It was Jane Austen who once wrote: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man (or woman) in possession of a good chunk of cash must be in want of a Bluetooth speaker.” Okay, we might have tweaked that quotation just a little, but she would probably have written something similar had Bluetooth been around in the 1800s.

Thankfully, we can’t think of many product categories that enjoy more major discounts during Amazon Prime Day than Bluetooth speakers. Perhaps wireless headphones and wireless earbuds are also in the running, but if you’re in the market for belting bargains, Bluetooth speakers are where it’s at.

We are already seeing major discounts on some of our favourite models during the early Prime Day sales, and we predict that even more drops will come flooding in as things really kick into gear. Don’t worry, we’ll keep updating this page, and our Prime Day hubs, to make sure you don’t miss a thing.

The best early Prime Day Bluetooth speaker deals

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These are the best Bluetooth speakers you can buy

There’s a war going on for your living room. The premium TV technology of choice of the last few years – OLED – is under attack from a new, stunningly bright and vibrant foe – RGB Mini LED.

Every major brand has either launched its first RGB Mini LED TVs or is about to. Hisense launched its first RGB Mini LED models last year, in fact, but those were gigantic, 100+ inch sets, so a long way from a serious proposition for most people.

Hisense is also the first brand to submit to us a proper, mainstream RGB Mini LED TV to review, though – the UR9.

RGB Mini LED TVs are pitched at different levels by different brands, but Hisense is absolutely pitching the UR9 as a rival to flagship OLEDs. The price confirms as much.

So, what better way to benchmark it than against our current favourite flagship OLED, the Sony Bravia 8 II.

That, then, is what we’ve done. Over several days, we’ve tested the Hisense UR9 and Sony Bravia 8 II side by side, feeding all of our favourite discs and streams into both simultaneously, and judging them on picture quality, sound quality, features, usability, design and price.

This might not be a full RGB Mini LED vs OLED battle – the Hisense UR9 doesn’t represent all RGB Mini LED TVs, after all – but it is the opening skirmish in the broader TV tech war. And it's an eye-opening one at that.

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: price

The Hisense UR9’s pricing is interesting to say the least. In the UK, the 65-inch model we tested is priced at £2999, which places it in the same price category as brand-new flagship OLEDs.

In Australia, meanwhile, the UR9’s price of AU$3999 makes it slightly more affordable by local standards.

In the US, though, the pre-launch price of $3500 had dropped vastly to just $2000 by the time the TV actually hit stores.

Things are much more straightforward with the Sony Bravia 8 II, the 65-inch version of which launched at £2999 / $4000 / AU$5295, but can now be bought for £2299 / $2798 / AU$4995.

The inconsistent international pricing of the Hisense UR9 makes it a little tricky to judge this round, but seeing as we’re a primarily UK publication, and that we reviewed a UK sample, we’re going to prioritise the UK pricing and call this it in favour of the Bravia 8 II.

WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: design

The Sony Bravia 8 II and Hisense UR9 are both smart-looking TVs, but they take rather different approaches to design.

Sony has essentially carried over the styling of the A95L, resulting in a TV that looks purposeful, premium and monolithic. While it lacks the ultra-thin glamour of some rival OLEDs, the Bravia 8 II still feels like a flagship product, with its clean lines and understated aesthetic giving it a suitably high-end appearance.

The feet can be installed in either a low-profile position that leaves the bottom edge of the screen sitting just millimetres above your furniture, or a raised position that creates space for a soundbar. The downside is that those feet can only be positioned at the furthest extremes of the chassis, meaning you'll need furniture that's at least as wide as the TV itself.

The Hisense UR9 is a more practical proposition. At 4.5cm thick, it's chunkier than the Sony and doesn't have quite the same premium flair, but it is solidly built and neatly finished, with slim bezels and a restrained dark metallic finish.

Hisense has also made a couple of sensible usability-focused decisions. The centrally mounted pedestal stand occupies a footprint of only around 42cm, making the TV much easier to place on narrower furniture, and it too offers two height positions so that a soundbar can be accommodated beneath the screen.

The UR9's integrated Devialet sound system is more visually obvious than Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio+ setup, with perforations running down the sides of the chassis and across the top edge to house the side- and up-firing speakers. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does contribute to the TV's more functional, engineering-led appearance.

Ultimately, neither of these TVs is likely to be bought primarily for its styling, but the Bravia 8 II's cleaner, more premium design gives it the edge. The UR9 is practical and perfectly attractive in its own right, but it lacks the sense of sophistication that Sony's flagship delivers.

WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: features

The biggest difference between these two TVs is, of course, their panel technologies.

The Sony Bravia 8 II uses Samsung Display's latest QD-OLED panel, paired with Sony's XR processor and a custom heatsink. Because OLED technology is self-emissive, every pixel can be controlled independently, with no need for local dimming zones.

Sony doesn't publish specific brightness figures for its TVs, but the Bravia 8 II is estimated to hit around 1900 nits in small highlights, making it one of the brightest OLED TVs currently available.

The Hisense UR9, meanwhile, uses an RGB Mini LED backlight with 980 local dimming zones. Rather than relying on a conventional white backlight shining through colour filters, it uses separate red, green and blue Mini LEDs to generate colour directly. Hisense claims a peak brightness of up to 3500 nits for the 65-inch model we tested.

On paper, then, these TVs take radically different approaches to creating their images. We're not going to award points for one technology over the other here, though, because what ultimately matters is how those technologies perform in practice. We'll get to that in the picture quality section.

There are other differences in the feature sets of the two TVs worth highlighting, though.

Hardcore gamers are generally better served by the Hisense. All three of its HDMI sockets are full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, with support for 4K/170Hz, 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. It also features a DisplayPort connection, which remains extremely rare on TVs and could prove useful for committed PC gamers.

The Sony supports 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, too, but still offers only two HDMI 2.1 sockets, one of which doubles as the eARC connection. That limitation remains one of our biggest frustrations with Sony's flagship TVs.

That said, we'd probably take the Sony's two HDMI 2.1 sockets and two additional standard HDMI inputs over the Hisense's three HDMI sockets and DisplayPort arrangement. The latter will be useful to a niche audience, but many buyers are more likely to benefit from having an extra ‘standard’ HDMI connection available.

HDR support favours the Hisense, though. The UR9 supports every major HDR format currently in use, including HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. The Bravia 8 II supports Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG, but, as is customary for Sony TVs, HDR10+ is absent.

The Bravia 8 II fights back with Google TV, which remains one of the stronger smart TV platforms available and features excellent app support. The UR9's VIDAA operating system is fast and responsive, but there are some notable omissions.

Most significantly, while the Apple TV app is present, it lacks access to the Apple TV Store and users' purchased libraries. That's a genuine disappointment, as Apple's movie store remains the best pay-as-you-go film streaming service available, particularly for 4K HDR movies.

Sony also offers IMAX Enhanced certification, its Studio Calibrated Modes for services such as Netflix and Prime Video, and Sony Pictures Core integration.

Ultimately, neither TV completely dominates on features, but the Hisense's broader HDR support, extra HDMI 2.1 socket and more advanced gaming specification give it the edge overall.

WINNER: Hisense UR9

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: picture quality

This is, of course, the section that really matters.

The Hisense UR9 makes an immediately strong impression. Once switched into either Filmmaker Mode or IMAX Cinema, it produces a rich, vibrant and remarkably composed image that rarely behaves like a traditional backlit TV.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the UR9 is how well controlled its RGB Mini LED backlight is. Throughout our testing, blooming is kept impressively in check, black levels are consistently strong and the TV almost entirely avoids the brightness pumping, flickering and shifting backlight behaviour that often gives Mini LED technology away.

Extra-bright HDR content is a particular strength. Movies such as Pan look spectacular on the UR9, with dazzling highlights and bold colours that comfortably outgun the Bravia 8 II for outright brightness. Sunlight bursting through clouds and glinting off fantasy scenery is delivered with real punch and intensity.

The UR9 is also a very accomplished motion performer, and it combines its brightness with rich colours, excellent shadow detail and a pleasingly cinematic warmth that stops the image from ever becoming gaudy or overblown.

In isolation, it's one of the best backlit TVs we have ever tested.

Direct comparison with the Bravia 8 II reveals why OLED remains the reference technology, though – at least for now.

Despite its impressive brightness and excellent local dimming, the Hisense simply can't match the Sony's pixel-level contrast control. Counterintuitively, some of the brightest highlights against the darkest backgrounds actually appear more impactful on the Bravia 8 II than on the much brighter Hisense, because the OLED can render them without any concern about blooming.

More significantly, the Sony produces a more solid and perceptually three-dimensional image. Objects and characters stand out from their surroundings with greater depth and dynamism, while subtle gradations within shadows, clouds and highlights appear more convincing and refined.

We've observed this extra solidity from OLED many times before, but the side-by-side comparison between these two TVs demonstrates it particularly clearly. Next to the Bravia 8 II, the UR9 simply looks a little flatter and less immersive.

The Sony also has the advantage when it comes to viewing angles. While the Hisense holds up better than many LCD-based rivals, the sweet spot in which it performs at its very best is still relatively narrow. Thanks to its OLED panel, the Bravia 8 II performs consistently from almost any angle.

And while blooming is rare on the UR9, it isn't entirely absent. Difficult scenes such as the bomb-test sequence in Oppenheimer or the opening starfield of Alien: Romulus reveal imperfections that even this highly accomplished RGB Mini LED set cannot completely escape.

The Bravia 8 II, meanwhile, is simply sensational. Its combination of dazzling brightness by OLED standards, vibrant colours, exceptional shadow detail and razor-sharp definition creates an image of astonishing depth and realism.

What impresses most isn't any single strength, but how naturally all of its strengths come together. The Bravia 8 II consistently delivers a picture that feels balanced, authentic and effortlessly cinematic, whether you're watching a pristine 4K Dolby Vision disc or a much more humble SDR stream.

The Hisense UR9 proves that RGB Mini LED can get surprisingly close to flagship OLED performance, and many viewers will adore its combination of brightness, richness and stability. But when viewed side by side, the Bravia 8 II remains the more complete and convincing picture performer.

WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: sound quality

Both the Sony Bravia 8 II and Hisense UR9 are unusually sonically accomplished by modern TV standards.

That's important, because while we always recommend pairing a premium TV with a dedicated sound system, for many buyers that’s either impractical or unpalatable.

The Hisense UR9 certainly doesn't disappoint. Its Devialet-tuned 4.1.2-channel sound system delivers a presentation that is impressively spacious and full-bodied, with particularly convincing width and height effects.

Dolby Atmos soundtracks benefit from a strong sense of scale, while bass is deeper and more substantial than most flatscreen TVs can manage. The overall character is smooth, rich and easy to listen to over extended viewing sessions.

The UR9's audio system isn't flawless, though. Dynamics can feel a little restrained during big action sequences, and dialogue doesn't always have the clarity and expressiveness we'd ideally like.

We also found ourselves preferring the Standard sound mode over the more expansive Theatre setting. While Theatre mode undoubtedly sounds bigger, it can introduce a slightly diffuse and faintly echoey quality to voices that makes dialogue seem less natural than it should.

The Sony Bravia 8 II takes a very different approach. Rather than relying on conventional speaker placement, its Acoustic Surface Audio+ system uses actuators to vibrate the screen itself, effectively turning the display into a speaker.

The result is one of the most cohesive and convincing audio performances we've heard from a TV.

Dialogue and effects are tied directly to the action on screen in a way that traditional TV speaker systems struggle to replicate, creating a stronger sense that sound is genuinely coming from the people and objects you're watching.

Like the Hisense, the Sony also sounds surprisingly spacious, with effects extending well beyond the edges of the screen. Detail levels are excellent, too, and the Bravia 8 II combines subtle dynamic nuance with enough punch to make action scenes engaging and exciting.

Bass depth isn't as generous as it is from the Hisense, but it's impressively controlled, and the overall tonal balance is exceptionally well judged.

Ultimately, these are two of the best-sounding TVs you can currently buy. The Hisense delivers scale, warmth and impressive Atmos effects, but the Sony's superior detail, greater dynamic expression and uniquely direct delivery give it the edge.

WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: verdict

The Hisense UR9 is a hugely important TV.

Not only is it the first mainstream RGB Mini LED TV we've fully reviewed, it's also the first serious attempt to take on flagship OLEDs with a fundamentally different display technology.

And the good news for RGB Mini LED fans is that, in some ways at least, it succeeds.

The UR9 is bright, vibrant and impressively refined. More importantly, it avoids many of the traditional pitfalls of backlit TVs, with excellent black levels, impressively restrained blooming and a consistency that often feels surprisingly OLED-like.

In several respects, it's one of the best backlit TVs we've ever tested.

But while the UR9 proves that RGB Mini LED is a genuinely exciting technology with enormous potential, it also demonstrates just how high the bar currently is at the top end of the OLED market.

Ultimately, picture quality remains the most important factor in any TV buying decision, and it's here that the Sony Bravia 8 II retains a clear advantage. The Hisense has the stronger gaming specification, broader HDR support and spectacular brightness, but the Sony's superior contrast control, greater three-dimensionality and more natural, cinematic image make it the more accomplished performer overall.

This isn't a verdict on RGB Mini LED versus OLED as technologies, and it certainly isn't the last battle in what is shaping up to be one of the most interesting periods in TV tech for years.

Instead, it’s the verdict on the very best OLED TV currently available versus the first mainstream RGB Mini LED model. And while the Hisense UR9 proves that RGB Mini LED is ready to compete with the very best, the Sony Bravia 8 II remains the TV to beat.

OVERALL WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

If you’ve been eyeing up the Award-winning Sony Bravia 8 II for your next TV, but don’t have the budget to stretch to it, taking a look at the other models in the Sony range might feel like a good starting point.

There’s always the hope that the more affordable models have retained some of the flagship greatness at a lower price – but at the very least, that they’ve strived for the same goals when it comes to getting the best picture performance bang for your buck.

However, despite their similar naming conventions, the Bravia 5 and the Bravia 3 are not only completely different panel types to the OLED-packing Bravia 8 II, but also different from each other – so it’s important to step with caution.

While our star rating is always a great indicator of the products we recommend, when you’re comparing two models at quite different prices, it’s good to understand what the differences are between them, and what you’re getting for the extra outlay. Allow us to explain all.

Sony Bravia 3 vs Bravia 5: pricing

Right now, you can pick up the 65-inch Bravia 5 that we tested for around £1299 / $1000 / AU$2695. That’s not a bad price at all for a Sony-branded Mini LED TV with local dimming, and a nice saving from the launch price of £1699 in the UK.

The Bravia 3 is considerably cheaper, and at the time of writing is available for around £849 / $650 / AU$1399. That’s pretty close to its launch price of £899 in the UK (US and Australian savings on RRP are slightly heftier), but we have known this screen size to go as low as £749 during big sales periods.

We'll tackle the question of value through the course of the review. This round is all about which option is cheapest, and that's comfortably the Bravia 3.

WINNER: Bravia 3

Sony Bravia 3 vs Bravia 5: design

It’s fair to say that neither of these TVs are going to be the best choice if you're hoping to wall mount.

In our review, we noted that the Bravia 5 has a rear panel that sticks out further than its competition, which could make it feel a bit clunky and awkward for wall hanging.

When you consider that the Bravia 5 measures 5.8cm deep, and the Bravia 3 measures in at 7.2cm, we’d say that both of these sets lend themselves best to life on a TV stand.

As you might expect for the price difference, the Bravia 5’s overall aesthetic is a little elevated compared with the Bravia 3. Both have relatively slender bezels, but the Bravia 5 sports a tasteful dark grey brushed metal effect finish, whereas the Bravia 3 is unashamedly black plastic.

It feels all the more lightweight when you’re putting it together too, and at least for our taste, the feet on the Bravia 3 lack some of the sophistication of those on the 5.

We do appreciate Sony’s no-screw mechanism on both TVs though, which allows the TV to just slot onto the stand, saving fuss and making setup out of the box really straightforward.

The Bravia 3 does score points over the Bravia 5 for its two-way stand, which allows you to set the feet into either narrow or wide positions to suit your furniture or soundbar requirements.

The Bravia 5’s feet only have one position, but thankfully that is relatively narrow to allow you to place it on most stands without issue. If you have a soundbar though, you’ll just want to check that it can fit in front of the stand – the Bravia 5 does adjust to two different heights to make sure the screen isn’t blocked by adding one.

Overall, although the two-way stand on the Bravia 3 is a nice addition for soundbar owners, we much prefer the design of the Bravia 5, and think it can accommodate a soundbar in the majority of situations.

WINNER: Bravia 5

Sony Bravia 3 vs Bravia 5: features

One of the biggest differentiators between the Bravia 5 and the Bravia 3 is their panel technology – the Bravia 5 is a Mini LED TV with local dimming across 240 zones, whereas the Bravia 3 is a direct-lit LED TV without any local dimming.

That’s going to have a fair impact on its picture quality capabilities, but we’ll come on to that in the next section.

Elsewhere, the processing chip that runs the show is different between the two models, too.

Given the price difference, it’s not surprising that the Bravia 5 has the more sophisticated of the two – Sony’s flagship XR processor, which also powers the Bravia 8 II.

The Bravia 3, on the other hand, uses the older, midrange 4K HDR Processor X1.

What that means in isolation is hard to quantify, given the TVs’ differing features elsewhere. The XR is clearly a more powerful processor that can draw out more by way of picture subtlety and colour accuracy, but how much that would be as noticeable on a direct-lit LED screen with no local dimming is questionable.

In other words, going for a lower-power processor in the Bravia 3 feels like the right choice for its price and capabilities.

As these are both Sony TVs, their HDR capabilities are the same – they both support HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision, and don’t support HDR10+.

However, of the two, only the Bravia 5 is IMAX Enhanced certified, and it’s also the only one that offers a range of ‘Calibrated’ picture modes to get the best picture quality from the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Sony Pictures Core.

Both have Dolby Atmos and DTS:X spatial audio support, though the Bravia 5 has a better sound system to deliver it on.

The Bravia 5 offers 40W of sound across four speakers (two full-range drivers and two tweeters), compared to the 20W across two full-range drivers on the Bravia 3.

If you’re keen to hook up a games console to your TV, the Bravia 3 wouldn’t be the best pick of the two due to its 4K/60Hz panel, with the 4K/120Hz panel on the Bravia 5 making it a much better choice.

The Bravia 5 also has VRR on two HDMI ports, as well as ALLM on all four of them, whereas the Bravia 3 only has ALLM. That makes the Bravia 5 a clear winner for gamers.

Both TVs use Google TV for their smart features, offering a good selection of streaming apps, along with the addition of YouView in the UK for the catch-up services that Google doesn’t offer.

Using Google’s interface also means that both TVs have access to features such as Google Assistant and Chromecast, as well as AirPlay 2. While we did notice a few small glitches initially in the Bravia 3’s handling of the UI, overall, both TVs work smoothly and without issue.

The Bravia 5 also has the compatibility to work with the Bravia Cam, to control the TV by gesture – something the Bravia 3 does not offer.

We don’t particularly value the extra tricks the Bravia Cam adds to the TV-watching experience, particularly considering its £199 / $200 / AU$149 price tag, but if you do, the Bravia 5 is the only set out of the two to get it.

All things considered, it’s not exactly surprising that the Bravia 5 has better features than the Bravia 3, given its higher price tag. However, it’s when you look at the wider market that the winner becomes clear.

The Bravia 5 shoots above its pay grade in many respects, including by being one of Sony’s XR Backlight Master Drive panels. That’s a premium feature found on many of its much pricier TVs that aims to boost picture quality and reduce power consumption by improving local dimming performance.

However, when you consider the Bravia 3 against other competitors at its price, its specs are disappointing. There are similarly priced TVs that use better panel technology and have local dimming and better gaming features.

For those reasons, the Bravia 5 takes the win here again.

WINNER: Bravia 5

Sony Bravia 3 vs Bravia 5: picture quality

That feeling of the Bravia 5 delivering value for money only continues when it comes to picture performance.

It might be the cheapest Mini LED model in the Bravia lineup, but the picture quality doesn’t feel compromised by its more affordable ambitions – the Sony DNA runs clearly through this set.

In particular, that XR Backlight Master Drive panel does exactly what we’ve seen it do elsewhere, in that it maximises the performance of the backlight, meaning we get impressively bright and well controlled pictures for this price category, with even and consistent blacks and minimal blooming.

It means the Bravia 5 really holds its own in the contrast stakes, which ensures – when combined with its well-judged shadow detail – that both bright and dark scenes look as natural and cinematic as each other.

All this greatness only starts to become compromised in extremely complex HDR shots, or when you watch the Bravia 5 from much of an angle, when its more affordable local dimming mechanism might become more apparent. Overall though, this is a great performer at its price.

Unfortunately, the Bravia 3’s handling of contrast and shadow detail is not such good news. What strikes us most is how the entire picture has an almost grey hue, which means it lacks solidity in blacks from the get go, and makes dark scenes almost unwatchable.

The panel almost seems to glow in darker sequences, losing a lot of detail in the process, but even in scenes with lots of light, the image lacks contrast. This means Sony’s calling card of excellent three dimensionality is largely lost, which is a big hit on our overall picture enjoyment.

Thankfully, the Bravia 3 manages to look much more like a Sony TV when it comes to colour.

As long as you switch from the out-of-the-box settings to Professional mode, colour performance is pretty good, looking balanced and natural, while retaining a degree of believable richness.

The Bravia 5 has a little more flexibility on its presets, thanks to its more sophisticated processing, but ultimately also manages a great mix of punchiness, shading subtlety and balance, even retaining an impressive amount of colour saturation during darker scenes.

Both TVs manage to show off Sony’s talent for motion processing, with sweeping panning shots handled admirably by the Bravia 3. The XR processor in the Bravia 5 will arguably push motion handling that little bit further, by way of subtlety and realism, but there’s no reason for complaint with either set here.

Despite this, the overall picture quality is a clear win by the Bravia 5 – even at the set’s individual price points.

Once again, the Bravia 5 punches above what we might expect at this price, giving 4K images a sense of density, texture and clarity that we are more used to seeing in Sony’s more expensive TVs.

While some of Sony’s famous picture processing is still evident in the Bravia 3, its poor backlight control leads to a loss of contrast and shadow detail that’s hard to forgive. This is an easy win for the Bravia 5.

WINNER: Bravia 5

Sony Bravia 3 vs Bravia 5: sound quality

While we all know that a soundbar or surround sound system will always make your new TV sound its best, both models do a pretty good job for built-in TV audio.

Even with the pretty modest speaker set-up in the Bravia 3, Sony manages to provide impressively clear dialogue alongside a decent sense of low-level dynamics.

Sound even has a good sense of height to it, giving more space to big effects such as explosions or planes flying overhead. Bass could be heftier, but to be honest, the Bravia 3 already outperforms what we have come to expect from a TV at this price.

The Bravia 5 is equally impressive. No elements in a mix pass the Bravia 5 by, yet the processing is also sophisticated enough to ensure no detail takes on more significance than it should.

The four drivers here create a spacious soundstage that offers a good sense of height, with both dialogue and sound effects placed accurately within it.

There’s power to the sound too, but also a level of precision that ensures sound is never distorted.

Like the Bravia 3, it’s lacking a little bass, but we would always take that over too much, and overall find the sound to be precise and immersive. We’re calling this one a draw.

WINNER: Draw

Sony Bravia 3 vs Bravia 5: verdict

From the get-go, this head-to-head might have looked like a shoo-in for the more expensive, better specified, and better reviewed Bravia 5.

But even when you consider both of these TVs’ positions within their respective markets and price categories, it’s hard for us not to recommend – if you are truly torn between the two – that you try to save up the difference and opt for the Bravia 5, or consider a different TV at the Bravia 3’s price instead.

The Sony Bravia 5 follows in the footsteps of the other five-star TVs from Sony’s most recent TV lineup, offering impressive features for its price, a formidable picture performance and a pretty decent sound performance to boot.

By comparison, the Bravia 3 is lacking the features we might expect at this level, and delivers a picture performance we find almost unrecognisable as a Sony TV.

For anyone considering these two TVs, hoping to get Sony’s famed picture processing on a bit of a budget, the clear winner is the Bravia 5. From everything we have seen so far, it’s the clear value proposition in Sony’s current TV lineup.

OVERALL WINNER: Bravia 5

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It is undeniable that video streaming services offer a fair few positives. They save a whole lot of space in your home rather than storing a bunch of physical discs, and give you access to a vast array of content at the touch of a button.

But one of their biggest issues comes in the shape of the ever-increasing costs – making their libraries of TV shows and movies ultimately less accessible.

Most recently, Amazon Prime Video's ad-free tier went up by $2 in the US and the platform has also removed 4K content from the package included with a Prime membership.

It is far from the only service hiking its costs, with the likes of Disney Plus, Apple TV, and Netflix all jumping on the price hike bandwagon.

That's why it is particularly exciting to see Netflix's most-watched TV show of all time finally get a physical 4K Blu-ray release, meaning I don't need to keep paying for Netflix just to rewatch my favourite show.

The Duffer Brothers' Stranger Things series was a cultural phenomenon as soon as the first episode hit the small screen back in 2016, and only grew in popularity until it concluded late last year after five seasons.

While some of the early Stranger Things series have had a physical release, this is the first time the whole series has been released in a definitive collector's edition complete with a whopping 25 discs.

That means Stranger Things fans don't have to hang onto their Netflix subscription to re-watch the entire season. This is especially tempting when you consider that you can only get the best picture quality with the more expensive streaming tiers.

The deluxe edition of the set is available for £220 / $270 on 4K Blu-ray or £200 / $250 on Blu-ray. The special edition, which is less comprehensive than the deluxe edition, comes in at £160 / $220 on 4K and £150 / $200 on Blu-ray.

With the deluxe package, there is a range of extra goodies included, plus beautiful artwork adorning every inch of the box. You will find five double-sided posters featuring original artwork by illustrator Kyle Lambert, an exclusive d20 die, and an art book including original design sketches, concept art, and storyboards. And that's just for starters.

Of course, the 4K Blu-rays should also offer the ultimate version of Stranger Things in terms of picture and sound quality, thanks to the removal of Netflix's streaming compression, but we'll need to watch them ourselves before confirming that.

It's also worth noting that Dolby Atmos sound is only available for series four and five, while the remaining seasons are limited to 5.1 surround sound. That's the same as the Netflix streams, but it's a bit of a shame that the opportunity hasn't been taken to upgrade the previous seasons to Atmos.

The initial cost, especially for the 4K Deluxe edition, feels quite hefty. But, with the landscape of streaming services becoming more and more inaccessible, it is certainly reassuring to be able to hold the series in your hands and know it is yours – and free to watch whenever you so choose.

As Netflix has an ever-rotating selection of movies and TV shows, it's great to see that some of its top series are getting physical releases, ensuring you don't have to increase your monthly outgoings in order to watch your favourite shows whenever you want.

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So, there I was, lazing on the sofa, relatively late on a Saturday night, suddenly with the opportunity to watch a movie.

Out comes the JustWatch app and its ever-growing list of movies I’ve flagged to watch at some point. Now is my chance to tick one off.

Now, I confess, on this occasion, I did something I do a little too often and sorted by runtime. I’m a tired guy, and did I mention it was quite late?

I scroll past the likes of Hallow Road (too harrowing) and Mad God (too mad), and I find myself hovering over Last Breath.

79 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, free on Amazon Prime Video, and a runtime of just over an hour and a half? That sounds ideal.

So, I fire it up on my Apple TV 4K, expecting a fairly tense but also somewhat lightweight drama.

What I’m not expecting is a genuinely superb showcase for my OLED TV (a Sony A95L, for what it’s worth) – but that’s what Last Breath is, even in SDR, which is what Prime Video inexplicably delivers it in.

The movie (I’ll avoid spoilers as much as possible here, but if you want to go in completely cold, just trust me and find it in the Prime Video app or buy the Last Breath 4K Blu-ray from Amazon) is a dramatisation of a North Sea accident that saw a deep-sea diver stranded 300 feet below sea level.

It’s fascinating to see how this industry and these divers work.

They live for weeks at a time in pressurised capsules stored in the bowels of a ship. Each day, a diving bell takes them down, deep into the sea, from where they drop to the seabed to perform maintenance on the gas lines that run across the bottom. It’s incredible stuff.

That isn’t what makes it a great showcase for OLED, though. What makes it a great showcase for OLED is the combination of pitch-black surroundings and small areas of piercing light.

When the unfortunate diver gets stranded in the first place, he’s plunged into total darkness. Lost, he lights a red flare. Watch on a properly set-up OLED TV and in a properly pitch-black room, and the bright red light from the flare is literally all you can see.

This perfect contrast is something that only OLED can achieve. The best Mini LED TVs might get close, but they still can’t place a perfectly black pixel next to one that is bright red, and it’s this perfect, blooming-free (and therefore distraction-free) delivery that sells the oppressive drama and puts you in the shoes of a diver abandoned at the bottom of the sea.

For what it’s worth, I enjoyed the film overall. The characters are a bit one-dimensional, but the performances (particularly those of Woody Harrelson and Mark Bonnar) are strong enough to sell the extraordinary story.

But it’s the awesome high-contrast section that’s convinced me to order the 4K Blu-ray so that I can a) see it in HDR as intended, and b) use it for putting future OLED and Mini LED TVs through their paces in our dedicated test rooms.

Watch Last Breath on Amazon Prime Video

Order the Last Breath 4K Blu-ray from Amazon

MORE:

Here are the best OLED TVs you can buy right now

And here are the best Mini LED TVs

Today, I invite you to put on your rose-tinted glasses and cast your mind back to a simpler time, long ago, in which streaming services were heralded as the saviours for those sick of paying through the nose for pricey television subscription plans – Sky TV for example.

It's hard not to think back to the early 2010s and not tear up at the blissful memories of streaming simplicity, when a very modest direct debit left your bank account in exchange for what felt like an infinite library of ad-free content to choose from.

Netflix ruled the roost, capturing the hearts of many when it launched in the UK back in 2012. And it got a welcome 4K upgrade two years later, which split the service into two easy-to-understand tiers – Standard or Premium.

As the years progressed, we had the likes of Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus and Apple TV take the remaining mainstream spots. At the same time, niche services such as Mubi, Crunchyroll and Shudder delivered content for cinephiles, anime fans and horror fiends, respectively.

Fast forward to today, and those days are well and truly behind us. Streaming services have become the very things they set out to destroy, with rising monthly costs (Netflix Premium now costs a staggering £18.99 per month), and ads forced upon users unless they cough up for the higher-tier options.

It's all a bit of a mess. And, quite understandably, the masses are becoming jaded by the increasing list of services taking up spots on their bank statements. Many feel betrayed by streaming becoming the very thing it set out to destroy.

In the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith: “You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!”

But what's this? Much like Darth Vader's story throughout the Star Wars saga, we have an unexpected tale of redemption on our hands; and it's coming from a truly unexpected and ironic place.

Who is better suited to solve the issue of fragmented streaming services than the very company that is mostly responsible for it in the first place?

That's right, Sky has stepped in with an upgrade to its Ultimate TV package – and it centralises most of our streaming needs into one easy-to-access place.

Sky already bundles in Netflix Basic with Ads with all of its TV subscription packages, but its Ultimate package (which also includes many of its own channels) will now include Disney Plus, Hayu, and HBO Max when it launches in March.

That package will cost £24/month, which seems pretty reasonable if you break it all down. All the services mentioned above are the basic, ad-supported tiers; still, if you were to buy them all separately, you'd be paying £5.99 for Netflix, £5.99 for Disney Plus, £4.99 for HBO Max, and £5.99 for Hayu.

That's a grand total of £22.96 in itself. And that's not factoring in the full Sky library you'll also get access to, including live and on demand content from the likes of Sky Atlantic and the upcoming Sky One relaunch.

Suddenly, Sky doesn't seem a bad option for anyone who is already shelling out for multiple services. And for those who constantly lose track of what they're paying for (myself included), this all comes as one easy-to-manage package.

