Gadget Guru

Gary Martin

This may be preaching to the choir a little, since you are (of course) a regular reader, with (naturally) a subscription to the mag and a vast collection of smart technology cluttering up your every corner. But yes, tech can improve your central heating. It’ll get you supertoasty, and save you money too. Or, at least, kinda, usually.

See, the thing with smart thermostats is that they tend to be at their best when they’re using their proximity detection functions to work out when you’re home and adjust themselves accordingly. You have noticed, Guru is sure, that you are home a lot more often these days, so one might not necessarily come into its own until you’re able to go and frolic in the streets a lot more often. Even then, it’ll only shine once the thermostat in question has worked out that you’ve changed your regular pattern.

If you do want to go smart with your thermostat, you’re looking at three primary options: the Nest range,

Hive, or Tado. There are others out there – Netatmo’s looks interesting, and brands like

Yes, tech can improve your central heating. It’ll get you supertoasty, and save you money too. Or, at least, kinda.

Ecobee and Honeywell offer up further options – but those are the three that Guru immediately recommends.

Of them, the Nest Thermostat E is Guru’s considered favourite because it’s a truly smart little thing at a decent price. That said, if you’re installing a smart thermostat yourself opt for Tado’s DIY third-gen wireless number – and the company’s range of individual radiator valve thermostats can make room-byroom control a realistic option.

How do I pick the television that’s right for me? KERRY LEWIS

That’s not an easy question to answer at the best of times, but Guru will tell you the main thing you shouldn’t do: don’t buy the TV that looks the brightest or most colourful in the shop. People in the business of selling you TVs are notorious liars, particularly ‘TV Steve’ at GaGu’s local electricals superstore. Steve will overdrive the heck out of that one screen he needs to shift this week, dial back the others, and sell them to chumps by the cartload. If you’re visiting a showroom, at least ask to fiddle with the remote control and check out the picture settings yourself, and bear in mind that a consistently-lit shop is a very different environment to your living room.

Presuming you’re not actually hitting up bricks and mortar retailers anyway, Guru would happily draw you a tedious flow chart to help you decide, but (since TechLife refuses to print his flow charts) it all boils down to one simple question. What is the thing you care about most? Are you a gamer, a movie buff, an audiophile? Do you care about an eye-searing TV that can blast through the light from your living room window? Do you just want the cheapest TV you can find?

The answer to all of these questions, reader, lies in your heart. Follow your heart to the TV that suits you best. Spend on HDMI

2.1, low latency, variable refresh rate and all the rest if you want your new console to shine on that new screen. Look for filmmaker mode if you like a movie, and check for as much HDR support as you can get. Philips’ higher-end TVs have great speakers with them, though you should branch back and look at your secondchoice killer feature if you already have a soundbar or receiver setup. And if you want cheap, buy cheap. The low end is getting pretty damn good.

Gadget Guru’s magic box

How good are cheap headphones these days? Professional Review Guy GaGu is here to tell you: they’re pretty okay. He gives a solid four stars to the Enacfire E60 true wireless buds, though he’s feeling mean so he must do so while making you acutely aware of their flaws. There’s no ANC whatsoever, though their passive isolation is remarkably solid; they can, like just about every other Bluetooth device, get a little glitchy when attempting to send their signals through a big wobbly sack of water, which is Mrs Guru’s nickname for your author.

The audio itself, though? Crikey. Really good. There’s meat to the bass without it smashing all of the other frequencies out of the way, there’s a crispness to the high end, and a surprisingly expansive soundstage. They’re comfy and light, they’ve got a ridiculous battery life, and they’re really cheap. With budget true wireless that’s this strong – and, from his understanding, this is far from uncommon in the market these days – GaGu reckons wire’s days are numbered.

How do I stay safe off-piste? HARRY

Please insert your own joke about Guru being a bit over-squiffy and falling asleep in a shallow stream here. That did actually happen. It’s no joke. Had Guru been carrying the hilariously-named Mammut Barryvox S he’s not sure if it would have sped up the local constabulary’s rush to wake him up or not, but it’s something of a revolutionary tool in the field of mountain rescue.

Getting serious, ol’ Barry could save your life. It’s a transceiver, meaning it can listen for beacon signals from those buried by avalanches, help you pinpoint where those signals are coming from, and blurt out its own for up to 350 hours. It’s powerful, too, covering a 70m digital search strip, or up to 95m analog. Buddy it up with clothes in the most contrasting, vivid colours you can find – Guru reads that (scientifically) a neon green is the most visible, though orange might offer the best slope contrast. Avoid white clobber for obvious reasons.