Chinese brand Haier is launching its latest range of affordable TVs, all boasting 4K resolution.

The new release is being led by the flagship S90 series, which the brand claims will combine “dynamic visuals, immersive audio with ultra-reactive gaming experience”.

This “immersive audio” comes in the form of Dolby Atmos support, delivering “three-dimensional and cinematic audio quality”. The two 10W speakers are employing technology from British hi-fi brand KEF as well.

The S90 uses QLED panel technology with AI picture optimisation, with Haier saying this results in “rich tones and smooth colour transitions”.

In terms of physical connectivity, you will find four HDMI ports, with one supporting eARC. We assume that means the TV can handle 4K/120Hz signals, given its 240Hz DLG feature, but when we asked a Haier representative for confirmation, they couldn’t provide a clear answer.

Haier is also launching the entry-level K85 and the mid-range S80 models. These step-down TVs do not have Dolby Atmos, but they do offer Dolby Audio for “clearer voices and more balanced sound”. The S80 features a QLED panel, like the S90, while the K85 uses a 4K LED backlight.

All of the TVs come with Freely built-in. That gives you access to streaming services such as BBC iPlayer, Channel 4 and ITVX in the UK. Fire TV acts as the smart platform for all the models, offering access to Disney+, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Each range offers slightly different sizing options. The S90 goes from 55- to 85-inches, with the latter being the biggest screen size across all the models. The K85 is available in 43- to 65-inch sizes, and the S80 from 43- to 75-inches.

If you want to get your hands on the 65-inch S90, it will set you back £580. That is certainly aiming at the affordable end of the market, so Haier has TCL firmly in its sights. The S90 is up against the likes of the TCL Q6C, which launched at £649 for the 65-inch model. When we had the TCL set in our test room earlier this year, we praised its excellent picture quality and gaming performance which meant we awarded it a five-star rating.

We are yet to see how the flagship Haier model compares, but its affordable price tag and comprehensive smart platform could spell trouble for the current market leaders.

MORE:

Check out our TCL Q6C review

These are the best budget TVs

And here are the best budget soundbars

BenQ is adding two new 4K coffee table projectors to its offerings which are designed for “easy, high-quality entertainment in modern living spaces”, according to the brand.

The company says that the TK705i and TK705STi projectors are both ideal for gaming as well as “immersive” movie nights and are the latest in a sea of coffee table projectors to appear this year.

They can reach 3000 lumens of brightness which supposedly produces “vivid images even in rooms with ambient light.”

In terms of setup, the models offer a variety of shortcuts in the hope of making the process easy. That includes auto-keystone, auto-focus, and an auto Cinema Mode. The digital zoom feature is only available with the TK705STi, however.

For smaller spaces, the TK705STi adds a short-throw option for viewers to project an image up to 150-inches from about 8.7 feet (2.7 metres) away from any wall.

The projectors are powered by Google TV with access to all the usual streaming suspects including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney Plus.

There are some pretty neat specifications for gamers, too. With an “ultra-low” input lag of 5ms at 4K/60Hz, both projectors offer ALLM and one HDMI 2.1 socket.

Turning to the audio offerings, the new projectors offer two 8W speakers but there is no Dolby Atmos on the cards here. Both of their designs resemble a grey box, with an adjustable foot on the bass that can be retracted.

The launch of these two projectors comes shortly after the company’s launch of the BenQ GV32 – a smaller model aiming at the portable market.

BenQ has a pretty impressive track record when it comes to its past models, with the BenQ X3100i projector holding the current title as the best premium in our best projectors guide.

We were impressed with this model in our test room, praising its excellent all-round picture quality and good gaming specs. Despite wishing there was 4K/120Hz or Dolby Vision support, we gave the X3100i a five-star rating for its overall performance.

At a price of $1799 (around $1337 / AU$2725) and $1999 (around $1485 / AU$3030) respectively, the TK705i and TK705STi are targeting this same premium projector market. We are yet to get either of the new models into our test rooms, but our current frontrunner could face some serious competition.

Both will be available to buy from early October in the US, but it’s unclear as of yet whether they will be hitting the shelves in the UK or Australia.

MORE:

This dinky new portable projector offers “incredibly flexible viewing” – and could be one to watch

Here's our review of the BenQ X3100i

And check out the best projectors right now

If you’re burning the midnight oil, looking to grab a decent Prime Day discount on a fantastic OLED TV deal then good news – we’ve already spotted a great deal on a five-star set we recommend all the time.

You can grab the 65-inch LG C4 for £1099 at Amazon. If you’d jumped onto the tech giant’s website minutes ago the same set would have cost you £1299. At launch you’d have had to part with £2700.

Why this deal in particular? There are two reasons.

First, because, while it’s being replaced by the new LG C5, the LG C4 is currently significantly cheaper, making it a better option from a performance per pound perspective.

Second, because it’s a fantastic performer that will delight movie fanatics and gamers in equal measure, despite coming out last year.

During our checks, while the C5 is brighter and slightly more accurate, particularly during low light scenes, the C4 is the best set available its price – which is why it sits much higher that the new model in our best OLED TV guide and our TV and AV editor, usually recommends it over the new model to most people when asked.

Highlights include a punchy, but never overcooked picture, solid motion handling, excellent app support and flawless gaming specifications that will let you run multiple games consoles and current generation PCs at full speed with zero need for cable swapping.

As we said in our LG C4 review:

“Big improvements to brightness and sharpness make for an image with lots of pop and dynamism, and the rich tone and vibrant colours are a delight.”

Our only word of caution is to budget for a soundbar to go with your new TV if you want the best experience possible.

The speakers aren’t bad by any means, they’re just distinctly average compared to the results you’ll get on even a moderately capable soundbar, such as the Sonos Beam (Gen 2).

On the off chance the C4 doesn’t tick all your boxes make sure to keep checking our Amazon Prime Day home cinema deals live blog, where our experts will be constantly adding the top savings they’ve spotted.

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Amazon’s slashed the prices of loads of TVs for Prime Day 2025

There are even more TV deals on Richer Sounds

Check out Peter Tyson’s to TV deals

As one of the members of the team who tends to review Mini LED TVs, having done more than I care to count at the end of 2024 and start of 2025, I like to think I’ve got a pretty good read on the category.

It’s also why I’m frequently the member of the What Hi-Fi? home cinema team that keeps an eye on Mini LED TV prices, which in turn helps us offer accurate buying advice.

So, when I tell you, with Prime Day 2025 my deals Spidey Sense has dialled up to 11 on some of the top options in our best Mini LED TVs guide, it hopefully means something.

Specifically, I’m expecting Amazon, as well as specialist retailers, to offer huge discounts on two key sets.

The first is the Award-winning, five-star TCL C805K, which is the top option we recommend to most people right now.

This is because the set is great value at full price, but is coming to the end of its lifecycle with new sets from TCL hitting the market.

We’ve already seen a wealth of hefty discounts on it over the past few months, and traditionally Prime Day brings “best ever” prices to TCL’s outgoing models.

This was the case with the now retired TCL C845K last year, which was one of Prime Day 2024's best Mini LED bargains.

If history repeats with the C805K, people looking for a fantastic big screen TV that won't break the bank.

If that sounds appealing, I'd suggest keeping a particularly close eye on the 85-inch model, which we reviewed.

The second, and in some ways bigger deal (see what I did there), is the Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini LED.

Sure, it isn’t perfect, hence the four-star rating. But when I tested it against similarly priced rivals, it proved to be the grown up in the room thanks to its focus on authenticity and consistency.

This lets it offer a much more true to life, distraction free, experience than rivals, including the Hisense U7N, which is the main other Mini LED this price I recommend to most people.

The main reason I think this one will be the bigger deal is that, as an event hosted by Amazon, Fire devices tend to get the biggest discounts during Prime Day. This has always been the case since I started covering the event.

Last year the regular Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED, which was the firm’s flagship at the time, was nearly half price during the event.

If anything close to that happens to the Fire TV Omni Mini LED, it could be the affordable TV deal of the year, so far.

My only word of caution on pulling the trigger now is that we’re about to test a fresh batch of Mini LED TVs, so our advice may change in the not too distant future.

If you walked past our review rooms this very second you’d spot key sets forming an orderly line, including the TCL Q6C, Panasonic W95B and Samsung QN90F. These are three key sets that left a very positive impression when we saw them at their respective launch events.

Which is why, if you want to get the best Mini LED TV money can buy, it may be worth waiting and seeing how the new models compare to their predecessors and our current recommendations, when our full reviews to go live.

MORE:

These are the best TVs we’ve reviewed

We rate the best cheap TVs

Our picks of the best OLED TVs

It's official: Amazon Prime Day will take place from 8th – 11th July. The four-day sale is twice as long as last year's, which means more time to snag a great deal.

Prime Day is one of the biggest sales of the year, along with Black Friday, and Amazon's spring and autumn sales. The deals are still under wraps, but we're promised that Bose and Sonos will be getting involved.

It's a safe bet that some of the best headphones, best TVs, best soundbars and more will also feature.

LG TVs are usually among some of the best deals, as are Sony headphones. Of course the sale spans the whole Amazon site, so will feature all sorts of products, but naturally we're only interested in the AV side of things.

Amazon is introducing a new feature this year. Today's Big Deals promises "daily themes curated exclusively for Prime members including time-limited 'New Deal Drop' deals launching at midnight every day during the shopping event." Intriguing.

You'll need to be a Prime member in order to be eligible for the deals. You can always sign up for a one-month free trial, and then cancel once you've done your shopping.

Prime costs costs £8.99 a month, or £95 if you pay yearly. It's half price for students.

In the run-up to the sale, and during it, we'll bring you all the best deals only on products worth buying. Why not have a look at these deals already live ahead of Prime Day to get you started?

MORE:

The best AirPods deals currently live

Best TV deals for your summer viewing

And the best hi-fi deals around

It’s Pride month, which means I have the perfect excuse to talk about – and point you to – some of the LGBTQ+ TV shows and movies I think are worth watching.

If you are looking for a way to celebrate queer stories this month, the choice can seem overwhelming – not least as streaming platforms such as Disney Plus have their own ‘Pride’ selection to choose from. But which ones are any good?

Luckily for you, I have been a fan of LGBTQ+ cinema for years and have here picked a handful of the best that deserve some love this Pride month.

Whether you're regularly seeking out queer cinema to watch or fell asleep halfway through The Rocky Horror Picture Show, there is something for everyone on this list.

Booksmart

While it is important to portray the injustices done to the LGBTQ+ community and how far rights need to come, there has historically been a lack of comedies starring queer characters.

In the last few years, dark comedies such as Bottoms and Bodies Bodies Bodies have featured LGBTQ+ characters at the heart of their stories, but Booksmart was the one that arguably made the biggest splash in the film industry.

It follows best friends Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) as they approach the end of high school and realise that they had prioritised studying over ever attending a proper party. Determined to rectify this, the girls set out to make their last night of high school one to remember.

Amy’s quest to find a girlfriend plays out alongside Molly’s unlikely crush on the school jock, making for amusing but ultimately tear-jerking viewing.

Watch Booksmart on Amazon Prime Video

Pose

“Come on, vogue / let your body move to the music”.

The chorus of Madonna’s Vogue sums up the sentiments of Pose, a three-season TV show depicting the rise of ballroom culture during the eighties in New York.

At the heart of the show is Blanca (Mj Rodriguez), who leaves the House of Evangelista to start a group of her own.

Each scene is bursting with passion and colour, with Lou Eyrich and Analucia McGorty’s costume design helping to tell the story through clothing, especially during the runway sequences.

But there is more than meets the eye to the ballroom scene, as we see the struggles that our beloved cast of characters must go through to survive.

Pose is not afraid to pull any punches, broaching topics ranging from the AIDS epidemic to drug addiction. Ultimately though, the show highlights the importance of chosen family and how these early ballroom adopters shaped the world for queer people today.

Watch Pose on Disney Plus

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Moving across to the other side of the pond, French director Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a beautiful and heart-wrenching tale of yearning and heartbreak. If you're a fan of slow-burn narratives, this is certainly one for you.

Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is a painter commissioned to draw a wealthy woman in her wedding dress, Héloise (Adele Haenel). They quickly fall in love, but the expectation for Héloise to marry a nobleman presents an obstacle.

This is quite simply a mesmerising watch, with the backdrop of the French coast making every scene look like a painting. For a film with minimal dialogue, a held gaze or a touched hand really speaks volumes.

As a sidenote, all of Sciamma's filmography is worth a watch, from her writing credits on the stop-motion movie My Life as a Courgette to her latest release, Petite Maman.

Watch Portrait of a Lady on Fire on Amazon Prime Video

Queer

Luca Guadagnino's Queer passed a lot of viewers by when it released late last year. You might be more familiar with the director's breakout hit Call Me By Your Name back in 2017, which also shot Timothée Chalamet to fame.

Queer is based on William S. Burroughs' eponymous novel and follows William (Daniel Craig) as he falls in love with an American soldier named Eugene (Drew Starkey).

There isn't really a plot as such, but more a collection of moments dealing with William's drug addiction and his obsession with Eugene. This makes for an otherworldly experience as Guadagnino often delves into the surreal.

When the pair visit the Ecuadorian jungle, they experience vivid hallucinations where the visuals truly boggle the mind. It might not be for everyone, but the film's unique take on yearning makes for an entrancing watch.

Watch Queer on Amazon Prime Video

Will and Harper

Will Ferrell might be best known for his starring roles in Elf and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, but this documentary explores his friendship with SNL writer Harper Steele after she comes out as a transgender woman.

The pair set out on a road trip across the United States to visit the places Harper hadn't yet seen as her authentic self, all while discussing how coming out has impacted her life.

Ferrell takes on a backseat listening role in the film, which helps to highlight Harper's individual journey and her reservations when entering conservative spaces. You can really feel her fear and nerves when she enters a bar in a red state, for example.

It's so important that those with influence stand with and show support for the LGBTQ+ community right now, and this documentary is a great way to demonstrate how to truly be an ally.

Watch Will & Harper on Netflix

MORE:

Here are the best OLED TVs you can buy right now

30 best Dolby Atmos scenes to test your home cinema setup

What is Dolby Atmos? How can you get it?

Having the latest streaming apps baked into your television's operating system is a fairly recent phenomenon – but it has quickly become something we take for granted. We rarely see a "dumb TV", as practically every model includes smart features; and that goes beyond streaming apps now, as many models incorporate smart home controls, social apps and even AI features such as generating images for ambient art modes.

If you're still looking to squeeze a few more years out of your TV, but would like to dip your toes into the vast world of 'smart', a media streamer is your best bet. This can also be a solution if you have an older smart TV that has lost support for streaming services – Netflix, for example, has recently dropped support for older Sony and Samsung models.

If you fit those descriptions but don't want to shell out for an Apple TV 4K, then this streamer could be the best fit for you. Amazon's Big Deal Days has officially ended, but the Fire TV Stick 4K is remaining at its Prime Day price for a further five days, meaning it is just £40 instead of £60 right now.

Amazon's plug-and-play streaming sticks are popular for a reason: they add instant streaming convenience to your television. With this stick, you can stream in 4K HDR, and all of the major formats are supported, including HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HLG.

The Fire TV Stick 4K has recently been updated with a refreshed design, though not much looks to have changed upon first inspection. While we haven't tested this latest model yet, we did review the Fire TV Stick 4K step-up model and found plenty to like – so much so that we gave it an Award. Specifically, we find the app compatibility to be stellar; with all the services you might expect to find present and working correctly. That's a key part of any good streamer, and it has only improved throughout the Fire TV Stick's lifespan.

Furthermore, the Fire TV Stick gets a premium audio function in the form of Dolby Atmos, meaning you can play immersive audio when streaming content on a compatible Dolby Atmos soundbar or AVR.

The Fire TV Stick also comes with an Alexa Voice Remote bundled in the box, which you can use to interface with the streamer purely by voice commands. Alexa has become much more competent in recent years, meaning you will be met with fewer rogue misheard requests when asking for a specific app, movie or song.

If you have an older 4K TV that is losing app support, or even if you aren't a fan of your TV's built-in operating system perhaps, then this media streamer is the way to go. For only £40, its certainly cheaper than paying big bucks for a brand new 4K set.

MORE:

Check out our picks for the best media streamers

As well as the best TVs

And the best TV deals

With Amazon's two-day October Prime Day in full swing, we've been hunting for deals for those of you who want savings on products beyond the best Bluetooth speakers or wireless earbuds. Amazon certainly grants a lot of tasty deals during Prime Day, but for what some would term 'proper' hi-fi, including loudspeakers, turntables and amplifiers, it often pays to look elsewhere.

Hence we've scouted this superb Bowers & Wilkins discount, an offer which sees the B&W 606 S3 floorstanders drop from £1999 to just £1769 at Sevenoaks, a saving of £200. They're decent speakers, too, and sure to delight anyone who wants a sturdy pair of floorstanders to pump out a robust, full sound with plenty of punch.

B&W 603 S3 floorstanding speakers deal

The Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 floorstanders are part of a pretty esteemed family. The 607 S2 Anniversary Edition and 606 S2 Anniversary Edition standmounts are esteemed Award-winners, while the 606 S3 and the 607 S3 standmounters have also bagged silverware following five-star reviews. The 606 S3 towers, therefore, have the weight of history behind them.

It's a burden they ably manage to shoulder, and while we didn't quite consider them at the time to match the legacy of their forebears, they're a pair of floorstanders with an appeal that we completely understand. If you want that esteemed B&W name, design and build from speakers that will fill your room with sound as easily as a garden hose fills a watering can, these substantial towers are certainly worth considering, especially thanks to that £230 discount.

