Home cinema, when it’s done right, is a truly magical experience.

Watching a movie you love, on a giant screen, in the comfort of your own home, wearing your Ninja Turtles pyjamas with a cat on your lap and whisky in hand (the last three may just be me). To quote the Goo Goo Dolls, it’s “the closest to heaven that I'll ever be”.

It’s this magic that makes me and the wider What Hi-Fi? home cinema team be part of that lucky minority that truly loves what they do. Specifically, testing the latest and greatest hardware so we can, in a small way, help others enjoy that magic.

But the trouble is, getting there is more complex than most people think, as the magic is heavily dependent on what hardware you’re using – especially if you’re going for a setup our technical editor, Ketan Bharadia, would deign to call “a proper home cinema”, with a multi-speaker surround sound system, long-throw projector, decent AVR and source.

Why? Because, despite the common assumption (even among some of our forum users) that home cinema sound is somehow different to hi-fi sound, and you can get a good setup just by bolting together five-star parts, the truth is, matching is still incredibly important.

And my experience helping test the KEF R Meta speaker package and Denon AVC-A1H (reviews incoming) this week proves that point.

Listening to the speaker package, we started with our reference Marantz Cinema 30 AVR and, not giving any spoilers away, as you'd expect, combining two accomplished pieces of hardware delivered excellent results. The system sounded expansive, cohesive and wonderfully controlled, creating a fabulously immersive home cinema experience.

Watching a difficult test scene from our Dune: Part One 4K Blu-ray, the setup was masterfully in control of every part of the frequency range. Subtle dynamics underneath the scene's pounding drums were suitably present, and the unit delivered a real sense of direction as a flight of ornithopters swooped from right to left and then behind the viewer.

But as we continued, and particularly when we switched to our F1 test disc and spent some time listening to stereo music, our senior staff writer, Lewis Empson, pulled a face – the same one he always does when something's not quite right. One by one, we all did the same until, in near unison, we asked, "Does anyone else think this sounds just a touch too smooth?"

Yes, the sound was refined and effortlessly composed (and remember, at this level we're nitpicking about very small but important differences in performance), but the combination perhaps leaned a fraction too far towards smoothness. It wasn't lacking quality – far from it – but there were moments when we wanted just a little more bite and urgency.

Which is no surprise as our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, who is taking the lead reviewing the speaker package, openly described it as “smooth and refined”.

That's not a dig; in fact, in some setups, it's a strength. But it's a problem here because if you jump to our Marantz Cinema 30 review, you’ll find the same words, “smooth, refined and always in control”, at the top of the page.

The two have a very similar sonic character, and while that creates a beautifully cohesive presentation, it also nudges the overall balance a little further towards refinement than we'd ideally like.

It's less that the pairing doesn't work – it clearly does – and more that combining two components with such similar personalities slightly softens the sense of attack.

Enter the Denon AVC-A1H. During testing, the Denon proved to have a more dynamic, more assertive character that complemented the KEF package differently, adding a little extra energy and attack without upsetting its natural balance.

From the moment Led Zeppelin's iconic Whole Lotta Love started, the F1 scene felt more electric, with the Denon adding more bite to guitarist Jimmy Page’s groove.

Then, the moment John Bonham’s iconic drum line lands, it hits with the gut-churning impact you’d expect from a drummer critics openly praised for his "hard-hitting" playstyle. That’s all before we start describing the added heft and impact of the race.

To be clear, this isn't a dig at the Marantz. In fact, the Marantz/KEF combination is an excellent one in many respects, producing a spacious, balanced and hugely accomplished sound.

We simply found that, in this particular system, the Cinema 30's refinement combined with the wonderfully smooth presentation of the KEF R7 Meta front speakers tipped the balance just a little too far towards relaxation. Swap in a more assertive AVR, or pair the Marantz with more overtly energetic speakers, and that balance shifts again.

Lewis summed the idea up nicely, describing it as being like cooking. “Even if you like salty food, if you add several salty ingredients, it’s not going to taste good.”

So, please remember, when setting up a home cinema, don’t just think of the individual parts; think about how they’ll work together as a system and complement one another.

Even if you’re watching at home alone (outside of the aforementioned cat), when it comes to hardware, home cinema is a team game.

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It has been quite a week for TV reviews here at What Hi-Fi?, with the arrival of Sony's new RGB Mini LED TVs causing much excitement in our test room.

This excitement has extended to the deals section, as both TVs are seeing generous discounts despite only just being reviewed.

They're not the only discounts available, however – there are five-star soundbar systems and JBL speakers on offer, while the LG G6 has also just been re-reviewed and is seeing a tasty saving.

These are all products that have been reviewed and rated by our expert testing team. They have to get at least four stars to earn our recommendation, so we only share deals on the best.

We'll go into more detail about why we like these products below, but for now, feel free to have a peruse:

The Sony Bravia 9 II is Sony's latest flagship, and one of the first TVs to use the new RGB Mini LED display technology. It's a breathtaking TV with colours that surpass every other TV we've ever tested, and is also exceptionally bright. Its sophisticated dimming system is also one of the best we've seen, but it can't quite beat the pixel-level control of OLED.

At better than half price, the Samsung S90F is exceptional value right now. The OLED TV is currently our top pick out of the best 50-inch TVs, thanks to its punchy picture, flawless gaming specifications and practical stand design.

The Sony Bravia 7 II is the Japanese company's step-down RGB Mini LED offering, with vibrant, natural colours and excellent depth and solidity for a backlit TV. Use the code SONY10PERCENT to get £200 off one of the best backlit TVs we have ever tested.

The Samsung HW-Q990H is the Korean brand's follow-up to an Awards winner, and the Dolby Atmos soundbar system doesn't disappoint. With a soundbar, two rear speakers and a very good subwoofer included, the Q990H is excellent at delivering an immersive, spacious sound with excellent height effects.

The JBL Authentics 300 may have retro looks, but it's a versatile speaker with seamless usability and a forthright, confident sound. Now at a new lowest price.

Now that we've tested the LG G6 with the correct, updated software, LG's latest flagship has now been awarded the full five stars. With punchy picture quality, flawless gaming specifications and excellent app support, this is a TV of serious ability.

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With age comes wisdom, so it perhaps isn't surprising that many of the oldest hi-fi brands around today are still at the top of their game.

We've delved into the archives to shine a light on some of the industry's longest-running manufacturers that continue to serve music fans worldwide to this day. These are true veterans of hi-fi – all over 70 years old – who we think deserve to be called out.

Some companies have changed hands or been resurrected from the dead, others have been comparatively untouched. But whatever their journey, all are still making great hi-fi products – and that's something worth celebrating.

Thorens (1883)

One of the oldest electronics companies in history, the legendary turntable purveyor actually started out manufacturing music boxes, clock movements and, at the turn of the 19th century, Edison-style phonographs – several decades before the era of the record player would catapult the brand to world-renowned fame.

Founded by Hermann Thorens in Sainte-Croix Vaud, Switzerland, Thorens produced its first turntable in the late 1920s and went on to become one of the most revered manufacturers of record players in the '50s and '60s.

Many notable models – the TD 124, TD 150 and TD 160, to name just a few – helped build that reputation. The Thorens TD 160HD we tested in 2008 even made our list of the very best turntables of our lifetime.

The brand filed for bankruptcy in 2000, before being revived by Swiss businessman Heinz Rohrer and later, in 2018, by former Elac Electroacoustic managing director, Gunter Kürten. Today, Thorens has a number of decks in circulation, including the TD 1600 and TD 1601, which are based on the classic TD 160 design.

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Ortofon (1918)

Cartridge manufacturer Ortofon – a portmanteau of the Greek words “orto”, meaning correct, and “fon”, meaning sound – began life as a very different beast.

In Denmark after the First World War, two engineers, Axel Petersen and Arnold Poulsen, began their experiments to synchronise sound and picture on film, which they achieved with their 'Petersen and Poulsen System' in the early 1920s.

The duo later transferred their technological know-how to help create a new cutter head for the gramophone industry – a cutter head that record manufacturing companies around the world soon adopted.

That was followed by a mono pickup (or cartridge) and pickup arm so that records cut with the superior head could be reproduced with decent enough audio quality.

Various models of mono cartridges came to the market and, in 1959, the first stereo cartridge arrived. The rest, so it goes, is history. Over 100 years since its story began, Ortofon is now among the most renowned and celebrated turntable cartridge manufacturers.

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Celestion (1924)

Celestion is a big name in the guitar world thanks to its decades spent manufacturing guitar speakers, but the hi-fi industry also owes a great deal to the British brand.

Soon after it was founded in 1924 by Cyril French (who was later joined by two of his brothers), Celestion manufactured one of the world's earliest cone loudspeakers, based on the design of Eric Mackintosh.

The company became one of the pioneering speaker driver manufacturers in the decades following. It made drivers for the legendary B&W P1 and Spendor BC1 speakers in the '60s, for example, and, amid multiple acquisitions and name changes, the brand continued to make award-winning designs, such as the ribbon tweeter.

• 22 debut speakers from iconic hi-fi brands

Bang & Olufsen (1925)

When engineers Camillo Bang (the tech guy) and Svend Olufsen (the business man) made the transition from experimenting with making radios in their parents' houses to an actual electronics business in the mid 1920s, success came quickly.

The company's first commercially available product was in 1927 with the B&O Eliminator, which enabled a radio to be powered by the mains, as opposed to the huge batteries which were the norm at the time.

The 1930s saw the company outgrow the family home and move into a purpose-built factory in Struer (where B&O still operates), at which point the brand we know and love today began to show its stylish face.

In 1939 it launched the Beolit radio, kickstarting both a successful line of radios and the famous 'Beo' prefix that's still very much in use today. The company later expanded into TVs with the 17-inch Beovision Capri TV, as well as record players and speakers.

• An inside look at Bang & Olufsen as the company turns 90

Tannoy (1926)

To borrow an excerpt from our Tannoy: after 90 years, what does the future hold? piece, "Tannoy wasn’t always Tannoy. It was the Tulsemere Manufacturing Company in 1926, when broadcasting was in its infancy and the first talking film had yet to be shown.

"Radio sets needed huge batteries, which in turn needed huge chargers. Enter one Guy R Fountain, who came up with a new type of electrical rectifier, with the aim of making home-friendly chargers.

"This did rather well, and Fountain founded a company named after the two metals used in the rectifier: Tantalum and lead alloy. The Tannoy trademark first appeared in 1928 and quickly became associated with inescapable public address systems. They even made it into the British House of Commons."

Having provided PAs to the British Ministry of Defence and RAF airfields during WWII, and inventing the Dual Concentric speaker in the years following, Tannoy finally entered the place most of it subsequent efforts would reside: the home. And it has had a fair bit of success...

Roberts Radio (1932)

While many audio companies started life as a manufacturer of radios before expanding into other areas of hardware, Roberts has stuck at that trade for almost 90 years.

You could say that Leslie Bidmead's decision to sell his motorbike, to enable him and co-founder Harry Roberts to pay for the company's first factory, has paid-off. And then some.

Roberts Radio has become as synonymous with British heritage as Harrods and a cup of tea (it even has three Royal warrants to its name), and has successfully kept up with the fast-moving audio industry over the years.

The company launched the first portable DAB radio just before the millennium, a smart streaming radio in 2007, and the award-winning 'Stream' range in 2014.

• Best DAB radios: portable, Bluetooth, in-car

Wharfedale (1932)

Wharfedale has launched enough pairs of anniversary speakers in recent years to remind us that the British brand is fast approaching its centurion.

The company's first speaker was built in the cellar of the llkley home of founder Gilbert Briggs, who designed Wharfedale speakers over two decades and wrote over 20 books on high-fidelity audio.

The Bronze speaker started life purely as a drive unit (enthusiasts assembled their own cabinets) before being housed in a wooden cabinet a year later as an option for those who wanted an ‘extension’ speaker.

Wharfedale's invention of the first two-way loudspeaker in the 1940s, and the use of ceramic magnets in its speakers, have been among Wharfedale's most notable achievements. The brand went on to be defined by the monumental success of its Diamond speaker range, launched in the '80s and still enjoying success to this day.

Leak (1934)

International Audio Group (IAG), the parent company of Wharfedale, Quad and Audiolab, has recently resurrected Leak after a 40-year hiatus.

Founded by Harold Joseph Leak in 1934, Leak was a British hi-fi trailblazer during the mid-20th century.

Its Point One valve amplifier range from 1945 arrived as the first amp to deliver 0.1 per cent total harmonic distortion; its innovative Sandwich speakers heralded true-piston cone action by sandwiching polystyrene foam between outer skins of stiff aluminium foil; and its 1957 Trough-Line is still considered one of the greatest FM tuners ever made.

Electronics and speaker production ceased under the Leak name in the late '70s as then-owner Rank pulled the plug on the brand after years of struggling to compete with Japanese manufacturers – but the brand returned in 2020 with a classic pair of hi-fi separates.

Quad (1936)

Wharfedale has enjoyed a rather special, 70-odd-year relationship with one other audio brand: Quad.

In the '50s, the two brands embarked on a US and UK tour to allow audiences to experience live versus recorded music first hand, and their current position under International Audio Group (IAG) allows them to continue joint amplifier and speaker demonstrations at industry shows to this day.

Quad (which stands for Quality Unit Amplifier Domestic) has had an illustrious history of its own, of course, perhaps no more so than with its 1957 Electrostatic Loudspeaker (ESL), the very first full range electrostatic loudspeaker.

As we've noted in What Hi-Fi? reviews of the many versions that have blessed this world, such as the Quad ESL-2812, few audio designs have attracted such fanatical loyalty from their owners or such fascination from those who covet them.

Today, Quad still has two ESL models in its catalogue, alongside amplifiers and music systems which have helped the brand remain a formidable force.

Pioneer (1938)

While these days Pioneer perhaps has stronger sway in the home cinema market, the Japanese giant has plenty of two-channel pedigree.

We're talking about a brand that began in 1938 when its founder, Nozomu Matsumoto, released the A-8 dynamic speaker after years of research, and which went on to make a name for itself in car audio.

Pioneer manufactured the world's first separate stereo system, component car stereo and in-car CD player, and was a major player in the LaserVision phenomena in the '80s. What's more, Pioneer plasma TVs remain legendary.

SME (1946) 

While SME (originally The Scale Model Equipment Company) is known today for its exceptional high-end turntables, including the SME Synergy, winner of the coveted What Hi-Fi? 2019 Temptations Award, it was in operation for over a decade before it entered the record player market.

SME was formed in 1946 to manufacture scale models and parts for the model engineering trade, before turning its head to precision engineering for aircraft instruments and business machines.

It wasn't until 1959, when the company's founder, Alastair Robertson-Aikman, needed a pick-up arm for his own use, that an experimental model was built. Upon its positive reception from friends and industry folk, the company started commercially producing tonearms – a business it has only recently stopped in order to focus on its core turntable business. Its first turntable, the Model 30, came in 1991.

In 2018, SME also acquired the rights to the iconic Garrard turntable brand – another revered hi-fi veteran – from IGB Gradiente S.A, a Brazilian firm that took over the brand in the late '70s.

Sony (1946)

Everything and everyone has to start somewhere to get anywhere, and for consumer electronic conglomerate Sony that was with a small company called Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation.

It built Japan's first tape recorder, the Type-G, and in 1958 changed its name to Sony – a combination of the Latin word 'sonus', meaning sound, and 'sonny', which was seen as a desirable word to describe a young gentleman. Yes, really.

The Sony branding had already been used three years prior on its TR-55 transistor radio, the first of many transistor radios and the first Sony product to be sold overseas (in Canada).

Sony's history is, of course, full of landmarks in radio, audio and TV: its first TV, the TV8-301 8-inch portable transistor, launched Sony's TV business in 1960; the first-generation Walkman went on sale in 1979; and it was one of the leading developers of the Compact Disc and the Blu-ray Disc.

It's pretty remarkable that Sony continues to have such a presence, and success, in almost every corner of the audio market to this day, arguably now most notably by dominating the headphone and wireless earbud market.

Klipsch (1946)

It all started with one man (Paul W. Klipsch) and one idea (horn-loaded speakers). In a tiny tin shed in Hope, Arkansas in 1946, Klipsch designed, hand-built and patented the now-legendary Klipschorn, the only speaker in the world that has been in continuous production for over 70 years – and yes, they're still made in Arkansas, albeit no longer in a shed, and largely unchanged from the original design.

The first commercial production run of 12 units was built by the Baldwin Piano & Organ Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, with another built by hand in a local cabinet shop, before the first actual Klipsch factory (now the company's museum) got up and running in 1948.

Other early Klipsch horn-loaded speakers, such as the Heresy and Cornwall from the late '50s, also continue in modified form in the company's line-up today.

JBL (1946)

You may have noticed by now that 1946 was a noteworthy year in hi-fi history. JBL was yet another now-notable name to come onto the scene in 1946, named after its founder James Bullough Lansing, an audio engineer and speaker designer who, by that time, had already enjoyed success with his Altec Lansing electronics company.

JBL's first products, the D101 15-inch loudspeaker and D175 high-frequency driver, were unsurprisingly, then, mimics of Altec Lansing designs. Soon came the 375 high-frequency compression driver – the first 4-inch diaphragm driver – and recognition from Leo Fender, who chose to implement one of JBL's drivers into its guitar amplifiers.

Lansing tragically died, and in 1969 JBL was sold by vice president Bill Thomas to the Jervis Corporation (now Harman International, owned by Samsung), pushing JBL into the world of pro and consumer audio.

The JBL L-100 speakers were launched at CES Chicago back in 1970 and were a huge hit for the company, not only JBL's all-time, best-selling loudspeakers, but the best-selling system of that decade from any brand. Fortunately for the brand (and fans of it), JBL was able to honour that legacy with the JBL L100 Classic.

McIntosh (1949)

Founded in 1949 in Maryland, USA, McIntosh has been making its iconic products in Binghamton, New York since 1951. Known for consumer and professional electronics, the company's distinctive front-panel teal illumination has meant McIntosh amps are always easy to pick out of a line-up.

Famously used to power Woodstock and the Grateful Dead's 'Wall of Sound', the company also branched out into speakers and turntables, bringing its trademark styling to a new audience.

The signature power meters even made their way into in-car audio in the 1990s, supercharging the next couple of decades alongside a resurgent high-end audio and home cinema market.

The McIntosh Group, including the McIntosh brand, Sonus Faber and Sumiko, was acquired by Bose in 2024, having previously been owned by an American private equity group.

New products continue to appear, with the DS200 streaming DAC showcasing how McIntosh has moved with the times while maintaining their distinctive style and overall brand identity. Long may that continue.

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When was the last time you sat down and really listened to a piece of music? And I mean really listened – no phone, no interruptions, not even any getting up to use the toilet. A proper, dedicated, bum-on-seat listening session with your eyes closed, just you and the music.

As someone with two young children and a phone, the answer for me is: far too long ago. So when I heard that Pitchblack Playback was celebrating its 10th anniversary, I thought it high time I went along.

For the uninitiated, Pitchblack Playback is a listening session held in total darkness. They select an album, and you sit there with the lights off and listen to it in its entirety with no distractions – no phones, no talking and definitely no singing along. They even hand out eye masks for a total blackout experience (they have to keep the fire exit signs illuminated for safety reasons).

As someone who enjoys sitting down, good music and not talking, it sounded like my perfect evening. So I headed to The Castle Cinema in Homerton to hear Thom Yorke’s debut solo album The Eraser, which has just turned 20 years old. And I can honestly say I’ll never hear it the same way again.

Driven to a lack of distraction

The inspiration behind Pitchblack Playback came from playwright Samuel Beckett via UK record label Ninja Tune. The event’s founder, Ben Gomori, attended a preview of Amon Tobin’s album ISAM at the Soho Hotel, complete with tour visuals on the screen. “I was really struck by this environment of sitting and listening to an album without any distractions – and not even any talking – on a great sound system,” he tells me before the Thom Yorke session. “And I wanted to take that idea and bring it to the general public.”

ISAM came out in 2011, long before hi-fi listening bars really became a thing. Lockdown was also just a glint in Boris Johnson’s eye, so sitting in the dark with a load of strangers might have seemed a strange proposition. But in other ways, the time was ripe: these were the days when albums were constantly being leaked via dodgy download sites, usually in the form of highly compressed MP3s, so Gomori thought “why not give people a chance to hear it properly rather than a poor quality copy?”

His initial idea was to include visuals, like the ISAM preview he attended. But a chat with a friend set him off in a new direction.

“He asked if I was going to do visuals, or whether I was going to do it in the dark to enhance the music,” Gomori explains. “He’d just seen a production of a Samuel Beckett play called Not I at the Royal Court, which is completely dark apart from a spotlight on a character’s mouth as they deliver a monologue. It was just a flippant comment, but it changed everything.”

Originally the nights focused on new releases (think MGMT, Explosions In The Sky, Christine And The Queens), but it was only once they started doing classic albums from the likes of David Bowie and Miles Davis that word really spread. Some labels were hesitant to commit without an audience already established, but these classic cuts came with loyal followings.

The events are typically held in cinemas, as they have the “holy trifecta”: a great sound system, comfortable seating and a dark environment. But they have also been held in planetariums in Bristol and Glasgow, as well as listening rooms, arts centres and various audio-centred spaces all over the world.

Unless an album is available in Dolby Atmos or 5.1, the stereo version is upmixed to surround sound to make the most of the venue’s sound system (if it has such a system, that is – Pitchblack plays stereo in venues that are set up for it, like Listener in Paris and Shhh in Mexico City). Listening in stereo through a surround system would be "pretty underwhelming”, Gomori says, though he does admit that very rarely an album does sound worse upmixed, and so they stick with stereo instead (“Though it’s only happened, like, once”).

Venues are meticulously researched before qualifying, and seating plans checked beforehand – you don’t want seating in a big, long rectangle with people really far away from the front, as that would worsen their listening experience.

Gomori won’t play anything in less than 16-bit, and will always strive for a 24-bit recording if there’s one available. “I always want the highest resolution possible – even though not many people would notice – as I want to give you the best chance of hearing every detail, every nuance, and the best possible sense of space,” he says.

Though how people choose to enjoy it is up to them. “We’ve had a few people fall asleep,” Gomori says. “It’s usually dads. I’ve had to prod them awake at the end. Whereas some people lie down in front of the subwoofer to really absorb the bass.”

Whichever end of the spectrum you fall on, Gomori argues that carving time out for music is more important than ever, especially given how addicted we’re all becoming to our phones. And in a post-pandemic world, where you need no longer leave the house to meet most of your essential needs, the value of shared experience can’t be overstated.

“It’s about taking time out of your week and just sitting down with a piece of art and engaging with it with no distraction,” he says. “We need experiences like this in our lives.”

Given that you’re sitting in the dark, wearing an eye mask, and not talking to anyone, I’m dubious just how ‘shared’ an experience it will be. But Gomori is insistent that people do form bonds here.

“I call it shared introspection,” he says. “Maybe none of your friends like a certain artist, but you can come here and meet other superfans. I’ve seen complete strangers making plans together afterwards, which is really nice to see.”

I’m about to see for myself, as we head into screen one, where the lights will soon go out.

Back in black

Gigs just aren’t for me. I love the music, it’s the people that turn me off. Crowds unnerve me, and while I can appreciate the atmosphere a good gig creates, I would take a listening room any day of the week. The beer’s much cheaper, for one. And given the choice between hearing a mastered studio session that’s the best of dozens of takes, or a live performance whose quality depends on so many variables (how the band feel on the day, the venue’s acoustics, even the behaviour of the people in the crowd around you) I know which I would pick.

The Eraser is a great album to hear at Pitchblack Playback for three reasons. First, I’ve had it since release in 2006, so I’ll know if I can hear a difference versus listening to it at home. Second, Thom Yorke once told an interviewer that the album is designed “to be listened to in an isolated space”, which this very definitely is. And third, it’s just a great album.

It’s a completely different listen through The Castle Cinema’s sound system. Thom Yorke’s trademark wailing and bleeps and bloops are a lot more immersive through the spatial arrangement, of course, but it all just hits with so much more scale and impact, from the opening piano chords of the title track to the warm digital glow of the closing song Cymbal Rush.

Not that I find myself immersed straight away. Wearing an eye mask in a dark room is a strange sensation, akin to sensory deprivation. But you soon get used to it – after my initial paranoia has subsided, and I’ve stopped worrying that everyone else there is making faces at me, I sink further into The Castle’s generous seating for some serious listening.

At least, I try to. I had assumed that cut off from any visual stimuli, I would concentrate solely on the music, but my mind keeps wandering between topics as scattered and glitchy as Yorke’s beat structure. And then I remember that this is what real listening feels like – the music is subconsciously influencing my thoughts, while I drift in and out of what’s playing. It’s how I used to listen to music, back in the pre-smartphone days when I would carve out big chunks of the day to spend doing nothing but. It’s like meditation, but a lot less boring, with cracking beats instead of mystic woo-woo.

I’m certainly getting the introspection part of shared introspection. But is it really a shared experience?

Towards the end of the album, curiosity gets the better of me and I peek out from behind my eye mask. It’s like seeing the passengers on a long-haul overnight flight – masks on, every one of them, bodies firmly in the recline position. I swear I can hear someone snoring, but I can’t pick them out – for all I know, they could all be asleep.

The album comes to its lo-fi conclusion, and after a few seconds of silence the house lights come up just enough to bring us back into the room. Masks off, everyone seems a little dazed, even giddy. We start shuffling out, the first lucky leavers receiving a free poster that Yorke’s label XL have donated (there aren’t enough to go around, sadly).

I don’t see any strangers forming lifelong bonds, but there is a feeling among us, something unspoken, as we emerge, blinking, into the sunny summer evening: that we have heard something familiar but in a completely different way, that we’ve really listened, not only to the music but a lot else besides.

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We’ve all been recipients of disapproving head shakes after asking the DJ for a particular tune… haven’t we?

Well, gone are the days of disc-jockey rejections, because Spotify has introduced an AI feature that allows paid users to control the app with their voice (and text) in order to create playlists, learn about songs, and even explore their own listening history.

The “Talk to Spotify” feature is available within the Home and Now Playing views on the mobile app. To use the feature, users have to press the mic button in the search field, and can then talk or type commands.

If you’re a fan of streaming music, you’ll be aware that there has been much recent discourse about cutting down on AI in the world of streaming services.

Just last month, Tidal joined Deezer and Qobuz in a clampdown on AI generated music, and even Spotify has recently culled a batch of AI generated songs, despite the company’s boss defending AI music in the not too distant past.

But when it comes to in-app functions, it seems that Spotify is embracing the technology with open arms.

The new feature joins an existing batch of AI functions within the Spotify app, which include an AI DJ that picks music based on your listening habits, an AI playlist builder that can create custom playlists in response to prompts, and Daylist, a playlist that updates to suit the mood throughout the day.

The Talk to Spotify function is now being rolled out to Spotify Premium users aged 18 and above in the US, Ireland and Sweden across iOS and Android devices in English.

According to Spotify: “Like any beta, it’s a work in progress: responses won’t always be perfect, and your feedback directly shapes what comes next.”

So, when it comes to the UK, we will be giving the new feature a try and thinking up our action points. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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The latest projector to enter our test room is not quite like anything we have seen before. It’s the “world’s first mobile theatre system”, sporting four Dolby Atmos satellite speakers that are housed in the projector’s body.

It can also deliver a 4K picture, with a claimed brightness of up to 3500 ISO lumens. You can push the screen size as big as 300 inches, and it is built around a DLP optical system illuminated by a triple-laser lighting system.

That is all wrapped up in a package weighing a rather hefty 33kg with a set of wheels on the bottom.

That all means that, in theory, you should be able to take everything you need for a movie night in an all-in-one system. It doesn’t come cheap, and will set you back £4499 / $4999 / AU$8999.

