is part of a much wider trend. Firefox and Safari withdrew support for third-party cookies in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and Chrome already allows you to opt out in the settings. And, as the information in cookies can be used to identify you, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) require you to grant consent to them through those…

TURNTABLES 1 SONY PS-LX310BT BLUETOOTH Sony’s proven to be a quality brand within the world of record players and the PS-LX310BT only proves that further. Sporting a simple yet sleek black design and user-friendly setup, it’s ideal for anyone looking to get into the vinyl game but who doesn’t want to spend big. What makes it so easy to use are the tactile start/stop buttons that will automatically drop or raise the aluminium tonearm as well as the straightforward Bluetooth sync process. The only real drawback is the lack of a 78rpm (typically used for records from the ’50s or earlier) with the standard two operating speeds of 33rpm and 45rpm. Regardless, this is a great entry point and will provide superb playback for the price. $395, sony.com.au 2 TECHNICS…

Samsung’s previous QD-OLED model, the S95C increased the brightness, expanded the colours, improved the high dynamic range (HDR) tone mapping and added a better screen filter. The new S95D, however, takes all these existing strengths, but promises to push the boundaries even further. So does that equal the best OLED TV available? The S95D uses the latest Quantum Dot OLED (QD-OLED) panel, which is claimed increases the peak brightness by up to 20% and further widens the colour gamut. As a result, Samsung promises a previously unseen level of performance from an OLED TV. The new ‘Glare Free’ screen filter is ported over from Samsung’s Frame TV, and uses an embossed surface with a special coating that diffuses light in multiple directions. The brand claims this new filter not only…