As our review made clear: "The 603 S3’s sturdy, muscular aspect gives the speakers real authority and scale, and although our dedicated test rooms aren’t exactly rivals for the Albert Hall, we can imagine that the Bowers would perform ably in a larger setting thanks to their powerful, potent sonic presentation". Yes, the five-star PMC Prodigy 5 will grant a touch more dynamic subtelty, agility and verve, but they're smaller in stature and less muscular in their delivery.

We appreciate their build quality, though it's worth noting how hefty the 603 S3 actually are. Designed "for larger rooms and homes theatres", they stand 102cm high when mounted on plinths and make shorter rivals look positively titchy by comparison.

Give them the space they need, make sure to partner them with a price-compatible amplifier and source player and the Bowers towers will reward you amply. They won't be for everyone, but for £230 off at Sevenoaks, they're certainly worth considering if you're after floorstanders that can give your music a real sense of authority and scale.

MORE:

Read our original Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 review

Want more deals? Here are the best Day 2 October Prime Day headphones and wireless earbuds deals

These are the best floorstanding speakers tested by our experts

You don't have to spend a fortune this Prime Day to snag a deal. Some seriously great AV and hi-fi gear is on sale for well under £50, meaning you can get in on the Big Deal Days fun without breaking the bank.

Whether it's a new pair of wireless earbuds, a streaming stick to enhance your TV with smart functionality, or perhaps you want to put your AV setup through its paces with one of our favourite test discs – Amazon's Big Deal Days has you covered. Of course, there is a lot to sift through, and not everything is worth your hard-earned cash; so we've identified the ones that are worth paying attention to.

• Browse all the Prime Day deals under £50

There are plenty of top-notch TV, headphone and speaker deals to be found but many exceed the price limit we've set here. So if you want to bag a bargain rather than breaking the bank, read on for our AV bargains.

The best Amazon Prime Day deals under £50

MORE:

Prime Day in October: the best TV, hi-fi, home cinema and audio deals

Find the best Prime Day wireless earbuds deals

Is this the best Amazon Prime Day streaming deal?: Turn your "dumb TV" into a smart TV for just £17

While other brands occasionally try to break through, the tablet market is really split in two, with Apple’s iPads on the premium side and Amazon’s Fire tablets on the affordable one. There are random, cheap options from brands called things such as ‘Hakaug’ and ‘Doogee’, but it’s a wilful soul who takes a chance on one of those when Amazon’s offerings are already so attractively priced.

The Fire HD 10 we have before us today isn’t super-cheap by any means, but it looks like very good value for a 10-inch tablet, particularly when compared with the prices of iPads. It’s got the highest pixel density of the whole Fire tablet range, too, potentially making it the pick of the bunch for those of us most interested in watching movies on the move.

Price

The Amazon Fire HD 10 is officially priced at £150 / $140 (it’s unfortunately not available in Australia), but as with most of Amazon’s own devices, it’s regularly discounted, particularly around sales events such as Black Friday. For reference, the cheapest current iPad is £349 / $349 / AU$599.

With the Amazon Fire HD 10, your £150 / $140 gets you an ad-supported version of the tablet. We’ve become pretty immune to the ads, which are most obvious when they pop up on the lock screen, but you can pay an additional £10 / $10 for an ad-free version if you prefer. Or you can buy the ad-supported tablet and then pay the extra tenner to have the ads removed at a later date if you find them annoying.

The £150 / $140 entry-level option also gets you just 32GB of built-in storage, which is unlikely to be an issue if you’re just streaming movies and music but could be limiting if you also want to download games. Amazon will sell you a 64GB version but the price increase is quite steep, so we instead recommend going for the 32GB edition and making use of the expandable storage should you run out of built-in space. SD cards up to 1TB in size are supported.

Design

Unsurprisingly, the Amazon Fire HD 10 can’t match an iPad for build quality, but it doesn’t look or feel cheap. The plastic chassis has a nice texture that means it won’t slip out of your hands at the first opportunity, and the rounded corners give the device a soft, approachable air, particularly when combined with one of the more attractive colour options – we chose lilac for our review device.

The front is all glass (aluminosilicate glass, if you must know) and uniformly black when the screen is off. Bringing it to life reveals bezels that are about 2cm in thickness around the 10.1-inch, 16:10-ratio active display. The tablet as a whole is just 8.6mm thick (the standard iPad is 7mm) and 434g in weight (the iPad is 477g), and in the hand it feels both slim and solid.

Features

That 10.1-inch screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1200, which translates to just over Full HD in TV parlance. That equates to a pixel density of 224 pixels per inch, which is higher than any other Fire tablet, including the more expensive Fire Max 11, and not a million miles off the 264ppi of every iPad barring the surprisingly pixel-rich iPad Mini.

Running the show is a 2.0GHz octa-core processor that isn’t going to pull up any trees but is more than adequate for smooth operation, streaming and casual gaming. Should you wish to make the Fire HD 10 more of a productivity device, it’s compatible with accessories including a keyboard case and stylus pen.

As you would expect, the Fire HD 10 has cameras on its front and rear. Both feature 5MP lenses and neither is much good for photography, but the one on the front, which is positioned in the middle of one of the longer bezels, is perfectly fine for video calls. When holding the tablet in landscape mode, as you would when watching a movie, the tablet’s speakers are on either end of the top edge, so they’re not covered by your hands. Headphones sound better, of course, and the Fire HD 10 is one of the few remaining portable devices with a 3.5mm headphone jack – though you can of course connect headphones (and plenty more besides) via Bluetooth if you prefer.

Amazon quotes 13 hours of mixed use from a full battery, and our testing suggests that figure to be pretty accurate. Charging the battery from empty to full takes about four hours using the bundled 9W charger and USB-C cable.

It’s possible to ‘hack’ an Amazon tablet to access the Google Play Store, but most owners will rightly stick with the vanilla Fire OS operating system and its bespoke app store. While this is limited compared to the Apple and Google app stores, most of the bases relevant to video and music consumption are covered. On the video side, Prime Video (obviously), Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Now, Plex and all of the UK’s catchup apps are on board, and for music you’ve got Amazon Music, Spotify, BBC Sounds and TuneIn. You can even use cloud gaming apps such as Amazon Luna and Xbox Cloud Gaming. The only real disappointments are Apple TV, Apple Music and Tidal, which are missing and will be missed by a fair few buyers.

Picture

While the Fire HD 10 doesn’t support HDR, we’re immediately struck by how bright and punchy the image is when we click ‘play’ on the final episode of The Grand Tour on Prime Video. The purple of James May’s Triumph Stag and yellow of Richard Hammond’s Ford Capri really pop in the bright Zimbabwean sunshine, and the green fields and trees are lush. At the same time, the skin tones of the three presenters are realistically presented – May looks a bit sunburnt, but that’s because he is.

Switching to Rogue One on Disney+, it’s clear that the Amazon tablet can’t match an iPad for deep blacks – and it’s a little bit reflective in a bright room, too – but it doesn’t look unpleasantly grey or washed out, either. On the contrary, it’s a pleasingly contrasty performance. The tablet handles the more subdued palette of the movie well, authentically reproducing the dusty browns and greys of the uniforms of the rebel troops and the dirty white armour of a stormtrooper who’s seen better days.

‘Full HD’ doesn’t sound very impressive in a world of 4K and even 8K TVs, but it’s more than adequate for a sharp and fairly crisp delivery at this size. In fact, there’s an unexpected three-dimensionality to the Fire HD 10’s presentation, with characters and spaceships standing out effectively against backgrounds. There’s lots of detail in faces, clothes and scenery, too, and while there’s a little blur to motion, it’s not too distracting.

All told, the Fire HD 10 gets a lot right on the picture front, delivering movies and TV shows in a way that’s pretty faithful to creative intent and with a surprising amount of pop and definition.

Sound

If you’re watching a movie or TV show and find yourself without your headphones, the stereo speakers will do in a pinch. Being mounted to the top edge means the sound is fired upwards rather than out and towards you, but there’s decent clarity, particularly with dialogue. Unsurprisingly, there’s very little bass, making for a rather thin presentation overall, and there’s none of the pseudo-surround processing that you get with an iPad – but, again, the built-in speakers will do a job when required.

For music, it’s essential that you connect a pair of headphones. Do so and play Tool’s Invincible and you’ll discover a delivery that’s a little low on impact but pretty high on detail and tonally nicely balanced. The track’s larger dynamic shifts are handled well, and while things become a little congested as instrumentation is added, organisation isn’t bad overall.

The entry-level iPad is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a significant step up in terms of sound quality, offering more punch, control and subtlety, but for a tablet costing so much less, the Fire HD 10 is more than good enough.

Verdict

The Amazon Fire HD 10 isn’t going to knock your socks off, but expecting it to do so at this price is unrealistic. What it does do is offer a really solid picture performance that successfully balances authenticity with a surprising amount of punch and sharpness, and while the audio performance is less accomplished, it’s certainly good enough for a satisfying movie soundtrack and the odd bit of music listening.

With iPads costing as much as they do, the world needs a cheap-but-good alternative, and the Fire HD 10 is exactly that.

Review published: October 2024. Review updated: November 2024.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Apple iPad (2022)

Also consider the Amazon Fire HD 8

Read our Amazon Fire 7 review

These are the best tablets for movies and music

Having the latest streaming apps baked into your television's operating system is a fairly recent phenomenon – but it has quickly become something we take for granted. We rarely see a "dumb TV", as practically every model includes smart features; and that goes beyond streaming apps now, as many models incorporate smart home controls, social apps and even AI features such as generating images for ambient art modes.

If you're still looking to squeeze a few more years out of your TV, but would like to dip your toes into the vast world of streaming, a media streamer is your best bet. This can also be a solution if you have an older smart TV that has lost support for streaming services – Netflix, for example, has recently dropped support for older Sony and Samsung models. 

If you fit either of these descriptions, now is the perfect time to pick up a new streamer, as Amazon Prime Big Deal Days are happening as we speak. Amazon's own streamer, the Fire TV Stick, has been thoroughly discounted as a result, meaning you can now snag one for just £17 – half the price of the entry-level Fire TV Stick Lite. 

Simply put, this is likely the best Amazon Fire TV Stick for most people, as it strikes a solid balance between performance and value. You will be able to stream in 1080p HD with HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG supported; and while we tend to gravitate towards streamers with 4K Dolby Vision compatibility, we are willing to bet that, if you are in the market for this sort of streamer, your TV doesn't support this resolution or HDR format.

Originally released in 2021, the standard Fire TV Stick isn't one we have reviewed; but we did review the Fire TV Stick 4K step-up model and found plenty to like – so much so that we gave it an Award. Specifically, we find the app compatibility to be stellar; with all the services you might expect to find present and working correctly. That's a key part of any good streamer, and it has only improved throughout the Fire TV Stick's lifespan.

Furthermore, the Fire TV Stick gets a premium audio function in the form of Dolby Atmos, meaning you can play immersive audio when streaming content on a compatible Dolby Atmos soundbar or AVR.

The Fire TV Stick also comes with an Alexa Voice Remote bundled in the box, which you can use to interface with the streamer purely by voice commands. Alexa has become much more competent in recent years, meaning you will be met with fewer rogue misheard requests when asking for a specific app, movie or song.

At just £17, this deal is ideal for anyone looking to squeeze a bit more life out of their old TV. Smart features might not be for everyone, but at this price, you can test the waters without putting too much of your hard-earned cash on the line.

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Check out our picks for the best media streamers

As well as the best TVs

And the best TV deals

Prime Day is coming. Prime Big Deal Days (the official name for October's Prime Day) takes place from 8-9th October, and should see deals on all manner of products, from wireless headphones to TVs, to games consoles to Bluetooth speakers, turntables and beyond. But how do you sort the deals wheat from the discount chaff?

We'll be on hand throughout the event to highlight which deals are worth your attention, but we thought it would be helpful to give you a heads-up first. Forewarned is forearmed, after all.

Below are the products most likely to see a decent discount (of course, all of them are highly rated by yours truly). We'll tell you a bit about them, how much they usually cost, as well as what would be a good price to pay. This should help you get your ducks in a row come the big day, so you can spend less time trawling through pages and pages of Amazon search results and more time basking in the knowledge that you got a good deal.

Sony WH-1000XM5

• Reviewed at £380
• Now £259
• Lowest ever price £239
• Prime Day target £239

Even two years after launch, the Sony WH-1000XM5 are still the best wireless headphones you can buy. Why? They're the best all-rounders, combining a sleek design, superb noise-cancelling and excellent sound quality for a very reasonable price. They launched at £380 but have dropped as low as £239 in the January sales. Annoyingly they haven't dropped that low since, but here's hoping Prime Day comes good.

LG C4 OLED TV (42-inch)

• Reviewed at £1400
• Now £879
• Lowest ever price £849
• Prime Day target £849

LG's C-series is back on top. After last year's disappointing C3, the C4 has scored five stars in its 42-, 48- and 65-inch sizes (every size we have reviewed, in other words). The smallest model is currently an absolute bargain – in recent weeks it has even dropped to be cheaper than the same size C3! We are predicting that it will equal its best ever price, or even undercut it...

JBL Charge 5

• Reviewed at £160
• Now £140
• Lowest ever price £99
• Prime Day target £95

We are sticking our neck out here and saying that the JBL Charge 5 could fall to its lowest price ever. It fell to a new low of £99 just last month, and considering it has been around since 2021, we wouldn't be surprised to see another price cut. The Award-winner offers a clearer, more detailed sound over its predecessor, and updated dust-proofing, making it one of the best portable speakers around. It can also juice up your phone when you're out and about. Lifesaver.

Sony WF-C500

• Reviewed at £89
• Now £37
• Lowest ever price £37
• Prime Day target £35

Again, we're angling for a new low price on these. The C500 won a What Hi-Fi? Award, and that was when they were priced at £89! Now they're less than half price they are an absolute steal – and now that their successors have launched, the price could fall even lower. The C510 offer a longer battery life and ambient mode, but the C500 are not much compromise at all for this price. We're hoping for a new price of £35, but for the sake of a few quid you should really snap them up now.

LG G4 OLED TV (65-inch)

• Reviewed at £3299
• Now £2249
• Lowest ever price £2249
• Prime Day target £2200

The LG G4 has been at its lowest ever price for a few days now, but we think it might drop a bit lower. The 55-inch model has fallen to £1619 in recent weeks, so we think the 65-incher should nudge a little closer to the two grand mark. It's a five-star TV – its brilliantly bright picture is full of contrast, the motion handling is very good indeed, and its gaming specs are typically excellent. One of the best OLED TVs of the year so far.

Apple AirPods Max

• Reviewed at £549
• Now £499
• Lowest ever price £400
• Prime Day target £400

The Apple AirPods Max are an interesting one. Believe it or not, they launched back in December 2020 for £549. Apple prices don't tend to fall too dramatically, but these did hit £400 during Black Friday 2022. And they have fluctuated around £450-£500 since. The second-gen model launched recently – though it's a minor refresh, with just USB-C and different colour schemes – at the cheaper price of £449, and will become the default once old stock has sold out. Which could mean discounts on the Lightning model. If you can put up with the old connection and the more aged colour schemes, you might bag yourself a bargain...

JBL Flip 6

• Reviewed at 130
• Now £91
• Lowest ever price £86
• Prime Day target £86

Currently sitting around the £90 mark, the JBL Flip 6 has dipped lower before, and we are confident it will again. Its lowest ever price would be a great amount to pay for such an excellent speaker – with spades of sonic clarity and punchy bass, it delivers a sound far bigger than you might expect, and never at the expense of quality. Its toughest competition comes from its Charge 5 stablemate, which just shows how much JBL dominates the Bluetooth speaker category.

Sony A80L OLED TV (55-inch)

• Reviewed at £2399
• Now £1499
• Lowest ever price £1229
• Prime Day target £1229

The Award-winning A80L was one of the best OLED TVs we saw last year; it has since been succeeded by the Bravia 8. That means deals, deals, deals. It previously dropped to its lowest ever price over the summer, and with it closing in on 18 months on sale, we predict it will reach that bargain level again this Prime Day.

Sony WF-C700N

• Reviewed at £100
• Now £78
• Lowest ever price £67
• Prime Day target £67

We awarded the Sony WF-C700N a Product of the Year gong at the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2023 so this should show you how highly we rate them. They are a step up in sound quality from the WF-C500 and add active noise-cancelling to the equation. We saw the price drop to £67 back at the start of the year and would like to think they might return to this level during Prime Day. If they drop to around £70 or less, consider them a no-brainer.

Sony WF-1000XM5

• Reviewed at £259
• Now £189
• Lowest ever price £189
• Prime Day target £189

Sony's five-star, flagship WF-1000XM5 have just hit a new low price, so you should really consider snapping them up right now. This is a great price for these class-leading wireless earbuds – they have been around a while, so the XM6 could follow sooner rather than later, but this is still a quality pair of buds, and winner of multiple What Hi-Fi? Awards.

Apple AirPods Pro 2

• Reviewed at £249
• Now £229
• Lowest ever price £189
• Prime Day target £189

It can be hard to find deals on Apple products at the best of times and the AirPods Pro 2 are no exception. Apple’s excellent wireless earbuds have come down a little since their launch in September 2022, but we are talking only around £30. More recently, they have dropped to as low as £189, but this has been the exception rather than the rule and whether we’ll see them return to this level during Prime Day remains to be seen. You can find the older Lightning (as opposed to USB-C) model for around £200, though.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds

• Reviewed at £300
• Now £212
• Lowest ever price £212
• Prime Day target £210

Arguably the best noise-cancelling earbuds currently on the market, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds do demand a price premium. But we think their stunning sound quality and ANC skills are worth every penny. The price has just dropped to £212, which is a huge saving for these impressive buds. Our advice? Wait for Prime Day, and if they don't drop any further, snap them up.

