SOUND & VISION
Look and listen – but don’t skimp on style
1 HIBY R2
Entry-level price, mid-range performance: that’s the sweet spot for any hardware, and HiBy’s remarkable R2 digital audio player hits it. Certified for Hi-res wired and wireless playback, capable of 4x MQA reproduction, and featuring HiBy’s own codecs and remastering tools, it does great things for the money. Perfect for a run or, with full Tidal support, a relax. £99, hiby.com
2 SONY WH-CH710N
Sony’s high-end cans grab the headlines, but perhaps its lower-end wireless noise cancellers deserve your money more. The WH-CH710N aren’t short on quality – while the ANC isn’t quite to the stellar level of the WH-1000XM4 (or even the XM3) it’s very decent, they’re light and comfortable, the battery lasts for an age, and they’re great for commuting in relative peace. £130, sony.com
3 ROKU STREAMING STICK 4K
There’s hot competition in the streaming stick space, and we wouldn’t blame you if you went Amazon or Google’s direction instead. But for a simple TV upgrade, particularly one to give as a gift, there’s something about Roku’s offering that pleases us most. The interface is unfussy and intuitive, there’s little platform-specific overbranding, and every major app is here. £50, roku.com
4 LG C1
From £1,099, lg.com
The OLED screens in LG’s C-series mix the company’s top picture processing – in this case the blistering Alpha 9 Gen 4 processor – with unparalleled contrast and an affordable price. All things considered, there’s no finer OLED option on the market: this year’s upgrade isn’t, perhaps, light years away from the CX before it, but the price (particularly at 48 inches) puts it in range of far more wallets.
5 PRO-JECT DEBUT PRO
Pro-ject celebrates its 30th birthday with a brand new turntable design, maintaining its reputation for simplicity and style while layering on the luxury upgrades. The TPE-dampened platter, CNC milled bearings, carbon-stiffened tonearm and electronically regulated belt drive ensure precision, and the new Pick It PRO cartridge promises superior sound. £699, project-audio.com
6 DENON HOME
Even the smallest Denon Home speaker, the 150, has enough meat built into its woofer and tweeter pair to fill a room with rich sound, and things just get bigger as you move up the ladder. The Home line supports hi-res audio, USB input, HEOS multi-room connectivity, and a recent firmware update adds built-in Alexa to boot.
From £219, denon.com
7 RUARK R1 MK4
That Ruark is now on its fourth revision of the R1 is proof that this is Bluetooth/DAB box has serious staying power – and once it’s landed on your kitchen counter or bedside table, we doubt it’ll be going anywhere fast. The R1 MK4 offers incredible clarity through a Class A/B-driven speaker with a tuned enclosure and adaptive EQ. £229, ruarkaudio.com
8 SONOS BEAM GEN 2
Sonos’ excellent compact soundbar is now upgraded to ditch the dust-magnet cloth facia in favour of an acoustically transparent grille and offers Dolby Atmos support for the first time. It’s one serious living room upgrade, and it belies its three-speaker setup with some utterly convincing and heavily detailed virtual surround. £450, sonos.com
9 ANKER NEBULA SOLAR
Proof positive that a solid projector needn’t cost a fortune, Anker’s stylish autofocusing beamer manages a whole lot. It can stretch a 1080p HDR10 picture over 120 inches, and also offers a pair of speakers built in and even Android TV 9, meaning you don’t even have to hook anything up to it to lean back and enjoy a film. £400, seenebula.com
10 Q ACOUSTICS 3020i
These may have been around long enough to call them classics, but Q Acoustics have no intention of binning their flagship bookshelf speakers. These rounded boxes use the depth of their case to develop some highly precise bass and considered tonal balance, and they don’t break the bank doing it. £249, qacoustics.co.uk