This Month
- Opinion
- Life & Leisure
True surround sound technology for music is here, but there’s a catch
The writer visits Dolby’s Sydney laboratory and discovers Atmos is simply a wonder to behear.
- Tony Davis
September
- Opinion
- Life & Leisure
An LCD TV as good as an OLED? Strange but true
We compared the new ULED X with the best on the market, and the results changed our mind about what makes a good television.
- John Davidson
Head to head: the two best OLED TVs money can buy
LG’s reply to Samsung’s brilliant S95C TV is emphatic. The LG G3 is amazing.
- John Davidson
August
These legendary Sony earbuds are perfect. There’s just one problem
Sony’s update to its frankly brilliant WF-1000XM4 earbuds is an improvement in nearly every way. The only thing they don’t do is tell you how much battery you have left.
- John Davidson
June
- Opinion
- Life & Leisure
Google’s Pixel Tablet is a brilliant ‘home hub’
You might consider it an Android device (with a charging dock). But we like to think of it as the ultimate domestic tech centre (with a detachable screen).
- John Davidson
May
- Opinion
- Life & Leisure
We put the best OLED TVs from Samsung and LG to a playoff. Who won?
Two TVs side by side in the Digital Life Labs: Samsung’s top-of-line OLED and the best LG OLED we could get our hands on. Double vision, with differences.
- John Davidson
- Opinion
- Review
Should you spend $2800 on your home Wi-Fi?
Netgear’s new Orbi 860 wireless mesh system costs $2100, $700 less than the older-but-faster Orbi 960. But is the extra speed worth the extra money?
- John Davidson
April
- Opinion
- Life & Leisure
This luxury speaker is the best picnic basket ever (for $1650)!
Bang & Olufsen’s latest portable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth audio unit, the B&O Beosound A5, might just be worth the high price tag, even for value-conscious buyers.
- John Davidson
This $2699 robovac is a winner in just about every respect
Roborock’s S8 Pro Ultra robotic vacuum cleaner is a total winner in every respect – except on price and water storage.
- John Davidson
How can this be Samsung’s best TV?
The brand’s not kidding when it says its N900C Neo QLED 8K Smart TV is better than its OLED ones. But it’s neither entirely right nor wrong.
- John Davidson
- Opinion
- Review
We blind taste test Sonos’ latest speaker, and it sounds yummy
The new breed brings Dolby Atmos music playback to the mix. It’s a feature that’s sometimes great, occasionally terrible, and mostly notable by its absence.
- John Davidson
March
- Opinion
- Life & Leisure
These earbuds are sick (in the best way possible)
The last time someone came out with a pair this good, they won our Earbuds of the Year award. LG might do so again with the Tone Free T90Qs.
- John Davidson
- Opinion
- Life & Leisure
The TV that’s impossible to spot in a living room
A new OLED TV from LG neatly solves the space and tranquillity issues afflicting many households - it looks exactly like a magazine rack or whiteboard.
- John Davidson
February
- Opinion
- Review
Apple brings back a much-loved speaker. Does it live up to the hype?
Apple discontinued the HomePod Wi-Fi speaker in 2021. But it’s now offering a second-generation HomePod and this one is designed to fit right into the smart house.
- John Davidson
January
- Opinion
- Life & Leisure
This little cube is the only tech you need at the beach house
If you can’t binge-watch TV on your holidays, what’s the point of living? The Amazon Fire TV Cube comes to the rescue.
- John Davidson
- Opinion
- Life & Leisure
Will this be the year home automation just works?
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a single word unified dozens of manufacturers: ‘matter’.
- John Davidson
Industry calls for quick embrace of mandatory smart devices code
Default passwords would be banned and a new labelling scheme developed under a regime to toughen cyber protections for online consumer devices.
- Tom Burton
These TVs are so big they can’t get them into homes
It’s not just price that’s stopping people buying the latest, huge-screen televisions. Sometimes it’s physics, too.
- John Davidson
You don’t need a giant home for this TV, just a giant wallet
Samsung has shrunk the size of its best-of-the-best Micro-LED TV, but the price tag is still pretty large.
- John Davidson
LG and Hisense’s biggest, best and brightest TVs at CES 2023
TV rivals show that, when it comes to building a big television, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
- John Davidson
