Sound

BBC iPlayer

Our Verdict

With quality programmes, vast platform support and a great interface, iPlayer is the best video-on-demand catch-up TV service out there

For

Superb content
Intuitive and slick interface
Extensive platform support

Against

Still no permanent 4K offering

It’s free (although you need a TV licence). It’s the home of superb TV shows. There are no ads. And you can download programmes for offline watching. Put simply, BBC iPlayer is the UK’s best catch-up TV service.

Even without considering all the live broadcast TV and radio the corporation provides across many channels, iPlayer is almost worth the licence fee on its own.

Missed the last episode of Line of Duty, need another Pointless fix or want to see what all the Killing Eve or Fleabag fuss is about? BBC iPlayer is your answer. It was already a great desktop service when first introduced in 2007 and, well over a decade on, it’s even more excellent in its incarnation as an app for your TV, smartphone and tablet.

Features

(Image credit: BBC)

Unlike Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, iPlayer is free to use – so long as you pay the BBC’s annual licence fee (currently £159), which has been in place, in some form or another, for almost a century.

The on-demand service is the home of BBC shows that have recently aired, offering a (typically 30-day) window to catch them before they are free to whizz off to the BBC and ITV’s relatively new, £5.99-per-month BritBox streaming service, which is where you’ll find the biggest collection of British TV content ever, combining current and classic boxsets for on-demand viewing.

BBC iPlayer does host some of its most popular TV shows for longer durations, however – Killing Eve (which became the first British-made show to be named the best comedy series at the Emmy Awards last year), Line of Duty (multiple BAFTA Television Awards nominee), Luther (multiple Golden Globe nominee) and Doctor Foster (two-time National Television Awards winner) are, at the time of writing, available to binge in their entirety on iPlayer, for example.

In a bid to boost the nation’s spirits during lockdown, the BBC helpfully added a slew of new long-term boxsets to iPlayer. The ‘from the archive’ tab in ‘categories’ is where you’ll find full series’ of classic fare such as Absolutely Fabulous, Black Adder and The Vicar of Dibley as well as pretty much every Michael Palin documentary ever made.

It would be difficult to guess how many hours of content iPlayer offers at any one time, but there always seems to be at least one show on iPlayer that everyone is talking about – and that’s a credit to the broadcaster’s consistency for quality programming.

As with many streaming services these days, BBC iPlayer lets you download shows onto your smart device for offline watching for up to 30 days. This is great for long train journeys, if you’re travelling out of the country (iPlayer is only available in the UK) or can’t get any internet or data signal.

You can choose whether to restrict downloading to when you’re connected to a wi-fi network or allow downloading over your mobile network data in the app’s settings.

Best media streamers: the best TV streaming devices

(Image credit: BBC)

BBC iPlayer’s familiar grid layout is neat and stylish, with its home screen logically presenting you with ‘Featured’, ‘Recommended for You’, ‘Continue Watching’ and ‘Most Popular’ suggestions. The service dynamically highlights programmes, too, mixing documentaries and comedy panel shows so that there’s something for everyone.

You can also browse programmes by channels (BBC One, BBC Two or CBeebies, for example), categories (Arts, Food and Documentaries, say) or TV guide schedules. Or you can simply search for them. You can add shows to your ‘My Programmes’ list, too, so new episodes are easy to access.

Essentially, each update to iPlayer over the years has made it fresher and more intuitive to use. Scrolling through the service is a swift and smooth process, regardless of what platform you’re using.

This is probably a good time to mention that the iPlayer app is everywhere: on pretty much every smart TV and media streamer, available to download across iOS and Android devices, even on Xbox Series X/S. iPlayer’s not currently on the PS5, but it’s still one of the most prevalent apps across smart devices in the UK.

Just be aware that you need to create a BBC ID account to watch any iPlayer content, although it is free to sign up and stays logged in at all times, keeping your favourites list and watching history synced across all devices.

29 BBC iPlayer tips, tricks and features

Picture

(Image credit: BBC)

With increasingly high-quality screen resolutions on smartphones and tablets, both standard and high-definition shows on iPlayer look as good as you’d reasonably expect them to.

Naturally, we would urge you to play HD whenever you can. Most programmes are available in HD, so long as they’ve first been broadcast on a BBC HD channel.

Then there’s the BBC’s next-level 4K Ultra HD content, which offers a huge step up in picture quality – namely in resolution and detail. While the BBC still doesn’t yet have a regular, permanent 4K offering, it has run several 4K trials on iPlayer since 2016, including Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II on-demand viewing and, even more excitingly, live broadcasts of the 2018 FIFA World Cup football and Wimbledon tennis.

After temporarily removing 4K content during 2020 to help ease the strain on broadband networks, iPlayer has made UHD programming available again. The current ‘trial’ has nine shows available to stream, including His Dark Materials and Black Narcissus. We can’t help but feel it really is about time for 4K to become a permanent fixture of the service.

Despite broadcasting some HD programmes, such as The Proms, in 5.1 surround sound, all content on iPlayer is only available in stereo. This is a bit disappointing, especially when streaming modern films or the flagship 4K documentary Seven Worlds, One Planet, which we know has a lush Dolby Atmos soundtrack on its Blu Ray release. Although some paid-for streaming platforms do have tiers that support multi-channel sound, we understand that the BBC doesn’t have any plans to add that functionality to iPlayer in the short term.

The BBC does provide excellent accessibility features for the visually impaired and hard of hearing. Many programmes will have icons that tell you whether audio description (AD) or sign language (SL) options are available.

Here’s what’s next for 4K HDR streaming content on the BBC

Verdict

BBC iPlayer isn’t entirely free, of course. But when the license fee amounts to less than 45p per day, and you look at the incredible range and accessibility of programming available from the BBC, not to mention the cutting-edge picture technologies it strives to offer in the hopefully near future, we’d happily carry on paying so that we can see more of the broadcaster’s David Attenborough-narrated nature documentaries.

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MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC: all the audio file formats explained

Organising your digital music collection, you might be struck by the number of different audio file formats in your library. Almost everyone’s heard of MP3, but what about OGG, AIFF, MQA or DSD?

If the list leaves you wondering whether all those songs studied at different universities to get such official-looking letters after their names, don’t worry. We’re here to break down the meaning of the most common music file formats, the differences between them, and why you should care.

Whether you’re listening to low-quality MP3 files, probably slightly better AAC tracks, or hi-res audio in FLAC or WAV, it’s time to understand exactly what you’re getting – and which is the best file format for you.

Read on to learn about the pros and cons of each audio file format…

File formats and codecs at-a-glance

Want to cut straight to the chase? Here’s a handy guide to all the file formats and the differences between them. If you want to know more, read on below for a more in-depth look at the differences in size, sound quality and compatibility.

AAC (not hi-res): Apple’s alternative to MP3 – stands for ‘Advanced Audio Coding’. Lossy and compressed, but sounds generally better. Used for Apple Music streaming.

AIFF (hi-res): Apple’s alternative to WAV, with better metadata support. It is lossless and uncompressed (so big file sizes), but not hugely popular.

DSD (hi-res): The single-bit format used for Super Audio CDs. It comes in 2.8mHz, 5.6mHz and 11.2mHz varieties, but due to its high-quality codec, it’s (mostly) impractical for streaming. Uncompressed.