Admittedly, it doesn't include the likes of Apple TV or Amazon Prime Video, but with Sky advancing its included streaming offerings now, it's not out of the question that we could see these services get added to Sky's roster down the line.

It's an ironic twist in the ongoing story of streaming services. Originally proclaimed as the answers to Sky's pricey packages, it's almost impressive how quickly the likes of Disney, Amazon and Netflix have incinerated their goodwill.

Only time will tell if the streaming landscape clears up or becomes even more convoluted.

Considering we're only a month and a half into 2026 and we already have a new service launching with four separate tiers (thanks, HBO Max), I'm betting on it being the latter. Which is why I'm all for Sky’s simple option to rein in these services a bit and put them all under one roof.

MORE:

Read our full Sky Stream review

As well as our Sky Glass Air review

And check out the best streaming services for TV and movies

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of the Sony Bravia 8 II. It did, after all, take home the TV Product of the Year gong from the most recent What Hi-Fi? Awards.

To win that prize, Sony’s flagship OLED set had to defeat not only the Samsung S95F, with which it shares its QD-OLED panel, but also the LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B, which both feature cutting-edge Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel technology.

All four of those TVs are utterly awesome, so for the Bravia to come out on top was quite the achievement.

But there was one rival that didn’t make it in time for our Awards-deciding flagship OLED shootout – the Philips OLED910.

This features the same super-bright Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel tech as the LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B, but it combines it with super-sexy European styling, a B&W sound system, dazzling Ambilight and super-aggressive pricing.

So, is all of that enough to unseat our current Award-winner? We directly compared these two flagship sets over several days, using all of our favourite discs and streams, to find out.

Spoiler alert: it’s a mighty close contest.

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Pricing

Philips went super-aggressive with the OLED910’s launch pricing, releasing it to the market for £2199 at 65 inches and £3399 at 77 inches.

Even though rival sets, including the Bravia 8 II, had been on sale a while and been discounted, the OLED910 was cheaper out of the gate.

It’s dropped in price now, too, with the 65-inch model currently available for £1799, and the 77-inch version for £2799.

The Bravia 8 II has been further discounted, too, but the 65-inch model still currently costs £2199. There’s no 77-inch version, but unlike the Philips, there is a 55 incher, which is £1799 at the time of writing.

So, in the 65-inch size in which both sets are available (and which we directly compared), there’s a big £400 price difference. That’s extremely hard to ignore, and means the OLED910 takes first blood in this face-off.

WINNER: Philips OLED910

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Design

The Sony Bravia 8 II is a smart-looking TV, but it’s barely any different in appearance to the preceding A95L, which launched back in 2023. A design refresh to match the ambitious performance upgrade would have been nice.

Still, this is a very purposeful-looking, monolithic TV that looks particularly neat when the feet are installed at their default low–profile setting, which keeps the bottom edge of the TV within about a millimetre of the surface upon which it’s placed.

Those feet can alternatively be installed in a taller setting that creates a gap of a few centimetres between TV and furniture, into which you can slot a soundbar.

The Bravia 8 II does, of course, have an integrated sound system (a good one at that), but thanks to the technology it uses, it’s completely invisible from the front, contributing further to the stylishly clean appearance of the TV.

The Philips OLED910 is a very different aesthetic proposition. The integrated sound system includes front-facing speakers, but these are incorporated into a slim bar that’s wrapped in grey Kvadrat fabric and has nicely rounded corners, giving the set a softer, more appealing appearance.

Like the Sony, the Philips OLED910 has feet rather than a pedestal, but these feet are installed further towards the centre of the bottom edge of the TV, rather than the furthest points as they are on the Bravia 8 II. In other words, while the Sony can only be placed on top of furniture that’s at least as wide as the TV, the Philips will be happy on something narrower.

And, unlike the Sony, which has a fairly uniform thickness of about 3.4cm, the Philips combines its fairly chunky 5.6cm section with super-thin panel sections at the sides and top of the chassis. To our eyes, that makes it more visually striking, but beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder.

On that note, we have to mention Ambilight here. This is Philips’s unique bias lighting system, which features coloured LEDs around four sides of the OLED910’s rear. These can dynamically extend the on-screen image onto the wall around the TV in the form of coloured light.

Ambilight isn’t for everyone and isn’t a bonus for all content, but it does look spectacular, and for bright, colourful movies and games, it can really add something special.

All told, while the Bravia 8 II’s monolithic styling will certainly appeal to many, the OLED910’s softer, more living room-friendly appearance and (at least occasionally) thrilling Ambilight mean it wins this round.

WINNER: Philips OLED910

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Features

On paper, the Sony Bravia 8 II and Philips OLED910 take notably different approaches.

The Bravia 8 II uses Samsung Display’s latest QD-OLED panel, paired with a custom heatsink and the XR processor. Sony claims this enables a 25 per cent brightness increase over the preceding A95L and a 50 per cent uplift over the Bravia 8 W-OLED, alongside improved colour volume and better dark gradation.

Philips, meanwhile, has stuck with LG Display technology but upgraded from MLA to Primary RGB Tandem OLED. Philips quotes eye-catching brightness figures of up to 3700 nits for small highlights and 350 nits full-screen – numbers that should translate into a more dynamic image than the preceding OLED909, even in restrained picture modes.

Processing is a major talking point for both sets. Sony’s XR Processor introduces a new AI scene recognition system, which analyses content in real time and adjusts picture parameters for greater realism.

Philips counters with its 9th Gen P5 AI Engine – a powerful processor packed with features including Machine Learn Sharpness, AI Smart Bit Enhancement and AI Perfect Reality, all designed to optimise sharpness, colour and contrast depending on what’s on screen.

HDR support is one area where Philips holds a clear advantage.

The OLED910 supports all four HDR formats: HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision and HDR10+. The Bravia 8 II, meanwhile, supports Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG, but, as ever with Sony, HDR10+ is not supported.

The Sony does, however, boast IMAX Enhanced certification, and leans heavily into its Studio Calibrated Modes, with dedicated Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Sony Pictures Core presets designed to present content as the creators intended.

On the subject of Sony Pictures Core, the Bravia 8 II also comes with credits that can be used to ‘buy’ movies from Sony’s exclusive streaming service, which delivers content in almost 4K Blu-ray quality.

Gaming support is broadly similar. Both TVs offer 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM and a Dolby Vision game mode, though the Philips also supports 4K/144Hz, which will appeal to hardcore PC gamers with super-serious rigs (current consoles can’t go beyond 120Hz).

Frustratingly, both sets are limited to two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which doubles as the eARC socket, potentially leaving just a single 4K/120Hz input once a soundbar is connected.

Sony adds its ‘Perfect for PlayStation 5’ features, but these are a little less grand than they sound – only the HDR Auto Tone Mapping does something beyond the capabilities of other sets, such as the OLED910, and while this is useful for getting a fairly accurate HDR performance out of most PS5 games, it isn’t quite 100 per cent accurate.

Both TVs use the Google TV smart platform, which is pretty good these days, but while Sony has sought to fill in Google TV’s terrestrial catch-up app gaps through the addition of YouView, the Philips OLED910 is missing BBC iPlayer.

We’re not going to factor the two different OLED panel technologies into the round, as it’s the actual picture performance that matters, and we’ll cover that in the next section. That leaves the two TVs fairly evenly matched on the features front: the Philips has HDR10+ and 4K/144Hz support, but the Sony has IMAX Enhanced, Sony Pictures Core, and the BBC iPlayer.

Ultimately, we’re calling this a draw, but you can call it a win for one or the other TV based on which of those feature differences matters to you.

WINNER: draw

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Picture quality

Both the Sony Bravia 8 II and Philips OLED910 deliver genuinely excellent pictures, but when viewed side by side, it becomes clear that they prioritise slightly different strengths.

The Bravia 8 II sets the benchmark for balance and effortlessness. Straight out of the box, its core presets – Dolby Vision Dark and Professional – deliver a beautifully judged image with no need for tweaking.

Peak highlights are brighter and more piercing than those of Sony’s previous OLEDs, colours are richer without exaggeration, and improvements to dark gradation reveal noticeably more shadow detail.

Crucially, all of this combines to create an image with exceptional solidity and three-dimensionality: objects have weight, people feel rounded and lifelike, and backgrounds possess genuine depth.

That sense of realism holds across all content types. HDR movies benefit from punchy highlights and immaculate tone mapping, animation bursts with colour without tipping into garishness, and even standard-definition material is upscaled with impressive cleanliness, sharpness and restraint.

Nothing ever feels forced or over-processed, and the Bravia 8 II consistently presents content in a way that feels authentic and natural.

The OLED910, by contrast, can take more work to get right, but rewards that effort with a thrilling, high-impact image.

Once switched into HDR Filmmaker Mode and properly dialled in, it delivers bright, punchy HDR with excellent sharpness, fluid motion and a strong sense of vibrancy.

OLED’s perfect blacks are paired with strong shadow detail and consistent colours in dark scenes, and motion handling is a particular highlight, striking a rare balance between smoothness and cinematic integrity. In fact, we’d go as far as to say it’s a match for the Sony in terms of motion processing – something we absolutely hadn’t anticipated.

Where the Philips falls slightly short of the Sony is in absolute accuracy and subtlety. Reds can occasionally appear a touch over-emphasised, particularly in skin tones, and while this is rarely obvious in isolation, it becomes more apparent when compared directly with the Bravia 8 II’s more natural colour handling.

In HDR10 content, the OLED910 gets impressively close to the Sony overall, but the Bravia has the edge in terms of contrast control, three-dimensionality and overall image cohesion.

Dolby Vision performance on the Philips is excellent in Filmmaker Mode, though blacks can appear slightly raised in very dark scenes – again, something that’s most noticeable next to the Sony.

SDR content, meanwhile, is significantly over-brightened in all picture modes. It looks great, with oodles of punch, but having at least one preset that tracks SDR brightness accurately would have been nice.

Ultimately, the OLED910 is a superb picture performer and one of the closest challengers to Sony’s flagship. But the Bravia 8 II remains the reference, delivering a more natural, solid and consistently cinematic image across all formats, with less effort required from the viewer.

WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Sound quality

Both the Sony Bravia 8 II and Philips OLED910 rank among the very best-sounding TVs available, but they go about their audio delivery in notably different ways – and in this case, the Philips ultimately comes out on top.

The Bravia 8 II uses Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ system, with actuators vibrating the screen itself to produce sound, supported by twin subwoofers.

This creates an unusually strong sense of cohesion between picture and sound, with voices and effects locked precisely to their on-screen positions. Dialogue is clear, detailed and warm, and there’s enough dynamic subtlety to convey emotional nuance in performances, as well as enough punch to handle larger shifts without flattening out.

Spaciousness is also impressive by TV standards. Effects stretch well beyond the edges of the screen, creating a soundstage that feels wider and more immersive than most integrated systems can manage.

Bass depth isn’t class-leading, but it’s controlled and weighty enough to underpin action scenes convincingly, without unwanted distortion or boom. Overall tonal balance is excellent, making the Bravia 8 II one of those rare TVs that doesn’t immediately demand the addition of a budget soundbar.

The OLED910, though, raises the bar further. Its Bowers & Wilkins-tuned 3.1-channel system delivers a sound that’s bigger, weightier and more room-filling than the Sony’s, with excellent width, precise effect placement and impressive dynamic range.

Dolby Atmos soundtracks are handled with confidence, producing a convincing sense of scale and height, particularly when the Entertainment mode is engaged.

Low-level detail is a real strength, with subtle background sounds and musical elements placed clearly and naturally, while dialogue remains full-bodied and expressive. Dynamics are handled with assurance, too, from quiet conversational moments to louder, more demanding sequences.

Deep bass is a touch soft, but crucially remains clean and distortion-free – and there’s much more of it from the Philips than there is from the Sony. Compared directly, the Philips sounds more powerful, more immersive and more expansive than the Sony.

While both TVs will still benefit from the addition of a dedicated sound system, the OLED910 noses ahead if you’re determined not to go down that route. If you are prepared to add discrete sound, you need to be looking at something on the level of a Sonos Arc Ultra before you’ll hear a clearly worthwhile improvement on either TV.

In short, the Bravia 8 II delivers excellent, finely balanced sound with superb picture-to-audio cohesion, but the OLED910 sets a new benchmark for built-in TV audio at this level, edging ahead as the best-sounding TV of the two.

WINNER: Philips OLED910

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Verdict

This is one of the closest TV head-to-head battles we’ve seen in some time, and the fact that the Philips OLED910 gets so close to the Sony Bravia 8 II is a huge achievement – particularly given its lower price, more adventurous design and genuinely outstanding built-in sound.

The OLED910 wins convincingly on value, and edges the Sony on design flair and audio performance. It also delivers a thrilling, high-impact picture once properly set up.

If you want a premium OLED that looks and sounds spectacular, and you’re keen to avoid adding a separate sound system, the Philips makes a hugely compelling case.

But picture quality remains the deciding factor – and here, the Bravia 8 II still stands apart.

Its image is more natural, more consistent and more three-dimensional across all formats, with none of the small compromises that occasionally creep into the Philips’s delivery.

Just as importantly, it achieves this with less effort from the user, delivering reference-level results straight out of the box.

That combination of accuracy, balance and cinematic realism is why the Bravia 8 II earned its Product of the Year crown – and why it keeps it here.

The OLED910 pushes it harder than almost any rival we’ve tested, but when it comes to the overall best TV you can buy right now, Sony’s flagship remains the one to beat.

OVERALL WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Somehow, we are almost a month into the new year. And, although the concept of time passing could make us crawl into a little ball, we are choosing to see the bright side of things. After all, a new year means new test discs to have in our test rooms!

Whether that's revisiting familiar films or experimenting with fresh entries, there are plenty of exciting movies and TV shows that are more than capable of putting home cinema systems through their paces.

In our first 2026 edition of the monthly Now Showing column, we take a look at what discs have already been challenging a range of systems as well as which ones we can't wait to get our hands on. Let's dig in...

Bladerunner 2049 (2017)

As a huge fan of Blade Runner (1982), directed by the legendary Ridley Scott, I had high expectations for its sequel, but seeing as it had been 35 years since the original’s release, I was concerned it would wind up being a carbon copy. Fortunately, my concerns were completely unfounded because Blade Runner 2049 (2017) is a superb sci-fi film in its own right.

It’s paced differently to the original, but just as thought-provoking. The wonderfully gritty neo-noir feel of the original also remains, aided by the dank yet neon backdrop of Los Angeles in the year 2049. The film won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects, and BAFTAs in basically the same categories (one BAFTA was for Best Special Visual Effects), which should give you an idea of just how good it looks visually and how those visuals enhance the storytelling.

When I first watched the film, Ryan Gosling’s performance was also surprising for all the right reasons. Prior to Blade Runner 2049, I hadn’t seen him in a role like this, but he’s absolutely brilliant as the ‘blade runner’ K. Any WWE or Guardians of the Galaxy fans will know who Dave Bautista is and his cameo, which I won’t spoil, also results in one of the best scenes in the film.

But despite my adulation for this classic, I’ve not actually seen it since its 2017 cinema release. So, it’s about time I fixed that and the best way to do so is to get it into our testing rooms, where I can fall in love with it all over again.

Words by James Cook

Buy Blade Runner 2049 on 4K Blu-ray

Stream Blade Runner 2049 on Apple TV

28 Years Later (2025)

Last year, I was particularly enamoured with Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later, the long-awaited sequel to 28 Days Later, which in my mind is one of the most iconic zombie films in recent history.

The film continues the story of the first film, chronicling the fate of a family of survivors 28 years after a virus that turns people into zombies ravaged the UK.

Why am I putting it on this list again when I already penned an ode to its expert use of surround sound in a previous Now Showing column?

Because this month, with its sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, set to come out, I wanted to rewatch it.

Despite being directed by Nia DaCosta, not Boyle, The Bone Temple is a direct continuation of the story that was shot back-to-back with its predecessor, so I really want every single detail of 28 Years Later fresh in my mind right now.

The difference this time around, though, is that I saw 28 Years Later from the comfort of my own home, rather than the edge of my Picturehouse Central cinema seat. And boy, was it night and day a different experience.

My JBL Bar 1300 Dolby Atmos soundbar system performed well, but didn’t quite bring the same “oomph” as the cinema’s setup, and the image projected from the Hisense PX3 I used wasn’t as big. Sure, it’s still a stellar film, and I liked the experience, but it just didn’t feel as epic and immersive.

This reminded me why, as a film aficionado, I always endeavour to see the movies I care about on the big screen, before streaming them in my lounge.

Being at the cinema just hits different, with the extra screen real estate, (hopefully) more powerful sound, and shared experience just making it more fun.

One of the biggest frights I got at the cinema was the “enthused” reaction given by the person next to me when a now-famous, well-endowed zombie first appeared on screen. You can’t replicate those moments at home watching alone.

Which is why, despite taking a lot of pride in my home setup, I’ve already booked my ticket to see The Bone Temple properly at the cinema.

Here’s hoping it’s good enough that I’m here reporting how much I loved the experience in our next Now Showing column…

Words by Alastair Stevenson

Buy 28 Years Later on 4K Blu-ray at HMV

Stream 28 Years Later on Amazon Prime Video

Logan (2017)

I've been feeling pretty disillusioned by the state of the superhero genre for the last few years. While there have been a few standouts, namely Amazon Prime's Invincible and the surprisingly fun Thunderbolts from Marvel, not many have managed to capture my imagination.

So, when I decided to dig out Logan from our huge collection of test discs, I was reminded of what the genre can be. For the uninitiated, the film follows Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, but his glory days as part of the X-Men team are far behind him. With his health failing, the dying hero finds himself begrudgingly protecting a young Mutant, played brilliantly by Dafne Keen, who shares his powers.

To match this rather unorthodox take on the character, Logan employs a dark, gritty colour palette that challenges even the brightest TVs and projectors to capture the detail in those dark scenes.

It's still got plenty of nail-biting action scenes in true superhero fashion, of course, with Wolverine's silver claws tearing through countless baddies. The dynamic camera work in scenes like this challenges the motion handling of a system, as it must appear slick but not overly smooth.

Apart from being a great test disc, the emotive plotline and unique portrayal of a superhero make it stand out as one of the best in the genre for me.

Words by Robyn Quick

Buy Logan on 4K Blu-ray at HMV

Stream Logan on Disney+

The Studio (2025 –)

First, an apology to my colleague, What Hi-Fi? Senior Staff Writer Lewis Empson. He told me this Apple TV series was brilliant months ago, and I completely ignored him.

Actually, that’s not true. What I did is put it on my never-ending list of ‘stuff wot I might watch one day’, and promptly forgot about it.

Until, that is, a couple of weeks ago, when the stars aligned, I scrolled deep enough into my list to come across it again, and my wife and I were both in the mood to give it a go.

Well, Lewis was right: The Studio is absolutely brilliant. Each episode is a meticulously crafted 30-min slice of Hollywood insider heaven.

It tells the story of Matt Remick (played by Seth Rogen, who’s also listed as one of the show’s creators, writers and directors), a movie exec who’s suddenly promoted to studio head and quickly finds there’s room for neither his passion for movies nor moral integrity at the top of the Hollywood tree.

There’s enough reverence for movie-making to satisfy any cinephile, but the show also tears into the utter ridiculousness and excess of an industry that spends billions on franchise dross but won’t greenlight even the most interesting-sounding indie nugget.

There’s cringe, slapstick, puerile humour, and the most extraordinary cameos imaginable (the Martin Scorsese opening episode is incredible), yet there’s also drama, commentary, pin-sharp satire and a pure love for cinema. And, somehow, none of this jars – these seemingly juxtaposed parts all blend into something whole and unique.

It looks utterly gorgeous, too, partly because of Apple TV’s higher-than-typical bitrate and glossy production values, but also because of the varied and ambitious filming techniques that are used, often as an illustration of or companion to the theme of the specific episode.

Words by Tom Parsons

Stream The Studio on Apple TV

Fallout: Season 2

The bleak, bizarre and often baffling world of Fallout is back for a second season on Amazon Prime Video, and I’ve been waiting for this show to return ever since I finished the excellent first season back in 2024.

The dystopian action comedy series starring Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins and Kyle MacLachlan is darkly witty and gruesomely gory, and it's one of the very, very few video game adaptations I will actually endorse watching. This is mostly because it actually reflects the source material well, especially in its erratic, non-linear pacing, which often sees the characters whisked away on side quests while trying to complete the main objective.

Anyone that's played the Fallout games will resonate with this greatly. Speaking of the games, this second series takes inspiration from the best of the bunch: Fallout: New Vegas. Lucy and The Ghoul’s mission is to make it to the dilapidated, post-nuclear war version of Sin City, which will undoubtedly be filled to the brim with danger and rogues.

As of now, five of the eight episodes from season two are available to stream in 4K, with Dolby Vision HDR or HDR10+ supported depending on your TV, projector, or mobile device. Dolby Atmos audio is also available, which is ideal when bullets start flying.

It’s not ideal for family viewing, especially when limbs are liberated from their respective bodies by high-powered weapons, but the action and dark comedy blend wonderfully, and it’s certain to appease sceptical Fallout fans who thought an adaptation would never work.

Words by Lewis Empson

Stream Fallout: Series 2 on Amazon Prime Video

Whether it's the first battered CD you bought or a 4K Blu-ray of your favourite movie, there’s nothing quite like being able to hold your favourite content in your hands. In the world of home cinema, however, the huge rise of streaming services is making that more of a rarity for an increasing number of us.

While subscribing to streaming platforms can save a bit of money compared with buying a physical copy of what you want to watch, there are several drawbacks.

For starters, 4K Blu-rays offer better overall audio and picture quality due to their higher bitrates and lower compression compared with streaming.

But there’s an equally worrying concern that comes with streaming that only highlights the importance of physical media right now: the ability for your favourite content to disappear in the blink of an eye. And that's been shown perfectly by Netflix's latest decision.

According to What’s On Netflix, the streaming service will be removing a whole host of its original content from the platform. That includes two classic animated TV shows, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts. Both are well loved by audiences, with the former receiving 100 per cent on the Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer for multiple seasons.

The British black comedy show The End of the F...ing World will also be removed from the site. It’s still available (free) on Channel 4 for UK users, but for those in the US you will have to buy individual episodes on Apple TV or Amazon Prime Video.

Of course, there's a strong probability that many of the shows will be passed around to other streamers, but the issue remains that many of these entries are without 4K Blu-ray, or even DVD, releases.

It's also quite a faff having to switch between different streaming services to access your favourite content, especially when there's no physical alternative. On top of that, there are so many platforms on the market, and having a subscription to multiple services can really rack up the cost.

When I find a show or film that really speaks to me, I try to make the effort to buy it in physical form so I know I can watch it at any time, no matter the decisions of studios and streaming services.

And, with talk of Netflix buying Warner Bros possibly further limiting what the streaming service releases on 4K Blu-ray, the importance of physical media has never been clearer.

We can only hope that streaming platforms see this, too.

MORE:

Are 4K Blu-ray discs better quality than streaming?

Here's our review of Apple TV 4K

These are the best scenes to test your Dolby Atmos sound system

As we near the end of 2025, I can conclusively say that this year has been a bit of a strange one for streaming services.

Even as we enter the final weeks of the year, we're hearing news regarding the official UK launch of HBO Max, and it appears that Netflix is poised to acquire Warner Bros.

The biggest streaming surprise of 2025 for us, however, came from our very own Awards judging process. We took stock of our favourite streaming services.

After a year of middling content, price increases, and, most crucially, 4K HDR streaming issues, we decided that Disney+ shouldn't take home the Award for "Best video streaming service".

Instead, Apple TV snatched the Award, and for good reason, too. We don't give out a "most improved" Award, but if we did, Apple TV would be a shoo-in, thanks to its much broader library of high-quality content compared to when it launched back in 2019.

I've dabbled in Apple TV (formerly Apple TV+) over the years, watching the likes of The Morning Show, Slow Horses and Silo. However, there's still a lot that I was curious to catch up on, including Shrinking (see our latest edition of Now Showing for my thoughts) and Severance (which I admit I'm yet to watch).

There's also been a new crop of shows for 2025, including The Studio and, most recently, Pluribus; both of which are stellar.

So, with all of this in mind, I decided the slash my Netflix Premium subscription back down to the basic advertisement-inclusive tier that's included with my Sky Stream package.

And I'm happy to report that I don't regret my decision in the slightest.

Truthfully, I've been wary of Netflix's middling content library for quite some time, and locking 4K HDR behind the top tier (which has risen to an astronomical £18.99 per month here in the UK) is a frustrating trend that is sweeping the world of streaming. We have Netflix to thank for that.

Regardless, I'd like to get back to what's making Apple TV my streaming weapon of choice.

The quality of the content on Apple TV seems to be a cut above, probably thanks to the fact that each show has a considerable budget behind it. Selling a boatload of iPhones, iPads and AirPods each year will, of course, allow Apple to boost the budgets of its original programming; however, it's nice to see the company invest that into making high-quality productions.

Everything looks and sounds superbly slick on Apple TV, and with 4K, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos included as standard at a fraction of Netflix's asking price for Premium, I can easily forgive the lack of third-party content.

Better yet, the writers, directors and talent that Apple TV attracts are second to none. Take The Studio, for example, which includes an onslaught of A-listers, all of whom shine in their respective roles.

I deemed The Studio to be "one of the best TV shows I've watched in years" during one of our regular What Hi-Fi? Team AV discussions where we discuss what we're currently watching, and I stand by that assessment. Conversely, it's been quite a while since I've felt anything near that for a Netflix Original show.

I've also been pleasantly surprised by the range of content that Apple offers. It's diversified its offerings since launch, meaning there is now a solid range of non-scripted shows and movies. I've just started to tuck into Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars, which is a treat for foodies.

Apple is also leveraging its platforms to involve huge musicians such as Billie Eilish, Mark Ronson and Bruce Springsteen for documentaries and recordings of live performances.

It's been one of the more overlooked services compared to the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, but I think it's time to change that.

Apple has been working away in the background to expand its content offerings, and in doing so, it's quietly become the best streaming service for your money.

Sure, the services I mentioned above have swathes of third-party content, but as someone who values quality over quantity, I have no qualms about making Apple TV my number one streamer.

Netflix remains on my roster, and I'm sure there are some hidden gems that I'm yet to watch, but it's no longer at the top of my list.

MORE:

Read our full Apple TV review

As well as our picks for the best streaming services for movies and TV shows

As well as the best OLED TVs

German brand Metz has launched a 24-inch “portable, rechargeable smart streaming TV” – the 24MPE7002Z – all with an affordable price tag.

The company claims the lightweight Full HD TV is easy to take on the go for the holidays or as a second screen in the home.

Google TV acts as the TV’s smart platform with access to a variety of streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Disney+. There’s no availability for live terrestrial TV channels or related on-demand content, though.

In terms of sound, there are two front-firing 6W speakers which feature Dolby Digital Plus audio and deliver “exceptional performance”.

There’s a rechargeable battery as well, which Metz claims can deliver more than three hours of uninterrupted viewing on one charge..

Metz further claims that thanks to an anti-glare matte LED screen, the TV can be “placed almost anywhere”, including outdoors. It weighs just 4kg and features an integrated carry handle, so it’s easy to move around when you need.

The 24MPE7002Z is priced at just £299 (around $400 / AU$600), and is available now in the UK. And, with its easy-to-carry design and affordable price tag, this model could be a worthy alternative to a portable projector if you want to save some cash.

Of course, a projector screen can go significantly larger than Metz’s 24-inch model, with the vast majority of portable projectors reaching at least 150 inches.

But they will set you back much more than the price of this Metz model. Take the Xgimi MoGo 4, which we rated four stars when we had it in our test room, which comes in £509 / $499 (around AU$1022). So, for those looking for a way to take movies on the go without breaking the bank, this new Metz TV could prove tempting.

We haven’t had the 24MPE7002Z in our test room yet, however, so we don’t know how it performs. But the reigning champ in our best cheap TVs guide for the 24-inch category, the RCA Roku TV, may prove to be tough competition. This model costs £136 (around $180 / AU$275), making it even cheaper than Metz's offering.

It impressed during testing with its "bright, crisp picture" quality as well as comprehensive streaming smarts for the price. That resulted in a four-star rating overall, and could give the 24MPE7002Z a run for its money.

MORE:

Here's our review of the RCA Roku TV

Check out the best cheap TVs

And these are the best outdoor projectors right now

Owning a complete home cinema system is the stuff of dreams, isn't it?

But did you realise you could buy such a thing for a little over £500 this Black Friday?

• Check out all of the Black Friday deals at Amazon
• Richer Sounds Black Friday event
• Sevenoaks Black Friday deals
• Peter Tyson: Black Friday event

Well, it's true! By combining two amazing Black Friday deals – on five-star components, no less – I've built a system that includes a 4K Mini LED TV and a complete Dolby Atmos soundbar system for just £538.

The system

• TCL 50C6KS Mini LED TV: £349 at Amazon
• Hisense AX5125H Dolby Atmos soundbar system: £189 at Amazon
• Total cost: £538

The TV

The TCL 50C6KS is our favourite budget 50-inch TV – and it has the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 gong to prove it.

What really wins you over is the picture: deep, inky blacks – rare on a sub-£500 TV – combined with really strong brightness and vivid, convincing colours thanks to its Mini LED backlight and Quantum Dot panel.

Shadows look rich, HDR highlights pop nicely, and there’s a surprisingly good amount of detail even in dark or complex scenes.

On top of that, it supports the full spread of HDR formats – HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, HLG – so you can access all of your content in the highest possible quality.

Google TV is built in, so all of the big, global services (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, etc.) are ready to go, and TCL has gone out of its way to add all of the UK's main catch-up apps, including BBC iPlayer.

Not that you'll need it, but the built-in sound also over-delivers for the money: surprisingly detailed, decently spacious and with Dolby Atmos support – more than you’d expect at this price.

Sure, it isn’t perfect: the screen is 60 Hz only, so it can't handle 4K/120Hz gaming (though the gaming experience is otherwise very good, it has to be said).

Motion is also a little soft, and on rare, extremely bright highlights, there’s a little clipping or slightly blatant dimming-zone transitions.

But honestly, those felt like tiny trade-offs at the full price of £419, let alone the Black Friday price of £349 at Amazon.

The Dolby Atmos soundbar system

You no longer have to spend a fortune and mix-and-match lots of different components to get a full home cinema system. Instead, you can get it all in one box, and for less than £200.

The one-box system I'm referring to is the Dolby Atmos-friendly Hisense AX5125H.

This isn't just a soundbar, but a full 5.1.2-channel system that includes a soundbar, a wireless subwoofer and two wireless surround speakers.

The result isn’t just louder than your TV’s built-in speakers, it’s genuinely cinematic: Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks come alive with solid impact, plenty of bass and a sense of space that makes films and shows far more immersive. Importantly, voices remain clear, even during heavy-duty scenes.

For the money, this is simply the most complete surround sound setup you’ll find.

Setup is refreshingly simple: HDMI eARC gets you going in minutes, no fuss. The hardware feels solid, and though the design is no flashy showpiece, it’s compact enough to sit naturally below most TVs (including the TCL C6KS) and doesn’t look toy-ish.

Sure, there are some limitations. The sub can get a little over-enthusiastic now and then, which in the busiest action scenes can make bass slightly boomy and even muddy dialogue a little. And while the package is excellent for movies, for stereo music or nuanced sound-mixes, it doesn’t quite reach high-end levels.

Again, though, those were minor issues at the original price of £249, so they really pale into insignificance with this £60 discount.

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• Stereo amplifier: Cambridge Audio now £299
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

In the last few years, we have seen the coffee table projector market skyrocket.

The appeal is obvious: these models can deliver huge cinematic thrills in your living room, but can also be tucked away in a cupboard when not in use.

With smart platforms and speakers built in, they're essentially complete home cinemas in neat little boxes.

Here, we have two of the latest and greatest 4K models side-by-side for direct comparison.