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I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned it recently, but times are tough. Gone are those brief, fleeting days during the late 2010s and early 2020s when streaming was booming and, relatively speaking, so was the economy; days when you could proudly boast that you were concurrently subscribed to Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and the newly emergent Disney Plus with enough change left over for a daily sandwich at the supermarket.

How times have changed. All video streaming services are feeling the strain, raising prices to cope with demand and forcing consumers like me to trim the fat and consider cutting back as the economy struggles (and that's before we even get on to how much a decent sarnie costs). Disney Plus is very much the cornerstone of my streaming platform collection, and while lesser services have been discarded at the wayside, I simply can’t do without the pleasures Disney provides. You think I’m going to go back to the days of watching The Simpsons via my shelf-long stack of DVDs, or even more desperately, relying exclusively on weekend Channel 4 reruns to get my animated fix? I’ve become accustomed to the high life. I can’t go back. I won’t. 

Disney Plus stays, then. It’s our favourite video streaming service, after all, and while I can live without the temptations of Netflix and with being only an occasional tourist on Apple TV Plus when I fancy a nose around the platform’s latest slice of esoteric but talented TV offerings (see Slow Horses and Severance), there’s just too much good stuff over at the House of Mouse. Thankfully, there is now a way to keep your Disney subscription while saving money, and it comes in the shape of the platform's relatively new 'Standard with Ads' tier option.

Opting for the cheapest tier now offered by Disney has certainly saved me a good deal of dosh, although savings vary depending on whether you’re paying for a subscription monthly or via a single yearly instalment. That ‘Standard with Ads’ tier costs just £4.99 a month in the UK, with the Standard, non-ads level setting you back £7.99 a month and the full-fat, all-access Premium subscription costing a princely £10.99 per month (US users have two options: $7.99 a month for an ad-supported 4K tier and $13.99 a month for a parallel Premium subscription). Considering that the highest tier costs more than double the lowest for UK users, it is worth thinking about what you want from your subscription in these penny-stretched days. 

Naturally, sacrifices have to be made. The 'Premium' subscription gives you access to 4K UHD and HDR video quality, not to mention Dolby Atmos sound with compatible content and devices and a greater capacity for streaming across four registered devices. A 'Standard' membership only grants Full HD (1080p) quality, but you still get two devices to play with and no commercials. The ad-based membership grants 1080p video quality and two-device streaming, but, of course, there’s the matter of those pesky ads. 

If losing all of the bells and luxuries of the Premium tier – 4K UHD and Dolby Atmos in particular – is too much to bear, you can stop reading right now and continue to enjoy your glossy, hi-res editions of Avengers: Endgame and Death On The Nile in peace. If you’re umming and ahhing over whether to drop to the lowest price point to save a few bob, it might be best to keep on scrolling. 

In all honesty, the presence of adverts hasn’t been a huge intrusion into my viewing experience. Most of the time, you’ll have to suffer a single, minute-long ad before loading up a 22-minute instalment of, say, Futurama (I really haven’t escaped my adolescence), sometimes followed up by a shorter commercial at the halfway point of the episode. For a two-hour movie such as The Day After Tomorrow, you’ll generally have to endure the same minute-long ad or a bundle of two or three mini-ads lasting a total of a minute and a half before getting started, with occasional in-movie interruptions popping up intermittently to break things up a bit. Happily, if you’re watching a few movies back to back, you generally don’t have to suffer ads before your films, after the first instance – Disney clearly prefers to stagger its commercials for maximum impact.

What you might find irritating, though, isn’t the persistence of the commercials themselves, but rather their frustratingly repetitive nature. I’ve seen the same ‘Marvel at 85’ trailer so many time in the past few weeks that I know the words practically off by heart, from the opening mini-eulogy to Stan Lee to Tom Hiddleston looking dreaming and intoning that, “Marvel is a massive canvas through which all our humanity is explored.” I know, Tom, you’ve told me 50 times since Tuesday.

There are also further, rather more hidden drawbacks. Not being able to download content onto your device is a big one, and it’s a limitation that can often catch people out when they simply look at the low prices in big letters and are immediately suckered in. A lack of downloads is a big miss for me, especially as someone who spends a lot of his time travelling for work and likes to have a few episodes of Shōgun, say, to while away the hours on a crowded Ryanair flight. It’s a big miss, and one that you need to factor into your decision if you’re also thinking of making the drop to an ad-based subscription. 

There’s more you should consider. What also worries me, despite being nothing but hypothetical at this point, is now that said tier has become hugely popular with money-conscious consumers, Disney may decide to ramp up its advertorial drive as time goes on and money becomes even tighter. There’s no evidence to suggest that this will happen, but just as we’ve seen platforms such as YouTube add more ads than ever before, it wouldn’t exactly come as a surprise if Disney were to follow suit. It wouldn’t be a dealbreaker, but I remain wary all the same. 

For now, though, I’m happy with my tier choice, mainly because it works for me and my viewing preferences. I’m okay with seeing adverts for the sake of saving precious pounds every month, and while it can be irritating being exposed to the same pitches and campaigns every day, it’s a small price to pay for what is still a decent saving on a very fine streaming service. It’s sacrilege to say, but I simply don’t have the tech at my disposal to make use of the Premium tier’s myriad advantages anyway, so I hardly miss the prospect of UHD viewing or Dolby Atmos capabilities. If I were rocking the best 65-inch TV money could buy and some surround speakers to match, things might be different. 

In the end, it’s all about choosing what’s right for you. If you go big with your entertainment and want to get the most out of it, go Premium. If you're torn between saving money and not seeing commercials, consider exactly what, how and when you use your Disney subscription. What matters is that the option exists and, in its current state, doesn't detract from the basic Disney experience enough to make it into a false economy. That, to my mind at least, is a win for the cost-conscious consumer.

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If you’re shopping for a fancy new OLED there’s plenty to get excited about right now. Specifically, that we've seen huge savings appear on three five-star OLED TVs in rapid succession.

This started when we spotted huge savings on the five star LG C4 and cutting edge LG G4. Deals first started appearing on both during Prime Day in July, but things escalated earlier this month, when both the C4 and G4 dropped to their lowest prices ever.

This meant you could grab the 42-inch model of the LG C4 OLED TV for £879, a healthy £529 saving on its regular £1399 price. Above it, the flagship 55-inch LG G4 – which our reviewers still describe as the best premium option available in our best OLED TV guide – dropped to sell for £1699 at Richer Sounds. That is a £700 saving on its normal price and the best we’ve ever seen it sell for to date.

Not content to just dethrone the LG C4 as our recommendation to most people after we finished reviewing it earlier in September, Sony then got in on the action with its Bravia 8. Amazon slashed the price of every size of the OLED, but we were particularly shocked to see the 55-inch Bravia 8 sell for £1619, a £580 saving on the £2199 it normally costs.

As a final nail in the coffin, Philips decided to get involved, with Richer Sounds slashing the price of every size of the firm’s OLED809 – which also happened to score a perfect five stars when we tested it. Here, the premier deal lets you pre-order the 77-inch Philips OLED809 for £2199. That’s a £1050 saving on its £3249 RRP and the cheapest price we’ve seen on any 77-inch step-down OLED that has launched this year.

Prices have since gone up on all three sets, but the early cuts are still weird. Why is that weird? Because we’ve not seen new OLED TVs launched this year get such hefty price drops this early in their lifecycle before. Normally the best deals would target the older OLEDs from last year, as retailers rush to clear stock. I even penned an opinion piece in 2023 explaining this is a key reason why we tend to take a while before recommending new OLED TVs over their predecessors.

So if you a new OLED TV right now, you’re probably feeling pretty great and for good reasons – trust me, having seen every one of the three TVs mentioned above, I can confirm you’ll likely be happy with any of them, especially if you’re coming off an ageing Plasma, LCD or early OLED.

But, for those that can, I’d strongly suggest waiting a little longer before pulling the trigger for one key reason – Black Friday is fast approaching. 

Black Friday used to be a key shopping event that started in the US and happened on the last Friday of November, just after Thanksgiving. But it has recently grown to cover pretty much all of November and become an international phenomenon. It is also no longer limited to Amazon, with a number of big name specialist hi-fi and home cinema retailers also getting in on the action in recent years.

The event usually brings with it a number of excellent OLED TV deals as a result. Last year these included the first solid deals on the then flagship LG C3 whose 42-inch size dropped to sell for £899 during the event.

With the C4 already having crossed that price threshold, I can't help but wonder how much further it will drop during Black Friday and I think, and hope, that the best OLED TV deals are yet to come. 

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Apple has launched the latest version of tvOS; the smart platform that powers the Award-winning Apple TV 4K streamer. It released the update yesterday evening alongside iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 for the iPhone and iPad respectively, as well as updates to its Apple Watch, Mac and Vision Pro devices. 

The new software release brings some handy features to the streamer, including the new InSight for Apple TV+ function that allows you to pull up information regarding the actors and title you're watching providing it is Apple Original content. It's similar to Amazon Prime Video's X-Ray feature, meaning it can even identify music playing in a scene, and in true Apple ecosystem fashion, you can then add that song to your Apple Music library.

Other features include automatic subtitles that appear when content is muted or if the dialogue is spoken in another language to your streamer's preferred setting and an improved Enhance Dialogue system which will allow you to 'Enhance', 'Boost' or 'Isolate' dialogue based on your preference. This feature can be found in the accessibility section of the settings menu and is compatible with TVs, HomePod, HDMI sound systems (soundbars and AVRs), and Bluetooth audio devices (including wireless speakers and AirPods). 

You can also set portrait screensavers, tweak the home screen user interface to show four apps per row instead of five and interact with a new on-device Siri assistant with enhanced privacy. AirPlay is also getting a spatial audio-themed upgrade, meaning you can wirelessly stream spatial audio from an iPad or iPhone to an Apple TV 4K, HomePod or supported wireless speaker for immersive audio. Personalised Spatial Audio with AirPods is also now supported for all Apple TV users (providing they have a pair of AirPods that support personalised spatial audio).  

While a handful of the announced features have made it to the final release version of tvOS 18, there are also some notable omissions. 21:9 aspect ratio support for home cinema projectors is missing in action, as is a collection of TV and Movie-themed screensavers – including an adorable animated screensaver of Snoopy. We anticipate these features will be added in a further software update within the next year.

The new version of tvOS is available across the full range of Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD streamers, though some features including enhanced dialogue and on-device Siri require at least a second-generation Apple TV 4K (2021). 

As for how to install this update, simply follow these steps to update your Apple TV 4K: navigate to the Settings app > click System > then click Software Updates > then select download and install, and wait for the update to complete. If you're looking to update your HomePod, then simply open the Home app on your iPhone or iPad > open Home Settings > then click Software Update. 

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Read our full Apple TV 4K review

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What Hi-Fi? Towers recently had a visit from Danny Tack, the TV industry legend behind Philips TVs. It's probably fair to say that he's obsessed with upscaling low-resolution video to 4K quality and with upconverting SDR to HDR, and during this visit, I got a hint at why: very few people are watching proper HDR content on Philips TVs.

I'm not naive enough to think that HDR makes up most TV viewing, but Tack made it sound like the numbers are tiny, so I asked if he would share them with me. He did just that this week, and I'm genuinely shocked and dismayed by them.

According to Tack, "In our High-End range – effectively OLED and Mini LED – [viewing] fluctuates between 4 and 8% for HDR. The rest is SDR. In the [TV] range below (the core range, say for instance The One LCD range) it is less than 1% for HDR."

Let that sink in for a moment: most people who are spending big money on top-of-the-range OLED and Mini LED TVs are using them to watch an absolutely tiny amount of HDR content. Owners of more entry-level models, which are perfectly capable of handling HDR, are watching only a fraction of that tiny number.

That's just baffling to me. I realise there are plenty of people who just don't really care about picture quality and simply buy a TV for news, soaps and the like (and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, I might add), but if a person cares enough to fork out for a fancy OLED, why don't they also care enough to seek out the HDR versions of movies and TV shows?

It's not as if HDR content is particularly hard to find these days. Pretty much every piece of original content on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+ now comes in HDR; most pay-as-you-go movies from the likes of Apple, Amazon and Sky are available in HDR; Premier League football and the F1 are now broadcast in HDR. The list goes on.

Is it a cost thing? I certainly agree that a service such as Sky is expensive if you want it in HDR, but the HDR versions of each streaming service are only a few quid a month more than the SDR subscriptions. I realise that's not nothing, but we're talking about people who have spent a four-figure sum on their TV.

Perhaps people are still watching loads of broadcast TV, which unfortunately still lags a long way behind when it comes to HDR content. Nine-and-a-half hours of broadcast SDR to just half an hour of HDR, though? On a premium OLED TV? That seems rather at odds with the notion that broadcast TV is in heavy decline.

Of course, these are just the figures of one TV brand; but I don't see an obvious reason those of others would be markedly different. Perhaps the data is skewed by Philips being Europe-only, though, and the global percentages of brands such as LG or Samsung, which sell enormous numbers of TVs in slightly more HDR-saturated regions such as the US and Japan, might be a little bit higher; but I would be somewhat surprised if they were significantly so.

So, if very few people are actually watching HDR, are we going to change our HDR-first approach to reviewing TVs? Actually, no. Our logic is that we are writing primarily for enthusiasts. If someone is researching their next TV purchase by reading the in-depth reviews on our site and in our magazine, we believe that's because they really care about the quality of what they watch: they are more likely to pay that little bit extra for the 4K HDR version of a streaming subscription or pay-as-you-go movie; with any luck they might even own a 4K Blu-ray player; HDR sport could be a fixture of their weekends, too. In short, we think they are contributing a lot to those little HDR percentages.

That isn't to say that non-HDR content doesn't matter. We thoroughly test and report on each TV's ability to upscale and upconvert lower-res, SDR content, from broadcast TV to 1080p Blu-rays and old-school DVDs, because being an enthusiast means watching all of that lovely stuff, too. But HDR is TV at its best, and even if these disappointing figures from Philips suggest it might not quite be the present, it is certainly still the future of TV. And, who knows, if we keep talking about HDR, perhaps a few more people will dig it out and realise just how stunning their TV can be.

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The days are getting shorter and the weather's getting cooler, which means you no longer have to feel bad about shunning the outdoors and instead curling up in front of the TV. But what televisual delights await us this September?

I've trawled through the 'coming soon' lists of Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+ and sifted out the tat to bring you the five new originals that I'm most looking forward to watching over the coming month.

Wolfs (Apple TV+) – 27th September

Without a doubt, the biggest streaming release of the month (and one of the biggest of the year) is the glossy dark comedy Wolfs, which reunites Oceans megastars George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Here, they both play lone wolf-style 'fixers' who are forced to work together – hence the awkward title.

The trailer promises a neat mix of the grim and whimsical and some enjoyable banter from the two leads, and while it's fair to say that the response from a screening at the Venice International Film Festival has been mixed (and that's putting it fairly mildly), who can resist seeing these two on screen together? I certainly can't and Apple apparently feels the same as the sequel has already been given the green light.

The Grand Tour: One For The Road (Prime Video) – 13th September

Honestly, I'm not that much of a Grand Tour fan. I was over the Clarkson/Hammond/May schtick long before they had even left the BBC, so Amazon's bigger-budget version of it never really appealed. That said, I have dipped into the odd episode when testing TVs (the picture quality is generally superb) and have struggled to resist the odd titter at the automotive japes.

I will be streaming One For The Road in its entirety, though, primarily because (as the name suggests) it's the last one they're making. It doesn't look like much of a detour from previous adventures (though the Zimbabwean location looks stunning) but I'll be tuning in for the nostalgia – I was watching these three mess about in cars when I was barely out of my teens and the original Top Gear was a fixture in my house when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. One for the road indeed.

Will & Harper (Netflix) – 27th September

Now here's something that's been hugely well received by those lucky enough to have already seen it. Will & Harper, which was screened to apparently rapturous applause at this year's Sundance Film Festival before being picked up by Netflix, is a documentary featuring Will Ferrell and his old friend / SNL collaborator Harper Steele, who now identifies as a trans woman.

There's no trailer yet, but early reviews describe a touching but also amusing portrayal of the two friends figuring out their relationship in light of Steele's transition, all while road-tripping from New York to Los Angeles. Expect some eye-openingly frank conversations between the two and some very awkward moments as the pair encounter some of the less accepting members of US society.

Slow Horses Season 4 (Apple TV+) – 4th September

Not only one of the best things on Apple TV+ but arguably one of the finest shows of the last few years, period, Slow Horses is back (today!) for a fourth season of cack-handed crime-fighting across the streets of London. Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb appears to be on perfect kebab-stained, foul-mouthed form, Jack Lowden's River Cartwright seems just as doggedly determined as ever, and the new bad guy is played by the wonderful Hugo Weaving. It all just sounds superb, doesn't it?

The best bit of news is that you don't have to wait to find out if the new season is up to the greasy-overcoated greatness of the previous three, because episode one is available now.

Agatha All Along (Disney+) – 18th September

I know I'm not the only one who's been taking a break from the MCU having nearly drowned in the deluge of diluted TV shows and movies in the post-End Game era, but Agatha All Along looks just about different and weird enough to be worth a punt. For starters, it's a spin-off from WandaVision, one of the most unexpectedly entertaining Marvel shows, and it features the best character from that show – the witch Agatha Harkness, played in terrifically camp fashion by the ever-enjoyable Kathryn Hahn.

The trailer suggests there will be plenty of silliness, but also potentially some creepiness and light scares – perfect for the run-up to Halloween. Marvel shows always look and sound great, too.