FLAC (hi-res): This lossless compression format supports hi-res sample rates, takes up about half the space of WAV, and stores metadata. It’s royalty-free and is considered the preferred format for downloading and storing hi-res albums. The downside is, it’s not supported by Apple (so not compatible with Apple Music).

MP3 (not hi-res): Popular, lossy compressed format ensures small file size, but far from the best sound quality. Convenient for storing music on smartphones and iPods.

MQA (hi-res): A lossless compression format that packages hi-res files for more efficient streaming. Used for Tidal Masters hi-res streaming.

OGG (not hi-res): Sometimes called by its full name, Ogg Vorbis. A lossy, open-source alternative to MP3 and AAC, unrestricted by patents. The file format used (at 320kbps) in Spotify streaming.

WAV (hi-res): The standard format in which all CDs are encoded. Great sound quality but it’s uncompressed, meaning huge file sizes (especially for hi-res files). It has poor metadata support (that is, album artwork, artist and song title information).

WMA Lossless (hi-res): A lossless incarnation of Windows Media Audio, but no longer well-supported by smartphones or tablets.

Best music streaming services 2021: free streams to hi-res audio
MQA audio: everything you need to know
What is DSD audio?

Compressed vs. uncompressed audio files

First, let’s talk about the three categories all audio files can be grouped into. It comes down to how compressed the data is (if at all) and as a result, how much quality or “loss” you’ll experience, as a listener.

If no compression algorithm (or codec) has been used to compress the audio within your file, two things happen: zero loss in sound quality, and soon-enough, a “startup disk full” warning on your laptop.

Essentially, an uncompressed track is a reproduction of the original audio file, where real-world signals are transformed into digital audio.

WAV vs AIFF vs FLAC: uncompressed file formats

WAV and AIFF are arguably the most popular uncompressed audio file formats, both based on PCM (Pulse Code Modulation), which is widely recognised as the most straightforward audio storage mechanism in the digital domain. Both WAV and AIFF files use similar technology, but store data in slightly different ways. They can store CD-quality or high-resolution audio files.

WAV was developed by Microsoft and IBM, hence it’s used in Windows-based platforms, and is the standard format all CDs are encoded in.

AIFF was developed by Apple as an alternative to WAV, and although not as widely popular, AIFF files have better metadata support, meaning you can include album artwork, song titles and the like.

The drawback? These babies are big. A CD-quality (16-bit, 44.1kHz) file will take around 10MB of your hard drive per minute in length.

ALAC vs FLAC vs WMA Lossless: lossless audio formats

Everyone loves a FLAC. A lossless file, the FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is compressed to nearly half the size of an uncompressed WAV or AIFF of equivalent sample rate, but there should be no “loss” in terms of how it sounds. FLAC files can also provide a resolution of up to 32-bit, 96kHz, so better than CD-quality.

Other lossless audio file formats include ALAC (Apple Lossless) and WMA Lossless (Windows Media Audio). The former is a good iOS and iTunes compatible alternative to FLAC, although the files are slightly less compact than FLACs. Check for smartphone and tablet compatibility, though.

AAC vs MP3: lossy audio formats

Who’s heard of an MP3? Course you have. Steve Jobs famously pulled 1000 of them out of his pocket on 23rd October 2001. It is easily the most common audio format, and MP3s are convenient for storing music on portable players or tablets and work on almost all playback devices. But to do that, you have to lose a load of information in the process. In order to make audio files up to ten times smaller than CD quality files, some original data must be discarded, resulting in a loss of sound quality.

The bit-rate at which an MP3 is recorded also affects the sound quality. MP3s encoded at 128kbps will incur more sound loss than those encoded at 320kbps (kilobits per second, where each “bit” is essentially a “piece” of the song). Now that storage is so much cheaper, we’d avoid 128kbps at all costs, though 320kbps MP3s still have their purpose if your storage is limited – and they remain a standard on download stores.

Another lossy format is AAC (Apple’s Advanced Audio Coding) which is compressed much like an MP3, but it’s slightly more efficient and sounds better. AAC is used for Apple Music streaming (at 256kbps) and YouTube streaming.

The Vorbis format, often called Ogg Vorbis owing to its Ogg container, (the best way to think of this is that OGG is the can, Vorbis is the ring-pull) is a lossy, open-source alternative to MP3 and AAC, unrestricted by patents. Ogg Vorbis is the file format used (at 320kbps) in Spotify streaming.

If you’re sticking with lossy, it’s worth remembering this: while more “bits” usually means better sound, it depends on the efficiency of the codec in your file. Although you might notice that much of the music in your collection is encoded at 128kbps so should be much of a muchness, an MP3 will likely sound a fair bit (see what we did there?) worse than an AAC or Ogg Vorbis file, due to the inefficiency of the codec in an MP3.

What about high-resolution audio?

Unlike high-definition video, there’s no single universal standard when it comes to high-resolution audio.

However, in its simplest terms, hi-res audio tends to refer to music files which have a higher sampling frequency and/or bit depth than CD – which is specified at 16-bit/44.1kHz. Hi-res files therefore come in the form of 16-bit/96kHz or 24-bit/192kHz, for example.

So why should you care? Quite simply, hi-res audio files have a lot of extra audio information and thus sound a lot better than compressed audio formats, which lose information in the compression process. They will take up more storage space but we definitely think it’s worth the trade off.

Uncompressed files like AIFF and WAV are hi-res, as are those lossless FLAC and ALAC file formats. DSD (the somewhat niche format used for Super Audio CDs) is also hi-res, but it’s not as widely supported. When it comes to streaming, MQA is a file packing format used by the likes of Tidal Masters, which helps to bring hi-res audio to streaming services using as little bandwidth as possible.

As for playing hi-res audio, an increasing amount of products now support it. Premium portable music players such as the Award-winning Cowon Plenue D2 plus the newer and rather splendid Cowon Plenue D3 support 24-bit/192kHz WAV, FLAC, ALAC and AIFF files. Both players boast DSD128 file compatibility too – and that support is native, so DSD files aren’t converted to PCM during playback.

The Astell & Kern Kann Alpha and another 2020 Award-winner, the Astell & Kern A&futura SE200 digital audio players are like many A&K players (including the entry-level A&norma SR25) in that file support goes all the way up to 32-bit/384kHz and includes native DSD256 and MQA playback.

KEF’s new LS50 Wireless II speakers will play 24-bit/192kHz files in all their glory, and support for DSD256 is also onboard too this time, as is MQA decoding for the playback of compatible downloaded files and hi-res Tidal Masters.

Hi-res audio can also be played on most flagship Android smartphones, but you can’t play hi-res on a box-fresh iPhone. We’ve found ways around that, but it’s worth remembering that hi-res audio isn’t quite as portable as its lossy brethren – yet. You can find more info on which hi-fi products support hi-res audio here.

Which is the best audio file format for you?

The file format you choose will depend on whether storage or sound quality is your key concern, as well as which devices you intend to use for playback.

MP3s became hugely popular when storage was at a premium. Now that phones, music players and laptops have far more storage space, we think you really should be looking to use better-than-CD-quality files.

If you’re archiving your audio files, a FLAC or other lossless file might be a good shout for ripping your music, though. Lossless files strike a good balance between compression and sound quality, allowing you to listen to the best quality digital music without taking up all your storage space. Just make sure your devices are all compatible with your file format of choice.