Does it deliver on its promises? After we reviewed the product in our test room, it became clear that there are two aspects in which the X1 Pro excels, and two that hold it back from greatness. Let’s dig into it.

Nifty speaker design

The 7.1.4-channel speaker system is arguably the most exciting element of the projector. Each of the four satellite speakers can be placed around the space. They offer a compact yet practical build, with the fronts measuring 8 cm across and the rears coming in at 6 cm wide.

They also include little stands on the bottom with a rubber foot that folds out, making for a sturdy base. On top of that, you can charge them when they are inside the projector, or you can use their individual USB ports to give them some juice.

There’s also a subwoofer inside the projector’s body, which features two drive units, each measuring 13cm in diameter.

It’s a first to see such an elaborate speaker set-up for a portable projector in our test room, and is a draw if you are looking for an entire home cinema system in a box.

Rich, punchy picture

As well as the clever sound and speaker design, the X1 Pro delivers a punchy image performance that makes for pleasant viewing.

When watching Thunderbolts, we note in our review: “The villain’s brightly coloured costume stands out against the background, which makes for an engaging experience.”

Edges of characters and items are crisp and clean, and there is little noise in textures, contributing to an overall picture that feels sharp without tipping into being over-etched. It could do with an extra level of detail considering the price point, but it is still clear enough to see strands of hair and creases in clothes.

When we move to a brighter environment than our dark test room, a fair bit of detail and punch is lost, of course. But this set-up would be watchable with a bright movie when watching outside with the sun still up.

But image looks unsubtle

While it delivers an engaging image, the X1 Pro is not the most subtle of projectors. Its colours look a little over-emphasised, and they verge on unnatural. This becomes clear when watching Civil War as an army chopper lands on lush grass, where the foliage appears a tad too vivid to look realistic.

There is also an issue with the projector’s black depth. During Sinners as Michael B Jordan’s Stack has a terse conversation in a low-lit barn, we found that it “delivers the dark background with a fair bit of banding that verges on grey at points”.

Shadow detail leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to darker skin tones, and it is hard to make out the subtle differences in textures in these areas.

Disappointing sound performance

Unfortunately, while we like the compact speaker design, the sound performance itself rather lets the package down.

The sound is certainly more room-filling than the majority of portable projectors that come with built-in speakers, but we expect a more immersive performance from the 7.1.4-channel system.

With its Dolby Atmos presentation, the system lacks the immersive height and width effects to immerse us truly in the film. And there’s not a huge sense of precision around the space, with obvious gaps in the soundfield.

The bass performance is also underwhelming. Instead of packing a meaty weight, it lands with a rather flat softness. In our review when watching Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, we say: “Punches should sound deep and impactful, but they lack the powerful drive necessary to convey the right level of force.”

The X1 Pro’s portable, innovative design and punchy picture are not to be dismissed. But the high price tag and lacklustre audio mean that it seems more sensible to invest in a separate projector and sound system to get the best performance from both.

MORE:

Here’s our full review of the Nebula X1 Pro

Check out the best projectors

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Remarkably, the new era of F1 is yet to experience a wet session – but that could change this weekend at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Its sprawling layout means that when the rain hits, it only tends to cover a small section of the track, leaving drivers with a tyre dilemma that's been at the heart of many a chaotic Belgian Grand Prix over the years.

Belgian Grand Prix 2026 free stream

Austria: Servus TV (FREE)
Luxembourg: RTL Play (FREE)
Belgium: RTBF Auvio (FREE)
Blocked? Watch your Belgian GP stream with a VPN

Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Schedule

(All times BST)

Saturday, 18th July
3pm – Qualifying

Sunday, 19th July
2pm – Belgian Grand Prix

Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Preview

When Mercedes won each of the first six races of the season, few would have imagined that everything could unravel so quickly. In the space of three races, Kimi Antonelli's lead has withered away, from 66 to just 25 points. George Russell may be his closest challenger, but Lewis Hamilton is only seven points behind him.

Reliability issues have now ruined two of Antonelli's races and one of Russell's, and the problem has reared it head at a particularly inopportune time for Mercedes. That's because Ferrari appears to have now addressed the pace issues that plagued them early on in the season.

Hamilton has five podiums and a victory, while Charles Leclerc is coming off his first win of the season at Silverstone, to go along with two other podium finishes. Unless the Silver Arrows are able to sort the car out quickly, they're going to continue losing momentum to the Scuderia.

Incidentally, Leclerc and Hamilton scored 21 points to Russell and Antonelli's 10 points at Spa a year ago. Leclerc made the podium, while Antonelli finished out of the points altogether.

Antonelli, however, topped two of the three Practice sessions, while Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly all suffered heavy crashes. Lando Norris, meanwhile, has been given a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding the permitted number of engine parts.

Below we'll show you how to watch Belgian Grand Prix live streams from anywhere in the world.

Watch Belgian Grand Prix 2026 live from anywhere

Most F1 live streams are location-sensitive, which means you won't be able to access your preferred coverage when travelling abroad. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a straightforward but powerful app that lets you alter your virtual location and thus unblock any Belgian GP stream – including the free coverage in Austria, Luxembourg and Belgium.

NordVPN is our pick of the best VPN services. It's affordable, fast, stable and easy to use. Try it risk-free for 30 days and see for yourself.

How to use a VPN for any Belgian GP live stream

1. Sign up to the VPN of your choice. NordVPN is the one we recommend.

2. Open the VPN app and choose the location of the service you wish to access. For the F1, you may wish to choose Austria for Servus TV.

3. Head over to Servus TV on your browser or device and enjoy the free Belgian Grand Prix live stream.

How to watch Belgian Grand Prix 2026 in 4K Ultra HD in the UK

In the UK, you can watch the Belgian Grand Prix, along with every F1 race, in 4K via Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream packs. You'll need to subscribe to an Ultra HD package and have a 4K TV.

Head over to the Sky Sports F1 Ultra HD channel to watch every race, qualifying and practice in 4K and HDR.

Need Sky? Browse today's best Sky TV deals.

F1 season pass

F1 TV Pro includes live HD coverage of every F1 practice, qualifier and race. No ad breaks.

F1 TV Pro is available in over 188 countries – but not the UK (you can use the basic 'Access' version for live timings but you can't watch any races live). F1 TV Premium is available in the US.

F1 TV Pro is available via the F1 TV website, iOS/Android apps, Roku TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Google TV and other mobile devices.

Latest F1 TV Pro prices:

• F1 TV Pro in India – $3.99/month (cheapest)
• F1 TV Pro in South Africa – $4.99/month
• F1 TV Pro in Brazil – $5.99/month
• F1 TV Pro in Netherlands – €11.90/month
• F1 TV Pro in USA – $10.99/month
• F1 TV Pro in Mexico – $129/month

Watch Belgian Grand Prix 2026 live streams in the USA

In the USA, Apple TV is showing the Belgian Grand Prix – and practice sessions are free-to-air all season.

A subscription costs $12.99 per month after a 7-day FREE trial, though better deals are available to Apple customers.

Buying an eligible Apple device, including select iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac models, gets you free Apple TV access for three months.

Apple One, which bundles Apple TV with Apple Music, Apple Arcade and 50GB of iCloud Storage, starts at $19.95 per month after a 1-month free trial.

Alternatively, for a limited time the Apple Music Student Subscription includes Apple TV, and costs $6 per month.

Watch Belgian Grand Prix 2026 live streams in Australia

Fox Sports has the rights to show every live F1 race in Australia. That means Foxtel and Kayo Sports subscribers get a front-row seat to the Belgian GP too.

Kayo offers new customers a FREE 7-day trial to test the waters, after which it starts at AU$29.99 a month for the base Standard tier. For up to 4K video quality and simultaneous streaming on up to two devices, you'll need the Kayo Premium plan for AU$45.99 a month.

Subscribers can also stream the action via Foxtel Now by adding the Sports package ($30 a month).

10Play shows free highlights of every 2026 F1 race.

Belgian Grand Prix 2026: Start Times Around The World

• Feast your eyes on the best TVs
• Splash the cash on our cheap TV deals
• Our pick of the best streaming services

VPN services are evaluated and tested by us in view of legal recreational use. For example:a) Access to services from other countries, (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).b) Safeguarding your online security and making your online privacy more robust when abroad.Future plc does not support nor condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. We do not endorse nor approve of consuming pirated content that is paid-for.

Ever felt that you’d like a direct link to the mind of a What Hi-Fi? writer? Well now you can get just that, by joining us on Substack!

Okay, so perhaps we’re not talking about a ‘direct link’ to our minds, but my inimitable colleague Kashfia Kabir and I have launched What Hi-Fi?’s Substack as a way for us to discuss the things that are on our minds, give you more of an idea of our thoughts on specific products and topics, and deliver insights into our processes.

So far, we have written about the unlikely new hero of OLED tech, what it’s really like covering a hi-fi trade show, why we review as a team, and why, of all the amazing products we get to test, a dinky DAC is the one Kash is most excited about.

To be clear, these are articles that you won’t find anywhere else – even on whathifi.com.

But what is Substack? Great question.

Substack is essentially a very cool blogging platform where writers such as us can deliver articles directly to their readers. Subscribe to us on Substack, and you can receive our weekly articles as emails in your inbox.

It’s free to sign up, and we send our articles on a Saturday morning, giving you a lovely extra dose of What Hi-Fi? to enjoy over a weekend cup of tea and some buttery toast.

If that sounds like your sort of thing, head over to the What Hi-Fi? Substack, or simply whack your email address into the box below. Easy-peasy.

And if you have a burning question about how we work, or a topic you’d love to get our thoughts on in a future Substack article, let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!

Sennheiser has been enjoying a good few months.

The HDB 630 made its debut in late 2025 to acclaim from our reviews team, who dubbed them some of the best wireless headphones they had heard at this premium level. A few months later, the Momentum 5 Wireless landed and, at their slightly lower price, matched their bigger brothers in earning the full five-star haul.

Great news for Sennheiser, then. But, with both premium wireless headphones accumulating significant plaudits, which do you go for? To make the decision easier, we have broken down each pair’s strengths and limitations across a range of parameters so that you can be sure you’re getting the Sennheisers that suit your needs.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sennheiser HDB 630: price

These are both premium wireless headphones, so you’re not going to be able to pick up a pair for the same price as your morning coffee order. Well, unless you happen to frequent a very boujee coffee shop.

At £330 / $400 / AU4749, the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless are the cheaper of the two, with a price that undercuts that of many of the established cans at this level.

At £400 / $500 / AU$1000, the HDB 630 are slap bang in the middle of what we’d call classic premium territory – not overpriced, but certainly par for the course in the world of flagship wireless over-ears.

Still, they are undeniably more expensive than their younger siblings, so it’s the Momentum 5 Wireless winning this one.

**Winner: Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless**

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sennheiser HDB 630: design and comfort

Sennheiser tends to have a pretty distinct design language, one that’s very much on display with both of these premium pairs.

The large oval earcups of the Momentum 5 Wireless and HDB 630 will be familiar to anyone who has seen a pair of recent wireless Sennheiser over-ears. Little touches, though, such as the attractive fabric exterior, do make the Momentum 5 actually seem a little more premium than the rather plain HDB 630.

The Momentum 5 Wireless are also a little smaller and lighter than their bigger brothers, weighing in at 290g compared with the 311g of the HDB 630. Much of that weight is housed in the HDB 630s’ earcups, which are chunkier and sport a deeper profile than those of the fifth-gen Momentums.

Comfort isn’t a problem on either pair, though. The Momentum 5 Wireless do cause some mild on-ear heating past the hour mark (many premium headphones of this type do), but we rarely experience that dull aching that you might suffer from with rivals sporting heavier weight or higher clamping pressure.

They are secure and stable, too. Even when we’re walking pretty briskly with the Momentum 5 Wireless clamped over our head, there’s little on-ear rocking or instability thanks to the headphones’ well-judged clamping force.

In fairness to the larger HDB 630, they are hardly a chore to wear either. Yes, they’re heavier overall, but the more costly cans do have slightly plusher ear padding, as well as a nicely cushioned headband, making for a comfortable, amply sealed listen.

Both pairs use touch controls rather than a predominantly button-based system, and we struggle to find any complaints with how they are implemented. We like that every touch action is acknowledged with a sound, that controls can be switched off via the app, and that our commands are responded to promptly whenever we tap or swipe on the right earcup.

It’s a tricky one. The Momentum 5 Wireless are lighter and more appealing to look at, but the HDB 630 do win back marks thanks to their slightly more luxurious earpads and headband. A tie seems like a fair result.

**Winner: Draw**

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sennheiser HDB 630: features

Let’s start with the basics.

Sennheiser has gone big on battery life both both its premium players, with the Momentum 5 Wireless squeezing out 57 hours when active noise cancelling (ANC) is switched on and the HDB 630 just pipping them to the post with 60 hours under the same conditions.

On both, Multipoint Bluetooth is available for connecting to two devices simultaneously.

If you want spatial audio with the Momentum 5 Wireless, Dolby Atmos is on the menu when listening to supported Atmos content, with head tracking to be added via an upcoming firmware update. Be aware, conversely, that the HDB 630 don’t support spatial audio.

Dolby Atmos can be toggled on and off via the Sennheiser SmartPlus app, a platform which we find ourselves really admiring the more we use it. It’s clean and orderly, and we like the levels of customisation on offer, such as the eight-band custom equaliser and a slider for dialling up and down the strength of the ANC.

For the Momentum 5 Wireless, Bluetooth codec support is impressive, with support for the routine SBC and AAC codecs alongside higher-quality aptX HD, aptX Lossless and aptX Adaptive flavours. The cans currently use Bluetooth 5.4, but an incoming firmware update later in 2026 will push this to 6.0 and include LE Audio.

With the HDB 630, codec support comes down to the inclusion of the headphones’ included Bluetooth dongle. The HDB 630 bundle in a BTD 700 USB-C dongle that you simply plug into your smartphone device’s USB-C port to give it up to aptX Adaptive superpowers, even if the source device natively doesn't support a higher-resolution codec.

That means you can stream in aptX Adaptive quality from the usually-AAC-only iPhone, for example. You can check the quality of the signal path in the Sennheiser Smart Control Plus app’s settings, and you’ll want to ensure the ‘Audio mode priority’ is set to ‘Hi-Res 24bit/96kHz’.

You don't get Dolby Atmos with the HDB 630, but there is a ‘Crossfeed’ feature to blend left and right channels for what Sennheiser calls a “more natural sound” with certain recordings. A bass-boost button, which does exactly what you think it does, is available for both.

A close one again, with solid showings across the board. But we feel that the dongle, plus a slightly better battery life, tip things over into the HDB 630s’ favour.

**Winner: Sennheiser HDB 630**

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sennheiser HDB 630: ANC and call quality

Noise cancelling is acceptable on both the Sennheiser HDB 630 and the Momentum 5 Wireless. It won’t be troubling the likes of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) or the Sony WH-1000XM6 class leaders, but each outshines the rather weaker efforts of the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3.

In fact, there isn’t a huge amount to choose between the two Sennheisers. Each pair is capable of dealing with the basic humming of an air-conditioning unit during a hot day in May, all but blocking out that droning sound so that it doesn’t intrude upon our listening in any meaningful way.

Traffic noises prove a little trickier, but again, there isn’t a huge difference between the two. We feel that the HDB 630 offer a little more passive isolation due to their larger, plusher earpads, but standing next to a busy road sees both pairs dampening, not eliminating, the swooshing of cars as they pass by.

Low-frequency rumbles are perceptibly reduced, but again, they don’t disappear entirely, while high-end sound such as tweeting birds will often pass through.

Call quality is excellent no matter your choice. We take the Momentum 5 Wireless out for a chat on a blustery day, and our headphones effectively reduce intrusive wind and traffic noise while making human speech sound clear and natural.

The HDB 630 do a similarly fine job, and once again, voices come across as articulate and human rather than mechanical or robotic. Isolation is decent, too, so no need to worry about having to shout to be heard over surrounding noises.

**Winner: Draw**

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sennheiser HDB 630: sound quality

If you like rich, smooth-sounding headphones that dig out plenty of detail and strike a fine balance precision and authority, the Momentum 5 Wireless could well be for you.

As we wrote in our review, the fifth-gen Sennheiser over-ears are “rich, smooth yet strikingly precise and detailed headphones, with an audio signature that makes listening a refreshingly undemanding experience. Sugar’s If I Can’t Change Your Mind can sound overly urgent or shrill... but the Momentum 5 Wireless have the poise and maturity to bring order to... chaos.”

If you’re after headphones that shine a sweet spotlight on your music’s midrange, the Momentum 5 Wireless demand an audition. The bass is full and a little on the rich side, but that poised midrange is a real highlight, offering a naturalness and insight that gives even more premium alternatives a run for their money.

Their qualities are further amplified when we use a wired connection, especially if you’re listening via USB-C for handling files up to 24-bit/96kHz. A wired connection lends further fullness and depth to instruments, while that outstanding midrange sounds sweeter and even more starkly defined.

In truth, the Momentum 5 Wireless never fatigue nor frustrate, instead letting music unfold naturally and precisely no matter the genre.

As you would perhaps hope, the step-up HDB 630 do take things up a notch. They’re a chunk more costly, but you’ll be rewarded handsomely by the sonic dividends that extra outlay grants.

In fact, these might well be the best-sounding premium headphones currently available – and that’s even before that clever Bluetooth dongle is in play.

Here, precision and analysis go hand in hand with drive and vigour, making for the most informative and entertaining sound we’ve heard from wireless headphones at this price, with or without the use of the dongle for higher-quality streams.

The HDB 630 are hugely natural and dare we say sophisticated-sounding wireless headphones, with a poise and precision that demands to be heard. As we wrote at the time, these Sennheiser premium cans are “wonderfully smooth and natural sounding headphones, full of shape and dynamism across the frequency range”.

Instrumental textures are replete with both depth and shape, and the HDB 630 are remarkably insightful at teasing out the emotional heart of our testing catalogue. Songs are conveyed with conviction and gusto, and the Sennheisers seamlessly switch emotional gears as they tackle our tunes with gusto and grace.

Yes, the Momentum 5 Wireless are detailed and well organised, but the HDB 630 really take things up a notch in practically all sonic departments. That becomes only truer when the dongle is called into action. And you’ll notice tangible gains in clarity and solidity when upgrading from, say, a standard AAC stream to full-fat aptX Adaptive.

However you listen, the HDB 630 are genuine benchmark-setters. The Momentum 5 Wireless are great, but the HDB 630 are ‘Great’ with a capital ‘G’.

** Winner: Sennheiser HDB 630 **

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sennheiser HDB 630: verdict

If you can’t stretch to the HDB 630, the Momentum 5 Wireless are the logical step-down choice. They still provide excellent sound quality and bring plenty of high-performance features to enjoy, all while saving you £80 / $100 in the process.

That’s not an inconsiderable amount of money, so we completely understand why money-savvy buyers would – indeed should – pick the Momentum 5 Wireless over their bigger brothers if costs are a factor.

If you’re happy to spend more, however, go for the Sennheiser HDB 630. They are essentially in a sonic class of one at the moment, outshining not only the Momentum 5 but practically anything else we can think of at their level.

If sound is your top priority, there’s no real excuse for not checking them out.

** Overall winner: Sennheiser HDB 630 **

MORE:

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM6: which premium wireless headphones are better?

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: which premium headphones should you pick?

“Sound comes first” – we speak to Sennheiser about German engineering, changing ownership, and 80 years of making music

Skullcandy has released new premium wireless headphones, the Crusher 1080 ANC.

But rather than go it alone, the firm has enlisted the help of a powerful ally in a bid to get its latest cans competing with the best in the business.

That ally, in case you hadn't guessed already, is Bose.

The Crusher 1080 ANCs' extensive feature set is powered by 'Sound by Bose' technology, meaning the new headphones boast 'QuietControl' noise cancelling and 'TrueSpatial' sound design.

These let them deliver Bose's Immersive Audio, and 'SpeechClarity' features for, as you might have guessed, clearer voice calls.

You even get Bose-tuned EQ modes to more accurately tailor the sound to your specific preferences.

That's a lot of Bose-made tech, but what about how the Crusher 1080 ANC actually sound?

As you might have gathered from the name, the new over-ears promise "bass you can feel", complemented by "a rich, balanced sound" with plenty of "immersive detail", all aided by Bose's 'WaveForm' audio engine for improved signal processing.

The Crusher 1080 ANC boast a very impressive 60 hours of battery life with noise cancelling switched off, dropping to around 50 hours when ANC is in play, while a 'Rapid Charge' facility will grant four hours of battery life from a 10-minute boost.

Elsewhere, a decidedly premium feature set includes Google Fast Pairing, Multipoint Connectivity and Auracast audio sharing technology, as well as a low-latency audio mode for gaming and movies.

Outside of the Bose tech, the headphones also feature Skullcandy's patented 'Crusher Bass' technology, which allows you to use the Skullcandy app or a dedicated 'Crusher wheel' to dial up your lower-end reproduction and "create a physical bass sensation that adds impact and immersion to music, movies, and games".

The Skullcandy Crusher 1080 ANC are available now, priced at £220 / $280 / AU$400, in a choice of Brown, Pink, Grey or Black finishes.

MORE:

Read our SoundCore Liberty 5 Pro review

I auditioned a bunch of AirPods Max replacements, but none could match Apple's secret AV weapon

Best wireless earbuds: 7 sensational pairs reviewed and rated by our experts

We Are Rewind has announced its latest collaboration, which sees the cassette revival champion join forces with Pink Floyd to release a limited edition Dark Side of the Moon box set.

Alongside a Dark Side of the Moon-themed WE-001 cassette player, the set includes an exclusive limited-edition, high-quality cassette of the album’s 50th anniversary remaster.

Retro though this all sounds, cassette sales were up by 53 per cent year-on-year in the UK in 2025, as the physical sales charts saw Gen Z re-engaging with physical media.

But this cassette player is no trip down memory lane, with an aluminium casing and metal buttons for forward and rewind controls, as well as an overall modern aesthetic. Mind you, for those hoping to embrace the old-fashioned look, We Are Rewind also sells a belt clip for £24 / $32.

With Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity for wireless listening, a 3.5mm headphone output, line-in recording capability and a built-in rechargeable battery with up to 12 hours of playback, We Are Rewind says this release builds on the success of its WE-001 cassette player.

Notably, with this model, the company claims it has upgraded the cassette player’s frequency response, quoting the current range as 30-14,500 Hz ± 3 dB.

According to Romain Boudruche, founder and CEO of We Are Rewind: "To call The Dark Side of the Moon a classic album is an understatement [...] We're happy that We Are Rewind can play a part in helping preserve the physical album experience."

The limited edition The Dark Side of the Moon WE-001 box set is now available for £159 / $199.

MORE

Feeling nostalgic? We Are Rewind's limited edition cassette player takes you back to the '80s

My first time using a portable cassette player reminded me of what I love about listening to vinyl

I tried this Bluetooth cassette player so you don't have to

You can’t have a conversation about the best TVs without mentioning Sony. In fact, if you’re reading these words, it’s likely because you want to know all about Sony’s new 2026 TV range. If so, hello – you’re in the right place.

This year, Sony’s lineup isn't built around brighter OLED panels or another incremental Mini LED upgrade. Instead, Sony is introducing its first True RGB televisions – a new type of Mini LED TV that replaces traditional white backlighting with individually controlled red, green and blue LEDs.

The company believes that this allows it to reproduce colours more accurately, while also delivering dramatically higher brightness than today's OLED TVs can achieve.

The exciting new display tech headlines the new Bravia 9 II and Bravia 7 II, but they're far from the only new TVs in Sony's range. More affordable Bravia 3 II and Bravia 2 II models also join the lineup (with some country-specific caveats), while several existing OLED and LED models continue alongside them.

The Sony tech headlines for 2026

Before we dive into the 2026 Sony TV models proper, here are the headlines across the range:

Embracing the RGB Mini LED revolution

For years, OLED has been regarded as the pinnacle of TV picture quality, but 2026 is shaping up to be the year RGB Mini LED goes mainstream.

Sony joins rivals including Samsung, Hisense, LG, Philips, and TCL in adopting the tech, though the company refers to its implementation as True RGB.

Instead of using conventional white or blue Mini LEDs behind a coloured panel, Sony's new system uses independently controlled red, green and blue LEDs.

The result, in theory at least, is a TV capable of producing richer colours at much higher brightness levels, while also improving colour accuracy and reducing some of the compromises traditionally associated with LCD panels.

Sony is chasing studio monitor picture quality

Sony has long claimed its TVs are designed to reproduce films and TV shows as their creators intended, and that philosophy remains central to its latest 2026 TV range.

The Bravia 9 II, for example, has been developed with Sony's professional BVM-HX3110 mastering monitor firmly in mind, with the company claiming its new True RGB technology delivers colours and brightness that more closely match the displays used by filmmakers during production.

During our early hands-on testing, our TV and AV Editor Tom Parsons found the Bravia 9 II tracked the mastering monitor remarkably closely in many scenes, particularly when it came to colour accuracy and HDR highlights. It’s worth noting that he also stated that OLED still retained certain advantages in perceived depth and overall image solidity.

Super-sized screens

Sony has also expanded its range of truly enormous TVs, with the flagship Bravia 9 II now stretching all the way up to a massive 115 inches, while the Bravia 7 II introduces a new 98-inch option.

Even the more affordable Bravia 3 II gains a 100-inch version for the first time, giving buyers who want a cinema-sized screen more options than ever before without necessarily stepping up to Sony's flagship models.

Sony has finally added four HDMI 2.1 sockets – but only on one TV

After years of criticism, Sony has finally introduced a TV with four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports. The rather bonkers catch? It's the Bravia 3 II, rather than one of the premium True RGB models.

That's right; both the flagship Bravia 9 II and step-down Bravia 7 II continue to offer just two HDMI 2.1 sockets, one of which doubles as the eARC connection for a soundbar or AV receiver.

Frankly, this seems an odd decision. Buyers investing in premium home cinema systems might not all be gamers, but certainly a sizeable chunk of them are. And even if they aren’t, it seems odd to have a superior connectivity feature on a model lower in the lineup. Right?

Welcome additions

While True RGB understandably grabs most of the attention, Sony has refreshed much of the wider user experience, too.

Across the new range, you'll find a redesigned remote control with automatic backlighting, USB-C charging and a construction that uses 80 per cent recycled plastic.

Sony has also introduced a new My Cinema interface that makes picture and sound settings easier to personalise, while Direct Connect allows compatible Sony rear speakers and subwoofers to connect wirelessly to supported TVs without the need for a soundbar.

Elsewhere, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Sony Pictures Core, Google TV and Wi-Fi 6 all remain key parts of the experience across much of the lineup.

Sony 2026 TV range breakdown

So, we've covered the key highlights, but what about the individual models themselves?

Fear not, for it's all broken down below – leading with the newest models, before covering all of Sony's existing TVs that are sticking around for 2026.

Sony Bravia 9 II

The Bravia 9 II replaces the original Bravia 9 as Sony's flagship TV, and also marks the company's first commercial RGB Mini LED (or 'True RGB') TV.

Available in 65-, 75-, 85- and colossal 115-inch sizes, it's designed to bring professional mastering-monitor levels of brightness and colour accuracy into the home.

Unlike conventional Mini LED TVs, which use blue or white LEDs behind an LCD layer, the Bravia 9 II uses independently controlled red, green and blue LEDs.

Sony claims that this setup delivers twice the colour volume of the original Bravia 9 and four times that of the Bravia 8 II OLED.

Elsewhere, gamers may be less enthusiastic. Despite being Sony's flagship TV for 2026, the Bravia 9 II still includes only two HDMI 2.1 sockets supporting 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. It's an increasingly frustrating limitation when many rivals (including Sony’s own Bravia 3 II) now offer four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports.