The Epson EF-72 is one of the most stylish models we've seen, and is designed to provide “flexible and immersive entertainment that’s ideal for any space”, according to the company.

The Hisense M2 Pro is perhaps sporting a more divisive design, but it's smaller than the Epson and is, says Hisense, capable of delivering "depth and nuance like no other".

Those are bold statements from both competitors, but how do they actually perform? We've tested both models side by side in our dedicated AV test room, so we can tell you which one comes out on top. Let's get cracking...

Epson EF-72 vs Hisense M2 Pro: price

The Hisense M2 Pro launched for £1299 / $1299 / AU$2495, but it's now widely available for a much lower £949 / $1000 / AU$1595.

The Epson EF-72, on the other hand, launched for the lower price of £1150 / $1000 (it's not available in Australia) but hasn't been discounted quite as heavily. Current pricing is £999 / $950.

That places both of the projectors firmly in the premium coffee table projector market, so they come with high expectations.

Given that the Hisense is the slightly more affordable projector in the UK and the Epson is marginally cheaper in the US, we're calling this round a draw.

**Winner: Draw**

Epson EF-72 vs Hisense M2 Pro: design

Epson's projector really stands out from the crowd, leaning into the lifestyle element of the category.

Sporting a sturdy stand and base, the projector has a trendy Scandinavian feel, with a wooden top and cloth fabric wrapped around the body.

The underside features funky coloured lighting, with users able to select a range of different ambient light modes by pressing their hands to the top – nice if you don't want to watch movies in pitch blackness or are using the projector as a Bluetooth speaker or simple mood light.

You can tilt the EF-72 upwards 90 degrees and downwards by 15 degrees, so you can display content on the ceiling, floor or at an angle.

The Hisense M2 Pro takes a different approach, offering a design not unlike something out of a sci-fi movie. Its silver cube-shaped body is supported by a flat base that can be tilted a full 360 degrees.

You can also mount this model on the wall or ceiling, or use the base to position it on a table.

With the Hisense weighing in at 3.9kg and the Epson at 4kg (about the same as a bowling ball), both models are relatively light and easy to move around. It's worth noting, though, that neither projector has a built-in battery, so they can't be considered fully portable.

The M2 Pro's remote has a premium feel with a sleek finish, a responsive D-pad and various streaming shortcuts. The Epson's black remote is more plain and plasticky, but it's perfectly usable and has a similar layout to that of the Hisense.

The Epson has a throw ratio of 1.20:1, whereas the Hisense offers 1.0 to 1.3 via the flexible zoom feature. This means you can get a larger image from a shorter distance.

Despite the Hisense's more flexible throw ratio options, the Epson takes the crown this time for its luxurious feel and unique design.

**Winner: Epson EF-72**

Epson EF-72 vs Hisense M2 Pro: features

So what features do these projectors offer?

First off, both the Hisense and Epson models feature Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as a USB port. The two projectors also have a single HDMI input that doubles as an eARC connection.

While both projectors are presented as 4K models, neither has a native 4K resolution. Instead, both employ pixel shifting technology to deliver a 4K effect.

This is entirely expected at this level, and pixel shifting is capable of delivering excellent results when used effectively.

The Epson and the Hisense models both support HLG and HDR10, but the M2 Pro goes beyond this to include HDR10+ and Dolby Vision.

Both the EF-72 and M2 Pro have built-in smart platforms: the former features Google TV, while the latter has Hisense's own VIDAA system.

In each case, you get access to the apps of the biggest streaming services, including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV, but the Hisense also offers the BBC iPlayer app in the UK, whereas the Epson does not.

Neither of the projectors supports Dolby Atmos but the Hisense does support DTS Virtual X, which the brand says delivers "distortion-free, immersive sound".

In terms of screen size, Epson claims the EF-72 can go up to 150 inches whereas the Hisense model can supposedly reach up to 200 inches. It claims to go brighter as well, quoting 1300 lumens of brightness, where the Epson can offer up to 1000 lumens.

The Hisense's more advanced HDR support and brightness levels pip the Epson to the post here.

**Winner: Hisense M2 Pro**

Epson EF-72 vs Hisense M2 Pro: picture quality

Now for the main attraction.

The Epson offers a perfectly likeable, colourful picture that is easy to live with.

When watching Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, we say: "The colours with this disc look pleasingly punchy and warm, while still being nicely balanced. Flaming torches held by the apes look fierce and vivid against the dark background, and the green of the leaves in the forest later on appears earthy and natural."

Its motion handling is smooth and, for the most part, still maintains the sense of natural movement, making for distraction-free viewing.

But the Hisense M2 Pro simply offers a crisper, punchier image that the Epson cannot match.

The contrast is excellently controlled and, when watching Civil War, we find that "tracer bullets across the night sky look fantastic, retaining a precisely controlled burn".

In terms of motion handling, the Hisense also matches the Epson by offering a smooth but authentic sense of movement.

The Hisense model delivers impressive black levels, too, and without crushing shadow detail.

It's this combination of deeper blacks and brighter highlights that ultimately gives the Hisense M2 Pro the win in this round.

As pleasant as the Epson EF-72 is, it's hard to escape the feeling that it's playing things a little safe. There's nothing strictly wrong with that, but the Hisense adds dynamism without adding any obvious deficiencies, so it's all gain with no pain.

**Winner: Hisense M2 Pro**

Epson EF-72 vs Hisense M2 Pro: sound

Neither the Hisense nor the Epson deliver jaw-dropping audio quality, but we frankly wouldn't really expect them to.

Epson once again plays things a bit safe, with the EF-72's single 10W speaker delivering a "rather flat and uninteresting" sound, despite the 'Sound by Bose' label.

It does manage to portray voices well by keeping them warm and balanced, all with a reasonable amount of bass to portray the emotion of each scene. But the sound remains quite localised and struggles to create much of a sense of immersion.

The Hisense M2 Pro's two 10W speakers, meanwhile, offer reasonable separation between dialogue and background noise, and provide some sense of directionality.

But its low end is a little too weak and it can suffer from sibilance and distortion during more demanding scenes.

While the Hisense offers a better overall sound than the Epson, neither can deliver movie soundtracks with anything like the scale necessary to do justice to the epic images, so in both cases, we recommend adding a dedicated sound system.

**Winner: Hisense M2 Pro**

Epson EF-72 vs Hisense M2 Pro: verdict

There's a lot to like about the Epson EF-72. With its charming living room-friendly design and warm, cinematic picture, it is a welcome addition to the coffee table projector category.

But the Hisense M2 Pro trumps it in terms of image quality, most significantly by delivering brighter highlights and deeper blacks, resulting in a punchier and more solid-looking picture.

Add the better sound quality and slightly lower price (in the UK at least), and you have a fairly straightforward decision.

**Overall winner: Hisense M2 Pro**

MORE:

Here's our full reviews of the Epson EF-72 and Hisense M2 Pro

Check out the best projectors right now

Sony’s smartphone division has soldiered on for yet another year, and considering we’ve been huge advocates for its Xperia 1 series for many years running, we’re pleased to see it endure amongst its much more popular peers from the likes of Samsung, Apple and Google.

Popularity isn’t everything, and there’s something to be said for Sony’s niche focus on delivering a top-notch portable AV experience. As you can imagine, that’s a stance that resonates with us massively.

Picture and sound performance remain at the forefront of Sony’s mission, and while the company’s resolve has softened somewhat in the pursuit of public approval, the Xperia 1 VII – which we have in for review today – seems to continue that spirit.

With that in mind, does Sony achieve its brief in delivering another smartphone that doubles up as a pocket-sized home cinema and a hi-fi quality portable music player?

Price

The Xperia 1 VII is officially available for £1399 here in the UK. Sony fans in the US and Australia will know that it doesn’t offer its smartphone range in either region, and the 1 VII is no exception.

Sony’s main competitor at this level is the Award-winning Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which is tough competition indeed. It’s unquestionably the more mainstream option, and while it launched at £1249 / $1300 / AU$2199, it can frequently be found for less now that it’s been on the market for almost a year.

There is also the iPhone 17 Pro Max (£1199 / $1199 / AU$2199) to be aware of. We haven’t tested it yet, but the standard iPhone 17 has just scooped up an Award, and its predecessor, the iPhone 16 Pro, scored top marks in our full review, so we’re willing to bet it offers a competitive AV experience.

Build

Sony’s latest flagship mobile doesn’t look miles apart from its predecessor, but that doesn’t really concern us, as it still looks rather smart.

It features the same textured glass back and etched aluminium frame as its predecessor, albeit a bit more refined with smoother bevelled edges, and the rear glass sits flush with the frame.

This results in a much smoother and more comfortable phone to hold. In comparison, the Xperia 1 VI feels a bit sharp in the hand.

The ridged sides of the handset feature numerous interruptions in the form of a volume rocker, a combination power/lock button with an integrated fingerprint sensor, a dedicated camera shortcut and shutter button, a combination SIM and Micro SD card tray (which can be removed without the need for a SIM ejector pin tool), and – you guessed it – a 3.5mm headphone jack.

On the front of the 1 VII, you’ll find a 6.5-inch OLED display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. We still miss the 21:9 aspect ratio of the Xperias of old, but we can’t deny that the more mainstream aspect ratio (which can also be found on the Galaxy S25 Ultra) has its practical benefits when it comes to usability and app compatibility.

The display features fairly slender bezels on the sides, and slightly chunkier ones at the top and bottom, though there is a valid audio-related reason for that, which we’ll come to later.

We think the handset looks very sleek in the Slate Black finish we have, though it's also available in Moss Green and Orchid Purple for anyone who wants to add a (fairly subdued) pop of colour.

Features

If we’re being brutally honest, Sony’s smartphones have always excelled at things we’re most interested in when it comes to features, but they lag behind the cutting-edge mainstream handsets on the market when it comes to a lot of creature comforts.

We’ll start with the glorious 6.5-inch OLED display, which has reportedly been tuned by Sony’s Bravia television department. Sony is supposedly harnessing the power of AI picture processing to boost some of the key picture components, such as colour, contrast, texture and three dimensionality.

The one disappointment, however, is that the display’s resolution is 1080 x 2340 – otherwise known as Full HD+.

In a display this size, we find that this resolution is technically enough, as the pixel density is suitably high at 396ppi. However, considering the price (and the competition), we think that Sony should really be offering a Quad HD display – especially considering it wasn’t that long ago that it was shipping smartphones with full-blown 4K displays.

Nevertheless, this screen features a dynamic refresh rate up to 120Hz, and it’s 20 per cent brighter than its predecessor. In fact, Sony says that this is the brightest display in any Xperia smartphone to date, though it hasn’t shared any specific figures regarding nits.

This has been paired with a new sensor on the rear of the handset, which detects the ambient lighting conditions and adapts the phone’s display to suit.

There is also a considerable amount of customisation that you can apply to the phone’s display. There is the option to leave the phone in its ‘recommended’ setting, which will optimise the display for “smartphone use and displayed content”.

This sounds a tad vague to us, but it seems as though Sony is implying that the phone will use the best picture settings for what it’s displaying.

In its custom settings, we can switch between the Bravia-tuned standard mode, which emphasises “high-quality textures” and “vibrant colours” – or Sony’s creator mode, which is akin to the Filmmaker Mode on a TV.

This goes for a more accurate picture presentation, which will appeal more to purists who wish to see content in the way that the creator intended.

Interestingly, there is an option to only apply creator mode in specific apps, meaning you can enjoy the crisper standard mode for day-to-day use, and automatically switch to the creator mode for a more cinematically authentic movie experience.

To us, that seems to fulfil the same role as the previous recommended preset, albeit with a bit more granularity in which apps default to your preferred screen mode.

Sony has also included two video enhancement features in the form of real-time HDR, which adapts HDR video to your viewing environment, and video image enhancement, which appears to be an upscaling mode that adds additional sharpness.

While we’d usually steer clear, Sony’s implementation of the latter is fairly effective at adding a bit more pop and sharpness to the picture.

Disappointingly, while the display supports HDR, it doesn’t support either of the Dolby Vision or HDR10+ formats we see on the iPhone 17 or Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, respectively.

On the audio side, Sony has called in more backup from one of its subsidiaries, as its Walkman brand – which is responsible for countless portable music players – has reportedly played a key role in upgrading the 3.5mm headphone jack.

It has been constructed with high-quality solder containing gold to "enhance the reproduction of subtle sounds" and "improve the soundstage and directional accuracy".

This has been paired with a new high-performance audio integrated circuit to greatly enhance the wired listening experience. We must, of course, give Sony kudos for continuing to offer a headphone jack on its smartphones while others have moved on.

Those who have invested in a pair of the best wireless headphones, meanwhile, will be pleased to hear that the Xperia 1 VII features Bluetooth 6.0, with support for the AAC, SBC, and LE codecs. AuraCast is featured too.

Hi-res wireless audio is also supported via LDAC, and as this phone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor (backed up by 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage), it also features the aptX Adaptive codec.

Dolby Atmos and Sony’s 360 Reality Audio are also on board for supported streaming services. And for those who like to play media out loud, the Xperia 1 VII sports a set of stereo front-firing full-stage speakers, which Sony says sound “even more realistic” this year.

With that exhaustive list of AV features out of the way, we can now review the remaining specifications of the smartphone.

It runs Android 16, which is the latest version of Google’s operating system, albeit with a fairly barebones Sony skin running over the top. Sony’s take on Android can feel frustratingly limited at times, as there are missing native features, such as a dedicated photos app (it uses Google Photos instead) or a weather widget.

That being said, it does feature support for the latest Google AI features, including the Gemini Assistant, generative photo editing, and circle to search. We also can’t fault the performance, as the handset flies throughout the operating system for day-to-day tasks.

Another of Sony’s divisions, Alpha, has been consulted for the camera.

It consists of a 52MP main lens (which uses Sony’s Exmor T sensor), a telephoto lens with a true optical zoom from 85 to 170mm, and a new 16mm focal length ultra wide camera, which utilises a 50MP sensor and pixel binning to capture detailed 12MP images. The sensor is 2.1 times larger than the previous model, which means it will perform better in low-light conditions, according to Sony.

Paired with Sony’s comprehensive camera app and dedicated shutter button (which can be half-pressed to establish focus), the Xperia 1 VII provides an excellent, if slightly overwhelming, photography experience. That being said, we find it relatively easy to grab some eye-catching snaps when we use the basic shooting mode.

Rounding things out with the 5000mAh battery, the Xperia makes light work of heavy usage over a day, and it can even soldier on through a couple of days, provided you’re not pushing the phone to its limits for extended periods.

Picture

Sony’s smartphones have enjoyed a remarkably consistent streak when it comes to picture quality in our reviews. In previous years, they’ve sported 4K displays with cinematically-appropriate aspect ratios, but that all changed last year.

We deemed the Xperia 1 VI to be a solid choice for on-the-move cinephiles, albeit not to quite the same extent as its predecessors. That statement rings true for this year’s model, too, but there is now the added pressure of some extremely talented competition.

We test the Xperia 1 VII in both of its picture modes, and we end up leaning towards the Bravia-tuned standard setting, as it adds a touch of punch while remaining very balanced. The creator mode will be the preferred choice for purists, but it feels a touch washed out in comparison.

We start with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Part One) on Netflix, and the results are immediately impressive. As we mentioned, colours feature a solid balance of punch and richness without looking overbearing or unnaturally vibrant. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S25 appears to lack some finesse here, with slightly too much red in skin tones.

Sony’s usual proficiency for delivering a solid, contrast-rich picture is clearly evident with the 1 VII. There’s an impressively convincing three-dimensional effect to the display.

Switching to Blade Runner 2049 (also on Netflix), we find that the tower featured in the opening overhead shot stands out against the background nicely with a good sense of depth, and there is a general sense of solidity and three-dimensionality to the image that helps to enhance immersion, which is easier said than done on a smartphone display.

Moving over to Civil War on Amazon Prime Video, the Sony remains staunchly natural, and motion is solid as fighter jets and helicopters soar overhead during the build-up to the climactic final battle.

As the sequence progresses towards a besieged Washington, DC at night, we find that the Sony retains an impressive level of detail in shadowy scenes, too.

While we affirm that the Sony’s picture is generally impressive, though, it is outshone by the Samsung Galaxy 25 Ultra in a few ways.

We appreciate the Samsung’s higher resolution screen when we place the two handsets side-by-side, as everything looks noticeably crisper and more detailed.

Sticking with Civil War, we find that the outline of a helicopter swooping over a lake, and the dense foliage featured throughout the sequence, both appear cleaner and sharper on the Samsung, and the enhanced brightness adds intensity to the flames as the photojournalists drive through a forest fire at night.

The Samsung even delivers most of what the Sony can muster when it comes to the solidity and three-dimensional depth of the image, which, combined with the rest of the improvements to detail and brightness, makes it the better handset of the two when it comes to picture performance.

Sound

While the Xperia 1 VII can be beaten when it comes to its picture, we find that sound is a whole different story. Put simply, the Sony delivers a headphone experience that will delight anyone who wants a smartphone that doubles as a talented portable music player.

Plugging a pair of wired cans directly into the phone via the 3.5mm headphone jack and loading up Tidal, we’re rewarded with a detailed, dynamic and engaging performance that highlights the Samsung’s relative shortcomings in the process.

The opening piano chords to Taylor Swift’s The One are presented with a solid, weighty presence, and they’re soon joined by a rich and rhythmic acoustic guitar. The Sony allows each instrument to shine by revealing plenty of detail and giving each aspect of the track plenty of space, all the while ensuring it remains cohesive and well organised.

And while the phone provides a clean and revealing sound, it manages to balance everything with a sense of warmth and dynamism, which means it doesn’t come across as too analytical. Swift’s vocals are conveyed with a richness and clarity that picks up oodles of emotion, and timing is kept pin-sharp throughout.

Switching to Kiss The Ring from Hans Zimmer’s Dune: Part Two soundtrack, we find that the Sony is capable of delivering huge scale and weighty bass, all while retaining balance and composure.

We’re similarly impressed with the full-stage front-firing speakers, and while we generally don't recommend playing music out loud from your phone, they’re more than good enough in a pinch for watching a TV show or even some light movie viewing.

Returning to Mission: Impossible, we find that the speakers deliver a solid sense of spatial separation, decent vocal clarity and detail, and a good sense of rhythmic drive to the soundtrack.

And while we won’t claim that this speaker can rival any sort of Dolby Atmos soundbar or speaker package when it comes to immersion, it does a good job of placing effects to create a somewhat spatial feeling to the sound.

Verdict

Sony’s latest flagship smartphone remains a solid enthusiast option for those who value taking their music and movies on the go over all else.

Cinephiles will enjoy the balanced display – even if it can be beaten by its Samsung competitor – and audiophiles will find immense satisfaction in the inclusion of an upgraded headphone jack and superb audio quality.

It won’t suit everyone's taste, and there are some software quirks to contend with, but the Xperia 1 VII remains a good choice for those looking for a smartphone that puts AV on the same pedestal as AI.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 5
• Features 4

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China-based brand Xgimi has launched its latest portable projector, the Vibe One, along with a new sub-brand.

The Vibe is being pitched as an affordable, portable option for people looking for a big screen movie watching experience that won't break the bank.

Apollo Zhong, chairman at Xgimi, comments: “With Vibe One, we’re giving users a product that’s simple, fun, and dependable, while still carrying the design DNA XGIMI is known for.”

Featuring auto-keystone and auto-focus, the 1080p projector’s stand can tilt up to 160 degrees making it, in theory, easy to setup on the fly.

It also has a compact design akin to a camping lantern with a carry handle on the top. The only slight concern is that the Vibe One only offers up to 1.2 hours video or four hours music playback according to the company. So, if you're looking to watch any of Martin Scorsese's library of work you'll need a battery pack or mains connection.

In terms of sound, there are two 3W speakers featuring Sound by JBL for “rich, room-filling audio” that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker. As you'd expect for a projector this class, Dolby Atmos is not included.

The Vibe One uses Google TV with built-in Netflix support, plus the usual streaming suspects. That includes Amazon Prime Video, ITVX and Disney+.

It also includes eight Ambient Light Mode colours to help set a "vibe" when using it. You can get the projector in two different finishes: Cloud Ash and Blue Spark (featuring a yellow handle and blue base).

The projector will cost £219 in the UK and $269 in the US on 5 November, although for the latter there is a reduced early bird price of $199 if you pre-order.

Even compared to a similar model from the brand, the Xgimi MoGo 4, that is quite a low price and puts the Vibe One in the entry-level portable projector category.

When we reviewed the MoGo 4 (which launched at £509 / $499 / AU$1399), we rated it four stars for its punchy picture and easy-to-use design.

It certainly seems that Xgimi have continued its legacy with the compact build, but we will have to see how this cheaper projector fares when it comes to its picture.

MORE:

Here's our review of the Xgimi MoGo 4

These are the best portable projectors

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In cinema, what you don’t see can often be more unsettling than what you do – and there are few better examples of that theory in action than The Zone Of Interest.

In Alien it’s a technique used by director Ridley Scott to build tension ahead of revealing the xenomorph in all its predatory glory, but in Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar-winning film about the day-to-day life of a Nazi officer and his family, there’s something far more sinister lurking in the background.

Rudolf Höss, his wife Hedwig and their five children seem to have a pretty idyllic existence. They live in a large house with a lake nearby to swim in, plus a spacious garden for Dilla the dog to explore, but down one side of it runs an imposing concrete wall. That’s because the Höss family live next to Auschwitz – the largest of the Nazis’ death camps.

The Zone Of Interest never shows us exactly what’s happening on the other side of that wall, but there are clues. Peeking over the top you can see the buildings used to house the prisoners, armed guards inhabit an all-seeing watchtower, and a chimney periodically belches awful smoke into the sky overhead.

In The Zone Of Interest, though, the horror arguably comes more from what you hear than what you see, which makes it essential to have a sound system that can do justice to the film’s meticulously constructed soundtrack.

Every scene set in and around the Höss residence is underpinned by the monstrous rumble of the camp’s crematorium at the bottom of that chimney. It’s there when Rudolf reads a bedtime story to his daughters; when Hedwig gives a visiting friend a guided tour of the vegetables growing in the garden; and while their young boys play with toy soldiers in the bedroom.

On a TV’s built-in speakers this subtle detail is likely to be lost, but with one of the best soundbars or surround sound systems it becomes a truly disturbing aural accompaniment to the largely mundane events that take place.

As the film goes on you start to tune it out slightly – but that's why it gets slightly louder towards the end. This dreadful sound has become normal to the Höss family to the point that none of them seem to really notice it, and it’s only when the film cuts to a scene away from the direct surroundings of the camp that it becomes conspicuous by its absence.

It’s not just the sound of the crematorium that hints at the evils taking place either. The buzzing sound in the garden comes not from bees busying themselves among the plants, but the strong electric current running through the barbed wire that tops the perimeter wall. The chuffing of a locomotive indicates the arrival of a fresh intake of prisoners, while occasional gunshots tell us that the guards won’t hesitate to use extreme measures to keep order.

There’s no Atmos available on the Prime Video stream, only 5.1 surround sound, but The Zone Of Interest isn’t really about getting effects to whizz around your head. It’s more concerned with authenticity. Some of the sounds are deliberately ambiguous, but they all combine to create a soundtrack that will really test your system’s ability to tell the full horrifying story.

Both the film’s director, Jonathan Glazer, and its sound designer, Johnnie Burn, have spoken of effectively making two films: the one you see and the one you hear. Watch it on a sub-par set-up and you will only get half of the experience. And while that might make it easier to stomach, it doesn’t do justice to the victims of people like Rudolf Höss.

The Zone Of Interest is available for Amazon Prime subscribers to watch for free, but only for the next 10 days, so don’t miss this opportunity to see one of the most impactful and thought-provoking films of the past decade. It's also available to buy in 4K on Apple TV and Rakuten TV, rent in HD on Sky, Curzon, Rakuten TV and Apple TV, or buy on Ultra HD Blu-ray.

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The Hisense M2 Pro (aka the Hisense M2TUK Pro) is one of the latest wave of coffee table projectors aiming to offer movie fans a home-cinema-in-a-box experience.

What makes it interesting is that it is by far one of the smallest and lightest we’ve seen, weighing a very portable 3.9kg.

Add to this competitive pricing, and the M2 Pro becomes an alluring prospect for any movie fan looking for a decent projector that’s quick and easy to use on the fly for the odd movie night, without needing to be a permanent fixture in the lounge.

But, with the market increasingly choc-a-bloc full of rival products, many of which have fallen just short of earning that hallowed fifth star from our reviewers, is this enough to make the M2 Pro succeed where others have failed?

Here’s what we found after thoroughly putting it through its paces in our viewing rooms.

Price

The Hisense M2 Pro sits in the lower-mid segment of the coffee table market, costing £1299 / $1299 / AU$2495 at launch. Since then, its price has already dropped, with many retailers offering it for £999 in the UK at the time of publishing.

And while that’s still a lot compared to most portable units, including the £509 / $499 Xgimi Mogo 4, which more casual projector buyers may also be considering, it’s actually quite competitive in the realm of more 'serious' models.

The price places it firmly below the five-star BenQ X3100i, for example. This costs £2099 / $2399 / AU$3599. Hisense's step-up sibling, the Hisense C2 Ultra, is also considerably more expensive, launching with a hefty £2499 price tag.

It also lets it hit a currently under-served segment of the market, with the only direct rival we’ve tested recently that’s like-for-like being the four-star Epson EF-72, which costs £1150 / $1000.

Build

The Hisense M2 UK Pro ticks all the right boxes from a design standpoint.

It’s a small, unassuming box, with a spherical glass lens at its front and speakers at its sides, and it's bolted onto a square swivel stand.

The stand is hinged, which makes it easy to adjust the angle of the image. There's also a common thread adapter in the base, which opens up the possibility of mounting the projector to the ceiling.

A few years ago, these swivel designs weren’t in vogue, with most makers assuming you’d get a separate stand or relying on switches on the bottom, most of which only had one angle and height option.

So, unless the stars aligned and it sat naturally at the exact angle and height you needed, at whatever distance you placed it, things weren’t optimal, even with auto correction. The M2 Pro does, of course, have that, too, in the shape of Hisense's custom AutoMagic AI Adjusting System 2.0.

The unit’s 1.0 to 1.3:1 throw ratio is also suitably flexible to let it function in most living rooms and bedrooms. This lets it throw up a 65-inch image at distances between 1.4m and 1.9m.

From there, screen size grows in line with the amount of space you give it until capping at 200 inches at a 4.4m-5.8m throw distance. Optical zoom functionality also lets you scale down as required.

The combination works a treat, with the auto correction in particular delighting our testers. Within minutes of plugging it in, we had managed to get the image perfectly projected onto our screen.

As an added perk for those who want to store it out of sight when it’s not in use, the M2 Pro even comes with a carry/storage case, which is a nice touch that shows a lot of thought has been put into its design.

This remains the case with its small but intuitive remote control, which comes with a backlight – something most projectors at its price don’t have, despite their focus on being used in dim conditions.

Features

The M2 Pro is packed with a fairly reasonable specifications sheet that should tick all the boxes for its intended market, at least if films and TV shows are your primary focus.

The headline feature is its use of Hisense’s Trichoma Laser technology. This is a fancy way of describing the DLP light source it uses, which aims to improve picture quality using three individual lasers to create the red, green and blue parts of the image. We’ve seen this on numerous other projectors, including last year’s Hisense C1.

This, plus AI wizardry provided by its image processing, lets the M2 Pro deliver 110 per cent coverage of the BT.2020 colour gamut favoured by creatives and a 0.9 Delta E score (anything below 1.0 is considered pretty amazing by home cinema standards).

But before you get too excited, as ever, Hisense has kept quiet about what specific settings are required to hit those levels of accuracy.

For people unwilling to invest in a projector screen (something you really should do, as it makes a big difference to picture quality), there’s also AI-powered colour correction, which aims to make the M2 Pro work better when used with a plain wall.

Brightness levels are also impressive, with a claimed peak of 1300 lumens. This is 300 lumens higher than its direct rival, the Epson EF-72, which peaks at 1000 lumens. This potentially makes it better suited to the sort of bright environments that a semi-portable projector might be expected to perform in.

HDR support is superb, with the M2 Pro working with all four of the currently available formats: HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision.

The use of Hisense’s VIDAA platform is also, generally, a positive. The OS is intuitive to navigate, not as ad-heavy as many rivals, and includes the BBC iPlayer app in the UK. Most rival projectors use the Android/Google TV platform, and precious few manage to deliver the iPlayer app.

Add to this support for all the usual suspects, including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and it will serve most people’s needs – especially in the UK, where Freely is also supported.

The sound system supports the Dolby Audio and DTS Virtual X surround-sound formats, but Dolby Atmos isn’t on the cards. This isn’t a dealbreaker, though, as that’s to be expected on a projector in this class.

There are a couple of minor annoyances to contend with, however.

First, it has rather limited physical connectivity. Around the back, you’ll only find one HDMI 2.1 input, a single USB 3.0 and a power connector. That’s it. So if you want to connect a Blu-ray player and games console, you’ll have to be willing to swap cables in and out fairly regularly.

The other minor point of interest is that, despite featuring what Hisense refers to as an HDMI 2.1 socket, the M2 Pro doesn't support gaming at 4K/120Hz. This is normal for projectors at this level, but the mention of HDMI 2.1 raised our hopes.

Instead, it will only run games at a max of 60Hz in 4K, which will be a minor annoyance for gamers, as current generation consoles won’t be able to run at their max refresh rates in 4K.

An enhanced game mode offering the ability to run games at higher frame rates (up to 240Hz) in 1080p softens the blow for gamers a little.

The other thing to point out is that this is of course not a native 4K projector. Like pretty much all of the projectors we’ve tested under £4000 / $4000, it uses pixel shifting to get up to 4K.

This is a clever trick where a projector shoots out two overlapping lower-resolution images to artificially create a single 4K image. In the past, it’s been a big issue as the results were very mixed, but recent advances mean performance is now a lot better, despite native 4K still being superior.

Picture

Paired with our trusty Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, the M2 Pro proves to be a solid performer after a few tweaks to its settings.

Out of the box, it is a little too heavy-handed in its native settings. Playing one of our new favourite test scenes from Thunderbolts, motion handling is a bit off, with characters’ movements feeling artificial and too floaty, with contrast and colour temperatures also too aggressive.

Thankfully, things rapidly improve when we switch to the projector’s Filmmaker Mode. All we find necessary to change from there is to select the lowest Film setting for motion processing and the Warm 2 colour profile.

Once done, the projector performs nicely, delivering a consistent performance that never pushes beyond the M2 Pro’s capabilities, which makes for a nicely immersive and more mature home cinema experience than we had expected.

Skin tones in particular hold a nice warmth, but never deviate into overcooked territory in the way that past Hisense projectors, including the C1, have. Yelena and Bob’s faces retain detail and look lifelike even in challenging mixed-light scenes.

Our only minor quibble is that there are very brief moments when the rainbow effect occurs during some panning shots – though it is, thankfully, infrequent.

Dark detail is also reasonably well handled, with Hisense avoiding falling victim to the common mistake of trying to overcompensate for a projector’s naturally imperfect black level by cranking the contrast too high, making the picture look unintentionally like a Frank Miller comic in the process.

This means there’s a decent amount of detail in the soldiers’ pitch black uniforms, despite there being some minor black crush.

We switch to our Alien: Romulus test disc, whose opening scene is incredibly difficult for many TVs to handle in terms of dark detail.

Some fine details of the space nebula are lost, parts of the spaceship suffer from black crush, and the projector misses some subtle details that are clearly visible on the more expensive BenQ X3100i, but the Hisense still does an admirable job overall, particularly given its price.

The ship’s edges are suitably defined, as are details such as the ridges in its metal hull, which are lost and oversoftened on many rivals, including the Xgimi Horizon Ultra. This lets it retain a sense of three-dimensionality despite the slight imperfections.