High-resolution audio: everything you need to know
Best portable music players 2021: from budget to hi-res music

Klipsch The Fives

Our Verdict

The Fives offer sonic performance to match their lengthy feature list, if not exactly their ambitious moniker

For

Punchy presentation
Good features set
Versatile nature

Against

Uneven tonality
Not the most organised presentation

It’s not often we are presented with a product such as the Klipsch The Fives. They’re clearly a pair of stereo speakers, and yet we have to ask ourselves what they are actually for. That only happens when a product’s feature list blurs the lines between hi-fi and TV sound, and also occasionally the morning after the What Hi-Fi? Awards ceremony.

Klipsch describes The Fives as a ‘powered speaker system’, which is about as specific as you can get. They can be used as a hi-fi system – either standalone or with a source plugged in – as desktop speakers, or indeed as a true stereo alternative to a soundbar thanks to the seemingly simple, but nonetheless shrewdly incorporated, HDMI ARC connection.

Klipsch sees this as a potential driver for many customers adopting The Fives. And, as a publication that generally favours stereo speakers as an alternative to a comparatively priced soundbar – in terms of basic audio performance for the money, at least – we don’t see anything wrong with that concept.

This isn’t due to a lack of focus on Klipsch’s part, but part of the forward movement of the company as a whole. The company is trying to expand its reach, rather than simply throwing what it can at their speakers to see what sticks.

The Fives represent a step towards what Klipsch describes as a more global sound. The ‘American’ tuning with which the brand is so familiar remains, but some of the leanings of the European and Asian markets – typically favouring delicacy over sheer scale – have been deliberately addressed.

What we hear is not exactly the final destination, and there isn’t, we’re told, a particular sound at which Klipsch would like to arrive. But anyone on our side of the Atlantic who might have written the brand off for its sonic presentation could afford the brand a keener ear in the future.

Pricing

An open mind is preferable when approaching The Fives, as are some relatively deep pockets. At £839 ($699), they aren’t going to be an impulse buy for many.

That price tag places The Fives in roughly the same realm as the Naim Mu-so Qb, Sonos Arc and KEF LSX. The fact that those are three entirely different products only highlights just what a versatile product you’re getting for the money. Its rivals depend entirely on how you plan to use them; there isn’t really a direct competitor.

Features

In short, The Fives will connect to virtually anything. The HDMI ARC connection for TVs is joined by analogue RCA, 3.5mm aux, digital optical and USB inputs. Bluetooth 5.0 is also present for simple wireless playback, while a subwoofer output allows for expansion into the lower frequencies.

(Image credit: Klipsch)

Klipsch The Fives tech specs

(Image credit: Klipsch)

Drivers 25mm tweeter; 11.5cm mid/bass

Reflex port Rear-firing

Cabinet MDF with wood veneer

HDMI ARC Yes

Phono Yes

Bluetooth Yes

Dimensions (hwd) 30.5 x 16.5 x 23.5cm

Weight 5.35kg (primary); 4.85kg (secondary)

There is also a phono preamp built in, proving Klipsch’s dedication to hi-fi and that these are not only TV speakers, so by adding just a simple deck you really can have a tidy home entertainment system with The Fives as its mouthpiece.

The Fives are capable of hi-res music playback, while Klipsch’s Dynamic Bass EQ is designed to enhance low frequencies at lower volumes. It can be turned off as a feature, for a more traditional bass response, or you can cut the bass if it’s getting too boomy near a back wall. That is indeed a possibility, due to the rear-firing reflex port. It features Klipsch’s Tractrix horn shape, in a similar but narrower form to that found on the front surrounding the 25mm titanium dome tweeter.

Just below is an 11.5cm long-throw woofer, which appears smaller than it is thanks to the proportions of the horn above it, but is well capable of filling a small to medium-sized room without overstretching.

Build

(Image credit: Klipsch)

Despite Klipsch speakers’ reputation for room-filling sound, at 30cm tall and 23.5cm wide, these are relatively small bookshelf speakers; don’t expect them to project across a room the size of an air hangar. Besides, you will want to be close by to admire the design.

The walnut veneer on our review sample resonates with the price tag, but of all this almost mid-century design, the rollers on the top of the right-hand speaker stand out most.

If we were to compile a coffee table book of dials and knobs found on hi-fi kit since What Hi-Fi? was first published 45 years ago, the controls on these Klipsch speakers could easily make the first edition. The fact The Fives come packaged with a remote is almost irrelevant, given how keen you’ll be to get up and use these dials to change volume and source.

The Fives would feel like a premium product with the kind of touch panel we usually see on powered speakers such as these, but the individuality of this design should be praised – especially if it is an indicator of the attention paid to everything else.

(Image credit: Klipsch)

At least we can say that Klipsch has paid equal attention to each of The Fives’ many potential sources. It’s no faint praise when we say how pleased we are that these speakers’ character is pretty much uniform, however we decide to use them; that can’t be a simple task when being asked to take material from a TV, turntable, streamer, laptop and a smartphone.

The Fives do well, all told. They offer a good level of detail that will dig out texture and timbre regardless of whether it is from the voices of a chamber choir or daytime soap. Is it comparable to a grand’s worth of hi-fi separates? Not quite – nor would we expect it to be – but it is enough to deliver a kind of sonic maturity you won’t get from a budget soundbar or wireless speaker. And as a package, they’re a neater proposition than separates.

It’s a punchy sound, too, able to take on stabbing snares and hi-hats as well as heavy artillery. A good pair of hi-fi speakers should always be able to do both, and so it transpires with The Fives. Stereo imaging is good, provided the speakers are positioned with care and placed on a solid support.

So The Fives are a pleasing listen, but they’re not perfect. We’d like a more even frequency balance with better top-end refinement. While there’s a decent amount of bass for the speakers’ size and treble doesn’t sound particularly rolled off, certain frequencies tend to stick out in an almost arbitrary fashion – and, to a degree, this detrimentally affects the way these Klipschs convey timing and organisation.

Verdict

Overall, though, you do get a good return on your investment as a one-stop shop for home audio. If you want to use them for one thing in particular, you might get better value with a more dedicated component, but if it’s a do-all pair of speakers you crave, it’s well worth giving The Fives a go.

SCORES

Sound 4
Features 5
Build 4

MORE:

Read our guide to the best stereo speakers or best desktop computer speakers

Or our pick of the best soundbars

Google’s answer to the problems of open plan offices? Inflatable walls

Google is redesigning its offices for the post-pandemic world, and The New York Times has a big report full of pictures and videos outlining the company’s plans. But if I had to sum up the tech giant’s approach in two words I would choose “over” and “engineered.” Google has ambitious plans to shake up its offices, but some of them seem needlessly complicated.

As the Times notes, the standard for Silicon Valley offices has long been open plan, with designers and developers working by cheek by jowl in the name of “spontaneous collaboration.” (Though this is often a pretext to cut costs by cramming as many workers into pricey real estate as possible.) But, in a cautious COVID-conscious culture neither cramming nor cubicles can cut it: people want space, man. At least six feet of it.

Here’s the Times, paraphrasing concerns from Google’s VP for real estate and workplace services, David Radcliffe:

In its current office configurations, Google said it would be able to use only one out of every three desks in order to keep people six feet apart. Mr. Radcliffe said six feet would remain an important threshold in case of the next pandemic or even the annual flu.