Audio is another focus area, with Sony's 2.2.2-channel Acoustic Multi-Audio+ system including upward-firing speakers for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

That all sounds very exciting indeed, but we have now reviewed the Bravia 9 II, and while it's exceptionally accomplished for a backlit TV, it struggles somewhat to justify itself against the very best OLEDs, most notably Sony's own Bravia 8 II.

Read our Sony Bravia 9 II review

Sony Bravia 9 II specs:

• Sizes: 65, 75, 85 and 115 inches
• Display type: True RGB Mini LED
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: XR Processor
• Sound: 2.2.2-channel (80W Acoustic Multi-Audio+)
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x2)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM

Sony Bravia 9 II launch pricing:

• Sony Bravia 9 II 65-inch: £3499 / $3600 / AU$5999
• Sony Bravia 9 II 75-inch: £4299 / $4600 / AU$7499
• Sony Bravia 9 II 85-inch: £5499 / $6500 / AU$9999
• Sony Bravia 9 II 115-inch: £22,999 / $31,000 / AU$44,999

Sony Bravia 7 II

The Bravia 9 II may grab most of the headlines, but the Bravia 7 II could end up being the more important TV for most people.

Like its flagship sibling, it adopts Sony's new True RGB backlighting technology, bringing the same fundamental advantages of wider colour reproduction and higher brightness to a considerably lower price point. It also comes in a much broader range of sizes, stretching from 50 inches all the way up to a huge 98-inch version.

Naturally, there are compromises.

Sony positions the Bravia 7 II below the Bravia 9 II by reducing the number of local dimming zones, lowering peak brightness and fitting a simpler 2.2-channel Acoustic Multi-Audio speaker system that omits the flagship's upward-firing Atmos drivers.

The gaming front is also unchanged. Like the 9 II, the Bravia 7 II still relies on Sony's Pentonic 1000 platform, meaning buyers again have just two HDMI 2.1 ports despite support for features such as 4K/120Hz gaming, VRR and ALLM.

On paper, the Bravia 7 II looks like a very tempting performance-per-pound proposition, but like the Bravia 9 II, we feel most buyers will be better served by a similarly priced OLED.

Read our Sony Bravia 7 II review

Sony Bravia 7 II specs:

• Sizes: 50, 55, 65, 75, 85 and 98 inches
• Display type: True RGB Mini LED
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: XR Processor
• Sound: 2.2-channel (40W Acoustic Multi-Audio)
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x2)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM

Sony Bravia 7 II launch pricing:

• Sony Bravia 7 II 50-inch: £1899 / $1600 / AU$2299
• Sony Bravia 7 II 55-inch: £1999 / $2100 / AU$2499
• Sony Bravia 7 II 65-inch: £2299 / $2600 / AU$3299
• Sony Bravia 7 II 75-inch: £2999 / $3100 / AU$4499
• Sony Bravia 7 II 85-inch: £3999 / $4000 / AU$5999
• Sony Bravia 7 II 98-inch: £6999 / $9000 / AU$12999

Sony Bravia 3 II

Not everyone needs a flagship TV, and Sony clearly hasn't forgotten that.

The Bravia 3 II sits much further down the company's 2026 range, swapping the cutting-edge True RGB backlight found in the Bravia 9 II and Bravia 7 II for a more conventional LED panel.

That naturally means it won't deliver the same dazzling brightness, colour volume or local dimming performance as its premium siblings, but it still benefits from many of Sony's broader software and smart TV improvements.

Google TV remains at the heart of the experience, providing access to all of the major streaming services alongside built-in Google Cast support, voice control and Sony's familiar smart TV interface.

One particularly notable addition for 2026 is the availability of a huge 100-inch version – the first time Sony has offered the Bravia 3 range in such a large screen size. That could make it an appealing option for buyers wanting an enormous display without paying flagship prices.

As mentioned a few times already (you’ve probably guessed by now that there are a few gamers in the What Hi-Fi? office), the Bravia 3 II actually outdoes its more expensive siblings in one important area – it offers four HDMI 2.1 ports. For users with multiple current-generation consoles, gaming PCs and soundbars, that could prove more than a little useful.

Of course, you shouldn't interpret that as meaning the Bravia 3 II is somehow a better gaming TV than the flagship models overall. Picture quality remains the priority higher up the range, and the lack of Mini LED or True RGB technology means HDR performance won't be in the same league.

But if connectivity is high on your wishlist, it's an unusual advantage that shouldn't be overlooked.

Rather bizarrely, though, the Bravia 3 II is not currently scheduled for launch in the UK.

Sony Bravia 3 II specs:

• Sizes: 43, 50, 55, 65, 75, 85 and 100 inches
• Display type: Direct LED LCD
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: XR Processor
• Sound: 2.0-channel (X-Balanced Speaker)
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x4)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM

Sony Bravia 3 II launch pricing:

• Sony Bravia 3 II 43-inch: £n/a / $600 / AU$1299
• Sony Bravia 3 II 50-inch: £n/a / $700 / AU$1399
• Sony Bravia 3 II 55-inch: £n/a / $800 / AU$1499
• Sony Bravia 3 II 65-inch: £n/a / $900 / AU$1899
• Sony Bravia 3 II 75-inch: £n/a / $1200 / AU$2399
• Sony Bravia 3 II 85-inch: £n/a / $1600 / AU$3499
• Sony Bravia 3 II 100-inch: £n/a / $3100 / AU$5499

Sony Bravia 2 II

The Bravia 2 II completes Sony's 2026 range as its most affordable new television.

Like the Bravia 3 II, it uses a conventional LED backlight rather than Mini LED, making it the entry point into Sony's latest lineup. Buyers still get Google TV, built-in Google Cast, access to all the major streaming platforms and Sony's familiar smart TV experience, but the focus here is very much on value rather than cutting-edge picture technology.

Available in a wide range of sizes from compact 43-inch models up to larger living room-friendly options, the Bravia 2 II is aimed at people who simply want a dependable Sony TV without paying for premium display hardware they'll rarely use. It's likely to prove particularly attractive for bedrooms, guest rooms and more budget-conscious buyers who still appreciate Sony's picture processing and straightforward interface.

While it will naturally lack the spectacular brightness and colour performance of the True RGB models, Sony hasn't stripped away the essentials. Google TV, voice control and support for today's most popular streaming services remain intact, making it an accessible entry point into the Bravia family.

Sony Bravia 2 II specs:

• Sizes: 43, 50, 55, 65 and 75 inches
• Display type: Direct LED LCD
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: X1 Processor
• Sound: 2.0-channel
• HDMI 2.1: No (HDMI 2.0b x3)
• Gaming features: ALLM

Sony Bravia 2 II launch pricing:

• Sony Bravia 2 II 43-inch: £629 / $400 / AU$1099
• Sony Bravia 2 II 50-inch: £749 / $500 / AU$1199
• Sony Bravia 2 II 55-inch: £899 / $600 / AU$1299
• Sony Bravia 2 II 65-inch: £1199 / $700 / AU$1699
• Sony Bravia 2 II 75-inch: £1399 / $900 / AU$2199

Older Sony TVs continuing in the lineup

Sony's 2026 range isn't made up entirely of new models. Alongside the latest Bravia launches, Sony is continuing to sell several existing OLED and Mini LED models.

Sony Bravia 8 II

While the Bravia 9 II is Sony's flagship LCD TV, the Bravia 8 II sits at the top of the company's OLED range. Despite its name, it isn't a replacement for the Bravia 8. Instead, it succeeds the A95L, with the Bravia 8 continuing lower down the lineup.

It uses Sony's latest QD-OLED panel, paired with the XR Processor and Acoustic Surface Audio+ sound system. Like the Bravia 9 II, gaming support includes 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, though there are still only two HDMI 2.1 sockets.

If you're deciding between Sony's two flagship TV technologies, the choice is fairly straightforward. The Bravia 9 II prioritises brightness and very large screen sizes, while the Bravia 8 II focuses on OLED's pixel-level contrast, and perfect blacks.

Read our Sony Bravia 8 II review

Sony Bravia 8 II specs:

• Sizes: 55 and 65 inches
• Display type: QD-OLED
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: XR Processor
• Sound: Acoustic Surface Audio+
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x2)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM

Sony Bravia 8 II prices:

• Sony Bravia 8 II 55-inch: £1799 / $3300 / AU$3999
• Sony Bravia 8 II 65-inch: £2299 / $2600 / AU$3299

Sony Bravia 8

The Bravia 8 remains one of Sony's core OLED TVs and continues in the lineup alongside the newer Bravia 8 II. Originally launched as the successor to the award-winning A80L, it combines a 4K WOLED panel with Sony's XR Processor and Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology.

Like the Bravia 8 II, it supports Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, 4K/120Hz gaming, VRR and ALLM, though only two HDMI inputs are HDMI 2.1.

Available in 55-inch, 65-inch and 77-inch sizes, it continues to offer a premium OLED option for buyers who don't need Sony's flagship QD-OLED model.

Read our Sony Bravia 8 review

Sony Bravia 8 specs:

• Sizes: 55, 65 and 77 inches
• Display type: OLED
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: XR Processor
• Sound: Acoustic Surface Audio+
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x2)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM

Sony Bravia 8 prices:

• Sony Bravia 8 55-inch: £1399 / $1600 / AU$2499
• Sony Bravia 8 65-inch: £1799 / $2000 / AU$2999
• Sony Bravia 8 77-inch: £2699 / $3000 / AU$4499

Sony Bravia 8A

The Bravia 8A is a variant of the Bravia 8, rather than an all-new TV. Sony says that it delivers identical picture and sound performance, with the only differences being a non-backlit remote control and fewer Sony Pictures Core streaming credits.

Available in the same three sizes as the Bravia 8, the Bravia 8A gives buyers another option if pricing differs between the two models. If it's noticeably cheaper, it could prove the better buy, given that Sony says performance is otherwise unchanged.

Sony Bravia 8A specs:

• Sizes: 55, 65 and 77 inches
• Display type: OLED
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: XR Processor
• Sound: Acoustic Surface Audio+
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x2)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM

Sony Bravia 8A prices:

• Sony Bravia 8A 55-inch: £1199 / $N/A / AU$N/A
• Sony Bravia 8A 65-inch: £1499 / $N/A / AU$N/A
• Sony Bravia 8A 77-inch: £2399 / $N/A / AU$N/A

Sony Bravia 5

The Bravia 5 continues as Sony's most affordable Mini LED TV, offering a step up from conventional LED sets without the price of the company's flagship models.

Combining Mini LED backlighting with Sony's XR Processor, it brings many of the company's premium picture-processing features to a wider audience.

Available in sizes from 55 inches up to a huge 98 inches, the Bravia 5 also supports Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, 4K/120Hz gaming, VRR and ALLM. As with many Sony TVs, only two HDMI inputs support the full HDMI 2.1 specification.

If you're looking for a Sony Mini LED TV without stretching to one of the company's flagship models, the Bravia 5 remains a compelling option.

Read our Sony Bravia 5 review

Sony Bravia 5 specs:

• Sizes: 55, 65, 75, 85 and 98 inches
• Display type: Mini LED LCD
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: XR Processor
• Sound: Acoustic Multi-Audio (40W)
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x2)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM

Sony Bravia 5 prices:

• Sony Bravia 5 55-inch: £1099 / $1400 / AU$1699
• Sony Bravia 5 65-inch: £1299 / $1500 / AU$1999
• Sony Bravia 5 75-inch: £1599 / $2000 / AU$2499
• Sony Bravia 5 85-inch: £1999 / $2400 / AU$2999
• Sony Bravia 5 98-inch: £4499 / $5000 / AU$5999

Sony A90K

The A90K remains Sony's premium small-screen OLED, offering buyers a high-end option in 42-inch and 48-inch sizes. Powered by the Cognitive Processor XR, it combines a 4K OLED panel with Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio+ sound system and Google TV.

Gaming features include 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, with two HDMI 2.1 inputs available. While Sony's newer OLEDs deliver improvements in brightness and overall performance, the A90K remains a premium OLED choice for anyone who wants a more compact TV.

Sony Bravia A90K specs:

• Sizes: 42 and 48 inches
• Display type: OLED
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: Cognitive Processor XR
• Sound: Acoustic Surface Audio+
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x2)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM

Sony Bravia A90K prices:

• Sony A90K 42-inch: £1399 / $1300 / AU$n/a
• Sony A90K 48-inch: £1499 / $1400 / AU$n/a

MORE:

Check out our Hands on: Sony Bravia 9 II review

Decisions, decisions... Sony Bravia 3 vs Sony Bravia 5: which is the best value Sony TV?

Here are the best TVs you can buy right now

Last year, we gave Monitor Audio’s Bronze 50 7G standmounter speakers a five-star review, singing their praises for clear sound and punchy presentation. Consequently, when the floorstanding speakers from the same range, the Bronze 300 7G, arrived at our testing facility, we found ourselves waiting with bated breath to see if they could carry the Bronze 50’s flame.

Priced at £1000 / $1400 / AUS$2199, these floorstanders situate themselves at the top end of an increasingly competitive price bracket. Rivals include the Award-winning Fyne Audio F501E, which deliver punchy bass and cohesive presentation, and the recently five-star-rated Dali Sonik 5 that impressed us with expressive dynamics from a compact size.

Through experience, we know that a competitive market can sometimes lead to exciting progress in audio. “Iron sharpens iron,” as the famous proverb goes. But the real question is, will these Monitor Audio Bronze 300 7G speakers manage to rise to the challenge?

Build & design

The Bronze 300 7G are large speakers, standing at 100.5 x 26.9 x 39.2cm. But thanks to their tasteful design, they look sleek and sit comfortably in our listening room, avoiding the dominant appearance of similarly sized rivals, such as the Fyne F501E.

The MDF cabinets are wrapped in a satin vinyl finish that is available in three colours: black, white and walnut. Our black test pair have a pleasingly well-constructed feel, and their real wood front ply panels contribute to an overall sense of solidity and understated style.

Care is taken with the internal bracing, which is strategically placed between the drivers and the back of the enclosures to improve structural rigidity.

The speakers also feature Monitor Audio’s proprietary rear-firing HiVe II ports, positioned at the top and bottom of each cabinet, which are lined with grooves to reduce port turbulence, preventing chuffing sounds.

Spikes can be screwed into the speakers’ robust metal feet, and height can be adjusted by spinning the circular rubber pads that the spikes screw into. Assembling these parts is simple, and we find that they hold firm throughout testing.

The Bronze 300 7G floorstanders are a two-and-a-half-way design, and see the lower driver solely dedicated to handling bass in order to augment the low frequency output of the midrange driver above it.

The bass and midrange drivers are both 15cm in diameter, while the higher frequencies are looked after by one of the company’s trademark 25mm gold dome tweeters. All of the driver diaphragms are made from the company’s C-CAM (ceramic-coated aluminium magnesium) material, which it claims is lightweight and rigid.

The drivers are linked through a bi-wired crossover, and the resultant sensitivity is 88dB/w/m, with a nominal impedance of 8 ohms – fairly typical figures for a pair of floorstanders of this type. But pay close attention to the minimum impedance figure of 4.4 ohms, which implies that these speakers will work best with an amplifier that can deliver a healthy amount of drive.

Compatibility

When it comes to positioning, these floorstanding speakers are more or less par for the course.

Monitor Audio recommends placing the Bronze 300 7G in an isosceles triangle arrangement, with a gap of 20-36cm from the rear wall, which is closer to the wall than many of their rivals suggest.

But, in our 3 x 4 x 7m (hwd) test room, given a solid rear wall, we find these floorstanders sound better positioned approximately 80cm away from the wall, and angled in towards the listening position. This placement achieves our preferred tonal balance, minimising both high-frequency harshness and dominant, ponderous low end.

When it comes to partnering electronics, we find the Bronze 300 7G work better with the smoother, more relaxed Arcam A15+ stereo amplifier than they do with the somewhat more front-footed Naim Nait XS 3 integrated. In the case of the latter, the speakers edge towards a slightly relentless presentation.

Sound

Monitor Audio suggests giving the Bronze 300 7G a minimum of 50 hours to settle, and, indeed, we find that their sound improves drastically after a few days of playing, shifting from a somewhat clinical and lean sound to a more pleasantly balanced, texturally detailed presentation.

Listening to The Bill Evans Trio’s rendition of My Foolish Heart, cymbals sit atop the mix for a sparkling, well-proportioned shine, while the brushed snare swells from beat to beat with satisfying texture.

Separation is the Bronze 300 7G's forte, and across our music library, the speakers reveal individual instrumental parts with striking clarity. Listening to the Minnesota Orchestra’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s I. Non allegro, instrumental tones arrive defined and crystal clear. Even in dense orchestral arrangements, we have little trouble picking out individual parts.

These are a responsive pair of speakers, too, and they don’t miss a beat when it comes to transients. Throughout Leonard Cohen’s Steer Your Way, the plucked acoustic guitar is presented with a crispness that leaves us feeling as though we are sitting right in front of the guitarist’s fingers.

Although their low frequency performance is leaner than certain rivals, we enjoy the speakers’ agile bass handling, which allows their natural midrange to shine. Vocal lines take centre stage, and Cohen’s lyrics arrive with all the depth and melancholic passion we expect from the godfather of gloom, without blurring or exaggeration.

In the treble frequencies, these speakers bring recordings to life with a vivaciousness that keeps us on our toes, without becoming shrill or domineering. If poorly partnered, they can veer towards a fatiguing sound, but careful system matching will avoid this, highlighting their many strengths.

One of those strengths is the Bronze 300 7G’s stereo imaging, which we find to be layered and stable. While listening to Simon and Garfunkel’s Song For Kathy, we are confronted by a striking sense of focus, as if Paul Simon were sitting between the two speakers in our test room.

As we move around the room, we are pleased to find that the image remains distinct, within the expected constraints of a conventional driver array, which suggests that these speakers have well-controlled dispersion characteristics and good integration between the drivers.

Tonally, these Bronze 300 7G are balanced, with nothing unpleasantly standing out, but we feel they are somewhat lacking in natural warmth. During Song For Kathy, we would have preferred some more richness in the lower notes of the delicate acoustic guitar.

Across the genres we play during testing – from Rachmaninoff to D’Angelo’s Spanish Joint – we are in no doubt as to the Bronze 300 7G's many strengths. They routinely turn in a capable performance that brims with insight.

However, we don’t think these speakers are necessarily the most entertaining listen available at this price, with rivals such as the Dali Sonik 5 delivering music with greater enthusiasm and rhythmic drive.

Verdict

The Monitor Audio Bronze 300 7G pair an aesthetically classy, well-constructed design with a sound that is balanced and impressively detailed, to provide an enjoyable listening experience that shines during dense arrangements. But the standards of the class are so high that even an accomplished pair of floorstanders such as this doesn’t quite make the top grade.

Review published: 16th July 2026

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 5
• Compatibility 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Fyne Audio F501E

Also consider the Dali Sonik 5

Best floorstanding speakers: budget to premium models tested by our experts

Premium TV brand Loewe has released its latest range of Antares 4K OLED TVs, boasting that the new premium sets combine "timeless design with genuine engineering innovation."

Loewe's Antares TV features OLED modules that the brand claims are individually calibrated before leaving the Loewe factory in Germany to deliver a "viewing experience that remains faithful to the filmmaker's intent."

The calibration comes instead of a next-gen panel, such as the Primary RGB Tandem OLED tech seen in the LG G6 or the QD-OLED in Samsung's S99H TV. These are rival next-gen OLED panel technologies that aim to boost picture quality in key metrics including peak brightness and colour accuracy.

Gamers will be pleased to hear that there is HDMI 2.1 connectivity with up to 144Hz VRR and ALLM. We're waiting for confirmation of exactly how many, however.

The TV features Loewe's os9 platform, which gives users access to most mainstream streaming services, including Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV. There's also voice control included with the set, so in theory, you can navigate to what you are looking for without flicking through the menus.

There's an optional Antares 80W soundbar you can add to the system as well, which delivers "greater depth and immersion". That will cost you an extra £300, though. You can also use the TV's built-in speakers or hook up a separate sound system.

You can customise the TV with the optional aluminium onlays, which come in Silver or Black. Plus, you can choose to mount the TV on the wall, a rotating floor stand or even a motorised rotation system that is controlled with a remote. That gives you a fair bit of flexibility, although you will have to factor in the extra costs.

There is a range of sizes from 42 to 65 inches. The cheapest option comes in at £2500 ($3370 / AU$4815) for the 42-inch model, and the largest size will cost a hefty £4000 (around $5390 / AU$7705).

That's certainly the high end of the OLED market, and even the flagship 65-inch LG C6 TV comes in at a more palatable £3000 / $3399 / AU$4999. Still, it might be a more appealing option for the premium buyer looking for ways to customise the screen to their space.

The Antares star is the brightest in the Scorpius constellation, so we are curious to see whether the TV will live up to its namesake and deliver a dazzling picture performance.

MORE:

Loewe's new premium LCD TVs save on space – but cost as much as an OLED

Check out the best TVs

And here is our review of the LG C6

If we’re talking about the best CD players we have tested in the past decade, pound for pound, the Marantz CD6007 has to be in the conversation.

Not only is it a fantastic five-star performer, it has walked away with multiple What Hi-Fi? Awards over the years, too.

But the truth is, it’s a little long in the tooth. It launched back in August 2020 and, following a refresh of Marantz’s other hi-fi and home cinema electronics, it has always been a matter of when not if it would be replaced.

Following the recent unveiling of the CD 70, that time has come. That’s right, when current stock runs out, the CD6007 will be no more.

So what does its replacement have to offer? Should you be looking to swap old for new? We’ll cover all this and more below.

Marantz CD 70 vs CD6007 - Price

Given current market conditions, you won’t be surprised to hear that the CD 70 costs more than the CD6007 did when it launched back in August 2020. The size of the jump really depends on where you buy it.

The new model will set you back £499 | €600 | $750 | AU$1000 (exc VAT), compared with the £399 | €449 | $650 | AU$999 that you have to pay at the time of writing for its predecessor.

The CD6007 can regularly be found discounted across various territories now, though, and it’s unlikely we’ll see anything off the CD 70 for a while. So if you want a saving on a mighty fine Marantz CD player, the old model is the way to go for now.

Marantz CD 70 vs CD6007 - Design and build

The shift to Marantz’s more recent design language is quite obvious, but which you prefer the look of can only come down to personal taste.

Each player offers something different and although the CD 70 might appear the more modern of the two, there’s still a lot to be said for the more industrial and workmanlike appearance of the CD6007.

The CD70 has a chunky front panel with a main section that protrudes from the rest of the fascia and is flanked by textured surfaces on either side.

The CD6007 appears a bit more straightforward and uncompromising in its stance, but there’s still enough character in its appearance to give it presence on your hi-fi rack.

The CD 70 is the slightly larger of the two units, but the difference in dimensions isn’t massive – 10.9 x 44.2 x 35.1cm next to 10.5 x 44 x 34.1cm (hwd).

Inside, the CD 70 uses an upgraded power supply, which Marantz claims helps to reduce noise. The headline news, though, is that the CD 70 gets a new ES9020Q DAC chip compared with the older ES9010K2M chip found in the CD6007. The new model also gets an upgraded digital clock to reduce jitter (digital timing errors).

Marantz CD 70 vs CD6007 - Features

The dot-matrix display on both appears virtually identical, as do the buttons on the front – although the eagle-eyed among you will notice that their positions and functions have changed a little.

The CD6007 has its controls positioned vertically, with individual buttons for play, pause, and stop on the right of the unit, and eject, skip forwards, skip backwards and a button for switching to the USB input on the left.

The CD 70, by contrast, has its buttons positioned horizontally, on either side of its ‘porthole’. Skip forwards, backwards and one button combining play and pause sit on the right; input selection, stop and eject on the left.

Both offer a USB Type-A input to the left of the display and a 6.3mm headphone socket, complete with a volume-control knob positioned on the right.

A remote control comes with the CD 70 and looks very similar to the remote you get with the CD6007, but with a new finish. Look a little closer and you’ll see some of the labelling has changed, together with some of the icons used.

The rear layout of both machines is identical. There is an analogue output, plus optical and coaxial digital outputs.

File compatibility remains the same with both machines able to play CD, CD-R and CD-RW discs, while the USB input that features on each machine supports the same file formats: WAV, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF and DSD.

The CD 70 offers a choice of two digital filters for sound quality, similar to the CD6007, and also the option to turn off the digital outputs and the display if you’re not using them, both of which, Marantz claims, will help improve sound quality.

Marantz CD 70 vs CD6007 - Sound

We are about to put the new Marantz through its paces, so we’ll reserve final judgement on sound quality for when our review team has completed their testing.

On paper, however, Marantz has attempted to improve sound quality for the CD 70 through a number of design improvements, including the use of a new DAC and upgraded power supply.

If it can build on all the qualities of its predecessor then this could be a very special CD player indeed. In our Marantz CD6007 review, we called it a “crisp, open performer” and said ”larger-scale dynamics are delivered with verve and punch”.

Let's hope it doesn't stray too far from a winning formula.

Marantz CD 70 vs CD6007 - Initial verdict

Marantz has introduced a few new components for the CD 70, so we have high hopes for its new-generation disc-spinner. This area of the CD player market has shrunk considerably over the years and rivals are few and far between.

Of course, nothing is guaranteed, and we all know how much of a formidable performer the CD6007 has been over the years.

Will the new model be worth upgrading to if you're an existing CD6007 owner? As soon as we have spent enough time with the CD 70 and done all the relevant comparisons, you’ll be the first to know!

MORE:

Read our full Marantz CD6007 review

Our pick of the best CD players for every budget

End of an era as Marantz waves goodbye to two hi-fi classics and unveils new entry-level Model 70 integrated amplifier and CD 70 compact disc player

A good pair of floorstanding speakers come with virtues aplenty: extended bass, thanks to larger enclosures and extra woofers, no need for an additional subwoofer and a sense of scale and authority that most bookshelf speakers can’t rival.

Best of all, finding a quality option in the £700-£1000 price bracket has recently become easier, with numerous brands developing their entry-level offerings.

Last year, our favourite was the Fyne Audio F501E, which came out on top as 2025’s Product Of The Year at the What Hi-Fi? Awards. It would be sensible, then, to pick up a pair and go forth with unwavering confidence in your choice. Well… not so fast!

Fantastic speakers though the F501E are, they have recently come up against tough competition from Dali’s Sonik 5 speakers. Designed to replace the company’s Award-winning Oberon 5, the Sonik 5 have a sound that gives speakers north of their price a serious run for their money, as do the Fynes.

So, which should you go for? Let’s get stuck into it.

Dali Sonik 5 vs Fyne Audio F501E: price

The Sonik 5 cost £899 / $1800 / AUS$1749, while the F501E are available for £999 / $1299 / AU$1999. So, right off the bat, there’s a £100 disparity between the speakers. But considering the larger size of the F501E, you quite literally get more speaker for your money.

But, because the F501E have been on the market for longer than the Sonik 5, we think they are more likely to see a discount during big sales events. Indeed, we have seen discounts of as much as £100 this year, which, when they strike, bring the speakers down to the same price for UK customers, making this a draw.

**Winner: draw**

Dali Sonik 5 vs Fyne Audio F501E: build & design

The Sonik 5 are smaller than the F501E in all dimensions. Standing at just 83cm, compared with the Fynes’ 98cm, these speakers have a significantly smaller footprint and will fit into most listening spaces with ease.

Admittedly, due to their diminutive height, some thought is necessary when it comes to positioning the speakers, especially if you are planning on sitting close to them, which, from our test room’s sofa, leaves the tweeters well below ear height.

The Sonik 5 are available in four finishes: natural oak, white, walnut or black ash. Each of the finishes has a fairly unobtrusive look, which we think is particularly well exemplified by our walnut test pair.

The cabinets’ high-grade laminate looks convincingly wood-like, with a pleasant, natural feel. Overall, these speakers have a subtly refined air.