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Heading (back) off to uni and wondering what essentials you need to take with you? Well after you've packed the toothbrush, lots of underwear and a laptop, next on the list has to be a TV, right? I mean, you've got to have some down time occasionally, and you can't go to the SU every night...

Unless you're a very fortunate student indeed, you're unlikely to have a big budget for said TV, but the good news is that there are some very solid cheap TVs around, and this is one of the cheapest and most solid.

The TV in question is the Hisense 43A6KTUK, a 43-inch 4K HDR TV that can be bought for just £229 at Amazon.

£229 really is extraordinarily little for a 43-inch 4K TV, and the Hisense 43A6KTUK is much better than that low price suggests. It has its limitations, of course, most notably in that its motion is a little smeary and it doesn't go as bright as more expensive models, but it gets the basics very right.

The backlights of cheap TVs are often blotchy, but the Hisense's is really controlled and consistent. The TV is capable of delivering decently deep blacks, too, and it digs up plenty of shadow detail. Colours are natural and realistic (another thing that many cheap TVs get wrong), and images are sharp without looking artificially sharpened.

Inevitably, given its price, the Hisense doesn't support HDMI 2.1 gaming features such as 4K/120Hz or VRR, but it does have ALLM, which means it will automatically switch to its low-latency game mode when a signal from a console is detected. Said game mode brings input lag down to just 10.2ms, which is super-fast and very impressive for a TV at this level.

To top it all off, the VIDAA smart platform is really well-appointed when it comes to streaming apps, with all of the UK catch-up services, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV all built in, so you won't need to buy a separate streaming stick or dongle.

If you do have any budget left, a cheap soundbar would be a good investment. The Hisense doesn't sound bad for a TV, particularly one so cheap, but movies, games and music will sound so much better on a soundbar.

If the Hisense 43A6KTUK isn't the right TV for you, perhaps because you want one bigger or smaller, check out our list of the best cheap TVs you can buy right now.

MORE:

Read the full Hisense 43A6KTUK review

Here are the best cheap soundbars you can buy

5 affordable audio products I wish I had when I was a student, and can now recommend

Now (formerly Now TV) has a new subscription option that finally adds some long-awaited picture and sound features that we've been waiting for. Up until now, it's felt like Now's parent company, Sky, has intentionally held the platform back to not compete with its own Sky Stream service; however, this no longer seems to be the case. On the face of it, its new Ultra Boost feature is good news for Now subscribers. However, there is always a catch, and this one is the price.

Before we get into that, we'll dig into what the Ultra Boost feature option offers. The major news is support for 4K HDR streaming, which is a major upgrade over the 720p SDR quality you get as default with Now. We're not sure exactly which HDR formats Now will support (such as Dolby Vision), but we do see a mention of HDR10+ on Now's support page.

Furthermore, Dolby Atmos immersive audio is coming to the platform. This will, of course, require a Dolby Atmos soundbar or suitable surround-sound system, but it's an appreciated upgrade over the stereo audio support that the non-boosted service offers. 

Now is also adding some quality-of-life improvements, such as ad-free streaming and allowing up to three concurrent streams on one account. The existing Boost upgrade also allows for ad-free streaming, but that only supports up to two streams at a time, while video is capped at 1080p and audio is supported up to Dolby Digital 5.1.

It's all looking good for Now so far, but here is where we need to address the price of this upgrade. It's an additional £9 a month on top of Now's standard £9.99 monthly subscription cost; meaning you'll need to be willing to pay £18.99 per month for those picture and sound upgrades. That's also before you add any sports or Sky Cinema content, as Now's basic membership only covers TV shows. 

It seems rather steep, especially compared to other streaming platform prices. Netflix's Ultra HD plan isn't far off at £17.99 per month here in the UK, but Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video's equivalent tiers only cost £10.99 and £11.99 a month respectively. Sky Stream with the UHD and Dolby Atmos upgrade comes in at £32 per month which is more expensive, but you also get Netflix bundled in at that price and a much more extensive range of live TV shows.

If we're nitpicking here, we would also have liked to have seen this upgrade be added to the service earlier. One of Now's biggest shows, House Of The Dragon, has just concluded its second season, so it feels like a missed opportunity to have not watched the whole series in 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos.

Nevertheless, the Ultra Boost option is available now, and if you're eager to upgrade your account then just look for the "viewing experience" within your membership options, in which you'll find the Boost upgrades.

MORE:

Check out our picks for the best media streamers

As well as the best TVs

Here's how Now nearly ruined House of the Dragon for me

It’s Games time. With the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics’ opening ceremony taking place today, making history by being the first to be held outside of a stadium, we are just hours away from 16 full days of world-class sporting action, with Badminton kicking us off tomorrow (nice and early in the UK), ladies and gentlemen.

If there’s ever a fortnight to be stuck to your TV setup or home cinema, it’s now – but if you have a 4K (Ultra HD) and HDR (High Dynamic Range) TV or projector and perhaps even a surround sound 5.1 or Dolby Atmos audio system, you’ll certainly want to watch all the gold medal glory in those leading audiovisual formats. 

The good news is that the Paris 2024 Olympics is being broadcast in 4K and HDR around the world: the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) is producing the global feed in 4K HDR with 5.1.4 Atmos surround sound, and France Télévisions is leading the broadcaster way for its home games by offering 4K HDR broadcasts through its new digital terrestrial channels. 

So is that quality also available where you live, via your country’s broadcasters?

UK: you can watch the Olympics in 4K and HDR

In the UK, the BBC is the official Olympic television broadcaster, however despite the Beeb’s previous dabbles in live 4K HDR broadcasting via its iPlayer service, it will only be offering HD (1080p) and SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) through its BBC One and BBC Two coverage.

So can you watch Paris 2024 in 4K HDR in the UK at all? Thankfully, yes.

For the past decade, Warner Brothers Discovery (owner of Eurosport and Discovery) have exclusively had the European rights to the Olympics, so it isn’t surprising that both channels will offer a better viewing experience. There will be 4K HDR broadcasts on Eurosport’s main linear UHD channel, which is available via satellite on pay-TV platforms such as Virgin Media, EE TV and BT TV for subscribers.

The Discovery+ service (which currently has a £3.99/month special offer for the duration of the Olympics through Amazon Prime Video Channels or discoveryplus.com) also offers Eurosport 1 and 2, but will deliver the Olympic broadcasts only in HDR – not 4K. (If you have Sky TV or EE TV, you’ll get access to Discovery+ offerings for free during the Olympics.)

As for audio, we cannot yet confirm whether Eurosport or the pay-for platform providers will offer surround sound.

US: you can watch the Olympics in 4K, HDR and Atmos

Comcast NBCUniversal's USA Network channel will broadcast some events in 4K with HDR (Dolby Vision) and Dolby Atmos surround sound, reportedly through all of the following: the Xfinity Stream app, Altice, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV/Stream, Dish, Fubo, Sling TV, Verizon and YouTube TV. (Multiple reports state that NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service will live-stream every event – but not in 4K.)

NBC will actually produce the games in HD HDR, before upconverting it to 4K (it’s calling it ‘enhanced 4K’) for distribution. And on the surround sound front, as reported by SVG, “NBC trucks onsite in Paris will mix a 5.1 production but will pass the extra eight channels of height information [from OBS] untouched to NBC’s primetime-immersive audio-control room” for a mixed 5.1.4 output.

Australia: you can watch the Olympics in 4K

While the Olympics coverage is being shown on the Nine Network terrestrial channel, the Stan Sport streaming service is offering 4K coverage of Paris 2024, with “all medal events and major moments” being available in the superior resolution. So on that basis, the streaming service’s 4K coverage should be very comprehensive. This is the first time Australia will offer the Olympics in 4K, though there’s no mention of HDR or Dolby Atmos.

What devices you need to watch the Olympics in the highest possible quality

So to watch the Olympics in 4K, you need two things: a 4K/HDR TV or projector, and a 4K/HDR-compatible device (a streaming stick or set-top box) that can host the broadcast platform offering 4K coverage, if the TV itself does not via, say, an app. And hey, it's not too late for an upgrade! 

For example, in the UK, you’ll need a 4K/HDR TV or projector and, say, an EE TV Box Pro or Sky Q box/Stream stick with the relevant subscription. 

In the US, you’ll need a 4K/HDR TV or projector and, say, a Xumo Stream Box from Xfinity with the relevant subscription. To get the Dolby Vision flavour of HDR that will be offered on USA Network, both devices must support Dolby Vision too.

And in Australia, you’ll simply need a 4K TV that can access the Stan Sport app, plus the relevant subscription.

For the Dolby Atmos 5.1.4 immersive sound available in the US, you’ll need either a Dolby Atmos soundbar or an Atmos-compatible AV receiver (connected to speakers that can deliver all or some of the available 5.1.4 channels).

MORE:

How to watch the Opening Ceremony: live stream Paris 2024 Olympics in 4K HDR today

Best TV 2024: flagship OLEDs and affordable flatscreens tried and tested

Best Dolby Atmos soundbars 2024: tried and tested by our review team

Amazon has begun the rollout of its latest Prime Video app update, with big changes coming to the user interface, personalised content recommendation feature and easier navigation. Amazon says it's "bringing clarity and simplicity back to streaming" with this latest update, so let's take a deeper dive into what's new. 

The most noticeable change is the app has a fresh lick of paint, and we have to say the new user interface is looking rather slick. Everything has been shifted down slightly, giving the key art of the feature programme or film more room to shine, and it's accompanied by buttons to instantly play the content and find out more details. This is a rotating carousel which will show featured content, new content available to rent or buy, and featured deals and benefits as part of your Amazon Prime subscription. 

You'll also find new streamlined navigation tools on the left-hand side and top of the main page. On the left, there appears to be a search function as well as what appears to be a bookmark page for content you've flagged to watch later. Along the top edge is where we find the biggest and, in our opinion, best change, and that's a navigation bar that's split into different content types including home (the aforementioned main page), movies, TV shows, sports and live TV. 

Furthermore, you'll find a subscription section on this navigation bar which is the destination for any additional subscriptions you have signed up to through Prime, such as Paramount+, MGM+, MUBI or Discovery+. Here is where you will also find the Prime button itself which will show you films, shows, sports and broadcasts that are included with your Prime Video subscription, alongside exclusive deals and benefits. A new feature in this update is the ability to sign up for additional subscriptions directly from the home page, which will allow you to access content quicker if it requires another service linked to Prime. 

Another appreciated change is enhanced clarity surrounding what is included in your Prime subscription. It hasn't always been clear if the content you want to watch is included or not until you're met with a "buy or rent" button. Amazon is now marking content not included with Prime Video using a yellow shopping bag icon, which should make things clearer. Furthermore, logos for content that requires additional subscriptions will feature on the hero and key art for relevant content, meaning you'll see a Starz logo on content that requires a Starz subscription, for example. 

As it's 2024, it was only a matter of time before AI was mentioned, and Amazon is baking it directly into Prime Video. Generative AI will be used to enhance personalised recommendations, with new "Made for You" collections within the movies and TV shows pages. This will suggest content based on your viewing history and personal tastes from a variety of services that can be accessed through Amazon Prime Video. There will also be other categories that cast a wider net, for example, "Top 10 Shows in the US" or "Trending Shows" which will collate relevant content. 

The AI integration doesn't stop there, as Amazon is integrating a large language model into the platform in order to simplify synopses for TV shows and movies. This will give many titles an "at a glance" description which should speed up the process of finding something you'd like to watch. 

Finally, Amazon has tidied up the platform with "new animations, smoother page transitions and zoom effects for a frictionless and enjoyable streaming experience you can look forward to". This should help to freshen up the platform and make it feel slicker in operation. It also says that this update has been rolled out across all devices (including older models of TVs and streamers) to ensure everyone can enjoy the new features and interface. 

We would recommend checking your smart TV or media streamer's respective app store to see if your Prime Video app requires an update now. 

MORE:

Read our full Amazon Prime Video review

As well as our Fire TV Cube (3rd Generation) review

I pay for Amazon Prime Video, so why am I seeing ads?

If you've been a long-time reader of What Hi-Fi? you will know that we're fond of physical media. Despite near-constant headlines of declining sales and retailers ceasing sales in bricks-and-mortar stores, there is finally some good news coming from one of Britain's largest entertainment retailers. 

HMV has reported that DVD and Blu-ray sales are on the rise, despite a decline in previous years due to the popularity of streaming services like Disney Plus, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. ITV reports that the managing director of HMV, Phil Halliday, has made promising statements regarding the business, with the "physical visual" side being a particular highlight. 

Halliday attributes collectors as a key demographic for increased Blu-ray sales, alongside growing frustrations with streaming services such as rising subscription prices and confusion as to what content is available on certain streaming platforms. This has reportedly driven people back to buying physical discs to avoid these streaming pitfalls.

"It’s been really positive to see the physical products in visual back in growth – 4K and Blu-ray have been doing particularly well," says Halliday, which is music to our ears. He went on to say "It’s a bit like people buying music physically, in that we are getting a lot of people wanting to collect certain titles. Releases have picked up as well, and we have some really good titles like Challengers coming out at the moment [...] people are willing to pay for a physical copy of shows or films they know they will rewatch."

Seeing 4K Blu-ray doing well is especially important to us, especially as just a year ago we had fears that the format might be dying out. We still always prefer the superior picture and sound quality that 4K Blu-ray provides over streaming, and the security of always having our favourite content on hand without worrying about licenses expiring or subscription prices rising. 

MORE:

Check out our picks for the best Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray players

And the best OLED TVs

As well as this quirky Panasonic TV with a built-in 4k Blu-ray player

Amazon's Prime Day sale may be best known for its big discounts on headphones, speakers and the like, but it's also a goldmine for picking up some fresh vinyl LPs. 

While the selection won't rival your local record store in size, there are still multiple gems to be found, all with big discounts that will save you spending upwards of AU$70 per album. 

I recently bought the JBL Spinner BT earlier in the sale, and so now I'm looking to flesh out my record collection – these are the albums I've bought so far.

Don't agree with my choices? Check out the full selection of CD & vinyl Prime Day deals. 

MORE:

Check out the best turntables in 2024

JBL Classic TT350 review

The 60 best albums for audiphiles

Prime Day is in its second day and if like many hi-fi and home cinema fans you’re struggling to keep up with the frenzy of hundreds, if not thousands of deals being pumped out by Amazon and its rivals – you’re in the right place.

Our team of experts has been on hand checking stores to find the best hi-fi and home cinema discounts that are actually worth your time and money. Doing so we’ve made sure the deals are on products we’ve tested and know are good and run thorough price checks to make sure they weren’t cheaper at an earlier point.

And from that already narrow shortlist of deals we decided were good enough to recommend to you, we've decided to go one step further and create this guide detailing the six deals our team are personally excited about. 

As an added bonus we’ve also made sure they’re still live, so you can get in on the action if you share our excitement.

KEF LSX II

LG C4

Sony PS-LX310BT 

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e 

Wharfedale DX-2 

Sonos Ray

MORE:

These are the top Prime Day OLED TV deals we’ve spotted

Our picks of the best Prime Day turntable deals

We rate the best Prime Day hi-fi deals

Fancy trying Amazon Music Unlimited? To celebrate the 10th edition of Prime Day, Amazon is offering Prime members five months’ free subscription to its music streaming service. Don't fret, non-Prime members, you're still being offered three whole months of free membership – everyone can get in on this deal.

This free trial offer is only available to new customers who haven't previously taken out a trial and is valid until 4 pm GMT today (18th July) – that means there are only a handful of hours left to take advantage of this great offer.

It provides an Amazon Music Unlimited Individual Plan and, if you choose to continue with your subscription following the free five-month trial period, you'll be charged £11 / $11 a month. However, if you’re already an Amazon Prime member, the monthly fee will be reduced to £10 / $10 per month.

Prime Day Amazon Music Unlimited deal

Amazon Music Unlimited gives you access to over 100 million tracks, thousands of playlists, stations and podcasts, as well as offline playback and hands-free listening using Alexa, all without ads. Some tracks are available in CD-quality and some in spatial audio.

We rate Music Unlimited highly, awarding it four stars in our review. While it doesn't quite have the reach of Spotify, the seamless usability of Apple Music or the quality of Tidal, it is still a compelling offering at the price, especially if you're firmly entrenched in Amazon's ecosystem. Now, with nothing to pay for the first five months, it's definitely worth checking out.

Remember, to get in on the action you must sign up before 4 pm today (18th July) to get your five months of free Amazon Music Unlimited before the offer ends.

MORE:

Read our Amazon Music Unlimited review

Best music streaming services: free streams to hi-res audio

Prime Day 2024 is here, and while that’s great for deal hunters, as a veteran covering the event since it first became a “thing” many moons ago, I have to confess I went in expecting yet another by-the-numbers event.

Amazon’s yearly deals bonanza has become a staple entry in the What Hi-Fi? calendar, as it brings with it a wave of discounts on everything from cutting edge OLED TVs to nail clippers. And, as I know, having done it for well over a decade, if you’re willing to hunt through the mountain of discounts there are some great home cinema and hi-fi savings to be had – especially if you follow the three simple rules detailed in my Prime Day survival guide.

But, truthfully, the process and format of the event doesn’t change much, especially in recent years, where Amazon and competing retailers have settled into a bit of a pattern, regarding what specific products they’ll be discounting – the short version is stores tend to use it as a means to clear stock of older products to make way for that year’s new hardware. This is especially true of TVs.

Which is why I am pleased to report, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I’ve already been treated to two great discounts that I hand on heart did not expect and thoroughly recommend any potential OLED TV buyer to consider.

LG C4 – amazing blink and you’ll miss it savings

The LG C4 is a great TV. But, as you’ll see in my general “which TVs to watch this Prime Day” guide, it is not a set I was expecting to see hefty discounts on this year. 