Psychologically, he said, employees will not want to sit in a long row of desks, and also Google may need to “de-densify” offices with white space such as furniture or plants. The company is essentially unwinding years of open-office plan theory popularized by Silicon Valley — that cramming more workers into smaller spaces and taking away their privacy leads to better collaboration.

This makes sense! But Google’s approach to implementing these changes in its Mountain View offices are a mixed bag. Here are some of the methods mentioned:

Instead of rows of desks and meeting rooms, Google will use “Team Pods” containing “[c]hairs, desks, whiteboards and storage units on casters” that can be “wheeled into various arrangements, and in some cases rearranged in a matter of hours”
To create temporary divides between open plan desks, the company is testing inflatable robot walls that can be wheeled around and blown up like a bounce house.
“[A] fabric-based overhead air duct system that attaches with zippers and can be moved over a weekend for different seating arrangements.”
To accommodate remote workers in meetings, a new semi-circular “campfire” meeting room alternates seats for those physically present with screens for those calling in.
More outdoor work and meeting spaces, with tables and chairs in open-air tents.
To make hot-desking easier, Google is testing a workstation that remembers users’ settings, adjusting the local temperature and height and tilt of the monitor based on a worker’s card swipe. It even “brings up family photos on a display” for that cubicle feeling.
Optional “leaf-shaped partitions” called “petals” can be attached to desks to “to eliminate glare” and office chairs with built-in speakers in the headrest will play white noise “to muffle nearby audio.”

The inflatable robot wall in action.

Image: Cayce Clifford for The New York Times

Again, some of these sound great. Who wouldn’t want more outdoor space in their office or meeting rooms that are more welcoming for remote workers? But the focus on modularity and adaptiveness seems like a recipe for disaster. The mix of inflatable privacy shields, fabric air ducts, dynamic hot-desks, clip-on desk partitions, and rearrangeable desks and storage make it sound like employees will have to build their office from scratch each day.

Indeed, some of these solutions are trying to solve problems that only exist in the first place because of open plan offices. You don’t need speakers blasting white noise at your head or removable partitions to reduce glare if you’ve got a room of your own to work in.

I’m sure the Times is playing up some of these more bizarre elements, and it’s not like Google employees are known for the hardships they face. (Play a tune on an appropriately-sized violin for the closure of the company’s complimentary massage rooms.) But it does baffle me somewhat that such complicated solutions need to be created in the first place. Maybe old-fashioned offices (with appropriate ventilation) could be the answer? Specially if you don’t have to fit in as many employees because more are working from home.

I may be alone in this, but I’ve always quite fancied a genuine, honest-to-goodness, walls-and-a-door office of my own. That was true pre-pandemic and it’ll be true post-pandemic, too. Ironically, it’s only being forced to work remotely that’s meant I’ve created a decent working space in my own home for the first time. If only I could get the same at the office.

Dear wireless carriers: the 5G hype needs to stop

Just stop. Stop telling us why your 5G network is the very best and fastest and most reliable. Stop running commercials about how life-changing your 5G network is. Definitely stop telling us why your 5G network is better than the other guy’s 5G network because can you even imagine building a 5G network the way they have? Please stop with all of this, it’s been a very long year and we’re tired.

It would be one thing to make all of these fantastical claims like you do if any of them reflected any real person’s experience. They don’t. Your 5G networks are just not that good yet. They’ll get better, and that’s nice! But please stop pretending like the 5G train has pulled into the station and all we have to do is get on board to be whisked away to the low-latency, Gigabit future when you’re still building the tracks. And the train station.

We’re tired of false starts. First there was 5G Evolution, which sounds exciting. It rhymes with revolution! But then it turned out to be just another name for LTE, which was a bummer. Then there was mmWave, which you called Ultra Wideband because it sounds cooler. It will drive cars, do surgeries, fly drones, you said. You’ll experience download speeds on your phone so astoundingly fast that your sunglasses will fly off your face just being so close. And sure enough, the speed was impressive, that one time we were on the right street corner trying to download a whole movie. But then the crosswalk signal turned green and we kept walking, and we lost the signal.

Now we learn that Ultra Wideband suddenly means mmWave and C-band, and that C-band will actually change everything and we’ll have to pay more if we want to use it. This is confusing, we’re tired, and now we have to go look for our sunglasses. So please let us know when you’ve settled on whatever frequencies will actually change our lives.

We know you’re excited about how you’re building your 5G network, but please don’t explain to us in detail why your spectrum is the best spectrum and the other guy’s spectrum is garbage. You sound like a kid who wrote a PowerPoint presentation for her parents with a point-by-point argument for why she deserves a later bedtime. We, the general phone-using population, do not care to be dragged into these details. Just build the network and we’ll see for ourselves if it really is great.

You’ve spent a lot of time recently breathlessly telling your shareholders why you won the C-band auction. We’ve been scraping the bottom of the barrel on live sports entertainment over the last year, but last time we checked, a federal spectrum auction is not the Super Bowl! Nobody’s keeping score! Unless you’re playing Calvinball, you can’t declare something to be a sport, run around the field, then put on a referee uniform and say that you won.

This may come as a shock, but we don’t cheer for our wireless carriers as if they were baseball teams. We don’t trash-talk our friends about how our carrier’s 5G network is absolutely crushing their carrier’s 5G network. We don’t ask them how they can live with themselves knowing that their carrier is building their 5G network the wrong way.

We all just want our phone service to work when we need it. We want to tweet our stupid tweets, share our dumb pet photos, follow our actual baseball teams, and do so with as little inconvenience as possible. Sure, we want faster service! But we don’t want to know how the sausage is made. Please stop for now and let us know when you’re ready to serve it.

The NYPD is sending its controversial robot dog back to the pound

The New York Police Department has canceled its trial of a robot dog made by US firm Boston Dynamics after receiving fierce criticism regarding the “dystopian” technology.

“The contract has been terminated and the dog will be returned,” a spokesperson for the NYPD told the New York Post. John Miller, the department’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, told The New York Times that the machine was “a casualty of politics, bad information and cheap sound bytes.” Said Miller: “People had figured out the catchphrases and the language to somehow make this evil.”

The NYPD began leasing the machine nicknamed Digidog last year. “This dog is going to save lives, protect people, and protect officers and that’s our goal,” said the NYPD’s Frank Digiacomo in an interview with ABC7. The robot was deployed roughly half a dozen times during its tenure, mostly acting as a mobile camera in potentially hostile environments.

“The NYPD has been using robots since the 1970s to save lives in hostage situations & hazmat incidents,” said the department in February. “This model of robot is being tested to evaluate its capabilities against other models in use by our emergency service unit and bomb squad.”

Many, though, saw the robot as a symbol of both wasteful police spending and increasingly aggressive tactics being deployed by law enforcement. “Now robotic surveillance ground drones are being deployed for testing on low-income communities of color with under-resourced schools,” tweeted NYC Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in February.

Please ask yourself: when was the last time you saw next-generation, world class technology for education, healthcare, housing, etc consistently prioritized for underserved communities like this?

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 25, 2021

In response to outcry over the machine, New York City Council Member Ben Kallos proposed a law that would ban the police from owning or operating weaponized robots. “I don’t think anyone was anticipating that they’d actually be used by the NYPD right now,” Kallos told Wired earlier this year. ”I have no problem with using a robot to defuse a bomb, but it has to be the right use of a tool and the right type of circumstance.”