That impression of refinement is only enhanced by the build quality. Although they are not heavy speakers, they are appropriately solid and well-constructed, and the included magnetic grilles connect firmly and complement the speakers visually.

Inside the cabinets, the Dalis employ a two-way design, using a 29mm soft-dome tweeter and two 13cm mid/bass drivers made from the company’s trademark mix of fine-grain paper pulp reinforced with wood fibres. A flared reflex port at the back of the speakers optimises airflow to reinforce bass.

Due to their reflex port, the Sonik 5 sound best when placed slightly away from the wall, so we wouldn’t recommend tucking them in too tight.

The Fynes, too, are sturdily built, and are now available in a walnut finish alongside the original black option. While their basic aesthetic does leave a somewhat monolithic impression, costs saved on aesthetic tweaks have afforded the inclusion of Fyne’s proprietary Isoflare driver technology within their entry range for the first time.

The IsoFlare design, which sees a 19mm titanium-dome tweeter mounted at the centre of a 12.5cm multi-fibre mid/bass woofer, is said to result in improved sound dispersion and integration between drivers.

Unlike the Dalis, the F501E use a two-and-a-half-way design, and the lower 15cm multi-fibre driver is tuned by a downward facing port in a configuration that the company calls Basstrax. Here, the port fires onto an upward facing cone to disperse low frequencies evenly across 360 degrees, making these speakers adaptable to different placements.

Fyne has also used a fluted surround to the mid/bass driver which it claims terminates the cone more effectively, for reduced distortion and improved clarity.

In terms of design, choosing between these speakers will depend heavily on buyers’ tastes and listening spaces. Both speakers have serious strengths: the Dalis take the lead for aesthetic charm, while Fyne’s Isoflare design works wonders in terms of stereo imaging.

As these speakers excel in different areas, at this stage, it’s neck and neck.

**Winner: Draw**

Dali Sonik 5 vs Fyne Audio F501E: compatibility

The petite Sonik 5 are unlikely to dominate most listening spaces, while the Fynes will need a bit more room to sit comfortably.

The Fyne’s Basstrax system does a lot to make the speakers less fussy about placement, though. In our 3 x 7 x 5m (hwd) test room, we find they sound best when positioned about 70cm away from the wall, but they don’t prove too particular about being placed closer.

The Dalis are somewhat more choosy about placement and need to come further into our test room – 80cm from the wall – to avoid bass dominance. Additionally, due to their compact height, we suggest tilting the Dalis slightly upwards when listening close, so that the tweeter axis lines up with your ears.

For stereo imaging, we think the Fynes sound best angled slightly in, while the Dalis perform better when facing straight out into the room. Thanks to their Isoflare design, the Fyne’s have a more precise stereo image than the Dalis, which remains stable as we move around the test room.

The Fynes have a slightly higher sensitivity of 90dB/w/m compared with the Dalis 88dB/w/m, and a claimed impedance of 8 ohms rather than 6 ohms. Both speakers work well with a range of amplifiers, from Arcam’s A5+ (50 watts per channel) and Naim Nait XS3 (70 watts per channel) to PMC’s Cor (95 watts per channel).

**Winner: Fyne Audio F501E**

Dali Sonik 5 vs Fyne Audio F501E: sound

The Sonik 5 are a highly talented pair of speakers. We are impressed by how much they do with their humble dimensions, with punchy bass, intricate dynamic tracking and a stable soundstage.

Across the frequency range, textures are presented with finesse. The Dalis’ midrange, in particular, wrings every last drop of emotion from vocal parts, with palpable humanity and warmth across genres.

Basslines are tight and well-textured, contributing to the Sonik 5s’ propulsive rhythmic drive. Thanks to the dynamic precision of these speakers, which brings out the fine details in decaying notes, percussive hits and basslines alike, their neat low frequency performance doesn’t diminish their rhythmic power.

In our review, we say that the Sonik 5 have a “layered soundstage, which retains focus and precision, even in dense arrangements”. Width is no issue for these speakers, either, and they can be positioned quite some distance apart before holes begin to appear in the stereo image.

The F501E won 2025’s Product Of The Year at the What Hi-Fi? Awards, so there isn’t much question about their sound quality.

The sophisticated and muscular sound of these speakers impresses us right away, with an ability to effectively convey a variety of sonic worlds, from “the majesty of a full blown orchestra” to A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory.

Speaking of low end, the Fynes have no trouble generating authority and punch on command. But they are also highly proficient in terms of treble, managing to handle “less than perfect recordings” with grace, “avoiding edge and undue harshness”, thanks to their balanced tonality.

Bass is taut and tuneful for price-standards, but while they might be capable of delivering more bass than the Dalis, we find that the Dalis reveal textures and dynamic subtleties in low frequencies that the Fynes sacrifice to their more powerful sound.

Nonetheless, the alignment of the drivers’ acoustic centres contributes to a well-integrated sound, with a stereo image that remains stable even as we move off axis. Improved driver integration also lends the Fynes’ midrange a crisp and forthright tonality that lets vocal lines shine through with emotional sincerity.

We find that the F501Es, a highly expressive pair of speakers, “track rhythms with determination while communicating changes in musical momentum in a natural and convincing manner.” They are rhythmically sure-footed and composed, but the Dalis take the lead here, with their snappy, more powerful sense of rhythmic drive.

While they may not be able to dive as deep as the Fynes in terms of bass, the Sonik 5 creep ahead in terms of textural detail, while also providing emotive dynamics with more than enough punch.

**Winner: Dali Sonik 5**

Dali Sonik 5 vs Fyne Audio F501E: verdict

Talk about a clash of titans. Both of these speakers boast performances that competitors will have difficulty matching. The Fyne F501E is the current What Hi-Fi? Award winner, so it’s something of a shock to see them beaten by the Sonik 5.

That’s not to say the Fynes aren’t excellent speakers in their own right. If you have the space to accommodate these towers, they are a rewarding listen with more extended bass than the Dalis and an exceptionally well-integrated sound.

But for a more precise performance, propulsive rhythmic drive and unobtrusive looks we recommend the Dali Sonik 5.

**Overall winner: Dali Sonik 5**

MORE

Read our Dali Sonik 5 review

And our Fyne Audio F501E review

How to choose the right speakers and get the best sound

Then, why not check out our guide to the best floorstanding speakers you can buy for every budget

Watch The Open 2026 live streams

It's all kicked off at The Open, where Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns became just the sixth and seventh men to shoot 62 at a major, and Bryson DeChambeau had to be hunted down by officials in order to be issued a two-shot penalty.

LIV Golf rebel Herbert leads the way on 8-under with two rounds to play, with Cameron Young and tournament debutants Ryan Gerard and Jackson Suber two strokes behind on 6-under.

DeChambeau, Burns and Si-Woo Kim are tied on 5-under, while reigning champion Scottie Scheffler, local hero Tommy Fleetwood, 2018 winner Francesco Molinari, Robert MacIntyre and Jon Rahm are part of an eight-way tie on 4-under.

It's the American bruiser who's stolen the show at Royal Birkdale so far though. Many had anticipated that DeChambeau would become the first multiple major winner since 1990 to miss all four cuts, but the criticism has only served to fire him up.

The 32-year-old was one stroke off the lead when he walked off the 18th on Friday, only to be pulled up for "inadvertently improving his lie" when he sent his ball into thick rough on the 5th. Although a visibly irate DeChambeau claimed innocence, the footage clearly shows him trampling down long grass close to his ball.

Matt Fitzpatrick, Aaron Rai and Justin Rose, who'd entered the tournament with high hopes, have each missed the cut.

Follow our guide below for where to watch The Open 2026 live streams from anywhere with a VPN.

• Watch The Open 2026: July 16-19
• Free stream: R&A TV
• US: NBC / USA Network / Peacock
• UK: Sky Sports
• AU: Kayo Sports
• Watch anywhere — try NordVPN (100% risk free)

How can I watch The Open 2026 for free

As the R&A runs both The Open Championship and the R&A TV streaming service, limited coverage will be available to watch for free on the platform, led by a quartet of Featured Groups feeds.

Viewers in the US and Australia can also use free trials to catch the action without paying a penny.

In the US, TV coverage is shared between NBC and USA Network, which you can access through DirecTV Stream (5-day free trial) and Hulu+Live TV (3-day free trial).

Alternatively, you can get Peacock with a Walmart Plus 30-day trial for $1 and watch the majority of The Open for practically nothing.

In Australia, golf fans can take advantage of Kayo Sports' 7-day free trial.

Outside your home country at the moment? Use NordVPN to unlock your free stream from anywhere in the world.

Watch The Open 2026 live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular British Open 2026 live streams while traveling abroad. The platform will detect that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch the golf from anywhere in the world.

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

Watch The Open 2026 2026 live streams in the US

TV coverage of The Open 2026 is split between NBC and USA Network in the US.

However, Peacock is showing the vast majority of the action, plus Featured Groups coverage.

Scroll down for the full schedule.

You'll need a Peacock Premium ($10.99/month) subscription to tune in. However, you can get the plan with a Walmart Plus 30-day trial for $1.

Alternatively, a live TV service like FuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu+Live TV, or the DirecTV Stream MySports Genre Pack will give you streaming access to NBC and USA Network.

Each of the options listed above comes with a free trial, allowing you to potentially watch the four-day British Open for free.

To access your usual streaming service from outside the US, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed above.

• Expert TV advice: best OLED TVs for sports fans

Watch The Open 2026 2026 live streams in the UK

The Open 2026 is being shown on Sky Sports in the UK, across its Main Event and Golf channels.

Need the Sky Sports lowdown before you invest? Check out our dedicated guide to all things Sky.

Outside the UK during the tournament? Use NordVPN to watch The Open as if you were back at home.

Watch The Open 2026 live streams in Australia

As usual, it is Fox Sports that has live and exclusive coverage of The Open 2026 in Australia.

If you'd prefer to live stream the action, a better alternative is Kayo Sports, which starts at AU$30. New customers, however, can try it for a month for just AU$1. Alternatively, there's a generous FREE 7-day trial available.

Again, you'll need to use a safe, reliable VPN to access Kayo Sports when traveling abroad.

Who are The Open 2026 leaders?

1 – Lucas Herbert (-8)

T2 – Cameron Young, Jackson Suber, Ryan Gerard (-6)

T5 – Bryson DeChambeau, Sam Burns, Si-Woo Kim (-5)

T8 – Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre, Francesco Molinari, Alex Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm, Bud Cauley, Thomas Detry (-4)

What are The Open Round 2 tee times?

(All times BST)

09:10 Jack McDonald (Sco), Russell Henley (US)

09:20 Min Woo Lee (Aus), Ryo Hisatsune (Jpn)

09:30 Jose Luis Ballester (Spa), Kazuki Higa (Jpn)

09:40 Marcus Plunkett (US), Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn)

09:50 Peter Uihlein (US), Brooks Koepka (US)

10:00 Aldrich Potgieter (SA), Keegan Bradley (US)

10:10 Alex Noren (Swe), Alex Smalley (US)

10:20 Rickie Fowler (US), Max Homa (US)

10:30 Ryan Fox (NZ), Xander Schauffele (US)

10:45 Kristoffer Reitan (Nor), Marco Penge (Eng)

10:55 Casey Jarvis (SA), Kurt Kitayama (US)

11:05 Laurie Canter (Eng), Sahith Theegala (US)

11:15 Michael Brennan (US), Eugenio Chacarra

11:25 Eric Cole (US), MJ Daffue (SA)

11:35 Kazuma Kobori (NZ), Nick Taylor (Can)

11:45 Justin Thomas (US), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn)

11:55 Ben Griffin (US), Hennie du Plessis (SA)

12:10 Andy Sullivan (Eng), Patrick Cantlay (US)

12:20 Jacob Bridgeman (US), Rory McIlroy (NI)

12:30 Jesper Svensson (Swe), Shaun Norris (SA)

12:40 John Parry (Eng), Michael Thorbjornsen (US)

12:50 Jordan Smith (Eng), Im Sung-jae (Kor)

13:00 Matthew Southgate (Eng), Nico Echavarria (Col)

13:10 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Collin Morikawa (Eng)

13:20 Adam Scott (Aus), Chris Gotterup (US)

13:35 Patrick Reed (US), Johnny Keefer (US)

13:45 Corey Conners (Can), Sepp Straka (Aut)

13:55 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Victor Perez (Fra)

14:05 Daniel Brown (Eng), Cameron John (Aus)

14:15 Ludvig Aberg (Swe), Shane Lowry (Ire)

14:25 JJ Spaun (US), Pierceson Coody (US)

14:35 Jon Rahm (Spa), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)

14:45 Scottie Scheffler (US), Francesco Molinari (Ita)

15:00 Alex Fitzpatrick (Eng), Robert MacIntyre (Sco)

15:10 Thomas Detry (Bel), Bud Cauley (US)

15:20 Matt Wallace (Eng), Si Woo Kim (Kor)

15:30 Bryson DeChambeau (US), Sam Burns (US)

15:40 Ryan Gerard (US), Cameron Young (US)

15:50 Jackson Suber (US), Lucas Herbert (Aus)

The Open 2026 schedule

Thursday, July 16
Peacock: 1:30am – 4am ET
USA Network: 4am – 3:30pm ET

Friday, July 17
Peacock: 1:30am – 4am ET
USA Network: 4am – 3:30pm ET

Saturday, July 18
USA Network: 5am – 7am ET
NBC, Peacock: 7:30am – 3pm ET

Sunday, July 19
USA Network: 4am – 7am ET
NBC, Peacock: 7am – 2pm ET

Who are the recent The Open winners?

2025: Scottie Scheffler
2024: Xander Schauffele
2023: Brian Harman
2022: Cameron Smith
2021: Collin Morikawa
2019: Shane Lowry
2018: Francesco Molinari
2017: Jordan Spieth
2016: Henrik Stenson
2015: Zach Johnson

• Fancy an upgrade? Here are the best TVs
• Or save money with these unmissable cheap TV deals
• Where to find the best Formula E live stream

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Here at What Hi-Fi?, we love TVs with brand-new, innovative features that promise to push the industry forward.

We also love it when these TVs have great discounts.

And that’s exactly what we have with the Sony Bravia 9 II. The Japanese giant’s flagship RGB Mini LED TV is now available for £2974 at Richer Sounds with the code SONY15PERCENT.

The Bravia 9 II is one of the first RGB Mini LED TVs available. These TVs use independently controlled red, green and blue Mini LEDs, rather than a colour filter over white LEDs, for higher peak brightness, better colour volume and better contrast.

The catch? Well, the TV is not actually available to buy until the end of July; but you can lock in your pre-order now while there’s a nice £500 discount.

The headline feature is, of course, that RGB Mini LED backlight.

The technology works together with Sony’s sophisticated Backlight Master Drive system and 1530 local dimming zones to produce an impressively immersive picture for a backlit TV.

On one aspect, in fact, the Bravia 9 II surpasses every other TV we’ve tested: colour.

“Quite simply, the Bravia 9 II produces the finest colours we've ever seen from any TV,” our Sony Bravia 9 II review reads. “Richly saturated scenes burst with vibrancy, but never at the expense of authenticity.

“Sony has combined extraordinary colour volume with its traditional restraint, so even the boldest hues remain beautifully balanced and believable. It’s a wonderfully cinematic presentation that constantly impresses without ever shouting for attention.”

Brightness too is exceptional – unlike OLEDs, the Bravia 9 II can maintain its extraordinary brightness across the whole screen, and not just small highlights.

Black levels are also superb for a backlit TV, but we found even the Bravia 9 II’s exceptional dimming system can’t quite replicate the pixel-level precision of OLED.

Sound is also impressively large, spacious and immersive by TV standards, with the Acoustic Multi-Audio+ system offering a genuine sense of height and plenty of subtle detail.

The premium smart TV experience we have come to expect from Sony is present and correct, with the Google TV OS offering all the usual apps as well as YouView and PS Remote Play for PlayStation users.

All the apps that should support HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision and/or Dolby Atmos do so correctly, and Sony’s Studio Calibrated modes also provide optimised picture settings for services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Sony Pictures Core.

If you regularly watch in an exceptionally bright room or simply prefer not to buy an OLED, the Bravia 9 II should sit right at the top of your shortlist. Sony’s flagship RGB Mini LED model delivers the finest colours we have seen from a television, breathtaking brightness, and a highly accomplished backlight system. And it is now available to pre-order with £525 off at Richer Sounds.

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony Bravia 8 II

Also consider the Samsung S99H

Read our Hisense UR9 review

Projector brand Xgimi has been on a roll with a continuous stream of new models flooding the shelves in the last year. And there are two more joining their ranks.

The new Elfin Flip Laser and flagship Elfin Flip 4K claim to build on the existing Elfin series to deliver “a significant upgrade in both optical performance and audio experience”.

Both projectors offer a claimed maximum brightness of 1600 ISO lumens and use an RGB triple laser light source. Unsurprisingly, the flagship model offers 4K resolution compared to the Flip Laser’s 1080p.

For gamers, the 4K model also offers VRR and ALLM support. However, like most projectors, it only runs at 1080p@120Hz. 4K is still locked to 60Hz.

The design looks practically identical to the predecessor, featuring a “book-sized” foldable build that can be tucked away when not in use. “Pick it up, place it, and the picture is ready” is Xgimi’s mantra here.

Both projectors come with Google TV built-in, which gives you access to a range of streaming platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Netflix. In terms of sound, the models are equipped with a 7W Harmon Kardon tuned speaker with Dolby Audio support, which will supposedly “eliminate the need for external audio equipment”.

There is a range of features designed to make setup easier as well, including auto-keystone, auto-focus and obstacle avoidance.

The Elfin Flip 4K is priced at £869 / $999, and the Elfin Flip Laser comes in cheaper at £689 / $799.

That puts the flagship against the likes of the Award-winning Hisense M2 Pro, which is currently available for around £870. The five-star Hisense model will certainly prove tough competition for Xgimi’s latest bombshell, thanks to its bright picture and easy setup.

Still, the Elfin’s more portable design and promising picture specifications could challenge the current champion.

MORE:

These are the best portable projectors

And check out the best projectors

This is our review of the Xgimi MoGo 4

If you don’t want to bother with the fuss and decision-making of choosing a projector and sound system to pair together for your premium home cinema system, then there has not been a whole lot available on the market.

But the Nebula X1 Pro is trying to plug that gap.

It combines a 4K projector with four detachable Dolby Atmos speakers to deliver the “world's first mobile theatre system”. That’s all put together into a package on wheels, which makes carting it around easier.

On paper, this is a tempting proposition but, in this case, the combination of execution and price doesn’t quite add up.

Price

If you want to get your hands on this unique projector system, then you will have to pay the rather premium sum of £4499 / $4999 / AU$8999.

That’s a pretty big step-up in price from its more modest sibling – the Nebula X1, which we tested at £2200 / $2999. This is a more compact 4K projector to which we awarded four stars for its punchy picture and rich sound. It features a built-in sound system, although you can add Nebula’s two optional wireless speakers, which create a wider soundfield. That differs from the more elaborate sound system of the X1 Pro.

Design

The X1 Pro is quite a special-looking beast, resembling a suitcase-robot hybrid that could easily feature in a Philip K. Dick novel.

It is 76cm tall and weighs a hefty 33kg, but Anker makes its transportation easier with some clever additions. These include an extendable handle and two sturdy wheels to carry the projector around as if you are off to the airport. There are also two handles on the chassis if you need to carry the X1 Pro up the stairs.

There is no built-in battery, so keep in mind that you will need to keep the projector connected to the mains wherever you want to use it. The two-metre power cable is retractable from a cove at the bottom of the projector, so there’s a fair bit of flexibility.

At the top, there’s a handy lid that stores the back-lit remote control and a pair of karaoke microphones, should you wish to show off your pipes. On the remote, you will find buttons for volume, power, settings, the home menu and auto image adjustment. There is a handy back-lit panel on the top of the lid of the projector, which gives you access to many of these features as well.

Arguably, the most exciting aspect of the Nebula projector is its speaker design. There are four detachable speakers hidden inside the X1 Pro’s body, each with a durable black plastic grille.

All of the speakers feature retractable little stands with rubber feet to keep them stable, and they are all simple to set up. There is also a subwoofer built into the projector itself.

Features

But what are the speakers packing under their sleek-looking exteriors? The front speakers have two forward-facing, one side-firing and one up-firing driver each. That differs slightly from the rears, which include one forward-facing and one up-firing driver per speaker.

The subwoofer features two drive units, each measuring 13cm in diameter.

This sound system has Dolby Atmos support. FlexWave, Soundcore's proprietary spatial audio calibration technology, is also included. The brand claims this “uses sensors, spatial algorithms, and auto EQ calibration” to “intelligently adjust to your room's acoustics”.

When setting up the projector, you will be prompted to calibrate your speakers. This takes less than five minutes, as the speakers play a range of test frequencies and a music sample to get the best spatial soundfield.

There’s a neat nook for physical connectivity, consisting of one HDMI with eARC support and three USB ports. Inside is a small light to help with navigation in the dark, which is a handy addition.

As well as the remote and panel, you can control the projector with the Nebula Connect app. This lets you adjust the picture and sound settings, image correction, switch app input, and you can cast from another device. We do not find ourselves reaching for the app much during testing, though, as the remote control and top panel offer much of its functionality.

In terms of screen set-up, there is a selection of shortcuts that make the whole process pretty simple. That includes auto-focus, keystone correction and wall-colour adaptation (useful if you are projecting on a non-white surface). We find that selecting Spatial Adaptation analyses our dedicated screen most effectively, and adjusts focus and sizing all in one.

The projector offers a claimed maximum brightness of 3500 ANSI lumens, and you can push the screen size as big as 300 inches. It is built around a DLP optical system illuminated by a triple laser lighting system.

The X1 Pro can play 4K sources and high dynamic range in the HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision formats, but it only supports up to 4K@60Hz video playback, which will be a bit of a shame for gamers.

There are ten picture modes to choose from, but we go with NebulaMaster when using a 4K Blu-ray as, once tweaked (details below), it delivers the best balance between detail and brightness.

The choice of picture modes changes when we go to streaming – we find that Movie is the best choice in this case thanks to its natural-looking motion and colourful image.

Picture quality

When we boot up the projector in NebulaMaster picture mode for the first time, we are met with overexuberant colours and smoothed textures that make for a distracting viewing experience.

But after knocking the saturation and sharpness down, and turning up the brightness a little, we are left with a more pleasing overall image that is engaging and punchy. The colours are still on the exaggerated side, but they are eye-catching and give the picture a burst of energy.

When watching Thunderbolts, as the rag-tag team face up against Sentry, the villain’s brightly coloured costume stands out against the background, which makes for an engaging experience. The rest of the picture follows this colourful portrayal, with the blue skyline and amber-lit bar area giving the background a lively look.

The edges of characters and items are crisp and clean, and there is little noise in textures, contributing to an overall picture that feels sharp without tipping into being over-etched.

Nebula’s 4K model does not unearth as much detail as we would hope for at this level, but it is still good enough to see the creases in Sentry’s clothes and strands of his hair.

The projector shows off its impressive motion-handling skills with F1 The Movie. This is after adjusting the MEMC (Motion Estimation and Motion Compensation) setting from medium to low, as the default setting results in an unnatural smoothness. With the adjustment, cars zoom around the track with minimal judder and a good sense of authenticity.

However, the projector struggles to portray darker skin tones with the same level of detail as lighter ones. As plucky F1 driver Joshua talks to his cousin, the shadows across the latter's face block out a fair amount of detail, so it is nearly impossible to make out the distinction between his chin and beard.

This issue extends to the projector’s black depth, and is further illustrated by Sinners. As Michael B Jordan’s Stack has a tense conversation in a low-lit barn, the X1 Pro delivers the dark background with a fair bit of banding that verges on grey at points.

We do the majority of our testing with the lights off in our dark test room, which lets the projector deliver a bright and clean overall image. To see how it performs in other scenarios, we turn the lights up slightly from our usual dark testing conditions.

As with most home cinema projectors, contrast suffers, and detail is lost. Continuing with Sinners, for instance, it is hard to differentiate faces as the characters venture outside the barn, which makes for a less immersive overall experience.

Even when we turn the lights up higher, though, it's not unwatchable, and the colours are still reasonably punchy, though diminished a little. You do lose the finest details and the sense of three-dimensionality, but it would still be serviceable for a bright movie.

Overall, the X1 Pro’s picture is likeable and engaging, but it could do with a touch more detail and subtlety. By general standards, it’s a solid performer, but for the price, we know that better is available.

Sound quality

The Nebula X1 Pro’s sound set-up is packing some impressive features by projector standards, so we feel hopeful when we get it in our test room.

There are three sound modes to choose from: Movie, Outdoors, and Music. After a good deal of testing, we opt for the first option as it delivers the best balance between precision and scale.

The sound is certainly more room-filling than most projectors that have built-in speakers, but it is ultimately let down by a lack of precision and dynamics.

Vocals are clear and easy to make out from the rest of the sound, but there is not much expression or subtle inflexion in individual voices.

While watching Sinners, as Sammie calls the spirits with the power of his singing, his voice is at the forefront of the sound, but it lacks the emotion that we have heard with rival systems. His voice should come in tentatively but grow stronger as the scene goes on, but the X1 Pro does not convey this level of subtlety.

There’s also not a great sense of precision as the different voices and instruments chime in. The sound should fill the room and the space between the speakers, but it's obvious where it's emanating from instead of coming from all angles.

When watching Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise’s titular character challenges his cohort of cadets to some aerial contests. As the jet flies up into the sky, we get some sense of height, but it does not extend much further than the middle of the projector screen.

It feels more like there are tall columns of sound coming from the speakers rather than the dome of sound we are looking for with a Dolby Atmos product. You can turn off Nebula’s FlexWave surround sound technology, but this makes the sound feel smaller and less precise, so we opt to keep it on, despite its limitations.

The system doesn’t create a cohesive soundfield with any great skill, and we note gaps even when we’ve taken care over speaker positioning. There is a configuration where the front speakers can be left in the main projector body, almost like a soundbar, but, as expected, this reduces the level of scale and width.

Dynamics are not the strongest, either. As the jet prepares to take off, there is not much of a build-up between the initial rumble of the engine and the crescendo of the plane in flight.

The X1 Pro’s bass also fails to pack a meaty weight, instead landing with a rather flat softness. When watching Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, our hero faces off against a monstrous soul-sucking dragon. Punches should sound deep and impactful, but they lack the powerful drive necessary to convey the right level of force.

It doesn't help that the subwoofer is built into the projector’s body, which means we cannot tune or position it differently without moving the projector itself.

Verdict

The Nebula X1 Pro’s clever design is certainly an intriguing novelty, and its crisp picture performance delivers a reasonable balance between punchiness and clarity. It would be even better if there were greater subtlety in the rendition of colours, though.

But its audio makes for an underwhelming experience, lacking the necessary insight, dynamic expression and surround capability to convince. It’s fussy to set up, too.

However, the biggest issue here is the price. At this level, it would seem more sensible to invest in a separate projector and sound system to get the best performance from both.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 2
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Nebula X1

Read our Epson EH-LS9000 review

Best projectors: the best options tested by our home cinema experts

Apple has officially launched the public beta programme for its 2026 software releases, which includes early access to tvOS 27.

The forthcoming update introduces a bevvy of new features and performance upgrades, including Hi-Res Lossless playback in Apple Music, a redesigned Podcasts app, a more responsive Control Centre, and faster wireless connections to other Apple devices (including HomePods for TV audio) via AirPlay.

However, the biggest upgrade relates to the day-to-day performance of the nearly four-year-old streaming box. Apple says app loading times will be reduced by 30 per cent, and animations should feel smoother too. This means that the whole tvOS interface should feel slicker and more responsive.