Traditionally the best OLED TV deals have been on LG sets from the year before. And there have undeniably been great savings on the LG C3, which are still available and worth a look, the best deals I've seen so far have been on the C4. 

The highlight so far was the 77-inch version of the LG C4, which dropped to sell for just £2000 on the LG official store – a massive saving on its £3800 regular price. We say blink and you miss it, as LG raised the price back up within the 30 minutes it took our intrepid home cinema editor, Tom Parsons, to type up our news story on the deal. 

Thankfully, while the discounts aren’t quite as great as the 77-inch model, LG’s still running a wealth of other great C4 deals on its official store across all the smaller sizes. However, be warned the prices are fluctuating rapidly and these are also being listed as “limited time” discounts. 

For the money you get a fantastic OLED TV that we awarded a perfect five-stars after reviewing it in our dedicated viewing rooms.

Though it’s not a night and day upgrade on the LG C3, which we recommend keeping an eye on as well, it offers fantastic picture quality, significantly improved sound and all the features gamers need to make the most of the PS5 and Xbox Series X graphical-grunt. At its current price it also partially deals with our reviewers’ biggest gripe – it’s high price compared to the C3. 

What’s going on with the Sony A80L?

If the C4 doesn’t grab your fancy, or is still a bit over your budget, there are loads of great discounts running on the five star, What Hi-Fi? Award winning Sony A80L.

The discounts started when Amazon slashed over £1000 off the 55-inch A80L. But since then specialist retailers Richer Sounds and Sevenoaks have followed suit, running their own massive “stock clearance” sales on the 65-inch and 77-inch models of the A80L.

Why is this a surprise? It’s because traditionally Sony sets tend to retain their value a lot longer than competitors. So seeing the A80L (which remains one of the OLED TVs our experts recommend to buyers even at full price) discounted is a rare treat and surprise.

To this day the A80L is a benchmark we use when reviewing OLED TVs and running our suite of comparative side-by-side checks in our viewing rooms. Key reasons for this include its atypically high max brightness for a regular OLED without MLA or QD-OLED, and wonderfully accurate motion handling. 

If you want a great OLED TV deal, and don’t fancy an LG, this makes the A80L the TV to get this Prime Day, at least for the moment.

MORE:

These are the best OLED TV deals we've spotted

Our picks of the best OLED TVs 

We rate the best 65-inch TVs money can buy

Prime Day 2024 is all but here and it has brought with it more hi-fi and home cinema deals than can easily be counted.

And while this is in many ways awesome, it’s also tricky for a couple of reasons. First, because the sheer volume of discounts is all but impossible for any one person to stay on top of. 

That’s why the team of experts at What Hi-Fi? spends time trawling through them to find the top discounts actually worth your time and showcase them in pages including our best hi-fi deals and best TV deals guides every year.

Second, because Amazon is huge for a reason. The retailer is incredibly smart in the way it goes about pushing you to click the purchase button and breeds a sense of urgency during the event. This makes Prime a very dangerous time to shop, if you don’t go in prepared.

Here to help you avoid these potential problems, we’ve penned a handy survival guide, where our team details three key bits of advice they recommend any hi-fi or home cinema shopper follow if they want to make the most of Prime Day 2024.

• Browse all of today's best Amazon dealst

1. Check the product’s price history before buying 

Amazon, and retailers in general, are always a little tricky during sales events. This is because most of the discounts compare the current price to the product's launch RRP. Over the numerous Prime Days and Black Fridays, our team found this is problematic as we’ve seen retailers push “deals” during the events where the product was actually cheaper a few months or weeks earlier – so the deal’s not actually that great.

This is particularly prone to happening on products with long shelf lives, where a new model doesn’t come out for over half a decade – like hi-fi separates, AVRs and surround-sound systems. 

As an added layer of complexity, we’ve also seen stores raise the price of a product it wants to push a few weeks, or even months, before a big shopping event like Prime Day, in a bid to make the deal look better. 

This is why we recommend always using a tool such as Keepa or CamelCamelCamel which let you check the products’ price history. Both are available as standalone tools or Chrome extensions, making it quick and easy to spot bogus, fake deals, quickly and easily.

2. Have a hi-fi and home cinema hitlist – and stick to it

Knowing a product’s price history is great, but trust us when we say, just because something is cheaper than ever before doesn’t mean it’s worth your money. Having reviewed hi-fi and home cinema hardware since the late 1970s, our team of experts can safely confirm that there are plenty of products in both categories that aren’t worth your money or time, no matter how heavily they’ve been discounted.

This is especially true in certain categories. Take cheap TVs as an example. Jump over to our guide on which TVs to watch this Prime Day, and you’ll see that despite the category being one of the biggest when it comes to volume of discounts, a very small number are actually worth buying. 

This is because there’s an ongoing issue in the lower end of the TV market where, thanks to companies' overt focus on the top end, there are very few "good" cheap TVs. This is evidenced by the fact that, even in our best cheap TV guide, only a very small number performed well enough to earn five star ratings when our reviewers got them in for testing.

Because of this we recommend doing your research before you start shopping and going in with a hit list of products you’ve already approved and know will 100 per cent meet your needs. As an added bonus, it will also help you avoid two key, easy mistakes even members of the What Hi-Fi? team have made. 

First, it’ll help you avoid making impulse purchases – our editor (me) still has metres worth of unneeded Chord Company RumourX cable and a superfluous Chromecast with Google TV after impulse purchases during last year's Prime Day.

In the world of separates we always recommend doing your research and matching products when building a hi-fi set-up. This is especially important as simply bolting together a bunch of five-star products isn’t a surefire way to get the best results. 

For the best results, parts need to have complementary sonic characters. That’s why we recommend checking out our system guides, or doing the legwork yourself and demoing how the product you’re considering works with your other hardware at your local hi-fi shop before making a purchase.

3. Keep tabs on the specialists

Speaking of hi-fi shops, our third and final piece of advice is a simple one: keep an eye on specialist retailers as well as Amazon.

Amazon’s huge, but in the world of hi-fi and home cinema it’s not always the best place to get a great deal. Specialist retailers exist for a reason, especially if you're shopping for high-end hi-fi or a less mainstream category. That’s why our experts always check what’s available in specialist shops, such as Richer Sounds, Sevenoaks Audio and Peter Tyson in the UK, or Audio Advice in the US. 

Often, these stores not only have better selections of specific categories, they also offer equally as good, if not better, discounts than those you’ll find on Amazon in many instances. Which is why we always recommend checking them out as well as Amazon, even during Prime Day.

MORE:

We rate the best speakers money can buy

Check out our best wireless earbuds deals guide

Looking for a new OLED TV? Then you’ll want to keep an eye on our best OLED TV deals guide this Prime Day

Amazon Prime Day 2024 is in full swing and set to run until the clock strikes midnight on the 17th of July.

With myself and the wider What Hi-Fi? team in full on deal hunting mode, I can confirm it has already brought with it a wave of great looking OLED TV deals.

But before you go rushing to buy the latest and greatest models, or jump on the first deal you see, be warned not every discount running at the moment is worth your money. 

This is main because Prime Day falls right when that year’s new models are just going on sale, and the first batch of reviews for them have started going live. That’s certainly been the case this year with our reviewers having just delivered their definitive verdicts on key sets including the LG C4, LG G4 and Samsung S95D, which all earned perfect scores.

This makes it all too easy to fall into the trap of turning into a new TV magpie and only looking at the latest models such as the recent savings we've seen appear on the LG C4 – which based on my experience covering every Prime Day since the event started, is actually the worst thing you can do if you want the best deal possible.

To help you get the best set for your needs and budget, I’ve penned this feature detailing the top TVs that I and the wider What Hi-Fi? team will be keeping an eye on over Prime Day 2024.

The LG C3 and G3 

We've already seen a wave of deals appear on LG's latest OLED TVs, the best of which focusses on the step down LG C4. 

And to be clear this isn't an attack on the C4, which scored five-stars when we reviewed it offering excellent picture quality and significantly improved audio on its predecessor. We've also seen more limited savings targeting the LG G4, though these are so small we don't recommend them at all at the moment. 

But if you want the best OLED TV deal possible, we'd still recommend going for the LG C3 or G3. Why?

The simple answer is, we always factor value for money into our advice. TVs, unlike some hi-fi, where there’s a huge retro market, typically drop in price fairly fast. So when a new TV comes out, unless it’s a huge step forward on last year’s model, initially it isn't as good value as its predecessor – which at this point has usually radically dropped in price.

This was the case with last year’s Prime Day, where the majority of the best discounts were on the older LG C2 and LG G2. I even penned an opinion piece at the time explaining why you should focus your attention on the older models if you wanted the best bang for your buck.

Even though Prime Day's still young, all evidence suggests history is already repeating itself, with Amazon pushing significantly better LG C3 and LG G3 deals, with much heftier savings than what we've seen on the later models. When they cost this much less than the C4, we'd say the C3 is the better deal.

This is especially true for as, based on our long term testing and experience with the C3 and G3, both remain fantastic OLED TVs in their own right. The C3 has all the key gaming specifications required to let next-generation consoles run at full capacity and delivers very good picture quality.

Though stocks are drying up fast, the G3 also comes with the added allure of Micro Lens Array (MLA tech). MLA won a What Hi-Fi? Innovation Award last year, thanks to its ability to radically raise OLED TVs' max brightness levels. It worked a treat on the G3 when we tested it, letting the set deliver a punchy, enjoyable viewing experience regardless of which test discs we threw at it.

The Samsung S95C

Though we haven't seen a "shut up and take my money" deal appear on it yet, the Samsung S95C is another key TV our testers are keeping an eye on this Prime Day and an excellent example of another key, but often ignored, bit of advice we give when recommending OLEDs. Specifically, don’t automatically rule out products we gave four stars to in our review.

If you jump over to our 'how we test' page, you’ll see four stars is still a positive review. Often the only reason a four-star product didn’t get a perfect five comes down to its bang for your buck value. This was the case for the S95C when we reviewed it, with its high price compared to rivals and slightly overbaked colours leading to one star being shed from its rating.

However, at current prices, where we’ve seen the 55-inch model’s price float at the £1200 / $1300 mark, which is a huge thousand-buck saving on its original RRP, it is a very good option. For the money you’ll get a well-connected QD-OLED TV that offers a wonderfully punchy and dynamic home cinema experience. 

On top of that, like the C3 and G3, with the newer Samsung S95D now out, pricing for the S95C will likely fall even further during Prime Day, making it well worth keeping an eye on. 

The Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED 

OLEDs get a lot of the headlines during Prime Day, but in my experience covering the event for more years than I care to admit here, it also brings pretty big discounts on cheap sets.

While the volume of discounts looks great, it’s also a bit of a trap as many of the TVs that get discounts aren’t worth your money, even with the lower price. Regular readers will know I’ve long bemoaned the lack of “good” cheap TVs doing the rounds. This is because most companies are focused on the high-end market at the moment, so there’s been an ongoing stagnation in the lower end.

Which is why, if you don’t want to spend thousands on your next TV, but need a new one pronto, I’d recommend keeping an eye on the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED for two key reasons.

First, because Amazon's already offering massive savings on its Omni QLED sets, with, like the one attached below.

The second and more important reason is that they’re good TVs, particularly if you invest in a 50- or 55-inch model. During testing, we found that, despite some black level issues, the TVs offer the best holistic picture quality you’ll find at their price. The use of Fire OS also gives them a reliable selection of apps, though the UX is a little ad-heavy. 

TCL Mini LED TVs

If you don’t fancy a Fire TV Omni QLED, and want a cracking deal, we’d also recommend keeping an eye on TCL’s Mini LED TVs. The brand’s been carving a quiet niche, delivering some of the best value TVs we reviewed last year. This was highlighted by the TCL C845K, which not only earned a perfect five stars when we reviewed it but also won the best budget 55-inch trophy at the 2023 What Hi-Fi? Awards.

Though the set is Mini LED, rather than OLED and we haven't seen any truly great deals yet, it remains a fantastic option for buyers on a budget. The TV has all the gaming features PS5 and Xbox Series owners need but, more importantly, it’s also the best TV we’ve tested for picture quality at its price. The Mini LED panel can’t match the perfect blacks offered by the more expensive OLEDs on this list, but during our checks it still delivered a wonderful picture that was stunningly bright and full of contrast. 

As an added bonus, it’s also been radically dropping in price, with TCL set to launch its new 2024 range in the not-too-distant future. Last year we saw massive discounts across a range of TCL sets during Prime Day 2023, and if history repeats we’d 100 per cent recommend keeping an eye on the C845K. 

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It’s official – Prime Day 2024 is just around the corner. But if you’re looking for a new TV right now, then the two-week wait might be too long. 

That’s why we’re always on-hand with the latest discounts, like this 50-inch TCL C641K QLED TV now available for £289 at Amazon, down from £379. This deal offers an awful lot of TV for the money and although we haven’t reviewed this exact model, we have looked closely at the comparable 55-inch TCL C745K, which earned a four-star review at a price point of £629, much higher than the usual retail price of the C641K. 

While not boasting exactly the same specifications as the pricier C745, the C641K offers enough of the same tech at a fraction of the price. We think it’s worthy of a good look for anyone after a QLED TV of this size. 

TCL C641K QLED TV deal

The C641K QLED runs Android TV, packed with the latest streaming options and services including Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+. It’s also running the same AiPQ Processor 3.0 as the more expensive C745K which is said to provide stable and high-quality processing of 4K content.

The TV features TCL’s Games Master technology designed to enhance colour and clarity while keeping the refresh rate smooth and input lag as low as possible.  The C641K also includes TCL's Game Accelerator which aims to give a smooth gaming experience with refresh rates up to 120Hz. Another gaming-oriented feature is AMD's FreeSync tech, designed to reduce screen tearing and flicker as much as possible.

In terms of connectivity, you will find three HDMI 2.1 ports supporting ALLM and one dedicated to eARC connections with audio accessories like soundbars. There's also an optical audio output, in case you own speakers or 'bar that only supports this type of connection. 

 The C641K offers support for a range of HDR formats including HLG, HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision for Gaming. If you want the full immersive audio experience, you’ll be pleased to hear there’s support for Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual: X format content. 

It’s also worth noting all C641K TVs ranging from 43- to 65-inches all come with a sizeable discount at Amazon, but we think the deal on the 50-inch model, now just £289, is the main one to write home about. 

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Amazon has revealed the official dates for Amazon Prime Day. The two-day sale will take place 16-17th July 2024 – that's three weeks today.

Prime Day is one of the biggest sales of the year, besides Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Amazon spearheads the annual bonanza, but other retailers usually join in the bunfight so as not to miss out. 

This year's event will be the 10th annual Prime Day in the UK. It should be a rare chance to grab a bargain during the otherwise slower summer months.

Though Amazon is staying tight-lipped on what deals will be available, it has mentioned Bose and Samsung as among those taking part. Last year saw discounts on Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, despite them only being weeks old. Samsung is rumoured to launch its Galaxy Buds 3 the week before – could they receive a discount too?

Amazon has also announced some early deals, including 45 per cent off Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED smart TVs and five months' free Amazon Music Unlimited.

For all the up to date info on the best deals around, stay tuned to our Prime Day page which we'll be updating in the run up to and during the event.

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I feel like this is getting personal. Not content with inflicting standard adverts on Prime Video subscribers unwilling to pay to have them removed – and at the same time taking away Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision for anyone unwilling to stump up the extra charge – Amazon has now announced even more ways for us to suffer. Three new ways, in fact: pause ads, carousel ads and brand trivia ads. That's ads, ads and more ads. On a service we already pay for.

Amazon's strategy is an interesting one. It seems to be trying to bombard its customers into submission. It thinks that one day we'll have had enough, and will think "Fine, I'll pay the extra £2.99 / $2.99 a month, if only you'll leave me alone."

I'm not sure what's more depressing: that it can treat its customers this way, or that people like me are willing to put up with it.

What's in a name?

Prime Video has always been a bit of a strange one. Emerging from the still-warm corpse of Amazon Unbox (the firm's short-lived movie download service), it has had many names during its relatively short life: Amazon Video On Demand, Amazon Instant Video, Amazon Prime Instant Video, then Amazon Video, and now just Prime Video. Confusion still reigns – the firm's monthly PR email contains the note to editors: "Please refer to our streaming service as Prime Video and not Amazon Prime Video."

I get it. Services evolve, and the rate of technological progress over the last few years has drastically changed many companies' offerings. The name should reflect what it does. Today you wouldn't launch a service called Netflix any more than you would launch a magazine called Good Housekeeping. But here's a note to marketing professionals: If you have to constantly remind journalists (journalists! The ones who should be across these kinds of details!) what your service is called, you've got a problem.

But do you though? Amazon has deep pockets, so it can afford to do what it wants with Prime Video. It's already divorced its own brand name from the service, presumably to get away from its corporate image. But Amazon is a household name the world over, one that Prime Video is just tossing away. It's like Amazon doesn't need the service to succeed.

Which brings me back to those pesky ads.

Paying in more ways than one

You can pay for Prime Video as a standalone service (£5.99 / $8.99 a month), or you can take it as part of Prime (£8.99 / $14.99 a month or £95 / $139 a year). Amazon doesn't release figures specifying how many people subscribe to just Prime Video, but I'm guessing that most of its 200 million+ customers are only able to access it because it came with their Prime subscription. I fall firmly into that camp.