Kallos told the Times this week that deploying Digidog on the streets of New York City highlighted the ongoing “militarization of the police.” Said Kallos: “At a time where we should be having more beat cops on the street, building relationships with residents, they’re actually headed in another direction in trying to replace them with robots.”

Spot, as the machine is called by creators Boston Dynamics, has never been weaponized, and doing so would break the company’s terms of service. But it is being deployed in increasingly controversial situations. Although the company currently leases around 500 Spot units, with most of the robots being used in commercial and industrial settings, such machines are of increasing interest to both law enforcement and military users.

Earlier this month, it emerged that the French military has been testing Spot in combat exercises. Boston Dynamics told The Verge at the time that while it knew the robot was being leased to the army, it was unaware it was being used in these exact scenarios. Spot was not weaponized in these exercises but used by soldiers for forward surveillance.

Speaking to The New York Times, a spokesperson for Boston Dynamics said, “We support local communities reviewing the allocation of public funds, and believe Spot is a cost-effective tool comparable to historical robotic devices used by public safety to inspect hazardous environments.”

Apple AirPods 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds: Which wireless earbuds should you buy?

(Pocket-lint) – Apple and Samsung both offer their own wireless earphones. Apple’s earbuds come in the form of the AirPods, which now come in two flavours: regular and Pro. Samsung has multiple models too, but its bog-standard set is the Galaxy Buds.

If you’re trying to work out which entry level wireless earbuds are best for you, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s how the Apple AirPods 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Buds compare.

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Price

AirPods: From $159 / £159
Galaxy Buds: $129.99 / £139

The Apple AirPods start at £159. This is for the second generation model with the standard charging case. There is also the option of a wireless charging case, which will set you back £79 on its own or £199 for the AirPods with the wireless charging case.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds have been discounted quite heavily since launch. Originally they cost about £140, but now can be found for about £120. They come with a wireless charging case as standard.

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Design

AirPods: White only, optional wireless charging case
Galaxy Buds: White, Black, Yellow, wireless charging case as standard

The Apple AirPods come in white only and they look a little like a very small electric toothbrush head. Some will love the design, others will hate it. We sit in the former camp, though we’d like extra colours. The AirPods are a little larger than the Galaxy Buds in terms of overall size because of the extra part below the earpiece, but the earpiece itself is smaller.

The AirPods slot into a small, almost square, case that has a Lightning port at the bottom for charging. Whilst in the case, the AirPods will recharge providing the case itself has charge. There is a pairing button on the rear of the case and an LED indicator light is present in between the AirPods, which you’ll see when you open the case lid.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds meanwhile, come in three colour options including white, black and yellow. The Galaxy Buds fit snuggly into the inner part of your ear, providing a more subtle and perhaps more secure design than the AirPods, though a little bulkier.

Like the AirPods, the Galaxy Buds slot into a case, this time cylindrical in shape, and they will recharge whilst in the case. There is an LED indicator light inside the case, as well as outside the case and a USB Type-C charging port on the rear. As mentioned though, the Galaxy Buds case is wireless charging compatible as standard, while the AirPods wireless charging case is a more expensive option.

Features

AirPods: Siri, Auto pause, One or two AirPods can be worn, Double tap gesture
Galaxy Buds: AKG sound, Bixby Voice, One or two Galaxy Buds can be worn, double or triple tap gesture

The Apple AirPods have voice-activated Siri access that is powered by the H1 chip. There are also several other features that make the AirPods very easy to use for an Apple user once they are connected.

AirPods automatically recognise when they are in your ear, pausing when you take them out, while optical sensors and motion accelerometers work in tandem to engage the microphones for phone calls and Siri access, filtering out external noise when required.

It’s possible to wear one AirPod or both, and double tapping an AirPod will allow you to skip a track or play a song, depending on the action you have set up. You can read more about AirPod features in our tips and tricks, as well as the features available for Android users in our separate feature.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds have sound by AKG and they have adaptive dual microphone technology to recognise your surroundings, switching between inner and outer mics to filter out background noise when you’re on a call and allowing you to hear what’s happening around you when you’re not.

Like AirPods, you can choose to wear one or two Galaxy Buds and Samsung recently added Bixby Voice to the Galaxy Buds, allowing you to control ambient sound, battery status and equaliser controls with your voice. The latest update also offered improved touchpad controls, with options for double tapping and triple tapping, allowing for a little more flexibility than the AirPods in terms of gesture controls.

Apple AirPods tips and tricks

Setup

AirPods: One-tap setup for iOS users
Galaxy Buds: One-tap setup for Android users
Both Bluetooth

The Apple AirPods and the Samsung Galaxy Buds both connect via Bluetooth. For Apple users, the AirPods will recognise automatically as soon as you open the case, appearing on your display. After you tap the connect button, they will then connect to any Apple devices associated with your Apple ID including the Apple Watch, iPad or Macs.

For Samsung users, the Galaxy Buds will do the same as AirPods do for Apple users. They will be automatically recognised by your Samsung device when you open the box, giving you the option to pair the Buds to your phone with one tap.

If you’re an Android user looking to buy the Apple AirPods, or an Apple users looking to buy the Galaxy Buds, both will still work but you’ll need to perform setup via the Bluetooth settings on your device instead.

Battery life

AirPods: 3 hours talk time, 5 hours listening time
Galaxy Buds: 5 hours talk time, 6 hours usage time

The second generation of Apple AirPods offer up to three hours of talk time and up to five hours of listening time on a full charge.

The AirPods charging case holds multiple charges for up to 24 hours of listening time and placing the AirPods back in their case for 15 minutes should offer up to three hours of listening time and up to two hours of talk time.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds offer up to five hours talk time and up to six hours of usage time. Each earbud has a 52mAh battery capacity, while the Galaxy Bud charging case has a 252mAh battery capacity. The Galaxy Buds also claim to offer up to 20 hours of standby time.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Buds are quite a bit cheaper than the Apple AirPods, they promise a slightly longer battery life and they offer many of the same features, though not all are available for iOS users just like not all AirPod features are available to Android users.

If you have an Android device, specifically Samsung, then the Galaxy Buds are the better option for you out of these two wireless earphones being compared thanks to the seamless setup and the features offered, including Bixby Voice control. They also have a wireless charging case as standard.

If you have an Apple device, the AirPods deliver a more seamless experience, including one-tap setup to all your Apple devices and a range of features including automatic ear recognition and Siri control. They are pricey though, especially if you choose the wireless charging case option so you might consider the Galaxy Buds if you don’t mind sacrificing a few features for the extra pennies in your pocket.

Writing by Britta O’Boyle. Editing by Cam Bunton.

Returnal review: A incredible PS5 blast from almost nowhere

(Pocket-lint) – As the world continues to be gripped by a pandemic not seen in generations, it comes as no shock that gaming has been affected like just about everything else. Games release schedules have been adversely hit in particular, with fewer releases, especially of a triple-A standard.

Thank the heavens for Returnal, then. Not previously considered in top tier terms, the PlayStation 5 exclusive has however earned its stripes and could be one of the few titles to conversely benefit from global woes, with a greater number of eyes on it now than perhaps in more normal times.

It’s obvious why it could have been previously overlooked and underappreciated. Developer Housemarque is hardly known for its action-adventure titles, for starters, having largely made its name with indie retro-inspired shooters. Early trailers and marketing fanfare were uninspiring too, making it seem more like an Alien-esque shoot-’em-up than the deeply layered, third-person shooter-platformer-survival-horror roguelike it has turned out to be.