This update comes in the wake of a price increase, which means the current-generation Apple TV 4K now starts at £199 / $199 / AU$299, or if you want 128GB of storage and an Ethernet socket, then you can expect to pay £249 / $249 / AU$399.

While the tvOS 27 update isn't expected to launch to all users until September, members of the Apple Beta Software Programme can enrol their Apple TV 4K and install the update via the Settings app, under the System tab.

If you're not in the beta programme, you can sign up here for free, and Apple lets anyone trial its software and provide feedback via the Feedback Assistant app.

Be warned, this software is still in beta, and while Apple's pre-release software is generally stable and safe to use, we'd recommend exercising some caution.

If you happen to have a spare Apple TV 4K lying around, then we'd suggest installing it on that rather than loading it onto your main device, as bugs and glitches can cause issues.

MORE:

Read our full Apple TV 4K review

Check out our picks for the best streaming devices

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

Watch England vs Argentina live streams

Lionel Messi will face England for the first time in his career when reigning champions Argentina take on their old rivals in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals in Atlanta.

The Albiceleste skipper is the tournament's joint top-goalscorer with eight goals, although he didn't find the net in the 3-1 extra-time win over Switzerland in the quarter-finals. Messi will be key to Argentina's hopes of moving one step closer to becoming the first team to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962.

Jude Bellingham was England's hero in the quarter-finals against Norway, as the Real Madrid midfielder struck twice in a 2-1 extra-time triumph. This is just the fourth time the Three Lions have reached the World Cup semi-finals, while their only appearance in the final was when they won the trophy back in 1966.

Follow our guide below for where to watch England vs Argentina live streams from anywhere with a VPN.

How to watch England vs Argentina for free

Being the second semi-final of the FIFA World Cup 2026, England vs Argentina is free-to-air in several countries across the globe:

• UK: BBC (English commentary)
• Australia: SBS On Demand (English commentary)
• Brazil: CazéTV's YouTube (no account required)
• Argentina: TV Publica
• Belgium: RTBF / VRT
• Canada: CTV (TV provider details required)
• France: M6
• Germany: Das Erste
• Ireland: RTE Player (English commentary)
• Italy: Rai
• Netherlands: NOS
• New Zealand: TVNZ
• Spain: RTVE
• Switzerland: SRF Play / RTS Play / RSI Play
• Turkey: TRT

If you're from one of these countries but are currently abroad and want to watch England vs Argentina live, you can simply use a VPN. More details below...

Watch England vs Argentina live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular England vs Argentina live streams while traveling abroad. The streaming service will spot that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch any World Cup 2026 live stream from anywhere in the world.

We rate Norton VPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sport. It offers a best-in-class 60-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

Watch England vs Argentina live streams in the US

England vs Argentina in the US will be shown on FOX (English commentary) and Telemundo (Spanish commentary).

If you've cut the cord, you can get these channels through a Live TV streaming option, such as Fubo or Sling.

Fox is also available via Fox One while Telemundo can be accessed on Peacock.

To access your usual streaming service from outside the US, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed above.

• Expert TV advice: I found all the ways to watch the World Cup in 4k

Watch England vs Argentina live streams in the UK

England vs Argentina is free-to-air in the UK on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, and all you need is a valid TV license to stream the match from anywhere, completely FREE.

Outside the UK for England vs Argentina? Use Norton VPN to watch as if you were back at home.

Watch England vs Argentina live streams in Australia

England vs Argentina will be broadcast for free in Australia, thanks to SBS.

Cord-cutters can catch all the action via the SBS On Demand streaming service and app.

Again, you'll need to use a safe, reliable VPN to access SBS On Demand when traveling abroad.

Watch England vs Argentina live streams in Canada

Football fans in Canada can watch England vs Argentina free on CTV.

Remember, CTV will require TV provider login details for you to watch the game for free.

The match will also be available to watch on TSN, as well as its online streaming platform TSN+, which costs CA$8 per month or CA$80 per year.

Traveling outside Canada? Use Norton VPN to watch England vs Argentina as if you were back at home.

How to watch England vs Argentina in India

In India you can stream England vs Argentina on ZEE5.

There are two main plans to choose from. The Zee5 All Access + Sports plan costs Rs 799 for 3 months, while the Zee5 Premium plan is priced at Rs 1,699 per year. Opt for the latter and get a 4K stream of the game included.

Visiting India from the UK or Australia? Norton VPN can unlock your free stream from anywhere in the world.

• Fancy an upgrade? Here are the best TVs
• Or save money with these unmissable cheap TV deals
• Where to find the best Formula E live stream

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Rejoice, Sonos fans! After months, even years, of turmoil and trouble, Sonos is making serious steps towards fixing the app that, after a disastrous redesign in 2024, threatened the company's future and forced its then-CEO to step down.

Now, Sonos is doing everything it can to repair the damage. We reported in June that CEO Tom Conrad had written on Reddit detailing some of the changes set to come to the platform, promising that the Sonos team had spent "hundreds of hours" watching people use the app to find its weak spots.

Now, Sonos is ready to put it all into practice, making the new version available in public beta form for Android and iOS users. Any customer with app version 87 can switch on 'Enable Improved Navigation' in their Settings to access the Beta as Sonos collects feedback over the next few months.

That new beta iteration touts some promising upgrades, including improved navigation, more intuitive system tab controls and an overhauled volume tuning system, as well as what Sonos terms 'Quality-of-life fixes' across Now Playing, playlists and iPad views.

The new changes are currently rolling out in their beta form as part of an opt-in public test phase, with changes set broadly to become the default once feedback has been gathered. This could be in the autumn, but no definitive date has been given.

Has Sonos learned from the mistakes of its past? You can switch to the updated version of the app in your settings and judge for yourself.

MORE:

Which Sonos speaker should you buy?

Check out our recent Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker review

Sonos Play vs HomePod 2: which should you buy?

This is a lovely name for a pair of wired earbuds.

Sivga has introduced its new Lyrebird wired in-ear headphones, designed to produce "a high-end listening experience at an accessible price point".

The in-ears feature a quad-driver, hybrid driver array, consisting of a 10mm polymer dynamic driver handling the bass frequencies alongside a dedicated balanced armature unit designed to produce vocals with "exceptional clarity and detail".

A micro planar driver seeks to add a "smooth treble extension", while a 9.2mm multilayer ceramic driver rounds things off, dealing with "the finest high-frequency nuances".

Each earpiece is constructed using a handcrafted wooden faceplate, treated with resin to improve durability and, says Sivga, help reduce unwanted resonances for a cleaner, more refined audio signature.

The wooden faceplates combine with precision-machined aluminium alloy housings in further pursuit of an elegant yet durable aesthetic.

Included with the Lyrebird is a 4.4.mm balanced-ended cable combining silver-plated copper and gold-plated conductors, designed to help preserve the earbuds' "smooth, detailed presentation". The new in-ears also come with a leather carry case and a selection of silicone ear tips.

The Sivga Lyrebird are available now, priced at £149 / $149 / €167.

We reviewed another bird-themed pair of Sivga headphones – the over-ear SV021 Robin – back in 2024, and while their sound didn't quite take flight, there was enough evidence to suggest that Sivga's fledgling talents could one day see the brand soar.

MORE:

Now Playing: supercharge your summer listening with the 7 best tracks we’ve been using to test hi-fi

I've handpicked the best expert-approved deals on great-value soundbars, five-star AV receivers and luxury audiophile headphones

These are the best wired headphones you can buy

Any new product launch from Marantz is sure to grab headlines, and this is one of its biggest yet. The Japanese hi-fi giant has finally unveiled replacements for both its all-conquering and Award-winning PM6007 stereo amplifier and CD6007 CD player…

The Model 70 and CD 70 enter the separates arena with a new look, which brings them in line with the rest of the company’s hi-fi and home cinema electronics.

This means design touches such as textured surfaces on the front of both units and the inclusion of Marantz’s trademark circular ‘porthole’ on the Model 70 amp.

These are not just pretty new faces, either. Marantz has promised multiple internal upgrades, all of which are designed to extract the best sound quality possible.

These include “optimised circuit layouts, carefully selected components and vibration-resistant chassis structures.”

We’ll start with the Model 70 amplifier, which is a Class A/B design delivering 50 Watts of power per channel. It uses an upgraded power supply and preamplifier circuit, plus a larger power transformer than its predecessor.

It also features an electronic volume control as opposed to the analogue design used on the PM6007.

There’s a high-performance DAC on board, a high-quality MM phono stage, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth (including the ability to transmit and receive) and an HDMI ARC connection.

There are also your standard suite of analogue and digital connections, plus preamplifier and subwoofer preouts. The Model 70 includes a new low-phase noise clock to reduce the effects of jitter, i.e. digital timing errors, and deliver more accurate playback of your CDs.

The CD 70 uses the same DAC as the Model 70 and offers a USB (Type-A) input on the front that allows you to connect an external hard drive. It supports a range of file types, including WAV, FLAC, AIFF and DSD.

Also on the front is a 6.3mm headphone socket which connects to the fully discrete headphone amplifier contained within the unit. To help with headphone compatibility, Marantz includes adjustable gain control, which you access through the player’s on-screen menus.

It also features an upgraded power supply, plus a double-layered chassis and rigid isolation feet to keep outside interference to a minimum.

The CD 70 costs £499 | €600 | $750 | AU$1100 (exc VAT), which, given its predecessor launched at £399 / AU$999 back in 2020, isn’t really a huge increase.

The Model 70, on the other hand, costs £749 | €850 | AU$1600 (exc VAT), which represents a larger jump from the £499 / AU$1199 launch price of the outgoing PM6007. Both are available in either black or silver and gold.

One thing you might have noticed is that there is no US price for the Model 70 amplifier. It won’t be available in North America when the products officially go on sale on the 15th August. We have reached out to Marantz for a comment about this and will report back as soon as possible.

It’s fair to say Marantz’s CD6007 and PM6007 have had a great innings – almost six years to be precise – so while it’s obviously sad to see these repeat What Hi-Fi? Award-winners replaced, it’s a change that has been coming, and we are excited to hear what the new models offer.

We currently have both models in our dedicated test rooms and will be reporting back with our official verdicts in the very near future. Keep your eyes peeled!

MORE:

Our pick of the best stereo amplifiers you can buy

And the best CD players

How to choose and set up a stereo amplifier

What is a headphone amplifier and why should you buy one?

Active speakers – speakers with built-in amplification directly powering the drive units – have become more and more popular these days. Their space-saving form negates the need for separate boxes for amplifiers and trailing cables, reducing clutter and making for neater systems.

Most active speakers these days also come with built-in DAC and digital inputs, sometimes a phono stage, and more often than not hi-res network streaming or at least Bluetooth included for ultimate all-in-one convenience. Acoustic Energy bucks this trend by keeping its new AE Active speakers purely analogue.

This new model builds on the five-star, Award-winning AE1 Active speakers we tested back in 2018 and have highly recommended since, and features updated acoustic technology and refined design for a new generation.

Build & design

The Acoustic Energy AE Active are a fully active two-way design, with 50W of Class A/B amplification powering each drive unit. That’s a total power output of 200W, with the amplifiers being refined in this new generation to improve dynamic capability. Each speaker has its own mains plug for power, with the revised amps fed by high-quality linear power supplies to ensure a consistent, low-noise performance throughout the frequency range.

The 40-year-old Acoustic Energy brand continues its tradition of using metal drivers in its new active speakers. The 27mm aluminium dome tweeter has a new rear chamber for reducing distortion at certain frequencies in the crossover region, and is combined with a dedicated waveguide to deliver a wide soundstage.

These speakers use the same 12.5cm mid/bass driver that was developed for the recent AE1 40th Anniversary passive speakers. This is a “pure-piston” ceramic/aluminium cone that is low in mass but very stiff, and has been engineered to minimise cone flex and distortion.

The analogue filters have been improved to minimise any phase disturbances. There is a rear-facing bass slot port that has also been updated, while internally the cabinet has had extensive bracing and internal damping panels to further improve performance.

The cabinets themselves have been subtly refined, with a neater trim around the drivers that overall looks rather smart and subtly elegant. The speakers are available in three finishes: high gloss black or white, and a new natural walnut wood veneer. Our sample’s wood veneer finish feels lovely to the touch, with a smooth texture and high quality finish throughout.

The standmounts have a fairly compact footprint and look most at home on dedicated speaker stands, although they could be placed on a large, sturdy desk if you are using them as nearfield monitors. You’ll just need to make sure both speakers are within reach of a mains power socket.

Features

The AE Active speakers eschew any digital or streaming elements entirely. Acoustic Energy says it experimented with modern features such as wireless streaming, switch mode power supplies, Class D amplification and DSP, but ultimately didn’t want to compromise the pure audio performance. The AE Active have a fully analogue signal path that avoids any digital processing entirely in the quest to preserve the original audio file’s integrity.

As such, you get two analogue inputs: a pair of balanced XLR inputs and a pair of stereo RCA inputs.

On one hand, this purist approach is commendable, but it’s a little old-fashioned and won’t appeal to everyone, particularly those looking for an easy solution. There’s a reason most active speakers these days – such as the KEF Coda W, Fyne Cubitt 5 and Cambridge Audio L/R S – come with Bluetooth and a variety of digital inputs to work with modern sources including TVs and laptops.

On the other hand, this pared-down approach does keep the Acoustic Energy rather flexible and future-proof. The speakers have integrated volume control, which means you can directly plug in a source such as a CD player or hi-res music streamer. You can also plug in a preamp or an external DAC to widen the connectivity, and it allows for a potential upgrade path down the line.

On the back panel on both units, you’ll find bass and treble controls to fine-tune the sound to the room they’re in, especially if dealing with less-than-ideal placements. One new feature is the auto on/off switch that lets you choose between leaving the speakers on permanently or activating standby mode after 15 minutes of inactivity.

That the active speakers come with built-in volume control is great news – this means they don’t require a separate preamp with volume control to function, such as the more premium ATC SCM20ASL active speakers do.

The only real complaint we have is with the placement and design of the volume controls. The dials are placed on the speakers’ back panel – this might be fine if the speakers are within reach on a desk, but it’s not practical if they’re on stands and you’re on your sofa. No, there is no remote control included here.

The bigger issue is that there are independent volume controls for each unit, with no clear markings on the dials. This means there is more chance of the volume not being perfectly level and balanced between the units, as you have to set them individually. We would much prefer it if there was one volume control that controlled both speakers’ levels.

A preamp or source with volume control comes in handy here, such as the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition music streamer we used throughout testing, so you can take the guesswork out of it.

Sound

Placed on stands and with the Naim Uniti Atom HE streamer playing a variety of radio, WAV and hi-res FLAC songs, the AE Active don’t take long to show their talents.

The control they have over every note is astounding at this level. The piano notes in Alicia Keys’ Fallin’ sound tremendously composed and land with solidity and confidence. Each note starts and stops with unerring punctuality, with the rhythm of every song we play being marshalled with a kind of military precision that is hugely impressive.

The amount and quality of bass coming from these not-particularly-large cabinets is also impressive, and we had a blast playing tracks with intense basslines just to hear what these AE Actives can do. There is real muscle and impact to the basslines of Major Lazer’s Pon de Floor, but there’s agility and texture here too. It’s all pulled taut and has the immediacy that is inherent in active speaker designs.

The busy arrangement and high-octane energy of the track are handled with ease by the speakers, too, with every note sounding crisp and positioned accurately in the soundstage – but without ever losing the party vibe.

Dynamically, the AE Actives are fantastic. The snappy transient response of these active speakers means sudden shifts in quiet-to-loud moments are brilliantly and speedily communicated, while slow-burning moments – such as Clint Mansell’s instrumental Moon soundtrack – sound fluid and retain their sense of tension.

Play Kate Bush’s Watching You Without Me and the AE Active reveal high notes with the right mix of clarity, headroom and bite, but without any undue brightness or sharpness. The overall sound from these active speakers is rather clean and with low-distortion throughout the frequencies, which also means we can enjoy listening at high volumes without hardness or woolliness creeping in.

The stereo imaging is similarly focused and composed, with voices showing off just how well integrated the AE Actives' drivers are. The speakers have no problem revealing the different voices, intonations and personalities in Eminem’s Stan. From The Unthanks’ delicate, nuanced vocals on Mount The Air to Eminem’s rapid-fire, ferocious rapping on Godzilla, the AE Actives reveal the character and intensity of every song with a good amount of detail and nuance.

The Acoustic Energy speakers are just about transparent enough that you are aware of the distinct recording qualities of albums from different eras, but they don’t make too much of a fuss over the quality of each track. The overall sound could perhaps be a little more fluid and airy-sounding, and they may struggle to fill very large rooms. When listening in our larger 3m x 7m x 5m (hwd) test room, the AE Actives sound a touch dynamically restrained, but they come to life in our smaller 3m x 4m x 7m room, with a bit of breathing room from the back wall to balance the bass performance.

We swap to a price-equivalent separates amplifier and speaker pairing of the Arcam A5+ and Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2 (both current Award-winners in their respective categories), and find this offers a more relaxed and wider soundstage. They sound rather soft in the bass, though, and don’t go as deep either. Overall, they can’t match the speed, precision and agility of the AE Active speaker.

Verdict

The Acoustic Energy AE Active are a niche product in today’s audio landscape, but they are a tremendously talented and capable pair of active speakers. They are a viable alternative to a traditional separates pairing at this price, and could well be the last chain in your hi-fi system you’ll have to update. Highly recommended.

Review published: 14th July 2026

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 5
• Features 3

MORE:

Read our review of the KEF Coda W

Also consider the ATC SCM20ASL

Best active speakers: our experts pick the top pairs with integrated amplifiers

KEF has teased that a new speaker is in the works, with an Instagram video showing the brand's iconic Uni-Q driver and promising "a new definition of luxury."

The new speaker is said to have a "sculptural" form designed by Welsh industrial designer Ross Lovegrove. Lovegrove and KEF have a long history of working together. This includes his work on the brand's flagship Muon speakers, Muo Bluetooth speaker and Mu wireless earbuds/headphones, which all have curvy forms that certainly stand out.

In a blog post on KEF's website, the brand teases that the new speaker will take inspiration from these products, promising "a visual identity unlike any other."

There's little else revealed about the speaker beyond the inclusion of the Uni-Q driver, but KEF is promising "stunning sound clarity, sharper details and an expanded soundstage, that fully immerses you in the artist's creative vision."

That's quite a lofty promise, and we're left wondering just how "luxury" these new speakers will be when it comes to their price.

The new speakers are said to be "effortless in sound" and "composed for those who listen deeply." More bass? Large speaker? Your guess is as good as ours at this point.

Will the new speaker be a passive design and follow in the footsteps of the Q Meta and R Meta speaker series? Will there be a long-awaited update to our multiple Award-winning KEF LS50 Meta? Or will this be a new entry in KEF's LS wireless active speaker range, which features five-star products such as the LSX II and LS50 Wireless II?

We've got a couple of weeks to keep guessing, as the new KEF speaker will be revealed on Thursday, 30th July.

MORE:

Read our KEF LSX II review

And our KEF LS50 Meta review

Our guide to the best speakers we've tested and recommend across all budgets and types

During Prime Day, we saw some of our favourite OLEDs drop to rock-bottom prices, with the LG C5 leading the charge when it came to price drops.

Well, now it's Samsung's turn – the 48-inch, five-star Samsung S90F has dropped to £749 at John Lewis, the lowest price we've seen for the set so far.

If you're upgrading to OLED for the first time for the football, then the panel technology boasts several advantages for watching sports, including incredible contrast, faster refresh times to minimise motion blur and wider viewing angles so the whole watch party can see.

You'll have to pay an extra £29.95 for next-day delivery, but luckily the S90F can be set up in less than a minute – and should be well worth it for the Messi vs Kane showdown in the England vs Argentina semi-final.

If you're looking for a mid-sized TV, the Samsung S90F currently ranks at the top of our guide to the best 50-inch TVs It's ideal for a small lounge, bedroom or just as a mid-level OLED.

Despite its compact size, it delivers a bright, punchy picture that will offer a fun experience for films, football or whatever you wish to use it for.

After testing with a viewing of Civil War, our Samsung S90F review reads: "Explosions pop out of the dark cityscape with dazzling brightness and a clear, bright fiery hue that makes them truly come to life.

"The S90F also manages to retain colour volume during the tricky scene, with characters’ faces retaining their warmth and offering solid levels of detail in both the darkest and lightest parts of the picture – which is impressive as many OLEDs can struggle here."

Upscaling is also particularly impressive, which will come in useful if you're watching the football on linear TV.

The Samsung S90F is also notably easy to set up, with the screen easily and quickly connecting to the stand thanks to a screw-free design. Ideal for delivery just before the match!

The S90F is also one of the only non-LG OLEDs with four full-fat HDMI 2.1 inputs, along with VRR and ALLM. This means even gamers with multiple consoles can play at 4K/120Hz, or even 4K/144Hz if they have a powerful enough PC.

The main drawback of the S90F, however, is the sound. The 60-watt, 2.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos built-in sound system delivers a reasonable sense of directionality, but lacks oomph – we recommend one of the best soundbars if you want to get that stadium feeling.

A five-star OLED for under a grand, let alone £750, is a bona fide bargain. If you want to watch the last few matches of the World Cup on a glorious OLED, we recommend the Samsung S90F, now 50 per cent off at John Lewis.

MORE:

Read our full Samsung S90F review

These are the best Samsung TVs: budget to premium, 4K, 8K, QLED, QD-OLED

And the best OLED TVs: our reviewers' 5 top picks for serious movie fans

This could be the best thing to come to Netflix since Hot Frosty. The service's free trial is back, after a six-year hiatus. And it includes the Premium tier with 4K and HDR.

According to Android Authority, the free trial is available in multiple regions around the world, but not the UK and US. The trials offered vary between seven and 30 days in duration, though some users claim to have cleared their web browser's cookies or opened the same link in an incognito window to get the maximum 30 days.

You have to select a tier before getting the free trial period, and if you don't cancel, you will be charged the full amount from that month onwards. Like most streaming services, you can cancel Netflix with just one month's notice.

Interestingly, the Netflix support page for the UK and US says that it doesn't offer free trials, but in various other countries (including those in Europe and Asia) it reads: "Netflix is offering a limited free trial to eligible new members in certain countries. If you are eligible, the free trial option will automatically appear during sign-up. If you don't see it, the free trial option is not currently available for your location or device."

Not to be outdone, Disney+ is reportedly considering making some of its content available for free. Business Insider reports the service is mulling over hosting certain content on Disney+ without a paywall in order to compete with free services like YouTube, according to people familiar with the matter.

Product and tech chief Adam Smith reportedly floated the idea during a town hall meeting on Thursday.

So are we entering a new era of streaming? Music streaming service Spotify still offers a free, ad-supported tier, and if competition increases, the film and TV streamers could be forced to offer something similar.

MORE:

The best streaming services for movies and TV shows

The best music streaming services

Don't let the algorithm decide – this music service now offers a better way to stream

Watch France vs Spain live streams

France will aim to reach their third successive World Cup final when they face Euro 2024 winners Spain in a heavyweight FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final in Dallas.

Les Bleus are in frightening form, winning all six matches at the tournament so far and scoring six goals without reply in the knockout stage. Kylian Mbappé starred again in their 2-0 quarter-final victory over Morocco, with the France captain now joint top goalscorer alongside Lionel Messi, finding the net eight times.

Spain's run of six successive World Cup clean sheets ended in their 2-1 triumph over Belgium in the last eight. However, Mikel Merino came off the bench to score a late winner for the second game in a row. This is La Roja's first World Cup semi-final since 2010 and a chance they won't want to throw away as they look to book a place in Sunday's final.

The winner faces England or Argentina in New Jersey. Follow our guide below for where to watch France vs Spain live streams from anywhere with a VPN.

How to watch France vs Spain for free

Being the first semi-final of the FIFA World Cup 2026, France vs Spain is free-to-air in several countries across the globe:

• UK: ITV (English commentary)
• Australia: SBS On Demand (English commentary)
• Brazil: CazéTV's YouTube (no account required)
• Belgium: RTBF / VRT
• Canada: CTV (TV provider details required)
• France: M6
• Germany: ZDF
• Ireland: RTE Player (English commentary)
• Italy: Rai
• Netherlands: NOS
• Spain: RTVE
• Switzerland: SRF Play / RTS Play / RSI Play
• Turkey: TRT

If you're from one of these countries but are currently abroad and want to watch France vs Spain live, you can simply use a VPN. More details below...

Watch France vs Spain live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular France vs Spain live streams while traveling abroad. The streaming service will spot that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch any World Cup 2026 live stream from anywhere in the world.

We rate Norton VPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sport. It offers a best-in-class 60-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

Watch France vs Spain live streams in the US

France vs Spain in the US will be shown on FOX (English commentary) and Telemundo (Spanish commentary).

If you've cut the cord, you can get these channels through a live TV streaming option, such as Fubo or Sling.

Fox is also available via Fox One (3-day free trial) while Telemundo can be accessed on Peacock.

To access your usual streaming service from outside the US, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed above.

• Expert TV advice: I found all the ways to watch the World Cup in 4k

Watch France vs Spain live streams in the UK

France vs Spain is free-to-air in the UK on ITV1 and ITVX, and all you need is a valid TV license to stream the match from anywhere, completely FREE.

Outside the UK for France vs Spain? Use Norton VPN to watch as if you were back at home.

Watch France vs Spain live streams in Australia

France vs Spain will be broadcast for free in Australia, thanks to SBS.

Cord-cutters can catch all the action via the SBS On Demand streaming service and app.

Again, you'll need to use a safe, reliable VPN to access SBS On Demand when traveling abroad.

Watch France vs Spain live streams in Canada

Football fans in Canada can watch France vs Spain free on CTV.

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Traveling outside Canada? Use Norton VPN to watch France vs Spain as if you were back at home.

• Fancy an upgrade? Here are the best TVs
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Soundbars tend to come in two flavours now: the usual standalone bar, and the soundbar system with extra speakers that has increased in visibility in recent years.

We’ve rounded up two of our favourites from both categories to see how they stack up. And not just any two – the Award-winning Sonos Arc Ultra, and Samsung’s new HW-Q990H soundbar system.

We’ll go through various categories such as price, design, features and, of course, sound, to find out which is the better buy.

As soundbar standoffs go, it doesn’t get much closer than this. So, after a deep breath, let’s get started…

Samsung HW-Q990H vs Sonos Arc Ultra: price

The Sonos Arc Ultra officially launched at £999 / $999 / AU$1799. However, it does get healthy discounts every now and then – the cheapest we’ve seen it go is £719 in the UK on Cyber Monday.

The Samsung HW-Q990H launched at a more expensive £1599 / $2000 / AU$1999. That’s a £600/$1000/AU$200 increase – though you have to bear in mind that this also includes a wireless subwoofer and two wireless surrounds.

You can add extra speakers to the Arc Ultra, but it quickly adds up. The cheapest way to build a Sonos system is to add a Sub Mini and two Era 100 speakers, which are available as part of the Home Cinema Completion Set for £785/$887/AU$1270, though if you shop around you can often find these products on sale separately.

The Samsung HW-Q990H is also much newer, only launching in spring 2026. Samsung’s annual soundbar system tends to tumble in price quickly and consistently after launch – the HW-Q990H is already down to £1299 in the UK. Last year’s model, the HW-990F, crashed to under £700 over Prime Day, and we’d expect the HW-Q990H to follow a similar pattern.

As things stand, the Sonos Arc Ultra is the better value buy, especially if you get it at a discount – but the two may very well swap places over the course of the next year.

**Winner: Sonos Arc Ultra**

Samsung HW-Q990H vs Sonos Arc Ultra: design

There is, of course, one key difference between the Samsung HW-Q990H and Sonos Arc Ultra; the Q990H is a soundbar system with surrounds and a subwoofer, whereas the Arc Ultra is a solo soundbar.