Because Prime Video is seen as a nice-to-have, Amazon doesn't have to try that hard. Let's be honest, if it existed solely as a standalone service, it couldn't compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney+. (Prime Video wasn't even included in a recent Parrot Analytics comparison of which streaming services give the best value for money.) That's especially true now that Disney and Warner Bros. are bundling their services together in a package that includes Disney+, Hulu and Max. When it launches this summer, that one bundle will give you content from such news and entertainment leviathans as ABC, CNN, DC, Discovery, Disney, Food Network, FX, HBO, HGTV, Hulu, Marvel, Pixar, Searchlight and Warner Bros. Obviously it will be much more expensive than Prime Video, but then it delivers a lot more too. And I'm sure it'll be a lot less annoying to use.

Ad nauseam

Earlier this year, Prime Video added pre-roll ads and ad breaks during content, but now it's adding more ways to sell to us. Pause ads will appear whenever you press pause, and will promote products you can buy direct from Amazon by clicking the 'Add to cart' button. (It's not known what will happen to Amazon's X-Ray feature – powered by IMDb – that currently appears when you pause, but I suspect this will also be made exclusive to those paying the extra £2.99 / $2.99 a month to go ad-free.)

Carousel ads will present a sliding line-up of products that again, you can buy right from Prime Video, while interactive brand trivia ads will ask you questions about the brand while also letting you buy its wares.

Sounds horrendous, right? Anyone in their right mind would cancel their subscription rather than pay twice to receive the same service they were already getting before Amazon decided to milk them for more cash (sorry, "help[ed] advertisers meaningfully connect with customers," according to Alan Moss, VP of global ad sales for Amazon Ads).                                                                             

But when it's a nice-to-have, you don't think like that. Sure, the user experience might be awful, but I don't really feel like I'm paying for it, because I shop on Amazon (with free delivery through Prime) much more often than I watch Prime Video. I'm part of the problem, I realise that. And as long as me and my like put up with it, Amazon has no incentive not to find new and innovative ways to irritate us with ads while charging us extra for every feature we've grown accustomed to using.

If this is the future of streaming, count me out.

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TiVo has just celebrated its 25th anniversary, and it has chosen to coincide this special occasion with the launch of its new smart TV platform. It's called TiVo OS (not the most imaginative title) and it's set to power a handful of affordable TVs here in the UK, across Europe and, in the near future, the US.

We had a quick demo of the new operating system at a TiVo event this week, in which we got to see the new platform in action. It's not a wild departure from the other smart platforms such as Google TV or Fire OS, with square app icons and rectangular rotating carousels with suggested content; however, there are a few key aspects that set it apart form the rest.

The first is deep integration with Freely, the new free terrestrial television platform that allows you to watch live TV over wi-fi without requiring an aerial. We've already seen Freely in action; however, the TiVo OS features deep integration with the platform, which means you'll see live content from Freely at the very top of this system's home page. On the Bush 4K TV that was running this demo (picture above), there was also a dedicated Freely shortcut button on the remote – therefore, we expect this new service to play a key role in the upcoming "powered by TiVo OS" sets.

Secondly, TiVo OS is touting a personalised, yet unbiased content recommendation system, which will show you content that pertains to your interest without pushing certain services in your face. In fact, you can customise the home screen to only show you specific apps. App compatibility seems to be solid so far; we spotted Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Channel 4, ITV X and more in our demo.

Each content suggestion on the home page features an icon with the streaming service it's on, with a direct link to the app to watch the content (providing you have a subscription), alongside a rich selection of content information, genre details and the ability to thumbs up, thumbs down or flag content. TiVo's parent organisation Xperi boasts the fact that it is one of the largest metadata providers for content information in the world, which has allowed TiVo OS to feature a healthy amount of content information, which should make browsing that bit easier. 

Finally, TiVo showed off its impressive voice search function, which supports "nested queries". The example we were given was the voice command "show me action movies", to which the OS obliged. Then it was asked "only show me movies from the ’90s", to which the system remembered we were after action movies but added the context that we wanted films from the 1990s. Finally, it was asked, "show me movies with Bruce Willis", to which the system once again remembered we were looking for action movies from the 1990s, but it then showed us films that fit that criteria that also starred Bruce Willis. 

Speaking to TiVo OS' Senior Vice President and General Manager of Smart TV Media Platform, Ben Maughan, he provided context as to what TiVo OS is all about. He says that the goal was to design a "simple and intuitive UI" and he went on to explain how constant tweaks and updates were being made to the platform to enhance usability. He also suggested that the platform was very open to suggestions, stating that comments from friends and family about what they want from a smart TV platform have helped to shape TiVo OS thus far. 

TiVo OS is set to launch across various brands of TVs. A partnership with Vestel will spur this on; for reference, Vestel manufactures a large proportion of retailer own-brand televisions, as well as notable affordable models for established TV brands like Panasonic, JVC and Toshiba. The first model to include the TiVo OS with Freely integration will be the Bush 55UT24SB, which is set to go on sale in Argos soon.

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Streaming services – once the place to escape from regularly scheduled advertisement breaks – are now absolutely bursting at the seams with ads. 

Netflix, Disney and Amazon have all implemented ad-supported tiers within their respective streaming video-on-demand services, introducing a wallet-friendly monthly subscription tier that brings ad breaks back into the fray. These tiers also tend to do away with features like 4K streaming, Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos, and downloading content to watch offline too. 

Amazon, is in the spotlight today, with a new approach to ads on its Prime Video service. It already offers a basic plan, which it launched in February of this year in the US, Canada, UK and Germany, to which all Prime subscribers have access too – though users can pay an additional £3 / $3 / €3 if they want to enjoy ad-free viewing in Dolby Vision and Atmos. 

However, it has deemed that ad breaks simply aren't enough, and to remedy that, it will introduce some new additions to ramp ads up on Prime Video. Foremost will be pause screen ads which, as the name suggests, will show users advertisements when they pause the film or TV series they're watching. 

As rightfully pointed out by FlatpanelsHD, it's unknown whether this will impact the X-Ray feature on Prime Video which shows you the actor/actress currently on screen (powered by IMDB), as well as information or trivia about the content and any music playing in the scene when you pause your content. Doing away with this feature feels like a real shame, especially if that space will now be occupied with ads, and locking it as another feature behind the more expensive tier when all users have had access to it for years feels like a notable step backwards.

It looks like Amazon will include two styles of ads with this new "feature". The first is carousel ads, which will show users a selection of products to shop from the Amazon storefront, allowing them to cycle between them and add them to their Amazon shopping basket with their TV remote. 

The second will be interactive brand trivia ads, which will give advertisers the opportunity to connect with users by sharing facts and trivia about their brand or products, as well as giving them a direct link to purchase them on Amazon. 

It's hard to get enthused about these new additions to Prime Video, after all, it is more advertising being directly beamed into your living room. However, Prime Video isn't the only service to experiment with pause screen ads, as YouTube has also started showing users ads when they pause videos on the TV app. 

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In seven days, my life will change for the worse. That's because, in a blow to parents everywhere, Octonauts is leaving Netflix in every country where it's currently available.

All is not lost – the series is available on both Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer. But with different formats and some episodes exclusive to Netflix, it does highlight one of the biggest problems of the current streaming landscape.

Difficult choices ahead

If you're not up on your children's shows, Octonauts follows a group of eight animals living in an underwater base who go on adventures with real-life sea creatures. The Octonauts are led by a polar bear called Captain Barnacles, and also feature a cat called Kwazi, a penguin called Peso and an extremely posh octopus called Professor Inkling.

Kids love it, thanks to the blend of slapstick humour and perilous adventure, and probably because of – and not despite – the fact it's very educational. All of the sea creatures featured are real, and while kids realise a polar bear isn't going to team up with a penguin and a cat who says "Shiver me whiskers" to go deep-sea diving, they will learn that sea skaters are the only insects who live on the surface of the ocean, for example.

If you ever hear a two-year-old pretending to be a mantis shrimp, chances are they've been watching Octonauts. 

The critics are fans too. It's won an International Emmy, a Daytime Emmy, an Annie and two PGA Awards in the kids' show categories. As a parent, I much prefer it to any number of violent, hyperactive or brain-meltingly inane pap my kids could be watching (Mini Force Super Dino Power is banned in our house). And its vanishing act from Netflix has shone a light on the choices facing viewers in the current streaming landscape.

Where to watch?

Firstly, the good news. Octonauts has not gone for good. UK viewers can still watch it on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer (it was originally created for the BBC), and it's also available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. Spinoff series Octonauts: Above & Beyond will remain on Netflix, as will the three feature-length episodes (Great Barrier Reef, Ring Of Fire and The Caves Of Sac Actun). The Octonauts YouTube channel also has full episodes to view.

But that's not the full story. While the Above & Beyond spinoff was created for Netflix by the kids division of Sony Pictures Television, the BBC acquired the rights at the end of last year. That means that as of October 2023, the series has been available on iPlayer as well as Netflix. It's not due to leave Netflix until 2037. The Netflix originals Great Barrier Reef, The Caves of Sac Actun and Ring Of Fire are also available on both services at the moment, but they're due to leave Netflix in 2036.

Yes, you read that right: rights issues are so complicated now that you can't even rely on Netflix's original programming to stay on Netflix. And you need a separate calendar to keep track of all these dates.

But Octonauts highlights another issue with the current streaming landscape: same show, different experience.

Spot the difference

On Netflix, the 11-minute episodes are paired together, so you only have an intro and credits sequence every 22 minutes or so. That's not the case with iPlayer or Prime Video. The Netflix episodes also conclude with a 'creature report' – a catchy little song about the animal the Octonauts have helped during the episode, complete with footage of the real-life creature so you can see how it compares to the animated version in the show. This is missing from iPlayer and Prime Video (though they are available to watch on the CBeebies website). Remember that the Above & Beyond spinoff and feature-length specials aren't on Prime Video as well.

Add to this the differences in UIs, search features and operating functionality between the services, and it quickly becomes a confusing headache. And this is just one show.

I'm speaking from a relative position of privilege – we can afford (for now, at least) both Netflix and Prime Video, giving us more choice than a lot of people. If that changes, there's always YouTube. But I know what that algorithm's like – you're never more than 10 minutes away from a Cocomelon compilation.

The problem in microcosm

The whole debacle is a microcosm of the current streaming landscape – a confusing mess of Balkanised services that make it impossible to have access to the majority of shows without paying an exorbitant amount in subscription fees every month. Just like streaming, Octonauts is a victim of its own success – in a bid to sate the unquenchable thirst for content, Netflix bankrolled more episodes and specials, but that just created more licensing agreements with which to fracture the series even more.

Sadly, I can't see an end to this anytime soon. There's clearly money to be made from keeping whatever intellectual property you hold behind a streaming paywall, or selling it to the highest bidder. And, until that changes, I'll be stuck trying to explain complex international licensing agreements to my tantrumming two-year-old who's upset because he can't watch the creature report about a narwhal. Shiver me whiskers indeed.

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If you've spent time and money on a home cinema set-up, you owe it to yourself to make the most of it by watching stunning movies and TV shows available with the best picture and sound technologies out there.

And by 'there' we mean on those all-the-rage streaming services. You likely have at least one on the go, and if it's one of the major players, such as Netflix, Disney+, Apple+ and Amazon Prime, you could well have a choice of high-quality content in 4K Ultra HD video and/or Dolby Atmos surround sound at your fingertips.

If you're at a loss as to what to watch this weekend, we're here to help by pointing you to a handful of movie and TV show picks we have enjoyed from both storytelling and audiovisual points of view. We promise these all look and sound great!

So get that popcorn in the microwave and fire up your sound system and super screen; it's time to tuck into one of the most stunning movies or TV shows streaming now...

• Our expert pick of the best TVs you can buy
• And the market's best Dolby Atmos soundbars, all tried and tested

All Quiet On The Western Front – Netflix

To be clear, this is not an action movie but a movie depiction of World War I from the perspective of the young German infantry. It's based on a book and it's excellent. One part that makes this so immersive – and leaves you feeling great empathy – is the quality. This is on Netflix in Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.

That means that when you're sitting with the soldiers in the war zone and a bomb goes off in the distance, or a tank rumbles close, it really leaves you feeling the anxiety and shock that the actors are portraying. It's moving and uses the 4K quality and surround sound to enhance that – which is the whole point, right?

As a Netflix exclusive, this is a real high-end production treat that won several awards and majors on cinematography as highly as it does storytelling.

The Mitchells Vs. The Machines – Netflix

The Mitchells Vs. The Machines is another Netflix winner, this time with a cartoon animation which takes full advantage of those HDR colours while the Dolby Atmos audio makes it a surround sound bubble of delight. This was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars and certainly deserved to win.

While being chased by deranged robots you find yourself flying, driving and running with the Mitchell family as sounds of attacks fly about you, taking full advantage of even the best Dolby Atmos sound system to leave you feeling like you've just been at the cinema.

The animation is similar to Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, so it feels super punchy, bright, artistic and engaging. If you've got an OLED TV this really helps to show that wide colour gamut with a fizz of colour throughout.

The Marvels – Disney+

One of the latest in the slew of Marvel movies being churned out via Disney, The Marvels might not be the best in the Universe but is a very fun watch regardless. Packed with girl power, fun quips, Marvel dimension references and nods, it's enjoyable for fans and newbs alike. 

It's even available in IMAX Enhanced, meaning that you can watch it in arguably the best DTS:X audio and 4K/HDR video technologies there are... if you have the compatible kit. There is still a 4K and HDR visual to enjoy if you don't, but there isn't Dolby audio. However, the final result is superb with rich colours, fantastic contrast and audio that you can feel in your chest for the larger moments.

Dune – Amazon Prime

Dune won five Oscars including Best Sound and Best Visual Effects, so yes, this is an ideal candidate for pushing your TV and sound system to its limits in the best way possible. The expansive worlds envisaged here with striking images and beautifully crafted shots make for a real sumptuous experience for the eyes and ears.

If you've never pushed your sound system's bass to its limits, this will do just that with rumbling and rolling rhythms that quite literally move you. When those sand worms are coming in the distance, you can really feel the approach as Dolby Atmos does fantastic work of distributing the rumbles across the sonic canvas.

Visually, this moves from scenes of bright expansive desert to dark and moody caves which will help you appreciate your TV's contrast capacity, especially in HDR here. Have an OLED TV? Those inky blacks are really going to come into their own with this movie.

The catch? At the time of publishing, you'll have to pay £3.45 to rent this in full UHD and HDR quality on Prime. It's available on Netflix... but only in HD. It would be a shame to waste all the audiovisual triumph that has gone into the movie.

Masters Of The Air – Apple TV+

After Band Of Brothers landed on HBO, it changed the way we view wartime TV shows. The Pacific followed with less fanfare. This Masters Of The Air variant brings it back to its original glory with a fantastic look at real World War II stories told from the perspectives of those flying during the war.

While the stories are wonderfully moving, it's the visuals when flying through the air that are truly breathtaking. Combine those long sweeping shots with gunfire flying around you thanks to its Dolby Atmos audio and you end these episodes feeling like you're landing back in reality.

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Warner Bros Discovery has announced that its popular streaming service Max (formerly HBO Max) is coming to select European countries starting in May. The service will be available in three tiers in the Nordics, Iberia (Spain and Portugal), as well as Central and Eastern Europe. It will launch at a later unspecified date in France, Belgium, Poland and the Netherlands. 

Starting on the 21st of May, viewers in the aforementioned territories will be able to select one of three subscription options to access a range of TV shows, movies and live sports – including the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Each tier will include the following features:

• Basic with Ads: The cheapest of the four options, this tier will stream in Full HD on up to two devices at once and include advertising breaks in content. It will be available in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Romania, France, Belgium and the Netherlands first.
• Standard: This plan will stream without ads in Full HD on up to two concurrent devices, with the ability to download up to 30 titles for offline watching. 
• Premium: This tier streams in up to 4K resolution with Dolby Atmos on up to four devices at once. It will also allow for up to 100 downloads to watch offline.
• Sports Add-on: This is an optional extra that can be paired with any of the above tiers. It will feature sports events including the tennis Grand Slam, 24 Hours of Le Mans Motorsports and cycling Grand Tour. You will be able to stream on up to two devices at a time. 

Much like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, HBO has decided to lock 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos behind a paywall, allowing users to access them only on the more expensive subscription tiers.  

And there is, you will notice, no UK on that list of European territories. HBO has an exclusivity contract with Sky here in Britain, which is why you will see the likes of House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, True Detective and Succession stream almost exclusively on Sky or Now if you live in the UK. That deal is set to continue through to 2026, after which Warner Bros Discovery may explore bringing its service direct to the United Kingdom (according to Cord Busters). That, though, is still to be confirmed.

There is always the VPN route, of course, but many consumers will prefer the ease of just logging on to an app that runs natively in their home country. To which end, UK users may want to look into Now or Sky Stream if they wish to stream HBO content before 2026.

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The main criticism Apple TV+ has faced in its five years of operation is that its content offering couldn't go toe to toe with the likes of Amazon Prime Video and Netflix when it came to quantity. It was practically the only streaming service on the market that didn't offer content from other providers; thankfully, that's about to change. 

Apple has added 53 titles to the service, with a thorough mix of high-brow Academy Award winners and blockbuster Hollywood action flicks. You'll find titles such as The Prestige, A Star Is Born, Mad Max Fury Road, The Wolf Of Wall Street, Spider-Man, Kill Bill, Mean Girls and Saving Private Ryan. You can find a full selection of new third-party titles here.

That's quite a list of titles that should suit most tastes, with Apple using its powers to unite content from most major film studios in one place, including offerings from Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Paramount, Universal, Lionsgate and Disney. 

Many of the available titles support Dolby Atmos for audio and Dolby Vision HDR, and if you've invested in a Vision Pro headset then you'll be pleased to find some will stream in 3D. 