The M2 Pro continues to punch above its weight as we move to Civil War. During a scene in which a car races through a burning forest, the flames have a wonderful hue of red and an intensity that makes them suitably distinct from the silhouette of the background forest.

During a panning shot, the movement of a squadron of helicopters looks smooth but authentic, with no ghost frames or artefacts creeping in as they swoop into Washington.

Colours continue to pop but retain their realism as the film transitions to a night-time battle. There’s a nice amount of contrast, and tracer bullets across the night sky look fantastic, retaining a precisely controlled burn. Buildings look nicely sharp, too, all helping to create a truly immersive experience.

It’s only when we swap over to the more expensive BenQ X3100i that we see radically improved results. Here, there’s more detail in the darkest and brightest areas, with everything from explosions to characters’ faces in difficult mixed light holding a smidgeon more detail.

This remains the case when we move to our Pan test disc, which is our peak brightness stress test due to the film’s atypically high 4000 nits mastering. The Hisense does an excellent job, with highlights in a blob of water in the sky retaining a pleasing range of colours and every ripple looking sharp and three-dimensional.

But it hasn't got quite as much contrast in the skyline as the BenQ, and there’s undeniably some detail lost in the sun, which comes across as pure white rather than very slightly red and orange.

But, again, considering the disparity in price, the Hisense’s performance is to be applauded, and it's surprisingly competitive.

This adds up to make the M2 Pro one of the best performers we’ve seen in its class when it comes to picture quality.

Sound

The M2 Pro has a 2.0, 10W in-built speaker system. Unlike its fancier C2 cousin, this is a purely Hisense system – there’s no partnership with JBL or any other audio specialist.

And for standard TV viewing, or as a basic unit to keep the kids entertained, it's generally fine – in some ways even good, at least by in-built speaker standards.

The unit produces a surprising amount of sound volume for such a small package. Even in its standard setting, the twin speakers offer enough clarity and separation to keep voices and background noise separate enough for comfortable viewing while we stream an episode of Schitt’s Creek.

Playing Oppenheimer, characters’ voices are clear, but the background string section slightly intrudes during certain intense parts. Switching to Theatre mode rapidly improves things, and dialogue and the soundtrack stay in their respective lanes.

Moving to a nighttime battle scene during Civil War, the M2 Pro continues to do an admirable job.

Though it's only a stereo set-up, the sound of helicopters entering a military camp has a clear sense of direction, and there’s a decent amount of volume – to the point that anything above 25 sounds too loud in our listening rooms

It deals with this demanding, noisy scene well, offering each sonic part suitable space. At the start of the scene, the hushed whispers of characters creeping through the pitch black street are audible while the background gunfire offers some sense of directionality and bite.

But as the scene grows more intense, the system loses its composure. A haunting guitar track pushes the speakers too hard, causing distortion to creep in.

The engine noise of incoming helicopters also pushes the low end too hard, creating some distortion, and the sound generally lacks the heft to do it justice. The engine noise is flabby and lacks suitable definition.

Sibilance creeps in as a violent gun battle ensues, both in the sound of the bullets flying across the screen and characters screaming over it.

The combination of an underpowered low-end and a sibilant high end creates a thin, at times acidic, quality during the most intense parts of the battle.

This adds up to make it good by small, coffee table projector standards, but not perfect.

Verdict

The Hisense M2 Pro isn’t perfect. But by focusing on making all the right compromises and delivering a consistent, balanced home movie experience, it gets more right than it does wrong.

This adds up to make it one of the best coffee table projectors on the market. Offering solid picture quality, excellent app support and a wonderfully easy set-up process, it ticks all the right boxes for its target market.

Unless you’re willing to spend a lot more, you’ll struggle to find a better projector.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 5

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Also consider the BenQ X3100i

Best projectors: budget, 4K and ultra-short-throw

There’s a new player in the portable projector category in the form of Soundcore’s latest entry – the Nebula P1.

And there is one feature that has immediately caught our eye with this model. The P1 includes two detachable speakers that provide “immersive, room-filling sound” according to the brand, which is owned by Anker.

These create a 2.0 sound system which can be placed around the room “for sound perfectly tuned to your spot”. The 10W speakers run off battery power with a claimed 20 hours of listening time, although the projector itself is mains powered.

This isn’t the first time Nebula has brought something different to the table when it comes to projector speakers.

Only last month, the brand announced the release of a Kickstarter campaign for the Nebula X1 Pro, which offers an impressive 7.1.4 sound system via detachable satellite speakers promising spatial audio. We are yet to see this model in the flesh (plastic?), but it's interesting to see the brand experimenting with its speaker layout.

But what about the picture? Well, the P1 claims to offer up to 650 lumens of brightness and a screen size that can go up to 180 inches. You can watch content in 1080p Full HD resolution, but there's no 4K here.

The projector uses the Google TV smart platform to offer support for services such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube.

It is currently available only in the US, and will set you back $799.

At that price, it’s up against some tough competition. The Xgimi MoGo 4 comes in slightly cheaper at £509 / $499 / AU$1299, but still provides an impressively punchy picture with an easy-to-use design.

When we had the MoGo4 in our test room, we praised its “vibrant and crisp” image and ultimately awarded it a four-star rating.

We did find, however, that the projector struggled to deliver room-filling audio. This could be where the Nebula P1's promising audio specifications come into their own. We look forward to finding out in a full review.

Of course, you could just buy a separate projector and speaker system, but there's no denying the convenience and affordability of these all-in-one offerings.

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When we first reviewed Apple TV+ in the spring of 2020, we praised its picture and sound quality but criticised its relative lack of content and device compatibility.

More than five years on, it's now known as just 'Apple TV', and it’s still the best-performing mainstream streaming service from an AV perspective. And although Apple’s approach means the catalogue is still much smaller than that of rivals, the quality of the available content is very strong indeed.

Apple TV is now available on pretty much every device, too, and it’s still significantly cheaper than Netflix and Disney+ if you care about 4K, HDR and Dolby Atmos, which we most certainly do.

It’s about time for a full reassessment, then.

Price

While most of the streaming big boys now have a dizzying array of subscription tiers, Apple TV has just one that costs £9.99 / $12.99 / AU$15.99 per month.

That gets you an ad-free experience in 4K HDR and with Dolby Atmos sound.

Netflix and Disney+ are both available for less than that, but only with adverts, potato picture quality and restricted sound options.

To go ad-free and enjoy equivalent picture and sound quality to Apple TV, Netflix will set you back £18.99 / $24.99 / AU$28.99 per month, while Disney+ is £14.99 / $18.99 / AU$20.99.

Amazon Prime Video works slightly differently: if you combine the Prime Video-only subscription with the top-up ad-free subscription, which also gives you access to the best picture and sound options, it comes out at £8.98 / $11.98 (in Australia, you can’t subscribe to Prime Video without the broader Prime subscription, so the price there is AU$12.98).

Of course, cost and value are different things, and the relatively low price of Apple TV (at least compared with Netflix and Disney+) reflects its smaller content catalogue.

Content

While Netflix and Amazon license movies and TV shows from other studios to bolster their respective streaming catalogues of original content, Apple TV hosts only exclusive productions.

It’s the same approach that Disney takes, but Disney, of course, has several studios under its umbrella and a back catalogue that stretches decades into the past. In contrast, Apple has been creating and amassing its ‘Originals’ for a relative blink of an eye.

In other words, the content catalogue of Apple TV is much smaller than that of its rivals. As mentioned at the start, though, the quality of that content is now very high, especially against the occasionally endless-seeming sea of rot that regularly appears on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in particular.

Apple is especially strong on TV shows, with the likes of Severance, Black Bird, Platonic, Shrinking, The Studio, For All Mankind, The Afterparty, Prehistoric Planet, Silo, Ted Lasso and Criminal Record all scoring highly with critics and audiences.

Then there’s Slow Horses – one of the very best TV shows of the last few years, at least as far as the What Hi-Fi? team is concerned.

The movie selection is less impressive: films such as Coda, Killers Of The Flower Moon, Tetris and Finch prove that there’s quality on there, but it doesn’t take long to run out of well-rated flicks.

Overall, though, there’s more than enough quality content on Apple TV for most people to feel that they’re getting strong value for money out of their subscription cost.

It’s worth noting that most versions of the Apple TV app also contain Apple’s pay-as-you-go store for movies and TV shows (still sometimes referred to as the iTunes Store).

This is the very best place to buy and rent movies for streaming, but it’s not part of the Apple TV subscription, so it doesn’t fall within the scope of this review.

Device compatibility

It took a while, but the Apple TV app is now available on pretty much every device that also has Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+. In fact, of all the TVs, smart projectors and streaming sticks we’ve reviewed over the last two years, only one or two haven’t had it.

What’s more, you can now subscribe to Apple TV and access its content through the Amazon Prime Video app, which is a great backup option if your device doesn’t have a native Apple TV app.

One thing to note, though, is that while Apple TV performs well across all devices (at least all those with which we’ve tested it), they don't all make use of the highest-quality streams.

Picture

And it’s those high-quality streams that really set Apple TV apart from its rivals.

While the streaming bitrates of Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video average between about 10 and 25 Mbps, Apple TV averages around 25 to 40 Mbps, and even stretches to 45 Mbps at times. This is because Apple applies less compression to its streams, and the result is all-round better picture quality.

Compared with even the best Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video streams, content from Apple TV looks noticeably sharper, cleaner and more detailed. There’s less banding (unsubtle steps where a colour’s shade changes) and less picture noise, and the result is a crisper overall image.

Playing See, one of Apple TV’s most sumptuous streams, there’s an awesome depth and solidity to the epic landscapes, excellent shading across the board, including in skin tones, and a very impressive combination of thrilling contrast and subtle shadow shading.

We’re not talking 4K Blu-ray levels of crispness and control, of course – discs can exceed bitrates of 100 Mbps, after all – but Apple TV gets closer than any of its mainstream rivals.

Only Sony Pictures Core can beat it for picture quality, and only when it’s accessed via a Sony TV. That’s also less of a streaming service and more of a store for Sony Pictures movies.

Even when Apple TV is accessed via the app on non-Apple devices, which don’t always have access to the highest-bitrate streams (estimates suggest some are capped at about 25 Mbps), there’s a sheen to the delivery that is rarely matched by rivals.

This may be at least in part down to the glossy way in which Apple’s content is produced – there’s of course no way to be sure, seeing as the content is exclusive to its own service – but whatever the reason, the result is highly enjoyable.

The vast majority of Apple TV’s content is available in 4K with Dolby Vision, and this is broadly the format in which it looks its best, but a well set-up TV will do a great job with the fallback HDR10 option, and the service even now supports HDR10+ for that additional, contrast-boosting dynamic metadata. Great news for Samsung TV owners in particular.

Sound

While Apple TV has no technical advantage over rival streaming services when it comes to sound quality, with all of them delivering Dolby Atmos soundtracks at 768 kbps, the general audio delivery is still very good in its own right.

During the opening chase in Fountain Of Youth (yes, it’s a dreadful film, but boy is it nicely produced), the Atmos soundtrack fills the room with the sounds of bustling Bangkok.

There’s detail everywhere, and effects sweep precisely around the soundstage. Tonally, there’s good balance, too, with clean treble, weighty bass and clear, fairly textured midrange.

Across Apple TV’s offering, there’s perhaps a little too much smoothness and politeness. We find ourselves longing for a more solid punch from explosions and gunfire, and more reach to dynamic range.

This is a common theme with streamed movies and TV shows, though, and only physical media is significantly better in these regards, thanks to its uncompressed, super-high-bitrate audio.

Verdict

While it still lacks the vast catalogues of its rivals, Apple TV’s content offering is much bigger than it once was, and the quality of its recent Originals is arguably superior.

But what really impresses (assuming you’re of an AV nerd persuasion) is the quality of the presentation, particularly in terms of picture. None of its direct rivals can match it, and if you access the app via an Apple TV 4K, it’s streets ahead.

Add the highly accessible price, and Apple TV has become a real winner in our book.

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Best streaming devices: smart TV sticks and boxes chosen by our experts

More and more coffee table projectors have come onto the home cinema market in the last few years. Though they are proving increasingly popular, the category has a tough balance to strike.

A coffee table projector must be flexible enough in its abilities to adapt to different viewing conditions, small and light enough to be moved between rooms and packed away when not needed, and sonically capable enough to deliver at least relatively cinematic audio – all while keeping the price as accessible as possible.

Inevitably, no model will tick absolutely every box – it’s all about picking the right combination of compromises to deliver the most satisfying overall experience.

The latest model to attempt this is the Epson EF-72, which is part of the brand’s new Lifestudio Flex series.

Epson says the projector provides “a cost-effective, portable, high brightness and high image quality projection experience for the modern household”.

That certainly sounds promising…

Price

Launching at £1150 in the UK and $1000 in the US, the EF-72 is up against some tough competition. That’s about AU$2845 in Australia, but is not currently available in this region.

Our favourite projector at this level, the BenQ W1800, will set you back a little less, with a price tag of £1099 (around $1379 / AU$1915). This 4K projector has a less stylish design but received a What Hi-Fi? Award last year for its impressively cinematic picture.

Another model to consider is the Hisense M2 Pro, which comes in at £1299 / $1300 / AU$2495. Our full review of this one will be published soon, but we did have it on hand for comparisons with the Epson.

Build

The majority of projectors, coffee table or otherwise, often resemble a rather uninteresting box. But Epson’s lifestyle projector really stands out from the crowd.

The EF-72’s body is supported by a sturdy stand and base.

From the base of the exposed body, you can select a range of different ambient light modes that are ideal if you don’t want to sit in complete darkness while watching.

Users can touch the top of the projector to change the LED light display, and hold to dim or turn it off completely. This is obviously not going to add to its home cinema performance, but it’s a neat feature that adds to its premium feel.

The EF-72 has a pleasing overall tactility with a smooth wooden top that comes in an oak colour, and there's a fabric covering for the sides. The compact and sturdy design makes it easy to take from room to room, but it’s a stretch to call it a portable model as it does not have a built-in battery.

You can tilt the projector upwards to 90 degrees and downwards by 15 degrees, so you can display content on the ceiling, floor or at an angle with a screen size up to 150 inches.

The throw ratio is 1.20:1, which is fairly common at this level, but there are models available that need less space. In our test room, for example, to fill our 100-inch screen (measured diagonally), we had to set the projector about 107 inches (8.9 feet / 2.7m) back.

Features

The flexible design makes for a fairly easy set-up, with features such as zoom shift, auto-shape correction and corner adjustment all available.

There’s also wall colour correction if you don’t have the budget for a dedicated projector screen (although we heartily recommend budgeting for one).

The EF-72 uses RGB LED technology, and Epson says it offers up to 1000 lumens of brightness.

Epson describes the EF-72 as a 4K projector, but it’s worth noting that this is achieved through pixel shifting, rather than a native 4K resolution. However, this approach to delivering 4K content has proved effective many times in the past, including recently with the excellent EH-QB1000.

Powered by Google TV, the EF-72 offers most of the usual streaming suspects, including Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video.

While Channel 4 is available for UK residents, BBC iPlayer wasn't during testing. Epson says it’s working with the BBC to get it added but, frankly, we’ve heard this sort of thing from several projector manufacturers over the years, and precious few manage to get iPlayer on board. In short, we’ll believe it when we see it.

Note that although you cannot purchase pay-as-you-go movies and TV shows on the Apple TV app, you can still access your Apple TV library, so it’s just a case of making the purchases through another device, such as your phone.

The EF-72 supports HDR10 and HLG, but you won’t be able to watch content in Dolby Vision.

Dolby Atmos sound isn’t supported by the projector’s built-in sound system, either, though it can be passed out to a compatible sound system via the HDMI eARC port.

The only other physical connection is a USB-C socket, but you can also send tunes to the Epson via Bluetooth (more on that later).

Picture

We find that the default Standard preset setting doesn’t provide us with the most cinematic image, as the picture has an artificially vivid quality.

Switching to either Cinema or Natural, however, offers a much warmer and more immersive image.

There are a lot of further adjustments you can make in the picture settings, which will be a bit overwhelming for casual viewers, particularly as they are not typically labelled with much of a description. Still, the level of adjustment available will appeal to some of the more serious cinephiles out there.

We kick off our serious testing with Dune: Part Two on 4K Blu-ray, and the Epson EF-72 proves itself to be a detailed and cinematic performer.

As Zendaya’s Chani looks out onto the sun-bathed desert, the projector does a good job of capturing the warmth of the scene while still keeping her skin tone natural right down to her subtle freckles.

Moving to Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes on Disney+, we find that the Epson EF-72 handles motion well, striking a good balance between smoothing the worst judder and not adding an unnatural effect to the movement.

The swooping aerial shot of a golden eagle finding its way back to its nest, for example, maintains a consistently smooth delivery while still keeping the more natural movement of the camera. There is the option to adjust the frame interpolation as well, so you can fine-tune this to your liking.

The colours with this disc look pleasingly punchy and warm, while still being nicely balanced. Flaming torches held by the apes look fierce and vivid against the dark background, and the green of the leaves in the forest later on appears earthy and natural.

Broadly speaking, the Epson offers a distraction-free performance, although we did spot one instance during testing when the contrast changed unexpectedly, which was rather jarring.

We only experienced this once during many days of testing, but if you encounter it more frequently, turning off the Adaptive Luma Control in the advanced settings solves the issue – though this does darken the image slightly, so it should be avoided if possible.

The Epson EF-72 has a few other shortcomings, too. The projector falls short in portraying the deepest blacks and the brightest highlights. It rather feels as if Epson has decided to play things a bit safe, trading strong contrast for balance and consistency. That's fine in some ways, but there are rivals that offer both.

Despite not delivering the deepest blacks, shadow detail is also somewhat lacking. For example, when watching No Time To Die on 4K Blu-ray, the EF-72 struggles to define Bond’s dark tie against his slightly darker shirt, and said shirt’s creases are all but invisible.

We compare the Epson with the Hisense M2 Pro, and the difference in performance when it comes to brightness and shadow detail is obvious, with the Hisense proving an immediate step up. Bond’s tie, for example, is much more visible between the dark shadows.

Still, while the EF-72 is somewhat less dynamic than the best in class, its picture is easy to live with thanks to its balanced, warm, and generally cinematic delivery.

Sound

Epson has worked with Bose on the EF-72’s audio, but there’s only a 10W sound system built into the projector’s stylish case.

Again, we get the feeling that Epson has played things rather safe: the sound is inoffensive, but it’s also rather flat and uninteresting.

After testing all of the audio presets, we opt for the Cinema setting, which provides the widest and most cinematic soundstage of all the options.

With Dune: Part Two, as Timothee Chalamet’s Paul Atreides and Stilgar (played by Javier Bardem) have a heart-to-heart in the desert, the projector makes their voices sound natural and tonally balanced, with a reasonable amount of bass to portray the emotion of the scene.

We then put the projector through its paces with the infamously deep Chapter 2 of Blade Runner 2049 on 4K Blu-ray. While the Epson EF-72 does not distort here as many sound systems do, it’s quiet and lacking the dynamic range required to deliver the scene’s tension.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, that single, low-powered speaker struggles to push the sound far out from the body of the projector, resulting in a rather localised delivery that’s fairly detached from the on-screen action.

Epson also encourages you to use the projector as a dedicated Bluetooth speaker, so we send it some tunes to test this out. With both Lord Huron’s The Night We Met and Euro-Country by CMAT, the vocals are clear until the tracks get more complicated and the voices get somewhat lost in the mix.

Again, the delivery is inoffensive, but even a budget Bluetooth speaker will do a better job with your music. For movies, we strongly recommend pairing the Epson with a soundbar, even though that will mean putting up with some unsightly cabling.

Verdict

Overall, Epson’s EF-72 offers a rich and cinematic picture that is very easy to live with. Its warm colours and natural motion processing are sure to please, and the ability to fine-tune the settings will appeal to serious cinephiles.

That said, we find that no amount of tweaking and tinkering results in the dynamism that we have come to expect at this level, and the sound is far too small-scale for images this large.

A decent option in the land of coffee table projectors, then – but not the best…

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 3
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the BenQ W1800

Also consider the Epson EH-TW7100

Best projectors: budget, 4K and ultra-short-throw

Amazon’s latest Big Deal Days event is here and we have good and bad news. First, one day in, as often happens with hi-fi and high-end home cinema, the number of good Amazon deals on products we’ve fully reviewed are thin on the ground right now.

But, as a silver lining we have spotted some good deals, especially if you’re happy shopping with a specialist retailer, that are worth shouting about. These are the five best that our experts fully recommend.

• Check out all of Amazon's Big Deal Days discounts here

1. WiiM Pro Plus: £169 at Richer Sounds (save £50)

WiiM is something of a fan favourite among our readers, with its streamers and recent amps offering surprisingly accomplished feature sets considering their competitive pricing.

So getting a good deal on the WiiM Pro Plus, a streamer our reviewers already consider stellar value even at its normal price, is not to be sniffed at.

Available from £169 at Richer sounds (save £50), for your money you’ll get a simple to set up streamer capable of delivering a detailed, expressive sound that we liked so much, we gave it a What Hi-Fi? Award last year.

2. Sony WF-C710N: £79 at Amazon (save £21)

Good sounding wireless earbuds that cost less than £100 are rare. We know because we’re constantly looking for new ones to recommend to music fans on a budget. Which is why the Sony WF-C710N are such a great option for cash-strapped music fans. Available on Amazon for £79 (save £21) the earbuds offer the best audio and ANC quality you’ll find on such a cheap set.

3. Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT: £439 at Amazon/Richer/Sevenoaks (save £40)

Everyone loves a good bit of vinyl. But both the albums and a record player to do them just can be quite expensive.

Which is why we’re pleased to report one of our favourite affordable turntables has already had a decent Big Deal Days discount. Specifically, you can buy the five-star Pro-Ject T1 EVO BT Turntable with Bluetooth and OM10 Cartridge for £439 at Amazon.

That’s a decent £40 saving on its normal price. If you do, you’ll be treated to a solid record player our reviewers describe as “a new standard for Bluetooth turntables at this price – for its simplicity, flexibility and performance, it’s a winner of a spinner”.

4. BenQ W2720i: £1799 at Richer Sounds (save £200)

There’s something magical about watching movies on a proper projector. And if you have the space, we’re pleased to report the current deal on the five-star BenQ W2720i is one that What Hi-Fi? TV and AV editor Tom Parsons strongly urges you to consider.

The deal lets you pick up the projector for £1799 at Richer Sounds – a £200 saving on its normal price.

If you do you’ll be treated to an all-round performer with an intuitive streaming platform baked in. As we said in our review:

“The W2720i’s combination of living room-friendly smarts and home cinema-friendly picture quality is seriously hard to resist.”

5. LG C5 65-inch: £1599 at Richer Sounds (save £1100)

OLED TVs are always a hot item during Amazon sales, but after scouring Amazon for OLED deals, the best bargain on a model we’ve tested is actually on Richer Sounds. Jump over to the store and you can currently grab yourself a 65-inch LG C5 OLED TV for £1599, that’s a giant £1100 on its launch price earlier this year.

For the money you’ll get a solid value OLED capable of delivering a punchy but never overcooked picture, with flawless app support and excellent gaming specifications. Our only word of caution is to budget for a soundbar for it if you don’t have one already. The LG C5’s audio is distinctly middling, even by TV speaker standards.

MORE:

These are the best OLED TVs we've reviewed

We rate the best music streamers

Our picks of the best turntables for music fans

It's Halloween this weekend, and if you don't have any trick-or-treating duties, what could be better than spending the colder autumn nights watching some horror-tastic films from the comfort of your living room?

Devout TV show bingers can get their Hallow’s Eve entertainment with the second season of Blumhouse's wildlife-doc-with-a-twist, Nightmares of Nature - Lost in the Jungle (Netflix); the latest Family Guy Halloween Special (Disney+); and the sophomore season of adult animated musical series Hazbin Hotel (Amazon Prime Video).

But this list is all about some of the latest movies and feature films you can stream, rent or buy from streaming giants Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Disney+ (along with free, ad-supported service Tubi) that will scare you silly. These picks include a brand-new remake of a '90s cult classic, the return to streaming of one of the boldest modern horrors in recent years, and one of the most anticipated films of the year.

Watch on Apple TV

28 Years Later (2025)

One of the most anticipated films of 2025 (as far as the What Hi-Fi? team is concerned) is now available to stream at home, and if you didn't manage to catch it at the cinema, we would urge you to check out 28 Years Later for a must-see horror watch.

As the title suggests, 28 Years Later takes place 28 years after the outbreak of the ‘rage’ virus that turns people into mindless, bloodthirsty animals (definitely not zombies) that wrecked UK society as a whole and put the British Isles under strict quarantine. The story is focused on 12-year-old Alfie, who ventures out of a remote island community for the first time to the infected mainland, and all that he encounters.

Written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle (who helmed the original 28 Days Later from 2002), this first entrant in a new trilogy of post-apocalyptic horror takes some wild swings and ingenious creative and narrative decisions, along with a meditative, somewhat melancholic atmosphere that is all at once tense, beautiful and harrowing.

Watch on Netflix

The Elixir (2025)

The latest from Indonesian horror master Kimo Stamboel (A Thousand Days, Macabre, The Queen of Black Magic) sees a fractured family escape a zombie outbreak after one of their herbal medicine business’s innovative elixirs goes terribly wrong.

Looking to build on the strong reputation of Asia’s recent zombie flicks, led by the likes of Train to Busan, One Cut of the Dead and The Wailing, Netflix’s upcoming The Elixir looks like an epic thrill ride defined by Stamboel’s proven passion for gorgeous visuals and gory violence.

Watch on Amazon Prime Video

Prevenge (2016)

In her directorial debut, Alice Lowe (Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Sightseers) plays Ruth, who is seven months pregnant with a demonic fetus that inspires a homicidal rampage from within her.

It’s as wacky as it sounds, not least as Lowe was actually heavily pregnant during the shoot. Beneath the grizzly violence and unrelenting deadpan humour is a metaphorical exaggeration of the emotional baggage and apprehension brought about by pregnancy and the prospect of motherhood. A cult gem.

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

This 2022 A24 release is a lot smarter than its "rich 20-somethings' party game in a mansion goes awry" premise might suggest, and certainly worth a watch if you fancy your horror with a generous sprinkling of dark comedy. Specifically, Gen Z satire.

With shocks and twists aplenty and generally well-acted characters that you can truly love to hate, Bodies Bodies Bodies is fun and fresh, and an aspirational role model for all the other ‘dumb teen’ movies that fail to land.

Us (2019)

After his brilliant breakout movie, Get Out, landed with such aplomb, director Jordan Peele had the tricky task of treading similarly scary yet funny tones and socially relevant narrative themes with his next project.

As it turns out, he nailed it with Us, another stylistically and thematically bold horror masterpiece that this time explores American privilege and the country’s socioeconomic inequality.

Us sees the film’s protagonists, Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) and her family, terrorised by a group of murderous doppelgängers. It's a smart and superbly acted apocalyptic sci-fi thriller that really gets under your skin.

Companion (2025)

A creative, AI-themed horror that hits all the right notes and guarantees a wild ol’ bloody time, Companion is probably the most fun you’ll have with a genre movie released this year. Really, that’s all you need to know – indeed, it’s probably best to head into this one at least partially blind.

But what we will say is that the AI theme shouldn’t put off any members of the anti-AI army – Companion is more about human toxicity than any technological one – and (providing you avoid spoilers!) you should expect to be kept guessing throughout. You’re in for a ride here – enjoy it.

Watch on Disney+

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (2025)

Sure, releases of modern remakes of horror (or any genre) classics tend to incite the kind of trepidation one may feel on their first day at a new job, but watch the trailer to this year’s upcoming The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and tell me you aren’t already won over by Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s seemingly spot-on performance as the cold, cunning, devious nanny. A match for Rebecca De Mornay’s depiction in the original 1992 psychological thriller? Maybe.

The fact that it’s directed by Mexican filmmaker Michelle Garza Cervera, whose debut feature film, body horror Huesera: The Bone Woman, was given two thumbs up by horror critics a few years ago, also inspires confidence in the modern makeover. We’re curious to see how this one stacks up.

Watch on TUBI

For subscription-free Halloween fun? We would be remiss not to bring to your attention a couple of highlights from the Terror on Tubi lineup, a curation of horror treats that are available to watch on the free service this Halloween month.

Saloum (2021)

A horror-action movie that we can’t describe better than The Guardian, which called it a “slick gangster horror in wild west Africa”.

It follows a group of legendary mercenaries who are shot down after extracting a drug lord from Guinea-Bissau and forced to take refuge in a nearby holiday camp, where dark secrets about the inhabitants, and themselves, are soon revealed.

Smart and unsettling from beginning to end, Saloum was the most original genre movie we watched in the year of its release.

R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead (2025)

This new Tubi Original (exclusive to US viewers) is directed by Jem Garrard (Slay) and is based on a short story from Stine’s 1990 Nightmare Hour children's horror collection.

It follows a young Sam’s fight alongside his new friends to get his brother Finn back when, shortly after moving to a new town, he disappears and everyone forgets he existed. This has all the makings of an ‘80s coming-of-age horror gem.

MORE:

14 of the best horror movies for testing surround sound

Horror fans rejoice! This old-school classic is getting a 4K remaster and a new 5.1 mix

10 of the best Halloween tracks to test your hi-fi system

Looking for a top-notch projector that could take your home cinema setup to the next level? We've found just the deal.

The Award-winning BenQ X3100i projector is down to £1949 at Richer Sounds, saving you a solid £150. To get this discount, you'll need to sign up to Richer Sounds' VIP Club. Luckily, it's quick and easy to join, and won't cost you a penny.

Offering excellent all-round picture quality as well as great features for gamers, this is a deal well worth a second look.

When we put the BenQ projector through its paces in our test room, we were blown away by its overall performance and ultimately awarded it a five-star rating.

With a claimed brightness of up to 3300 lumens, the X3100i delivers a consistently natural looking image during both bright and dark scenes. Its colour performance impressed too. As we said in our review: "Exceptionally vibrant animated content such as Puss In Boots: The Last Wish on 4K Blu-ray erupts off the screen with some of the most dazzlingly rich saturations we’ve seen around this price point." Not bad, eh?

For gamers, the projector has plenty to offer as well. It delivers an incredibly responsive gaming experience, especially at 120Hz. There's no 4K at 120Hz, though, which is worth bearing in mind.

The X3100i also supports ALLM switching and eARC so that you can pass 7.1 and even lossless Dolby Atmos game soundtracks through the projector to a connected soundbar or AV receiver. And the screen size can go up to 200 inches, so you can fully immerse yourself in your movie or gaming experience.

The projector also comes with an integrated Android TV smart system. This includes access to Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Video. However, we didn't have the best experience, so it might be better to stick to an external source for streaming.

In terms of sound, the built-in speakers deliver a decent surround sound performance that is an improvement on most projectors. It doesn't quite reach the volume level we would like to see, but will do a decent job if you don't have an alternative speaker system.

If that all sounds appealing, this impressive projector could be a great addition to your home cinema setup – and the deal available at Richer Sounds right now saves you £150.

MORE:

Here's our review of the BenQ X3100i

Check out the best portable projectors

And these are the best projectors overall

Projector brand BenQ is launching the GV32 – its most recent portable model that the company says will provide the “ultimate laid-back entertainment experience”.

“Laid-back” can be taken in the most literal sense here, as the 120-inch screen can be projected onto the ceiling as well as a more traditional screen.

This is made easier with the GV32’s adjustable angle options and tiltable body. There are also automatic screen correction, digital zoom, and keystone correction features which BenQ says provide “precise alignment with minimal effort”.

The projector is powered by Google TV with access to all the usual streaming suspects including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney Plus. It can reach up to 500 ANSI lumens of brightness and, while there is no native 4K support, the 1080p projector does support HDR10 and HLG.

The BenQ is set to launch at around $599 in the U.S in October. There's no word on cost or availability for the UK and Australia yet, though.