However, even the soundbar of the Q990H alone is bigger than the Arc Ultra – the Arc Ultra fits all of its channels into a 7.5 x 118 x 11 cm (hwd) bar, while the main soundbar of the Q990H comes in at 7 x 123 x 14cm. The Q990H’s surround speakers are a smaller 20 x 13 x 14cm, while the subwoofer is a 25 x 25 x 25cm cube.

The Q990H is a well-built, premium-feeling system constructed from aluminium and high-quality plastic. However, the design is identical to previous Samsung soundbar systems, and is starting to feel a little tired. The sharp, hexagonal design is a touch brutalist – especially compared to Samsung’s sleek OLED TVs – and the edgy soundbar does feel at odds with the rounded cube-shaped subwoofer.

We prefer the smooth curves of the Sonos Arc Ultra. The solo soundbar is pretty much all grille, with just a Sonos logo and a status light breaking up the appearance from the front, ensuring that sound can emanate from the soundbar in almost any direction.

The Arc Ultra’s design is largely similar to that of its predecessor, the Sonos Arc, with the exception of the 'ledge' at the back of the top of the chassis, which now houses touch controls for playback and volume. The Bluetooth pairing button is hidden in the recess around the back with the HDMI and power ports, which is a tad inconvenient.

The Sonos Arc Ultra gets our vote on an aesthetic level, but we still have features and sound quality to assess.

**Winner: Sonos Arc Ultra**

Samsung HW-Q990H vs Sonos Arc Ultra: features

The Arc Ultra boasts a 9.1.4-channel configuration, with 15 Class D amplifiers powering 14 drivers that are all Sonos-engineered. There are seven tweeters, six midrange woofers, and a 'Sound Motion' woofer, and it's the last of those that's the really big deal.

Rather than the one heavy motor that most speaker drivers employ, the Sound Motion driver has four smaller, lightweight motors in opposing corners. Working together, these motors are apparently able to push the cone to shift far more air and produce far more bass.

The Samsung, on the other hand, is an 11.1.4 system, with an impressive total of 23 individual drivers on board. This includes 15 drivers in the main soundbar unit, three in each of the wireless surround speakers, and two 8-inch woofers (in a push/pull configuration) in the wireless subwoofer. Upward-firing drivers are present in both the soundbar and surround speakers for immersive audio.

Speaking of immersive sound formats, the Sonos Arc Ultra only supports Dolby Atmos. The Q990H boasts three: Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Samsung’s Eclipsa Audio. Eclipsa has not seen widespread coverage outside of YouTube so far, but it’s handy that the Q990H is futureproofed should this change down the line.

While the Sonos Arc Ultra does have an HDMI eARC output for sending high-fidelity sound from your TV, there are no HDMI inputs to enable passthrough, which could be an issue for any gamers out there. If you have a TV with only two HDMI sockets and more than one game console, you’ll be in a bit of a pickle as the Arc Ultra will take up one of your ports.

The Samsung, on the other hand, has two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 passthrough sockets, which support up to 4K/120Hz signals with VRR and ALLM, as well as HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. So you can plug two high-speed game consoles directly into the soundbar itself, and still enjoy plenty of gaming features.

The Sonos Trueplay calibration process for the Arc Ultra comes in two flavours – Quick and Advanced. The Quick method, which is a single measurement using the soundbar’s own microphone, makes a big difference, whereas the iOS-only Advanced method, the ‘hoovering-the-walls’ method we’ve seen before, only very slightly improves beyond that.

Samsung’s SpaceFit Sound Pro feature, which is essentially the Q990H’s’s calibration system, can helpfully accommodate if you can’t place the rear speakers at the recommended 135-150-degree angle behind the listening position. However, this isn’t just a one-time measurement – the feature is a constantly running system that monitors your listening space at all times to make adjustments in real time.

The Sonos app also allows you to access EQ controls and features such as Night mode, Speech Enhancement and the Loudness setting. However, we ran into several bugs during testing, and while a lot of the issues have been ironed out, it’s still not the most intuitive platform.

Luckily, you shouldn’t need to use the app too often – the remote control can handle most duties, and music can be sent directly from apps such as Spotify and Tidal.

Conversely, we find the Samsung SmartThings app to be the preferred way of interacting with the settings menus of the Q990H. The app has a snappy connection and set-up time, with easy-to-understand menus and generally solid stability.

The Q990H can also be connected wirelessly to compatible Samsung TVs, though we’d recommend sticking to a wired connection for the best audio quality and reduced latency. Q Symphony is also on offer, in which the Q990H can work in tandem with the speakers of a Samsung TV – though again, we’d recommend just sticking to the system rather than bringing a TV's sound quality into the equation.

Finally, the Q990H offers a Sound Elevation feature that’s designed to raise the audio upwards to match the position of your screen. We found it overshot things slightly and placed the sound towards the top of our TV, but this could be useful for those who wall-mount their TV and leave a gap between it and their soundbar.

The Sonos Arc Ultra is no slouch in the features department, but it loses out to the newer, feature-packed Samsung HW-Q990H. The soundbar system boasts more immersive audio support, a snappier, more stable app and, crucially, HDMI passthrough.

**Winner: Samsung HW-Q990H**

Samsung HW-Q990H vs Sonos Arc Ultra: sound

Starting with the Samsung HW-Q990H and a test viewing of Civil War, we find this soundbar package excels in practically every aspect. A woodland scene demonstrates the soundbar’s excellent placement of cinematic effects, with birds chirping overhead and twigs crackling underfoot.

Vocal clarity is excellent, with crisp, detailed and full-bodied dialogue, and the tonality and emotions of their voices are captured thanks to the Q990H's rich sonic characteristics and deft handling of low-level dynamics.

Bass is handled very well too, refusing to distort or warble during Blade Runner 2049’s infamously tricky chapter two. In fact, the bass builds nicely throughout, with a sense of tonal variation which makes it sound tuneful and dynamic.

K’s crowded apartment complex and a dystopian street are also captured with a level of finesse and detail that seriously sells the atmosphere of each scene. Background sounds are also cleverly woven into the soundfield without making them sound forced or intentionally singled out.

Moving on to music, we try the Q990H’s Standard mode, which removes the rear speakers and lets the main soundbar unit and subwoofer shine for stereo music reproduction.

Most, if not all, of the positive attributes from our movie testing are present and correct for music, too – vocals are warm and detailed, bass is taut, and there is a general sense of naturalism and balance to the sound. The Samsung system is a talented performer – but can’t quite top the Sonos when it comes to music.

Sonos soundbars have long been among the most musical in the category, though, and the Arc Ultra further solidifies that reputation. We prefer it over the Samsung system thanks to its richer, more rounded and smoother sound – the Arc Ultra is an energetic, exciting and engaging listen, and a crackingly musical soundbar.

Moving away from music, we also put the Arc Ultra through the Blade Runner 2049 chapter two test, and it also impresses. There’s no chuffing from the drivers and it has a really good go at the super-deep notes of the soundtrack. Bottom-end control isn’t cast iron, but the combination of weight and control is impressive.

The spatial sound-effect placement is also quite impressive for a solo bar. Voices and other audio are placed above us, in the top corners of the room and move around us, far beyond the extremities of the TV.

The sound is detailed too – incidental noises are delivered clearly and cleanly without distracting, with the Arc Ultra’s low-level dynamic subtlety ensuring these sounds are presented naturally and realistically. Grand changes in volume are also dispatched without fuss or fluster, with the solo soundbar capable of going very loud indeed.

So who comes out on top? Well, it depends entirely on what you plan to use the soundbars for. The Sonos Arc Ultra is a musical powerhouse and manages to pack in impressive detail and spatial effects into one convenient, plug-in-and-play bar.

The Samsung HW-Q990H, on the other hand, requires a bit more setup and space, but really benefits from the rear speakers for surround and height effects, as well as the rather impressive subwoofer.

It really depends on which soundbar is the best for you and your needs – both products excel in their respective areas, so we’re going to call this one a draw.

**Winner: Draw**

Samsung HW-Q990H vs Sonos Arc Ultra: verdict

As soundbar battles go, it doesn’t get much closer than this. There’s no wrong answer here really, with two top-tier home cinema audio options.

The Sonos Arc Ultra is better looking and is the go-to choice if you want just one box that excels with music and movies. The Samsung HW-Q990H is stuffed with features, including the all-important HDMI 2.1 inputs for gamers.

The Arc Ultra is also cheaper at the time of writing, but the HW-Q990H will inevitably fall to a similar, if not cheaper, price by next year.

If you’ve got the space for a multi-speaker system, then the HW-Q990H is an easy recommendation. But if you’re after the convenience of a single soundbar, then the Sonos Arc Ultra will serve you extremely well.

** Overall Winner: Draw**

MORE:

How to build the perfect home cinema system

Check out the best TVs around

The best soundbars to pair them with

And the best surround sound systems worth your cash

Bose has been conspicuously absent from the premium wireless multi-room speaker space of late.

Denon has recently unveiled its revamped Home 2 series of versatile smart speakers, Apple has plenty of iOS fans enjoying the talents of its HomePod 2 and HomePod Mini, and Sonos continues to cling to its multi-room supremacy courtesy of the established Era 100 and Era 300. Bose, conversely, has tended to focus on the portable end of the market in the past couple of years – until now.

Most of the above contenders are locked into their brand’s own dedicated ecosystem, and most have been designed to co-operate with their extended family of connected siblings. Brands these days aren’t just offering you products – they’re pledging a way of life.

That’s certainly the impression we get from Bose and its new Lifestyle range. The US brand launched the Ultra Speaker wireless speaker alongside a Dolby Atmos soundbar and a new subwoofer, teasing a “reimagined approach to home audio" from a new range of products clearly designed to work alongside one another and tie you into a particular ecosystem.

That begs a very important question: what is Bose’s Lifestyle Ultra Speaker offering that the likes of Sonos and Apple don’t already have covered?

Price

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker’s price differs depending on the finish. The speaker currently sits at £300 / $299 / AU$550 if you go for the standard Black or White Smoke colourways, but if you want to push the boat out and go for Driftwood Sand, that’ll be a hefty increase to £349 / $349.

You can pick up the Award-winning Sonos Era 300 for £359 / $359 / AU$649, offering stern competition for Bose straight out of the gate. You can also get yourself a still-excellent HomePod 2 for £299 / $299 / AU$479 if you’re into the Apple way of life.

Build & design

Bose’s new wireless speaker might be closer to the Sonos Era 300 price-wise, but in terms of its size and shape, it’s more akin to the form of the cheaper and smaller Era 100.

If that shorthand comparison doesn’t help you out much, then imagine a speaker that stands about as tall as an average notebook, with a curved, fabric-covered front panel. It’s a compact and neat design, and while the hourglass configuration of the larger Era 300 may catch more admiring (or quizzical) glances, the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker fulfils its brief as a subtle sentinel capable of blending into your audio or cinema set-up.

Bose tends to make its products to a high standard, and the Ultra Speaker is no exception – this is a product that feels built to last.

At the top of the unit are a series of touch-capacitive controls, including volume, a play/pause toggle and a Bluetooth pairing button. We understand that some users feel that touch controls grant a sleeker, more premium appeal, but we find the buttons’ lack of feedback here – be it physical or auditory – undermines the experience somewhat.

Knowing that the speaker has actually registered an action with an accompanying small sound or click would be much more useful than simply having to guess, especially with tricky tasks such as trying to perform a connection reset. You get a chime when toggling the microphone on and off, but that’s about it.

Taking care of sonic duties are a trio of drivers – a 25mm tweeter and a 7.6cm mid/bass driver alongside a 3.8cm up-firing driver – designed to disperse sound evenly around your listening space. Bose doesn't disclose the specific power rating, but we do know that the drivers are powered by Class D amplification.

Like its soundbar and subwoofer siblings, the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker uses Bose’s ‘CleanBass’ technology, which combines a rear-firing bass port with digital signal processing to deliver “deep, tight bass”. We’ll get to that later on.

Features

The Ultra Speaker is built, at least in part, to play ball with the rest of the members of its new Lifestyle product family. The speaker can be used on its own or in a pair for stereo playback, or you can add them as surround channels when used with the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar. Do be aware that the speakers aren’t backwards compatible with any of Bose’s older soundbars.

Stereo pairing is a nice asset to have, if you can get it to work. While getting our two test samples to play ball with each other works reasonably well most of the time, the resultant sound is often so out of sync that it becomes unlistenable. We’re not the only ones to have experienced this issue, so let’s hope that Bose will come to the rescue via a firmware update soon.

Stereo pairing bugs aside, the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker has ample streaming connectivity. Connecting to your wi-fi network gives you access to streaming features such as Google Cast, Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect, as well as the Alexa Plus voice assistant which you can connect via the app. Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connect aren’t available at launch, but we're told both will be arriving via a firmware update down the line. It’s worth noting that there’s no ethernet port for a wired connection to your home network.

If you want a multi-room set-up, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is accommodating in this regard. You can use the Bose app to create a stereo system or integrate other Lifestyle products, such as the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, into a neat home cinema system, or use the likes of AirPlay or Google Cast to integrate other compatible devices into your set-up.

You can stream using Bluetooth 5.3, too, with the standard AAC and SBC codecs supported. There’s no sign of higher-quality aptX or LDAC codecs here, which might be disappointing for some. An auxiliary 3.5mm input is available around the back of the unit if you want a physical connection to your audio source.

If you’re wondering how you control your new Bose speaker, then yes, there’s an app for that. You could go all Medieval and use the on-unit controls, but if you want to really get the most out of the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker, you’ll need the official Bose app.

We might have had issues when it comes to the stereo pairing process, but the Bose app is a good one. It’s a logical, uncluttered and orderly platform that we find very easy to navigate thanks to its big, bold menus and helpful set-up guides.

Sound

We’ll get a quick caveat of our assessment of the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speakers’ sonic capabilities out of the way by confessing that we have to do a bit of tinkering before we get it sounding how we want. The balance you pick will often depend on the characteristics of your listening space and your personal preferences, but we feel the need to increase the bass levels in the EQ settings in order to compensate for what would otherwise be a rather thin reproduction.

Bolstering the lower end does grant, to our ears, a more balanced feel to the speaker’s sound, allowing our test sample to more capably reveal its particular talents.

The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker’s reproduction is clear and composed, with a sound that rarely grates the ear. Notes are well-defined upon arrival, even if the Bose can sound like it overemphasises those all-important leading edges just a tad.

Instruments are crisp and sharp as they land, but the Ultra Speaker could conceivably add more body to that initial bite. The rival Sonos Era 300 is far better in this regard, reproducing instrumental textures – swooning strings, twinkling pianos – with a more natural weightiness that simply outshines the comparative thinness of its Bose rival.

The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is capable of granting tracks a sense of dimensionality thanks to its upward-firing driver. The Bose speaker doesn’t officially support Dolby Atmos, with its ‘TrueSpatial’ technology taking care of spatial processing. This analyses the dimensions of the room in which the speaker is positioned and then optimises your audio to suit your listening space for a more immersive soundstage.

You can adjust the height channel in the app, and you’ll certainly notice the change as you move the in-app slider from 0-10, depending on how much height effect you want from the speaker.

When working to full effect, the resultant soundstage is admirably wide-reaching for a speaker of this size and type, but again, it’s simply outshone by the stunningly cinematic reproduction of the Dolby Atmos-powered Era 300, which renders spatial audio in a more convincing, wide-reaching and immersive manner.

The Era 300 is more convincing in other areas, too. Via Bluetooth or AirPlay, Sonos’ speaker excels across small and large scale dynamic shifts, putting the Bose rival’s somewhat flattened presentation in the shade.

Listen to the first minute of Lana Del Rey’s First Light and you’ll hear what we mean. The introduction of punchy drums and powerful brass land with more authority and power via the Era 300, contrasting starkly with the track’s quiet, enigmatic opening. The track propels itself forward with more vigour via the Sonos, with a purposeful momentum that we don’t find when switching back to the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker.

All isn’t entirely lost for Bose. The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker keeps its taut lower-end reproduction nicely in check, even if we have to boost it a bit to hear it properly, with ‘CleanBass’ tech working nicely with that rear port to deliver upon Bose’s promise of decent low-frequency control.

Bass is reasonably well-integrated with the rest of the frequencies, and rarely do we feel as though those lower registers sound disjointed or overly separated from the rest of our music.

Verdict

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker does not come cheap. Bose has positioned it as a committedly premium wireless smart speaker, and that’s put it up against some serious competition.

Sadly, Bose’s otherwise game contender doesn’t do enough to justify its considerable outlay, especially when there are more convincing alternatives available at this level. If you’re after a speaker that gives you great spatial audio, an impressive spread of features and better sound overall, we recommend that you pick the five-star Sonos Era 300 instead.

Review published: 13th July 2026

SCORES

• Sound 3
• Build 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Sonos Era 300

Also consider the Apple HomePod 2

Best wireless speakers: tried and tested by our expert team

Fancy watching what could be a groundbreaking semi-final on a groundbreaking TV? Then you may want to consider this atypically early discount on Sony's cutting-edge Bravia 7 II.

The Sony Bravia 7 II is one of the Japanese company's brand-new True RGB TVs. And the technology could be yours in time for England's next game, and at a discount. The code SONY10PERCENT will bring the price down by, you guessed it, ten per cent, to £1799 at Richer Sounds.

True RGB is Sony's spin on RGB Mini LED. It's a next-gen panel technology that places red, green and blue LEDs behind the LCD panel for better colour accuracy, improved brightness and better contrast.

We reviewed the Sony Bravia 7 II mere days ago, and while it can't quite match some OLED-specific qualities, it's easily one of the best backlit TVs we've ever tested.

"The general sense of nuance and sophistication extends to how the Bravia 7 II manages its backlight, our Sony Bravia 7 II review reads. "When this TV is in its element, it becomes possible to forget that this is a backlit TV, as the RGB Mini LED system doesn’t distract or detract from the experience.

"This extends to general blooming control, which is extremely impressive by prevailing standards. In a shot from Oppenheimer in which the nuclear bomb testing site is lit up at night by a series of spotlights, we find that the halos of light that we’ve seen time and time again on other backlit TVs have been strictly confined. There is still a very faint amount of blooming, but this is leagues ahead of other LCD TVs that we’ve recently tested."

Sony's typically excellent picture tuning is also on display here, with motion handling being particularly impressive, helping the set deliver a tangible sense of three-dimensional solidity that we rarely see in non-OLED TVs.

As with previous Sony TVs, the Bravia 7 II supports HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision, but not HDR10+. The built-in Google TV is more all-encompassing, however, and we couldn't find any obvious missing apps – all the major domestic and international streaming services are there.

For the gamers out there, there are four HDMI sockets with ALLM, but only two of them are full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets with 4K/120Hz gameplay and VRR.

Sony's usually impressive built-in audio seems to have taken a step backwards for the Bravia 7 II, however. There's a good sense of clarity and detail, but the sound system seems to struggle dynamically – we'd recommend a good soundbar or surround sound system to really get the most from your movies.

There's also a transparent centre stand that Sony has designed to refract light, making it look invisible. It caused quite a stir in our test room, as it truly looks as if the TV is floating in place.

If you want the latest in TV technology, then the Sony Bravia 7 II is a compelling choice. It rectifies several of the shortcomings of previous Mini LEDs, and already has a healthy £200 discount at Richer Sounds.

MORE:

Read our review of the LG C6

Also consider the Sony Bravia 8 II

Best TVs: flagship OLEDs and budget Mini LED sets tried and tested

There could be some big changes for the social movie platform Letterboxd. The brand is reportedly in talks with potential buyers including Netflix, Sony Pictures and Paramount, according to Puck.

Letterboxd's co-founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow will still own 40 per cent, but the fate of the remaining stake in the social network is up in the air as the current holding company, Tiny, seems to be looking to sell.

For those not in the know, the movie cataloguing site allows you to rate and review films. You can follow your friends and to see what they are watching, and tailor your profile to show your top four favourites.

As of July this year, there were a whopping 26 million users worldwide. That includes numerous celebrities, such as Ayo Edebiri, Charli XCX and Ed Sheeran. Even our furry friend Paddington leaves the odd review.

One of the prerequisites for working at What Hi-Fi? is that you have to be a massive movie nerd (joking, kind of). That's because testing out the latest home cinema and AV kit involves watching a variety of films to see how well they perform. We watch the same scenes again and again to compare different models, and that is a lot more fun if you genuinely love watching movies.

I have gushed about Letterboxd before and it's still the first thing I reach for once I have watched a movie. Users can post one-line zingers or thoughtful reviews, and both are equally likely to get hundreds of likes.

But I'm a little worried about the possibility of the platform being owned by streaming services or movie studios such as Netflix or Sony Pictures. It means that they could favour certain releases and push some films onto the homepage more than others, giving smaller movies less of a chance to get noticed.

Clearly, I am not alone, as there is already a crowdfunding effort to "buy it back for the people" that has gained over $54,000 in donations so far.

Nothing is set in stone yet, but it would be a shame to see the fun and passionate Letterboxd community become oversaturated with advertising and led by algorithms instead of film lovers.

MORE:

I’m a movie lover and this is the one app I cannot do without

These are the best scenes to test your Dolby Atmos setup

Check out the best TVs right now

Another Monday, another heatwave to contend with. We can’t help with the soaring temperatures, but as a minor recompense, we can offer updates on all the cool new hi-fi and home cinema hardware to arrive over the past week.

It was another busy one, especially for our reviewers, who popped down to B&W’s R&D lab to have an exclusive listen to the firm’s latest Diamond D5 range, before going on to review the highly anticipated successor to the iconic Dali Oberon 5.

Here’s what you need to know.

We had a listen to the entire 800 Series Diamond D5 range

Our ever-inquisitive global technical editor, Ketan Bharadia, took the time to visit Bowers & Wilkins’ R&D facility to check out the firm’s full range of 800 Series Diamond D5 speakers last week.

During the exclusive listening session, he got a chance to run them directly against their iconic predecessors and chat to the engineers about what improvements and changes they’ve made over the years.

Read the full story: We've had an exclusive listen to every pair of new Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series Diamond D5 speakers – here are our first impressions

A Sonik treat

The Sonik 5 are the successor to the Dali Oberon 5. That automatically gives them some pretty big shoes to fill, with the Oberon 5 winning multiple What Hi-Fi? Awards and remaining a staple recommendation until they went to the hi-fi farm earlier this year.

Do they live up to their predecessors' legacy? After putting them through their paces in our review rooms, we’re pleased to report the answer is a definitive yes. Even in the incredibly competitive, £1000-ish market, the Sonik 5 are a sonic treat – one that manages to give the Award-winning Fyne Audio F501E a run for its money.

As we said in our review: “With a pleasingly compact size and excellent sound, we think the Dali Sonik 5 will make a superb addition to any home set-up, especially if you’re working with small spaces.”

Read our full Dali Sonik 5 review

Good news for Blu-ray fans

Blu-ray fans are having a rough time of it. Every week, despite the format’s benefits, fresh reports break suggesting it’s on the way out. Which is why we were pleased to finally see some good news for physical media fans last week, when Japanese manufacturer Buffalo confirmed it will continue to make Blu-ray disc drives as long as stock of the components it needs lasts.

Read the full story: At last, some good news for Blu-ray fans as one manufacturer U-turns on exiting the market – but there's a catch

We had a chinwag with hi-fi engineers about vinyl

Speaking of physical media, our deputy editor, Andy Madden, did a phone round with all the movers and shakers in the turntable industry last week, hoping to get their thoughts on the vinyl revival and future of the format. And to his surprise, as well as its strengths, they all wanted to discuss one big flaw with the format that really needs fixing.

Read the full story: “Never before in our industry has a format come back from the dead quite like vinyl” – turntable engineers discuss all things record-related, including one major flaw that needs addressing

MORE:

We rank the best turntables for vinyl fans

Our picks of the best floorstanding speakers

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Watch Sinner vs Zverev live streams at Wimbledon 2026

Jannik Sinner faces Alexander Zverev in a Wimbledon final matchup that few saw coming. Although 2026 has been a bad year for Sinner at the slams – he reached the last four in Melbourne and won only one match in Paris – he's the reigning Wimbledon champion and the world No.1.

The surprise is that he's up against Zverev in the tournament showpiece. The German may be the No.2 seed, but he'd never previously got past the fourth round at the All England Club. Breaking his grand slam duck at Roland Garros last month has clearly worked wonders for his confidence.

Only six men have secured the French Open and Wimbledon titles in the same season in the open era, while nobody has gone back-to-back after clinching their first slam.

To pull it off, however, Zverev is going to have to defy the odds. Not only has he won just four of his 14 previous meetings with Sinner, but he's also lost each of their last nine encounters. It's an awful run of form, but there is one caveat – they've never before met on grass.

Follow our guide below for where to watch Wimbledon final 2026 live streams from anywhere with a VPN.

How can I watch Wimbledon final 2026 for free

Lucky tennis fans in the UK and Australia can watch the 2026 Wimbledon final for free, courtesy of BBC iPlayer and 9Now.

Better yet, BBC iPlayer's coverage is available in 4K.

If you're from one of these countries but are currently abroad, you can simply use a VPN to tap into that free Sinner vs Zverev coverage. More details below...

Watch Wimbledon final 2026 live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular Wimbledon final 2026 live streams while traveling abroad. The streaming service will detect that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch Sinner vs Zverev from anywhere in the world.

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

Watch Wimbledon final 2026 live streams in the US

ESPN is providing full coverage of the 2026 Wimbledon final in the US.

If you've cut the cord, you can get ESPN through a live TV streaming platform, such as Sling (selected cities), YouTube TV (free trial), Hulu+Live TV, Fubo, or DirecTV.

To access your usual streaming service from outside the US, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed above.

• Expert TV advice: best OLED TVs for sports fans
• View the latest TV deals on Amazon

Watch Wimbledon final 2026 live streams in the UK

The 2026 Wimbledon final is free-to-air in the UK, thanks to BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

To watch Sinner vs Zverev in 4K, you'll need to tune in on iPlayer.

Just make sure you have a valid TV license.

Outside the UK for the Wimbledon final? Use NordVPN to watch Sinner vs Zverev as if you were back at home.

Watch Wimbledon final 2026 live streams in Australia

The 2026 Wimbledon final is free-to-air in Australia on Channel 9., with live streaming available via the 9Now streaming service and app.

Again, you'll need to use a safe, reliable VPN to access 9Now when traveling abroad.

• Fancy an upgrade? Here are the best TVs
• Or save money with these unmissable cheap TV deals
• Where to watch 2026 FIFA World Cup in India for free

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

You might have heard of Tiny Vinyl, the delightful 4-inch records that launched last year. Well now the company has launched a dedicated turntable on which to play them.

The Tiny Vinyl Player is only slightly bigger than a shoebox, and was built with the sole purpose of playing Tiny Vinyls. It is also completely unnecessary, as Tiny Vinyls play on most full-size 33⅓rpm turntables. But where’s the joy in only doing what’s strictly necessary?

The Player wasn’t part of the initial plan for Tiny Vinyl. Co-founders Jesse Mann and Neil Kohler were keen to make the format as versatile as possible. But once sales took off – they just pressed their millionth Tiny Vinyl in only around a year of being on sale – both fans and their biggest retailer Target were urging them to make a dedicated Tiny Vinyl turntable. So here we are.

No small task

Creating a turntable from the ground up – especially one this titchy – is no small task, no pun intended. But, being based in Nashville, the duo are surrounded by music industry peers only too willing to lend their expertise.

“We hooked up with someone who makes the Marshall Bluetooth line of accessories,” says Mann. “He sent us some amazing initial drawings, and then it was off to the races.”

As you can imagine, it posed a bit of an engineering challenge, not least because it boasts its own built-in speakers as well as Bluetooth for playing your vinyls wirelessly on an external speaker.