There are some major downsides here, as is usually the case. Foremost is that you'll only be able to access these titles on Apple TV+ if you live in the US, with no word as to whether these titles will come to users in other countries. Secondly is that, unlike the rest of Apple's content on the service, these titles will be timed exclusives, meaning you'll have just a few weeks to stream some of these films. In fact, some titles will be removed from the service by the end of March, so you'd better start streaming quickly if you've got your eye on a specific movie.  

Despite the addition of new content, Apple says that it's still totally focused on developing its own original content first and foremost, unlike its competitors which balance a constant slew of new and existing content. We're unsure if this is Apple testing the waters for a future expansion of its streaming service, but we'd certainly like to see more content come to the service in more regions soon.

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One of the easiest 21st-century recommendations to give anyone whose TV has a dire streaming offering is to either a) get an all-new smart TV, or b) invest in a separate plug-in video streamer. One guess as to which elicits the more favourable response...

Alongside Apple, Amazon and Google, Roku is one of the most popular video streamer brands. It started life as a manufacturer of Roku streaming sticks that connect to the internet, plug into your TV's HDMI port and give it access to video apps such as Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video through a dedicated Roku operating system – great for updating old 'dumb' TVs with streaming. It also produced a Roku Streambar that is essentially a streaming stick and soundbar in one.

Off the back of the success of Roku's hardware and operating system software, the company decided to go beyond the stick part and build its streaming platform directly into TVs – those from other manufacturers like TCL and Hisense, as well as its own branded sets.

So is Roku TV desirable and will it suit your needs? Read on to find out all you need to know about the streaming platform and the best TVs that integrate it.

How good is the Roku TV OS?

Roku hasn't been able to rub shoulders with powerhouses like Amazon and Google, and become the success it is today, with just mediocre software. Indeed the Roku streaming platform is among the best. 

The platform offers access to several subscription services, including but not limited to – deep breath – Amazon Video, Netflix, Apple TV+, Disney+, as well as region-specific apps such as, in the US, Hulu, Paramount Plus, Sling TV, CBS All Access and WatchESPN. But bear in mind you'll need to subscribe to each service you want to watch content from; the Roku OS is simply a single-access gateway to all these services.

Roku does offer apps with free content, though, such as YouTube, Crackle, PBS Kids and its own The Roku Channel. There is also access to buying and rental services like Vudu and the Google Play Store, too. The choice is truly impressive and the interface comes with an excellent search function to make finding your next favourite film or TV show very easy indeed.

As we said in our latest Roku streamer review, its interface is a "simple, clean, clear" affair with "only a handful of menu options, the homescreen largely being dedicated to a grid of your chosen apps.

"It’s a more objective approach to Amazon’s Fire TV, which pushes its own content throughout its interface. As the Roku is a neutral party, you’ll get the same experience whichever streaming app you subscribe to.

"Menu options are kept brief, so alongside the standard search and settings options, there is also a ‘Channel Store’ and an option for ‘My Feed’. The [Roku] Channel Store is the place to go for more apps, with thousands to choose from."

If you've got this far, you're likely sold. So what is an actual Roku TV, we hear you ask...

What is a Roku TV?

A Roku TV is a physical television that runs the Roku operating system for streaming apps. 

With it directly embedded into a TV experience, you have immediate access to all Roku has to offer. The interface on each brand of Roku TV may differ slightly – usually just with a different colourway – but the content should be present and correct across them.

Roku TVs were initially made and branded by dedicated, mostly budget-orientated TV manufacturers such as TCL, RCA and Hisense, who decided to power their smart TVs with the Roku system. That list has now grown to include JVC, Sharp and Westinghouse, while Roku-branded TVs have also been added to the mix.

Roku's move into the TV market made a lot of sense since Roku has been working on its service for years and offers some of the widest third-party app functionality there is, plus one of the simplest interfaces to navigate, all while keeping processing demands on the hardware to a minimum.

What Roku TVs are available?

Roku's own TVs, called Roku Select, Roku Plus and Roku Pro, are only available in the US, but expect them to be rolled out wider as demand increases. There are 11 options available to pick from at the time of publishing, with the Pro line yet to go on sale.

The Roku Select panels offer HD resolution in 24-inch and 32-inch models or Full HD in the 40-inch panel. Pricing is super low, from $119 (approx. £98 / AU$174).

The Roku Plus series is more premium, offering 4K QLED panels that support HDR10+, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. These come in 55-, 65- and 75-inch sizes, topping out at $999 (approx. £830 / AU$1463).

Roku has also announced its Roku Pro Series TVs, which promise even higher quality from its 4K QLED panels as they use Mini LED technology and AI processing smarts to create what it says is its best images yet. 

We haven't reviewed any Roku-branded TVs yet due to their fledgling availability, but we do have plenty of experience in testing third-party Roku TVs...

What third-party Roku TVs are good?

Of the many (many) other Roku-powered TVs out there, some of the best options that we have tried and tested include TVs from Hisense and TCL.

First up is the Hisense A7200G range. We named its 50-inch model, called the Hisense R50A7200GTUK in the UK, the 'best 48-50in TV' available in the budget market in that year's What Hi-Fi? Awards.

The Hisense A7200G models are all 4K HDR LED TVs available in 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch sizes.

The TCL RP630K range is also worth a look as this is a fantastic example of a Roku TV that offers plenty for your money. It comes recommended by our Australian sister brand Sound+Image, who called the 55-inch model a "triumph" in its TCL 55RP630 4K Roku TV review. Considering we awarded its predecessor, the 55-inch TCL RP620K, a five-star review in 2021, we'd say this range is a winner.

The 4K HDR LED TV series sits firmly in the affordable TV category but is one step closer to mid-range than the Hisense above. It offers a greater bit-depth in terms of colour processing, plus Dolby Vision support too.

This line of Roku TVs is another excellent choice for those after an app-happy and exceedingly user-friendly experience alongside a highly recommendable picture.

Are Roku TVs worth it?

Roku's smart platform is certainly easy to recommend. It's a one-stop shopfront for every subscription service you'd likely sign up for, complemented by free content and a simple, intuitive interface.

The Roku TVs with the streaming platform built-in are all from reputable budget-conscious brands that offer a wide range of TVs at attractive budget prices, and of the many available, we can certainly vouch for the two mentioned above. As for the Roku-branded TVs, we haven't had the chance to go twelve rounds with one yet, so we can't comment on the quality of their picture.

It's worth mentioning that not all Roku TVs will support 4K HDR playback through apps that have such content, like Netflix, so it's always worth checking such details before you buy. While perhaps more obvious, it's also worth noting that budget Roku TVs typically won't offer you the best picture quality offered by higher-priced sets – our best TVs guide will help you on that front.

Still, if big screens, a whole host of streaming options and budget prices satisfy your requirements, you may well wish to welcome a Roku TV into your home with open arms. The Roku TV OS experience is excellent, and excellently performing TVs with it built-in certainly exist.

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Roku has announced a range of new TV models, partnering with Currys-owned brand Logik. The new models aim to combine great picture quality with Roku's easy-to-use operating system, all at an affordable price.

The new Logik Roku come in two ranges: the '2K HD and Full HD' series (available in 32-inch and 40-inch sizes), and the '4K Ultra HD Series' (available in 43-inch and 50-inch sizes). All models support HDR-10, while the 4K Ultra HD series also supports Dolby Vision.

This news follows last year's partnership between Currys and Roku, and the more recent announcement of the Roku Pro series as the brand introduces new TV sets into both the affordable and premium markets.

Recently, we've lamented how our testers have struggled to find good cheap TVs, with the notable exception being the Amazon Fire TV range. We're looking forward to testing the new Logik Roku TVs to see if they can compete with Amazon's offering and end the trend we've noticed.

Roku TVs are known for their intuitive user interfaces and easy-to-navigate menus. They also offer streamlined access to a wide range of major streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+, YouTube, and many more. 

The TV's OS also includes Roku Search for convenient searching across different streaming apps and offers a range of control options including a simple remote, a free mobile app, and voice controls. 

The '2K HD and Full HD' and '4K Ultra HD' Logik Roku TVs will be available from Currys later this month, with pricing starting from £150.

We've asked about connectivity and refresh rates and will update when we hear back.

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And our choices of best cheap TVs

It seems that barely a week goes by without us hearing of a new bid to topple Netflix and Disney Plus from the summit of the streaming pyramid. We recently reported that Apple TV Plus and Paramount Plus could join forces in a bid to take the streaming crown from Netflix, and now a new article from the Wall Street Journal has suggested that Paramount could look to Peacock to take the fight to its key rivals.

According to the WSJ, the two platforms have discussed bundling together both streaming services in a single subscription package. Peacock, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal Media Group, AKA Comcast, has supposedly held talks with Paramount, tabling the idea of merging the content of both respective libraries in a unified package that would be cheaper than subscribing to both simultaneously. With costs rising all the time and subscription fees going up across the board, any whiff of a good deal would be heartily welcomed by financially squeezed consumers. That's the theory, anyway.  

While primarily a US-based service, Peacock TV is currently available in the UK, accessible via a Sky TV package or a Now Entertainment Membership, priced at around £10 per month. Being NBC's main service, it offers sought-after TV series such as SNL, Poker Face, 30 Rock and Modern Family, as well as movies such as Shrek, BlackKkKlansman, and even 2023's Oscar-nominated The Holdovers.  

The idea of content bundles, either between rivals or sister services, is becoming increasingly commonplace. Disney offers the "Disney Bundle", for instance, which gives US users access to Hulu, ESPN Plus and Disney Plus, all for a slightly streamlined fee. For Paramount and Comcast, though, there's a possibility that this won't simply be a bundle option but a full-blown merger, bringing savings to both respective parties that can be passed on to the consumer.

Bear in mind, though, that these are essentially only propositions and rumours at this point, with Paramount clearly assessing its options as it looks to climb the streaming service ladder. Time will tell which, if any, of its ambitious plans comes to fruition, and the form those plans ultimately take.

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Much has been made of the pricing changes that Amazon has recently made to its Prime Video service. You probably already know what the furore's been about: adverts, which have been introduced to the paid subscription for the first time. Removing them now incurs an additional charge of £2.99 / $2.99.

Needless to say, very few people are happy about the change. No one likes ads, after all. But did you realise that at the same time it added adverts to your existing Prime Video subscription, Amazon also took a couple of things away?

As initially spotted by 4kfilme.de and brought to my attention by Forbes, Amazon has, with no warning, explanation or justification, removed Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support from the standard subscription tier of Prime Video, and getting them back involves paying that extra £2.99 / $2.99 for the 'Go Ad-Free' tier. I have now personally tested this on an Apple TV 4K, LG B3 and Panasonic LZ1500 and can confirm that it's true.

Now, I was just as annoyed as everyone else about the arrival of ads on a service I was already paying for, but I am royally hacked off about the removal of Dolby Vision and Atmos. Partly, it's the spineless way Amazon has gone about the change, having not even announced it. Then there's the half-baked way it's been implemented, in that content still shows the 'Dolby Atmos' flag even if you can no longer access the Dolby Atmos audio. On top of that, HDR10 and HDR10+ are still available, with only the Dolby formats removed.

Annoyingly, I actually watched Saltburn over the weekend and just assumed it wasn't a Dolby Vision title. Turns out it is, and I just watched it in the inferior HDR10. If I'd watched it a week ago, it would have been in Dolby Vision.

If you're thinking (perhaps hoping) that this is all just a mistake and that Dolby Vision and Atmos will be restored in short order, I'm afraid that I have it on good authority that it isn't and that it won't. I have reached out to Amazon for confirmation and comment, and will report back once I've had a reply.

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Popular digital media streaming service Plex has launched a digital movie and TV rental service set to take on the likes of Apple and Amazon. However, we'd recommend steering clear for now, as it appears to have a handful of compromises.

We'll focus on the positives first though, as the Plex rental user interface looks to be easy to navigate, fully featured and quite slick overall. With key artwork and a short synopsis showing when you hover over a film, you can get a quick idea of what you're about to watch right from the home page. Clicking on a movie gives you a more detailed description as well as both critic and audience scores from Rotten Tomato reviews. You'll even get information about the cast, as well as the ability to add the title to your watchlist for later viewing. 

There also seems to be a decent selection of content on the service, including popular 2023 cinema releases including Barbie and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, as well as very recent releases like Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom. Pricing also seems to be on par with other services, with the aforementioned Mission Impossible title priced at $5.99 on both Plex and Amazon Prime Video. You may notice the pricing in dollars there, as this new service is exclusive to the US currently. 

However, Plex has stumbled at perhaps the most important hurdle by severely limiting picture and sound. For some unknown reason, video maxes out at 1080p HD, while audio is only supported up to 5.1 surround sound. The cherry on top is that Plex only offers rentals in SDR, meaning no HDR support in any of the formats we look out for.

With practically every other service offering 4K HDR rentals and support for immersive audio formats like Dolby Atmos, we're struggling to find a reason why you'd use this service. As mentioned previously, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning is $5.99 on Plex and Amazon Prime, however, the latter option is 4K HDR, making Plex seem like a worse deal in comparison. 

If you are curious and want to check out the new Plex service, then you can download the app on Android TV, Roku, Xbox, PlayStation, Roku and a selection of Smart TV systems, as well as the Plex website via a browser. Once you rent a movie, you'll have 30 days to begin watching it, and 48 hours to finish it after the initial play.

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2024 has already seen one company shake up its choice of TV operating system, with Panasonic announcing that it will be doing away its My Home Screen software, in favour of Fire TV. Philips, on the other hand, is doing the complete opposite; ditching an established operating system in favour of a nicher solution, but not on all of its TVs. 

TP Vision (the company that licenses Philips TVs in Europe and other select markets such as Latin America) has revealed that it will partner with Titan OS S.L, a European software development company that has created its own smart TV platform called Titan OS.  It will feature on its upcoming entry-level Mini LED and LCD TVs, including the PML9009 Xtra Mini-LED and "The One" LCD (also known as the PUS8909).

It's not only coming to Philips TVs though, as TP Vision has announced that it has also partenered with UK technology retailer Currys to launch Titan OS on its selection of JVC TVs. For those unitiated, Currys manufacturers and distributes JVC sets here in the UK,

Interestingly, Philips has shopped around the TV smart platforms in recent years. Just last year it swapped from Android TV to Google TV on the OLED808 and OLED908. However, after being plagued with various licesning issues between Google TV and Freeview Play, the company had to delay its latest OLED TVs to October of last year, hence our surprise when it already announced replacements for these models just three months on. That being said, it will continue to use Google TV on the newly announced OLED+959 and OLED+909. 

So what does Titan OS have to offer? From what we can see, it features a majority of the apps we'd expect to see, including Disney Plus, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, as well as regional services such as BBC iPlayer, ITV X and Channel 4. However, there was no mention of Apple TV or Now (formerly Now TV) in Philip's most recent release, so we can't confirm if these services will feature on the platform. 

In the brief look we've had at the platform, it appears to be a fusion of Google TV and webOS in design. It features a top-mounted navigation bar to swap between home, apps, channels and a search function, while the bottom of the home screen features content suggestions and a selection of favourite (possibly recently used) streaming apps. 

Philips is also highlighting Titan OS' capabilities when it comes to advertising, noting that the Titan Advertising portion of the company will be launching alongside this partnership. Philips suggests that Titan will "enable TV manufacturers to extend their business beyond hardware", allowing them to access "continuous revenue streams for the 40% of the TV market that lacks its own operating system". Could this be a dig at LG's webOS and Samsung's Tizen OS? 

You can expect to see Titan OS launch on the two afformentioned Philips models in the first half of 2024. We might be reading too much into Philips' word choices here, but it did say that this it will "initially feature on two Philips branded 2024 models", meaning we could see the software on more Philips models coming later down the line. 

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Disney+ has confirmed that 3D movies will be available on the Apple Vision Pro VR headset, with some of these films in High Frame Rate as well (thanks, FlatpanelsHD).

According to Disney, dozens of popular movies are reportedly making their way to the device soon, including Avatar: The Way of Water, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Avengers: Endgame, with more titles and series to be announced later. Most films are shot at 24fps, so it will interesting to see what the upper ranges of the frame rate will be for these new Vision Pro versions.

There will be a dedicated area for finding 3D content on the Apple Vision Pro (and other devices, should they emerge). Disney has confirmed that 3D movies are encoded in MV-HEVC (Multiview High Efficiency Video Coding) at 4K resolution and Dolby Vision HDR.

"Using Dolby Vision and Multiview High Efficiency Video Coding, 3D movies on Disney+ will deliver exceptional UHD resolution in HDR, unfiltered and independent for each eye, and at a high frame rate for several titles – ensuring that the filmmakers’ creative intent is fully preserved and reflected," said Disney.

Disney has also said that 2D and 3D movies can be viewed in one of four different background ‘environments’, including settings such as the cockpit of Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder and the Marvel Avengers Tower. Each environment was developed in the Universal Scene Description and will contain animations, sounds, and easter eggs for the discerning fans out there. 

Currently, Amazon Prime Video, Max, and Netflix all lack any way to watch movies in 3D on VR headsets, so it looks like Disney+ might be beating its rivals to the punch. 

Apple Vision Pro is set to be available from February 2024 and will cost $3500 (pricing and availability for other regions pending).

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Roku is embracing Mini LED with its new Pro series of TVs, with ambitions to build upon its successful line of Roku Select and Roku Plus Series TVs. The streaming stick manufacturer has seriously branched out in recent years with a full suite of affordable TVs and even a streaming soundbar, with the company now turning its interest towards the more premium market.

The Roku Pro series will come to the US first, with no word of a UK release, however, we have our fingers crossed. Roku has prioritised picture, sound and design with this new TV, which we'd agree are the three key pillars that all TVs should aim to nail. There will of course be a heavy focus on streaming, as the Roku operating system will be the main interface, which will include direct access to a selection of free and paid-for streaming apps such as Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video.