Back once again

That’s not to say it isn’t heavily inspired by Alien and the works of HR Giger – the art style seems so influenced, you could swear it had been directed by Ridley Scott. But originality seeps from every pore, and it is as far removed from other Sony exclusive in recent memory.

Take the plot, for example. It is far more involving than “travel to a planet, shoot everything and leave”. It is structured, subtle (at least initially), and is eminently playable. That’s to say, it intertwines with the gameplay. There are few cut scenes and, indeed, little preamble. Instead, you discover the story as you play, whereby you feel like you are driving it rather than the other way around.

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All you know at the beginning is that you are a pilot, Selene, who has crash landed on an alien planet. The planet, Atropos, turns out to be aptly named after the Greek goddess in charge of every mortal’s thread of life, and that sets up a cycle of life and death that runs throughout.

Atropos is ever changing, largely deadly, and often mysterious. It is also, for a reason that may become clearer as you progress, locked in some form of time loop – each time you die, you reappear at the crash site and must start your progress almost afresh.

Sony Interactive Entertainment / Housemarque

Now, this might sound like it could get repetitive or frustrating, but Housemarque beautifully balances the concept with clever gameplay decisions. First up, Returnal is a roguelike in order to keep things fresh each time you die and restart. There are six biomes to explore throughout the game, each with increasingly harder-to-tackle enemies. Each biome is also made up of differently sized rooms that shift around to present a different maze each life cycle.

The second example of ingenuity by the developer is that some power-ups and abilities remain with you once found the first time, making it easier to progress each time. Enhanced weapons you come across will disappear – leaving you with the same starter pistol – but you will be guided to a pick-up point earlier in your subsequent progress, in order to re-equip you for the perils you already know lie ahead.

In addition, the game tends to bring forward more advanced rooms to get you closer to your goal more quickly. This allows you to avoid having to tread the same areas over-and-over again – and helps stave off frustration as you essentially want to just get back to the part where you died before.

Sony Interactive Entertainment / Housemarque

This is vital, really, as Returnal is one of the hardest games around right now. Up there with the toughest Souls games for sure (pay attention Demon’s Souls fans).

Ah, shoot

For its cunning complexity and mysterious, unravelling plot, Returnal is surprisingly simple to just pick up and play.

Sony Interactive Entertainment / Housemarque

It’s a third-person shooter at its heart, with enemy battles largely taking place over a distance as you blast away with whatever gun you have chosen to carry (you can only use one at a time). Each gun has a primary and secondary firing modes, with the latter particularly damaging but needing a cooldown after each shot.

This offers the first instance of the game’s cunning use of the PS5’s DualSense controller. To fire the primary shot – which is endless but can overheat – you just need to either pull the right trigger or slightly press the left trigger too for aiming. Pressing harder on the left trigger will activate the alternative firing mode. Haptic feedback is also used throughout the game, with every tiny droplet of rain or other special effect offering minute rumbles that ripple around the pad. This is what Sony clearly expected when it first announced the DualSense’s unique properties. It is immersion on another level, that’s for sure.

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Rooms in Returnal can be empty – save for an item chest or object to interact with – or they can be filled with horrors. Alien creatures on Atropos seemingly only want to send you to oblivion, and that’s where the fun starts. If you have the weaponry and skillset, you can have some glorious battles, even with the most basic of baddies. The studio’s undoubted experience with top-down shooters comes to the fore, with shooting patterns and styles seeming more in tune with 2D shoot-’em-ups. It makes for a decent challenge each time.

Sony Interactive Entertainment / Housemarque

More challenging still are the end-of-biome bosses, who each take so much punishment before yielding. Whereas, you can take only a little before you die and have to repeat the process again. Still, the power-ups found along the way each time can help, while early battles prepare you well for later, much harder foes.

Pretty deadly

We’ve touched upon the interesting uses of the DualSense controller, but they aren’t the only examples of why this is a next-gen title only. Returnal uses just about every trick in the book, visually, including ray tracing and 60 frames-per-second. You couldn’t have a fast-paced shooter without the latter, to be fair.

It is also stunning looking. Yes, it invokes the spirit of Scott’s original Alien and, even more so, Prometheus, but there are neon flourishes throughout that make scenery and enemies pop. When played on a decent HDR TV, it is a true feast for your eyes.

Sony Interactive Entertainment / Housemarque

Our first couple of runs were mainly spent looking around, to be honest. Not just for clues or ways to navigate the maze, but to soak in the majesty. The game runs in dynamic 4K, which must dip at times in order to maintain high frame rates, but we didn’t really notice.

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There are some grainier sections and some less detailed textures – such as the house (you’ll know what we mean when you see it) – but nothing too overt and certainly nothing to spoil the enjoyment.

Verdict

Returnal is a superb game that is well timed and gratefully received. It’s not the first game to use the eat, sleep, rinse and repeat concept. It won’t be the last either, with Deathloop coming later this year. However, it does it in a clever, interesting way that never tires.

There is also a great fog of mystery that permeates the game that has you wanting to progress, even when the action is sometimes unrelentingly difficult. It reminds us of Control in that way. Indeed, it too has a strong lead female character and overarching sense of something that’s not quite right with the world.

But, at the same time, it is very much its own beast and Sony will be cock-a-hoop that it has a truly original exclusive on its hands. One that will surely become a new, valuable IP.

It could also help Housemarque become more of a household name. It’ll certainly be less pigeonholed in future, that’s for sure.

Writing by Rik Henderson. Editing by Mike Lowe.

If you’re more into hi-fi than music, that’s a problem

(Image credit: Future / Leben / Fyne Audio / Columbia / Antonio Guillem / Shutterstock)

Always give your opinion piece an incendiary or inflammatory headline, and then follow that up with a provocative statement and a hardline stance you’ll spend the rest of the article attempting to climb down from:

There is no such thing as a test track, no such thing as real music and nobody takes your existence as self-appointed cultural gatekeeper at all seriously.

I’m not referring specifically to you, of course. But we all know someone to whom this does refer, don’t we? (If you don’t then please concentrate, because I probably am referring to you.)

Firstly, I have to raise my hands and admit my role in this circus of snobbery. I am a part of this industry, after all, which tends to celebrate machinery over art. I spend most of my time explaining why a lack of dynamic expression with this or that component makes it undeserving of your attention beyond my review.

I don’t even hide particularly well the part I play in the whole test track phenomenon, to be honest. I’ve written literally tens of articles listing them and my name is on the top of every single one.

But if there is a hill I’m prepared to die on, it is that music cannot be treated as a science. Music is vital, and it is to do with the soul. Not forgetting that is the key to doing this job.

Missed the What Hi-Fi? Virtual Show? You can still register and watch all the sessions until 24th May, completely free of charge.

Cleanliness is not always next to Godliness

(Image credit: Future / McIntosh / Republic / Antonio Guillem / Shutterstock)

So I suppose it’s worth distinguishing between what I refer to as test tracks in those articles, and what I mean for the purpose of this one.

When I test an amplifier or pair of speakers, I have to use music. There’s no real way around that. So by definition there are test tracks, but their only defining feature is that they are music. Some highlight certain aspects of sound better than others, and that is what I try to get across when making suggestions, but mostly I’m just trying to share music I like. The most important point is that those lists are varied.