“We thought adding Bluetooth would be straightforward, but it was a bit of an exercise,” admits Kohler. “It was worth it though – as well as built-in speakers, we wanted the option of playing on your own Bluetooth speaker for more versatility.”

These challenges also opened the pair’s eyes to the intricate workings of a turntable.

“One of the technical things that was interesting to watch from a testing perspective was the rpm (revolutions per minute),” says Mann. “It had to be calibrated to 33⅓rpm, and seeing it being measured with the calibrator to ensure it ran perfectly at that tiny size, that was really fun to see.”

Broadening vinyl’s appeal

Not all the parts had to be created new – the cartridge and needle are off the shelf (though they wouldn’t tell me who makes them). But lots of elements had to be made especially for this product, including the tiny tone arm, the platter and the control panel. The result is something as fun and adorable as the 4-inch vinyls themselves.

“It’s not something you sit down with to listen to The Dark Side Of The Moon,” says Kohler. “It’s not that kind of product, and it was never meant to be.” Rather, it’s an on-ramp to the world of vinyl, helping to broaden the appeal to those shut out by a traditional deck’s greater complexity or higher pricing.

This accessibility is a big part of the appeal. “When we go to vinyl conferences, we’re always surprised by the number of people who thank us for getting more people into vinyl,” says Kohler. “One thing they always say is ‘Thank goodness they’re not on Spotify!’”

The pair have also launched the Frame for displaying Tiny Vinyls on your wall, and the Crate for storing your Tiny Vinyls. The Player sits on top of the Crate in a satisfyingly space-saving way. They are also launching custom, artist-themed Players next year, making another way for fans to connect with their favourite musicians, and all through the medium of vinyl.

The Tiny Vinyl Player is available now from Target for $50 (around £38 / AU$73), with a UK launch hopefully in the autumn.

MORE:

“Vinyl records will be around for ever” – the Tiny Vinyl founders on the black disc’s enduring appeal

The best turntables – all of which are full size

The best budget record players – all of which are more affordable

My rant against 100-inch TVs; a penchant for the four-star Aventho 300; being the only Scot on the team during the World Cup. I have had many controversial opinions during my tenure at What Hi-Fi?.

But recently, a sentence erupted from my lips that made every other home cinema reviewer on the team stop in their tracks: I hate summer.

Not the character from The OC (she’s one of the best parts of millennials’ favourite teen drama), I'm talking about the season.

Why? Because the paltry benefits it brings – BBQs, an excuse to visit the park, etc – don’t make up for the fact that it ruins one of my favourite pastimes. Specifically, watching movies in my home cinema.

How are the two connected? By three big factors driving my neurotic war on summer.

The first is the obvious one; it’s the heat. My home cinema isn’t fancy. I live in a small Victorian-era terraced house in zone three, London. So as I’ve said before, a proper long-throw projector and multi-speaker Dolby Atmos set-up is too big to sensibly fit in my cinema room.

Instead, in the top-floor room, in my converted attic, I have a Hisense PX3 UST, connected to a JBL Bar 1300 soundbar system. That puts it somewhere between a basic TV set-up and what our technical editor, Ketan Bharadia, would deign to call a “proper home cinema”.

And during all the other seasons, I’m happy with it. The wireless satellite speakers and subwoofer do a decent job of bringing movies to life and offer a nice sense of directionality that’s a level up on most basic single-soundbar packages. And the UST projector’s 120-inch image feels gigantic and like a proper step up from the tiny 48-inch LG C2 in my lounge.

So, most weekends, when the wife is out, I’ll scamper upstairs, put on my Ninja Turtles pyjamas and indulge in some serious movie watching.

During summer, that fun treat to myself morphs into an endurance test, both for me and the hardware in the room. Home cinema hardware runs hot to begin with. But because I’ve had to put it all on the top floor, mine is also running in a room that’s automatically a fair few degrees warmer than the rest of the house, even with the blinds closed and window open.

So, by the time I’ve made it through a 90-minute feature, I tend to have devolved into a slimy, primordial monster that has become one with the sofa – and that’s if the hardware has survived that long. Often, the projector will overheat and need a timeout before my metamorphosis is complete.

And the easiest and most popular solution among the team for this problem, an air conditioning unit, is troublesome for a couple of reasons. First, because as a lifelong Captain Planet supporter and proud Planeteer, I don’t like using them (they’re not great for the environment).

Second, because even if I did, they’re noisy. So noisy that every unit I’ve auditioned has been just loud enough to distract me from what’s playing – they hum at the perfect frequency to constantly be in the back of your mind, like a small child crying in the distance.

And speaking of small children…

The summer season brings with it summer holidays. Most think this time’s cute, giving kids time to be kids. And I appreciate that. But as an uncle and repeat godfather, it feels like being a resident of Argos after the gods unleashed the Kraken.

Tiny monsters, descending on you as tired, exasperated parents volunteer my wife and me for babysitting duties, regardless of our protests. “Oh, it's fine,” they say. “Just put some Bluey on in that home cinema room, and they’ll be fine,” they say.

My home cinema is my fortress of solitude and built for better things than Bluey…

But more importantly, tiny summer spawn are the most dangerous kind. Warm, fussy, hyped up on ice lollies and caffeinated fizzy drinks. I’ve been sugar-bombed by many of my “friends” and family over the years.

Editor’s note: Sugar bombing is when you turn your child into a live grenade, loading them with sweet treats, shaking, then tossing them to the person babysitting just as their pupils start to dilate.

They're destructive forces of nature that have a supernatural ability to do two things: destroy expensive home cinema hardware and always be slightly sticky, no matter how many times you make them wash their hands.

Honestly, the last time I babysat, I left the room for two minutes with them happily watching Wicked and came back to chaos. Jam was smeared over their tiny hands and most of the room, including the projector’s glass, even though I don’t have any jam in the house and the kids were “clean” before I left to get them a juice pop.

It’s a mystery I still haven’t solved. Was it in their pockets? Is producing jam out of thin air a superpower all five-year-olds have? I need to know!

It’s this potent combination of factors that makes me hate the summer season and wish we could skip it and get back to the infinitely more home-cinema-friendly winter months. Call me a grump all you like, but you know I’m right.

MORE:

We rank the best projectors money can buy

Our reviewers rank the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Our picks of the best AV receivers

Watch Spain vs Belgium live streams

It’s two of Europe's powerhouses facing off as Spain take on Belgium at the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Los Angeles.

La Roja are yet to concede a goal at this tournament, and that is something that could come in very handy against a Belgium attack that has been firing in the knockout stages. Last time out, they netted four against co-hosts the USA, with Charles De Ketelaere bagging two for his first goals at a major tournament.

Spain possess their own danger going forward as well, and Lamine Yamal will be looking to generate some magic of his own.

Follow our guide below for where to watch Spain vs Belgium. live streams from anywhere with a VPN.

How to watch Spain vs Belgium for free

The second quarter-final of the World Cup is free-to-air in multiple countries:

• UK: BBC (English commentary)
• Australia: SBS On Demand (English commentary)
• Brazil: CazéTV's YouTube (no account required)
• Belgium: RTBF / VRT
• Canada: CTV (TV provider details required)
• France: M6
• Germany: Das Erste
• Ireland: RTE Player (English commentary)
• Italy: Rai
• Morocco: SNRT
• Netherlands: NOS
• Spain: RTVE
• Switzerland: SRF Play / RTS Play / RSI Play
• Turkey: TRT

If you're from one of these countries but are currently abroad and want to watch Spain vs Belgium live, you can simply use a VPN. More details below...

Watch Spain vs Belgium live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular Spain vs Belgium live streams while traveling abroad. The streaming service will spot that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch any World Cup 2026 live stream from anywhere in the world.

We rate Norton VPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sport. It offers a best-in-class 60-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

Watch Spain vs Belgium live streams in the US

Spain vs Belgium in the US will be shown on FOX (English commentary) and Telemundo (Spanish commentary).

If you've cut the cord, you can get these channels through a Live TV streaming option, such as Fubo or Sling.

Fox is also available via Fox One while Telemundo can be accessed on Peacock.

To access your usual streaming service from outside the US, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed above.

• Expert TV advice: I found all the ways to watch the World Cup in 4k

Watch Spain vs Belgium live streams in the UK

Spain vs Belgium is free to watch in the UK on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, and all you need is a valid TV license and an account to stream the match from anywhere, completely FREE.

Outside the UK? Use Norton VPN to watch as if you were back at home.

Watch Spain vs Belgium live streams in Australia

Spain vs Belgium will be broadcast for free in Australia, thanks to SBS.

Cord-cutters can catch all the action via the SBS On Demand streaming service and app.

Again, you'll need to use a safe, reliable VPN to access SBS On Demand when traveling abroad.

Watch Spain vs Belgium live streams in Canada

Football fans in Canada can watch Spain vs Belgium free on CTV.

Remember, CTV will require TV provider login details for you to watch the game for free.

The match will also be available to watch on TSN, as well as its online streaming platform TSN+, which costs CA$8 per month or CA$80 per year.

Traveling outside Canada? Use Norton VPN to watch as if you were back at home.

• Fancy an upgrade? Here are the best TVs
• Or save money with these unmissable cheap TV deals
• Where to find the best Formula E live stream

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Finding it a bit hot to do much?

Well, have no fear – you can sit and scroll through the week's best deals without moving, and there are some scorchers this time round.

Soundbars have been seeing great deals ever since Prime Day, but we're also happy to see one of our favourite mid-range AV receivers get a £600 discount, as well as a chunky saving on a pair of luxury audiophile cans from Bowers & Wilkins.

As always, these are products we've reviewed and rated ourselves, and all have earned at least four stars from our expert testers in order to earn our recommendation.

We'll explain why we like these products so much below – but for now, take a look at the deals....

The Denon AVC-X3800H is a five-star mid-range AV receiver packed with features and a future-proof design that lets you upgrade further down the line. With a warm, refined sound, it's also quite the bargain with £600 off.

The Bowers & Wilkins PX8 are a few years old now, but that does mean that their premium asking price is now more affordable. With excellent build quality, impressive comfort levels and high levels of musical insight, these are luxury audiophile headphones now at a more affordable price.

It's summer party season, so if you are braving the weather for an outdoor get-together, then the Bose SoundLink Max can provide for a gathering of any size. The premium Bluetooth speaker comes with 20 hours of battery life and bucketloads of lively, energetic sound.

The Hisense HS214 is the cheapest soundbar we recommend. It is a simple, affordable way to upgrade your TV speakers. Despite its compact size, it offers a decent low end and clear vocal projection.

If you're really short on space or looking to upgrade your desktop sound, then the Creative Stage Pro is another easy and affordable choice. The 2.1 setup includes a subwoofer, which adds nicely integrated and surprisingly powerful bass.

If you're serious about ANC, then the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) are the class leaders. They also have a smart, folding design and effective spatial audio for movie watching.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

Sony’s enthusiasm for OLED seems to have cooled off in 2026, and the Bravia 7 II is clear proof of that.

While this isn’t the first time Sony has flirted with sidelining OLED for its own take on the latest backlit panel technology, its new True RGB range is certainly the biggest push it's made to date.

Serving as the step-down model in a duo of new RGB Mini LED TVs, the Bravia 7 II hopes to tempt prospective OLED buyers away with the promise of higher brightness and purer colours, all while directly addressing the traditional shortcomings of backlit TVs

It’s a bold strategy, and after the move didn’t quite pay off when we compared the Bravia 9 Mini LED to the Bravia 8 OLED back in 2024, we’re somewhat surprised to see Sony attempt it again.

So, with the power of hindsight guiding it, has Sony developed a backlit TV that can tempt home cinema fans away from the enticing mid-range OLEDs on offer, or has it stumbled at the same hurdle again?

Price

We have the 55-inch Sony Bravia 7 II in our test tooms, which typically retails for £1999 / $2100 / AU$2999, though some discounts are already appearing.

Sony also sells the Bravia 7 II in a wide array of sizes, ranging from 50- to 98-inches; you can find pricing for the full range below:

It’s worth noting that the 55-inch Bravia 7 II’s launch price isn’t far off the 55-inch Bravia 7’s £1899 / $1900 / AU$2935 launch price; that feels like a pretty fair price increase considering the panel technology upgrade.

However, the Bravia 7 II is, unfortunately, priced higher than the LG C6 at 55 inches. Originally £1700 / $2000 / AU$2995, the C6 can now be found widely for £1499 / $1700 (it seems to be sticking to its launch pricing in Australia). As our current frontrunner for the best TV that we’ve tested this year, this OLED could prove to be a rather pesky thorn in Sony’s side.

Moreover, Sony’s Award-winning Bravia 8 II QD-OLED TV is now widely available for £1799 / $2600 at 55 inches, down from its launch price of £2499 / $3500. Australian availability, however, seems spotty, and pricing looks to have remained at AU$3299.

It may not seem entirely fair to compare this TV to a 2025 model, but Sony’s release strategy means that the Bravia 8 II will remain in the lineup for the foreseeable future. The price of the 7 II will drop throughout its lifespan, but this launch pricing does reveal Sony’s approach to positioning this TV.

With a launch price higher than that of the LG C6, Sony clearly thinks that RGB Mini LED is a comparable or better technology than OLED. In fairness, LG priced the C6 quite competitively, and aggressive discounts since launch means that it’s unlikely that the Bravia 7 II will ever undercut it.

Design

The Bravia 7 II sports an interesting and, if we’re being honest, slightly odd blend of aesthetic choices.

We’ll start with the positives, and the “clear” star here is the new transparent centre stand. Sony has traditionally opted for feet at either end of its TVs, so it already scores points for the convenient central pedestal design as it can be placed on narrower TV units with ease.

However, it’s the transparent part that we’re really excited about. Sony has employed some clever cable management and a one-way plastic panel that refracts light to make it look like no cables are hanging below the TV, and almost as if there’s no stand at all.

It’s hard to describe without seeing it (we’ve tried our best to do it justice with our photography), but the word “magic” was being thrown around the TV testing room upon placing the Bravia 7 II on one of our test benches. It really does give the impression that the TV is floating in place, and the slender bezels around the display help to sell the sleek illusion.

Slightly less awe-inspiring is the rest of the TV’s chassis. It’s when we look at this TV side-on that we’re reminded it’s not an OLED. At 5.4cm in depth, the Bravia 7 II is a fairly chunky set, although Sony has been clever enough to make that thickness mostly uniform throughout with a pleasing taper at each end of the set, ensuring that the TV wears this extra heft fairly well.

Sony has used this opportunity to refresh the included remote, and the new handset ticks practically all of our boxes. It features sharper corners and brings back the backlit buttons and USB-C charging port that were both curiously rescinded on the Bravia 8 II’s remote despite being available on previous generation Sony TVs.

Sony also scores bonus points by using its eco-conscious SORPLAS material here, which is also featured in the main chassis of the television.

Features

We’ve already established that this TV is using the latest panel technology on the market, and it’s only the second RGB Mini LED TV to enter our AV testing room, after the Hisense UR9.

For those not in the know, RGB Mini LED drops the white backlight and Quantum Dot colour filter layer in favour of individual red, green and blue Mini LEDs in pursuit of better brightness, colour accuracy and blooming control.

This isn’t the first time that Sony has made a huge bet on Mini LED. 2024’s Bravia 9 featured a hugely customised Mini LED system, which was powered by Sony’s XR Master Backlight Drive in conjunction with the XR Processor.

Sony’s new RGB Backlight Master Drive Pro is the next evolution of this technology, and it reportedly supports “unprecedented colour volume, precise colour gradation, and a significantly wider viewing angle” on Sony’s new True RGB TVs.

The company’s Triluminous colour system also evolves into RGB Triluminous Max, which the company says can deliver a colour range in line with the Bravia 8 II, while offering the brightness increase of RGB Mini LED thanks to its Luminance Booster feature.

In true Sony fashion, the Japanese AV giant hasn’t given away any official figures regarding brightness levels or dimming zones, but we count 340 dimming zones in our 55-inch Bravia 7 II review sample.

Interestingly, that’s considerably fewer zones than other backlit TVs we’ve tested recently — including the Award-winning 65-inch TCL C7K, which sports 1008 dimming zones.

As with previous Sony TVs, the Bravia 7 II supports HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision, but not HDR10+.

Moving on to the sound system, Sony has outfitted the 55-inch Bravia 7 II with a 40W sound system, comprising two full-range drivers and two tweeters. The TV prompts you to perform an automated room calibration during set-up, which allows the TV to adjust the sound output to best suit your viewing environment.

This TV supports a range of Dolby and DTS audio formats, including up to Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. For those looking to bypass the built-in speaker system (we’ll explain why you may wish to do that shortly), the HDMI eARC socket allows for external audio devices to be connected.

On the subject of HDMI, the Bravia 7 II only sports two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets, alongside two HDMI 2.0 ports. They all support ALLM, but only HDMI 3 and 4 support 4K/120Hz gameplay and VRR.

This has been the case for many previous Sony TVs, but in a year in which more TV manufacturers than ever are offering three or more full-bandwidth ports (Hisense and Philips join Samsung and LG this year), the Bravia 7 II is lagging behind its contemporary competition even more than its predecessors did.

Moving on to streaming, the Sony Bravia 7 II doesn’t throw any curveballs here either. Google TV remains the operating system of choice, and we don’t find any obvious missing apps or software stumbles of note.

Generally speaking, Sony’s software feels a bit more robust this year, with less lag and a pleasing new My Cinema interface. This takes the pressure out of changing your TV’s picture and sound settings by presenting three easy-to-interpret modes within a charming visual interface. These modes are: Director’s Cut, Daytime and Dialogue.

The second and third options boost brightness and visibility for watching in ambient light and enhance vocal clarity, respectively, but the aptly titled Director’s Cut is our favourite of the trio. It essentially works in a very similar way to Filmmaker Mode on other TVs – Sony famously refuses to put Filmmaker Mode on its models, instead offering its own Professional picture mode – by applying picture settings that best provide an “as the director” intended picture performance.

Picture

Sony has to justify this backlit TV's expense for it to stand above its self-emissive OLED competitors, and, for the most part, the Bravia 7 II does a pretty good job. This is easily one of the best backlit TVs we’ve ever tested, but it’s not completely picture perfect.

We put the TV through its paces using our thorough product testing procedures; we’ve hooked up our reference 4K Blu-ray player to the TV and raided our library of 4K discs, and we have two comparison TVs on hand to judge the Bravia 7 II against. The first is a lower-priced mid-range OLED, and the second is Sony’s very own Bravia 9 II – the step-up model in Sony’s new True RGB range.

We’ll start with the positives as there are many of note. As a whole, the Bravia 7 II delivers much of what we like from Sony’s other recent televisions, in part thanks to Sony’s excellent picture tuning.

There is a suitable sense of balance and subtlety to the image, ensuring colours are presented with punch and saturation without verging into overblown territory. Foliage in Civil War appears pleasantly verdant without inching into highlighter-green, and a golden sunset appears appropriately rich and warm.

Sticking with Civil War, we find motion handling to be particularly impressive. Sony has long excelled in this area, and the Bravia 7 II continues that tradition. Camera pans are smooth and composed without drifting into the soap-opera effect, while fast-moving objects such as the jets flying over the Charlottesville military camp remain clean and well defined. The Bravia 7 II can't quite match the near-instantaneous response of OLED, but we rarely find ourselves distracted by blur or judder during films.

Most impressive, though, is the solidity and depth on display here. Sony is renowned for capturing three-dimensional depth via the Bravia XR Processor’s ability to analyse the focal point of the image, and generate depth information around it. This system is utilised excellently on the Bravia 7 II, as evidenced when we watch the Matera sequence in No Time To Die.

As Bond crosses a bridge towards a cemetery, there is a tangible sense of solidity that we rarely see in non-OLED TVs, and the backdrop of the Italian vista seems to stretch far into the horizon. These combine to greatly aid immersion, resulting in an image that draws us in with ease.

The general sense of nuance and sophistication extends to how the Bravia 7 II manages its backlight. When this TV is in its element, it becomes possible to forget that this is a backlit TV, as the RGB Mini LED system doesn’t distract or detract from the experience.

This extends to general blooming control, which is extremely impressive by prevailing standards. In a shot from Oppenheimer in which the nuclear bomb testing site is lit up at night by a series of spotlights, we find that the halos of light that we’ve seen time and time again on other backlit TVs have been strictly confined. There is still a very faint amount of blooming, but this is leagues ahead of other LCD TVs that we’ve recently tested.

However, it’s unfortunate that the Bravia 7 II does fall behind the OLED competition when it comes to contrast. Those spotlights don’t punch through with much vigour, resulting in highlights looking rather flat and dull.

This is also evident in the introduction of Alien: Romulus, as the TV is evidently dulling the pinpoint stars to maintain the integrity of the black backdrop of space.

Comparing this with a cheaper OLED, we find a night-and-day difference, as the inky black depths of space contrast wonderfully with focused pockets of brightness.

Furthermore, the introduction of Blade Runner 2049 reveals a strange colour volume issue with darker content. The black background — which, we should note, is still a very dark shade of grey on this TV — and text seem to battle, with the normally vibrant red “replicants” word showing as more of a greyish-pink.

As the text continues line-by-line, the TV seems to really struggle with colour consistency, as the white text fades into shades of peach and grey, worsening with each line of text that appears.

We suspect that this challenging scene is tripping up the RGB Mini LED backlight and, more importantly, the algorithm that deduces where to place highlights and colours, resulting in a form of colour bleeding that influences the surrounding text.

It's worth noting that the Bravia 9 II exhibits very similar behaviour, too, suggesting that this is currently a characteristic of Sony's implementation of RGB Mini LED rather than an isolated issue with the Bravia 7 II. We also find that the Bravia 9 II delivers punchier highlights, which tracks with its higher overall brightness capabilities — but you can find out more about that TV in our separate review.

Viewing angles could also be better. While our OLED reference retains colour purity and detail when we look at it from wider angles, the Sony washes out when we move past a point that’s not all that far from the “sweet spot”.

This is, ultimately, where we have to acknowledge that while the Bravia 7 II is a very good backlit TV, it’s still subject to some of the inherent drawbacks of LCD technology.

You can pick up a very capable OLED for similar or, in many cases, less money than the Bravia 7 II, which affords you better sharpness, perfect contrast and zero blooming.

Sound

Sony’s entire Bravia TV lineup, from the flagship Bravia 8 II to the three-star Bravia 3, have all fared well when it comes to sound. Despite this, Sony seems to have taken a different approach with the Bravia 7 II, and it's a step backwards rather than a step forwards.

Dipping back into Civil War, we find that while there is a good sense of clarity and detail, the sound system seems to struggle dynamically. It all sounds quite forward and a touch shouty, with voices also missing a touch of tonal variety and subtlety.

Blade Runner 2049’s famously difficult chapter two sequence, meanwhile, is often handled in a very specific way by Sony TVs; they tend not to dig too deep into the bass (while still dealing a decent-enough dose of low-end punch) as to avoid any sort of obvious distortion.

It’s a tradeoff that we think has worked particularly well, but it seems as though Sony has tried something new with the Bravia 7 II. Bass feels more present here, but it also comes across as quite hollow and lacking in rhythmic timing or tonal variety. The tense build-up of chapter two instead feels a bit flat as a result.

Swapping in Sony’s Award-winning Bravia 8 II, which employs an actuator-based sound system, we find that everything sounds more natural and directional, with bass sounding more controlled.

We’ll apply our usual advice here and recommend pairing the Sony Bravia 7 II with a soundbar or surround sound system if you are planning on picking one up.

Verdict

Sony’s step-down RGB Mini LED TV is a compelling backlit TV in many ways. The company’s excellent picture processing is clearly on display, and the new panel technology really does help to rectify some of the shortcomings that come with “traditional” Mini LED.

However, you’ll notice that we’re singling out the fact that this is, at the end of the day, a backlit TV. While Sony has worked hard to try to make us forget that by minimising blooming and making black depths more convincing, there are certain OLED-specific qualities that the Bravia 7 II can’t quite match.

While we wouldn’t consider this to be an issue if Sony had positioned this TV as a cheaper alternative to OLED, the fact of the matter is that you can get a better-equipped OLED TV for less money.

If you’re totally against OLED, then the Bravia 7 II is probably one of the best backlit TVs we’ve tested, but for most people, the performance doesn’t quite feel representative of the price tag.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 3
• Features 4

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Read our review of the LG C6

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It’s finally here. After roughly 18 months of teases, demos and hands-on sessions, Sony’s flagship RGB Mini LED is in shops and in our test rooms.

The Bravia 9 II and Bravia 7 II are what Sony refers to as ‘True RGB’ TVs – an attempt by the brand to elevate its RGB Mini LED models above the flood of rivals they're facing, while suggesting that those competing implementations aren't quite as sophisticated.

Sony’s ambitions here are huge. The Bravia 9 II sits above the exceptional, Award-winning Bravia 8 II in the brand’s range, with an even higher price than the non-RGB Mini LED Bravia 9 it replaces. It’s also more expensive – at least in 65-inch guise – than the new flagship OLEDs recently launched by Sony’s rivals.

In other words, while Sony might skirt around the term “OLED-killer” when describing the Bravia 9 II, the pricing makes that claim loud and clear.

Can a backlit TV – even a ‘True RGB’ one – really match or surpass the best OLED TVs ever made?

Price

The 65-inch version of the Bravia 9 II that we’re testing is priced at £3499 / $3600 / AU$5999.

That’s a full £500 / $300 more expensive than the 65-inch version of the Bravia 9 (which didn’t make it to Australia) was at launch.

It’s also £500 more expensive than the Bravia 8 II QD-OLED was when that launched last year, and more expensive than brand-new flagship OLEDs such as the LG G6 and Samsung S99H.

While much has been made of the potential of RGB Mini LED technology to offer larger TVs at lower prices than prohibitively expensive, hard-to-manufacture super-sized OLEDs, even the 85-inch Bravia 9 II is either quite similarly priced, or the same price, as the 83-inch versions of those Samsung and LG OLEDs.

The new technology has, though, enabled Sony to also offer the Bravia 9 II in an astonishingly huge 115 inches. Unsurprisingly, this gigantic TV has an equally gigantic price tag – £22,999 / $31,000 / AU$44,999.

Of course, launch prices are just a snapshot in time. The Bravia 9 II’s aforementioned rivals have already received their first discounts, and it probably won’t be full price itself for long. Still, the launch pricing tells us a lot about where Sony is pitching its True RGB flagship.

Design

Sony hasn't played it safe with the Bravia 9 II's design, which is unlike that of any other TV currently available.

Its defining feature is a new Mirage Stand, which at first sounds rather gimmicky but proves remarkably effective in practice. A subtly tinted transparent panel connects two slim metal uprights to a broad rectangular base, but from your normal viewing position, that panel is so inconspicuous that the TV almost appears to float just above your furniture.

Better still, while you can still see the surface beneath the TV and the wall behind it through the panel, the cables routed through the stand somehow disappear from view entirely. Clever stuff.

On the other hand, though, the Mirage Stand can be installed in just one position, which leaves space for a soundbar. There’s no option to lower the TV if you’re not using a soundbar.

The stand largely defines the Bravia 9 II's appearance, too. Unlike the understated elegance of the Bravia 8 II, Sony's flagship RGB Mini LED set makes much more of a statement. Combined with the chunky cabinet that's necessary to house its advanced backlight and speaker system, it has a substantial visual presence that won't appeal to everyone, but there's no doubting the quality of the execution.

Thick though the Bravia 9 II is, the rear panel is completely flat, making wall-mounting pleasingly neat, while the overall build quality is excellent. This is every bit the premium product you'd expect from a flagship Sony TV.

Another interesting design choice is the anti-reflective screen coating. It's among the most effective we've encountered, dramatically reducing reflections and making the Bravia 9 II particularly well suited to bright living rooms.

