What a week! Boris Johnson may have rocked the UK with his resignation, but that hasn’t stopped us publishing a wide selection of reviews for all of the latest gadgets.
This week in Trusted Recommends, the weekly column where we round up all of the devices to have received at least a 4-star rating in the last seven days, we’ve included two products that have received a perfect 5-star rating: a Sony 4K TV and a Dyson vacuum cleaner.
There are plenty of other gadgets to check out here too, from gaming phones to dual-screen laptops. And everything listed has been thoroughly tested by our team so experts, so you can be assured that each product deserves its place in this round-up. Let’s check them out.
OnePlus Nord 2T
OnePlus has become renowned for producing budget-friendly smartphones, and the new Nord 2T smartphone is a perfect example of this. At a generous price, you’re getting a handset with a classy glass design, speedy performance and a fantastic camera that’s capable of remarkable low-light snaps.
It’s a little disappointing that there aren’t any groundbreaking upgrades compared to the standard OnePlus Nord 2, while the screen could do with a little more brightness to overcome sun glare, but those are small gripes for an otherwise excellent mid-range smartphone.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Realme 9
If you’re looking for a phone that won’t stretch your budget, and aren’t fussed about high-end features such as 5G support, then the Realme 9 is worth considering.
Its battery life is excellent, often retaining 20% of juice at the end of a hard-working day, while we were also impressed with the OLED screen, boasting superior vibrancy and contrast that most rival phones in this price bracket. There’s even a 90Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling and gaming.
The biggest drawback for the Realme 9 is the mediocre performance from the Snapdragon chip, but that’s an easy compromise to make considering the budget-friendly price.
Score: 4 / 5
Sony XR-55A95K
In our review of the new Sony XR-55A95K, we called it “the best 55-inch TV currently available”. That’s mostly thanks to the impressive QD-OLED screen technology, resulting in a bright, detailed and balanced image to give the latest movies a little more pizzazz.
Even the sound quality impresses here, which means you don’t necessarily have to invest in an expensive soundbar to enjoy booming, immersive audio. And while this Sony TV is undoubtedly expensive, it more than makes up for the steep investment with its spectacular specs.
Score: 5 / 5
YouTube TV
YouTube TV is a new US-only streaming service that’s hoping to replace cable. It provides access to over 85 channels, all of which you can watch on your TV, tablet or smartphone. And don’t worry if you don’t have time to watch your favourite show live, as Google provides unlimited recording space via the cloud.
It’s unfortunate that you need to pay extra for 4K content, and you’ll also need a strong internet connection to ensure a reliable performance, but those bugbears don’t prevent YouTube TV from being an incredible alternative to cable.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
The Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro is a smartphone designed for gaming, with the high-performance chip, 165Hz refresh rate and large-capacity battery all combining to optimize your experience with the likes of Call of Duty Mobile.
Asus needed to make some sacrifices in order to optimise the gaming performance, with the camera quality lagging miles behind similarly priced smartphones. And it also has a steep, steep price, making it a bigger investment than a Nintendo Switch or PS5. But if you’re an avid mobile gamer and are keen for one of the absolute best gaming smartphones, we can’t recommend the ROG Phone 6 Pro enough.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Razer Viper V2 Pro
The Razer Viper V2 Pro has been designed to be the ultimate gaming mouse for competitive eSports players, with an astonishingly light 52g build an optical sensor capable of hitting a super-responsive 30,000 DPI. You even get super-snappy optical switches to ensure a near-instant response time.
Razer has had to make some sacrifices to achieve such a professional-grade performance, most notably the omission of RGB lighting. But that shouldn’t be a problem for gamers who care about nothing more than improving their kill/death ratio in online multiplayer games.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16
The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 is a gaming laptop that features not one, but two screens. There are multiple uses for such a design, whether you want to keep an eye on your Discord chat mid-game, or you’re an avid Twitch streamer and fancy tweaking recording settings without having to hit pause.
Factor in the super-powerful Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti GPU, and there’s no doubt this is a gaming beast, capable of playing the likes of Horizon Zero Dawn at 100fps and beyond at a 1080p resolution. Of course, with so many features and powerful spaces, this laptop costs a jaw-dropping amount of money – but that may be a price worth paying if you can see the benefit of a dual-screen gaming laptop.
Score: 4 / 5
Razer Barracuda Pro
The Razer Barracuda Pro may be a gaming headset first and foremost, but its streetwise design and support for active noise cancellation makes it a great option for listening to music on the go too. Audio quality is excellent, picking up on small details such as the pitter-patter footsteps of the main characters in Cuphead.
The headset is also comfortable to wear for long periods, has a long battery life and comes bundled with a carrying case. But with an astonishingly expensive price, only those with a big budget should seriously consider this fully featured gaming headset.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Thrustmaster T248
Let’s be honest, a classic gamepad is never going to give you the most immersive experience when playing driving games such as F1 2022 or Forza. Instead, it’s worth considering the Thrustmaster T248, which is an entry-level racing wheel that can be bundled with pedals and a shifter.
The most exciting feature here is the force feedback, which simulates the feel of the road with intense vibrations. However, we were disappointed to see that the build quality isn’t quite as good as its Logitech rivals.
Score: 4 / 5
Creative Outlier Air v3
If you like the idea of Apple’s Airpods but can’t stomach the high price, then you’re in luck. The Creative Outlier Air v3 are – in our opinion – one of the best true wireless earphones available for less than £100.
They feature a comfortable design, new features such as Active Noise Reduction and are capable of clear, detailed music playback. They do admittedly suffer from some minor connection issues, while the touch controls could be more responsive, but these are still some of the best value wireless buds.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Sony XR-55A80J
The Sony XR-55A80J is an excellent 4K OLED TV option for home cinema fans. It’s capable of producing colorful 4K HDR images, as well as sound that’s both punchier and weightier than the majority of its flatscreen rivals.
And for those who don’t like Android TV, you’ll be pleased to know that this telly uses Google TV instead, which we found to be a more accessible interface. The best aspect about this Sony TV, however, is its price, costing just over £1000 which represents superb value.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Apple TV+
At launch, Apple TV+ is didn’t have the most compelling story, but now its narrative is getting stronger thanks to an excellent AV performance and strong bank of original content.
While its library is diverse, it still isn’t as big as other titles and it’s lacking more of the big talked about shows other services have. Still, as a platform for telling stories, this is a high-quality effort.
Score: 4 / 5
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Dyson V12 Detect Slim Absolute
If you’re fed up with your old vacuum cleaner that struggles to even hoover up a Malteser then it’s worth checking out the new Dyson V12 Detect Slim Absolute, which we gave a perfect 5-star rating.
This lightweight cordless cleaner features a clever automatic mode that will adjust the power depending on the task. We were also impressed with the integrated laser which lights up dirt so you won’t miss any crumbs. The price is very steep, but we still think the Dyson represents fantastic value considering its quality.
Score: 5 / 5
Indesit IB 88B60 NE
The Indesit IB 88B60 NE may not be the kind of induction hob that can start boiling your pasta water instantaneously, but what it lacks in speed and power it makes up for in flexibility. With four different cooking areas, you’re able to heat up multiple pans simultaneously. What’s more, you can combine two cooking zones together when using a larger vessel which we found to be very handy.
We also found the Push&Go features to be incredibly useful, with optimized settings allowing you to either boil water, keep food warm or gently reduce the amount of liquid in the pan.
Score: 4/5
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