What I can’t abide is the idea that there are tracks that can and tracks that can’t be used for testing hi-fi. That only the very cleanest recordings, or those of a certain genre, are capable of telling us how well a piece of equipment is performing.

Testing a pair of speakers, for me at least, is only about whether they allow that music to speak. And if I can’t hear the music, metaphorically I mean, then further listening is required to find out why not. But that most important aspect invariably reveals itself almost immediately.

In fact, using only one type of music while tuning something is a common pitfall of even the most experienced engineers and designers. That’s because it forgets why we have a pair of speakers, or an amplifier, or a CD player. It is as a mouthpiece only.

It is not the lungs, nor the voice box, nor the brain figuring out what to say. That is all to do with the music; and that means any music. There is no hi-fi music, there is no real music, and there isn’t even good music; there is just music.

So, who is it with whom I’m actually arguing? Well there are some people like this inside the industry, of course, though they only reveal themselves really when a product they’ve created or a brand they represent has received a less favourable review than hoped for.

To make this point, I once referenced the same piece of music in a five-star review that had caused great consternation when used in a four-star write-up for the same brand, and heard nothing about its unsuitability second time around. Petty, yes, but the legs of this high horse could not have grown themselves.

I am also speaking to a small section of some of our readers. Or, at least, I am talking to certain people who comment on our articles and on social media; I know that actually reading an article beforehand is not truly a pre-requisite when one aims to have an opinion.

I do read those comments though because, as much as I enjoy being abrasive, I am also extremely sensitive and want to make you all happy. I am also genuinely interested in finding out what you have been listening to, and what you’d add to various lists. What I’m not interested in is why the production of certain records is not good enough for testing a headphone amplifier, as if it is the job of the music to make the kit sound good rather than the other way round.

A wider problem

(Image credit: Future / Chord / Island / Antonio Guillem / Shutterstock)

Still, it is quite a trivial nuisance to be so animated about; I’ll give you that. But I think the reason I am so is because it’s symptomatic of a larger problem of pretentiousness present among so-called music fans.

The idea of music as a meritocracy makes me nauseous. And those who consider their tastes better or more refined than others, or any more worthy of note due to some arbitrary parameters, can quite honestly miss me with their nonsense.

I will make a couple of concessions. There is, I understand, objectively bad music. Anybody who has given up time to attend a child’s recorder recital frankly deserves some kind of tax relief. And I’ve played enough gigs in empty halls to know the majority of unsigned bands make their contractual status abundantly clear within a few bars of their opening number.

It is fun to make sweeping statements about music, too. And sometimes, despite being hugely reductive, those also end up being true. All 80s pop songs sound like Christmas songs, for example. But the concept of real music or good music almost constituting a separate genre is as excruciating as it is insulting.

That said, we all know immediately what someone listens to when they opine as such, don’t we? It’s either things with guitars – usually from the 1960s to 1980s, with a smattering of more modern bands they believe to share the same influences, but never anything more brusque than Led Zeppelin – or it is western classical.

Rarely, if ever, are they referring to music that wasn’t created either at the time or within the culture in which they grew up, or fed to them at an early age. For the record, in twenty years these types of people – currently teenagers – will be saying the same thing when referring to trap and drill, and they’ll be equally as wrong.

Bach, Beethoven, Pink Floyd and Dire Straits: all real music, yes, but not even beginning to scratch the surface of the art form, or what you could hope to put forward as definitive.

The duty of a music fan

(Image credit: Future / Vertere / PMC / Warner Bros. / Antonio Guillem / Shutterstock)

You don’t have to listen to every type of music, of course, and you are allowed narrow but very intense tastes. I’m not trying to be a hypocrite; I’m attacking an attitude, not anyone’s musical palate.

Because of course it gets continually more difficult to find music you like. And that’s the case for everyone, since music began. Nothing is going to hit you now in the same way your favourite artists did when you were 14 years old. Nothing will ever be so immediate, nothing will ever be so fresh.

But then you’ll probably remember your elders at the time telling you just how awful that music was, how it was derivative and who came up with it first. And hopefully, if you were any sort of 14-year-old at all, you’ll have told them where to go.

It’s okay to be that kind of adult now, too. You can’t be expected to bite your tongue each time a new act is just a little overly inspired by the band that helped shape your adolescent personality. But, just as younger generations don’t have to listen to Madonna to enjoy Lady Gaga, you have to remember things weren’t better or particularly that original back then either.

It boils down to having a kind of a duty as a music fan. If things aren’t hitting the same way as they did, you need to broaden your horizons. Instead of saying something isn’t real or good, look further afield until you find something different that you do like. Past a certain point in our lives, and certainly as more artists and genres clamour for our attention, we can’t expect music to just happen to us any more.

If you truly open yourself to all types of music, put in the work and still only like albums released by bands beginning with P, released in the first half of 1978, then fair enough. Nobody can question your diligence.

But remember, when you’re speaking to someone with differing tastes, what you like isn’t hi-fi music, isn’t real music and isn’t good music. What you like listening to is just music.

MORE:

Why not wash this down with a selection of our favourite test tracks?

12 of the best-produced recordings to test your speakers
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65 great British albums to test your hi-fi system

Best Media Streamers Buying Guide: Welcome to What Hi-Fi?’s round-up of the best media streamers you can buy in 2021.

No BT Sport or ESPN+ app on your TV? You need to get yourself a media streamer, but which one? Not all media streamers are the same. The best media steamers will provide a total and endless supply of TV shows, films and music but there are performance differences too. Some look and sound better than others.

Whether it’s Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies & TV, a service dedicated to skateboarding or free 1970s kung fu films, it’s a media streamer’s job to deliver them.

Few smart TVs cover all the apps and a media streamer will put that right without you having to spend big. It’s a media streamer’s raison d’etre to make sure that they’re stacked with services. With more competition in the market than ever, prices are low, standards are high and any gaps in their app offerings could be a killer weakness.

TV streaming devices are pretty much foolproof too. All you do is plug them into your flatscreen, connect them wirelessly to your home wi-fi network and get watching. Despite their ease of use, though, there is quite some difference in how much they cost. More advanced models that offer 4K, HDR and voice controls will charge more, but there are plenty of simple streaming sticks for those on tight budgets too.

Before you chose, bear in mind that to enjoy HD and 4K content, you’ll need a fast broadband connection. Netflix recommends a steady connection of 25Mbps or higher for 4K video, for example.

You should also check which services each device offers, especially as exclusive, original TV shows and films are all the rage. So whether you want to use Apple’s library or Google’s, watch the latest Netflix, Disney Plus or Amazon Prime Video TV show, independent films on MUBI, or live sport courtesy of Now TV, our round-up of the best media streamers has got you covered.

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(Image credit: Google)

1. Chromecast with Google TV

Google’s cracked it this time.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max resolution: 4K | Audio: Dolby Atmos | Output: HDMI | HDR: HDR10, HLG, HDR10+, Dolby Vision | Dimensions (HWD): 12.5 x 6 x 16cm

Reasons to Buy

Lots of apps

Excellent HDR picture

Dolby Vision and Atmos

Reasons to Avoid

No Apple content available

Rivals sound more dynamic

Google was in Amazon’s media streaming shadow until the arrival of the most recent Chromecast and, specifically, the Google TV user-interface that comes with it. While this streamer and the Fire TV Stick 4K are an even match for performance, it’s Google’s superior operating system that wins the day.