Like the previous models in its GV series, BenQ's latest sports a circular body with a small footprint which the company says delivers “incredibly flexible viewing”. It is also employing an LED light source, much like the BenQ GV31 which has now been retired.

In our review of the GV31, we were impressed by its rotatable design as well as its decent black levels. We did find the picture offered limited brightness, though, which ultimately earned it a four-star review.

We are yet to get the GV32 in our test room, but the performance of its siblings certainly bodes well, especially as it is using the same dinky chassis.

MORE:

Here's our full review of the BenQ GV50

And check out the best portable projectors

And this is our review of the BenQ GV31

Streaming services have become needlessly complex over the past couple of years. First, there's the sheer volume of options on the market.

Then there's the fact that most have a new confusing tier system that locks features behind pay walls with little to no warning; I'm looking at you, Amazon Prime Video.

With the likes of Netflix, Disney Plus, Prime Video and Paramount Plus all vying for your monthly direct debit, it can be hard to know which service is the best one to go for.

Even the big UK broadcasters are throwing their hats in the ring, as I found out when a Channel 4+ advert kindly spoiled the episode of The Great British Bake Off that I was watching – rude.

With crucial AV features including 4K, HDR, and Dolby Atmos now being locked behind the "premium" subscription tiers, I'm starting to get rather frustrated with the whole streaming business, and I'm willing to bet that it's not just me either.

That's why I've been evaluating which services to keep and which ones I'm better off without, and it's reminded me of one overlooked service that hasn't fallen victim to the modern streaming woes.

Ironically, this service is backed by one of the largest and most influential technology firms in the world.

Yes, I'm talking about Apple TV+, a service that many consider to be closed off and not worth their money compared to the likes of Netflix, which features enough content to spark a 45-minute debate about what to watch every single time the app is opened without fail.

Now, I can't dispute that Apple's content library seems like a bit of a letdown on paper, but Apple TV+ is the epitome of "quality over quantity" in my books. It's also improved hugely over the years since its launch, meaning there are plenty of shows and films to choose from.

Its content library includes the likes of Severance, which I've been told to watch more times than I can bear to count (It's on my list), as well as Slow Horses, Silo, The Morning Show, Shrinking and The Studio.

The final one is one of the smartest, best-produced, and funniest shows I've seen in a very long time – hence why it just won a record-breaking 13 Emmy Awards in its first season.

And because it's Apple, which happens to make quite a lot of money selling iPhones, Macs and AirPods, if you weren't aware, the production values of these shows are second to none.

I've watched these shows on everything from my Sony A80L OLED TV to my iPhone 16, and they look glorious on practically every screen thanks to their slick production.

Best of all, Apple hasn't succumbed to this subscription tier system nonsense. It's £9.99 / $12.99 / AU$15.99 per month, with ad-free viewing in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio – simple.

Now, that has risen in price since it launched in 2019, when it was £4.99 / $4.99 / AU$7.99. However, compared to Netflix's egregious price hikes, which means a plan with those same features is now £18.99 / $24.99 / AU$28.99 per month, I'm willing to cut Apple some slack.

If you're tired of Netflix and Disney Plus, and have been resisting the temptation to check out some of the shows I've mentioned above, I'd highly recommend ditching those services for a month and seeing what you think of Apple TV+.

Best-case scenario, you'll find a great new series to get invested in. Worst case, you'll save yourself some cash this month and can resubscribe to those services at any time.

MORE:

Read our full Apple TV+ review

And check out our Apple TV 4K (2022) review

As well as our picks for the best streaming devices

The 65-inch C7K (known as the QM7K in the US) arrives on our test benches on the back of a remarkable run of TCL TV form across a wide range of price points and screen sizes.

It’s fair to say, then, that the auspices for the C7K are seriously good. Can it really keep TCL’s good times rolling, though, when its large screen and promising feature count come at such a (relatively) low price?

Pricing

The TCL C7K’s price is definitely one of its star attractions, with the 65-inch model we’re testing costing just £899 / AU$1595. This TV is known as the QM7K in the US, where it launched for $1500 but is now available for around $900.

That makes it significantly cheaper than the recently reviewed C8K model that sits above it in the 2025 TCL TV range.

Yes, there are plenty of 65-inch TVs out there these days that are cheaper than £899, but you’ll be very hard pushed indeed to find any of those cheaper models getting even close to matching the C7K’s feature set and, as we’ll see, performance.

If 65 inches isn’t quite right for you, the C7K is also available in sizes ranging from 50 inches all the way up to 115 inches. Bear in mind that the different-sized versions of the TV will have slight specification differences, such as the number of dimming zones. We have already reviewed the 98-inch TCL C7K, though, and it’s excellent.

TCL also produces a Q7C model which, the company says, is identical to the C7K in all ways but one: the Q7C doesn’t have the anti-reflection film that the C7K does. Given how much such elements can affect picture quality, this review shouldn’t be seen as also covering the Q7C.

Design

The C7K looks and feels exactly like what it is: a premium TV being sold for a barely even mid-range price. Its screen is wrapped in a slick, narrow brushed-metal trim, behind which a narrower black back section protrudes to provide room for the new Bang & Olufsen multi-channel speaker system to breathe.

The screen sits on what appears to be the same metal central desktop mounting plate as the one provided with the C8K, and this stand attaches to the screen using the same wide-neck-with-detachable-cover arrangement into which you can ‘tidy’ all your cabling.

The C7K is robustly built, and since it’s quite a bit slimmer than the C8K, it is arguably the more attractive of the two – especially if you’re looking to wall hang your TV.

The C7K doesn’t get the same premium silver metal-finished remote control the C8K has, but the elongated black handset provided still bears a premium brushed metal-style finish (even though it’s really all plastic). It feels comfortable to hold, too, the buttons are numerous but helpfully well spread out, and there are direct access buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, TCL Channels (a curated selection of streamed TV channels) and Disney Plus.

Features

There’s far more to get through here than you have any right to expect for the price.

Starting with those headline-grabbing facts that, despite its affordable price, the C7K’s screen is illuminated by Mini LEDs rather than the usual large ones, and that these Mini LEDs are organised into a remarkably numerous 1008 independent dimming zones.

Add to this a claimed peak brightness of 2600 nits, and you’ve got some core specifications that most really high-end TVs would struggle to match.

We’ve been around the block enough times to know, though, that it’s not just how many Mini LED dimming zones you’ve got; it’s what you do with them that counts.

That is where TCL’s new AIPQ Pro picture processor will hopefully play its part, controlling those dimming zones and Mini LEDs with enough intelligence to ensure they boost contrast and general light control without drawing undue attention to themselves.

The C7K joins all the other new 2025 TCL TVs we’ve seen to date in deploying a whole ‘Halo Control’ suite of new hardware and software technologies to deliver better dark-scene consistency.

This sees the features we have mentioned already joined by other innovations such as new super-condensed LED lenses claimed to focus light more effectively and stably; a new six-crystal light-emitting chip reckoned to deliver nearly 30 per cent more brightness and more than 30 per cent more energy efficiency; the introduction of Polyimide to the liquid crystal molecules to make their microstructure more controllable; and 16-bit bi-directional screen control delivering 65,000 levels of precise light control.

This isn’t even the full extent of the innovations TCL has introduced to the C7K’s new CrystGlow WHVA panel, but we’ll leave it there before your eyes start to glaze over. And because the resulting picture quality is what really matters in the end.

The C7K’s connections are good for a TV in its price range. Four HDMIs lead the way, as we’d expect of a premium TV, and these are backed up by a single USB port, an optical digital audio output, an ethernet port and the now obligatory wi-fi and Bluetooth (v5.4) wireless connections. The wireless connectivity includes Apple AirPlay and Chromecast support.

It’s slightly disappointing that only two of the C7K’s HDMIs support high frame rate gaming, rather than all four of them, and that one of these gaming-friendly HDMIs has to do double duty as the only one equipped with the eARC HDMI technology required to ship sound – including lossless Dolby Atmos and DTS:X – to compatible soundbars and AVRs.

Most premium TVs provide more than one USB these days, too, though that matters much less.

Most households will be more than content with the C7K’s connections overall – and we shouldn’t forget that this is a 65-inch TV that costs only £899.

The C7K scores major brownie points with us for supporting all four of the key high dynamic range formats: HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision and HDR10+.

In fact, it even supports the versions of Dolby Vision and HDR10 that can adapt their picture presentation to the ambient conditions in your room, and its Dolby Vision support further extends to a low-latency Dolby Vision Game mode.

Other gaming features include support for 4K feeds at frame rates up to 144Hz – and that frame rate support remarkably (and arguably a bit pointlessly at the moment…) jumps to 288Hz using TCL’s Game Accelerator technology, provided you don’t mind the resolution dropping to Full HD.

VRR is supported right up to the 288Hz maximum, and there’s support for the AMD FreeSync Premium Pro VRR system as well as the core HDMI one. TCL’s screen will automatically switch into its fast-response Game mode when a game source is detected, rendering 60Hz game graphics in this mode in just 13.2ms.

As we’re seeing with most mid-range and high-end TVs these days, the C7K lets you call up a dedicated Game Bar main menu screen when a game source is detected, from which you can check information on the incoming game signal and activate such game aids as an onscreen crosshair, a system for brightening just the darkest parts of the image, and support for the super-wide aspect ratios supported by a few PC titles.

Smart features on the C7K are provided by Google TV, complete with support for the Google Assistant voice-recognition system. TCL has also seen to it that its version of Google TV includes all of the UK’s main terrestrial broadcaster catch-up TV services – something that regular Google TV systems fail to do.

It’s a pity, perhaps, that there’s no support for Freeview Play or Freely, but all the key individual UK broadcaster catch-up apps are present and correct.

Last but not least on the C7K’s extensive feature list is its all-new Bang & Olufsen sound system. This replaces the brand’s previous Onkyo collaboration with new high-fidelity speaker designs fed by 60W of power and capable of handling both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks.

Picture quality

With the 98C7K having already shown us that TCL’s new C7K range can deliver the goods even on a screen as big as 98 inches, it’s no great surprise to find that the more modestly sized 65-inch C7K is at least as good.

Particularly stellar for its price is its contrast. On the most basic contrast level, it can deliver both extremely intense, vibrant HDR peaks by sub-£1k 65-inch TV standards, and some of the deepest and most neutral, natural-toned blacks and dark scenes the mid-range LCD TV world, at least, has to offer.

What’s more, it’s able to deliver its light and dark extremes on screen simultaneously, without either significantly compromising the other. By which we mean that shots where bright highlights stand out against dark backdrops appear without distracting light halos around them; the bright objects in such shots aren’t heavily dimmed to achieve that lack of haloing; and for the most part, blacks remain as inky as they do with uniformly dark shots.

Throw in excellent shadow detail reproduction (the C7K is actually slightly better in this respect than the more overtly punchy C8K) and an almost complete absence of either fluctuating dimming zones or noticeable jumps in brightness during cuts between bright and dark shots, and you’ve got a brilliantly effective and, thanks to its consistency, immersive backlight system that punches well above the TV’s weight.

The C7K’s impressive brightness holds up strikingly well even when an HDR shot fills the whole scene with intense light, too, looking at least twice as bright with such shots as even the best new OLED TVs can – further contributing to the excellent consistency of the C7K’s HDR images.

The brightness and contrast both play their part, too, in the C7K’s precociously brilliant colour performance. In its Standard picture preset, colours across a huge spectrum look radiantly beautiful, combining vivid intensity with a level of blend and tone subtlety that feels too good to be true on a TV as affordable as this.

The colours the Standard mode produces might not be particularly accurate to established video standards, but every tone looks impeccably balanced against the rest, painting extremely enjoyable – and believable – worlds for anyone not obsessed with true-to-creative-intent accuracy.

If you are obsessed with true-to-creative-intent accuracy, even after witnessing the splendours of the 65C7K’s Standard preset, then worry not: the C7K’s Filmmaker Mode delivers pictures that follow the established HDR and SDR standards impressively closely. They do this, too, without ending up looking drab or washed out, as can be the case with the Filmmaker Mode on LCD TVs with less impressive ‘native’ screen talents.

As part of our C7K tests, we ran it side by side with the step-up C8K, and we were startled to see during this head to head that the C7K’s colours actually look slightly richer and more rounded in its Standard preset than they do on the C8K – perhaps because the C7K’s slightly reduced brightness versus the more expensive C8K doesn’t put its Quantum Dot colour system under quite so much strain.

The head-to-head also shows, though, that the 65C8K delivers slightly more effective colours in its Movie and Filmmaker Modes than the C7K.

The excellent subtlety of the C7K’s light and colour handling helps it deliver impressive sharpness with native 4K sources, while the latest AiPQ processor also upscales HD sources to the screen’s 4K pixel count very handily, adding sharpness and density without exaggerating noise or creating significant unwanted processing side effects.

The C7K retains its clarity excellently when required to handle 24fps motion too, suffering pleasingly little with either hardware judder or resolution loss over moving objects.

There are a couple of niggles with the C7K’s pictures to report. A small patch of yellowish colour sometimes creeps in just below the middle of the top black bar when watching wide aspect ratio films (though we suspect this might be an isolated issue with our review sample), and occasionally, slightly too much detail is revealed in dark areas, revealing faint traces of noise along with the ‘correct’ shading information.

That’s basically it on the negative front, though. The 65-inch C7K is, overall, every bit as excellent a performer for its money as every other 2025 TCL TV that has come through our doors so far.

Sound quality

As with the C8K, the C7K’s audio isn’t quite as all-round brilliant as its pictures. The new Bang & Olufsen influence is enjoyably evident both in the extremely clean and prolific detailing the speakers present with good film soundtrack mixes, and in the way it can hit trebles other TVs cannot reach without sounding whiny or harsh.

The midrange is nice and open, too, providing plenty of room for soundtracks to ebb and flow, as well as helping vocals sound well-rounded and reasonably contextual.

The main problem is that the speakers don’t lean into low frequencies as enthusiastically and effectively as they deal with the higher end of the spectrum. So bass doesn’t reach as deep as trebles reach high, and what bass there is is delivered a bit too politely. This results in a slightly treble-heavy presentation where background and ambient sound effects can sometimes draw more of your attention than they should.

Exceptionally dense soundtrack moments, such as the swelling score during the extreme close-up of an eye opening near the start of Blade Runner 2049, sound slightly more swallowed and condensed than they do on the more powerful C8K, and very deep and extended bass sounds also exhibit a little chuffing and buzzing interference that the 65C8K typically avoids.

Despite these niggles, though, the C7K’s sound is good overall for a TV in its price range. It’s just not quite as good as that of its step-up sibling, and leaves room for improvement next time round.

Verdict

TCL has done it again. The C7K follows the C8K and C6KS in scarcely putting a foot wrong – and once again it does so at a price that also makes it outstanding value.

SCORES:

Picture 5

Sound 4

Features 4

ALSO CONSIDER:

• TCL C8K review
• Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini LED review
• LG QNED93 review

Between the epic 2001: A Space Odyssey and the blockbuster entertainment of Star Wars, the 1970s was a golden era of intelligent science fiction.

Starring Bruce Dern and telling a story that remains powerfully timely, Silent Running is one of the most thoughtful and emotionally devastating sci-fi classics.

Silent Running takes place aboard a fleet of giant spaceships which hold Earth's last forests, plucked right off the face of the planet after humanity destroyed the environment.

Bruce Dern stars as Lowell, an unwavering botanist determined to preserve the forests so they can be returned to earth and nature revived once again.

But when the crew are issued with devastating orders, Lowell is pitted against his fellow astronauts, with nature itself at stake.

The film is available to rent or buy online through Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Rakuten TV or Sky Store. You can also pick up the 4K UHD Blu-ray.

Silent Running was the first of only two films directed by Douglas Trumbull. But he remains a titan of cinema history thanks to his groundbreaking visual effects work.

Trumbull pioneered many innovative effects techniques in the sci-fi classics 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Blade Runner.

For Silent Running, he used some ideas he'd conceived that were dropped from 2001, and he did it on a fraction of the budget of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece.

Even with such a small budget, the film looks great. The vast spaceships glitter amid deep blackness, before the picture jumps to the vibrant colours of the beautiful flowers and plants.

The contrast between the ship's convincingly sterile grey machinery and the lush green gardens is an effective way to visualise the theme of humanity losing our connection with nature.

But best of all are the cute little worker robots who tend the gardens, nicknamed Huey, Dewey and Louie. Despite being trundling little metal boxes, these adorable droids have a surprising amount of personality, and are a clear influence on non-humanoid characters in films such as Star Wars and WALL-E.

Although it wasn't a hit upon its first release - and drew lukewarm reviews - Silent Running more than holds up today. It can be a cliche to say a classic sci-fi film is more relevant than ever, but it's certainly true here.

The film was released three years before the term "global warming" was coined by scientist Wallace Broecker in 1975, and long before most people had heard of the issues in the late 1980s. Silent Running offered a chilling early warning of the danger to our environment if we continued to pollute the world.

It's also remarkably prescient about how we’ve responded to climate change in the decades since.

The spaceship's crew are depicted as complacent and disconnected from nature, but distracted by fake food and inane entertainment. And although we're meant to sympathise with Lowell's devotion to protecting nature, he comes across as preachy and overzealous.

Dern is one of the all-time great character actors, and he wasn't afraid to make Lowell a sympathetic yet prickly character.

Lowell’s convictions and lifestyle make him an outsider from those around him, foreshadowing the stereotypical tree-hugger who may be right about the environment but struggles to win friends with his stern lectures.

Before the climate protest movement even began, Silent Running warned of the danger of alienating the people who most need to hear the message.

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Buckle into your spaceships, because Pixar’s latest release Elio is getting a 4K Blu-ray edition next month.

The film follows an orphaned young boy named Elio who is desperate to be abducted by aliens to escape bullies and a feeling of not quite fitting in. So, when he is mistaken by an alien interplanetary panel as the leader of Earth, he has never felt more at home. But a lie can only take you so far…

If you didn’t see this animated film hit the big screen or have never even heard of it, you wouldn’t be the only one. Elio had the worst opening ever for a Pixar film in terms of box office statistics, with only $21 million (around £15 million / AU$32 million) on its opening weekend.

That may seem like a massive number but compared to big hitters such as Finding Nemo which earned more than $70 million (around £51 million / AU$108 million) in the same period, it’s not a good stat for Pixar.

Even though it massively unperformed for the studio, critics and audiences alike gave it overall positive reviews. It has a respectable 83 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, and an even better 90 per cent on the Popcornmeter.

On top of that, Empire's Laura Venning gave Elio a four-star rating, dubbing it a "charming, visually inventive adventure that might just inspire a new generation of astronomers to look to the skies".

I managed to catch it in the cinema myself, and found myself very moved by the relationship between Elio and his aunt, who struggles to raise him after the passing of his parents.

The studio has announced the release of the 4K and Standard Blu-ray, DVD and 4K Steelbook, all of which will come out on the 22 September with pre-order available on HMV now. It's also available to rent and buy on services like Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+, but for those looking to own it forever the physical disc will be more appealing.

This physical release could significantly boost Elio's fanbase as viewers will be able to watch the film in the best quality possible using their own home cinema set-up. It's highly unlikely it will reach the same heights as its more successful predecessors, but this wholesome coming-of-age movie deserves some love.

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In a rare occurrence, we have been treated to some consistently good weather during the summer months here in the UK. Coincidentally, we have also seen a slew of portable projectors launch this year; I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this.

Yes indeed, I took the opportunity to set up an outdoor cinema during a meet-up with some friends. And it proved to be a great success… mostly.

My projector of choice the latest addition to Xgimi's MoGo series: the MoGo 4 Laser. This stylish, feature-packed, and easy-to-manoeuvre projector seemed like the perfect choice, thanks to its built-in streaming apps and, more importantly, its battery.

Also, we approve of the non-laser version of this projector, complementing its “sharp and punchy picture”. We called it “nicely balanced” and even found its handling of black depths to be more than satisfactory.

The laser version, therefore, seemed as though it could be an even better option. As its name suggests, it trades the DLP light source for a laser system, which should provide even punchier colours and a higher peak brightness. I won't spoil anything, as we do have a review of this projector coming soon, but generally speaking, it impressed.

My friends were especially taken by its cute design and ability to beam a large, bright image, as well as its fairly easy setup.

One area where this Xgimi could improve, however, is in its image correction system. I still needed to tweak the keystone correction manually, despite the MoGo 4 Laser assuring me that the automatic keystone correction system has fulfilled its role. The wonky image I was presented with suggested otherwise.

There was, however, a bigger issue that hindered our viewing experience...

What's the point of the battery?

As I say, I chose the MoGo 4 Laser partly on account of its built-in battery – as I assumed it would get me through the majority of a film. What's more, Xgimi highlights the fact that you can top the battery up with a portable battery pack, so I made sure to bring my 10,000mAh power bank just in case.

Unfortunately, the Xgimi managed to burn through both its internal battery and my power bank before we could finish Hot Fuzz (streamed on Amazon Prime Video), our movie of choice for the night. For reference, that film's run time is 121 minutes; not exactly an epic in the grand scheme of things, and not far off the average film length.

With about 20 minutes of the film to go, we had a battery warning flash up claiming that there was only 10 per cent battery left; not ideal, but perhaps we might just get away with finishing the film?

But no: the beamer powered down just before the film ended; quite the anticlimactic ending.

Xgimi claims that the projector lasts for up to 2.5 hours in its eco mode. It appears, though, that that number is reduced greatly if you switch to the movie mode, which provides the brighter and more vivid image that most people, surely, would want.

I opted for this picture mode as it seemed counterintuitive to dull the projector down with its shiny new laser light system; and I had presumed that my battery pack might also extend the lifetime to make it through the film.

Next time, I'll be sure to play it safe and opt for the power-conserving mode, even if it comes at the expense of picture quality. It's a shame that I have to make that compromise, with the only apparent workaround appearing to be investing in Xgimi's PowerBase Stand accessory, which claims to increase the battery life to 5 hours.

It's worth mentioning that, despite the battery woes, the MoGO 4 Laser is a very likeable little projector – though you will have to wait for our full review to find out more.

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In Japanese, "Ran" means "chaos". A masterpiece of director Akira Kurosawa’s later career, sweeping samurai epic Ran is a staggering fusion of colour, motion and sound.

In 16th-century Japan, an ageing warlord divides his domain among his three sons - but none of them are happy about it.

The plot is driven by this palace intrigue - loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear - as warlords, wives and generals scheme to take power. Ran then expands to show the bloody consequences of this royal bickering, with expansive battle scenes employing legions of extras and panoramic sets.

It's available to rent or buy online, or stream on StudioCanal, an Amazon Prime Video channel.

But it's worth seeking out StudioCanal's 4K-restored remaster to pick out the fine detail: the costumes, the textured timber castles, and the lush Japanese landscapes.

Kurosawa directed his first film in 1943 and is perhaps best known for his earlier black-and-white films like Rashomon and Seven Samurai, the latter being the inspiration for The Magnificent Seven. But his later films like Kagemusha and 1985’s Ran make powerful use of colour.

Opening in almost impossibly green hills, Ran plays out against vast blue skies filled with towering clouds and open natural landscapes that dwarf the people and their pointless arguments. A number of scenes play out atop castle walls set against the deep hues of sunset.

Flags and banners are coloured with a palette of vivid primary colours, which helps to keep track of the various factions through hellish battle sequences.

Colour is just one of the elements that gives Ran an almost hallucinatory visual feel. As the ageing ruler, Tatsuya Nakadai delivers a theatrical performance complete with ghost-like makeup that tips the film towards a feeling of grim fairy tale. L

ook out too for a searing performance from Mieko Harada as the cruelly wronged Lady Kaede, an unforgettable character burning with vengeance.

Inevitably, red ends up being the dominant colour, as the squabbles lead to unbearable bloodshed.

The battle scenes are both epic and brutal, with hundreds of extras pouring onto the screen and the battlefield. The scale is astonishing, but the effect is horrifying rather than spectacular.

Unlike many war films, Ran doesn't introduce us to the soldiers or explain the progress of each battle. Instead, we're shown a frenzy of death and depravity as masses of unknown and unsung soldiers are maimed and massacred. Each battle is a delirious hellscape with no heroes or victories.

The masterful editing reinforces the tragedy of the fighting, especially in the use of agonising repetition that forces you to watch men falling in agony and tumbling from horses over and over until it becomes almost unbearable.

Heightening the carnage is the tense, stark and foreboding score by Composer Tôru Takemitsu, making unsettling use of wood percussion, rumbling taiko drums and traditional Japanese flutes. One battle sequence plays out without any sound, the music lending pathos to the savagery.

The cinematic grandeur of Ran matches the richness of its themes. A bunch of rich kids freak out over whether their castles are big enough, and everyone has to fight and die.

It's a powerful tale of human ambition, betrayal and hubris, with subtle performances and rich characters locked in a compelling spiral of self-destruction. Rarely has chaos looked so good.

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Xgimi's latest portable projector is one of our favourite beamers from the Chinese AV company to date, thanks to its punchy image, built-in streaming smarts, and integrated battery; all of which make it an ideal option for anyone hoping to turn their garden into an outdoor cinema.

We reviewed it at £509; however, Amazon currently has a limited-time deal which knocks £80 off the price, dropping it to just £429.

You don't have long to claim this deal, as it's set to end on the 17th of August, so don't delay if you're planning on picking this plucky portable projector up.

One of the biggest draws of the MoGo 4 is its incredibly compact and easy-to-use design. By twisting the body out, the hard plastic on the side transforms into a stand.

There's also a small remote that is attached to the side of the projector, which is ideal for those taking it on the go who don't want to carry the larger remote in case it gets lost.

In terms of picture, the Xgimi projector provides a solid and impactful overall image.

When watching Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes during testing, for example, we noted: "The MoGo 4 does a good job with the deep blacks, as well as making sure there is a decent amount of detail in the lighter shades."

The MoGo 4 uses Google TV with built-in Netflix support, plus the usual streaming suspects, including Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.

As for AV-specific features, the MoGo 4 sports a 1080p resolution via a DLP chipset, with HDR10 support on top. Sound-wise, it features a 2.6W Harman Kardon sound system, with Bluetooth support allowing you to connect a phone to use the projector as a wireless speaker.

If you are looking for a small but mighty projector at a discount for casual movie nights, the MoGo 4 could be for you at this price.

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As titles go, The Assassin is pretty generic. But Prime Video's new action thriller is a fresh and fun take on the genre, as the hitwoman of the title is a middle-aged mum wrestling with her love for her son in between the headshots and wisecracks.

Streaming now on Amazon Prime Video (it landed last Friday), it's a six-episode shoot-'em-up starring Keeley Hawes as Julie, living a lonely, boozy retirement on a Greek island. Her anxious son Edward, played by Freddie Highmore of Bates Motel and The Good Doctor, arrives for a visit, but he has more than sunbathing in mind.

He wants his mum to finally tell him the truth about the father he's never known – and why a strange company has just transferred him a ton of cash.

Luckily for Julie, she's saved from answering. Unluckily, the interruption comes in the form of a sniper trying to kill them.

That bloody twist throws mother and son headlong into a globetrotting adventure pursued by armies of hitmen. Edward can hardly keep up as his sarcastic, savage mum races into the chaos and the air is filled with bullets, banter and plenty of loopy plot twists.

Basically, it's Shirley Valentine meets John Wick. Indeed, as The Guardian nicely put it, it's "like nothing else" out there.

If you liked Hawes in Bodyguard, or the recent mum-on-a-mission action of Netflix's Black Doves, then The Assassin is for you. From the opening one-shot shootout, the action is fast-paced and thrilling.

And there's a streak of dark humour in everything from Julie's straight-talking parenting style to the kitchen implements deployed in a brutal fight scene.

It's tough to balance this mix of tones, particularly when innocent bystanders are massacred. The plot also has a go at being a serious geopolitical spy thriller, like The Night Manager, with a conspiracy involving an imprisoned hacker and a vicious mining magnate.

But don't be fooled: this is more like an airport paperback – pulpy, self-aware fun that romps to the next kinetic set piece or high-stakes twist zooming into view.

And at the heart of it all is the relationship between mother and son. Highmore is wounded and sympathetic, while Hawes plays a mother who lies constantly but can't bring herself to fake maternal warmth.

Radio Times called their exchanges "hugely entertaining and funny", while Digital Spy noted that Julie’s struggles with her identity as a mother are “captivating”.

The emotional connection is what gives The Assassin a fresh twist on the genre – and if that's not your thing, the next shootout is barreling along on any second.

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The 48-inch LG C5 is the second smallest option in the company’s current step-down line of OLED TVs – which automatically makes it an interesting beast.

Flagship OLED TVs aren't really produced in sub-55-inch sizes. Sure, there's the new 48-inch G5, but that lacks the Primary RGB panel of its larger siblings, so it doesn't really count as a fully fledged flagship.

All of which is to say that while the C5 range is a step-down line, the 48-inch C5 is pretty much as premium as TVs this size get.

It’s also coming off the back of a hot streak for LG, with two generations of its predecessors not only earning top marks from our reviewers, but then going on to win What Hi-Fi? Awards.

Has lightning struck a third time with LG’s 48-inch C5 OLED TV? Here’s what we found after thoroughly putting it through its paces in our dedicated test rooms.

Price

The 48-inch LG C5 launched at a price of £1500 / $1599 / AU$2499. We’ve recently seen some early discounts that knock the odd hundred off, but you're currently still looking at paying close to full price.

The 48-inch C5's main rival is the identically sized Samsung S90F, which uses the same OLED panel technology. Unsurprisingly, the 48-inch Samsung S90F is priced at launch very similarly to the C5, at £1499 / $1500 / AU$2499.

You can also get the C5 in 42-, 55-, 65-, 77- and 83-inch sizes. The 42-inch LG C5 launched for £1400 / $1399 / AU$2199. Prices then rise in line with the TV’s size, capping at £5999 / $5399 / AU$7999 for the largest 83-inch option.

Build

LG hasn’t rethought the wheel with the C5’s design. In fact, it’s so unchanged that if you put it next to 2022's LG C2, let alone last year's C4, you would probably struggle to spot the difference.

Unlike the 42-inch model, the 48-inch C5 has the same central stand design as the 55-inch version we reviewed earlier this year, which is quick and easy to assemble. Just plonk the stand on the TV's back and secure it with the included screws. Once done, it provides a stable base that will fit on most regular-sized TV cabinets without issue.

Sadly, the stand doesn’t have a swivel mechanism, though this is less of an issue here as the set’s ports are mostly housed on its side rather than back, making them fairly easy to access.

The bigger annoyance is the angled slant and low height of the stand, which can make the positioning of a soundbar tricky. If you do go for a soundbar, you will want to make sure it's a fairly low-profile model, such as the Sonos Beam (Gen 2).

In the US and many other territories, LG has released a new sleek, modernised controller for the C5. But we’re yet to see it in the UK, where a slightly tweaked version of the somewhat long-in-the-tooth Magic Remote is the only option provided.

The controller remains largely unchanged outside of the addition of a new AI shortcut button and a minor tweak that changes the input button so you can control all connected devices with it – including things such as smart lightbulbs – rather than just select which HDMI input you want.

While these changes are fine, we would have liked LG to make bigger quality-of-life changes, adding things such as backlighting and rechargeable batteries – elements that are increasingly common on rival OLED sets we test.

While the pointer functionality, which lets you navigate menus with an onscreen cursor that’s moved with motion controls, is welcome, the remote is clunky to use in low light, which is what most serious movie fans will be doing.

Features

The 48-inch LG C5 is packed to the brim with features, which is particularly impressive considering its small size. But, as with its design, not a great deal has changed since last year.

Starting with the two big elephants in the room: the panel tech remains unchanged and, despite years of asking, there’s still no heatsink.

The panel used remains a WOLED, with the older brightness-boosting Micro Lens Array (MLA) tech seen on last year’s G4 sadly being retired, rather than trickling down to the C-series, as we’d hoped it would this year.