Starting with the design, this TV will come in 55-, 65- and 75-inch size options and will feature a premium wall mounting option as, much like the LG G3, this TV will sit flush against the wall. From what we can see in the first image of the Roku Pro Series, the TV seems to feature thin bezels surrounding the screens and squared-off edges that give it a clean and modern aesthetic. 

Moving onto picture, Roku has outfitted this TV with a 4K QLED panel with Mini LED backlighting. It says that the Roku Pro Series will deliver "exceptional picture quality", and will use AI and machine learning for picture processing features. This will include a content recognition system called Roku Smart Picture which will adapt the picture settings to best suit the content you're watching. 

Rounding things off with sound, Roku hasn't given any specific figures relating to the built-in speaker system, however it has hinted that this TV will feature "enhanced audio technology" that will deliver "immersive" and "cinematic" sound; certainly vague, but sounds good to us so far. 

The Roku Pro Series and optional wall mount will be available this Spring, and while no specifics have been given on pricing, Roku says that retail pricing will be "under $1500", which equates to about £1180 / AU$2230. 

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Apple has updated its Apple TV 4K streamer to version 17.2, which offers quite one significant change alongside various quality of life and feature updates. 

The latest software upgrade, available on all models of the Apple TV HD (from 2015 onwards) and Apple TV 4K (2017 models onwards), introduces a new look to Apple's streaming service, but in turn, signals the end for another iconic Apple service.

The service in question is the iTunes Movies and TV store, which has now been absorbed into the Apple TV app. Launched in 2008, the store has been Apple's hub for renting and purchasing the latest releases for over 15 years. Now, in the streaming age and with the introduction of the Apple TV platform, Apple has decided to streamline its video offerings. 

Thankfully it's not all doom and gloom, as there are plenty of interesting new features in the tvOS 17.2 update. The main new feature is a new sidebar navigation system for the Apple TV app, something we reported as a beta feature back in October. Here you'll find first-party Apple TV options like Apple TV+ and the new movie and TV store (just titled "Store"), as well as third-party streaming apps like Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video. You'll also find your video library in this menu to access your rented and purchased content, with filters for genre as well as if the content is 4K HDR.

This update also introduces features outlined earlier in prior beta builds of the software, including the redesigned control centre, enhanced dialogue options for HomePod users and Adaptive Audio for AirPods users. You'll also be able to initiate FaceTime calls directly from the Apple TV now, with the ability to use your iPhone or iPad as a webcam using the Continuity Camera feature. Finally, you'll be able to connect your Siri Remote (on the 2021 and 2022 Apple TV 4K models) to your iPhone via Bluetooth, with the ability to use the Find My app to locate it if you lose it; ideal for the all-to-common occurrence of the remote slipping between the couch cushions. 

You can update your Apple TV now by navigating to the settings app, scrolling down to "system" and selecting software update. 

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Roku TV has announced some user-friendly features in a new ‘What to Watch’ section, including ‘Recommendations’, ‘Save Lists’, and ‘Continue Watching’.

These features are all designed with the aim of assisting users in finding and keeping track of more suitable TV shows and movies than before. 

Roku says that the 'Recommendations' section in its new ‘What to Watch’ feature will offer users a better recommendation experience than currently available directly via streaming apps. Roku aims to provide fewer options with more accuracy. The company says it will be offering personalised suggestions based on what you’ve watched previously, as well as location-based factors, time of day, and which device you are using. 

New ‘Save Lists’ and ‘Continue Watching’ features also look to improve users’ overall experience. As the name suggests, the ‘Save List’ feature will allow users to save shows and movies to be conveniently watched later. 

‘Continue Watching’ will keep track of where you are in a show or a movie, even if you started watching something directly in a streaming service rather than via the Roku TV Home Screen. At present, anything added to your ‘Save List’ must be done via the Roku TV Home Screen and not external apps. 

Of course, the success of a recommendation engine such as this relies on it bringing in content from all the major streaming services.

Roku has confirmed the lineup of compatible streaming services at launch will include Apple TV, Channel 4, Discovery+, Disney, ITVX, My5, Netflix, Plex, Prime Video, STV, The Roku Channel, and UKTV in ‘Recommendations’. 

Discovery+, Disney, Plex, Prime Video, Netflix, and The Roku Channel will be compatible with ‘Continue Watching’ at launch, with more services to follow. 

Roku has announced the new features will be coming to all of its devices that still receive update support, and that the new features will roll out to Roku players in the coming weeks, and to Roku TVs in the coming months.

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While Amazon has been making streaming sticks for nearly a decade, it's a relative newcomer to actually making TVs. But in the few short years that its Fire TVs have been on sale, they've come on in leaps and bounds.

It now produces three ranges: the Fire TV 2-Series, Fire TV 4-Series and Fire TV Omni QLED. The latter is what we're interested in here, as it's the flagship range in Amazon's Fire TV family.

So what does the Fire TV Omni range offer? How much do the TVs cost? How do they compare to what else is available? And should you buy one if you find a great deal? Let's find out.

Should you buy an Amazon Fire Omni TV? The short answer...

Amazon is a relative newcomer to the world of TVs. While the e-commerce giant has been installing its software on other companies' TVs for a while now, it only launched its own Amazon-built TVs in 2021. Of course, Amazon has the resources of a small country, and so doesn't do things by halves – and its foray into TV-making is no different.

The Fire TV Omni QLED range boasts very impressive functionality – it essentially has a Fire TV Stick built into the set, giving you all the major streaming apps (with all four flavours of HDR baked in) and Alexa voice controls. The design might be a bit more basic than more style-conscious TVs, but it has it where it counts, which is picture and sound quality.

This being Amazon, the TVs are priced very competitively, but you shouldn't take the official price as your final answer. Amazon loves a sale, and it regularly lops a lot off the price of its TVs (just as it does its Echo speakers, Fire TV streaming devices and Fire tablets). We've seen up to 40 per cent off its Fire TV Omni QLEDs. So while they are definitely worth considering, you should never pay full price.

Should you buy an Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED QL50F601?

The QL50F601 is the 50-inch entry in the Omni range. And it's a belter, earning a 2023 What Hi-Fi? Award for its efforts. 

Design-wise, it's not as fancy as the 65-incher below – it has black plastic in place of the silver metal accents. But it has an impressive array of features for its price. These include an Ambient Experience (which is essentially a screensaver that appears when the TV detects your presence), Alexa voice smarts, the Fire OS operating system, support for all four current HDR standards (HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision) with even Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive (which automatically adjust to ambient lighting conditions), and QLED panel technology, plus VRR and ALLM for gamers across all four of the set’s HDMI ports. One of those ports is also eARC-enabled so can send uncompressed Dolby Atmos signals to a compatible soundbar or AV receiver.

Performance? Very good. It's no giant killer, but it is a surprisingly consistent and considered performer that works within its means to provide a very satisfying and authentic picture. Colours successfully tread the fine line between vibrancy and subtlety, and skin tones are natural and fairly delicately shaded. The audio is a little restrained, but that's preferable to the kind of distortion you hear from boomier, bassier TVs at this end of the market.

The QL50F601 is officially priced at £650 / $530, but we've seen it dip as low as £400 / $350 so do keep an eye out for discounts.

Should you buy an Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED QL65F601?

The QL65F601 is the 65-incher in the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED TV, and the largest member of the family. It offers pretty much the same specs and features as its 50-inch sibling, just on a larger scale.

It earned 'only' four stars in our review, however. While that's a very respectable score, it does suffer from some picture issues that aren't as apparent on the 50-incher.

Low-light scenes cause it the most problems, with a slight lack of shadow detail and some patchiness to colours. Motion also tends to be a bit smeary. But these are minor issues that many people will be able to overlook, especially given the price.

The Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED QL65F601 retails for £1000 / $800, but we've seen it go as low as £680 / $590. For reference, Samsung’s 2023 QLED range starts at £1299 in the UK for a 65-inch model and is unlikely to be discounted by the same percentage.

Should you buy the other Amazon Fire TV Omni QLEDs?

The Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED range includes other TVs in more sizes, though we haven't tested them.

The 43-incher doesn't support full-array local dimming (instead it's direct LED) which will affect the picture. Full-array local dimming splits the screen into zones, which can be controlled independently, so the screen can react more accurately to what image information it's being fed. We would therefore be cautious with the 43-inch Omni QLED. It might be very good, but it's too different to the larger models to be safely recommended.

But the 55-incher – like its bigger siblings – does support full-array local dimming. In fact, it should perform essentially the same as the 65-inch model, so while we haven't tested it we do feel fairly confident that it will be good and worth taking a punt on when it's discounted.

You'll find the latest, lowest prices for every model in the range below.

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Watch ATP Finals live stream 2023

The 2023 ATP Finals are FREE to watch with a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime (UK). In the US, it's live on the Tennis Channel and via streaming services such as Fubo (free 7-day trial). In Australia, you'll need beIn Sport. And you can use a VPN to watch your domestic ATP Finals live stream from anywhere, if you happen to be away from home.

• UK: Amazon Prime (30-day free trial)
• US: Tennis TV and Sling / Fubo
• Watch from abroad with ExpressVPN – the No.1 tennis VPN

ATP Finals 2023 tennis preview

Bringing the curtain down on the season, the ATP Finals gives 2023's eight best male players (and doubles pairings) the chance to close out the year in style.

The tennis calendar's most important event outside of the four slams, the 2023 ATP Finals head back to the hard courts of the Pala Alpitour (aka Palasport Olimpico) in Turin to see who will take home the prestigious titles – along with the lion's share of the $15 million purse.

No prizes for guessing who tops the list of ATP point getters in the singles draw. Winner of the Australian, French and US Opens, Novak Djokovic entered Italy as favorite to win his second successive ATP crown and record seventh in total.

He lost only five games in his semi-final win over Wimbledon champ Carlos Alcaraz, meaning he plays the home country hero Jannik Sinner in today's final. Sinner managed to score a huge win over Novak in the group stages, and remains unbeaten through the entire tournament. It would be a huge step in the 22-year-old's career if he can come away from Turin with the title.

Defending doubles champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury face Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the doubles – neither pair has tasted defeat this week. Ram and Salisbury are looking to tie up a season in which they claimed the US Open title for the third time running, but their veteran opponents have been a revelation over the course of the 2023 ATP Finals.

Make sure you know how to get an ATP Finals live stream from wherever you are. We've also listed the schedule and players at the bottom of this page.

ATP Finals: today's schedule

Day 8 – Sunday 19th November – Finals

- Marcel Granollers & Horacio Zeballos vs Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury - 2pm GMT / 9am ET

- Jannik Sinner vs Novak Djokovic - 5pm GMT / 12pm ET

Free ATP Finals 2023 live stream

In the UK, Amazon Prime Video has the rights to the ATP Finals. A subscription costs £8.99 a month but new users get a 30-day free Prime trial. You'll need to use a VPN when travelling abroad.

Prime membership includes free access to Amazon's occasional Premier League football live streams, in addition to Prime Video originals such as Rings of Power, plus Prime Music tracks and plenty more besides, so it's a smash!  

Watch ATP Finals live stream 2023 from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular tennis live streams while traveling abroad. The streaming service will spot that you're in a foreign country and block you. You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though.

It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch any ATP Finals live stream from anywhere in the world.

We rate ExpressVPN as the best VPN for streaming sport. It offers a 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

How to use a VPN for ATP Finals 2023

1. Install the VPN of your choice. ExpressVPN is the one we recommend.

2. Open up the VPN app and choose the location of the service you wish to access. For ATP Finals tennis, you may wish to choose 'UK' for Amazon Prime Video.

3. Then head over to Amazon Prime Video on your browser or device and enjoy the free 2023 ATP Finals live stream!

Watch ATP Finals live streams 2023 in the US

Tennis fans in the US can watch an ATP Finals live stream on the Tennis Channel, which can be accessed through many cable packages, as well the Tennis Channel Plus streaming platform and cord cutting services Sling TV and FuboTV.

Sling is one of the very best value OTT streaming services around and there's a free 7-day trial of FuboTV, too. There are no long contracts with either service – if you're not happy with them, you can cancel them at any time.

These services  are only available within the States so be sure to use a VPN if you're a US subscriber stuck abroad. We recommend ExpressVPN as it's reliable and comes with a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Watch ATP Finals live stream 2023 in Australia

Streaming service beIN Sports is providing live coverage of the 2023 ATP Finals in Australia. A subscription costs AU$14.99 per month or AU$149.99 per year after a one-week free trial.

Away from Oz? Use a VPN to access your local live stream from overseas – without being blocked.

ATP Finals 2023 players and seeds

Singles

• Novak Djokovic (1)
• Carlos Alcaraz (2)
• Daniil Medvedev (3)
• Jannik Sinner (4)
• Andrey Rublev (5)
• Alexander Zverev (7)
• Holger Rune (8)
• Hubert Hurkacz (9) (alternate for Stefanos Tsitsipas)

Doubles

• Ivan Dodig & Austin Krajicek (1)
• Wesley Koolhof & Neal Skupski (2)
• Rohan Bopanna & Matthew Ebden (3)
• Santiago González & Édouard Roger-Vasselin (4)
• Marcel Granollers & Horacio Zeballos (5)
• Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury (6)
• Máximo González & Andrés Molteni (7)
• Rinky Hijikata & Jason Kubler (8)

ATP Finals 2023 groups

Singles Green Group: Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune

Singles Red Group: Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Alexander Zverev

Doubles Green Group: Ivan Dodig & Austin Krajicek, Santiago Gonzalez & Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Marcel Granollers & Horacio Zeballos, Maximo Gonzalez & Andres Molteni

Doubles Red Group: Wesley Koolhof & Neal Skupski, Rohan Bopanna & Matthew Ebden, Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury, Rinky Hijikata & Jason Kubler

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LG's pair of portable TVs are officially heading to the UK, with a release date set for later this month. The LG StanbyME and StanbyME Go are some of the most unique TVs we've seen in quite some time, and the oddities don't end with their extraordinary designs.

The StanbyME is designed to be wheeled around the house on its pedestal-style base, as LG describes it as a lifestyle display for many occasions. For example, you can wheel it into the kitchen to follow a recipe guide on YouTube and then back to the living room to watch a movie on it afterwards. 

It runs a modified version of webOS which is the same operating system you'll find on the likes of the LG G3 and C3 OLED TVs. This means you'll find a healthy amount of streaming services on board like Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video as well as the ability to stream from your phone using screen mirroring and Apple AirPlay 2. The main difference here seems to be that it's optimised for touch controls as the StanbyME features a 27-inch 1080p touch display; although a remote is included if you'd prefer to avoid getting grubby fingerprints all over your screen. 

Said display does feature HDR in the HDR10 and HLG formats which is a nice addition, and LG's AI sound from its larger, more conventional TVs is also on board. Another feature of its standard TVs is the Alpha 7 Gen4 AI processor, although considering this processor is already two years old that might not be the greatest headlining feature. It did feature on the 2021 LG B1 OLED TV and has since powered a few of LG's mid-range QNED TV models, meaning should power this fairly low-spec portable model just fine. 

As well as wireless screen mirroring, you'll find one HDMI socket and a USB input, meaning you'll be able to hook up a streaming stick, PS5 or Xbox Series X if you like, although don't expect any sort of high frame rate or next-gen gaming feature support as this isn't a HDMI 2.1 port nor does the display support 120Hz.

Moving onto the StanbyME Go, we're more than acquainted with the quirky suitcase TV already after a hands-on session at IFA 2023. Interestingly, this seems to be the higher-spec model of the two, and it's got more features built in too. 

Instead of the pedestal with wheels approach of the StanbyME, the Go variant folds neatly into a briefcase-style enclosure for easy portability, with a convenient spot to store the remote underneath the display. While there have been mixed feelings on this approach here on the What Hi-Fi? team, we can't deny that it's a clever design. When fully deployed, you can swivel the display and adjust the angle to best suit your viewing needs; the display can even fold flat into the suitcase for use with the various built-in games that take advantage of the 27-inch touch display.

The Go features a handful of upgrades over the regular model though, with support for Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos being the two we're most concerned with. The Go features a 20W speaker system behind a mesh cover on the top lid of the suitcase enclosure which, when opened, offers direct front-firing sound. LG highlights the Go's capability as a music system as much as a TV in this regard, with a funky user interface that mimics a suitcase record player when you stream music through the Go. 

Dolby support isn't the only upgrade the Go has over the standard model, as it also features a better processor. It's using the Alpha 7 Gen 5 processor, so only one generation newer, but that's still a more modern chip nonetheless. As for connectivity, it appears to be the same as its counterpart, with one HDMI port and a USB connector. 

This brings us to further similarities between the two models. First is battery life, as both units feature integrated rechargeable cells. LG quotes three hours for both models, although we expect this figure to be heavily caveated with using certain picture modes and so forth. While it's hard to quantity as there are very few other TVs like this, it certainly won't get you through the latest Scorcese or Nolan feature. Considering LG has pitched the Go as a camping companion, this does fall slightly short of expectations, as your suitcase TV could, hypothetically, be out of juice on the first night if you're not careful. It feels like less of an issue on the regular StanbyME, as that's designed to be kept in the house and therefore nearer to readily available sockets when it's in need of charging.

The second similarity is the price, as the StanbyME is priced at £1199 here in the UK, or $1000 / AU$1999 in the US and Australia respectively where it's already available. The StanbyME Go is also £1199 in the UK, despite the fact it features a better processor and Dolby picture and sound enhancements. In the US you'll find it for $1000, and while it's not available in Australia yet, we anticipate it costing $1999 if LG does decide to launch the Go Down Under. Both portable TV models will be available in the UK on the 29th of November, with retailers yet to be confirmed. 

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