It’s the first Friday of the month, which means it’s time for a fresh entry into our regular Pick of the Month column.
In it, our team of hi-fi and home cinema experts once again detail all the latest products to impress them enough to earn five-star ratings in the past month.
And while we had a wealth of new hardware pass through our viewing and listening rooms in May, only five impressed us enough to make the cut for this month’s column.
Here is what you need to know about them.
Fyne Audio F701SP
The 701SP are the “special edition” version of the base Fyne Audio F701 standmount speakers we reviewed and gave five stars to all the way back in 2021.
At first glance you would be forgiven for wondering what Fyne’s done to justify the SP edition’s extra letters and higher price tag, as they feature the same cabinet design.
But, if you delve a little deeper, you’ll find they are completely different beasts, with Fyne’s engineers having completely redesigned the F701SP’s internals.
These include massive tweaks to Isoflare hardware, which places a 25mm horn-loaded magnesium dome compression tweeter at the centre of a 20cm multi-fibre paper mid/bass cone.
This along with other adjustments elsewhere let them deliver stellar audio when matched with price appropriate, powerful enough equipment during our checks. Hence our reviewers’ five star rating and glowing verdict:
“We remain great fans of the base model, but if your system is capable enough to reveal the sonic improvements the SP-spec provides, then for us, the decision is a no-brainer. Life is short and the extra buzz you’ll get from the upgraded model is worth every single penny.”
Five stars
Read our full Fyne Audio F701SP review
Sony WH-1000XM6
The Sony WH-1000XM6 are the latest over-ear headphones from Sony and a direct successor to the older Sony WH-1000XM5 that have been a staple sight in our best wireless headphones guide for many moons.
This makes them a fairly big deal, and meant our team of reviewers had high expectations from the set when they arrived in our listening rooms last month.
Thankfully, after thorough testing, we can confirm our hopes for the headphones have been met, with the new XM6 coming with a wealth of hardware upgrades and offering excellent audio.
Technical highlights include the introduction of a hinge mechanism that makes them much more travel friendly, higher clamping force for a more snug fit and implementation of newly designed drivers and HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN3 chipset.
This all adds up to make them an easy five star recommendation and one of the best wireless headphones you’ll find right now. Hence our glowing verdict:
“It feels like the Sony WH-1000XM6 have been a long time coming, and we are pleased to tell you they have been well worth the wait. They’re the best-sounding flagship pair we’ve heard from Sony to date, which is no mean feat.”
Five stars
Read our full Sony WH-1000XM6 review
Apple iPhone 16e
The iPhone 16e is the latest “affordable” iPhone from Apple. While we’re not completely convinced that £599 / $599 / AU$999 makes it “cheap” by any stretch of the imagination, having thoroughly put it through its paces we can confidently say it’s an excellent smartphone for music and movie fans.
During our checks, while we found it to be not quite as sharp as the full-fat iPhone 16 Pro, the 6.1-inch OLED screen offered an immersive, exciting small-screen viewing experience. Support for all the common HDR formats and decent max brightness levels make movie content look particularly impressive by phone standards.
But, most importantly it continues Apple handsets’ track record for offering solid audio quality. Paired with wireless sets and cabled cans (via a USB-C adapter), the iPhone offered brilliantly punchy audio with suitably energetic, but accurate, rhythmic drive.
Hence our five-star rating and verdict:
“The iPhone 16e is a very different proposition to Apple’s SE phones of old. This is a phone that delivers most of the iPhone 16 ownership experience, particularly where picture and sound quality are concerned, for a healthy chunk of change less.”
Five stars
Read our full Apple iPhone 16e review
LG G5 (OLED65G5)
We technically first reviewed the LG G5 in April and at the time it fell just short of making it into Pick of the Month thanks to a huge bug that made streamed Dolby Vision content close to unwatchable.
Thankfully a few weeks on, LG has released a fix for the bug via an over-the-air update and, having re-reviewed the OLED TV, we can confirm it works.
That’s why we updated our review awarding the LG G5 a five-star rating in May, earning it a place in this month’s column.
The update means the LG G5 is now one of the best premium OLED TVs on the market.
The main highlight is its cutting edge, fourth-generation OLED panel, which not only contributes to its radically improved maximum brightness levels, but also lets the G5 deliver much better colour volume during low light scenes.
Add to this its flawless gaming specifications, which include four HDMI 2.1 inputs that let current generation consoles and PCs run at full speed, and solid app support, and it becomes an easy recommendation.
Hence our reviewers’ glowing updated verdict:
“Now that an early Dolby Vision issue has been fixed, we can be almost entirely effusive in our praise of the G5: this is a stunning set and a leap forward for OLED TV technology.”
Five stars
Read our full LG G5 (OLED65G5) review
Hisense PL2
The Hisense PL2 is the successor to the Hisense PL1 – a multiple year What Hi-Fi? Award-winner and staple entry in our best projectors guide for the past year.
And while, like the Fyne speakers at the top of this list, it looks all but identical to its predecessor, under the hood Hisense has made a number of key upgrades to the PL2.
These include raising its peak brightness from 2100 to 2700 ANSI Lumens – a figure that puts its just shy of matching the more premium Hisense PX3 Pro, just above it in the firm’s UST range.
The maximum projection size has also been increased from 120-inches up to 150-inches, letting it offer an even larger home cinema experience.
Add to this its solid HDR standard support, robust app library (which includes popular UK catchup services, BBC iPlayer and the ilk) and it becomes an easy recommendation for any UST buyer who primarily wants to watch movies.
As we say in our verdict:
“Hisense’s focus on delivering a balanced picture that accepts the shortcomings inherent to a UST lets the PL2 offer a consistent, controlled picture that never distracts from what’s playing on screen.
“This, plus its competitive price and advanced features help the PL2 punch well above its weight and make it an easy recommendation for any movie fan on the hunt for a UST projector.”
Our only word of caution is for gamers: the PX3 Pro is better as, despite having HDMI 2.1 inputs, the PL2 can’t run games at frame rates above 60fps in 4K.
Five stars
Read our full Hisense PL2 review
MORE:
These are the best 65-inch TVs we have reviewed
Our picks of the best wireless earbuds
We rate the best OLED TVs
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