The lack of MLA is a shame, as it does offer palpable brightness improvements based on our testing. But it’s also not surprising, as it has been superseded by the Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel tech that LG Display debuted on the LG G5 at CES in January. MLA is sadly going to the same farm as curved screens and 3D TVs.

Equally, a heatsink could have helped the TV go brighter for longer without risking damage. The omission is particularly noticeable on this size of the C5 which, despite having the same Brightness Booster Engine as the larger models, can't hit the same peak brightness levels.

This isn’t a phenomenon specific to the C5, though. It’s an issue on all smaller OLEDs, due to a combination of factors including pixel aperture and the impact it has on heat management. Pushing the panel too hard can also impact colour accuracy, which is why companies tend to tune smaller sets more conservatively than larger models.

The only big change for the C5 is the use of a newer LG Alpha 9 Gen 8 processor. Like every chipset we’ve seen recently, the Alpha 9 Gen 8 has an overt focus on AI, which LG claims it has leveraged to help the TV deliver more advanced upscaling and holistically improve colour accuracy, audio quality and HDR tone mapping.

Outside of the dedicated AI picture and sound profiles, which can be accessed in the C5’s settings, the only obvious front-facing AI feature it brings is a new chatbot system designed to help you troubleshoot and generally use the set. Through vocal commands, you can do things such as tweak picture settings and ask what a particular toggle does.

The C5 supports the most common HDR standards of HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG. The only ongoing omission is Samsung’s home-brewed, open-source HDR10+, which is a rival to Dolby Vision and offers similar frame-by-frame dynamic range optimisation powers for compatible content.

Thankfully, the lack of big feature changes is largely forgivable, as the LG C-series was already one of the most feature-packed you could find.

The main highlight remains the inclusion of four, as opposed to the more standard two, full-speed HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which doubles as an eARC port.

While two HDMIs will be fine for most people, dedicated gamers with multiple latest-gen consoles and a sound system (which will use the eARC port) will really benefit from the C5's four.

Those four HDMI 2.1 sockets all support 4K/144Hz (as well as the more common 4K/120Hz), plus VRR and ALLM. Dolby Vision gaming is also on board and a welcome inclusion for Xbox Series X/S owners.

So all-in-all, if you connect a current generation games console or PC, the unit will run smoothly and as fast as the machine allows – it won’t be the C5 causing the bottleneck.

LG’s webOS 25 software runs the show and is fairly similar to the version we saw on the older C4. The only big addition outside of the AI assistant is a new Xbox app, which lets you stream games directly from the TV and adds the ability to pair a Bluetooth controller directly to the C5. This used to be exclusive to Samsung TVs.

Otherwise, the OS retains its strong app support, with key services including Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and ITVX all being supported and running correctly during our checks.

Picture

Powering up the 48-inch LG C5 paired with our trusty Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, the set immediately has a different character to both its 55-inch sibling and its key rivals. Watching Dune: Part 2 with the TV’s out of the box standard settings, as often happens, the set tries too hard.

Peak bright areas in the desert stand out too much as the C5 tries to show quite how bright it can go, while colours look a touch too warm. Motion handling is also very heavy-handed, with the fighters looking like dancing ballerinas, rather than aggressive knife-wielding warriors.

Thankfully, things rapidly improve as we fiddle with the settings, eventually settling on Filmmaker Mode, with the lowest Cinematic Movement option on, sharpening and judder reduction off and dynamic tone mapping on. Colour temperature, which is now tweaked using a slider control, rather than the less granular options of before, is left at its default for Filmmaker Mode.

Set up accordingly, the desert retains its sparkle, with the brightest part of the sky shining in a way OLEDs this price from even a few years ago can’t, but with significantly more detail.

Bright shading is strong, too, with a wonderful hue of blue transitioning to orange across the image.

Cloud clusters equally retain their shape, despite the added brightness, showing the difference pixel-level light control can make. Our only minor quibble is that colour temperature still looks a smidgeon too cool, but rapidly shifts the other way when we make minor adjustments.

Motion handling has also now regained its composure, with the actions of the on-screen characters taking on their intended weight, and a difficult scene in which a Fremen fighter launches a missile at an Ornithopter looks accurate, with no ghost frames or awkwardness seeping in.

We move on to one of our new favourite 4K Blu-ray test discs, Civil War. During the heated nighttime battle scene, the explosions look dynamic and truly pop out of the dark sections with zero bloom – as we’d expect from an OLED – but we see colour volume drop slightly, especially in characters’ skin tones.

This is particularly noticeable on close-up shots. While the brightest parts of faces pop and look wonderfully three-dimensional, the darker parts take on a greenish hue, losing all warmth, resulting in a flatter, less natural image than we like.

This is slightly annoying as the set otherwise handles dark scenes admirably. Switching to our Alien: Romulus test disc, the opening scene shows a giant spacecraft slowly creeping out of the pitch black vacuum of space. The image is full of detail with every nook and cranny of the vessel on display, giving us a wonderfully three-dimensional spectacle.

Playing Top Gun: Maverick, the skyline once again looks excellent, full of pop and detail, but an area of the aircraft carrier in the shadows looks slightly flat, losing some definition in areas that look wonderfully sharp on the Samsung S90F we’re testing it against (full review coming soon).

Yet, when we switch to Oppenheimer, the issue doesn’t repeat during a shadow-heavy scene where he is meeting politicians. The skin tones look natural, and the entire picture has a sharp, wonderfully three-dimensional quality, with every stitch of their suits visible.

Moving to our final, incredibly difficult, SDR True Grit upscaling test, the C5 performs well.

During the tricky opening, the dark lights in the night-time farm hold a nicely bright, distinctive spot, with the glow illuminating details well without introducing noise or oversharpening the falling, fluffy snow.

The intentional spaghetti western grain is retained as we move to a brighter scene, with the set not pushing too hard and oversharpening or flattening the very difficult picture.

Ultimately, while the 48-inch LG C5 displays a couple of niggling picture issues, it's superbly competent overall. And many users won't notice those issues at all.

Sound

The 48-inch C5 features the same 2.2-channel 40W speaker system as the outgoing C4.

On a set this size, audio quality is usually one of the main compromises you have to put up with. This is because their smaller dimensions impact how much air the speakers can move around. Based on our testing, this remains the case with the 48-inch C5.

Starting with the set in its standard audio mode, the C5’s performance is distinctly flat, with every part of the sound coming from the centre of the screen. Gunfire and soldiers’ shouts during Civil War lack their intended directional quality.

On top of this, while gunfire never sounds acidic as it does on the S90F, it lacks the bite you’d expect, and explosions in the distance show the C5’s low end doesn’t quite have the heft required to deliver the intended, bone-rumbling effect.

Sadly, this isn’t fixed when we switch to the AI audio mode. LG is making a lot of noise about the C5’s new AI audio powers, with its custom AI Sound mode that aims to “optimise the audio” to its users’ specific tastes. The set-up requires you to click through a process, picking options that “describe your preferences” before optimising the speakers to them.

Here, while the set noticeably tries to separate the frequency range more, it makes each part thin in the process. Gunfire takes on a nasal, fizzy quality, and sibilance creeps into dialogue while the low end all but disappears.

We get the best results switching to the set’s Cinema mode. But even then, the audio lacks definition.

Moving to an intense scene in Top Gun: Maverick, the audio remains flat. The boom of jet engines lacks precision and directionality, and voices aren’t suitably separated from background noise, making some conversations hard to follow.

This makes a soundbar or other speaker system an essential purchase for any serious movie fan planning to pick up the LG C5.

Verdict

The 48-inch LG C5 retains the Korean giant's legacy as one of the top small-ish OLED TV makers, but largely because it sticks very closely to the blueprint that made past C-series sets great, rather than any clever innovation.

If you’re yet to take the OLED plunge, then this is a solid option, especially if you’re short on space or cash-rich enough to justify one as a secondary, bedroom set.

But the lack of progress is beginning to show at this size, and it means that the 48-inch LG C5 isn’t the slam-dunk, no-brainer purchase it used to be – especially with Samsung and Panasonic nipping at its heels.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Features 5
• Sound 2

MORE:

Read our review of the 48-inch LG C4

Also consider the 48-inch Samsung S90F

Read our LG 65QNED93 review

Best TVs: flagship OLEDs and budget LED sets tried and tested

We’re pretty used by now to TVs equipped with Tivo smart systems coming in at the more affordable end of the market.

Even knowing that, though, didn’t fully prepare us for Sharp’s 70GK4245K: a Tivo-toting TV with a 70-inch screen that costs just £489.

Surely a screen size to price ratio this extreme can’t actually be fun to watch, can it?

Price

It’s still rare for even 55-inch TVs costing under £500 to arrive in our test rooms, yet here we find ourselves staring at a 70-inch screen that costs just £489 (around $660 / AU$1000).

The 70GK4245K doesn’t look like it’s going to be just another ‘it makes a picture, what more do you want?’ budget TV, either.

For instance, its 4K screen can also take in the Dolby Vision high dynamic range format, its audio system can handle Dolby Atmos tracks, and its already content-loaded Tivo smart system is backed up by the latest Freely platform. Truly, our budget TV cup runneth over. So long as there’s also some sort of quality to its pictures, of course.

The 70-inch screen size is pretty rare these days, with most brands offering 65 and 75-inch options instead. Couple this with its ultra-affordable price, and direct competition for the 70GK4245K is hard to find.

If Tivo is the most important thing to you and you can resist the 70-inch screen, Sharp also has a decent little 43-inch Tivo model, the 43GM6245K, that can be yours for under £250, while Bush’s 50-inch 50UT24SB Tivo set is also an engaging all-rounder currently going for £319 on Amazon.

If strong picture quality is more important than Tivo, TCL’s 65-inch 65P755K is very good value at £449 at the time of writing, and as new replacement models are just around the corner, even the 75-inch can be had for just £549 if you get a move on.

Design

It became obvious as we were setting up the 70GK4245K that its build quality is pretty flimsy. Anyone with a sufficient wingspan should easily be able to pick it up and move it around without the need for a second pair of hands. Its bezel is on-trend thin around three of its sides, though, while the slightly wider bottom edge looks glossy enough to just about persuade you that maybe the TV isn’t entirely made of plastic after all.

The rear is fairly chunky by modern TV standards, making it a rather cumbersome wall hanging option. Though VESA wall mounting points are of course present, if that’s really the way you want to go.

The desktop feet provided with the 70GK4245K look OK in a no-nonsense kind of way, but infuriatingly, the only attachment point for them is right out near each bottom corner, meaning the TV can only sit on a bit of furniture that’s almost as wide as the TV. Which is no joke when that TV is a 70-inch model.

The GK4245K ships with a remote control that’s basically as plasticky and lightweight as the TV. A brushed finish for the main front plus a faux metallic look to the central cursor navigation section, though, just about succeed in making the handset look posher than it really is.

Features

We’ve covered the Sharp 70GK4245K’s headline claims already: namely that it delivers a 70-inch screen, Tivo/Freely smarts and Dolby Vision HDR (as well as the core HDR10 and HLG formats of HDR, of course) for the mind-bogglingly low price of £489. More detail is needed on some of those features, though – and, surprisingly, there are quite a few other things going on with this budget set, too.

The LCD panel used for the 70GK4245K appears to be a VA one rather than a low-contrast IPS one, for starters. It’s not clear whether the set is direct or edge lit, though the way some clouding appears over the picture’s edges (more on this later) suggests that it may be the latter. At any rate, there’s certainly no evidence of local dimming going on – which we wouldn’t expect there to be, of course, on such an incredibly affordable TV.

There is a global dimming system at work, however, which Sharp claims can deliver a dynamic contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. We can tell you now that this is an extremely optimistic figure, mind you, that’s based on mathematical potential rather than real-world performance.

The GK4245K only has a native 60Hz panel, so you’d think there would be no potential for high frame-rate gaming support through any of the provided three HDMI ports. Actually, though, a connected Xbox reveals that the TV can support 120Hz refresh rates – albeit only at 1080p resolution, and without any HDR support. You can retain HDR – including Dolby Vision – with 4K gaming feeds at 60Hz max, just to be clear.

The HDMIs support ALLM switching when a game source is detected, as well as VRR, and input lag in the Game mode is a very snappy 14.8ms.

Other connections include a couple of USBs, an Ethernet port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, an IR remote control extender, an optical digital audio output, and even a blast-from-the-past mini composite video/stereo audio input. Plus, of course, there’s built-in wi-fi to feed the Tivo smart system.

The GK4245K’s Tivo implementation shows no signs of any budget TV-related compromises. It runs as slickly and stably as any other version we’ve seen, and it carries the usual impressive array of apps and sources.

These include Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, Prime Video, Rakuten, BBC iPlayer, ITVX, All4, My5 and the Freely platform, which essentially lets you live-stream many of the TV channels on the Freeview HD broadcast platform – as well as providing on-demand access to many tens of thousands of hours of catch-up programming from Freeview’s main channel providers.

The only really striking absentee from Tivo’s app list is Apple TV+. You can now access Apple TV through the Prime Video app, but the quality of the feeds you get that way doesn’t seem as good as those you get through direct Apple TV apps.

It’s worth adding that Tivo also supports arguably the most straightforward, intelligent and helpful voice recognition/content search system in the TV world.

Surprisingly, finally, the GK4245K carries a few quite premium picture adjustment features. There’s a 10-bit colour feature for smoothing out potential banding in HDR colours, for instance, as well as a pair of customisable Dolby Vision modes on top of the more predictable Dolby Vision Dark and Bright options.

There’s even support for a full calibration thanks to both 2-point and 11-point white balance correction, plus hue, saturation and brightness adjustments for the red, green, blue, yellow, cyan, magenta and flesh tone colour elements.

Picture

The GK4245K’s pictures turn out to be a really pleasant surprise in most ways. For starters, they’re substantially brighter than we’d anticipated based on our experience of other similarly ultra-affordable TVs. This expresses itself in both enjoyably crisp and punchy highlights within HDR pictures, and respectable sustained brightness with full-screen HDR bright shots.

You’re not witnessing by any means the full range and impact of HDR’s light range, to be clear. But you do get enough of it to help pictures look reasonably natural and engaging rather than the dull compromise we’d honestly expected to see. What’s more, while it’s hard to imagine Sharp has equipped a TV as cheap as the 70GK4245K with a particularly clever HDR tone mapping system, HDR pictures feel nicely balanced and don’t suffer excessively with clipping (lost shading and colour tone subtleties) in their brightest parts.

Even more surprising, the healthy brightness the GK4245K manages to find for HDR playback doesn’t come at the expense of convincing dark scenes. The amount of greyness that creeps into parts of the picture that should look black really isn’t excessive at all, despite the screen’s lack of advanced light control tools.

What’s more, provided you don’t use the Dolby Vision Dark picture setting, shadow detail remains abundantly present in even the darkest corners. This helps dark scenes look almost as natural and full of depth and detail as bright ones, resulting in a much more consistent viewing experience than we’d expected to find on such an affordable big-screen TV. Though the ‘almost’ back there is doing some slightly heavy lifting, for reasons we’ll get to in a moment.

Another very pleasant surprise about the GK4245K is how sharp and clean its pictures look. Part of this is a result of the screen’s surprisingly subtle colour handling. There’s no wide colour gamut coverage or Quantum Dots here, yet the screen handles even the most subtle of blends and tonal shifts without the sort of striping, blocking or ‘clumping’ we’d anticipated at this price point. You don’t even need to call in the set’s 10-bit colour emulation feature.

Motion is also handled quite well for such a cheap TV. There’s a touch of blur if a fairly large object moves at speed across the screen, but this never turns into actual smearing or lagginess, and there’s enough finesse in the screen’s shading and enough native sharpness in the core 4K delivery to stop even action scenes from starting to look truly soft.

As well as containing more shading subtlety than expected, colours look consistently balanced, with no tones standing out too strongly against the rest, and no aggressive blue or green wash hanging over proceedings. As with the GK4245K’s brightness, we’re not seeing the full range of tones and saturations HDR can provide, but we’d take a holistic, balanced approach to colours like the GK4245K provides over some more heavily saturated but also gaudy and uncontrolled mess any day.

Add to the mix some surprisingly clean upscaling of SDR sources that holds up even on a screen as big as this one, as well as slightly more forgiving viewing angles than we’d expected, and you can see why we’re such fans of the 70GK4245K’s pictures for its money. The only thing stopping us from giving it five stars, in fact, is something we’ve alluded to a couple of times before: backlight clouding.

Extraneous light creeps into dark scenes in a number of areas – mostly at the screen’s edges, but also in a couple of more central spots. These light pools disappear entirely during bright footage, and they’re really the only significant issue we have with the GK4245K’s budget pictures. But they can be distracting enough during very dark sequences to cost Sharp’s TV one full picture mark.

Sound

The 70GK4245K’s sound can’t repeat its picture heroics. Audio struggles to escape the TV’s bodywork even at full volume, leaving action scenes and dense musical scores sounding quite swallowed and thin.

The way the sound feels trapped inside the GK4245K’s speakers, even with Dolby Atmos mixes, also means dialogue can sound a bit detached from the onscreen action, and given that Sharp’s TV doesn’t produce a particularly compelling midrange, you won’t be shocked to learn that there’s practically no bass presence.

The GK4245K’s sound is at least operating within the limitations of its speakers, though, meaning that even the most bombastic Hollywood moments don’t cause low-frequency distortions or treble harshness. So while we’d have loved much more sheer oomph from the 70GK4245K’s sound, what we’ve got does at least not sound broken.

Verdict

No 70-inch TV costing £489 is ever going to be perfect.

In the Sharp 70GK4245K’s case, that means having to put up with some backlight clouding in dark scenes and an uninspiring built-in sound system.

Putting up with these relatively minor issues is made surprisingly easy, though, thanks to both an excellent Tivo smart system and an overall level of picture quality that really has no business turning up on such an affordable home cinema-sized TV.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 3
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Sharp 43GM6245K

Also consider the TCL 65P755K or 75P755K

Read our Bush 50UT24SB review

Best TV: flagship OLEDs and budget LED sets tried and tested

Amazon Prime Day has unexpectedly coincided with a UK heatwave, and with temperatures expected to reach 34 degrees this weekend, now seems like the perfect time to invest in a portable projector.

If you have a BBQ planned and are wondering what to do for entertainment after the burgers have been scoffed, then an al fresco movie night could be the exact thing you need.

We've seen a handful of great deals on portable projectors throughout the Prime Day sales, but there's one I've spotted that I think should be avoided at all costs.

The LG CineBeam Q (HU710PB) is an admittedly stylish little beamer, but it also happens to be quite expensive and not very good.

We awarded it three stars in our full review, citing that its vibrant colours and excellent black levels were an asset, as well as its premium design and built-in webOS 25 streaming platform.

However, it was severely let down by its audio, which we called "wholly inadequate", earning it a meagre one for sound.

Furthermore, it presented a noticeable level of rainbow effect, and many of the included picture presets appeared to lack brightness.

The nail in the coffin, however, was its price, as it launched for an extortionate £1299. By the time we reviewed it, however, it had dropped to £799, which is better but still quite expensive.

Amazon Prime Day has knocked that price down yet again, this time to £609 at Amazon, but I still don't think you should buy it.

If your goal is to set up a cinema in your garden during this hot spell, I'd instead bring the Xgimi MoGo 4 to your attention.

It only officially launched last month, but Xgimi has wasted no time in dropping the price from £509 to £429 at Amazon.

Now, there are some tradeoffs to be aware of with the Xgimi, such as the fact that it's a 1080p projector rather than 4K, like the CineBeam Q.

However, the Xgimi takes the lead thanks to its built-in battery, which delivers a claimed 2.5 hours of battery life in its eco mode.

The LG, on the other hand, has no built-in battery, meaning you'll need to trail an extension cable out to your garden if you do want to use this beamer outside.

The Xgimi also includes Google TV built-in, with access to Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and more, as well as the ability to cast your smartphone to access unsupported services such as BBC iPlayer and Channel 4.

The Xgimi MoGo 4 actually earned four stars in our review, so you're getting a more versatile and better-performing projector for less, no brainer, right?

MORE:

Amazon: browse all of today's best deals

Sony: new lowest-ever price for the A95L QD-OLED at Richer Sounds

John Lewis: soundbar, Blu-ray and streaming deals

Peter Tyson: big deals on projectors, speaker packages and soundbars

Sevenoaks Sound & Vision: up to £1800 off home cinema packages

It's the final countdown to Amazon Prime Day, meaning we are just hours away from an onslaught of AV and hi-fi deals. The sales will run from the 8th to the 11th of July, with hundreds of pounds off the best TVs. But not every deal will be worth your hard-earned cash.

Take, for example, this early Prime Day deal on a huge Hisense Mini LED TV. The 100-inch E7N, which originally launched for £1999, is down to just £1299 at Amazon.

That's a substantial £700 saving on a comparably substantial TV; however, that doesn't mean it should be the TV you buy this Amazon Prime Day.

For the same price, you can score the 85-inch TCL C805K. This affordable XL TV scooped up a What Hi-Fi? Award last year, and it's priced identically to the Hisense right now. We reviewed it at £1579, but you can save £280 at Richer Sounds currently.

Bigger isn't always better, as shown with this XL TV deal. While we haven't reviewed this particular Hisense, we did review its pricier sibling, the E7N Pro; and we weren't exactly enamoured of it.

It's worth mentioning that the E7N drops a few features from the E7N Pro. Most notably, it doesn't have local dimming, and its peak brightness is 100 nits lower than the Pro model.

Regardless, the E7N Pro proved to be a middling TV at the 75-inch size we reviewed it in. It offers average black levels, but distracting blooming and a dull, flat-looking picture in its supposedly most authentic picture mode.

Based on those findings we don't have high hopes for the standard variant. However, for the same price you can score a huge TV that offers a much more robust picture.

Now, 85 inches is, of course, a step down from the 100-inch screen that the Hisense offers, but it's still pretty huge. Furthermore, we would be willing to accept this compromise, considering the TCL C805K scooped up a five-star review and a What Hi-Fi? Award last year

This TV uses a Mini LED backlight instead of the E7N's direct LED system, meaning you should notice reduced blooming, more convincing blacks and higher peak brightness.

It supports the same HDR formats as the Hisense, including both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, as well as 4K/120Hz on two of its four HDMI sockets.

Dolby Atmos audio is also on board, and it features Google TV for a wide range of supported streaming apps, including Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.

We complimented its spectacular peak brightness, rich colours and impressive light control and contrast in our full review, in which we called this TV "the home cinema bargain of the year"; and that was at full price.

If you're looking for a TV that delivers on big-screen theatrics and don't mind compromising a little on hitting the 100-inch mark, then the TCL 85C805K at £1299 is the early Amazon Prime Day deal for you.

MORE:

Find the best Amazon Prime Day home cinema deals here

Read our full TCL 85C805K review

And check out our picks for the best Mini LED TVs

Despite 4K TVs having been mainstream for a decade, and them being present in 45 per cent of US households, the TV shows and movies we watch on them some (or even most) of the time are still in resolutions lower than 4K (3840 x 2160).

Sure, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services are increasingly hosting 4K content (albeit mainly under premium-priced tiers), while Ultra HD Blu-rays obviously fly the flag for the superior resolution.

But 4K broadcasts are a relatively rare occurrence, especially outside of sport. In fact, amazingly really, the majority of terrestrial broadcast TV isn’t even in high definition (1920 x 1080) but in standard definition (720 x 480/576).

And, of course, we still have Blu-rays (HD) and DVDs (SD) knocking around too, even if their popularity is waning.

For a 4K TV to display images with resolutions lower than 4K, it must upscale the content. You can read all about the ins and outs of TV upscaling here, but in crude terms, that process involves cleverly interpolating the additional pixels required in the lower-resolution image so that it can adequately fill the higher-resolution screen.

When we think about it, our viewing time ratio for 4K and other resolutions is probably around 50:50. How about yours?

If it’s thereabouts or higher, or you are planning to hold some retro horror DVD night in the near-distant future (Yes? We’re interested…), there are some things you can do to maximise your 4K TV viewing experience when watching those lower resolutions.

Drop sharpness, detail and motion-enhancing settings

To upscale an HD and SD image, a 4K TV must make up around 75 and 95 per cent of the moving image, respectively – that’s a lot of (admittedly highly educated) guessing that requires a lot of picture processing.

It’s a tough ask, and sometimes the immensity of that processing effort can be visible through defects that are only exacerbated by modes designed to increase sharpness and contrast to give images more punch.

Sharpness boosters apply fake edges to objects to make them appear more defined, and if applied too aggressively, this can result in ringing around those objects.

Similarly, while applying motion smoothing – which, similarly to upscaling, sees the TV interpolate (guess) what the frame between two frames would be – may well appear logical for, say, DVDs, to overcome a technically ‘poorer’ image, again the repercussions (the unnaturally smooth ‘soap opera’ or ‘window’ effect look) can be more obvious when applied to this lower resolution.

So if your upscaled images look artificial, decrease any sharpness or detail-enhancing settings at play, or those that work to eliminate noise or smooth motion.

Indeed, too much processing on top of too much processing can have adverse effects. Although it should be said that how effective processing is will, of course, largely depend on the sophistication of the interpolation algorithms and the TV’s processing quality and power.

What’s good for 4K may not be good for HD/SD

If you’ve set up your TV correctly, you’ll have experimented with the picture settings and may well have settled on a manufacturer-tuned preset – they’re typically called things such as ‘standard’, ‘dynamic’, 'cinema', 'game', and 'sports'. Good stuff.

The optimum settings for 4K content may not, however, be the optimum settings for HD or SD material, so it’s worth being open to toying with settings further if you spot a picture defect while, say, watching a DVD that you hadn’t noticed before.

A recent case in point: our TV review experts generally find Sony TVs to be the best upscalers, and with the new Sony Bravia 8 II, they decided the most authentic picture was achieved with the Dolby Vision Dark preset for Dolby Vision content, and the Professional preset for non-Vision 4K HDR viewing.

However, when fed a standard-def stream (576p) of The Thin Blue Line, the picture looked a little dark, and therefore a switch from the theoretically more authentic Professional to the brighter Cinema was deemed necessary. Cinema, in fact, became our reviewers' preferred picture mode for all standard-def content.

Similarly, with the Sony A80L, our TV reviewers note that “in all three of the more authentic picture modes – Custom, IMAX Enhanced and Cinema – there’s a bit of black crush that means some dark detail is missing” when playing SD content. However, this can somewhat be “compensated for by adjusting the Black Level setting”.

Yes, tweaking settings is a faff when you’ll most likely want to return to the prior settings before long, but many TVs will allow you to save a custom preset or apply certain settings to specific inputs for easier switching between them, depending on what you’re watching.

TV or source? Check which upscaler is better

If you’re watching DVD discs through a Blu-ray player, or DVDs or Blu-rays through an Ultra HD Blu-ray player, you have an avenue of experimentation ahead of you.

You see, your player may well have better upscaling abilities than your TV and, naturally, you should take advantage of the superior talent.

To test your TV’s upscaling skills, ensure your player’s output is set to send content to the TV in its native format (this is often called the 'Source' mode in a Blu-ray player's settings).

To test your player’s upscaling chops, force it to output its maximum resolution. With a standard Blu-ray player, you would set the output to 1080p, and with a 4K Blu-ray player, you would select 4K.

Upgrade your DVD / Blu-ray player

Of course, an easy way to upgrade your disc-watching and ensure the experience is the best it can be is to own the best-performing source player.

Our best Blu-ray player buying guide recommends four 4K players from £158 / $200, as well as a standard (non-4K) player for £89 (UK only) – and all have very good upscaling abilities.

That non-4K player is the Panasonic DMP-BDT180EB, about which we said this: “its upscaler is competent enough to convey detail and depth with lower quality sources. There is a little bit of expected picture noise, and during dimly lit films such as Alien, the dark details slightly suffer, but it’s an entirely watchable picture that should keep you happy.”

Ultimately, don’t expect miracles

The 4K TVs of recent years are much, much better upscalers than the first waves of models that launched, many of which were so poor at upscaling SD and HD material that, in a 4K-content-poor world back then, they simply weren’t worth buying.

Indeed, it wasn’t until mid-2014, a couple of years after we had began testing 4K sets, that we awarded one a five-star review, praising its ability to deliver HD images “on a par with some of the better Full HD TVs we’ve seen” and an SD performance similar to what “we’d expect if watching a regular HD TV”.

Due to improved upscaling algorithms, often based on clever deep-learning (or AI) technology, good 4K TVs of recent years are much more capable of delivering highly watchable pictures below a 4K resolution.

Just don’t expect miracles when it comes to SD content. In this instance, a 4K TV is essentially ‘making up’ 95 per cent of a moving image!

Watchable? Yes. But in many cases, outlines will be noticeably softer, noise won’t be completely eradicated, and you’ll get some blurring artefacts during fast movement – especially noticeable if you sit close to the screen.

That said, the better your TV, the less compromised your SD watching will be. In our recent Sony Bravia 8 II review, our expert reviewers noted: “It wouldn’t be too hard to convince someone that what they were watching was HD rather than SD.”

Of course, some SD content will look better than others due to the quality of the broadcast/DVD production itself.

MORE:

Welcome to What Hi-Fi?’s Home Cinema Week!

Discs vs streaming: how do you watch your favourite films and TV shows?

How to set up your TV and get the best picture

If you are on the hunt for a cheap portable projector for those hot summer evenings, Yaber has released a product that may pique your interest.

The T1 Pro brings “flexible entertainment for everyday spaces—all at an accessible price point,” according to the Chinese brand.

Weighing in at just 1.2kg, the mini projector should be easy to take on-the-go for a movie night.

It houses just one 8W speaker, and features a 180 degree rotating gimbal which, according to Yaber, means the projector can also be positioned on the wall or ceiling “without the need for additional mounts.”

Yaber also claims the screen size can range from 40 to 120 inches. Auto-keystone correction, auto-focus and intelligent screen alignment are also available.

Using a variant of Linux OS, the 1080p projector comes preloaded with Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video.

In terms of sound, Yaber’s latest entry is employing 'TurboSonic' technology which it says delivers “rich, room-filling sound with deeper bass and immersive spatial presence.”

Sporting a cylindrical design with an ambient disc at the bottom, the projector does somewhat resemble projectors such as the Xgimi MoGo 4 that also hit the shelves this year.

The T1 Pro is available for £170 / $160 (around AU$335), meaning Yaber is truly targeting the cheaper end of the projector market.

With quite a barebones offering in terms of streaming smarts and connectivity, the T1 Pro is certainly not competing with the likes of the four-star Samsung The Freestyle that can now regularly be found for around £499 in the UK.

Still, if you are looking for an uber-cheap portable projector for light viewing, Yaber’s latest model looks promising on paper.

MORE:

Here is our full review of the MoGo 4

And these are the best portable projectors we recommend

Projector screens: everything you need to know

The Hisense PL1 ultra short-throw projector won a well-deserved What Hi-Fi? Award in 2024, but with the arrival of the PL2 earlier this year, it now has competition from its very own successor.

Both projectors use the same X-Fusion Laser Technology to beam their big pictures onto your wall, and telling them apart requires very close inspection, but there are technical differences between the two.

We’ve had both the PL1 and PL2 in our testing rooms, and with five-star scores being awarded to both, you might be wondering which one you should allow to live in your lounge.

That’s why we’ve used those reviews to compare them on price, design, features, picture and sound, so you can make a fully informed decision.

• Xgimi MoGo 4 vs Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air: which projector is better?

Hisense PL1 vs Hisense PL2: price

Both the PL1 and PL2 were originally launched with prices of £1999 / $2500, but neither will set you back anywhere close to that now.

The arrival of the PL2 saw a drop in price for the PL1, but the PL2 is also now available for a lot less, meaning the gap between the two is now fairly small. The PL2 is generally available for around £1600 / $2000, but we’ve seen it drop as low as £1399 in the UK, while the PL1 is typically available for £1500 / $1500.

The bigger issue is likely to be availability. There aren’t many places that stock the PL1 anymore, particularly in the UK, whereas the newer, better-specced PL2 is easy to find.

Given this, and the relatively minor price discrepancy, we don’t think buying the PL1 over the PL2 would represent a genuine saving, so we’re going to give this one to the PL2.

**Winner: Hisense PL2**

Hisense PL1 vs Hisense PL2: design

Put these two side by side and it’s very clear they’re related, with the same mesh grille on the front and triangular cutout vents on the side. In fact, at a glance, it’s genuinely tough to tell them apart, but if you break out the tape measure, you will find some differences.

Measuring 12 x 53 x 34cm, the PL2 is actually a bit smaller in all directions than the PL1 (above), which comes in at 16 x 55 x 37cm. In reality, that difference is negligible and will only make a difference if the space you’ve got is particularly restricted.

There are no physical lens controls on either of these projectors. Instead, you have to upload a picture of your screen to a website and allow an auto-correction system to adjust it for you remotely, although we achieved the best results by tweaking it afterwards using the adjustable feet on both models.

Most importantly, both of these projectors will easily fit into your setup without being distracting, which is exactly what they’re designed to do. With its slightly more compact chassis, though, we’re going to give this one to the PL2.

**Winner: Hisense PL2**

Hisense PL1 vs Hisense PL2: features

It might be smaller, then, but the PL2 has still been upgraded in a number of key areas.

The most noticeable one is the brightness, which has been boosted from 2100 ANSI lumens on the PL1 to 2700 on the PL2, while the maximum image size is also larger: 150 inches compared to 120 inches.

Both do 4K at 60Hz, which might disappoint some gamers hoping for a higher refresh rate, but the PL2 can manage 1080p at 120Hz if you’re willing to sacrifice some resolution for a more responsive gameplay experience.

HDR support is the same on both – Dolby Vision, HDR10 (and 10+) and HLG.

Around the back of each projector, you will find two HDMI 2.1 sockets (one that has eARC), an ethernet port and two USBs (one 3.0, one 2.0).

Hisense has also found space for an extra HDMI socket on the PL2 (above). It’s only HDMI 2.0, but it does give you more input options if you’re using the eARC port for a soundbar.

If you buy either a PL1 or PL2 in the USA, it will come with Google TV, but elsewhere you’ll get Hisense’s own VIDAA software running the show.

We would prefer they all used the former as the latter is a little clunky, but not disastrously so, and we have no complaints when it comes to app support. Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ are all there for you to use, although only the PL1 supports Apple AirPlay if you want to send something wirelessly from your phone.

**Winner: Hisense PL2**

Hisense PL1 vs Hisense PL2: picture

Upgraded specs don’t always translate to a meaningfully better performance, particularly when the price is also higher, but the PL2 (above) is a clear step up over the PL1 when it comes to picture performance – although only if you fiddle with the settings a bit first.

In Filmmaker mode, with the Warm 2 colour profile selected, the PL2 is capable of delivering one of the best pictures you’ll find from an ultra short-throw projector at this price. The extra brightness is particularly noticeable, adding more impact and vibrancy to the explosions and large expanses of desert in Denis Villeneuve’s epic Dune: Part 2.

Scenes that demand a high level of contrast between light and dark don’t look quite as vibrant, particularly when upscaling, and there are times when its middling black levels become more apparent, but overall, the PL2’s picture is generally balanced and consistent.

That doesn’t mean the PL1 is suddenly a bad performer. The picture it produces is sharp, punchy and cinematic, and it never fails to keep up with the frantic chase sequences in Baby Driver. There’s a pleasing level of depth to the image and a nice level of detail, even if black levels can’t compete with those you’d get from one of the best OLED TVs.

When it comes down to it, though, the PL2 is our winner here: bigger, brighter and just that bit better all round.

**Winner: Hisense PL2**

Hisense PL1 vs Hisense PL2: sound

Both of these projectors have the same 2x 15W sound system built-in, with front-facing drivers that promise more than they can deliver.

The PL1 (above) and PL2 boast Dolby Atmos certification, but no matter whether you put them in Standard or Theatre mode, there’s little in the way of height or width, although the latter does sound a little more spacious.

Dialogue clarity is more impressive, and we’d argue that should be the priority with built-in speakers on devices like these anyway. If the overall performance isn’t going to be top notch, at least make sure you can hear what’s being said over any background noise.

Neither projector is capable of generating a huge amount of bass, and if you turn the volume up too much on the PL2, things start to distort, while the PL1 doesn’t offer much in the way of detail or dynamics.

As UST speakers go, this is about par for the course. If you just want to watch the news, they’ll do just fine, but the whole point of owning a projector is to make your viewing more cinematic, so budgeting for a separate sound system is essential, whichever model you opt for.

**Winner: Draw**

Hisense PL1 vs Hisense PL2: verdict

By taking everything we loved about the Award-winning PL1 and refining it, Hisense has delivered a UST projector that offers even more bang for your buck.

The audio performance is still mediocre, but with spec upgrades that translate to a picture performance that’s brighter and goes even bigger, and a price that’s already only slightly higher than that of the PL1, it’s easy to recommend the newer model over the old one.

With the PL1 getting harder to find as time goes on, it might actually be availability that makes this decision for you, but even if you found a shop selling both, we’d still go for the PL2 (above) every time.

**Overall Winner: Hisense PL2**

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Best outdoor projectors 2025: top models reviewed and rated

The Sony Bravia 8 II is one of – if not the – most exciting new TVs of the year. Not that you would know that from the name.

The TV is exciting because it’s the successor to the A95L QD-OLED, a model so good that it’s still one of the very best TVs you can currently buy, despite being nearly two years old.

But the name is weird. ‘Bravia 8 II’ suggests it’s the successor to the Bravia 8 W-OLED TV, but the Bravia 8 is continuing in the range, with the Bravia 8 II sitting above it.

Why not call the new model the ‘Bravia 9’? Because Sony’s flagship Mini LED model already takes that name. It can’t be called ‘Bravia 10’, either, as that would suggest it sits above the Bravia 9, which isn’t the case. Besides, that name is likely being saved for the company’s upcoming RGB LED TV.

What’s in a name? Well, the worry is that the name is rather confusing and possibly undersells this new Sony QD-OLED. And it would be a real shame if potential buyers were put off by it – because the Bravia 8 II, here reviewed in 55-inch form, is an extraordinarily good TV.

How much does the Bravia 8 II cost?

Sony promised that the Bravia 8 II would be ‘more affordable than the A95L’, by which it meant that the new model would launch for less than the outgoing model did.

That has turned out to be true for the UK and Australia, but unfortunately not for the US.

Here’s a full launch price comparison between the Bravia 8, Bravia 8 II and A95L:

Thankfully, discounts have come early for the US, so while the TV is still full price in the UK and Australia, it has already dropped to $2500 and $3000 in the US for the 55- and 65-inch versions respectively.

More important than how the Bravia 8 II's pricing compares with that of its fellow Sony TVs is how it compares with rivals such as the LG G5, Samsung S95F and Panasonic Z95B.

You can see the launch pricing for all four models here:

Of course, launch pricing is just the start of the story, and we always recommend waiting for discounts before making a purchase.

History suggests that the LG G5 will be the most heavily discounted model over time, closely followed by the Samsung S95F. Sony and Panasonic TVs, particularly flagship models, are usually less aggressively discounted.

That said, it feels as though we’re in a fairly unprecedented period of volatility, so there’s no guarantee that pricing history will repeat with these models.

What are the key design features of the Bravia 8 II?

The Bravia 8 II looks very similar to the A95L it replaces. One suspects that Sony decided to reuse as much of the chassis as possible to reduce costs so that it could sell the new model for less than its predecessor.

Compared with the flagship OLEDs that Sony produced before the A95L, the design is relatively conventional, but it is also quite smart and premium compared with many rivals.

Sony points to the Bravia 8 II as the slimmest TV in its lineup. At 3.4cm, though, it is the same thickness as the outgoing A95L and significantly thicker than rivals such as the Samsung S95F (1.1cm) and LG G5 (2.4cm). At least some of that comparative thickness is probably due, as with the A95L, to the actuator-based sound system and custom heatsink.

Like the A95L, the Bravia 8 II has blade-style feet that can be positioned only at the furthest extremes of the TV’s bottom edge. Sony claims that’s great for preventing reflections, but it also means the TV can’t be placed on furniture narrower than the set's width, which is 122cm (48 inches) for the 55-inch model and 145cm (64.5 inches) for the 65-inch version.

While the feet can’t be positioned closer to the centre of the chassis, they can be extended to lift the TV a few centimetres so that a soundbar can be positioned in front of the TV without obstructing the screen.

One big disappointment on the design front is that the remote control has been downgraded from the rechargeable, backlit number of the A95L, Bravia 9 and even the Bravia 8, to one that requires AAA batteries and doesn’t light up in the dark. That seems an odd decision.

What are the key features of the Bravia 8 II?

The big thing here, of course, is that the Bravia 8 II uses what Sony refers to as ‘the latest QD-OLED panel’. This, combined with Sony’s processing and custom heatsink, results in the new model apparently being able to go 25 per cent brighter than its A95L QD-OLED predecessor in terms of peak brightness, and 50 per cent brighter than the Bravia 8 W-OLED.

• Read more: W-OLED vs QD-OLED

With this increased brightness comes increased colour volume, and Sony claims to have also engineered big improvements to dark gradation (essentially very dark shading).

As you would expect, the Bravia 8 II is powered by Sony’s XR Processor which, like every rival TV processor right now, uses AI, most notably in what the brand refers to as ‘an AI scene recognition system’. This new, 2025 feature, which is exclusive to the Bravia 8 II and Bravia 5, apparently ‘detects and analyses data with flawless accuracy, then optimises the picture for ultimate realism’.

Sony has gone big in recent years on what it calls ‘Studio Calibrated Modes’. These, it says, deliver content from their respective streaming services as it was meant to be seen. So it’s no surprise to see the Netflix Adaptive Calibrated Mode, Prime Video Calibrated Mode and Sony Pictures Core Calibrated Mode all present on the Bravia 8 II.

The TV also supports Dolby Vision and Atmos, and is IMAX Enhanced certified. As with all previous Sony TVs, it does not support HDR10+, but the standard HDR10 and HLG HDR formats are, of course, on board.

Unfortunately, precious little has changed on the gaming front. Yes, the TV supports 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, and it has a Dolby Vision Game mode. The ‘Perfect for PlayStation 5’ functionality remains, too, which means the TV will automatically dial in pretty accurate HDR settings when connected to a PlayStation 5.

The problem is that there are still just two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets, and one of those doubles as the eARC port, so it will be taken up by your soundbar or other sound system, should you choose to add one. That will leave just one top-specification input for your console or gaming PC.

That’s fine if you have just one such device, but if you have more, you’re going to have to do some irritating cable swapping or accept the extras running at less than their full capabilities.

As expected, the Bravia 8 II features the Google TV platform, which is gradually gaining ground on LG’s slicker webOS.

The app selection is excellent, with no significant absentees. That includes all of the UK's catch-up services, which can be missing from some Google TV devices.

Every app delivers its content in the expected formats, too, and an initial issue we had with Netflix delivering content in 5.1 rather than Dolby Atmos has since sorted itself out.

How good is the Bravia 8 II's picture quality?

For our testing, we’ve lined the Bravia 8 II up against both its A95L predecessor and Bravia 8 sibling, feeding all sets a variety of content in 4K Dolby Vision, 4K HDR10, 1080p and standard-def.

This content includes Alien: Romulus, Sinners, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Alex Garland’s Civil War, Pan, The Fall Guys, and even an episode of Rowan Atkinson’s fairly forgotten The Thin Blue Line from 1995.

To cut to the chase, the Bravia 8 II is a significant upgrade on both models, and no flaws have been introduced. It’s all gain and no pain, and the results are glorious.

One of the Bravia 8 II’s greatest strengths is how easy it is to get looking its best. For a supremely authentic picture, simply pick Dolby Vision Dark for Dolby Vision content or Professional for everything else.

Should you want a little more pop to proceedings, either because you’re watching in a room with ambient light or simply because you enjoy an even more thrilling delivery, simply switch to Dolby Vision Bright or the Cinema mode.

We’re not saying that small tweaks won’t result in an even better picture, but the presets are so spot on, the vast majority of owners won’t deem that extra effort necessary.

We kick things off with Alien: Romulus in Dolby Vision, and the upgrades offered by the Bravia 8 II are clear and appreciable.

The first of these is predictably the noticeably brighter peak highlights, with the pin-prick stars glistening that little bit more piercingly against the foreboding blackness of deep space.

But there’s more to it than that. The Bravia 8 II’s bright colours are more vibrant than they are from the Bravia 8 and brighter than they are from the A95L, which makes the steadily illuminating orange and red buttons in the cockpit of the recovery craft all the more impressive.

Colours maintain their natural vibrancy in low-light areas, too, such as the bunk in which Cailee Spaeny’s Rain awakens for another glorious day in the employ of the Weyland Yutani corporation.

The work that Sony has done on dark gradation has really paid off as well, in that there’s far more shadow detail from the Bravia 8 II than either of the other sets.

All of the folds and wrinkles in Andy’s (David Jonsson) grey jacket are clear as he and Rain walk through the dystopian streets of the Jackson’s Star Mining Colony, whereas the finest elements are lost on the Bravia 8 and A95L.

But what’s most impressive is how all of these elements combine with Sony’s new AI processing to make the image look so much more solid and three-dimensional. There’s volume and roundedness to objects and people (Rain and Andy as they eat breakfast in front of a daylight-style window, for example), and backgrounds have depth and purpose (the street behind Rain as she talks through a window to a cold corporate shill).

These traits hold true when we switch to Sinners. The incredible, dramatic sunrise skies over the cotton fields have greater shading, depth and contrast from the Bravia 8 II, and you get the feeling you could put your hand through the TV and reach towards the horizon.

The bleached white church really pops against the azure blue skies and verdant green fields, and as the movie takes its dark turn, the improved presentation of shadow detail ensures that you never miss a gory effect or creepy facial expression.

Punchy animated movie Into The Spider-Verse absolutely pops from the Bravia 8 II, particularly in Dolby Vision Bright. The bright sun over Brooklyn sizzles, original Spidey’s red suit is super-vivid, and the dimension-melding action at the start of the film crackles with colour.

Civil War, meanwhile, is such a crisp and vibrant movie (somewhat ironic given the gritty subject matter), and it too looks utterly glorious in HDR10 from the Bravia 8 II.

The flawless colour reproduction brings out the red of the near-sunburnt skin of Wagner Moura’s Joel as he awakens with a hangover in the bright sunlight, and while Kirsten Dunst’s Lee looks a little too pale and shadowy from the Bravia 8 and A95L respectively, the Bravia 8 II reveals the small amount of colour left in her cheeks and the full anguish on her face.

Unsurprisingly, the bright tracer fire and explosions during the battle for Washington, D.C. leap from the screen, providing stunning contrast against the dimly lit streets.

As you would probably imagine, given that it’s mastered to a super-bright 4000 nits, Pan goes even further in illustrating the advantages of the Bravia 8 II over both the Bravia 8 and A95L.

Of course, even the new model can get nowhere near the 4000 nits of the source material, but the combination of greater brightness headroom and some exceptional tone mapping results in significantly more piercing highlights with precise detail and shading.

Once again, though, it’s the way that all of the Bravia 8 II’s individually small upgrades combine to make the image seem so much more solid and lifelike that is so impressive.

Right at the other end of the quality spectrum is our standard-def stream of The Thin Blue Line, and it’s certainly true that 576p material such as this benefits less from the Bravia 8 II’s upgrades than 4K HDR does, but the quality of the upscaling is still mightily impressive.

The image created by the Bravia 8 II is undeniably cleaner and smoother than the other sets can manage, but there’s also impressive sharpness and detail. It wouldn’t be too hard to convince someone that what they were watching was HD rather than SD. We do feel the need to switch from Professional to Cinema here, though, as the former looks a little too dark.

Overall, the key to the Bravia 8 II’s success is balance. The colours are so vibrant, highlights so bright and edges so sharp, but nothing feels exaggerated or incorrect, which means you never feel as though you’re getting anything other than the very best versions of your movies and TV shows.

How good is the Bravia 8 II's sound system?

The Bravia 8 II has the same Acoustic Surface Audio+ setup as the A95L. Said setup consists of two actuators and two subwoofers (the Bravia 8 features two lesser actuators and one sub) and, in the A95L, represents one of the best built-in TV sound systems currently available.

Sure enough, the Bravia 8 II sounds just as good.

The actuators vibrate the screen itself in order to make sound. This ties the audio and video spatially in a way that rival solutions can’t match. But, as with the A95L, the Bravia 8 II manages to combine this directness with very impressive (by TV standards) spaciousness, with effects stretching far beyond the edges of the screen in all directions.

There’s excellent detail, too, and enough dynamic nuance to convey the emotion in an actor’s performance. Bigger dynamic shifts are also handled well, with chapter two of Blade Runner 2049 building steadily where rival sets sound flat.

As with the A95L, the Bravia 8 II isn’t the last word in bass depth, but it’s weightier than many rivals and, more importantly, is very controlled in the low frequencies, with only the faintest hint of fuzz creeping into the uniquely deep notes of the soundtrack.

Tonal balance is very good overall, in fact, with the impressive lower midrange ensuring that there’s warmth and fullness to voices.

In short, the Bravia 8 II sounds very similar to the A95L, which means it’s one of the best-sounding TVs you can buy. We still believe that a picture as good as this demands to be partnered by a dedicated sound system, but this is one of those rare TVs that won’t instantly be improved through the addition of a cheap soundbar.

Think along the lines of the Sonos Arc Ultra as a starting point for appropriate sound quality.

Verdict: is the Sony Bravia 8 II worth buying?

The Sony Bravia 8 II is a truly exceptional TV. Its combination of sizzling brightness, vibrant colours through all degrees of light, terrific shadow detail and razor-like sharpness combine to produce an image with regularly astonishing dynamism, depth and realism.

In fact, it’s so good that it makes the awesome A95L look a bit flat in comparison.

We haven’t yet had the chance to run the Bravia 8 II side-by-side with the LG G5, but our previous experience with the G5 tells us that it will win for sheer brightness and spectacle, but that the Bravia 8 II should be more considered and consistent. We already know for a fact that the Sony sounds significantly better, too.

We will be doing that full comparison as part of our Awards judging process, and we’re predicting a tense battle. Until then, we can’t proclaim the Bravia 8 II to be the very best TV available right now – but it’s undeniably already one of the best.

SCORES:

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 4

MORE:

Also consider the LG G5, Samsung S95F and Panasonic Z95B

How about a different Sony model? Check out our Bravia 8 review and Bravia 9 review

These are the overall best OLED TVs you can buy right now

Even though we (obviously) all love movies here at What Hi-Fi?, there is still quite the range of interests in our team, and nothing makes that more clear than when we discuss our favourite test discs.

Some of us immediately reach for a terrifying horror, whereas others prefer to ease themselves in with a wholesome period drama.

If you have ever been curious about exactly what films we use to test out the latest tech, then boy are you in for a treat.

This entry for ‘Now Showing’ really lays out our huge range of tastes of the table, so strap in for a melange of genres, time periods and hot-takes. Let's get cracking!

Barbarian

There are more than a few Shudder subscribers in the What Hi-Fi? team. So when a horror movie arrives with scenes so bad even we have a collective “sweet-zombie-jeebus” moment, it is either doing something very right, or very wrong.

Barbarian managed to do just that. The 2022 directorial debut from Zach Cregger tells the tale of a creepy Airbnb house in Detroit and has all the trappings of a classic horror.

Hammer Horror tongue-in-cheek elements, that are nicely played up by Justin Long (previously of Jeepers Creepers and Tusk horror fame)? Yep. Expert timing that leaves you in a constant state of dread? Check. Gore galore and a story where the big bad is way worse and creepier than anything you came up with in your head? You bet.

This, plus its stellar use of audio, which genuinely makes you feel slightly sick in certain scenes and “bump in the night” use of shadow to leave you constantly feeling threatened make it a fantastic title for fans of the genre.

If you are a fan of great films including Hereditary, Midsommar and Sinister, I’d strongly recommend giving it a watch.

Words by Alastair Stevenson

Watch Barbarian on Netflix

Little Women

What's that noise? Ah yes, it's the sound of your necks cracking from the tonal whiplash of this entry. But bear with me here, because this is a go-to for both testing and when I just want to watch a bloody good movie.

When I heard that Greta Gerwig (the director of Lady Bird and Barbie) was making an adaptation of one of my favourite books, I was the first in the queue to see Louisa May Alcott's novel brought to life for a new generation.

Luckily, it did not disappoint.

If you are unfamiliar, Little Women follows four sisters in the 1860s during the American Civil War. It charts their journeys from childhood to womanhood, from first loves to dealing with life-threatening illness.

The film has a timeless feel from the first frame with a limited colour palette of blues and pastel shades. Paired with a soundtrack that has the same nostalgic feel as the 2005 iteration of Pride And Prejudice, it is an ideal watch to see how a home cinema system handles more subtle audio and picture.

Words by Robyn Quick

Watch Little Women on Amazon Prime Video

Buy Little Women on Blu-ray at Amazon

Sinners

In my youth, I knew the ins and outs of more or less every movie long before it came out, having avidly devoured every trailer and every bit of news in the pages of Empire and Total Film.

Too many times, though, films that I was all hyped up for turned out to be a disappointment (or were spoiled by a review or the trailer itself), so these days I intentionally keep myself in the dark.

Even so, Sinners was a real surprise. It just sort of appeared out of nowhere and was then everywhere, and the very short clips that I couldn’t avoid looked very good indeed.

And then my movie-obsessed colleague Robyn Quick wrote this piece about their experience seeing the movie at the cinema and predicting how good it would be as a home cinema tester.

Well, Sinners is now available to watch at home – not on 4K Blu-ray, unfortunately, but as a premium rental or purchase through services such as Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and the Sky Store – and I can confirm that it is indeed an awesome film and an incredible tester.

I really don’t want to give anything away about the movie (that would be unfair given what I wrote above), but suffice to say it’s a terrific mix of action and horror with a smattering of comedy and some excellent gore.

It’s achingly cool, too, and the largely night-time setting gives your TV plenty of high-contrast imagery to deal with (it looks great on an OLED). But, as Robyn predicted, it’s the Dolby Atmos soundtrack that is most thrilling, particularly during the genre-melding, time-travelling, spirit-awakening musical number led by the excellent Miles Caton.

Words by Tom Parsons

Watch Sinners on Amazon Prime Video

Xgimi has been producing a steady stream of portable projectors recently, with the latest hitting the shelves only last week.

The MoGo 4 is the brand’s latest contender, but with some formidable competition on the market, it’s an uphill battle for the small, yet mighty, projector.

The Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air is standing with its arms crossed, sizing up the MoGo 4 with a stern look. It is, after all, the current overall champion of our best portable projectors page.

Luckily, we have tested both projectors, so there is no need for the pair to step into the ring and settle things with violence.

So let’s take a look at how these projectors perform.

Xgimi MoGo 4 vs Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air: price

You can get the MoGo 4 for £509 / $499 (around AU$765).

While we have yet to see any price reductions yet, as the projector has just hit the shelves, it's quite likely that there will be discounts in the near future.

The Nebula Mars 3 Air launched at a slightly higher price of £550 / $600 / AU$1300.

Since it was released over a year ago, however, we have seen some decent discounts knocking it down much closer to the MoGo 4’s price.

**Winner: Xgimi MoGo 4**

Xgimi MoGo 4 vs Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air: design

Both the Xgimi MoGo 4 and the Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air have practical yet stylish designs that are difficult not to like. They also have built-in batteries, with both models touting a claimed 2.5 hours of playback when not in the vicinity of a mains socket.

Weighing in at 1.3kg, the MoGo 4 has a cylindrical body that can be twisted to transform the hard plastic on the side into a nifty stand. This can then be adjusted up and down easily, making set-up a relatively fuss-free affair.

A mini-remote is also included alongside the full-fat remote control we would expect, which could make it easier to transport – you can leave the primary backlit remote at home when taking the MoGo out of the house if you’d prefer to keep it safe and sound.

The Nebula Mars 3 Air’s bucket-like design weighs only 0.4kg more than the MoGo 4, making it simple to take on the go. The included carry handle is appreciated, but the lack of physical positional adjustment is a bit of a problem.

With a more versatile design that allows for easier picture positioning, the MoGo 4 comes out on top.

**Winner: Xgimi MoGo 4**

Xgimi MoGo 4 vs Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air: features

Both portable models are 1080p-resolution, LED-lit DLP projection systems. They also use Google TV as their operating system, which has built-in Netflix; we note this because up until now, support for Netflix on portable projectors has been spotty at best.

You can also access Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Disney+, but BBC iPlayer and Channel 4 are not available unless you Google Cast from another device.

There is only one HDMI connection on each projector, but that's to be expected, considering they are primarily designed to be portable; streaming is built in, and we’re not convinced anyone is going to be carrying a Blu-ray player or console everywhere they go.

When it comes to picture modes, both models are keeping things simple. They offer Movie, Standard and Game presets, as well as an Eco mode which lowers brightness to extend play time when running away from a mains power source.

It’s a similar story with the audio presets on offer, with the two models offering Music and Movie modes. The Nebula Mars 3 Air has an Outdoors mode, while the MoGo 4 offers a Sports mode. We can’t see this being a huge sway in terms of appeal for cinephiles, but sports fans will see the appeal of having a louder and more spacious sound.

Both projectors feature two built-in drivers; however, the MoGo 4’s 6W speaker system is topped by the Anker’s slightly more powerful 8W system.

In terms of setup features, the MoGo 4 is keeping things simple yet practical with auto-keystone correction that kicks in when the projector is moved.

The Anker model has its own version of this, which they have called ‘Intelligent Environment Adaptation 3.0.’ This also includes an auto object avoidance system that attempts to reposition the image to the side of any objects that might appear in the projector’s direct line of sight.

Both projectors are pretty much on the same level when it comes to features, however, so a tie seems fair.

**Winner: draw**

Xgimi MoGo 4 vs Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air: picture

Now for the main attraction.

We were impressed by the picture performance from the MoGo 4 during testing, as we found it presents a “vibrant and crisp” overall image.

It does tend to overdo that vibrancy at times, though. This is most likely because Xgimi wants the image to be clear in light conditions, but in a more traditional dark room, it can look as though the colours are overcooked.

Despite that, it looks impressively natural and does a good job with dark details. We also noted that the contrast of flaming torches against the black background in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes looked “punchy”, which made for an overall cinematic image.

With the Nebula Mars 3 Air, we say in our review that the “sharpness doesn’t look forced or processing-induced” and note that it can “present dark scenes without much of the grey wash that’s so common among rival projectors.”

While we do notice that the auto focus system can sometimes leave the image looking a touch softer in its upper quarter, it is still easy to live with and great fun to watch with pretty much any source you throw at it.

This time, it’s the Nebula model that just takes the lead.

**Winner: Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air**

Xgimi MoGo 4 vs Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air: sound

With audio performance, the Nebula Mars 3 Air emerges more clearly as a leader. The sound is pretty expansive by projector standards and doesn't feel trapped inside the body.

We note in our review: “Detailed movie mixes sound crisp and busy, but are also well-rounded enough not to sound harsh or thin.”

The MoGo 4, on the other hand, keeps the sound quite localised. This results in a reasonably thin overall sound, although it does manage to maintain a balanced presentation.

Neither of the projectors manages to go very loud, but this is to be expected when the big focus for the manufacturers is portability.

**Winner: Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air**

Xgimi MoGo 4 vs Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air: verdict

Both the MoGo 4 and the Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air are excellent examples of how picture quality doesn't have to suffer for a projector model to be portable.

If getting the best picture and sound quality out of a projector is the most important aspect for you, then the Nebula Mars 3 Air does pip the MoGo 4 to the post.

That being said, the MoGo 4 still provides a clear picture with a more versatile build.

**Overall winner: Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air**

When it comes to visions of the future, the seventies sci-fi movie Rollerball is pretty brutal.

And not just because it's based around an ultraviolent sport in which players wear metal-studded gloves for bashing the opposing team's faces in.

It's also a chilling dystopian vision with some scarily relevant themes.

Originally released in June 1975, Rollerball celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

It's available to stream on the MGM Plus channel on Amazon Prime Video, or you can rent and buy it online, and on DVD and Blu-ray.

Directed by Norman Jewison, Rollerball stars James Caan as Jonathan E, whose success in a violent future sport makes him dangerous.

The world of the film is divided and ruled by corporations, where power and wealth is held by a mega-rich elite who keep the regular folk distracted with violent spectacle.

The kinetic and increasingly bloodthirsty match sequences stand out, but what really makes this film so powerful is the contrast between the fast-paced sporting mayhem and the tense dystopian drama in between matches.

As Jonathan questions his hedonistic executive lifestyle and faces the inequality of the elites, the film gives us a chilling view of the future that has, in some ways, become reality, with all-powerful corporations controlling information on impenetrable computers.

In the lead role, Caan embodies this contrast between the action and the quieter scenes.

He pulls off a tricky combination of brawny sports star and troubled antihero, grounding the two extremes of sporting carnage and subtle sci-fi symbolism.

The roller skating and vast banks of computer equipment might look kitsch today – the scorching orange production design and André Previn's music all feel very retro – but Caan's serious performance and the overall austere tone balance it out perfectly.

50 years later, Rollerball still packs a punch.

MORE:

This forgotten classic has finally hit home streaming – and it proves that remasters don't always need 4K and HDR

Almost every bit of home cinema and hi-fi kit we test is a product of compromise.

In many categories, such as traditional home cinema projectors, that compromise is as ‘simple’ as (we use that word advisedly, knowing that there is no such thing as simplicity in projector design) making the picture performance compromises necessary to hit a specific price point.

With portable projectors, though, things are even trickier.

Compromises have to be made not only to hit a specific and often much lower price point, but also so that the device can be small, light and, preferably, good-looking.

Oh, and unlike a traditional home cinema projector, which will generally be connected to a dedicated audio system, a portable projector also needs to sound good.

It needs to have enough battery to get through a full movie or football match, too. And it needs an integrated smart platform.

That’s a lot to ask for, isn’t it? And it’s a conundrum we have in mind as we unbox the MoGo 4, Xgimi’s latest portable projector. Are its compromises in all the right places?

They will need to be if it’s going to fare better with us than its three-star MoGo 3 Pro predecessor.

Price

The MoGo 4 has launched for £509 / $499 (around AU$1062 on straight conversion, but we are expecting official pricing for Australia soon). This is slightly more pricey than its predecessor, the MoGo 3 Pro, which launched at £429 / $449 / AU$1099.

Both models are pretty similar when it comes to build and features, but the MoGo 4 does have a built-in battery where the MoGo 3 Pro does not. That could be a huge factor for those looking to have a projector they can take on the go.

As well as trumping its predecessor, the MoGo 4 will be looking to defeat the Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air, which launched at £550 / $600 / AU$1300. This four-star model is one of the best portable projectors, boasting pleasing picture and sound quality as well as an attractive build.

Design

About the size of a large water bottle, the MoGo 4 feels genuinely portable. By twisting the body out, the hard plastic on the side transforms into a nifty stand.

There is a small remote that hangs off the body of the projector so that you don’t have to worry about taking multiple components. This remote keeps things extremely minimal with just controls for volume, a D-pad to navigate the menu and a back button.

For those looking for a more comprehensive remote control, though, there is a full-fat alternative included in the box. As well as the features on the small remote, this zapper features shortcut buttons to the home page, settings, personal profile and auto-keystone correction.

Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube also have their own shortcuts on this larger remote.

Features

The MoGo 4 uses Google TV with built-in Netflix support, plus the usual streaming suspects. That includes Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, ITVX and Disney+.

However, Channel 4 and BBC iPlayer are not available here. You can get past this by using Google Cast, but it would be better to have native app support.

The projector also supports both Bluetooth (5.1) and wi-fi connectivity.

HDR support only runs to HDR10, with no Dolby Vision or HDR10+, but for a fully portable projector, this is expected.

In terms of picture modes, there are limited options. Standard mode is the most balanced for colour and is bright, while Movie mode cranks up the saturation to enhance contrast.

By default, Movie gives the picture an orange tint. When we turn the saturation down and lower the sharpness, it looks much more cinematic.

Both presets are likeable, but we find our tweaked version of the Movie preset to be best overall.

There is an Eco mode, which is required in order to hit Xgimi’s claim of 2.5 hours of battery life, but this understandably darkens the image slightly. It is activated automatically when the projector is disconnected from a power source, but it can be switched off in the settings.

For outdoor use, the MoGo 4 offers a Performance mode that brightens the image, but it also gives the entire picture an Elphaba-esque green tint, which makes it unsuitable for indoor use. With the lights up in our test room, the picture presets are more balanced and visible, so we cannot see many people using this feature.

Moving to sound, Movie mode makes vocals feel the most realistic and the music the most expressive. With Music mode, the voices are brought to the forefront, but at the expense of the bass.

Game mode widens the sound, but makes it feel artificial and thin. There is also a Sports mode for those looking to watch the latest match. This widens the soundstage.

Picture

After fine-tuning Movie mode to our desired levels, we kick off with Knives Out: A Glass Onion Mystery on Netflix in HDR10.

As the guests board a mysterious boat on the Greek coast, the natural blues and greens look bright yet realistic with the MoGo 4.

It, of course, does not have the detail of bigger, more expensive projectors such as the Nebula X1, but for such a small piece of kit, the MoGo 4 manages to portray a nicely balanced picture, with the branches of trees in the background appearing crisp.

Changing to Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes on standard Blu-ray, we are able to test out the projector’s performance when it comes to black levels. When a group of menacing apes come up against our protagonist Noa, the scene is bathed in darkness apart from the orange light of flaming sticks.

The MoGo 4 does a good job with the deep blacks, as well as making sure there is a decent amount of detail in the lighter shades. The flames also look punchy against the black background, making for an overall cinematic image.

At points, the vibrancy of the image can be a bit heavy-handed. This is likely a decision that Xgimi has made to compensate for when users are watching films outdoors, but it is a flaw worth noting as we expect the MoGo 4 will be used more in the house than outside it.

When a Nazi train filled with archeological treasures barrels along the tracks in Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny on standard Blu-ray, the motion does smear slightly, which makes for a less-than-smooth experience. Despite this, it still feels fairly natural during slower movements and is impressive for the price.

Sound

The MoGo 4’s Harman Kardon 6W speakers are reasonably detailed by projector standards, but the projector does struggle to fill the room as its sound is quite localised.

It does not go very loud, even at maximum volume, which could become an issue when watching outside, but this is just one of those compromises that has been made for the sake of cost and portability.

Still, the MoGo 4 does have a pleasingly detailed and clean sound. With the upbeat soundtrack to Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, for example, the MoGo 4 captures the bright brass notes with a crisp expressiveness.

It does struggle to make a huge impact with the lower frequencies and feels weaker in dramatic moments that rely on heavy bass, but that quality is rare to come by in a projector of this size and price.

Verdict

The MoGo 4’s ultra-portable design will be an immediate draw for many, so it’s pleasing to find that its picture is also vibrant and crisp.

With a slightly more subtle approach to colours and weightier, louder sound, this could be a five-star product – but even as it is, the MoGo 4 is still a worthy rival to the best portable projectors available right now.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 3
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Xgimi MoGo 3 Pro

Also consider the Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air

Read our LG CineBeam Q review

Best projectors: budget, 4K and ultra-short-throw

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick range of streaming devices may not be the most glamorous or technically impressive products that we see in our AV testing room, but they serve a specific purpose and perform said purpose well.

Case in point is the first-generation Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which offered affordable plug-and-play 4K HDR streaming, with a solid picture performance and feature set that was hard to argue with, especially for the price.

The only thing holding that streamer back was the existence of the then-Award-winning Google Chromecast with Google TV, which just edged out the first-generation Fire TV Stick 4K Max when it came to picture and sound performance.

Luckily for Amazon, Google has since discontinued that device and replaced it with a streamer that’s nearly double the price, and not quite as good. So, it would make total sense for Amazon to strike while the iron is hot, and deliver an upgraded streaming stick that undercuts the Google TV Streamer; and that’s exactly what it has done.

Today, we have the second-generation Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max, and with upgraded performance, a significant lack of competition and a tempting price tag, it might just be the easiest no-brainer buy in the AV world.

Price

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Generation) officially costs £70 / $60 / AU$120; a smidge more than its predecessor’s £65 / $55 / AU$99 starting price. While a price rise – albeit minor – isn’t necessarily a welcome sight, what will be more enticing are the discounts that this streamer will inevitably receive throughout the year.

During its own sales events – Big Deal Days, Prime Day and Black Friday – Amazon almost always heavily discounts its own products. You can expect to pay closer to £50 / $40 / AU$89 if you time your purchase right.

Better yet, Amazon’s new streamer benefits from a major player exiting the market. Google’s Chromecast with Google TV was the roadblock preventing the previous generation Fire TV Stick 4K Max from achieving the full five-star commendation; however, that Award-winning streamer has been discontinued.

Google has replaced it with the four-star Google TV Streamer, which costs £99 / $100 / AU$160; considerably more than the Chromecast’s £60 / $50 / AU$99 launch price and, more importantly, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max.

As for other rivals, Roku’s Streaming Stick 4K undercuts the Amazon streamer at £50 / $50 / AU$110, though it’s yet to land in our AV testing room.

Build

The new Fire TV Stick isn’t a radical departure from its predecessors, though there are some identifying features to distinguish this newer model.

It’s still an all-plastic cuboid with an HDMI connector sticking out of one end, akin to an oversized USB thumb drive with the corners rounded off.

Unfortunately, this means that the last generation’s tendency to hog the area surrounding the HDMI socket it's lodged into is once again prevalent, meaning you may struggle to plug a cable into the adjacent HDMI port unless you use the included adapter.

A further design oversight relates to the power socket, which bafflingly uses Micro USB rather than the widely accepted USB-C standard. While we appreciate Amazon including a power adapter in the box, the decision to stick with the older, less convenient and less widely used connection is an odd choice indeed.

Moving away from the stick itself and onto the remote, Amazon has bundled in the same Alexa Voice Remote Enhanced model that can be found with the Fire TV Cube (3rd Generation). It’s functional, comfortable to hold, and features shortcuts to streaming services, which will differ depending on which region you purchase it in.

We would have liked to see the “find my remote” function included here, as it comes as standard on the Google TV Streamer; however, you’ll need to purchase the optional Fire TV Remote Pro for that, which also includes backlit buttons.

Features

The Fire TV Stick 4K Max’s only mission is to bring 4K streaming smarts to your TV, and it does so with a decent list of appreciated features.

HDR, for example, is supported in all of the major formats, including Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10 and HLG, meaning this streaming stick will play nicely with your TV regardless of whether you own a Dolby Vision-sporting LG TV or an HDR10+ only Samsung.

Furthermore, it supports Dolby Atmos audio, as well as up to 7.1 surround sound.

Inside the Fire TV Stick is a 2.0 GHz quad-core processor, and Amazon has been kind enough to double the storage from 8GB to 16GB, though RAM stays at 2GB.

Wi-Fi 6E is also supported, which should offer “smoother 4K streaming”, according to Amazon – though you’ll need a compatible router to access this.

At the heart of the Fire TV Stick experience is Fire OS, which you’ll also find on the company’s Omni-series QLED and Mini LED TVs, as well as (from 2024) Panasonic’s OLED TVs.

It’s a robust, well-supported and versatile operating system, which might not look quite as clean as Apple’s tvOS or be brimming with AI features like Google TV, but it's good for the straightforward streaming tasks that we require of a Fire TV Stick.

One area where Fire OS frustrates is with its ad-heavy nature. Amazon’s services are also pushed to the forefront, which shouldn’t be too surprising considering it manufactured the device, and the ads can be somewhat forgiven thanks to the device’s relatively low price tag.

App support is, unsurprisingly, excellent, with a full range of global streaming apps – including Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV and, of course, Amazon Prime Video – and domestic services such as BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 and more.

Fire OS is also home to some niche services, including Mubi, Shudder, BFI Player and others, making this a solid choice for mainstream and indie movie fans.

Something to note with the Apple TV app is that it's exclusively used as a hub for Apple TV+ content and a way to access your existing Apple TV library. The store cannot be accessed directly through this app, so you’ll need to purchase your desired movie or TV series on a smartphone or tablet to watch it on the Fire TV Stick 4K Max.

Music and gaming apps are also well supported, with the likes of Spotify, Tidal and Deezer on board, though Apple Music is unfortunately sidelined. Thankfully, that can be circumvented with the inclusion of AirPlay 2.

Gaming-wise, Amazon’s Luna cloud gaming service and Xbox are the two major players, while casual games that can be controlled via the included remote are also accessible.

Picture

Much like its predecessor, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max provides plenty of positive picture attributes, which makes it a rather compelling streamer for the money. Better yet, it doesn’t have the Chromecast with Google TV to contend with, and instead now has the four-star Google TV Streamer as its major adversary.

We plug the Fire TV Stick into our reference Sony OLED TV and load up a range of streaming apps onto the device to deduce how it handles picture performance.

Firing up Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning on Netflix, the Fire TV Stick delivers a sharp and engaging picture, with plenty of detail in the suits worn by Ethan Hunt and his well-dressed gang as they plan out their mission in Abu Dhabi Airport.

There is ample detail to skin textures, and aside from a few instances of skin tones looking a tad on the warm side, the Fire TV Stick generally impresses.

We also take no issue with how motion is handled, as the MV-22 Osprey military aircraft carrying a troop of elite agents tasked with hunting down the hero glides smoothly into frame, with the whirring propellers showing no signs of awkward juddering or stuttering.

Switching to Challengers in HDR10+ on Amazon Prime Video, we’re once again impressed with the detail levels, colours, and motion, deducing that the Stick 4K Max provides a balanced and enjoyable image overall.

Furthermore, the film grain that can sometimes be presented as overbearing image noise on the Google streamer seems cleaner and looks more intentional on the Fire TV Stick.

Feeding the Fire TV Stick some HD content, namely Gladiator II, once again on Prime Video, we do notice that the edges of subjects get slightly softer. That being said, clothing and skin remain detailed enough, and the streamer certainly doesn’t make a big deal of presenting the comparatively lower resolution content.

We compare it directly to the Google TV Streamer with these aforementioned movies, alongside Mad Max: Fury Road and Babylon on the Apple TV app, and this is where things get interesting.

Despite costing a fair bit more than the Fire TV Stick 4K, the Google TV Streamer’s picture looks nearly identical. We can pick out a touch more detail on the Google TV, and colours are slightly punchier (if anything, we could accuse the Google of overdoing skin tones here), but otherwise, we struggle to see the point in shelling out for the pricier Google TV Streamer when it comes to picture performance.

Sound

While the picture performance is practically identical to the Google TV Streamer (albeit for less money), where we see the biggest difference between these two streamers is in sound quality. Make no mistake, the Fire TV Stick 4K is no maestro, but it's a darn sight better than the Google TV Streamer.

Loading up Tidal to stream tracks including Gasoline by HAIM and Taylor Swift, Luther by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, and From by Bon Iver, we’re met with sound that can best be described as solid. It won’t blow your socks off, and timing is one aspect where the Fire TV Stick does falter, but it’s a warmer, more cohesive and dynamic performance compared with the poor-sounding Google TV Streamer.

This is true for movies and TV shows as well, as we return to Mission: Impossible to find clear and detailed vocals that have been prioritised within the greater audio mix. That being said, they don’t sound detached, and the tense soundtrack still has its chance to build suspense effectively.

Verdict

Amazon’s flagship streaming stick is a solid option for anyone whose TV’s built-in streaming apps just aren’t cutting it. Its sharp and colourful picture, paired with its easy plug-and-play usability, should appease those who want to squeeze a bit more life out of their ageing 4K TV, or sidestep their TV’s built-in operating system.

Unless you’re considering stepping up to the Apple TV 4K, which costs double the price, the Fire TV Stick 4K is the go-to 4K streaming device at this level.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Google TV Streamer

Also consider the Apple TV 4K

These are the best video streamers you can buy

Apple has announced the latest version of tvOS, the operating system that powers its five-star Apple TV 4K streaming box. The latest edition brings new features and a fresh look to the streamer's home menu and Apple TV app.

Liquid Glass is Apple's new ethos, with a focus on fluidity and translucency; and it's a design scheme that's being applied across iOS, macOS and iPadOS too.

It's perhaps not quite as much of a radical redesign that was hinted at ahead of WWDC, but a more modern and consistent design will certainly be appreciated by Apple fans who are already equipped with the full ecosystem.

The visual upgrades represent most of the changes with tvOS 26, with translucent elements such as the control centre and dock at the top of the home page now featured in the name of enhanced immersion, according to Apple.

Content is now easier to access, too, with larger poster-style artwork for shows and movies within the Apple TV app.

You'll also find a new profiles system, which will work similarly to how the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus implement their user profiles. Users will be able to toggle a setting that brings the user profile selection page up automatically when the Apple TV 4K wakes.

Personalised content recommendations will apply to each user, alongside user-specific watchlists in the Apple TV app and playlists in the Apple Music app. This new version of tvOS will also include a karaoke mode with Apple Music, which allows you to use your iPhone as a microphone; if that's your sort of thing.

One useful upgrade coming to tvOS that Apple didn't mention in its WWDC livestream is related to AirPlay speakers. With this forthcoming update, users will be able to designate AirPlay-enabled speakers as the permanent audio output option for their Apple TV.

Currently, the Apple TV 4K will default back to your TV's speakers after it's switched off, with HomePods being the only AirPlay-enabled speakers that can be set as your default audio output. With tvOS 26, you shouldn't need to manually select your wireless speakers, which is a nice touch.

There are also new aerial wallpapers and an upgraded FaceTime app coming with this update. tvOS 26 is set to arrive later this year, though Apple has not shared a specific release date.

MORE:

Read our full Apple TV 4K (2022) review

As well as our list of the best streaming devices

And read our full Google TV Streamer review

Nebula has produced a reliable stream of projectors over the last few years, from portable models such as the four-star Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air to pricier purchases such as the Cosmos Laser 4K projector.

Now, Nebula, which is owned by Anker, is launching another 4K projector that it says is a “cinema-grade outdoor entertainment system”.

The Nebula X1's (supposedly) portable design and easy set-up mean it could be ideal for indoor and outdoor movie screenings.

However, a glance at the specs sheet reveals the projector requires a constant mains connection and is much larger and heavier than most people would consider to be really portable.

In our minds, therefore, this is more of a 'coffee table projector' that can be fairly easily moved between rooms, packed away in a cupboard and brought out for epic movie nights. But, sure, it can also be used in the garden if you have a long extension cable.

Categorisation is tricky, then, but it’s much less important than the performance, which is in many ways very good.

Price

The Nebula X1 is available for £2200 / $2999 (around AU$4550).

There’s also an ‘accessory pack’ that includes two wireless satellite speakers, a carry case and two wireless microphones for £500 / $999.

The price for the projector alone pits it against premium models such as the BenQ X3100i (£2099 / $2399 / AU$3599), which earned a What Hi-Fi? Award last year for its all-round picture performance.

While the BenQ and Nebula are styled quite differently, they’re overall very similar semi-portable projector propositions.

If it’s a true portable projector that you’re after, you’re better off looking at much smaller, battery-operated alternatives such as Nebula’s own Mars 3 Air or BenQ GV31, which cost £550 / $600 / AU$1300 and £449 / $599 / AU$999 respectively.

Build

The X1 has a smart and nifty design that includes a bucket-like handle that can be activated by pushing it down. It is available in one colour: a light yet metallic-looking grey.

The projector measures 24 x 19 x 28cm and weighs 6.2kg. While that is of course heavier than properly portable projectors, it is light enough to carry around for a short distance.

The projector can be placed on a projector stand, table, or the floor, with an optical engine and lens array that then tilts up to 25 degrees. There is an add-on gimbal you can buy as an extra stand for the projector, but it will set you back a further £120 / $179.

The remote control is intuitive to use, helped massively by the addition of backlight buttons to make navigation easier in the dark.

On the top of the projector is a touch screen from which you can control volume, power, and begin keystone correction. There’s also a toggle button so you can navigate the menu without the remote.

Sci-fi nerds will also be pleased at the addition of a Battlestar Galactica-esque red light that appears on the top when the projector is turned on.

Features

The triple-laser X1 projector boasts a 4K resolution, a claimed 3500 ANSI lumens of brightness and it can supposedly project an image up to 300 inches in size.

Nebula is also employing some AI smarts to make the set-up supposedly simpler. The brand’s AI Spatial Adaptation auto set-up includes real-time autofocus, keystone correction, ambient light adaptation and wall colour adaptation, which can all be switched on via the remote control.

We use it to fit the picture to our screen, and while some adjusting is required, the AI does a good job of understanding the space around it.

There is also a Spatial Recall feature, so the Nebula X1 can remember your preferred settings for selected spaces to make set-up easier.

In terms of streaming capabilities, the Nebula projector features the Google TV platform with Netflix built in. You can choose to download all the usual suspects, including Channel 4, Disney+, YouTube, Apple TV+, Netflix, ITVX and Amazon Prime Video. BBC iPlayer is not available, though you can at least cast it to the projector from your phone as a workaround.

If you want to connect to a gaming system or Blu-ray player, the X1 also has two HDMI ports on the rear, including one with eARC for use with an external sound system.

The projector has an internal liquid cooling system, which Nebula says helps keep noise to a whisper-like 26dB. While using the projector, the system is indeed impressively quiet, barely audible in fact.

When it comes to the picture modes on offer, the X1 offers a whole host of options.

First up, the brand’s own NebulaMaster mode can “improve contrast with enriched details in both bright and dark areas of the image”, according to the company. However, while we find that this mode does boost the brightness, the image also takes on a pale hue that is lacking cinematic warmth.

Standard mode has this same paleness, but it’s also lacking the enhanced detail of NebulaMaster, so we feel it’s best avoided. There is a Sports mode, which heightens the highlights in the image, and a Vivid mode brightens the picture even more, but at the expense of dark detail.

There are Day and Night modes calibrated by the ISF (Imaging Science Foundation), which do tailor the image to these different environments with adjusted brightness levels, but they also tend to flatten the image and make it less engaging.

Our preference is the Movie mode, which offers the most balanced presentation in terms of colour and detail, and gives us the most cinematic picture.

For gamers, there are Standard and Extreme gaming picture modes to choose from.

If all that is not enough for you, there are also several sound modes to choose from. For testing, we stick with the Movie sound preset due to its wide sense of space and its vocal clarity.

There is also a Music mode, which brings out the vocals more but at the expense of the bass, and an Outdoors mode that widens the soundstage but lacks the detail and impact of the Movie setting.

Nebula has an accompanying app as well, where you can change picture and sound modes, use the image correction tools and select a streaming service to open.

There’s also a neat feature where your phone screen is designed to resemble the remote’s toggle wheel. You can use Google Cast through the app, too.

Picture

We kick off with Alien: Romulus via Disney+. As a spacecraft silently drifts through a floating wreckage, the Nebula X1 immediately shows off its impressive black levels as the enveloping blackness of space is inky and dark.

Twinkling stars contrast with the blackness, and their brightness successfully peeks through. The Movie picture mode certainly helps the image to feel cinematic too; as the ship passes through the debris, it has a good sense of three-dimensionality.

In terms of colour, the X1 keeps the picture vibrant and engaging. With the Antarctica episode of Seven Worlds, One Planet on 4K Blu-ray, the gentoo penguins preparing to dive into the ocean are detailed and vivid. Their bright red beaks and fluffy feathers look tangible and textured.

At times, the picture is actually a bit too sharp, with a slightly unnatural degree of enhancement creeping in. This can be solved by reducing the Sharpness a few points, which results in a more balanced picture that is still pleasantly crisp.

Moving to the more subtle palette of Oppenheimer on 4K Blu-ray, the Nebula X1 does start to struggle a little.

When Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer stands in front of a blackboard, there is a slight flickering on the white wall behind him. We have noticed this flicker with other projectors, but the X1 exaggerates it.

We also find that the rainbow effect, which is when you catch glimpses of coloured light out of the corner of your eye, is slightly more noticeable with the Nebula than with some rivals, including the BenQ X3100i.

There is a slight judder to motion from the X1, too. When Oppenheimer arrives at his new home with his family in a car, the swooping aerial shot feels slightly glitchy. What’s interesting is that this delivery of motion is a little inconsistent: we rewatch this scene numerous times, and the ratio of judder to smoothness varies on each watch.

The BenQ X3100i, by comparison, is consistently smooth in its delivery, and the flicker in the blackboard scene is much less noticeable.

Despite these flaws, the X1’s vibrant colour presentation and depth do provide an impressively immersive experience that feels cinematic.

Sound

Many projectors tend to drop the ball when it comes to audio, but the Nebula X1 excels here. Even without the optional wireless speakers, the projector’s 2.1 speaker configuration manages to create a rich and detailed sound by projector standards.

When watching Thor: Ragnarok, the battle sequence between the villainous Hella and the Asgardian army feels weighty and gripping as you can feel every punch.

The dialogue is clearly audible even in busy scenes such as this, providing a balanced overall audio experience.

It is reasonably localised, so we do not get a huge sense of immersion, but this is impressive sound overall.

The BenQ X3100i, by comparison, sounds thin and much less impactful, especially in terms of vocal clarity. When it comes to sound, the Nebula X1 blows the competition out of the water.

We also test the X1 with the optional wireless speakers. These use Nebula’s own surround sound format, FlexWave, to create a sense of height along with the up-firing drivers.

The soundstage is immediately widened and upgraded, filling the room with detailed but immersive audio.

Verdict

The Nebula X1’s audio makes it stand out from the crowd, as it is rare we have found a projector that can pack such a punch in terms of bass.

Its slightly inconsistent picture performance is a shame, because when the projector is operating at its best, it is exceptionally detailed and three-dimensional.

If you are looking for a projector that offers a simple set-up, punchy picture and top-notch sound performance, then the Nebula X1 is a great contender.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 4
• Features 5

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If you enjoyed Sinners in the cinema or have been waiting to watch it, I have some good news: the movie is now available to rent or buy on several services, including Amazon Prime Video and the Apple TV store.

It’s available in 4K for £16 / $20 to rent on Amazon Prime Video, or £20 / $25 if you want to buy.

But there is another option that has caught our eye. The 4K Blu-ray disc is now available to pre-order at Amazon and HMV, and there’s even a fancy steelbook you could snag (although it has sold out at the moment, curses!).

Even though it won't be hitting the shelves until 31st December, we will be waiting with bated breath for the physical release over the digital version.

That's because the upgrade when it comes to picture and especially sound on 4K Blu-ray are worth the wait, if the transfer is mastered correctly.

The movie follows twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) who have returned to the Jim Crow South to have a fresh start. When they open their own juke joint, though, evil follows them.

Ryan Coogler’s horror spectacular Sinners quite frankly blew my socks off when I saw it in the cinema.

Its unique score and vibrant colour palette makes for a gripping viewing experience.

I have already enthused enough about why Sinners is a great test disc; rest assured it will put any home cinema setup through its paces.

It will be a long wait for the 4K Blu-ray, perhaps, but I cannot wait to get the film into the test rooms.

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I’m sure I’m not alone in regularly having at least one calendar reminder set to ‘cancel [insert music or movie streaming service]’ for the day or two before a free trial is due to end.

Sadly, the inflated price of such entertainment services makes it difficult for many to subscribe to more than a couple at any given time, although frequent free trial offers and no locked-in contracts at least mean it is easy to flip-flop between them when it suits us, while keeping monthly costs down.

We’ve found a way to tackle the paradox of choice, but have the streaming services themselves? How do they keep people locked in?

Disney Plus has a solution, and I wish Netflix and others would follow suit. Last week, Disney expanded its ‘Perks’ programme, giving US Disney Plus users 12 non-streaming offers they can take advantage of as part of their subscription, from a free six-month DoorDash DashPass membership and 20 per cent off Adidas, to Walt Disney World Resort savings and opportunities to win tickets to movie premieres.

According to the Disney Perks webpage, the initiative is, “Our way of saying thanks!” Or, I’d argue, an appeal: “Please don’t unsubscribe, Adidas-wearing takeaway obsessives!”

Whether or not those very particular perks would sway you to stay loyal to Disney Plus would naturally depend on how you personally value those particular discounts. Me? I would probably be roped in for the six months of DoorDash, and then still cancel.

But the ‘perks’ list will supposedly expand over time, and the concept itself is a good idea.

I’ve written before how I think it would make sense for music and movie streaming companies to partner and bundle services for discounted rates – Netlix and Spotify for £3 / $3 / AU$5 off the combined monthly price, for example – but going beyond the catalogue by offering retail and entertainment experience discounts is also, I believe, an attractive avenue for the consumer.

Would I be more likely to switch from Tidal to, say, Qobuz if the latter offered me a 10 per cent discount on gig tickets from Ticketmaster? Would I show unwavering loyalty to Netflix if my subscription gave me weekly discounted cinema tickets or money off, say, Uber? Most likely.

Amazon has, of course, always been in the perfect position to offer ‘other’ benefits, with its Prime package bundling in the Prime Video streaming service, (limited) music and book catalogues, exclusive Amazon deals and free (and often next-day) delivery – even though those ‘extras’ are only within the Amazon ecosystem.

I don’t think it would be unfair of me to say that Prime Video wouldn’t have as many users as it does today if it weren’t for the overall Prime package.

Similarly, Apple also has its One subscription, bundling its music and video streaming services with its superior news and storage options – appealing only for avid Apple users, mind you.

In its early days, MUBI used to offer subscribers a free weekly handpicked cinema ticket (which, such is the way of the world, has since become an exclusive benefit of a new pricier tier). It was a real boon; I used it most weeks, and it kept me subscribed.

Netflix may believe its strength of catalogue warrants the £12.95 / $17.99 / AU$18.99 monthly charge alone, but the competition is only getting fiercer while pricing and consumer expectations are only going one way.

Will ‘just’ good movies and TV shows always be enough? I’m not so sure it will, and Disney offering extra incentives for subscribers to stay loyal in the US (other markets will hopefully follow) will only put pressure on rivals to give beyond its catalogue offering, no matter how strong it is.

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I’m a movie lover, and this is the one app I cannot do without

You're all probably sick of me banging on about the Apple TV 4K, so you'll be happy to hear that I've swapped it out as my primary streamer.

Yes, the device that I called "comfortably the best streamer" is no longer attached to one of my TV's HDMI sockets – but it's for a good reason, I promise.

As an avid AV enthusiast who's expected to stay up to do with all of the latest products and services for my daily reporting and reviewing, I've been trialling Sky Stream.

And you know what? So far my experience has generally been positive.

While detaching my beloved Apple TV was a tough pill to swallow, and signing into all of my apps again was rather tedious, I could immediately feel the benefits of Sky Stream.

Now, I know comparing a £149 / $130 / AU$219 streamer for a subscription package that starts at £15 a month (or much higher depending on how you decide to spec your package) might not seem like a fair comparison, but there is some logic in it.

Let's stick with Sky Stream Essential, which is £15 a month for 24 months. This includes the streamer, access to Sky TV, the entry-level Netflix subscription (which is £5.99 per month usually), and access to Discovery+.

That comes to £360 in total for those two years, which is just shy of double the Apple TV's price.

Take into account that the Apple TV doesn't come with any included services (not even Apple TV+), and then it makes even more sense.

Regardless, the Sky Stream puck has filled the Apple TV 4K-shaped hole in my TV setup and after browsing through the interface, flicking through channels and resisting the urge to sob at the latest episode of The Last of Us, I can confidently say that I've been converted.

During my week with Sky Stream, I've picked out three things I like about the service and a couple of things I would like to see improved or added. So without further ado, here's what I like and dislike about Sky Stream:

Like: Everything in one place

If there is one thing that Sky has absolutely gotten right with Stream, it's that all of your content is superbly easy to access.

Regardless of whether it's on Sky's own service or on a third-party streaming platform such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or BBC iPlayer, it will be featured on the Sky OS home screen.

This has practically eliminated that awful wild goose chase of trying to find which service a TV show or movie is on once you've decided to watch it.

Integration is pretty seamless too. After plugging in all of my login details to the various services, I can now just click on a film or show, and it will take me straight to the app it's featured on.

In contrast, the Apple TV 4K is a more traditional streamer. While I am a huge fan of tvOS (especially compared to other streaming operating systems out there), I did find myself having to cycle through the apps to track down what I wanted to watch.

The Apple TV app did negate that somewhat, as certain services could be linked to it to create an all-in-one streaming hub, but it is nowhere near as cohesive as Sky OS's ambivalent approach.

Dislike: It's a bit glitchy

While I certainly have no qualms regarding Sky OS's feature set, there are a few performance hitches that I've encountered in my week with the streamer.

The main home screen of Sky OS can sometimes stick and I've encountered a couple of endless loading wheels that have resulted in me having to restart my puck.

Another more frustrating incident involved me having to factory reset and log back into my puck, as the volume controls refused to work and the setup process to allow the puck to recognise my Philips OLED907 TV broke entirely.

These are by no means dealbreakers, and I can handle a bit of lag here and there. But, coming from the Apple TV 4K – which hardly ever stuttered and worked seamlessly with my TV and soundbar straight away – I did notice the teething issues.

Like: Playlists are my new obsession

I'm familiar with playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, but, I've never really paid much attention to them on my TV. Sure, Netflix, Disney Plus and the rest all have watchlist features in which you can bookmark content, but Sky's playlist feature is a step above.

First and foremost, it comes down to that service ambivalent approach, as I can add whatever I like to my playlist to watch later; regardless of where it's located.

Secondly, Sky makes a much bigger deal of this feature and actively encourages you to use it thanks to a dedicated playlist button on the remote.

The big plus icon that's highlighted in red is hard to miss, and I've gone rather trigger-happy with it, adding whatever I like the look of to my playlist with the press of a button.

It's the first widget you see when you turn Sky Stream on as well, which makes it easy to jump back into and continue what you're watching. Overall, I'm a big fan of playlists.

Dislike: A couple of apps are missing

While the Sky OS ecosystem is mostly well-equipped, there are a couple of apps missing that I would like to see on the platform.

All of the larger streaming services are covered, however some of the niche services including MUBI and Shudder are absent.

This isn't a major gripe by any means, but it would be good to see Sky incorporate some of the smaller players in the streaming world especially as Apple, Google and Amazon's streamers have them.

Furthermore, the Apple TV app is purely for streaming on Apple TV+, which means you can't buy or rent movies directly, instead need to do so on a phone or tablet separately.

Music apps are the bigger issue for me, as the two services I'm signed up for aren't supported.

Apple Music and Tidal are both absent, and while you can cast to the Stream puck, I prefer a dedicated interface that allows me to play my music directly from the device without having to faff around with wirelessly linking my phone.

This won't be a dealbreaker for many, however, I like to queue music up on my TV to play through my soundbar when I'm doing a spot of cleaning, or when I have friends around.

Like: The remote is excellent

I've reviewed plenty of TVs, projectors, soundbars and streaming devices at this point, so trust me when I say I know a good remote when I see one.

The Sky Stream remote (which it shares with the Sky Glass) is an absolute doozy, with superbly tactile buttons that make clicking around the interface a joy. It's also responsive and features one of my absolute favourite features for any remote.

Yes, it's backlit. I tend to watch my TV in as dark a room as possible (asking our TV and AV editor Tom Parsons what he thinks about ambient light), so having a remote that illuminates to make operation easier in my preferred viewing environment will always score brownie points.

While I do miss the aluminium casing and iPod-style touch wheel on the Apple TV remote, and it has the advantage of having a charging port so I don't have to go out and buy batteries when my controller runs low on juice, the Sky Stream's superb remote has softened the blow.

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