The trade-off is that the panel has a noticeably more matte finish than the Bravia 8 II, which itself has a matte coating. When switched off – or when displaying very dark scenes in a typically lit room – it doesn't look quite as deep black as its OLED sibling, instead taking on a slightly greyer appearance.

Whether that's a worthwhile compromise will depend largely on your viewing environment and which side you’ve picked in the matte vs glossy war, but our reviewers broadly feel that the LG G6’s anti-reflection coating – which reduces reflections a little less effectively than the Bravia 9 II but has a black-preserving, glossy finish – is the current leader in this area.

Sony has also introduced a new premium remote control. It's slightly larger and more ergonomically shaped than the one supplied with other Bravias of the last few years, and it features automatic backlighting. The layout remains intuitive, too, with the Sony Pictures Core shortcut moved above the navigation pad and the old Menu button replaced by a shortcut to Sony's new My Cinema interface.

Ultimately, the Bravia 9 II is a TV whose practicality is every bit as impressive as its styling is distinctive. The Mirage Stand won't be to everyone's taste, but it's one of the cleverest and most effective pieces of industrial design we've seen in quite some time.

Features

The Bravia 9 II's headline feature is, of course, its RGB Mini LED backlight.

Unlike conventional Mini LED TVs, which use a white backlight shining through a colour filter layer, the Bravia 9 II instead uses independently controlled red, green and blue Mini LEDs to generate colour directly.

Sony argues that this is only half of the story, though. Equally important is the sophisticated Backlight Master Drive system that controls those LEDs. After all, a Mini LED TV is only as good as its backlight processing – and history tells us that Sony knows a thing or two about that.

The 65-inch model we're testing here features 1530 local dimming zones, and Sony claims significant gains in both peak brightness and colour volume over the Bravia 9 that it replaces – and even more so over the Bravia 8 II QD-OLED.

In fact, Sony goes as far as claiming that True RGB is a “best of both worlds technology”, and that the Bravia 9 II is designed to match the “intent and peak brightness of the BVM-HX3110” mastering monitor.

This comparison with the mastering monitor is crucial to the Bravia 9 II’s very existence. According to Sony, its aim is to deliver a home viewing experience that matches what the content creators signed off in the studio. The brand feels that the brightness offered by Mini LED over OLED is vital to this, and that the RGB element is essential to deliver the colour range and accuracy that neither standard Mini LED nor OLED can match.

The Bravia 9 II also introduces Sony's new My Cinema interface, which is designed to simplify picture and sound settings without taking meaningful control away from enthusiasts.

Accessed via the dedicated three-dot button on the remote, My Cinema offers three viewing profiles: Director's Cut, Daytime and Dialogue. As their names suggest, these prioritise faithful reproduction, improved daytime visibility and clearer speech, respectively.

Perhaps the cleverest thing about My Cinema is that it deliberately limits some of the available picture adjustments. In Director's Cut mode, for example, non-Dolby Vision content (which is delivered in Dolby Vision Dark) is automatically presented in the Professional picture preset, preventing users from accidentally drifting away from Sony's intended reference settings.

We do, however, have one small criticism. While the Daytime profile defaults to the Standard Bright picture preset, it also allows you to switch to Standard, Professional or IMAX Enhanced. The Cinema preset isn't available within the Daytime profile at all, though, despite being the obvious choice for anyone wanting a slightly brighter but still authentic presentation. Hopefully, Sony will rectify this in a future software update.

Elsewhere, the Bravia 9 II offers the premium smart TV experience we've come to expect from Sony.

Google TV still isn’t quite as slick as LG’s webOS or Samsung’s Tizen, but it remains a very capable smart platform. Set-up via the Google Home app is refreshingly quick and straightforward, and the TV has Google Gemini built in, complete with far-field microphones for hands-free voice control.

App support is excellent, too. Of the 34 streaming and media apps on our usual checklist, only Apple Music and the Xbox and Amazon Luna game-streaming services are absent. Sony includes YouView, too, to overcome Google TV’s usual blind spot where UK catch-up apps are concerned, and there’s a PS Remote Play app so you can play PlayStation games via the TV even if your console is in another room.

Just as importantly, every app that should support HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision and/or Dolby Atmos does so correctly, and Sony's Studio Calibrated modes continue to provide optimised picture settings for services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Sony Pictures Core. The TV is IMAX Enhanced-certified, too.

The Bravia 9 II’s audio hardware is unusually ambitious. Rather than hiding its speakers along the bottom edge as most TVs do, Sony arranges almost the entire speaker array in a horizontal line around the middle of the rear of the chassis, with only the Beam Tweeters positioned higher up. The idea is to anchor dialogue and effects closer to the centre of the screen, making the sound appear to come more naturally from the picture itself.

The Acoustic Multi-Audio+ system comprises eight speaker units in total, including two full-range drivers, twin subwoofers, two tweeters and a pair of Beam Tweeters, driven by a claimed 80W of power. Those Beam Tweeters are designed to create a greater sense of height and improve the placement of effects.

Pair the TV with one of Sony's latest Bravia sound systems and the integration becomes even slicker, with audio settings incorporated directly into the TV's interface and full control available through the Bravia Connect app.

Acoustic Centre Sync is also supported, allowing the TV's speakers to work alongside those of compatible Sony sound systems, though our experience with the feature has been mixed enough over the years that we'd recommend experimenting rather than simply assuming it's the best option for your particular set-up.

Picture

One of the highest compliments we can pay Sony's flagship RGB Mini LED is that, for the vast majority of the time, you simply stop thinking about how it's producing its picture and instead become immersed in what you're watching. For a backlit TV, that in itself is a deeply impressive trait.

But there’s also one particular way in which the Bravia 9 II surpasses every other TV we’ve tested: colour.

Quite simply, the Bravia 9 II produces the finest colours we've ever seen from any TV. Richly saturated scenes burst with vibrancy, but never at the expense of authenticity. Sony has combined extraordinary colour volume with its traditional restraint, so even the boldest hues remain beautifully balanced and believable. It's a wonderfully cinematic presentation that constantly impresses without ever shouting for attention.

That balance is particularly evident in Pan, where the dazzling fantasy palette of Neverland looks gloriously rich while still feeling entirely natural. Likewise, the vivid oranges and blues of Captain Marvel have exceptional intensity without ever becoming gaudy or oversaturated.

Bright colours retain their richness where many TVs begin to wash them out, too, and there’s impressive vibrancy right down into the deepest shadows. This top-to-bottom consistency is one of the Bravia 9 II’s greatest strengths.

Brightness, too, is undeniably exceptional.

During our early preview of the Bravia 9 II in Tokyo, Sony demonstrated the TV reaching around 4000 nits in its Professional picture preset, and in action, this is clearly one of the brightest TVs we've ever tested.

Crucially, unlike an OLED, Sony’s RGB Mini LED flagship’s immense brightness isn’t limited to small highlights. Where OLED technology inevitably has to reduce brightness during large, bright scenes, the Bravia 9 II can maintain its extraordinary light output across the entire screen if required.

The white room scenes in The Matrix provide a perfect demonstration. While the Bravia 8 II inevitably has to reduce its overall brightness as the dazzling white fills the screen, the Bravia 9 II simply keeps pouring out light. It's one of the clearest examples of RGB Mini LED's tangible advantage over OLED.

That brightness also gives the TV impressive versatility. Those seeking faithful movie reproduction will be best served by Professional mode, but Standard takes greater advantage of the Bravia 9 II's immense light output without straying too far into artificiality. Vivid, meanwhile, is best avoided altogether, pushing colours and brightness so far that the resulting picture bears little resemblance to the director's intent.

The additional brightness also makes the Bravia 9 II particularly appealing for bright-room viewing. Modern flagship OLEDs such as the Bravia 8 II are already bright enough for the vast majority of living rooms, but those with especially sunlit spaces will appreciate the RGB Mini LED's enormous brightness headroom and superb anti-reflective screen.

Colours and brightness aren’t the Bravia 9 II’s only qualities, though.

The Batman demonstrates just how accomplished Sony's local dimming system has become. Black levels are superbly deep for a backlit TV, blooming around white and coloured highlights is virtually non-existent and, perhaps most impressively of all, the backlight goes quietly about its work while almost never drawing attention to itself through obvious brightness shifts or flickering.

Civil War showcases Sony's typically exceptional processing, combining natural skin tones, outstanding detail and wonderfully controlled motion into a picture that's both cinematic and effortlessly watchable.

All of this adds up to what is, quite simply, the best picture we've ever seen from a backlit TV.

And yet...

Comparisons with Sony's own Bravia 8 II reveal that even this exceptional implementation of RGB Mini LED still can't quite match the fundamental strengths of OLED.

The Bravia 9 II's local dimming system is extraordinarily accomplished, yet it still can't quite replicate the pixel-level precision of OLED. The result is a picture that looks just a touch flatter than the Bravia 8 II's. Objects don't separate from their backgrounds with quite the same solidity, and scenes lack just a little of the three-dimensional depth and effortless dynamism that OLED consistently delivers.

Perhaps counterintuitively, OLED also retains an advantage with bright highlights against very dark or black backgrounds. Sony's Mini LED TV is understandably cautious in these situations, preserving its exemplary blooming control by stopping short of the intensity that the Bravia 8 II produces with bright white logos or isolated highlights.

Viewing angles remain another clear OLED advantage, too. The Bravia 9 II performs better off-axis than most backlit rivals, but colours and contrast still fade as you move away from the centre of the screen, and the otherwise well-hidden blooming is revealed.

There are, however, occasional moments that remind you the Bravia 9 II is still, ultimately, a backlit TV.

The opening text of Blade Runner 2049 remains its most obvious stumbling block. When the first word, “Replicants”, initially appears, it’s closer to grey than it is to the intended red, and as each new paragraph of white text fades in, the whole block briefly flashes a pale pink before settling down. Even then, the text never looks quite right: the white words near “Replicants” retain a faint pink cast, while the final red “Blade Runner” fades to grey as the rest of the words disappear, whereas it should remain a vivid red against the pitch-black background.

This is a highly unusual clip that challenges a TV in a way that 99 per cent of footage never will, but it proves that while the Bravia 9 II’s backlighting system is very impressive, it’s not infallible.

We also encountered one issue with the Bravia 9 II that warranted rather more investigation. During our testing, we consistently observed faint horizontal lines in a handful of Dolby Vision scenes, including parts of Sinners, across both UHD Blu-ray and streaming sources. The artefacts weren't visible when viewing the HDR10 versions of the same material, strongly suggesting an issue specific to the Bravia 9 II's Dolby Vision processing.

The lines are subtle enough that many viewers may never notice them, but once spotted, they can be difficult to ignore. Given their very specific behaviour, we'd hope this is the sort of issue Sony can resolve via a software update. It's important to stress, though, that this isn't the reason the Bravia 9 II misses out on five stars.

Gaming largely reinforces the conclusions we've already reached with movies. HDR titles such as Uncharted: The Lost Legacy look spectacular, with the Bravia 9 II delivering richer colours and greater brightness than the Bravia 8 II. Once again, though, the OLED's superior contrast gives the image greater solidity and depth, making buildings in the opening city sequence look more three-dimensional while revealing finer details, such as the freckles of the young shopkeeper, more readily.

The differences become more pronounced with SDR games. Call Of The Sea looks strikingly vibrant from the Bravia 9 II, but it's also a touch overbearing, with colours skewing richer and redder than we'd like and small white interaction prompts proving less distinct than they are on the Bravia 8 II. The OLED's more balanced presentation ultimately proves easier on the eye over longer sessions, despite looking a touch less immediately spectacular.

Motion, too, reveals one final weakness. There’s a slight smearing to fast-moving action and camera pans that's only occasionally visible with films but becomes much more noticeable in games, where higher frame rates and player-controlled movement make the effect more obvious, especially in comparison with the crisp responsiveness of OLED.

Ultimately, Sony has produced the finest backlit TV we've ever tested, and one that comes close to delivering OLED-like consistency while comfortably surpassing even the best OLEDs for brightness and colour volume. That said, a handful of flaws and relative deficiencies, while individually minor, collectively cost the Bravia 9 II its fifth star.

Sound

Sony has long been one of the few TV manufacturers to treat sound quality as more than an afterthought, and the Bravia 9 II continues that tradition with a presentation that's impressively large, spacious and immersive by TV standards.

The first thing that strikes you is the scale of the soundstage. Audio extends well beyond the physical boundaries of the TV, while Dolby Atmos soundtracks benefit from a genuine sense of height that's still rare from integrated speakers.

Watching Civil War, effects are placed with impressive precision around the TV, while the chaotic soundscape retains plenty of subtle detail rather than collapsing into a wall of noise.

It's an involving listen, too. The Bravia 9 II produces more weight than the Bravia 8 II, helping action scenes feel satisfyingly substantial.

That extra bass comes at a small cost, though. The deep synth notes at the start of chapter two of Blade Runner 2049 have plenty of depth, but they lack the tautness we'd ideally like. Rather than each note starting and stopping with real authority, the bass flaps somewhat, robbing those bassy effects of some of their intended impact.

The Bravia 9 II also falls just short of the Bravia 8 II when it comes to refinement. Dialogue remains consistently clear, but voices aren't projected with quite the same focus or solidity as they are by Sony's flagship OLED. There's also a slight hardness to the presentation that occasionally makes speech sound a touch brash, softening some of the subtle emotional nuances in performances.

That slight lack of finesse extends to high-frequency effects, too. The rain falling onto the balcony in Blade Runner 2049 has a faint metallic edge that makes it sound a little more like static than falling water. It's a subtle trait that you'll rarely notice unless comparing TVs directly, but it does slightly reduce the sense of realism.

Ultimately, the Bravia 9 II delivers some of the most spacious and immersive sound we've heard from a TV, and many buyers will be perfectly happy relying on its integrated speaker system. It doesn't quite match the refinement of the Bravia 8 II, though, and a TV of this calibre still deserves to be partnered with a dedicated sound system if your budget allows.

Verdict

With the Bravia 9 II, Sony has pushed backlit TV technology further than ever before.

Sony's first flagship RGB Mini LED TV delivers the finest colours we've ever seen from a television, breathtaking brightness, and local dimming that's so accomplished you'll frequently forget you're watching a backlit display at all. Add excellent processing, immersive sound and a polished user experience, and this is probably the best backlit TV we've ever tested.

It's not perfect, though.

A handful of relatively minor issues – from the rare backlight hiccups and a peculiar Dolby Vision bug to slightly soft bass and some motion smearing with games – are disappointing in a flagship TV. More fundamentally, despite coming closer than any previous LCD set we've tested, the Bravia 9 II still can't quite replicate the solidity, consistency and pixel-level precision that make the very best OLED TVs so special.

That doesn't make the Bravia 9 II the wrong TV. In fact, if you regularly watch in an exceptionally bright room or simply prefer not to buy an OLED, Sony's flagship True RGB model should sit right at the top of your shortlist. For most buyers, though, the Bravia 8 II remains the more complete television. It's not quite as bright, but it's more consistently convincing, costs less, and ultimately delivers the better picture overall.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 4
• Features 4

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It's summer party season, and while we hope you're managing to find some shade, it's definitely sunny enough for an outdoor party or garden get-together.

But if you're planning a shindig, you will need some music. Enter the Bose SoundLink Max, now £299 at Amazon: a powerful, premium Bluetooth speaker that is more than up to the job.

With outstanding battery life and buckets of likeable sound, our expert testers saw fit to put the SoundLink Max on our best outdoor speakers list.

The Bose SoundLink Max will do a mightily impressive job delivering a soundtrack for park picnics or your latest garden gathering.

With a water and dust-proof IP67 rating, the SoundLink Max should be able to withstand rain or shine. It's tactile and rugged, wrapped in a silicone casing and with a carry-handle ideal for frequent movement.

But most importantly, the sound is befitting that of a premium Bluetooth speaker.

"The Soundlink Max shouldn’t have any issues getting the party started – thanks, in the main, to its lively, punchy delivery," our Bose SoundLink Max review reads. "It’s in its element rocking along to Guns N’ Roses Welcome To The Jungle.

"The wireless speaker’s expressive midrange enthusiastically sprays out Axl Rose’s wailing lead vocal, while every thwack of the band’s drum kit is dispatched with force and vigour. There's an energy to the band’s performance that is easy to tap into and makes for a hugely enjoyable listen."

The sound is a tad bassy straight out of the box, however, so we recommend turning this down to minus five or six – and then you're good to go.

With a claimed range of 30ft and an impressive 20 hours of battery life, this is a Bluetooth speaker that can go big and go all day.

There’s also aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec support, Google Fast Pair for Android users and Bluetooth multipoint for connecting two devices at once for easy switching. The SoundLink Max can also double as a power bank, ideal if you're out at the park all day.

The JBL Xtreme 5 is also available at a similar price, and one we'd recommend considering too. It's a bit bulkier than the SoundLink Max, but it does have a great sense of scale and sonic presence.

But if you're turning to music to get you through this heatwave, the Bose SoundLink Max is still an excellent pick, especially with £100 off at Amazon.

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Majority has announced a new radio, and it has one feature sorely lacking from the four-star Little Shelford: a rechargeable battery.

When away form the mains, the Little Shelford relies on four AA batteries to provide 15 hours of battery life. As we commented in our review, that could soon get expensive if you're using it on the go a lot. But the Mini Shelford solves this problem with a built-in 2600mAh rechargeable unit that gives you up to 20 hours of runtime.

The Mini Shelford has a shorter, wider design than the Little, but still comes wreathed in retro styling. It too offers Bluetooth connectivity (for beaming content like playlists, podcasts and streaming services to it from your phone) and a DAB+/FM radio.

And if you don't want to go wireless, you can connect wired headphones to it using the 3.5mm socket.

There's a full colour display for showing album art and track info, and you control it using the rotary dial. Other features include a dual alarm and sleep timer.

We were impressed with what the Little Shelford offered for the price, and the Mini Shelford is only a few pounds more expensive. It goes on sale in August for £49.95 (around $67 / AU$97), and comes in Dusty Rose, Olive, Black and Cream finishes.

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Japanese manufacturer Final has announced its new flagship closed-back headphones, the DX10000 CL, which the company calls its “most ambitious headphone project to date”. And we should hope so, too, considering that the standard edition’s pricing begins at £7499 / $8499.

So, what justifies the cosmic pricing of these high-end headphones?

Well, to start with, at the heart of the DX10000 CL is Final’s newly developed 40mm True Diamond diaphragm dynamic driver.

According to Final, diamond’s high rigidity and strong internal damping allow the diaphragm to maintain pistonic motion, reducing diaphragm deformation and suppressing residual vibrations after the signal is cut, for faster transient response and lower distortion.

A similar degree of care has been taken inside the headphones’ silver-accented, high-rigidity aluminium-magnesium alloy housing. Unnecessary material has been removed to reduce weight, and the resulting cavities have been filled with acoustic damping to minimise internal reflections.

The earpads are made of ultrasuede (a blend of ultra-fine polyester and elastic plastics), which Final says achieves the “intended acoustic response” through carefully controlled air permeability while ensuring “long-term comfort”.

According to Final, the DX10000 CL are “a closed-back flagship designed to sound powerful and immersive without losing the openness, clarity and natural tone expected from the highest level of personal audio”.

The headphones use screws rather than adhesives throughout the construction, which ensures that components can be replaced and serviced throughout their lifetime.

Included with the headphones are two silver-coated cables: a 1.5m cable with 4.4mm connection, and a 3m cable with XLR connection. 6.3mm adapters for each cable are also included for use with a wide range of sources.

The Final DX10000 CL are now available to pre-order, with shipping expected by the end of July.

The first 150 pairs of these high-end headphones are available as a limited collector's edition, which have gold-coloured accents, and include a presentation box, a silk pouch and a CNC-machined aluminium headphone stand for an extra £500.

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Sony has unveiled its latest pair of wired in-ear headphones, the IER-M500.

Developed in collaboration with monitoring engineers, Sony bills its latest in-ear headphones as being the perfect partner for musicians and performers who require "reliable and accurate in-ear monitoring" for both performance and practice.

The IEMs' fully sealed structure, combined with a large acoustic chamber, offers outstanding sound isolation, even in noisy live environments.

A set of 5mm dynamic drivers are complemented by a large acoustic chamber in pursuit of "deep, controlled bass", while the headphones' optimised internal structure has been designed to give a more refined high-frequency reproduction.

Designed to blend comfort and stability, the IER-M500 feature what Sony calls "fitting supporters".

This is a loop at the top of each earpiece which nestles under the inner ear ridge to anchor the IEMs in place. To further facilitate a better fit, four sizes of noise-isolating ear tips are included, as is a 1.6m detachable cable with a 3.5mm jack.

While they don't carry an official IP certification, Sony pledges that the IER-M500 are capable of handling moisture, such as splashes of water or human sweat, without too much trouble.

The IER-M500 will be available from August in a choice of Clear, Black and Red & Blue finishes, priced at £99 / $120 / €115.

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Australian-owned audio platform AudioBro — which promises a smarter, more cost-effective way for hi-fi and home cinema enthusiasts to improve sound quality, without investing in new equipment — has announced it is now available worldwide.

The web-based platform is the brainchild of founder Ateeq Sheikh, who has spent the past three and a half years developing it. At its core, AudioBro aims to identify the weak links in a system — whether that’s room acoustics, speaker placement, subwoofer integration or calibration.

The paid service analyses customer-supplied data, including photographs, room dimensions, speaker layouts (from two-channel stereo through to full surround systems), in addition to calibration screenshots and acoustic measurements from third-party tools such as Dirac Live, Audyssey, REW and Anthem ARC Genesis.

From there, it prioritises the most critical issue and recommends a practical first step to improve performance. Once changes are made, users can upload new measurements to verify the results. As the company puts it: “Improvement is only considered verified after the listener makes a change and completes a comparable retest.”

A suite of tools underpins the platform. Photo Acoustics provides a visual room analysis, flagging potential reflection issues such as large window surfaces, while RoomMatch suggests optimal speaker placement based on the listening position. Tune My Sub offers guided subwoofer optimisation, and Fix My Room delivers a measurement-led diagnosis of the space.

Additional features include BassMap, which helps determine ideal subwoofer positioning based on measurement data; My Rooms, which stores test results across multiple spaces; and Guided Workflows, offering consultant-style reports and step-by-step optimisation paths.

Following its global launch in June 2026, AudioBro has also introduced a standalone Room Review service. Available separately from a subscription, it supports both self-guided optimisation and more hands-on analysis. Pricing starts at $97 for a quick review and rises to $199 for a more in-depth, measurement-based assessment.

The company says Room Review is intended as a room-first advisory tool rather than a replacement for on-site calibration. Users simply upload photos and measurements, after which the AudioBro team identifies the most likely limiting factor, then recommends a key first step and outlines practical next moves — typically within 72 hours.

Full access to the platform requires a subscription, offered in two tiers: Starter at $24.99 per month and Pro at $49.99 per month, with annual plans priced at $199.90 and $399.90, respectively.

Early adopters, however, can secure lifetime access for a one-off fee of $199 (Starter) or $299 (Pro).

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Looking for luxury headphones with the performance to match?

The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 are a well-built, good-looking pair of wireless headphones, but they're also backed up by outstanding clarity and a fast, punchy sound.

And the price just got a little less luxurious. The Px8 are now £379 at Amazon, a mega drop of £220 and the lowest price we've seen.

It's worth noting that the Px8 have been superseded by the better-sounding Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2, but they're sticking stubbornly to their hefty launch price of £629.

Eyebrows were certainly raised at the premium asking price of the Bowers & Wilkins Px8, but we awarded them the full five stars even at full price.

As well as a classy design and supreme comfort levels, the Px8 is packed with features, including Bluetooth 5.2 with aptX HD and aptX Adaptive codecs for higher quality streams.

There are intuitive physical buttons on the earcups for reliable controls, while the B&W Music app gives you direct access to music services such as Tidal, Qobuz and Deezer. And to top it all off, you get 30 hours of battery life from a single charge.

And the all-important sound? It's an exciting presentation with excellent levels of clarity, precision and detail.

"The Px8’s midrange is crisp and clear, communicating vocal nuances superbly," our Bowers & Wilkins Px8 review reads. "These headphones reveal an impressive amount of detail and, just as importantly, present it in a musically cohesive way.

There is a reassuring sense of control here and the ability to track low-level instrumental strands, even when the music gets busy."

The Px8 also has four microphones for active noise cancelling (ANC), plus another two for voice pick-up during phone calls. The ANC is decent enough but not outstanding, especially compared to newer rivals that have moved the goalposts.

If ANC is important to you, you might want to consider the newer Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen). They're currently a bit cheaper and offer a real step-up in the ANC department.

The Sennheiser HDB 630 are a similar price and will also appeal to audiophiles, thanks to an included dongle that enables aptX Adaptive over Bluetooth. Even without the dongle, the HDB 630 are class-leading in detail, dynamic expression and refinement at their level.

If you are after luxury, audiophile headphones with excellent build quality, the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 are now at a not-quite-so-luxury price of £379 at Amazon. While there are newer rivals on the scene, the Px8 still deserve serious consideration if you are buying at this level.

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Olivia Wilde’s directing back catalogue is nothing if not varied. Her breakout directorial hit came with Booksmart in 2019, which was rich with humour and elevated by Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever’s brilliant lead performances.

Then came the not-so-great Don’t Worry Darling, which scored a disappointing 38 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer.

But I’m glad to report that her latest film The Invite is a glorious return to form, as she both stars in and directs the feature. It follows an unhappy couple (played by Wilde and Seth Rogen) who invite their new neighbours (Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz) for dinner. I won't say any more, as the less you know about this movie before watching it, the better.

Most of the film takes place in their apartment, but clever camera work means the setting never feels stale or boring. Instead, each corner of the flat becomes a cove for hushed conversation or a stage for explosive conflict.

One element that really elevates this sense of tension is Devonté Hynes’ spiky and playful score, made up entirely of cello instrumentals.

When the mood is relaxed, the sweeping strings create the sense of an idyllic home life. But arguments are punctuated with harsh, low, even thrilling instrumental moments.

It’s not subtle, but it further ramps up the tension in a movie where a single spoken line can turn a normal conversation into something far more fraught. Hynes is not afraid to leave space for quiet either, such as when, during a surprisingly moving conversation between the two leads, there is only the uncomfortable silence of the couple trying to decide what to say next.

The Invite is playing in cinemas now, and I can’t wait for it to hopefully come to 4K Blu-ray so I can use it as a test disc for sound in our AV test room. So far, only the standard Blu-ray and DVD editions are available to pre-order at HMV, but fingers crossed.

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Fans of Blu-rays have suffered relentless waves of bad news lately, the latest being that Sony's next PlayStation will likely be an all-digital affair with no disc drive in sight. But at last, there is some good news, of sorts.

Japanese manufacturer Buffalo will continue to make Blu-ray disc drives (as reported by PC Watch, via TechRadar), despite previously saying it would stop because of a lack of available components. However, there are a couple of caveats.

First of all, Buffalo will only keep making drives as long as the newly sourced components last. Once they dry up, production will stop, possibly for good. The exact end date will depend on inventory, so no warning will be given.

Also, Buffalo drives will cost more than they did previously. PC Watch reports that the price hikes will be between 33 per cent and 51 per cent, depending on the model of the disc drive. These price rises are said to be due to the global semiconductor shortage and the rising prices of raw materials.

Buffalo is far from the only company affected by these factors. Apple recently raised prices on certain devices, citing the same issues.

Buffalo's drives were due to cease production this month, according to the firm's announcement in February. The one silver lining is that the reason given is component shortages, and not lack of demand. But it's a very small crumb of comfort for us fans of physical media formats.

Previously, Pioneer and LG announced they would withdraw from the disc drive market.

So could this be the end of Blu-ray as we know it? Or could the format 'do a vinyl' and continue to live on?

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