Google TV is the successor to Android TV and is beginning its roll-out across smart TVs from 2021. It’s better looking, more intuitive, more searchable and, crucially, excellent at making suggestions of what to watch next.

That’s best underlined in the way that it presents search results with an even hand. Top suggestions will always be from streaming services to which you already subscribe, and in top quality where possible, rather than Google trying to sell you content to which you already have access.

While, natively, it doesn’t have quite as many apps as some rivals, you can make up for that by casting anything it doesn’t have from your mobile or tablet instead. The only caveat is that it won’t bring access to Apple TV or Apple Music. If you need those, then try Amazon or the more expensive Apple TV 4K instead.

Read the full Chromecast with Google TV review

2. Amazon Fire TV 4K

Amazon’s excellent streaming stick is amazing value.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max resolution: 4K | Audio: Dolby Atmos | Output: USB, HDMI | HDR: HDR10, HLG, HDR10+, Dolby Vision | Dimensions (HWD): 9.9x3x1.4cm

Reasons to Buy

Supports all current HDR formats

Dolby Atmos

Impressive performance

Reasons to Avoid

Big and awkward for a stick

Limited 4K HDR film selection

Amazon’s 4K streaming stick is as worthy a no.2 as you’ll find. It offers unbeatable value, 4K streaming, support for multiple HDR formats and all with the Alexa voice-activated personal assistant.

Amazon Prime Video comes as standard (of course), alongside Netflix, the terrestrial catch-up services (BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4 and My5), Now TV, BT Sport, Apple TV, Disney Plus and the bonus of music services Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music and Tidal. The only minor omissions are an official Rakuten app and Google Play Movies & TV.

The main reason that this device doesn’t score quite as well as the Chromecast above is because its operating system isn’t as good. It’s too Amazon-focused doesn’t perform quite as well for suggestions. That said, it’s worth noting that Amazon’s latest Fire TV OS will arrive on the Fire TV Stick 4K in the coming months and that could be a game-changer for usability. Watch this space or, specifically, the one just above.

Read the full review: Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K

3. Apple TV 4K

Not cheap, but up there with the best streaming devices around.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max resolution: 4K | Audio: Dolby Atmos | Output: HDMI | HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision | Dimensions (HWD): 3.5×9.8×9.8cm

Reasons to Buy

Lots of 4K HDR content

Strong picture and sound

Loads of apps

Reasons to Avoid

Pricier than stick alternatives

This box of tricks offers the typically slick experience we’ve come to expect from Apple. Voice controls come courtesy of Siri – Apple’s personal assistant – while 4K and HDR are all part and parcel of the package. There’s plenty to watch too, thanks to Apple’s extensive catalogue of 4K and HDR content.

And with the arrival of the Apple TV+ streaming service that’s only got better. Netflix, iPlayer and Amazon Prime Video are offered with Now TV and All 4 both present now too. It’s not cheap – it’s positively exorbitant compared to some on this list – but if you’re happy with life in the Apple ecosystem and you can afford it, it’s money well spent for the home streaming enthusiast.

Read the full review: Apple TV 4K

4. Google Chromecast (2018)

A cheap, quick and convenient media streamer.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max resolution: 1080p | Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 | Output: HDMI | HDR: n/a | Dimensions (HWD): 5.2×1.38×1.38cm

Reasons to Buy

Affordable

Casting is neat

Good video and sound

Reasons to Avoid

Little new of note

No dedicated remote

At just £30/$30, this is one of the cheapest video streaming devices around. Chromecast is a decent little device and if you don’t have a 4K TV, its 1080p resolution is all you need. You can ‘cast’ Netflix, BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All 4, My5 and Now TV, along with Google Play Movies and YouTube TV. On the music front, Spotify, TuneIn and Tidal are all catered for. Amazon Prime Video is now included too.

You have to control Google Chromecast from your phone or tablet, so it’s a different proposition from most of the streamers here. But it does what it does very well indeed.

Read the full review: Google Chromecast (2018)

5. Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa

This sophisticated streaming device is a joy to use.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max resolution: 1080p | Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 | Output: HDMI | HDR: n/a | Dimensions (HWD): 3×8.6×1.3cm

Reasons to Buy

Alexa voice control

Responsive UI

Multiple streaming services

Amazon’s cheaper streaming stick loses the 4K and HDR, but retains the Alexa personal assistant for voice control. All the major streaming services are supported, apart from Now TV, and the sound quality is impressive for such a cheap device. If you’re looking for a cheap and easy way to start streaming, this might be the one for you.

Read the full review: Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa

6. Roku Streaming Stick+

An excellent, all-round video streamer with a tempting price tag.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max resolution: 4K | Audio: Dolby Atmos | Output: HDMI | HDR: HDR10 | Dimensions (HWD): 2×9.4×1.2cm

Reasons to Buy

Stable 4K picture

Great app selection

Easy-to-use interface

Reasons to Avoid

No ethernet connection

No Dolby Vision

Roku might not be as well known in some parts, but it’s a big global player in the streaming market and this device is a solid bet. It’s affordable, boasts 4K and HDR (albeit limited formats for the latter) and doesn’t need mains power to run. Because Roku doesn’t make its own shows, there’s no hard sell as to what to watch, as there is with Amazon devices, and all the major streaming services are supported, including Now TV (which you won’t find on an Amazon device).

Read the full review: Roku Streaming Stick+

7. Now TV Smart Stick

Sky content streamed via a stick, without the subscription.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max resolution: 1080p | Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 and 7.1 | Output: HDMI | HDR: n/a | Dimensions (HWD): 8.4×2.3×1.3cm

Reasons to Buy

Inexpensive

Easy-to-use interface

No contract or dish

Reasons to Avoid

Limited app selection

Sky content limited to 720p

At under £20, this is one of the cheapest ways to turn your old TV into a smart TV. Most of the main streaming services are here, except for Amazon Prime Video, and as you’d expect, it gently nudges you towards Sky’s Now TV streaming service at every turn. While it can stream in 1080p, Now TV tops out at 720p. If you can put up with these limitations, it’s a bargain, and a great way to get Sky TV without a subscription.

Read the full review: Now TV Smart Stick

MORE:

30 of the best TV shows to watch on Netflix

21 of the best TV shows to watch on Amazon Prime Video

Best video streaming services

Our Verdict

For

Against

Features

Picture

Verdict

File formats and codecs at-a-glance

Compressed vs. uncompressed audio files

WAV vs AIFF vs FLAC: uncompressed file formats

ALAC vs FLAC vs WMA Lossless: lossless audio formats

AAC vs MP3: lossy audio formats

What about high-resolution audio?

Which is the best audio file format for you?

Our Verdict

For

Against

Pricing

Features

Build

Sound

Verdict

Price

Design

Features

Setup

Battery life

Conclusion

Back once again

Ah, shoot

Pretty deadly

Cleanliness is not always next to Godliness

A wider problem

The duty of a music fan

Price and availability

Design and build

Display

Power and battery

Summing up

1. Chromecast with Google TV

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

2. Amazon Fire TV 4K

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

3. Apple TV 4K

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

4. Google Chromecast (2018)

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

5. Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa

Reasons to Buy

6. Roku Streaming Stick+

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

7. Now TV Smart Stick

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid