It might not exist just yet beyond these initial renders, but Aeros is the latest contender in the burgeoning anti-smartphone movement. Unlike other so-called ‘dumb phones’, the ultra-compact new phone from the Norwegian company takes a different tack in the quest to tone down device domination – its size.

With a 4.4-inch screen, the Aeros phone is essentially half the size of a regular contemporary phone. ‘Our whole philosophy fits in four words – less screen, more life,’ says Aeros’ founder Tor Oveland Vimme. ‘We exist because of a simple observation: screens keep growing, and so does the time we spend on them.’

Oveland Vimme cites not only the growing legislative resistance towards early adoption of smartphones (‘Australia's under-16 social media ban – a world first – came into force in December; Denmark is moving towards a ban for under-15s; our home country, Norway, has its own age-limit bill on the way,’ he notes), but reckons that new laws and industry-driven ‘solutions’ aren’t necessarily enough.

‘Most of the industry's answers are software: screen-time dashboards, app timers, locks,’ Oveland Vimme continues from the company’s base in Kristiansand. ‘To us, that is like handing a child in a sweet shop the key to the sweet shop – the lock does not change the appetite. You have to change the feeling itself.’ Hence the decision to veer off the upgrade path and essentially downgrade the smartphone without losing any core functionality.

‘Every new generation of phones ships a slightly bigger, slightly brighter screen, and the hours follow it,’ Oveland Vimme says. ‘We want to build a deliberately smaller one, without giving up the modern essentials people rightly expect: payments, maps, camera, messaging.’ The Aeros isn’t for consuming video media or getting distracted by doomscrolling, nor is it a semi-pro image-making machine (even though there are front and rear cameras).

‘Our first phone, the Aeros Juno, was this idea made real: a 4-inch Android phone weighing 106 grams, running our own interface, Aeros One UI – calm, stripped back, nothing shouting for attention,’ says Oveland Vimme. ‘We launched in Norway in April 2026; the first 100 units sold out, and a Founder's Edition of 200 is currently selling in Sweden.’

Now Aeros wants to crowdfund its next step. ‘We are designing our own phone from the ground up,’ the founder explains. ‘Our website says exactly what it is – a concept, a phone that does not exist yet. Reservations are fully refundable until production is funded, and the milestones are public before anyone commits a krone.’

There’s a list of shiny renders and specifications (‘every spec is a target’), with the goal of raising $222,000 by the end of 2026 to lock in the design and create the tooling and the moulds. Finding ways to redress the imbalance of social media doesn’t seem to come easily. Aeros’ pitch preserves the status quo but simply dials down unnecessary engagement, making it perhaps the smartest phone of all.

Aeros mini phone, $399 to reserve, Aeros.no, Aerosphone.com, @Aerosphone

Launched alongside a trio of new folding phones, the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 and Galaxy Watch9 are the company’s most sophisticated smart watch offerings to date. In particular, the new Watch Ultra2 is Samsung’s play for dominance in the burgeoning smart sport watch sector, a multi-activity tracker and tracer that crams in metrics on almost every conceivable activity.

It’s joined by the Watch9, a sleeker and less overtly rugged everyday device that wants to put health habits at the forefront of your activities. Samsung describes its offerings as a ‘gateway to AI-driven health intelligence,’ and like all smartwatch ecosystems, how much you get out of all this activity tracking and data gathering is very much down how reliant you want to become on your wrist computer.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 is designed to be rugged and completely waterproof, with professional dive tracking available right out of the box – a dedicated dive app will come later this year, developed in conjunction with diving technology brand Mares. For now, enthusiasts can get water temperature, depth and dive duration measurements. Other app trials provided with the watch include 60 days of Strava and a two-month trial of iFIT, the online trainer programme.

Other updates include a Trail Run feature that incorporates elevation data and even ‘terrain impact’ measurements that warn against overstressing yourself. An onboard Nutrition Alert system bolster the existing Sweat Loss feature, calculating when best to take on more water.

Both Watch Ultra2 and Watch9 share a BioActive sensor to track huge quantities of health data, all of which is then processed and analysed in conjunction with your own past history and comparable data from the company’s health dataset. Billed as an advanced preventive care vision, the modern Galaxy Watch series isn’t just about movement but also hearing, heart health, cardio and sleep.

The latter requires 24/7 use, so steps have been taken to bolster the comfort and the battery life of each model. Galaxy Watch Ultra2, which is available in 47 mm only, comes with 800 mAh battery (35 per cent larger than its predecessor), along with the Snapdragon Wear Elite processor. The screen is brighter than ever before, and GPS tracking has been made more accurate. Nevertheless, the casing is still slimmer than the first Ultra watch.

Galaxy Watch 9 does away with the numbered bezel and ruggedised case, with aluminium detailing for a crisp, light fit. The battery is under half the size (390 mAh) but that should still be good enough for up to 40 hours of use (the Ultra2 offers 60 hours). Case sizes are 40mm and 44mm. Samsung has also expanded its collection of smartwatch bands for both devices, using silicone, hybrid material and classic fabric in a variety of colours.

Forgive our impetuousness. In the same week that American neo-luddites The Light Phone launched their new Light Flip, Samsung just happened to have its annual Unpacked event, stuffed full of shiny new tech to distract, divert and embed you ever deeper into the digital realm.

It’s pretty hard to divest oneself completely of the sophisticated smartphone ecosystem that has extended its tendrils deep into every facet of our lives. If you can switch to a Light Phone Flip and start again from scratch, more power to you.

But the lure of the new is strong, and Samsung’s newest suite of products join the Galaxy S26 family, this time with a focus on folding. They are the Galaxy Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Flip8, a trio launched alongside the new Watch Ultra2 and Galaxy Watch9.

This new drop includes an all-new form factor, the Galaxy Z Fold8. This ultra-light foldable is slightly wider but not as tall as a regular phone, but folds out into a compact, tablet-proportioned screen with a 4:3 ratio, with a diagonal measurement of 7.6 inches when open (for comparison, Apple's iPad mini measures 8.3 inches).

It joins the small-form-factor Galaxy Z Flip8 and the flagship Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, all of which share Samsung’s ‘Emotive Geometry’ approach to industrial design.

We spoke to Hubert Lee, Samsung’s executive vice-president and head of the mobile experience design team, about the clutch of new creations, the design language that underpins them and how Samsung’s R&D team tackles the speed of technological innovation.

Wallpaper*: Are there any precedents for the 'Emotive Geometry' approach? Something in Samsung's history or culture? Or is it a new approach made possible by new techniques?

Hubert Lee: Emotive Geometry is the next evolution of Samsung's Essential Design philosophy, which has long focused on creating products that are simple, impactful and emotionally engaging. It is not about creating an entirely new design language. Instead, we’re evolving our existing design philosophy to better express the human side of technology. As AI becomes a more natural part of everyday life, we believe design must also create a stronger sense of comfort and emotional connection.

Galaxy S26 series’ Ambient Island camera design is one of the great examples of this approach. We focused on configuring the design to ensure that the performance-driven structure designed for functionality feel intuitive and natural to the user. We adopted a gently translucent material, so it appears more visually integrated and emotionally resonant.

The Galaxy Z8 series takes that philosophy further. Because a foldable is experienced through constant physical interaction, we focused on how the device feels in everyday use, from its proportions and symmetry to the way it opens. It rests in the hand and naturally guides each interaction. Emotive Geometry is about making those moments feel intuitive, comfortable and emotionally connected to the user.

W*: How does Samsung approach the integration of AI into hardware as opposed to just software? Is this something customers want?

HL: As AI becomes more integrated into everyday life, we've learned that people don't just want more AI features, they want interactions that feel more natural and effortless. As the role of mobile phone evolves, the physical design needs to evolve alongside it. It's no longer enough for AI to exist in software alone. The product itself should also support those interactions in a way that feels effortless.

From a design perspective, our role is to ensure the physical experience complements those interactions. One example is our decision to assign AI to a dedicated physical side key. We chose to integrate the function since we believe the most advanced technology should also be the most natural to access.

For foldables, the versatile form factor unlocks new possibilities for AI – like Fold8 Ultra’s large screen optimized for multitasking side-by-side, Flip8’s FlexWindow, or Fold8’s new screen ratio perfect for one-hand grip. Our goal is not simply to offer AI features. We aim to create AI experiences that are thoughtfully integrated with each form factor, the way people use it, and the specific moments in which they interact with the device.

W*: How quickly do material innovations find their way into the marketplace in actual consumer products?

HL: At Samsung, we focus on selecting and evolving materials that are best suited to each product's identity, positioning and uses. Every material must meet our rigorous standards for quality, durability and reliability before it reaches consumers.

W*: How big is Samsung's R&D team and what areas do they focus on regarding industrial design?

HL: Our design organisation brings together teams across multiple studios around the world, united by a shared belief that meaningful design begins with understanding how people live, work and express themselves. We share a common culture built on collaboration and openness.

Designers work closely with engineering, product planning and many other teams from the earliest stages of development, combining deep user insight with technical expertise. This continuous collaboration allows us to refine every detail, creating products that feel more intuitive, comfortable and thoughtfully designed.

The Galaxy Watch series reflects this approach. We use what we call Computational Design, combining AI and advances in computing with design expertise to better understand wearability across a diverse range of users. This helps us refine details such as fit, balance and proportions with greater precision, so the watch feels comfortable from the moment it’s worn.

What do you get the tech bro, crypto sis or picky audiophile pal who has everything? How about half-a-million quid’s worth of hi-fi equipment?

That’s the approximate retail value of AMR’s Luna Series luxury audio collection: the Luna Ingenii DAC, the Luna Medii preamplifier and the Luna Procellarum monoblock power amplifier. A decade in the R&D, designed in collaboration with the Grateful Dead’s fabled sound engineer, in a limited run of 148 sets, using components that don’t – and won’t – exist anymore: this is, in a very real sense, an amp that goes all the way up to, well, 111.

And while the sound will make your ears tingle, the price might make your eyes water: £441,000. ‘Basically, we wanted to push the boundaries of what audio technology could achieve in terms of resolving sound,’ explains Miles Roberts, global sales director for Southport-based Abbingdon Music Research. ‘Some of the technology that we've got in here is based on components that we actually bought the final runs of about ten years ago.’

Roberts is talking in Fitzrovia, central London, in the uber-plush basement lounge – think Bond villain’s lair, with snacks – of Cornflake, the smart-home automation and media-room installation specialist. AMR has booked out the space to demonstrate the kit it has carefully freighted south from Merseyside in custom-built Pelican flight cases, the combined weight as hefty as the price tag, some 80kg per component.

‘What we wanted to do is achieve a representation of music which was as near to reality as you could possibly get. It's taken us the better part of ten to 12 years to do that with this system,’ continues Roberts. To help them reach their ultra-audio goal, they enlisted John Curl, an electronics engineer and audio designer renowned in music and beyond, notably for his role in co-developing The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound, the band’s legendary live-concert sound system.

‘John always wanted to make a particular amplifier that was unique in the world, which is a four-quadrant, push-pull amplifier. And we're the only company that could work with him to do that. So that's what you see before you now.’ Before me now are a pair of what look like mini-Ancient Egyptian sarcophagi. Gleaming and gold-trimmed, those are the components that make up the Luna Procellarum monoblock power amplifier. Why two?

‘Because in true music systems, you generally have what's called dual mono, or separate left-right, so there's no interference between the left and right channel. We've got a 1200-watt-output monoblock for each side, for each speaker. And there's no interference between the left and right whatsoever.’

When it comes to the high-tech audiophiliac spec, Roberts has plenty more where that came from. But to cut to the chase: what makes the system so expensive? ‘It's a combination of the cost of the components, the engineering time and the limited accessibility. These will probably become collectable items. Due to the fact that we've bought all the components to make these, we can only make 148 sets. So it's a bit like a fine whisky or a Ferrari. There's only a limited number of these that can ever be made. And that's the end.’

It is, then, likely to pique the interest of ‘high-net-worth individuals who have the yacht, the Porsche, the villa in Greece. They like the finer things in life, and they're always striving to get to perfection.’

Beyond that, the ideal client, apart from a wealthy one, is ‘someone that really appreciates music. And that music doesn't have to be classical,’ Roberts adds, and duly indulges me with a playlist of ear-treat tunes across various genres: Melody Gardot’s ‘If You Love Me’, Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Mrs Robinson’, the theme from Where Eagles Dare and, just to give the system a full work-out, Martin Garrix’s monster dance track ‘Funk’. As he says, ‘that’ll test pretty much any speaker!’

Having launched the system at June 2026’s High End Vienna trade fair (‘the international meeting place for everyone who wants to help shape the future of audio technology and experience sound at its finest’), AMR has already had ‘some serious interest from the customer base. So I don't think we'll struggle. But at the same time, there isn't someone around every corner that's going to spend half a million pounds on a hi-fi system.’

At least it’s straightforward to use – Roberts is playing the tunes to me on streaming platform Qobuz. ‘You don't have to relearn an operating system or anything like that. You can use whatever [to play your music] – Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music. Or if you were a real audiophile, you might have a big collection on hard drive. So it's accessible. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to drive it.’

But you might need to be a rocket owner to afford it.

AMR’s Luna Series is available from Q1 2027. Interested buyers should visit AMR-Audio.co.uk, @AMR_Audio

We get on very well with the Light Phone III, a beautifully engineered touchscreen phone that wasn’t afraid to act a little dumb. The III eschewed the app-flashed frenzy of the modern home screen in favour of minimal text and even more minimal functionality; using the device means cutting a lot from your life, from social media to online banking, WhatsApp and much, much more.

That, however, is very much the point. At a time of growing evidence about the nefarious tricks of the algorithmic trade – let alone the damage wrought by feeds that run amok in an age of deliberate misinformation.

Now Light is back, shining its focus on a new sector. Welcome to the Light Phone Flip, the company’s fourth device and its first-ever flip phone. As we’ve often observed, the contemporary flip phone sits within a weird evolutionary niche. On the one hand, there’s the folding screen models typified by Motorola’s razr series or the Samsung Z Flip7 or the Honor Magic V Flip2.

None of these clever pieces of tech does anything to solve the attention issue. To really dig into the disavowal of modern mobile culture, you need to switch to something like HMD’s 2660 Flip 4G, a self-proclaimed dose of digital detox.

Light thinks differently, taking inspiration from each corner and finding itself with an original offering as a result. Founded by Joe Hollier and Kaiwei Tang, the company has quietly garnered more and more interest as our collective attention spans implode through abuse.

Step one was to make the Light Phone Flip more affordable (the III, with its solid metal case, is $699, soon rising to $899 due to chip shortages). The Flip can be yours for $300, with a contract offering of $39/month for 24 months. The company functions as a virtual operator in the US, UK and Canada, another way of making the device cheaper.

As a result, the company is cultivating an active developer community, with a freshy open-sourced operating system and a burgeoning list of apps developed to add specific layers of functionality. As with many esoteric electronic devices, getting under the hood is half the fun for users, many of whom pride themselves on their tech savviness and don’t find any rewards in the padlocked walled gardens owned by Apple and Google.

Step two is to grow the Light community. One of the instigating events behind the design of the Light Phone Flip was the founders’ experience of The Luddite Club, a joking-not-joking organisation originally founded by a group of Brooklyn teens angry at the corporate overreach into mental health and community via the pervasive and intrusive dominance of the smartphone.

Light Phone III was already making inroads in the community, but the flip format still retained a certain cachet – close the phone, close off all digital communication.

It’s been 20 years since the original Motorola Razr made flip phones into fashion objects. Kai Tang just happened to be a member of the original design team behind the Razr, so effectively the form factor has come full circle. Light Phone Flip doubles down on what Hollier calls the ‘symbolic closure’ of the phone, with a hefty reinforced hinge and a deliberate lack of external screens (save for a single notification light).

‘We felt there was a huge opportunity [for a flip phone] with our OS and eco-system,’ says Hollier. ‘We’re uniquely positioned with our experience.’ Decrying the flimsy, often toy-like nature of many contemporary flips, Light has charged itself with shaping a solid device that offers more without feeling like less.

Hollier calls Light’s Flip a ‘cousin’ to the III. The basic functionality and OS are the same, with a slightly lighter feature set. There’s no NFC sensor or forward-facing selfie camera, for example, nor is the screen touch operated. Instead, there’s a traditional number pad and D-pad controller, with old-school T9 text input. In short, it really prioritises phone calls above all else.

‘Gen Z feel like they were robbed by big tech,’ Hollier explains. ‘Even III feels a bit too much like a smartphone. They tell us that AI is seeping into every aspect of their lives and they hate it.’ (No prizes at all to HMD for recently launching four ‘dumb phones’ with dedicated AI assistant buttons.)

Hence the ongoing quest for the deliberate friction created by earlier device generations, from CD players and wired headphones to digital cameras. It’s this anti-AI generation that has driven Light to pursue the flip format. ‘We were convinced by our young users, people who have never had smartphones, avoiding all the drama of social media,’ says Tang.

Light Phone Flip users won’t be cutting themselves off completely from the world. The latest version of Light’s custom Android OS, LightOS, provides navigation, messaging, photo management, note-taking and a media player (the phone reintroduces the beloved 3.5-inch headphone jacket).

‘When you close the phone it’s all matte,’ Tang says. ‘There’s nothing other than the speaker grille and a notification light.’ In short, it’s not continually trying to lure you back into rambling back and forth conversation or a doomscrolling session.

In a nod to youth and fashion, the Flip is available in six colours, yellow, red, grey, dark blue, pink and white. Made from plastic, with a replaceable battery, Light Phone Flip is more accessible in every way. ‘We cut no corners with III,’ Hollier admits. This new phone has been engineered to reach a wider, younger audience.

This is all the better for expanding the community. ‘Over the last five years, we’ve had so many users who are also developers,’ Hollier says. ‘We realised that these people are aligned with us. It reminds me of the early days of the internet.’

As mentioned earlier, this community is building new tools, emboldened by the open source OS, further embedding Light Phone into a movement for change. ‘The open source mentality really aligns with our approach,’ Tang acknowledges. ‘It helps eliminate the nagging attention economy of every single modern app.’

Accompanying the launch of the Flip is a biweekly newsletter, Flip Your Life, that taps into the community spirit and helps those who want to make the (perhaps daunting) journey away from a social media world.

‘When we originally launched, people didn’t get it,’ Hollier says. ‘Now, they do. But they say, “I wish I could [switch to Light], but….’ So we want to help them.’

‘It’s a process, not a one-time thing,’ Tang acknowledges. ‘Quitting addiction is not an easy process.’

The backlash against an always-online society is slow but steady. Light has made an excellent tool that’s sure to help hurry things along.

Light Phone Flip, details at TheLightPhone.com, @TheLightPhone

It turns out that portability is the key to happy living with a projector. The old days of having a hefty machine hard-wired into the ceiling to approximate a cinematic screening room have long been usurped by compact, powerful devices that are happy to be moved from room to room depending on the occasion.

XGIMI is boosting its projector portfolio with two new products, following on from last year’s ultra-compact Vibe One. The new Elfin Flip 4K and Elfin Flip Laser replace the Elfin Flip Plus, with the former bringing 4K projection for the first time and both units incorporating a new RGB Triple Laser system offering triple the brightness of their predecessor.

Both projectors share an ultra-compact form language, with an exterior armature that protects the lens when not in use and serves as a frame and stand – or even carrying handle for the 1.55kg unit – to keep it steady when in use. The projector can be rotated through 150 degrees using this frame so ceiling projection is definitely on the table.

Onboard technology includes a Harmon Kardon speaker with Dolby Audio support and inbuilt Google TV. The 4K model is the one to choose for gaming performance – it pairs a brightness of 1,600 ISO Lumens with a contrast ratio of 20,000:1 (eg, the brightest point is around 20,000 times brighter than the darkest black) – the earlier Flip Plus managed a CR of 4,000:1.

There’s also on onboard optical zoom to help with picture set-up and the projectors have a sensor that can adapt the colour balance depending on the shade of paint on your wall. This works hand in hand with XGIMI’s Intelligent Screen Adapt (ISA) technology that provides auto keystone and focus modes. Connectivity includes Bluetooth 5.2, USB and HDMI for casting from laptops and phones.

At just 24.5cm wide, the compact unit can create a projection between 40 and 200 inches, making it an excellent choice for inside or out. Finally, there’s XGIMI’s own quirky WALL app, which transforms the projection into a wall-sized screensaver with a variety of ambient and exotic places to have running in the background.

XGIMI Elfin Flip Laser, £689, and XGIMI Elfin Flip 4K, £869, also available at uk.xgimi.com

All credit to We Are Rewind for taking the cult of the cassette to new and unexpected places. Not content with being amongst the first manufacturers to get back into the format back in 2022, the French company has continued to keep the compact cassette in the hearts and minds of analogue fetishists with a slew of limited editions, including the colourful Edith WE-001 and the Curtis GB-001 boombox.

Now there’s yet another edition of the WE-001, only this time the company has tapped into the motherlode of sonic creativity by teaming up with none other than Pink Floyd. This collaboration steps right back into the 1970s with graphics inspired by The Dark Side of the Moon, the 1973 album that has already been honoured with its own turntable courtesy of Pro-Ject Audio Systems as well as countless reissues (and even a Pentagram-designed box set).

Pink Floyd completists will now have to dig deep once more, because accompanying the Pink Floyd X We Are Rewind cassette player is an exclusive new release of the album on tape – the only way you can get the 50th anniversary remaster in this format, to be precise. Back in the day, Dark Side sold impressively well on cassette, making up a substantial chunk of the album’s 50 million sales.

This edition of the WE-001 has all the goodness of the regular model – Bluetooth 5.1 as well as a wired headphone jack, built-in rechargeable battery, recording ability via line-in and an (optional) belt clip.

But aren’t the icons of audiophile quality space rock a little above the wow and flutter of the analogue cassette deck? According to Pink Floyd’s venerable drummer Nick Mason, definitely not. ‘I still have enormous affection for the cassette,’ Mason says, ‘It really was a major breakthrough – not only with the Sony Walkman but with some of the more up-market recorders. I still have my Nakamichi on the shelf and look forward to testing it with the new The Dark Side of the Moon cassette.’

For We Are Rewind’s founder and CEO Romain Boudruche, the tie-in is a perfect one. ‘To call The Dark Side of the Moon a classic album is an understatement. In many ways, it set the tone for what an album experience should be as a continuous piece of sonic art but also used state-of-the-art production techniques and sounds which make it a true musical experience,’ Boudruche says. ‘We're happy that We Are Rewind can play a part in helping preserve the physical album experience.’

In this age of retro-tech and intentional disruption, the last word goes to Mason. ‘Am I correct in assuming that the next major issue will be The Dark Side of the Moon in a large package consisting of the album divided up into 78 RPM discs?’ he asks. Our money is on a wax cylinder edition for the album’s centenary.

We Are Rewind X Pink Floyd WE-001, €179 / £159 / $199, WeAreRewind.com, @WeAreRewind

Some might like it hot but the rest of us find plus-30°C temperatures an ongoing trial, especially in spots where the installation of air con is simply impossible – centuries-old townhouses and Tube stations, we’re looking at you. Here’s our guide to the best in pocketable airflow management to help you beat the heat.

Dyson HushJet Mini Cool fan

Dyson’s new HushJet personal fan came to market just in time for 2026’s wave of hot weather. Resembling an attachment-free electric toothbrush, the handheld gadget weighs in at just 212g, even though it incorporates a six-hour battery. The HushJet distils the company’s 17 years of experience working in the fan and cooling industry down into a tiny device.

Using Dyson’s own brushless DC motors, it’s capable of spinning at speeds of up 65,000 rpm. There are five airflow modes plus a battery-sapping Boost setting for really hot spots. Available in three colourways – Ink/Cobalt, Carnelian/Sky and Stone/Blush – the fan docks with a USB-C charge stand and will soon be offered with a universal mount for attachment to practically anything.

Sony Reon Pocket 5 personal cooler

Something a little different, from Sony. The Reon Pocket 5 is best described as a personal air conditioner, a ‘wearable thermal device’ that sits on the nape of your neck and stays in place with a special neckband. A stainless-steel cooling plate makes skin contact, chilling you in just the right spot to lower your overall temperature.

Hot air is expelled out of the top of the unit (there’s even a slightly longer vent piece to be used in conjunction with a suit). The Reon Pocket 5 can also be used to heat you up, a terrifying prospect at the time of writing, but potentially a handy addition to a winter wardrobe.

Torras Coolify Cyber Fold Neck Air Conditioner

Another outlier for those looking to move on from the traditional hand-held fan. The Torras Coolify Cyber Fold is a neck air conditioner, a collar-like device that slips onto the back of your neck and nearly instantly delivers a cooling blast of air towards your face and neck.

Inside the foldable Coolify Cyber are four individual fans to distribute air evenly without bothering anyone else. Control is via an app and there are also onboard temperature sensors that power the unit’s Auto cooling mode. All-in-all, it’s a little bulky and prominent, certainly enough to raise a few eyebrows. But you won’t care about that.

Shark ChillPill

We can vouch for the efficacy of Shark’s new ChillPill. Launched earlier in 2026, this twin-cylinder design has come into its own in recent weeks, during the UK’s heat waves. Shark’s compact device not only works as an efficient high-speed fan but comes with two additional modules that can be swapped out instead of the fan unit.

The first is a mister, which distributes the contents of a modest water reserve in a haze of ultra-fine, cooling mist. The second is a cooling plate, with a much smaller surface area than the Sony Reon, but pleasing to press against the neck, wrist and forehead when the heat gets too much. Finally, the ChillPill’s clever design allows the fan to be angled variously to establish perfect airflow.

JisuLife Ultra2 Portable Handheld Fan

The Ultra2 from JisuLife presents far more conventional form factor. Although it can’t haul air quite as powerfully as the Dyson, the Ultra2 spins at 43,000rpm, equivalent to a wind speed of 17m/s. The speed controls are represented by a percentage display, effectively giving the fan 100 different levels of airflow, while the big 9000mAH battery gives it plenty of endurance.

In addition to the fan functionality, JisuLife has imbued the Ultra2 with extra tricks, such as attachments that allow it to be used to clean out electronics, blow up inflatables and even as a flashlight and emergency beacon.

Printworks Fantastic portable fan

The simplicity and ubiquity of the fan format means you either need to radically innovate (as per Dyson or Shark) or risk your product drowning a sea of identikit challengers in the cutthroat online marketplaces. Fantastic is cheap and cheerful but transcends its Tik-Tok ad/Dropship roots with a set of nicely chosen colour options and a very simple premise; once charged up, Fantastic is free to move to wherever you are.

With colours including Green, Cerise, and Petroleum, Fantastic has three speeds, can be manually moved around 360 degrees and – it is claimed – will ‘operate in absolute silence’. If true, it’s a gamechanger that could solve both video-call miscommunications and the travails of light sleepers.

Muji Rechargeable Handheld Fan

This is what the archetypal hand-held fan looks like, so if that ticks your box, why not? With this model – ultra-affordable, utterly simple in design and with USB-C charge compatibility – Muji hasn’t set out to make the best or even the most distinctive solution. Instead, it potentially knocks out all the above options thanks to its folding practicality and familiar, unfussy design.

Nothing has announced the launch of the Ear (3a), an upgrade and enhanced version of its entry-level Ear (a). Available in black, white and signature yellow, the range is also joined by a new pink – much hotter than that used on the recent Headphone (a).

The Ear (a) already delivers impressive sound for the price, but the new model brings another piece of distinctive technology, very much aligned to the playful spirit of the Nothing brand. The new Audio Snapshot function uses 32MB of onboard flash storage and the earbuds’ inbuilt microphone array to capture audio directly and instantly.

Nothing is describing the function as a way of capturing an audio snapshot for recall and sharing, whether it’s lecture notes or a gig. Activated by pinching both earbuds at once, the Ear (3a)’s Snapshot function buffers to capture a bit of sound before and after the trigger point.

You’ll find an archive of your recordings in the Nothing X app, which also allows for transcription, effectively bringing the kind of functionality seen in standalone devices like the Plaud Note Pro into the personal audio space. The onboard memory can also be used to record calls – where legal – with up to two hours retained and stored in the app.

The Ear (3a) gets other upgrades, including a new 12 mm dynamic driver for more resonant bass. The earbuds are certified for Hi-Res Audio Wireless via Sony’s LDAC audio technology. The Nothing X adds further customisation via an eight-band equaliser and the ability to share audio profiles.

Those microphones also drive the Active Noise Cancellation system, with an improved transparency mode. If you like added audio processing, the onboard Static Spatial Audio adds additional reverb to create a more spatial listening experience.

The case has been redesigned with a revised charge status light and there’s even a new XS ear tip for smaller ears. The Ear (3a) is rated for up to ten hours of playback on the earbuds alone and an impressive 42 hours when used with a fully charged case (you’ll have to switch off the energy-sapping ANC though – the respective figures are six hours and 25 hours with ANC enabled). Five minutes of charge should give you an hour’s worth of playback.

Describing the little charge case as a colourful ‘party pill’ (no winks and nudges here), Nothing peps up its range with what looks like another winner.

Nothing Ear (3a), $99 / £99 / €99, Nothing.Tech, @Nothing

You’d be forgiven for not rushing to acquire a folding smartphone. While the form factor does have its fans, no manufacturer has yet made a convincing case for the doubled-up screen size, added weight, complexity, delicacy and cost that comes with these pocket tablets.

Like Samsung and Google, Honor has stuck to its guns and kept the dream of the functional foldable alive. Through excellent devices like the Magic V2, as well as the more practical but even less common flip-sized Magic V Flip2, the Chinese manufacturer has kept itself at the forefront of the tech, iterating, improving and refining with each generation.

The new Honor Magic V6 is the current state of the art. A companion for the brand’s latest Watch 6, it represents the current peak of this ever-evolving technology. For a start, the Magic V6 is 8.75mm when folded, barely more than, say, a Google Pixel 10 Pro (8.6 mm).

The large 6,660mAh battery is the largest offered in any foldable – usually an area of compromise with all the space taken up by the screens (for comparison, the Pixel 10 Pro has a 4,870 mAh battery and the iPhone 17 Pro Max offers 4,823 mAh). All in all, it weighs in at 219g.

Durability – the Achilles’ heel of the foldable – has also been improved, with IP68/IP69 dust- and water-resistance ratings. The Honor ‘Super Steel Hinge’ forms the core of the mechanism, specially designed to absorb impact when dropped and maintain the phone’s structural integrity. The processor is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 platform.

The other obvious drawback in foldable design is the visual crease down the centre of the main display. A special flexible glass minimises this like ever before, with both inner 7.95-inch display and 6.52-inch outer display offering high refresh rates and what Honor describes as ‘advanced eye-comfort technologies’ to salve the eyes of the addicted.

Honor’s MagicOS 10 is more of an acquired taste. Out in the wild for nearly six months, this new version of the in-house operating system is very AI-heavy, with dedicated agents for photos, settings and general contextual queries. Google Gemini is bundled in, along with a three-month trial of Google’s AI Pro. The over-reliance on cartoonish avatars is also a little grating.

The UI adopts (some might say copies) some of the transparent design details from Apple’s iOS26 Liquid Glass aesthetic. Once you’ve become adept at manoeuvring between the various split screen options, a foldable phone becomes a very effective piece of multi-tasking kit.

Can it replace a laptop? Paired with a Bluetooth keyboard, it can come close, although as we know all too well, adding more and more tech to our lives rarely results in simplification.

These days, there are more and more alternatives, both new and on the second hand market, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, although one detects a certain ennui in the way in which these flagship devices are being sold; they simply don’t offer enough advantages.

There has even been the adventure of the triple-screen foldable, which turns out to be perhaps a screen too far. The very limited availability and take-up of the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold and the Huawei Mate XT hasn’t encouraged a flood of imitators.

Finally, there’s the looming spectre of the iPhone Fold, as yet unsighted but much rumoured and certain to upend the desirability and reach of foldable tech should it ever actually appear. Unlike Apple, Google and even Samsung, Honor is unafraid to ramp up the bling and the sparkle when it comes to marketing its phones, with collaborations with Porsche Design and Jimmy Choo. The white, red and gold trim of the Magic V6 certainly stands out, for better or for worse.

Honor Magic V6, £1999.99 as one of several packages with other Honor tech (or £1499.99 until 31 July 2026, with Honor’s on-site discount) Honor.com, Community.Honor.com, @HonorGlobal

Until 5 August 2026, those purchasing the Magic V6 from some mobile providers (including O2) and Amazon.co.uk, have the chance to claim a bundle of additional Honor tech worth £549 post-purchase, including the Choice Projector Air Pro, Choice Headphones Max and Choice Watch 2 Epic

It’s all about the collection. If we must be subjected to unwanted and extraneous objects to facilitate our digital lives – chargers, extension sockets, power packs, etc. – then let them at least be beautiful, harmonised and something that doesn’t look out of place in a calm desktop environment.

That’s the thinking behind two new productions from Daily Objects, Node and Loft (both currently available in India, not yet on the company’s US site). Designed by London-based industrial design agency Layer, the ecosystem offers up two different ways of charging. Node is a modular wireless platform, a desktop dock for a variety of different modules, available in either two- or three- bay configurations.

Node has four interchangeable modules, an array of functional but sculptural pieces that can be placed anywhere on the flat, puck-like charging surface and then used around the house. They include a Wireless Charging Phone Stand, Wireless Charging Disk, Apple Watch Charging Stand and Portable Lamp.

The intention is to distil charging needs down into a single-wire solution without compromising on flexibility. The phone stand has 25W fast charging and incorporates a 7800mAh battery, bringing a wireless and cordless overnight charging solution to the bedside table.

The disk is also fast-charge compatible but presents a more compact solution for earbuds, while there’s also a dedicated Apple Watch charging stand. Finally, Layer has added in a portable lamp, a lantern-like object with bright yellow carrying handle. An onboard battery provides eight hours of battery life away from the Node.

It’s joined by Loft, a desktop 65W charging station with twin plug sockets and twin USB-C outlets. The unit is available in four colours, Charcoal, Clay, Forest and Mandarin, all of which compliment the components in the Node system. Loft is designed to power four devices at once, including laptops and tablets. Ergonomically angled, it comes with a 1.5m braided cord with integral cable loop and a non-slip silicone base.

‘Charging your tech is one of the most repeated interactions in daily life, yet the products that enable it are often treated as background objects,’ says Layer’s founder Benjamin Hubert, ‘With Node and Loft, we wanted to bring clarity, flexibility and character to that experience and create a family of products to the fore, that work beautifully, feel intuitive to use, and establish a distinctive visual language for Daily Objects.’

DailyObjects.us, @DailyObjects_global, LayerDesign.com, @Layer_Design

Leica introduced the SL-System in 2015, an evolution of the classic L-Mount with a full-frame sensor and enough sophistication and quality to satisfy even the most demanding professional user. At the same time, the SL-System has proved an effective gateway into the Leica universe for those looking to elevate their photography and videography.

This is the new SL3-P, the latest SL-System upgrade, which is being launched alongside two new lenses, the Summilux-SL 50 f/1.4 ASPH. and APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8. Taken together, they offer an unbeatable and hugely flexible package that stays true to the Leica ethos while also prioritising ease of use and minimalist design.

A new 44-megapixel BSI full-frame sensor is paired with a new autofocus system, giving the camera the ability to shoot images at up to 176 megapixels, with a vast ISO range (50 to 200,000) to facilitate low-light photography. The autofocus blends phase detection, depth mapping and contrast detection, for instantaneous focus.

As a result, the Leica SL3-P can shoot continuously at up to 40 frames per second with full autofocus. It also supports 8K video, including the industry standard 8.1K Open Gate format and can produce 4K slow-motion footage at 120 frames per second.

The new camera and lenses are manufactured in Germany; they don’t depart from the firm grip of the Leica aesthetic, although on this particular occasion the red Leica logo is conspicuous by its absence. The body is metal, weather-resistant, and finished in sober black. L-Mount capability gives the SL3-P incredible flexibility, with the choice to use not just Leica’s own lenses but compatible glass from alliance partners.

Taking and managing photographs is handled by Leica’s crisp UI and the Leica Fotos App, which connects to the camera via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB-C. The unit can also be tethered to Lightroom Classic, or via Adobe’s cloud, further expanding the ways in which content can be managed and processed.

The Summilux-SL 50 f/1.4 ASPH is billed as the ‘world’s most compact autofocus lens with this focal length and a lens speed of f/1.4’, with a length of 75.5mm. It’s joined by the new APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8 macro lens, capable of delivering outstanding detail thanks to its close focus distance of 30cm. The camera is available now, with lenses coming later in the year.

Leica SL3-P, £5,150.00 / €5,990 (camera only)
Leica Summilux-SL 50 f/1.4 ASPH, £3,890.00 / €4,500.00
Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8, £2,110.00 / €2,450.00
Leica-Camera.com, @Leica_Camera

Commodore’s new flip phone, the Callback, gets hip to the demands and requirements of the modern age, swapping out obsessive scrolling with intentional friction and an old-school form factor. While it’s not as sophisticated as, say, a Motorola Razr, nor nearly as basic as the reborn Nokia brand from HMD, the Callback walks a fine line between functionalism and full-on digital detox.

Straight up, the flip phone format beckons you back to an earlier time. However, it’s a little more sophisticated than that. Among the key apps that the Callback includes are Uber, WhatsApp and Google Maps, bringing a level of functionality that other so-called dumb phone options have talked themselves out of.

Commodore has deployed the Finnish-developed Sailfish OS, an operating system that’s mostly compatible with everyday apps but is stripped of Android’s more aggressive data-mining habits.

What you don’t get is any social media, or even a browser. There’s a camera – billed as a ‘retro camera’ – and the ability to listen to streaming music services, thanks to an onboard digital audio converter (and the all-important 3.5mm headphone socket).

Essentially all you’re missing is the ability to receive information to engage with or get enraged by, as well as other people’s unsolicited opinions on said information. In short, the worst bits of the modern world.

All this is wrapped in a series of limited-edition cases that run the gamut from classic Commodore beige to a techy-translucent finish that evokes the custom gaming rigs of the noughties and a blingy gold Founders Edition. The company’s graphic approach is also deliberately archaic, with highly polished 3D renders and light flares.

Commodore’s modern-day story is a strange one. Founded in the late 1950s by Jack Tramiel, the American company is best known for its business calculators and the Commodore 64 home computer, launched in 1982, and the Amiga, one of the mainstays of early digital music-making. The brand was bankrupted in 1994, but the name, logo and identity was revived in 2025 as the Commodore International Corporation, overseen by a team including Tramiel’s son Leonard.

The returning company’s first product targeted computing nostalgists with Commodore 64 Ultimate, updated for the modern age with USB and HDMI connectivity. The Callback is pitched at those too young to remember the heyday of 8-bit home-computing but old enough to abhor the toxic attention suck of the smartphone while yearning for something a little more Y2K.

The Callback 8020 is a world apart from 2026’s line-up of flagships from Apple, Google, Samsung and more, but it’s also very distant from Commodore’s first telephone, a rotary dial phone it sold in Canada back in the early 1980s. Other nods to the period include the exterior display in chunky segmented LEDs showing the date, time, battery, and signal.

Casual gamers will be sated by the inclusion of Snake, as well as a selection of original Commodore 64 games, while the absence of email and Slack make for blissful out of hours isolation. Finally, there’s a recreation of the original 64’s SID music player, the genesis of crunchy 8-bit chiptune music.

The new iteration of Commodore wants to build more examples of ‘purpose-driven future-facing technology,’ retaining the retro-futurist aesthetic with added layers of privacy and simplicity.

According to Peri Fractic, Commodore’s CEO and president, ‘the Callback can be an evening phone, a weekend phone, a going out to dinner with the family phone, or replace our everyday phone completely, depending what level we want to start reconnecting with the world around us. Those of us who have already done it can vouch for its impact and will never go back – we’ve learned to live with less scroll, and more soul.’

Commodore Callback 8020, from $499.99, pre-orders and more information at Commodore.net, @OfficialCommodore

Professional beatmakers and bedroom hobbyists alike will be pleased to hear that Akai Professional has updated its evergreen range of MPCs (Music Production Centre) to include a new version of the entry-level MPC One and the keyboard-sporting MPC Key 37. The G2 variants of these popular instruments include expanded capacity, upgraded hardware and fresh software.

The MPC range tops out with the hefty MPC XL but if that seems like overkill, the MPC One G2 is a comprehensive introduction to creative electronic music making. Designed, like every MPC, to operate completely self-sufficiently without the need for a separate computer (or even other instruments), the MPC range grew out early samplers and beat boxes to become an all-in-one solution.

The One G2 and Key 37 G2 now include 64GB of internal storage, 4GB of ram and an 8-core processor. Both are driven by the combination of a large 7” touch screen and the signature grid of 4 x 4 touch pads. Onboard sampling, sequencing and synthesis provides a deep well of functionality, and while the interface and workflow is a little daunting for beginners, it soon becomes second nature.

The Key 37 adds a three-octave keyboard for faster and more intuitive note input, as well as adding another layer for performance. Each device comes pre-loaded with a number of samples, plug-ins and instruments, while countless additional expansion units are available from Akai’s website.

The new hardware arrives alongside an updated version of Akai’s MPC OS, version 3.9. This brings even more functionality to these feature-packed boxes, including additional synthesis capabilities and an upgraded arrangement mode.

For now, the Key 37 is available in classic Akai beige, as per the original 80s-era MPC units, while the MPC One gets a blue finish. Both units have comprehensive input-output options for dovetailing into a studio or live set-up, or they can simply be used by themselves.

Akai MPC One G2, £729, Andertons.co.uk, Akai MPC Key 37 G2, £849, Andertons.co.uk, AkaiPro.com, @Akai_pro

Honor has announced the Watch 6, the latest in a series of effectively priced, supremely multifunctional smartwatches designed to go head-to-head with devices from Samsung, Google, Apple and more. What sets the Watch 6 apart is some truly impressive battery life, as well as sleek and distinctive case and strap design.

Available in Shadow Black and Twilight Brown – the latter with a matching tan strap – Honor Watch 6 features increased water and dust resistance and now has the ability to be operated with wet hands. This ties in with the expanded fitness and health modes, ranging from swimming to squash.

All modern smartwatches will go far, far beyond simple step tracking. The Honor 6 is pitched at the hyperactive, with over 120 supported sports, covering every conceivable activity including the intriguing and timely ‘Professional Football’. Delve a little deeper into the list and you’ll find aerobic favourites as well as forms of dance, water sports and even fishing.

The data that comes out depends on the data that goes in, of course. The Watch 6 splices its sensor data with location data, so movement can be synced with information about exertion, heart rate, etc. For activities like trail running, the watch can supply an AI running coach as well as information about the topography of the trail, thanks to the onboard AccuTrack dual-band six-star GPS.

Other activities generate different reports. Professional Football Mode is more likely to be used in a Sunday League, but it’ll still produce a post-match summary that shows heat and trajectory maps that show where you’ve been on the pitch throughout the game. Badminton fans can analyse their strokes and swing speed, as well as where their shots are going, and so on.

The downside to this data-driven mindset is that your stats will be locked up within the Honor Health eco-system. It’s no better or worse than the many alternatives, especially considering the large amounts of information that have to be conveyed, from stress levels to heart health, sleep quality to blood oxygen, body energy to temperature, as well as a 60-second health check mode. It’s a portal to an infinitely deep world of life-hacking and self-actualisation, with breathing guides, sleep music and many more ways to interact with the device.

Better data means more time with the Watch 6 on your wrist. To accommodate near-constant wearing, Honor has given the watch a sizeable 980mAh battery (the Apple Watch Ultra 3 has a 599 mAh battery), which in turn delivers a maximum battery life of over a month. In practice, the longevity was definitely something we noticed, especially when the most efficient watch faces were selected.

As is the way with smartwatches, the face can be switched from magnificent to monstrous with a few swipes and taps and there’s no shortage of illegible, OTT watch faces available through the app. A few more refined and tasteful options would have been welcome, especially ones that paired with the graphic approach of the Honor Health app.

In terms of hardware, Watch 6 has a case formed from recyclable aluminium alloy. It weighs in at a negligible 41g, although the battery size and 1.46-inch AMOLED screen mean the case is a hefty 46.5mm across. The conventional Shadow Black finish is joined by a more traditional Twilight Brown combo, which pairs well with classic dial faces (if you can find a good one.

Honor Watch 6 is a competitive entrant into the do-it-all smartwatch sector (look for introductory price offers that undercut the official RRP as well). It’s an evolution rather than a revolution, but if you’re all-in on a data-driven active life, Watch 6 is an excellent companion.

Honor Watch 6 with brown leather strap,￡249.99, with black fluoroelastomer strap, ￡229.99, Honor.com, @HonorGlobal

There are plenty of players in the field of humanoid robotics, with new entrants arriving to shore up the cyborgs that fall by the wayside. As previously noted, we’d all do well to be a little paranoid about androids, especially given the way in which AI – now considered a foundation technology for future robotic hopes – has run away with itself with few tangible benefits.

Here’s where yet another start-up pops up to showcase how it’ll be doing things differently. Based between Paris and San Carlos, Genesis AI was founded by robotics engineer Zhou Xian. The company has managed to get investment from former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, among others, while Head of Design Daniel Hundt was formerly at Nuro, an autonomous vehicle start-up. Xian and his team are promising a different take on robotic assistance.

This is their debut product, the Eno Robot. Whilst decidedly non-human in form, it has been explicitly designed to fulfil almost all of the mobility and agility requirements of a typical adult, eschewing the head-torso-legs form factor in favour of a blend of agility and mobility.

Eno’s most obviously analogous appendages are its arms, with their disarmingly (sorry) human-like gloved hands. Everything else has the soft, clinical sheen of a robotic arm or welding machine, or even something from an early 70s sci-fi series.

Describing their new baby as ‘radically minimalist’, the Genesis AI team started with a premise of ‘calm intelligence’, positing that future robots – whether at home or elsewhere – need the ability to slip silently from view when not in use. Try putting a mannequin-like machine back in the cupboard every evening and you’ll discover fresh nightmare fuel every morning.

In contrast, the Eno wants to be an appliance – not entirely devoid of personality, but less prone to trigger unwanted jump scares or trips to the uncanny valley. Under the skin there’s a lot going on, not least a full-stack AI (i.e. all the various levels of software interaction that go into generating movement, response and interaction) developed in house by Genesis AI.

Described as a ‘general-purpose robot’, the AI is said to be sophisticated enough to make Eno a true physical agent, one that can decipher, decode and learn tasks just like agentic AI on a high-end smartphone. The company wants to build trust right out of the box, so one option is for an optional screen that shows a representation of Eno’s processes in real-time.

‘The only path to creating a robot that can truly deliver value to society and excel in the real world is through intentional design and a single, comprehensive system,’ says Xian. The company’s approach also stresses the importance of Eno being able to work alongside humans, rather than as a remote machine in a dark warehouse.

The design intention was to create a machine that enhances human capabilities, with simplified systems that are nevertheless just as dextrous and mobile, given the right task and environment. The articulated panels fold up and down to extend the robot’s height, minimising Eno’s size when not in use. The hands were developed in house and closely mimic the abilities of a human hand increase the robot’s multifunctional abilities.

‘When designing Eno, we started with the question of what it needed to be,’ says Hundt, ‘We reduced the form to its essential elements so that every detail serves a purpose, from the way it moves between environments, to the precision, range and sensitivity required to operate alongside people in the real world.’

Genesis AI hope to have a production model ready by the end of the year, with use cases including ‘factories and laboratories to hospitals and homes. Whether Eno’s appearance will help or hinder it as we traverse the rocky path of robotic acceptance remains to be seen.

Genesis.AI

Bowers & Wilkins has announced an upgraded version of its legendary 800 Series Diamond loudspeakers. Eschewing the clean rectangular box, the 800 Series Diamond are all about bulbous, expressive forms that reveal the shape and configuration of the drivers within.

The D5 version of the 800 Series incorporates a host of upgrades, both physical and mechanical, to reassert the speaker’s role at the pinnacle of the B&W line-up. The updates cover the entire 800 Series Diamond range, a total of seven different models that run from the 805 D5 stand-mount speaker to the HTM81 D5 and HTM82 D5 home theatre speakers with an additional centre channel driver.

The principal models in the range are the three-way floorstanding units, the 804 D5, 803 D5, 802 D5 and the flagship 801 D5. The last debuted back in 1979 as the 801, and while today’s curvaceous 801 D5 feels a thousand miles from the usual arrow-straight 1970s aesthetic, the original definitely bucked the trend.

With its faceted cabinet, the 801 introduced B&W’s signature ‘stacked’ placement of the high-range drivers, with separate enclosures for the 27cm woofer, 10cm midrange driver and the 26mm tweeter on top.

That configuration has been preserved down the years, and the D5 wears this distinction with pride. The new speaker includes four new finishes, Stealth Black, Warm White, Light Walnut and Dark Walnut, all of which are paired with internal and external aluminium components.

The latter pair with the four different finishes, from the Dark Walnut finish with its dark metal detailing and black Connolly leather trim to the Warm White, which uses champagne colour aluminium components. The same metal is used for the Light Walnut, while lovers of 1980s minimalism will probably plump for the sleek Stealth Black model.

Inside, the D5 features new aluminium space-frame bracing to give the cabinet more rigidity than ever before, banishing vibrations from the interior of the speaker. Each speaker is crafted at Bowers & Wilkins’ factory in Worthing, on the south coast of England.

Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series Diamond D5: 801 D5, £43,000/pair, 802 D5, £32,500/pair, 803 D5, £25,500/pair, 804 D5, £16,000/pair, 805 D5, £10,000/pair, HTM81 D5, £10,000, HTM82 D5, £8,000, for more information visit BowersWilkins.com, @BowersWilkins

Upmarket is where it’s at, even in the realm of domestic appliances. The latest launch from Shark taps into all the contemporary sybaritic signifiers, from the refined, subtle but distinctive palette to the use of careful detailing and satin accents. This is the Shark Home Luxe Collection, a smart new selection of vacuuming devices that brings colour to the fore.

For now, the Luxe Collection offers two different machines, one of Shark’s takes on the traditional stand-up vacuum cleaner – the lightweight PowerDetect Speed Cordless Vacuum Clean and Empty System – and the latest in robotic cleaning technology, the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal™ 2-In-1 Vac and Mop.

Shark already considers these cleaning machines to be at the top of their game – the company is currently American’s leading vacuum brand – and the addition of the new colourways is another way of making them stand out.

Ever since Dyson re-booted the art of home cleaning with his modernist-inspired and coloured cleaners, the industry has been playing catch up trying to find the next new approach. Dyson has remained faithfully to greys and bold contrasting primaries; Shark wants to take a more discrete and elegant approach.

As previously noted, the PowerDetect UV Reveal is a conventional puck-shaped robot vacuum with the added benefit of a UV light detection system to clean up the kind of messes that might otherwise go unnoticed (dried spills, whether from people or pets, for example).

The new colours include Espresso, Deep Harbour, Ivory and the online-only Evergreen, which could go some way to cloaking the intrusion of a docking station in the corner of a room.

It’s joined by the cordless PowerDetect Speed, weighing in at just seven pounds (3.17kg). Like its robot sibling, it comes with a self-emptying dock, while onboard sensors adjust automatically to different floor types. Run time is optimistically cited as up to an hour before it’ll need a charge.

Unlike a robot dock which has to be out in the open (until the robots can open doors), most people keep their vacuum out of sight. That hasn’t stopped Shark from offering the PowerDetect Speed in Walnut, Oatstone, Harbor Slate and Sagewood finishes, with the latter being an online exclusive.

The Luxe Collection is accompanied by a spot of self-conducted research that seems to indicate that ‘millennial grey’ is on the way out in over half of American households. Slightly more consumers told Shark that appliance colour matters when it comes to shaping the feel of a home. As a result, you can expect more polychromatic options across other domestic devices in the months to come.

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal 2-In-1 Vac & Mop, from $1,299.00, Shark PowerDetect Speed Cordless Vacuum Clean & Empty System, from $499.99, SharkNinja.com

Despite the mini boom in conventional camera sales – by which we mean compact and SLR digital, not film, cameras – there’s a great swathe of contemporary content creators who only really know one type of image-capturing device.

The influencer’s weapon of choice has a very intentional form factor, one that favours hand-held, arms-length filming, with a swivelling, gimbal-stabilised camera system and a screen that flips from conventional landscape to the all-important portrait mode.

This is the new Insta360 pocket camera, a fresh challenger in a market that has come to be dominated by the DJI Action Camera. This Chinese firm – Shenzhen Da-Jiang Innovations Sciences and Technologies Ltd. – started out making drones before branching out into ultra-compact influencer-focused action cams in 2019, going head-to-head with GoPro.

The American manufacturer couldn’t keep as DJI rapidly accelerated in look, feel and quality and whilst GoPro has now in fact attempt to go pro with the new Mission 1 cinema camera, DJI now rules the roost for both pocketable vlogging cameras and drones – it has around 90% of the drone market.

Enter Insta360. The new ultra-light Luna Ultra wants in on this action and hopes to do so through a partnership with Leica. Incorporating a 1" sensor and 8K imaging, the Luna Ultra uses a Leica Summicron lens for its main video and photo capture, with a telephoto lens capable of up to 6x loss zoom.

The impressive technical specs are supported by the vertical form factor, which not only includes an integral tripod but also has a detachable 2” OLED touchscreen. For those who present, the touchscreen can double up as a microphone, allowing you to commentate at a distance (up to 20m) while preserving excellent sound quality.

The screen also allows you to remotely control the camera framing, while onboard object and AI-powered facial tracking pairs with the 3-axis image stabilisation to keep things steady.

Flexibility is the name of the game. The Luna Ultra has been designed for excellent low light performance with the ability to output 120fps slow motion at 4K and with 8K/30fps video using Dolby Vision. The camera provides professional grade video output for post-production work, with a built-in time code, while also taking 37MP still photos.

Onboard memory tops out at 47GB, whilst content-hungry creators will appreciate the ability to add up to 1TB using microSD cards. The 1550mAh battery provides around four hours of shooting, depending on conditions.

The Leica partnership isn’t just about the glass, but also the German specialist’s colour profiles. These offer a range of cinematic filters and colour grading options to give a distinctly different feel to your footage. The Luna Ultra is compatible with Insta360’s pro-grade microphone systems and the unit itself has a built-in wind guard to preserve outdoor recording quality. Other accessories include a head-tracker unit.

The Luna Ultra won’t necessarily dent DJI’s dominance overnight, but it offers a pro-grade alternative with pioneering functions – that detachable screen – that’ll give it a healthy start amongst tech-conscious creators.

Insta360 Luna Ultra, available in Midnight Black and Moon White, £649 / €729 (Standard Bundle) and £829 / €929 (Creator Bundle), Insta360.com, @Insta360

We’ve got a lot of love for Birdie, the indoor air quality monitor that transforms the metaphorical canary in the coal mine into a real-world device. Now the Danish company is back with a wider range of products, the Birdie Home Collection, using the platform of 3 Days of Design 2026 to tweet out the good news.

From later this year, the original yellow Birdie will be joined by three new products, Birdie Pro, Birdie Podium and Birdie Flame. According to designer Hans Augustenborg, who co-founded Birdie with Andreas Kofoed Sørensen, it was time to expand the original concept.

‘Birdie started with a simple idea: to make invisible air quality visible,’ Augustenborg explains ‘With this collection, we are taking that idea further, moving from a single product into a broader design brand for healthier indoor living. The goal is to create technology that people actually want to live with.’

The new Birdie Pro joins the flock, updating the avian form of the air monitor to include app support and full smart-home integration. The sensors have also been enhanced but the form factor stays reassuringly similar, harking back to the hapless canaries that once kept coalminers safe from gas leaks.

Severe toxicity is no longer the enemy, but day to day pollutants, which ebb and flow depending on factors like weather and traffic. If the bird sits proud atop its perch, all is well – when the air quality drops, so does Birdie Pro. In true Danish fashion, the solution to the problem is simply to open a window and let the house breathe.

The two new additions start with Birdie Podium, a dedicated air purifier that eschews the space age cylinders so beloved by the industry and re-imagines it as a piece of classic furniture. Podium takes the form of a wooden pedestal, a place to stack stuff or display objets d’art whilst also functioning as an air purifier that quietly and efficiently improves the quality of your home environment.

The wooden finish is a welcome dose of Scandinavian warmth in a sector that tends to be rather clinical. Podium is also joined by Birdie Flame, a soft lighting device that takes a different tack to achieve domestic wellness. Flame is an LED candle that mimics the tone and light texture of a real flame. As an added bonus, sensors allow Flame to be lit and extinguished via mimicked match and blowing out gestures.

Sørensen and Augustenborg launched Birdie in 2022 and have since sold over 70,000 of the distinctive air monitors in over 70 countries. The new products continue the company’s aim of improving the quality of life indoors without overburdening our homes with tech.

Birdie’s ‘Home of Fresh Air’ is open until June 12 at Badstuestræde 12, 1209 Copenhagen as part of 3daysofdesign.dk, Birdie.design, Kickstarter.com, @Birdie.Scandinavia

To accompany their collaborative Sound Club installation at the 2026 3 Days of Design, Fritz Hansen and Technics have teamed up to launch a unique limited edition of the Technics SL-40CBT Direct Drive Turntable paired with a matching reissue of the Kaiser Idell Luxus 6631-T desk lamp.

Both units are characterised by their matching deep burgundy finish, a colourway that unites two products designed over three decades apart. The lamp first appeared in 1936, created by designer Christian Dell, once the head of the metal workshop in the Walter Gropius-era Bauhaus in Weimar. It joins an upgraded edition of the Technics direct drive SL deck, first introduced in 1970.

Previewed at the 3 Days of Design installation, the two editions draw a direct synergy between the art of industrial design and the contemplative act of listening to music. It’s as if the attention to detail lavished on the turntable and the lamp can in some way draw more detail out of the music itself.

According to Technics’ Ryo Ogasawara, ‘Music is an art of time. Time flows without form, quietly imprinting itself on our emotions through sound. In this collaboration, light shapes space, and the sound that emerges allows time to be felt, seeking to give rise to an experience that is deeply human.’

Dario Reicherl, the CEO of Fritz Hansen’s Asia division, was one of the driving forces behind the Copenhagen installation. ‘Sound and light both change how a space feels without touching its structure,’ he explains, ‘That's what we wanted to explore, two objects with distinct origins that, together, form a setting that is considered and deeply human.’

The lamp is undeniably a classic, fusing Bauhaus geometric precision with just the right amount of detailed craft and metalwork. Like many high-design items of the modernist era, it evokes the simplicity and straightforward simplicity of a machine-made industrial object yet actually requires high levels of craft and skill to realise. Its influence can be seen in the mass-produced lamps that continue to roll off the production lines of manufacturers like IKEA.

The Technics SL-40CBT turntable is more of a mass-produced object, albeit one with a different kind of influence. The direct-drive motor system not only provided extremely stable rotation and accurate sound, but it paved the way for DJ culture. Scratching and beat matching are nigh-on impossible with a traditional belt-driven system; stop the record and it won’t instantly restart but slowly build up speed. Direct-drive systems, pioneered by Technics and epitomised in the legendary SL-1200 model, kept the tempo steady even as the record was manipulated by the DJ.

The two companies will make a limited number of each object available from later in the year. Fritz Hansen is set to offer 200 lamps across Asia and Europe markets, while the Technics turntable will be manufactured in a limited edition of up to 300 units. These will be placed on display at select Fritz Hansen partner stores and sold through the company’s usual distribution channels around the world.

FritzHansen.com, @FritzHansen

Technics.com, @technics_global

Add this one to the pile of things you didn’t know you needed. The new Dwarf Mini Smart Telescope from Dwarflab reshapes the form factor of the age-old telescope for the digital era, pairing an ultra-compact unit with app-based control surfaces to create a portable star-gazing set-up that’s aimed at the outwardly bound and the celestially inquisitive.

The Dwarf is a compact but hefty device designed to be freestanding or tripod-mounted. The lens itself is protected by a manually swivelling mechanism that allows for a full degree of movement through one axis when opened up. It charges via USB-C and pairs with Dwarflab’s app over Bluetooth; there’s a near total absence of controls on the unit itself, save for the power button and battery indicator lights.

All your looking, therefore, is controlled via the app, akin to using your phone as a remote viewer for a doorcam or similar. Only here, the lens and sensor system are a much higher grade, with a 150 mm f/5 telephoto lens with 30mm aperture paired with a Sony IMX662 1080p sensor. That’s not quite top of the line, but the combination, plus the onboard software, makes this a great device for amateur astrophotography.

The latter comes courtesy of long exposure times (up to 90 seconds), inbuilt filters and – most importantly – the ability to track celestial objects thanks to an onboard sky atlas, so you can locate stars and planets. This isn’t going to lead to any major discoveries, but as an educational device it’s in a field of its own, opening up an infinite realm of exploration.

Dwarflab aligned the launch of the Mini Smart Telescope with Nasa Artemis missions and the renewed attention space and space exploration is getting in the media (the more conspiratorial could also point to a recent cinematic release by a certain Mr Spielberg).

Whatever your field of interest, all you need is a patch of dark sky (no mean feat for city dwellers) and a bit of time, and the universe is all yours. Mysteries might be unlocked, but the device offers multiple ways of capturing astral activity, with a multi-frame stacking function to bring out greater detail in moon photography, as well as the ability to take video in addition to stills.

Weighing in at just under 1kg, the Mini Telescope has a solid feel, thanks to a 7000 mAh battery that can give you up to four hours of operation out in the field. There’s also 64GB of built-in storage, with all media easily downloadable into your own cloud collection.

The Dwarf Mini Telescope might not be encouraging you to put down your phone and look up to the heavens, exactly, but it still provides a different kind of doom-scrolling – one that puts everything else into perspective.

Dwarflab Dwarf Mini Telescope, $399 / £359, Amazon.co.uk, Dwarflab.com

Curv Racing Simulator have cornered a niche amongst high-end gamers, the types who tend to have the physical equivalents of the supercars parked alongside the sleek curve of their gaming rigs. Now the British company, founded by racing driver Darren Turner, is upping the ante with a sim cabinet based on a very exclusive machine indeed.

The new AMR-C01-R Hypercar Edition has been developed in collaboration with Aston Martin – with whom Turner has successfully raced over many years – and honours the ultimate machine, the Aston Martin Valkyrie. Not just any Valkyrie, but the race-prepared version that is set to tackle the most famous endurance race of all, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It’s the second year of Aston’s attempt to make a dent on this formidable field, a race it last won outright back in 1959. If you want to run your own version of the race – and semi pro simulators like RFactor 2, Automobilista 2, Assetto Corsa and iRacing are designed to do exactly that – then why not acquire a suitably stylish machine to do it in?

The Hypercar Edition is available in two finishes inspired by Aston Martin’s current race livery, the ambitiously named Aston Martin Podium Green, with either contrasting yellow or red accents. The #007 car and the #009 are both represented in an edition of just 24 units in total.

The new sim also includes a personalised steering wheel based on those fitted to the actual one used in the Aston Martin Valkyrie, complete with central display and a complex array of toggles and switches for precise control. The main display comes courtesy of a curved 49-inch screen driven by NVIDIA’s RTX graphics card.

Designed in house by Marek Reichman’s studio, the simulator’s monocoque body evokes the dramatic form of the Valkyrie’s racing variant. ‘Valkyrie is one of the most extreme and uncompromising Aston Martins ever created, and that character translates naturally into the Curv Racing Simulator Hypercar Edition,’ Reichman says, ‘It was influenced directly by the Le Mans race cars, while retaining the sculptural form and proportion that sit at the heart of Aston Martin design.

Turner – a three-time Le Mans class winner – has been developing the Curv for several years, bringing all his track and race experience to the carbon fibre-bodied simulator unit. As he explains, ‘when we started developing the Hypercar Edition, the focus was on the driving position, steering feel and racing experience. Those details are what make a simulator believable. We wanted it to feel as close as possible to sitting in the Valkyrie Hypercar.’

AMR-C01-R Hypercar Edition, Curv Racing Simulator, £58,750 plus taxes, CurvRS.com, @Curvsimulators

Although it's better known for its classically styled, desktop-based leather-clad Revival radios – as once used by the late Queen – Roberts Radio is now branching out into the world of rugged, go-anywhere devices.

This is the new SolarDAB 99, a ruggedised Roberts aimed at the outdoorsy type who wants to keep up with the cricket scores regardless of where they are. In true Swiss Army-style, the SolarDAB 99 blends several tools in one, as well as offers up a range of different power sources, to create a flexible and durable device equally at home on a mountainside as on a kitchen worktop.

In addition to accessing the full suite of digital stations via DAB and DAB+, the 99 also has FM radio as well as Bluetooth connectivity for streaming from smartphones and other devices and a traditional 3.5mm headphone jack and aux input.

Roberts has also added IP55 weather resistance (weatherproof but not suitable for complete submersion) and an integral LED flashlight, SOS beacon with flashing red and white lights and emergency siren, as well as the all-important alarm clock.

The main display is a backlit LCD, which shows the 40 available presets, battery status and signal strength, with graphically simplified buttons and a rugged, shockproof case. Attachments for a carrying strap are also included, as is a telescopic aerial. Finally, there’s a USB-A output for device charging.

The 99 has an in-built rechargeable battery that offers up to 20 hours of listening time, in addition to a USB-C socket for mains power (and battery charging). Additional audio can be acquired via the hand-crank dynamo system and there’s also a solar panel on the top. One minute of winding the crank should equate to seven minutes of playback, ensuring you’re never left without a connection.

Roberts SolarDAB 99, £149.99, RobertsRadio.com, @RobertsRadio

Fake fur, mock stone, wood and metal come together in OBEN’s extraordinary menagerie of custom speaker designs. The company’s debut collection, Echoes of Earth, was first shown at Miami Art Week 2025.

We spoke to the founders of the LA-based artists Stevie and Bronx, about the unique ethos and approach that OBEN uses to shape sound for space.

W*: When you set up the company, did you see it as an extension of your existing artistic practice, or a new space in which to operate and perhaps find new ways of working?

Stevie and Bronx: OBEN did not feel like starting a company so much as recognizing something that had already been forming between us for years. We are husband and wife, and have also been creative collaborators for over a decade, with practices that were independently orbiting many of the same questions OBEN collectively explores.

Stevie’s work has long explored how design, movement, narrative, and environments shape emotion and perception. Bronx is a recording artist, songwriter, producer, and film composer signed to Roc Nation, with years spent understanding sound from its source: how songs are built, how frequencies interact, and how emotion is created through timing, texture, and space.

In many ways, we had already been moving toward this for years. In May of 2020, during the first few months of the pandemic, we were stuck inside and built a sculptural piano in our kitchen for ourselves. It started as an experiment to give sound a physical presence. We were less interested in the instrument as equipment and more interested in how an object could shape the feeling of listening.

W*: How did the first speakers come about?

S and B: We had already spent years exploring how environments shape emotion and how sound can completely change the feeling of being somewhere. OBEN became the first place where all of those interests could exist at once, first inside a singular object and now increasingly across the immersive environments we are developing.

The first works were originally made for our own home because we could not find anything that reflected the relationship we wanted between sound, art, and space. We appreciate technology, but we reject the idea that technological sophistication should require aesthetic compromise.

There is something strange to us about the fact that some of the most emotionally powerful experiences in our homes are often delivered through objects designed with no real emotional consideration. That led us to a different question: what if the object responsible for one of the most emotional experiences in a room was also one of the most beautiful?

W*: How are the speakers made?

S and B: Every work is built entirely by hand and serialized individually. That relationship to making is important to us. Bronx grew up alongside his dad, who is an incredibly skilled contractor and craftsman, and developed an early understanding that physical decisions matter, that materials carry feeling, and that the way something is made changes the way it is experienced. Stevie’s work has always explored how objects, environments, and experiences shape emotion and perception.

These are not sculptures with speakers added later, and they are not traditional audio products dressed up as art. Form, material, and sound develop together until they become truly inseparable.

Wallpaper*: How are the various speaker characters established and created?

Stevie and Bronx: Every OBEN work begins from the same pursuit: creating sound that feels startlingly alive. Korus begins with the wood itself. The grain is read before a single cut is made. Chambers are carved to follow the logic of the material rather than a predetermined design.

The result feels engineered and inevitable at the same time. Because the enclosure is solid hardwood, the body of the work resonates differently than a composite or textile form. There is a warmth and density to the low end that reads as grounded, almost architectural.

The Arqos model is built from hand-sculpted mineral composite. The arch and portal forms it draws from are not decorative references. They are geometries that human beings have returned to across every culture because of what they do physically when you stand before them. That threshold quality is present in how Arqos behaves in a room. It has a sense of weight and gravity that the wood works don't.

Callisto is built around concealment. Its cratered surface reads as monumental from across a room and handmade from close. The domed geometry creates a different projection pattern, and the choice between hardwood and mineral composite versions produces meaningfully different tonal characters from the same form.

Mane is the most tactile. Acoustic textiles wrapped around the enclosure don't just change the surface. Fiber and density affect how the form absorbs and releases sound at the boundary. The gemstone legs aren't ornamental either. Mass and contact with the floor change resonance behaviour.

Finally there’s the Jovian, which breaks the premise of the question entirely. Every other work is a pair. Jovian refuses the conventional stereo premise from the start. No pairs. No left and right. A single tower, eight drivers projecting outward in all directions. You're no longer positioned in front of the sound. You're inside it.

W*: Does each model share technical underpinnings, or are there performance and specification differences between the various models?

Stevie and Bronx: Across the collections, there is a shared technical philosophy and level of fidelity, but the goal is simple: we want listening to feel less like hearing a recording and more like feeling a real performance unfold in front of you. All of the works share the same underlying acoustic philosophy.

Every model is built around a single full-range driver architecture because we are committed to preserving the integrity of a performance and allowing sound to arrive as one event. Many high-fidelity systems divide music across separate components dedicated to lows, mids, and highs in pursuit of extracting maximum performance from each range. We intentionally do not.

The forms are not decorative shells around a speaker. Material selection, internal architecture, proportion, surface, scale, and structure all influence both how sound behaves and how the object is experienced physically in a room. The characters emerge through a sculptural process rather than a traditional product design process. We think of our limited editions less as product variations and more as distinct instruments within the same body of work.

The honest answer to whether these works share technical underpinnings: yes. The same standard of fidelity runs through everything we make. But each work has its own acoustic character, arrived at through its own material logic. Some anchor a room. Some inhabit it. One dissolves it entirely.

Wallpaper*: Have there been any particularly interesting responses from gallerists or spatial designers and architects about the Oben range?

S and B: One of the most consistent initial responses has actually been a moment of disorientation. At first glance, some people assume the works are sculptures. Others think they are furniture, architecture, or conceptual objects. There is often a moment where people are observing the form and trying to intellectually place it. Then the sound starts.

Once people hear them, they realize the forms are not containers for sound. They are part of how the sound comes alive. That realization is often where architects and spatial designers become especially interested, because the conversation shifts beyond the individual object and toward what happens when sound itself becomes part of the architecture.

Gallery and institutional settings open an entirely different dimension of the work for us because they allow the exploration to expand beyond the individual object and into the room itself.

We had an early opportunity to test that idea publicly through our first immersive installation, Echoes of Earth, presented during Art Basel Miami with support from The Macallan and Bentley Motors. Watching people move through the environment confirmed something we had already suspected: once sound becomes spatial, people stop behaving like observers and start behaving like participants.

Wallpaper*: Dare I say it, but there's a very alien/science fiction element to some of these speaker forms, an approach that feels almost organic. How did you determine these distinct characters and personalities?

S and B: We actually love that observation because there is definitely an otherworldly quality to most of our work. Ironically, we never sit down and intentionally decide to make something feel alien or futuristic. There is usually a moment at the end where we look at each other and think, ‘Why does this feel so much older than us? Why does this feel familiar?’

We are really interested in the subconscious, dreams, altered perception, mythology, memory, and objects that feel discovered rather than designed. Some feel protective. Some feel ceremonial. Some feel irreverent. Some feel playful. If we had to place the work somewhere, surrealism is probably the closest reference point. We think of our objects less as inventions and more as discoveries, and believe intuition is one of the highest forms of pattern recognition.

That also shows up in how we select materials. The organic quality people sense in the work is real, it comes from paying attention to what materials already want to become rather than forcing geometry onto them. Surfaces that erode, fibres that hold tension, woods that reveal age, forms that feel more grown than assembled. We rarely make that decision consciously.

We just follow what the material is already doing. There is something about encountering an object and not immediately knowing whether it was grown, remembered, discovered, or made. That is what we are reaching for.

Wallpaper*: Do you have an philosophy of sound and sound reproduction?

S and B: Most audio is engineered around the idea that music is a collection of frequencies to be reproduced as accurately as possible. We don't see it that way. Nobody knows more about music than the people who make music - Bronx has spent nearly two decades making music professionally as a recording artist, songwriter, producer, and film composer. That background shapes everything.

Our starting question was never simply how you reproduce sound, but how you preserve the feeling of a performance. There is a difference between understanding sound as information and understanding music as something authored. To us, songs are constructed experiences. Tiny decisions around timing, space, layering, tension, release, distortion, silence, and texture completely change how something feels emotionally.

When sound is divided across multiple drivers and reconstructed by a crossover, those relationships shift in ways the ear and brain feel even when the mind doesn't register why. Some of the intimacy of the performance disappears. That perspective shapes every decision we make.

Every OBEN work is built around a single full-range driver architecture. No crossover. Sound arrives as one event rather than a collection of separated frequencies reassembled on the other side. That is the foundation. The forms are not decorative and the acoustics are not an engineering problem to be solved later. Material, proportion, geometry, resonance, and structure all shape how sound ultimately arrives in the body.

Most musical instruments are not rectangular for a reason. We think about that a lot. People often assume the sculptural forms exist despite the sound. What surprises them is realizing the forms themselves are part of why the experience feels so alive.

OBEN Mane, from $26,000 / Callisto, from $78,000 / Arqos, from $71,000 / Korus, from $71,000 / Jovian: starting at $125,000, OBENhifi.com, @OBENhifi

We’ve already admired their alarm clock and the recent high-profile LoveFrom collaboration on the ultra-refined Sailing Lantern. Now the luxury appliance maker is bringing its acclaimed NatureWind Studio fan across the Pacific.

This particular model has been highly popular in Japan ever since its introduction in 2010. Using Balmuda’s own dual-blade airflow technology, the NatureWind Studio is a sizeable machine that’s both quiet and powerful. The twin blade system combines an inner blade for slow-moving airflow and a faster outer blade that is ‘designed to feel more like wind through an open window’.

Coupled together, Balmuda’s fan can shift a surprising amount air across a much wider area than a regular single-bladed fan – the company suggests it’s up to four times as much. Ultra quiet operation (down to just 9 dB on the lowest of the five speed settings) makes this a great fan for the bedroom. The maximum airflow – in so-called ‘Jet Mode’ – can punch air for distances of up to 75 feet.

The design is suitably elegant for incorporation into the home for all-year-round use. Sitting on a sturdy but lightweight metal tripod base the whole weighs in at around 4kg and stands about 90cm high. Available in black or white, the fan has an industrial feel design with a simple button-driven interface (no screens or apps) and an integral power cord.

The unit is made in Japan, alongside Balmuda’s other domestic products, which include everything from kettles to clocks, speakers and grills. Founded by Gen Terao in 2003, the Tokyo-based company started as a one-man operation but has expanded to encompass all aspects of ultra-refined domestic design.

NatureWind Studio fan, $429.00, US.Balmuda.com

Another electric Ferrari has broken cover, only this one is rather less controversial than the Luce. Developed in collaboration with tech giants HP, the limited-edition HP x Scuderia Ferrari AI PC showcases the Italian manufacturer’s genius at cross-genre pollination and brand extension.

The HP x Scuderia Ferrari AI PC is basically a fancy laptop, albeit one that’s been given a light dusting of material magic to go with the top-rated onboard technology. It’s billed as an AI PC because of the power beneath the bright red casing is deemed powerful enough to handle the many calculations required for complex on-device AI models.

The Intel Core Ultra X7 processor 358H comes with Intel Arc B390 graphicsi ii and provides up to 180 TOPS – that’s Trillions or Tera Operations per Second, an increasingly common performance metric in the AI era.

That’s the power under the hood. Where has the rest of the Ferrari design input gone? The colour is an obvious giveaway, as is the prancing horse logo on the keyboard, but HP and Ferrari are stressing this isn’t a simple question of add-on branding – although the launch announcement ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix will tap into one of the company’s biggest media focal points of the year.

Ferrari’s own Design Studio worked on the casing, alongside HP's industrial designers and engineers, and this particular piece of technology has elicited warm words from both parties. ‘This notebook is a true reflection of how Ferrari and HP set a cutting-edge manufacturing technology, where advanced material engineering and craftsmanship converge into a unique, uncompromising expression of performance, precision, innovation and refined design,’ says Ferraris’ Chief Design Officer Flavio Manzoni. For their part, HP describe the laptop as ‘a testament to what can be achieved when two industry leaders combine their expertise.’

So far, so par for the course with such a collab. Limiting production to just 4,999 units will certainly tap into the Ferrari customer’s desire for exclusivity regardless of the product in question. Even but the attention to detail is worth mentioning, from the custom packaging to the use of carbon fibre and glass in the case, and an illuminated glass palm rest and haptic touchpad boundary.

The finish used on the CNC-milled chassis is Rosso Magma, one of many signature reds in the Ferrari palette. Elements like the three-dimensional louvered vent design for cooling the chips are rather tenuously linked to the cooling and aerodynamic systems found in a car.

The screen itself is a 3K Tandem OLED+ touch display with the red theme shining through in the individually backlit keyboard (although any colour can be selected by the user). Ferrari owners will also relish the Poltrona Frau leather sleeve, the same material used on the interior of modern Ferraris. As for the price, that’s another point of familiarity that won’t put off fans of the prancing horse.

HP Limited Edition Scuderia Ferrari AI PC, $5,599, HP.com, Ferrari.com

The newest products from Ruark Audio combine high-powered audio projection with a multi-functional head unit. The Talisman-R floor-standing speakers are a reissue of a design that was first seen in 1990. Slender in form, with a distinctive wedge-shaped profile (think of RSHP’s ‘Cheese-grater’ building in the City of London), the Talisman-R are now in their fourth generation.

Over the years, this speaker system has been upgraded to keep pace with developments in audio technology and materials and the Talisman-R is no different. The carefully designed enclosure has been shaped to dissipating the energy created by sound streaming through the speakers, directing and shaping it without additional colouration.

Each speaker, which measures 85cm high by 21cm wide by 25cm deep, sits on a 10mm steel plinth with adjustable rubber feet and carpet spikes. Coupled with the speaker’s individual 17.6kg weight, the mass gives the Talisman-R great stability, as well a conveying an elegant ‘floating’ appearance. Supported amplification ranges between 75 and 200W and the speakers are available in a Fused Walnut veneer or Satin Charcoal lacquer.

The Talisman-R are joined by the R710, the latest and most powerful entrant in Ruark’s acclaimed 100 Series of high-end all-in-one consoles. What Ruark are offering is a refined and highly crafted way of interacting with traditional physical media, without losing sight of the convenience and ease of streaming services.

In addition to the integral slot-loading compact disc player, which receives CDs in a gap between the trademark Ruark slatted front fascia, there’s support for a turntable via the built-in phono stage.

A front-mounted 6.8-inch TFT colour screen is paired with the traditional wood finishes, providing information and artwork from the various high-res audio services, including Spotify Connect, Qobuz Connect, Tidal Connect, Apple AirPlay, and Google Cast. There’s also substantial onboard 200W per channel amplification, as well as HDMI connectivity to home theatre set-ups. Both wired and Bluetooth headphones are supported.

For those who haven’t switched their allegiances to streaming and want to mix vinyl, CD and local ripped music collections, the R710 can connect to both networked media servers and USB-based drive systems. Internet radio is also available, as well as an alarm clock function, with all controls accessible via the RotoDial Bluetooth remote.

The compact desk-top device is available in both Fused Walnut and Satin Charcoal lacquer finishes so that it can pair perfectly with the Talisman-R speakers.

Ruark R710 Console, £2,199, Ruark Talisman-R speakers, £1499 per pair, RuarkAudio.com, @RuarkAudio

Leica already makes some of the slickest and most elegant television projectors on the market via its Smart Projection series, including the Cine 1 and the Cine Play 1. Now the company has added a new ultra-compact mini projector to the line-up: introducing the Leica Cine Compact 1.

Following the same aesthetic as the Cine Play 1, the new Leica Cine Compact 1 still manages to pack a lot of power into its compact form factor. The projector offers brightness of up to 1,700 lumens and can project a 4K image at sizes up to 220 inches, whether it’s on a wall or ceiling – the latter feat aided by a 360-degree rotation system.

Set-up is designed to be plug-and-play, with automated keystone correction, framing and focus. The optics are handled by a Leica Summicron zoom lens with aspherical elements, along with the company’s own image-processing technology and the inclusion of Dolby Vision.

The compact size encourages you to move the projector to wherever suits you best, with an optional stand that preserves full use of the 360-degree rotation system. The unit itself is presented in a solid aluminium housing with softly curved edges, a dark glass front panel and geometrically precise details and vents and a matching remote control.

On board services include Netflix, YouTube, Disney+ and Amazon Prime, with expansion ports for HDMI sound systems, in addition to the integrated sound system, which includes support for Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS Virtual:X. Other connectors include USB, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and media can also be streamed via Apple AirPlay and Apple HomeKit.

Like everything that bears the Leica name, it carries a premium, but this is still an elegant unit that stays true to the company’s design and material ethos while also offering high-grade video and audio performance.

Leica Cine Compact 1 projector, £1,450.00 / €1,645.00, Leica-Camera.com, @Leica_Camera

Seizing on the general drift towards a slower, more contemplative mode of cultural production, Polaroid’s newest variant of the ultra-compact Go camera has now been announced. This is the third iteration of the Polaroid Go, a small-format camera that uses Polaroid Go film for instant results framed by those iconic and much-imitated white borders.

Polaroid is pushing the new go towards a younger generation, freshly attuned to the pleasing friction and slow mechanical reveal of the instantly developing pictures, as well as the burgeoning fashion for phone-free experiences and more considered, singular, one-off image-making.

To tap into this sector’s expectations, the Go Generation 3 has an in-built selfie mirror and self-timer, as well as a double-exposure feature for an added dose of unpredictability. The optics system has also been uprated for crisper results and better close-up results, along with the incorporation of a powerful flash.

According to Stine Bauer Dahlberg, Polaroid’s chief product officer, with the Polaroid Go Generation 3, the company ‘set out to design the world’s smallest instant camera that still takes picture-taking seriously. Every decision supports how people actually use a camera this small, while delivering strong performance across different lighting conditions.’

The camera itself is available in five different colours, black, light blue, purple, teal and white, and can be ordered online today (2 June 2026) or from retailers from mid-month. It’s part of the brand’s ongoing revitalisation since the original company went under two decades ago.

Starting with the preservation of the Polaroid film factory in the Netherlands, the brand was ultimately reborn for a more image-conscious generation. Products over the past few years have included the Polaroid Flip, Polaroid Now+ and the Polaroid I-2 cameras, all evoking the spirit of Edwin Land’s pioneering interwar Land camera system and the Polaroid SX-70, introduced in 1972 as an instant pop-cultural artefact.

Polaroid Go Generation 3, £79.99, available from Polaroid.com, @Polaroid.com

Kit yourself out with long-lasting travelling gear thanks to this new limited series collaboration between Sony and Carl Friedrik. To celebrate the launch of Sony’s new flagship headphones, the 1000X The Collexion series, the audio specialists have teamed up with London-based luggage brand Carl Friedrik to create a limited-edition Premium Audio Travel Set.

Consisting of a choice between platinum and tan leather or black-on-black examples of the award-winning The Carry-on X hard-shelled bag and a matching pair of 1000X The Collexion headphones, each set also comes with a luggage tag in untreated Vachetta leather. The suitcase itself has been given a custom insert in which you’ll find the tag and the bespoke carry case for the Sony headphones.

The Carry-on X is a 44-litre capacity bag designed explicitly to accommodate the majority of airline cabin baggage rules. Measuring 56cm high x 38cm wide and 25cm deep, the bag weighs in at just 4.7kg empty, thanks to the mix of hard-wearing aluminium, polycarbonate and vegetable tanned leather construction. There’s a hard-shell pocket for electronics at the front, and an internal modular packing system.

Although it was only founded in 2013, the Carl Friedrik brand has rapidly ascended to the top of traveller’s polls, thanks to its luggage’s combination of lightness, durability and straightforward design. The ribbed aluminium trunks have a classic elegance without over-reliance on retro design, just like the 1000X headphones.

To emphasise their premium nature, Sony has given these new wireless over-ear headphones a premium set of materials, with matte metal elements in the headband paired with gloss finish components. The contact points are marked by a specially developed faux leather with a soft, tactile quality, and the 1000X have been designed with a purist look that’s aided by flush integrated buttons and microphone openings.

The headphones also integrate a wheel system for navigating through tracks and functions, and incorporate adaptive noise cancelling, multi-point connectivity and up to 24 hours of battery life – enough for the longest of long-haul trips.

Sony x Carl Friedrik Premium Audio Travel Set, £995, available for a limited time only from Carl Friedrik's Regent Street and Covent Garden stores and from CarlFriedrik.com,

Not content with muscling in on the cleaning and cooking sectors, SharkNinja has set its sights on conquering the tastebuds of high-end coffee lovers with the introduction of the new AutoBarista Pro.

While we’re not suggesting that this one-button solution could ever usurp the rituals of roasting, weighing, measuring and pouring very particular types of coffee, the AutoBarista Pro is a hefty countertop solution that promises a huge variety of choice and consistency, regardless of your favorite brew.

Ultimately, it’s a labour-saving device, a fact that might not rest easy with those who prefer their coffee creation to involve a little bit of time, effort, knowledge and experience (if that’s you, there are more new coffee machines out there). If, on the other hand, you want to maintain a solid quality cup of coffee while switching between multiple types, then the AutoBarista Pro is here to alleviate the pain points.

The Ninja’s screen showcases the options – espresso, lungo, cortado, flat white, latte, cappuccino, americano and filter coffee, alongside filter coffee, cold-pressed, ice latte, cold-brew and over ice variants. Each can be personalised to your favoured strength, temperature and size, with up to five different milk froth presets.

The machine is supplied with two 340g bean hoppers to allow for easy switching between flavours, and there’s also the ability to prepare two espresso shots at once. The onboard grinder has been programmed to calibrate the levels of grinding depending on the beans chosen, while the frother is said to provide ‘microfoam’ regardless of dairy or non-dairy options ‘putting barista-level texture at your fingertips.’

Automated rinse cycles prevent the build-up of waste grounds, and there’s also an onboard fan that ensures the inner mechanism is well ventilated. The key components can all be run through the dishwasher, while the admittedly hefty unit has a polished metal finish with a seamlessly integrated touch screen.

Ninja AutoBarista Pro Coffee Machine, £899, SharkNinja.co.uk

The bookshelf speaker is an evergreen accessory for conventional hi-fi systems and turntables as well as computer systems. These five new smaller-sized speakers bring power, punch and precision, from a pair costing barely more than a gatefold double LP to a handcrafted set that should last generations.

Fyne Audio Cubitt 5

First up, the Cubitt 5 from Fyne Audio, a pair of active speakers that come with onboard digital sound processing. Measuring 165mm (width) x 215mm (depth) x 260mm (height), these speakers keep their compact kudos by incorporating an amplifier, meaning there’s no need for any additional kit when streaming from a hi-fi system, turntable or TV.

The Cubitt 5 comes in five different finishes – Arctic White, Midnight Black, Olive Green, Pearl Titanium, and Pebble Grey – and features 240W of amplification. Fyne Audio is especially proud of the five-inch IsoFlare driver, which has been designed to fill a room without depending on a particular sweet spot for the best all-round listening experience. Connections include Bluetooth 5.0 and HDMI, with a separate output for a subwoofer, should you want to bulk up the home cinema experience.

Fyne Audio Cubitt 5, £549/pair, FyneAudio.com, @FyneAudio

Wharfedale Denton 1S

The Denton 1S is one of Wharfedale’s Heritage models, a contemporary upgrade of the compact home speakers that made the British company’s name back in the 1960s and 1970s.

The original Denton 1 was launched in 1974, and the new product revisits the curved cabinet design along with a special speaker configuration that incorporates the tweeter within the mid-woofer, giving the impression that there’s only a single driver.

Available in black, blue and white and measuring 236mm (width) x 229mm (depth) x 330mm (height), the Denton 1S is not an active speaker – a separate amplifier rated between 30 and 100W is required.

Wharfedale Denton 1S, £649/pair, Wharfedale.co.uk, @Wharfedale_hifi

Majority D50X

At the absolutely entry-level end of the scale are the D50X Bluetooth bookshelf speakers from Majority. The D50X is a cut-price Bluetooth-enabled bookshelf speaker that offers multiple inputs and plenty of flexibility – Bluetooth 5.3, HDMI, optical, USB and Aux, as well as a dedicated headphone socket when you don’t want to use the onboard carbon-fibre drivers.

The speakers are available in black, white, green, maroon and pink, and are an ultra-compact 130mm (width) x 150mm (depth) x 18mm (height). The size makes them suitable for desktop use with laptops, etc, but don’t expect ear-cossetting quality.

Majority D50X Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers, £69.95, MajorityAudio.com, @MajorityAudio, Amazon.co.uk

Sonus faber Concertino G4

Audiophile excellence is the baseline for Sonus Faber products, and the Italian company’s Concertino G4 aims to bring that excellence to the smaller-sized speaker. The G4’s dimensions are 214mm (width) x 297mm (depth) x 314mm (height), ensuring the speakers will fit onto good-sized shelves (a separate stand is also available). These are traditional handmade speakers with traditional wired connectivity – no Bluetooth or onboard amplification to be found.

The enclosure uses solid walnut, while black leather or a vegan alternative from Ohoskin is paired with brass detailing. Cork is used in the internal chassis for its sound-dampening qualities. The speakers accept amplifiers from 30W to 150W.

Sonus faber Concertino G4, £4,625/pair, SonusFaber.com, @Sonusfaberofficial

Cambridge Audio L/R M

The sister product to Cambridge’s excellent ultra-compact L/R S speakers, the fully active L/R M model is, as you’d expect, a step up in size and power. Measuring 158 mm (width) x 190mm (depth) mm x 263mm (height), the L/R M comes with Bluetooth and physical connectivity and has a total power output of 300W.

The simple fascia design follows on from the L/R S, with bronze detailing on the tweeters, and the speaker cabinets themselves are available in a wide range of colours, including green, orange, black, white, blue and natural walnut.

Cambridge Audio L/R M, from £1,299/pair, CambridgeAudio.com, @CambridgeAudio

Tidy minds love all-in-one audio systems. What could be more convenient than an elegantly shaped unit that brings together every facet of your audio demands and can be mounted on wall or desk? That ethos underpins the new Vega from Dali.

Dali stands for Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries, and in addition to high quality audio components, the Nørager-based company also brings the well-established qualities of contemporary Danish design to its products. The Vega will be available in dark and natural oak finishes, using real wood veneers, enhanced with anodised aluminium details and specially woven fabrics.

The long, slender unit can be integrated into existing systems via the BluOS protocol or used as a standalone system with access to regular audio streaming services. It’s also equipped with a full suite of wired and wireless inputs, including analogue and optical digital connections, HDMI, USB and Bluetooth, meaning it can be used to stream from mobile as well as serve as a TV soundbar and turntable speaker system.

On the top of the console there are five configurable preset buttons alongside a large, weighted volume wheel and a OLED display that will rotate depending on the way the unit is installed. Dali has used aerospace grade ball-bearings to make the volume wheel mechanism feel smooth and precisely weighted to go with its glass, acrylic and aluminium construction. A separate BluOS app provides additional control.

The unit took Dali five years to develop, in which time several competitors have also made a pitch for the premium single box market. To stay ahead of the game, the in-house team of acoustic engineers have fitted no less than ten drivers, along with a large chamber to reduce resonant frequencies and improve the low frequency performance.

In total, the Vega has 400 watts of amplification delivered across eight 50 watt channels. Dali’s own Adaptive Stereo Enhancement (ASE) and Adaptive Orientation Adjustment (AOA) technologies create a panoramic room-filling sound regardless of where the unit is placed – either mounted to a wall or free-standing, whether in portrait or landscape orientation. Placement settings are fully configurable to accommodate the architectural and spatial variables of the chosen room.

‘Music is becoming an integral part of people’s lives, and the key to it all is convenience,’ says Krestian Pedersen, Head of Product Management at Dali, ‘It has to be easy, but without compromising on quality. Our goal with Vega was to create a product that fits the way people live and access music in their daily lives. We wanted to make a product that people want to keep turned on all the time.’

Vega from Dali, available from September 2026, £2,599 / €2,999, Dali-Speakers.com, @DaliSpeakers

Heresy or genuine helper? That’s the first question most musicians would ask about the new wave of AI-assisted instruments and effects coming down the pipe. The modern musical landscape is pretty geared up to gadgetry and product and upgrade cycles that would put most smartphone makers to shame.

Up until now, however, music-orientated AI has mostly lurked in music software, rather than formed the backbone of a piece of hardware. Here are six new devices that promise to use the computing power of artificial intelligence to enhance the art of noise.

TemPolor Melo-D

The Melo-D from TemPolor is perhaps the most obvious break from convention. Superficially guitar-shaped, it promises to unlock the fumblings of the non-musician and open them up to a whole new world (that sound you can hear is professionals grinding their teeth).

So how does it work? Ominously, the Melo-D goes all in on generative AI, claiming to be able to generate original music from hummed melodies that can then be ‘played’ by thumbing or strumming the sensors and fretting the plastic fingerboard. It’s little more than a toy, an enhanced video game controller, with a penchant for bland easy listening.

Superficially, there’s not a lot here for real musicians. TemPolor is light on technical specs; there are no indications as to whether it could supply MIDI information or even be hacked into something more avant-garde. The folding form factor is certainly unique, but don’t expect a shortcut to proficiency, or even any kind of genuine musical insight.

The TemPolor Melo-D goes live on Kickstarter this month, TemPolorGuitar.com

Blackstar Beam Mini

For a slightly more down-to-earth and understandable application of AI, amplification specialist Blackstar has announced the Beam Mini, a portable desktop amp that has inbuilt stem separation.

In short, the Beam incorporates software from Moises, an established specialist in the art of transforming a piece of music by breaking it down into its component vocal and instrument tracks. For a practising guitarist, it’s a useful tool, as is the onboard selection of digitally modelled amps and effects.

Blackstar Beam Mini amplifier, £169.99, Blackstaramps.com, @Blackstaramps

Roland Project Lydia

Roland’s Project Lydia is still in the concept stage, courtesy of the Japanese giant’s Roland Future Design Lab. Following the familiar shape of its pro grade pedal series, Project Lydia presents a new paradigm for the effects pedal, applying neural models to the input (regardless of source) to shape a dynamic output.

The project is now its second phase, working as before with Neutone’s Morpho technology, an AI-powered system that translates one sound into another while retaining the sonic signature of the original.

Roland Project Lydia, currently concept only, Articles.Roland.com, @RolandGlobal

Polyend Endless

Infinite sound capabilities are also a feature of the Polyend Endless system, which we first saw back at NAMM 2026. This endlessly configurable stompbox is programmed via text prompts – simply describe the sound or effect you want to achieve and then download onto the pedal. Three parameter knobs can be assigned as you wish and multiple Endlesses can be chained together for a totally unique sound.

Polyend Endless, $299, Polyend.com, @MadeinPolyend

Roli AI Music Coach

Roli is best known for its Seaboard series of keyboards, which combine conventional piano keys with a dynamic multitouch surface for added expression. The company also makes more conventional – albeit illuminated – keyboards for learning, which can be combined with its Airwave controller, a 3D sensor that tracks hand and finger position in real time to enhance the player’s journey.

These are all brought together by the new AI Music Coach system, which uses AI to interrogate the Airwave’s output and generate constructive feedback. It’s not going to replace a music teacher, but the idea is to go beyond the simple piano roll method of learning notes to help shape a more fluid technique.

Roli AI Music Coach, more information at Roli.com, @Roli_learn

Artinoise trillo

Another superficially toy-like device, the Artinoise Trillo is a digital flute with depth, as well as a welcome absence of AI. The latest product from a company that has already released the MIDI-enabled recorder and the Zefiro smartphone mouthpiece, Trillo is pitched at beginners and experienced players alike. The device splices the functionality of its first two products into a single instrument, creating a MIDI controller that you blow, whether it’s to learn the art of playing the recorder, or simply as a new way of getting sounds into a project.

Trillo can be used standalone or with the accompanying app, which expands the onboard sound library. Lights guide finger placement and the sensor package tracks their position as well as the intensity of your breath. Artinoise CEO Davide Mancini notes that the Trillo is designed to be picked up and instantly played, ‘embodying the simplicity of humanity’s oldest instrument’.

Artinoise Trillo is available to support on Kickstarter.com

Bang & Olufsen extend their global reach and collaborative scope with a new partnership with Fragment Design, the Tokyo streetwear studio established by Hiroshi Fujiwara in 2004. Over two decades, Fujiwara has expanded into fashion, music, pop culture and technology, making this reworking of four signature B&O products a natural extension of his process.

Fujiwara is a long-time fan of the brand, following it for over 30 years through several iterations of format, technology and form. The four pieces that receive Fragment’s signature monochrome black aesthetic – paired with Bang & Olufsen’s precision-milled aluminium – are the Beosound A1 portable speaker, Beoplay H100 headphones, the modular wall-mounted Beosound Shape speaker, and the Beosystem 9000c, the iconic triple pillar CD system that was recently revived through B&O’s Recreated Classics series.

The very first system Fujiwara owned was the Beocenter 2300, initially launched in 1991. ‘This collaboration has been a long-time dream of mine,’ says the designer, ‘Since building my home around Bang & Olufsen’s integrated home sound system in the 1990s, the brand has been my first choice for audio.’

Fujiwara began his career as a DJ and producer before moving into graphics, streetwear and fashion. One of the key players in the increasingly influential Japanese design scene in the 1990s, he is credited with helping bring Bang & Olufsen’s products to a wider audience in the country.

To mark this connection, the four products delve into Fragment Design’s dark and moody aesthetic, using B&O’s artisanal skill with aluminium shaping and finishing to provide an anodized, hand polished finish that results in a ‘distinctive liquid-like, high-gloss finish.’

According to Kresten Bjørn Krab-Bjerre, Bang & Olufsen’s Senior Director of Design, ‘We applied a highly artisanal anodization and polishing process for the first time on our portable products as part of this collaboration - it’s a meticulous approach that brings Fragment’s signature black to life through a finish only achievable by hand.’

Subtle branding adds more creative kudos, with the addition of Fragment’s double lightning bolt and wordmark. For example, the Beoplay H100 includes the logo on the left ear cup, while the Beosound A1 places the motif beneath the grille. The assemblage of seven Beosound Shape tiles is finished in black and grey fabric to form a flower-inspired pattern, with a logo in aluminium.

Finally, the mighty Beosound 9000c system comes complete with a pair of Beolab 28 loudspeakers and the Beoremote One. All are finished with matte black surfacing and glossy natural aluminium and bear the collaborators’ marks on the CD clamper and speaker stands.

‘This collaboration feels like a meaningful continuation for our journey together,’ concludes Fujiwara. Available in Tokyo from 20 May at a special pop-up store in the Isetan Department Store in Shinjuku, three of the four pieces will have their global release on 3 June 2026, while the Beosystem 9000c is exclusive to the Japan market.

Beoplay H100, RRP £1,700, Beosound A1 3rd Gen, RRP £350, Beosound Shape, RRP £5,300, Beosystem 9000c, made to order from £53,000

bang-olufsen.com, @bangolufsen, cp.mistore.jp

Can you truly automate everything? Come with us on a journey to explore installing and deploying the Oneisall Ease S1, an ‘automatic litter box’ that promises to support ‘comfortable daily use for cats that prefer open, low-stress environments’. We’ve yet to meet a cat that flourishes in a closed, high-stress environment, but the Ease S1 could be a useful stopgap between the traditional litter tray and the hefty scale and investment of products like the Litter-Robot 4.

Oneisall is a Chinese supplier of pet-focused technology – think automated feeders, vacuums and air purifiers. The newly launched Ease S1 leans into the idea of tech-centric pet ownership, perfect for city dwellers, with a large, raised tray for your cats to do their business in, an automated pivoting mechanism that sifts through the doings and deposits the results out of sight and smell for easy removal.

Yes, there’s a smattering of generative AI on the Oneisall website (cats have been the only beneficiaries of this technology to have not suffered reputational harm), but if that hasn’t put you off, what are the pros and cons?

For a start, you need roughly half a cubic metre of space in which to install the Ease S1, not a given in many houses, let alone small urban flats. It’s also not a terribly friendly-looking machine, raised up on four stubby legs with rotating visor-like lid and a fierce-looking stainless-steel sieve that does the automated sorting.

As owners will know, attempting to redirect a cat’s attention to new routines and accommodate new devices can be somewhat hit or miss. Ease S1 owners are advised to install it alongside an existing litter tray and scatter some of its used litter in the new tray to lure the beast into its grey plastic maw. Once that’s achieved – and this can take time – the results will then be automatically sieved and sifted into the lower tray for disposal.

The Ease S1 is stuffed with sensors, including radar, weight sensors on the legs and an infrared sensor inside the tray itself. All this is dedicated to detecting your pet as it approaches and commences its business so the automation can kick in in due course. Should the sieving operating be underway, the sensors will stop straight away so your cat doesn’t get trapped within the machine.

Thankfully for the app-phobic, Oneisall has kept the machine’s operation as simple as possible, ensuring you don’t have to suffer through notifications of each and every delivery. It’s also quiet when things are underway, designed not to scare or put off timid felines. The combination of stainless-steel and silicone components cuts down on smells and maintenance and the mechanism is straightforward and unfussy.

City-dwelling cat owners should certainly give the Ease S1 a look. It beats the traditional litter tray and is less complex and more affordable item than the heavy-duty, more overtly robotised alternatives on the market. Ultimately, however, the only consumer you really have to satisfy is your cat, and that is something that no amount of technology can predict or guarantee.

Oneisall Ease S1 Self-Cleaning Litter Box, €239,99, EU.Oneisall.com, Amazon.com

On the stage of the Ryman Auditorium, country music’s ‘mother church’, the legends of Nashville and beyond are coming thick and fast, either in person or spirit. This is Tele Town, a one-off, all-star gig hosted by Fender, the strength of the bill speaking to the pulling power of the musical instrument company that makes the signature guitar of country: the Telecaster.

Sheryl Crow receives her flowers via a cover of her 2002 hit ‘Soak Up the Sun’ by Andrea Benz and Maggie Baugh. Emma Zinck leans into the iconic riff ‘Back on the Chain Gang’ in tribute to Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders. John Oates, of Hall & Oates, performs ‘Please Send Me Someone to Love’. Sister act Larkin Poe blow off the roof with the aid of surprise guest Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.

Game knows game: Ricky Skaggs plays ‘Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line’ in tribute to Waylon Jennings. Here’s Jack White, adoptive Nashvillian, with a fierce version of The White Stripes’ ‘Ball and Biscuit’. As the concert approaches its climax, country music superstar Brad Paisley – an arena-scale phenomenon in America – tears into his hits ‘The Nervous Breakdown’ and ‘Alcohol’.

And still the surprises keep coming. Gently ushered onstage in a chair is 86-year-old James Burton. The guitarist all-timer has played with everyone from The Everly Brothers to Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell to Suzi Quatro, and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 by lifelong fan Keith Richards. He’s wearing the baseball jacket he wore on the final 1977 tour by an icon who’s long left the building: Elvis Presley. Paisley duly pays homage to one of the greatest guitarists in history, the OG exponent of the paisley-patterned Telecaster: he gifts Burton the 001 prototype of his bespoke ‘Lost Paisley’ guitar.

The near-three-hour show climaxes with most of the evening’s players back on stage. That means 14 guitarists letting rip on Telecasters to celebrate the 75th birthday of the foundational rock’n’roll and country and western instrument invented by Leo Fender. Not so much Tele Town as Tele City, an electrifying, wailing, thrilling symphony of twanging. If I wasn’t wearing cowboy boots when I entered the Ryman, I was when I left.

Fender’s Artist Showroom, East Nashville

The following morning, as the stage equipment from the concert is trucked in through a loading bay, I’m having a tour of Fender’s Artist Showroom. Located in the creative, hipster ’hood that is East Nashville, it’s a purposefully discreet location.

As Tim Shaw, the chief engineer who runs the guitar R&D department here, explains: ‘We are the ministry of the possible, and a lot of what we do is stuff that won't exist for a couple of years. That means that this design and manufacturing facility is ‘a no-camera, no phone, no recording zone… You've noticed there's no signage. There will never be signage. We’re not on Google Maps. We are deliberately hard to find. Amazon still has trouble.’

‘And all that is designed on purpose,’ adds Ben Blanc-Dumont, director of artist marketing, ‘because the primary role that we have here is to work with artists and be a place for them to come and be comfortable. It’s private, and it's about them engaging with us. So we are hiding in plain sight.’

In pride of place on the second floor of this facility is proof of that artist-focused craftsmanship. The ‘Jack White shrine’, as Blanc-Dumont calls it, features core elements of the musician’s Fender Collection: his signature Triplecaster and Triplesonic Acoustasonic guitars, and his Pano Verb – a specialist amplifier that lets the musician ‘pan’ his reverb.

‘A lot of artist instruments, like the Jack White stuff, started downstairs [in the workshops],’ explains Shaw. ’Jack had ideas, stuff he wanted to try on tour… He would take prototypes out for a leg of a tour, and we'd try [different] pickups and he'd say, I'm not sure, what about this? So I make him something else and we try that. That went on close to a year-and-a-half.’

But Fender’s artist-facing artistans and luthiers can do that. The small team here collectively have over 100 years’ experience building guitars. As Shaw says, they can build one of something, or they can build thousands of something at, for example, Fender’s flagship factory in Corona, California.

This means that ‘everything we do here is designed for manufacture’, says Shaw. Or, alternatively, ‘if an artist wants something idiosyncratic – like Jack has half-scalloped frets, starting at the 12th fret, on one of his guitars. And when we brought that guitar to Corona, Corona looked at that and took a hard pass. They were like, “Oh, no, we are not going to do this.” [But] if it's something we want to do, and it's one thing, great.’

That player-friendly utility and flexibility is ingrained in the grain of the company-founding creation of Leo Fender, a creator who was not a guitar player but an engineer. ‘Leo was looking to make a guitar for the working player,’ Edward ‘Bud’ Cole, CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, tells me. ‘And it was all about tonality, reliability of use. You have to think back to how much discipline and pure signal he was working [with] as opposed to noise. He created something that was a full, intellectual, engineering distillation of perfection and not a single cell more. He wanted to completely reinvent what a guitar could be for the working-class musicians at that time.’

The result was a guitar that would shred its away across every varietal of rock, from 1950s rock’n’roll to late 1960s/early 1970s blues-rock to 1980s New Wave to 1990s indie-rock. Push him to choose a personal favourite exemplar of the Telecaster sound (‘fuck, it is a hard one, man…’) and Cole will highlight Jimmy Page and the first Led Zeppelin album (1969). ‘Everyone makes the mistake of thinking maybe it's another guitar. But that album was all recorded with a Telecaster. The Yardbirds used Telecasters, too.’

Then again, Cole admits he’s torn. He’s a Radiohead fan with direct experience of the Telecaster skills of their guitarist Jonny Greenwood. ‘I played in a band, Rain Convention, back in Arizona. And we did a bunch of shows with Radiohead on the “Creep” tour. We were playing clubs to a thousand people. And, I mean, those fucking guitar players, man!’

For all that ubiquity in rock music, though, Nasvhille is Tele town. What is it about the sound of the Telecaster, I ask Justin Norvell, Chief Product Officer of Fender Guitars, that makes it and country music the perfect match? ‘It’s raw honesty,’ he replies. ‘Electric guitars before the Telecaster were more like jazz guitars, with a mellower sound. And this guitar had a much more present [sound]. It poked through in a way that announced itself and changed the direction of where music was going – to a point where it became the ubiquitous tool for country music.

‘The words people use – [country music’s] “twang” – is based upon the sound of the Telecaster,’ Cole continues, ‘it was a kismet, zeitgeisty intersection of the guitar as the music was forming. The guitar was there, and they grew together.’ Genre and instrument, in essence, ‘were intertwined from the roots.’

It's this marriage of tool and creation that, to Cole’s mind, is best exemplified in Lucinda Williams’ 1998 masterpiece Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. ‘That is a record with a clarity and a crispness to the guitars that is awesome. But I also love [The Clash’s] London Calling and [Radiohead’s] OK Computer,’ he adds with a smile. ‘The Telecaster wears so many different hats. But in its Western wear, that clean, bell-like, twangy, direct tone – it’s just like it's announcing itself and saying, “I’m here”.’

Now, three-quarters of a century on from its creation, the instrument is receiving a zing-up. The 75th Anniversary Telecaster Collection comprises five models channelling a heritage while also heralding a future – you can see a YouTube playlist here. Fans and players can choose from the Vintera Road Worn 1951 Telecaster, Ultra II Telecaster, American Professional Custom Telecaster, American Professional Classic Cabronita Telecaster or the Player II Telecaster.

Or, of course, they can choose a road-proven machine hand-crafted by one of the greatest living guitarists – the Jack White Triplecaster. It is, says the man himself, a dream instrument born of a dream collaboration.

‘I’m loving my relationship with Fender,’ White tells me. ‘We’ve been working [together] five years now or more, trying to put all those together. They've really let me design, from scratch, all these new ideas – and put them into production. I can't thank them enough.’

As a ceaselessly inventive businessman with his own, multi-limbed company, Third Man (a record label, publishing house, hardware brand and more), he appreciates that it’s ‘easy to think up stuff. But to actually get a company to put some money behind it and actually make it real and put it into stores and stuff – it's a bigger deal than everyone thinks it is.’

Almost as big a deal as pulling together all those stars for Tele Town. How, I ask White, was it performing on stage with James Burton? ‘Oh, that was pretty cool man,’ he replies, beaming. ‘What an honour. It's amazing. And what a beautiful thing that Brad gave him that guitar … A lot of legends standing out there last night. Those are cool moments that this town [fosters]. Those things can only happen in Nashville.’

Fender.com, @Fender

Six new pairs of over-ear headphones offer up a variety of styles and approaches, from neuro-acoustic audio to ultra-luxury styling and unconventional materials. Here are all the options for all-enveloping sound in Summer 2026.

See our round-up of the best over-ear headphones.

Sychedelic

Described as ‘the world’s first closed-loop neuro-acoustic headphone,’ Sychedelic signifies the ever-closer integration of wellness and health sensors into wearable audio. If it’s close to your skin and there’s data to be divulged, you can bet that somewhere there’s a company looking to extract meaning and benefits from the results.

Sychedelic is one such company. Launching on Kickstarter next month, the Indian start-up incorporates a near-ear PPG sensor (Photoplethysmogram – it’s an industry-standard way of divining heart rate and physiological state through changes in blood volume). This, in turn, feeds a proprietary AI-driven adaptive sound system that ‘guides you’ to a more focused or calming state.

We haven’t had a chance to test this functionality, but the seamless splicing of AI, wellness and familiar tech is an on-brand idea 2026. Even if you’re not delving into the world of neuro-acoustics, the Sychedelic headphones offer everyday audio functionality, including 20+ hours of battery life and Bluetooth 5.3.

Sychedelic, $499, Sychedelic.com, Sychedelic.cult

HEDDphone TWO GT

Fans of chunky audiophile equipment should consider the HEDDphone TWO GT, the latest update of the over-ear HEDDphone TWO from this German manufacturer. Despite the squared-off styling and visual heft, the TWO GTs use materials like carbon fibre and magnesium to keep the weight down to 550g, with a soft leather headband and earpads in both lamb leather and velour for long listening sessions.

The brand offers a mix of luxury details and audiophile-ready specifications, including very high-quality hand-braided cables. HEDD (Heinz Electrodynamic Design) was founded in 2015 by physicist father Heinz Klaus and Musicologist son Dr. Frederik Knop. The Berlin-based company specialises in studio gear, high-end speakers and accessories.

Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2

Two new colourways for Bowers & Wilkins’s current flagship headphones, the Px8 S2. The introduction of Midnight Blue and Pearl Blue doesn’t do anything to update the acoustic abilities of these wireless noise-cancelling headphones, but they were already pretty impressive to start with.

Mixing aluminium and Nappa leather in a lightweight package with a clean, contemporary aesthetic (no retro sci-fi throwbacks here), the Px8 S2 have variable noise cancelling and five-band equalisation. There’s also crystal clear call quality to go with the excellent sound.

Écoute TH1

The Écoute TH1 fuse contemporary Bluetooth technology with a traditional vacuum tube headphone amplifier and preamp. Audiophile interest in the warmth and clarity of traditional amplification has never gone away, but this is the first time a tube has been incorporated into a wireless headset.

Available in Gunmetal or Satin Aluminium, the TH1 also includes a conventional Digital-to-Analogue Converter (DAC), Bluetooth 5.3, a 3.5mm analogue input socket and compatibility with voice assistants.

Écoute TH1, £900, Electromod.co.uk

Daisy One

Coming soon from Californian company Daisy is the One headphone, a more visceral and immersive take on the fusion of wellness and audio. The Daisy One features industrial-styled aluminium hardware and memory foam ear cushions that be magnetically snapped in and out.

Aside from the clean design, the key USP is the proprietary ‘still mode’, that pipes in bespoke immersive soundscapes, ‘recorded in the Californian wilderness’, for a spot of mindful reflection. Environments include a drizzly forest, a roaring waterfall and the ocean, mixing up white noise with breathwork exercises.

Daisy One, $299, DaisySound.com, @Daisysound. Available from July 2026

Grado Classic Series

Grado Labs have announced their Grado Classic Series, a lineup of wired headphone models that encompasses everything from entry-level models (the SR60) through to the high-end GS3000 flagship.

Each pair of headphones in the Classic Series is based on the Grado’s X2 driver platform with a new headband design, lighter construction and upgraded cables. In total, there are seven models in the Classic Series, with finishes including wood and hemp.

The Studio record console is the latest handcrafted piece of audio equipment from San Diego-based specialist Wrensilva. Famed for its combination of high-grade audio components and bespoke handicraft, Wrensilva designs each of its pieces as a standalone item of fine furniture that just happens to include an impressive audio system.

The Studio console is a more compact expression of the Wrensilva ethos. ‘Studio was built to fit naturally into more spaces,’ says Debra Salyer, Wrensilva co-founder and head of design. ‘People want music to live with them, not turn into another thing to manage.’ Following the top-loading approach taken by the company’s other consoles, Studio has a much smaller footprint.

On board, there’s belt-driven turntable with a one-piece magnesium tone arm and an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Wrensilva’s own 100-watt-per-channel Class D amplifier drives the integral two-way bass reflex speakers. When you’re not diving through your record bins, the amp and speaker combo can be used to stream music over Bluetooth, via the auxiliary inputs or an optional connection to the Sonos eco-system.

At 31 inches wide by 17 inches deep and 33 inches tall (approximately 79 x 43 x 84cm), the Studio console is substantially smaller than the flagship M1 (which comes in at 70 x 31.5 x 22 inches). There is still enough space to store 40 vinyl albums behind the textured door. A smoked acrylic cover keeps the deck free from dust.

The base structure is made in the company’s San Diego workshops, an intensive handmade process that makes the most of rich, dark walnut and contrasting brass detailing (for the Wrensilva brandmark) and charcoal coloured fabric, along with an anodized base for the record player.

Over the past ten years, Wrensilva has worked extensively with mixing engineer Manny Marroquin and producer Giles Martin to shape the signature sound of its console range. The Studio console continues this established mix of warm, tactile craft with cutting-edge acoustics, expanding the Wrensilva sound to more spaces than ever before.

Studio record console, from $9,900, Wrensilva.com, @Wrensilva

Some tie-ins feel a little forced, others crackle with real authenticity. Marshall’s newly announced tie-in with the Jimi Hendrix estate is one of the latter; the virtuoso guitarist, who died in 1970 at the tragically young age of 27, was a committed user of Marshall amplification. Indeed, the company's towering black amps are just as much a part of the Hendrix mythos as his favoured Fender Stratocaster.

The only kink in the cable is why this collaboration has taken so long, and why, now that it is finally here, does it only celebrate such a relatively arbitrary date in the Hendrix/Marshall timeline (the ‘moment Hendrix plugged into a Marshall guitar amplifier in 1966’).

Sixty years on, the electric guitar is still in the midst of a cultural and commercial revival. Marshall is now part of the Chinese HongShan Capital Group yet operates out of HQs in Stockholm and the UK’s Milton Keynes. As well as guitar amps, the modern-era brand also dabbles in Bluetooth speakers and earbuds, soundbars and even party speakers, all effective ways of keeping it at the forefront of the cultural conversation.

The Marshall x Hendrix 60th Anniversary Collection is very much back to basics, however. Aside from a dolled-up edition of the Acton III Bluetooth speaker, the two key items in the collection are an authentic Half-Stack guitar amplifier bundled with a special edition of the iconic circular Fuzz Face pedal favoured by Hendrix. All get new colourways and unique finishes, ‘influenced by Hendrix’s love of velvet, silver jewellery and his fascination with space and science fiction’.

First up, the Acton III. It’s not subtle, covered in a layer of crushed purple velvet, with purple knobs and lights (bringing to mind another great musical loss, perhaps), all in service of the Hendrix era’s heightened fashion sense. The speaker grille is given a splashy lava lamp-style graphic, while the cosmic symbolism extends to an all-seeing eye graphic on the side. When you switch on this limited edition you’ll get system sounds taken from rare Hendrix recordings.

Now on to the actual gear. Marshall has created a new edition of the 1959 HW half-stack 100 watt amplifier and the 1960AHW Cab, the latter featuring the familiar array of 4x12 Celestion. It’s a timeless but hefty combo, featuring the same splashy graphical treatment as the compact speaker. The amps are handmade at Marshall’s Bletchley factory in the UK.

It’s paired with a custom version of the Fuzz Face distortion pedal, first introduced in 1966 by Ivor Arbiter and, since 1993, by Jim Dunlop.

Hendrix fans and fuzz aficionados will be familiar with the throaty analogue roar created by simple circuitry, an effect Hendrix could bend and twist like no other before or since. It’s a fitting celebration of this guitar legend. And yes, you can also buy the T-shirt.

Click for more information: Marshall, Jimi Hendrix, @MarshallAmps

It’s a brave person who’s willing to venture outside the secure and familiar mobile eco-systems crafted by Google and Apple. Android and iOS dominate smartphone sales for good reason; they’ve facilitated the evolution of the mobile phone into a completely essential part of everyday life.

Even those who stray outside the garden walls to dabble in the equal-but-different operating systems created for the likes of Huawei (HarmonyOS) or even an open-source equivalent like the Linux-based Ubuntu Touch is opening themselves up to a world without straightforward access to WhatsApp, tap to pay, or seamless photo back-ups.

For a certain buyer, idiosyncrasy will always trump convenience. Kickstarter is awash with out-there ideas like Oukitel’s WP100 Titan, a rugged phone that has an onboard 100 lumen projector, while another truly unusual prospect comes in the shape of Honor’s Robot Phone, expected to hit the market any day. Alternatively, you project a very different kind of image through the ownership of a Vertu phone.

The original boutique smartphone brand is still in the running, although status, not simplicity, is its primary USP. Security also gets a look in – with promised ‘Absolute data sovereignty, safe from cloud breaches’ – and the Agent Q also promises a mechanical zoom lens. It’s available in solid walnut for a shade under £5,000.

Maybe it’s the hackability and added friction that actually appeals? It won’t have escaped your notice that smartphone addiction is very much a thing. If you want to avoid these weapons of mass distraction, the jury is still out on whether this is a job for hardware, software, old-fashioned willpower or strong-armed legislation. Unsurprisingly, there are phone makers who are here to help.

We’ve reported on things like HMD’s Better Phone Project, as well as sleek hardware like the Balance Phone and Light Phone III, as well as the Minimal Phone, Unihertz Jelly Star, and Mudita Kompakt in a quest for true digital detox. There are other deliberately low-key options like the Basic Phone or the P-Phone, neither of which seem to have made many waves just yet.

However, if clarity and refuge are more important than status or tech trickery, read on. We’ve assembled a collection of seven simple smartphones that all promise to do things a little differently, whether it’s a throwback form factor, unconventional display or stripped back operating system. On to the devices.

Titan 2 Elite by Unihertz

If you’re still pining for your Blackberry, there are several options out there (including the Clicks range of keyboard cases). The Titan 2 Elite is the newest contender, a 5G Android phone with an integral physical keyboard. The form factor results in a near-square 4.5-inch screen (with a secondary display on the reverse), while the keyboard can be programmed with shortcuts and also incorporates a trackpad. There’s a 50MP camera, twin sim-card slots and support for Google Pay.

Titan 2 Elite, $489.99, Unihertz.com

Fairphone 6

Fairphone has been quietly pushing an alternative smartphone narrative since the company was founded in Amsterdam in 2013. This, the new sixth generation of its eponymous smartphone, was launched last summer and goes further than ever in trying to fulfil the seemingly impossible goal of a truly sustainable device.

For a start, the Fairphone is repairable, with six key components that can be swapped out, including the battery, screen, camera modules and USB ports. It runs Android 16 and has a half-decent camera and 6.3-inch OLED screen, so is perfectly capable of keeping up with mid-tier devices from more prolific OEMs. Other benefits include onboard microSD support for up to 2TB, a ‘Moments’ mode with a distraction- and app-free home screen, and a promised five-year tech support and eight years of updates.

On top of all that, Fairphone is a certified B Corporation with supply chains and environmental practices that are second to none, including ensuring the phone itself is 100 per cent Electronic Waste Neutral – which means that for every phone it makes, the company recovers the equivalent amount in recycled materials and components. You’re also encouraged to send in your old phone when you order a new one.

Fairphone Generation 6, £479, Fairphone.com, @Fairphone

HiBreak Dual from Bigme

BigMe’s upcoming HiBreak Dual is being billed as one of the first smartphones to splice together two different display technologies, e-ink and conventional colour LCD. In a break with convention, the latter is confined to the front of the device, where a circular colour screen not only helps with selfies but provides a polychromatic splash for viewing pictures, receiving notifications and checking maps.

The main 6.13-inch screen is a pressure-sensitive, stylus-friendly colour e-ink unit, best suited for taking notes and reading, rather than resorting to an all-consuming sink into scrolling. Notifications are banished to the back to maximise focus, even though the device runs Android 14 and is fully Play Store compatible. This means most apps will run just fine, but the inherent lag and muted palette of e-ink should suck most of the distraction out of the device.

Bigme HiBreak Dual, more information at Store.BigMe.vip, @BigMe.eink.tablet

The Meadow

An entirely different form factor is put forward by The Meadow, a square, super-pocketable device that aims to incorporate all the ‘essentials’ of smartphone usage without diving into dependability. That means you get apps like Maps, Spotify, Apple Music and Uber, all optimised for the three-inch screen, but no social media or web browser. Designed to connect via 4G networks (in the USA only for now), The Meadow is implicitly intended as a second device for being out and about.

The camera is more about snapping the moment than framing a masterpiece, while the actual connectivity is designed to link with a close circle of friends and not your entire digital Rolodex; just 12 contacts are able to reach you. The company hopes that by banishing email and the tyranny of social networks, group chats and doomscrolling you’ll be able to stay more in the moment.

Other functions considered essential include fitness tracking, a notes app and access to weather info and podcasts. The Meadow sounds like a bucolic place to spend time, but you’ll have to truly commit in order for it to fulfil its purpose – no sneaking a regular smartphone along for the ride.

The Meadow, $399, Meadow.so, @Meadow.so

Jolla Phone

Coming soon to EU markets (including the UK, Norway and Switzerland), the Jolla Phone is another device that promises independence of design, data privacy and an all-round different approach. Assembled in Finland, the Jolla Phone runs a Linux-based OS called Sailfish, with added support for Android apps on top. Benefits include more security and less of the innate trackability that comes with plugging yourself into Google’s eco-system.

The Jolla device itself has support for dual sim cards and microSD storage, while also offering a competitive hardware set complete with Sony cameras, fingerprint sensor and a Gorilla Glass 6.36-inch AMOLED screen. As with almost all these small-scale manufacturers, tech specs might not be the latest and greatest, but the speed of the market and the leftovers from the economy of scale ensure going independent is no longer about making a massive compromise.

Jolla Phone, €649 plus tax, Commerce.Jolla.com

MindOne Pro from iKKO

iKKO’s forthcoming MindOne Pro wants you to have the best of all worlds. The main unit is an ultra-compact near-square format smartphone with a 180-degree hinged Sony camera unit and a tough screen that’s said not to need a separate screen protector. At 8.9mm thick, the MindOne Pro is pitching itself as a tiny powerhouse with no performance compromises.

Pair it with the optional Snap-in Case (available in five colours), however, and you have a Blackberry-style unit not unlike the Titan 2 Elite. The case also includes an extra battery to extend the daily usage, along with an almost-forgotten artefact of smartphone design, the 3.5-inch headphone jack. This is paired with a Digital Audio Converter from Cirrus Logic to boost the audio quality.

The only potential downside is iKKO’s insistence on bundling onboard AI services through its own AI OS that runs alongside regular Android. Translation and note-taking might be useful, but does anyone really need a phone that can serve up AI-generated podcasts?

MindOne Pro, iKKO, £324, iKKO.com

Clicks Communicator

Finally, another entrant into the Blackberry-adjacent keyboard-based smartphone replacement. Created by the same team who create magnetically attached and integral keyboard cases for iPhones, the Communicator is an all-in-one device that could supplement or even replace your regular smartphone altogether.

Based on Android 16 underpinnings, the tiny Communicator has a 4.03-inch AMOLED screen, front and rear cameras, twin sim slots and microSD support and weighs in at 170g (an iPhone 17 Pro Max is 233g). With front and rear cameras and no compromises on Android app support, the Communicator is designed for those people tired of massive smartphone screens.

The other benefit is of course the full Qwerty keyboard, which includes touch-sensitive scrolling controls, shortcut support and pairs with the touchscreen. A dedicated Message Hub consolidates your various comms apps, from WhatsApp through to Gmail and Telegram, making it easy to see at a glance where you are on the road to inbox zero.

Clicks Communicator, from $199, reservations at Clicksphone.com, @Clickskeys

Smartphone manufacturers tend not to deploy bold colours, even though recent launches have included tasteful palettes of muted hues. Instead, those hankering for a more polychromatic phone experience have to rely on aftermarket accessories. Who better to bring a splash of colour to this monochrome world than Marimekko, Finnish purveyor of bold pattern since 1951?

The company has teamed up with leading accessory brand Casetify to bring key Marimekko print patterns to a variety of cases and accessories across the tech brand’s range. Available from 18 May 2026, these will include cases for tablets, laptops and smartphones, including ones with integral card holders, as well as wrist straps, phone grips and even Apple Watch bands.

The new collection delves into four Marimekko prints, two from a contemporary 2024 collection and two from the 1960s, the era that brought the company to global prominence. The 2024 prints include Kukasta kukkaan and Lemmitty by designer Erja Hirvi, with the signature Unikko (‘Poppy’) print created by Maija Isola in 1964. There’s also a design incorporating the enduring Marimekko logo.

All bring floral pattern and colour to the tech sector, with the wrist strap shaped in the distinctive Unikko form, as is the phone grip. The colours themselves include sky blue, forest green, pinks and oranges as well as Marimekko’s geometric black and white forms.

‘Our collaboration with Casetify brings the art of printmaking into everyday life in inspiring ways,’ says Marimekko’s chief marketing officer, Sanna-Kaisa Niikko, ‘Casetify beautifully combines functionality with self-expression in their products.’

To date, the accessories brand has supplied over 20 million phone cases and other accessories. Founded in 2011 and based in Hong Kong and LA, Casetify's list of partners is comprehensive, covering everything from auto brands to film tie-ins, cartoon characters, sporting events, and the estates of Warhol, Basquiat and Salvador Dalí, among others.

The Marimekko x Casetify collection is available from 18 May 2026 at Casetify.com, @Casetify, Marimekko.com, @Marimekko

Specialist music imprint Bjooks is venturing into another sphere of electronic music with its latest monograph, Beat Gems (being funded via Kickstarter, with the campaign starting this week). Following on from the earlier, self-explanatory Synth Gems, Inspire the Music, a celebration of 50 years of innovation by Japanese musical megacorp Roland, and The Minimoog Book, which doubles down on the history of the pioneering synthesizer, the new book is subtitled ‘Drum Machines in Modern Music’.

Few pieces of musical tech inspire as much loyalty and fascination as the drum machine. Oli Freke’s book is a deep dive into the history and development of this incredibly influential device, covering the origins of the tech, from proto-drum machines like the 1959 Wurlitzer Side Man 5000, often described as the first ever rhythm machine, through to early analogue devices like the cult Elka Drummer One from Italy and the NME Rattlesnake from the 1970s through to electronic drums like the LinnDrum and the Roland TR series.

Beat Gems takes the reader through obscure sidebars in music history without ignoring the ultra-influential classics, such as the development of Akai’s MPC series, one of the backbones of modern hip-hop (devices that are still widely used today, old and new). The cultural context of each machine is also considered, along with beautiful photography of each example.

In all, there are more than 60 drum machines chronicled in the book. The author, London-based Oli Freke, runs the excellent Synth Evolution site and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of electronic music machines.

Beat Gems: Drum Machines in Modern Music, by Oli Freke, more information at Bjooks.com, @WeMakeBjooks and Kickstarter.com

The world of e-ink digital notebooks has a new contender, courtesy of sector leader reMarkable. This is the company’s new entry-level paper tablet, the reMarkable Paper Pure. Designed to sit below the flagship Paper Pro and pocketable Paper Pro Move, the Paper Pure eschews colour e-ink in favour of an ultra-focused writing and sketching experience – back to basics, as it were.

The straightforward simplicity of the new Paper Pure has allowed reMarkable to maximise battery life and device longevity, with recycled materials used throughout as well as construction that is designed from the outset to be easily repaired.

It comes with an optional Folio case, available in Ocean Blue, Mist Green, and Desert Pink, along with the reMarkable Marker (the same models, Marker and Marker Plus, that work with Paper Pro and Paper Pro Move).

‘With reMarkable Paper Pure, we challenged ourselves to make the signature reMarkable writing experience more accessible to even more people,’ says the company’s chief product officer Mats Herding Solberg. ‘It completes our transition from reMarkable 2 to a family of third-generation paper tablets.’ The 10.3-inch screen features a Canvas display that offers a tactile paper-like writing surface (in our experience, the company’s black and white screens still offer a slight edge over the backlit colour e-ink displays).

In creating the Paper Pure, reMarkable has not only striven to make the screen as white as possible but also upped the response speed of flipping between pages, zooming and committing marks to the surface. Lightweight (360g) and ultra-thin (6mm), the Paper Pure can be used (relatively sparingly) every day for three weeks between charges, not something that the average iPad or Android tablet can ever match.

Recycled material content now makes up 38 per cent of the tablet by weight, with materials like lithium, cobalt, magnesium and plastic all drawn from recycled sources. Most importantly, the tablet itself is put together with screws and snap fixings, not the solvents and glues that shape so many ultra-compact pieces of modern technology. This not only allows for easier access to repair and replace components but makes end-of-life disassembly easier and more efficient.

Long-term reMarkable users will know the company’s Connect subscription service like the back of their hand. A cross-platform, cloud-based file system, Connect makes it easy to manage files and import PDFs, as well as use a variety of document templates. The device can also be synced with Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook, as well as import from major cloud services and export notes straight to Slack.

If that wasn’t enough, the eco-system provides an excellent handwriting-into-text service, along with AI-driven summaries. The Paper Pure replaces the reMarkable 2, the device that ushered in a new era for the Oslo-based tech firm and cemented its reputation as a supplier of expertly integrated e-ink hardware and the associated software.

reMarkable Paper Pure, available bundled with Marker for £359, or with Marker Plus and Sleeve Folio for £399, reMarkable.com, @reMarkable

Musicians have a choice. Either learn a new piece of musical technology inside out, so that every feature, function and control becomes a subtle nuance of your performance, or flit from gadget to gadget, and rely on conjuring up ideas through happy accidents and serendipity. We’ve delved into the ever-expanding realm of intuitive music machines, seeking out new devices that promise delight from the very first button press, but which will also reward deep investment in time and exploration.

Clear Orchid: Arctic by Telepathic Instruments

Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker launched Telepathic Instruments in 2024, quickly leveraging his band’s intersection of quirky psychedelic style with global pop ubiquity to create a cult brand for the ages.

Telepathic’s first product, the Orchid, has been a sell-out from the very start. To mark the opening of a London pop-up event, the chord-generating songwriting machine is now available in a transparent edition of 3,000 units. This is the Clear Orchid: Arctic variant, laying bare the electronic guts of this keyboard, synth and chord-generator combo that forges a direct link between ideas and song creation. Check the company’s new film for more information.

Clear Orchid: Arctic, €649, Telepathic Instruments, TelepathicInstruments.com, @Telepathic.Instruments

Svensson 49 by Auxy Studio

Also newly announced is the Svensson 49 from Swedish manufacturer Auxy Studio. Created in collaboration with the electronic musician and YouTuber Cuckoo, this is a classically styled 49-key synth that eschews the menus and displays of its many rivals in favour of a go-ahead-and-play ethos. Due to be released later in the year, the Svensson incorporates a speaker and a multitrack MIDI looper system that allows ideas to be stored, repeated, layered and explored. A custom onboard suite of sounds, developed in collaboration with Cuckoo, offers a wide sonic spectrum to experiment with.

Svensson 49 by Auxy Studio, price tbc, Auxy.co, @AuxyCo

Casio SXC-1 Sampler

Launch at NAMM 2026, the ultra-compact Casio SXC-1 is a standalone pocket sampler that is simultaneously super-retro and also very au courant in terms of its chunky, old school form factor and controls. Casio has some form in this sector.

Although the company’s musical exploits tend to err on the side of educational not professional, they unwittingly created a classic in the tiny SK-1 sampling keyboard back in 1985, with a crunchy low-fi 8-bit sound that’s still sought after. Some of those sounds have found their way into the SXC-1’s preset banks, along with app integration for tighter control of sampling, slicing and beat making.

Casio SXC-1, ¥39,930 (tax included), Casio.com

AKAI MPC Sample

Akai is also downsizing. The new MPC Sample follows the smaller form factor adopted by Casio, which in turn was influenced by the classic Roland 404 SP-404MkII and Teenage Engineering’s esoteric range of samplers. Seriously smaller than the modern heavyweight MPC, the MPC Sample is a standalone machine with 100 drumkits, 60 effects and 16 velocity-sensitive pads. Those familiar with the company’s workflow will feel right at home.

Akai Professional MPC Sample, £349 / €399 / $399, AkaiPro.com, @Akai_Pro

Pocket Audio Hichord

Simplicity is the watchword with the new HiChord from Pocket Audio. Following the same principles as the Orchid – grouping perfect chordal arrangements – the HiChord offers an even more minimal interface. Offering just seven keys and a joystick control, each button will default to a chord in the current key – ‘it's impossible to make a mistake,’ Pocket Audio explains. The joystick provides a modifier and there’s also an onboard synth with arpeggiator, drum machine and looper. For composing on the move and stumbling over delightful sounds, it’s the perfect travel companion.

Pocket Audio HiChord, $320, HiChord.shop, @Hi.Chord

Wunderkammer WoO.1

Another compact music creator to add to the growing pile of options stemming from the ongoing success of TE’s original OP-1 (subsequently updated as the OP-1 Field). Wunderkammer’s WoO.1 is a fraction of the price of the Swedish synth but offers a similar form factor albeit with a much, much reduced feature set.

Wunderkammer WoO.1, $329, WunderkammerTech.com, @Wunderkammer_Electronics

Critter and Guitari Organelle S2

The S2 version of C&G’s Organelle offers up a huge range of sonic possibilities thanks to its open software architecture and ability to transform external audio sources with effects and processing. It also serves as a versatile beatmaker, all controlled via an eccentric interface with maple keys, four multi-use parameter knobs and a small OLED screen. A sound library is included and user-generated patches are also readily available.

Organelle S2, $499, Critter and Guitari, CritterandGuitari.com, @CritterGuitari

MÕNAI by Void9

Void9’s forthcoming MÕNAI is another promised Swiss Army-style audio solution, a backpacked sized standalone synthesizer that can sample, synthesize, loop and sequence. With a powerful onboard battery, it’s intended as a go-anywhere device, but it can also be fully integrated into a larger studio or stage set-up. A milled aluminium case adds to the weighty, premium feel.

MÕNAI, Void9, price tbc, Void9.com, @Void9HQ

transparentSea fx by ginTronic

The transparentSea effects unit from ginTronic is intended to be treated as an instrument in its own right, a multi-effect unit with a plethora of parameters, hands-on knobs and dials to twiddle and what the German company describes as ‘clear sonic pathways [with] no menus, no guesswork.’ The array of effects includes a slicing/stutter effect, rich, deep reverbs, delays, chorus and more, with full MIDI sync to other devices.

transparentSea fx, €599, ginTronic.io, @ginTronic.io

After creating, conquering and eventually being crowded out of the action camera genre, American manufacturer GoPro is pivoting to professional quality equipment. The newly announced Mission 1 is an ultra-compact cinema camera that promises to deliver professional quality 8K and 4K footage in a tiny form factor.

Modestly described as the ‘World’s Smallest, Lightest, Most Rugged Cinema Cameras Designed for Any Mission’, the Mission 1 range certainly has the specifications. A 50M 1-inch sensor delivers excellent low-light performance (always a criticism of GoPro’s action cameras). There are three models, the Mission 1 PRO, Mission 1 PRO ILS, which offers an adapter for the Micro Four Thirds lens system, and the entry-level Mission 1, which has slightly degraded performance.

By opening up the GoPro system to third party lens systems, the benefits of the fast new GP3 processor and large sensor can be applied to different situations. Other specifications will be familiar to GoPro users, such as the high rates of slow-motion shooting.

In fact, the Mission 1 Pro can run at an incredible 960 frames per second for up to ten seconds, equivalent to 32X Slo-mo. The 1 Pro and 1 Pro ILS can shoot 8K video in 16:9 format at up to 60 frames per second. Support for Open Gate Video in 4:3 – allowing for cropping in post production – is also available.

These are also rugged, durable devices, capable of performing in tough environments. Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro are also waterproof to up to 20m without the need for an additional housing. A new Enduro 2 Battery can run for up to five hours (or three hours of 4K video).

Naturally there is also a pro-level audio system, with four microphones and clipping-free 32-Bit Flat audio. Onboard Bluetooth 5.3 allows for additional devices to be connected.

For simplicity’s sake, the Mission 1 system offers 13 pre-tuned capture modes, ranging for underwater photography to image stabilisation and a special Vlog mode with automatic face-framing. As a camera, the Mission 1 can capture in RAW, with a 60fps burst mode. A larger rear OLED display is combined with more distinctive, prominent buttons for ease of use.

GoPro is offering the Mission 1 in a number of different editions, including the 1 Pro Grip Edition, 1 Pro Creator Edition (with a separate wireless microphone kit) and the 1 Pro Ultimate Creator Edition which includes the microphones, a portable lighting kit and GoPro’s Fluid Pro AI gimbal mount for a complete image stabilisation system.

With the Mission 1 Pro ILS, GoPro has created a mirrorless camera in a tiny form factor, capable of everything from street photography to grand cinematic visions.

‘Our most demanding, pro-minded customers have asked us for years to make this very line of cameras, and we’ve finally delivered,’ says GoPro’s founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman, ‘The Mission 1 Series is designed to go to hell and back, and that’s exactly where our customers are going to take them. The footage is going to look amazing.’

GoPro Mission 1 series, from £529.99, GoPro.com, @GoPro

Opening soon on the Lower East Side is Stylus, the listening room to end all listening rooms. Designed by O'Neill Rose Architects, Stylus is a private members’ club for those who love audio in all its forms, with five listening spaces - of which these two are the most intimate and bespoke - along with a recording studio, salons, performance spaces dining area and test kitchens. The culinary programme is led by acclaimed Michelin Star-winning chef Anita Lo, adding up to a tasty menu of sonic-driven spaces.

According to architect Devin O’Neill, the project is about ‘exploring listening as a spectrum of experience. [I was interested in] how architecture can shape not just sound, but the way we physically and psychologically receive it.’ These two listening rooms have very different characters, ‘one deeply insular, the other open and connected,’ in O’Neill’s words.

The first is called Subliminal. ‘Conceived as an isolation chamber for sound,’ this is a subterranean space that seeks to emphasise the physiological response to sound. ‘We assembled a multidisciplinary team of acoustical engineers, scientists, lighting designers, speaker sculptors, interior designers, and furniture makers so that each voice could be embedded within a single, unified space,’ says O’Neill.

Subliminal is isolated and womb-like. Thick masonry walls are coated with insulation to keep the sound in, along with absorptive interior finishes that dampen reflections and any natural reverb. The sound system is a bespoke assemblage by OJAS, Devon Turnbull’s, including turntable, amplifier and a pair of mighty MTM speakers and the 400-pound OJAS Super Sub subwoofer. This required the installation of a special steel substructure.

All this can be experienced whilst reclining on a custom installation by Paulin, Paulin, Paulin, featuring Pierre Paulin’s legendary Dune Sofa, chosen following a meeting between O’Neill and Pierre’s son, Benjamin. ‘The Dune sofa perfectly supports the sound scape experience of Subliminal where shoes are left at the door,’ the architect explains. Above the Dune is a light installation by Sabine Marcelis, and other fittings and fixtures include vintage lighting selected by Selene Privitera and Paolo Matera.

Nothing has been overlooked. ‘Even the air is considered – continuously circulating through a concealed mechanical system integrated into the furniture – so that nothing interrupts the continuity of the experience,’ O’Neill explains.

The second listening space is located on the fourth floor. Called Suite 48, it is designed to feel part of the cityscape, with an adjoining roof terrace. ‘Unlike traditional listening rooms, which are typically sealed and introspective, Suite 48 is designed to maintain a connection to the city,’ says O’Neill. The multifunctional room was inspired the classic Victorian cabinet of curiosity, with bespoke joinery combining speaker and equipment mounting with niches for books and objects. The room can also double-up as a bedroom.

The flooring is the same brick used in the entrance courtyard, a material that carries through onto the terrace. The wood used for the cabinetry is from Dinesen’s new Layers range, the first time this engineered wood has been used in the US.

O’Neill points out a personal connection to Suite 48. ‘Growing up in Lower Manhattan, rooftops were where we gathered in the summer,’ he recalls, ‘[we were] surrounded by the sights and sounds of the city yet removed from its intensity. Suite 48 is an attempt to recreate that condition: a protected, warm environment that remains open to the energy of the city, designed for time spent with others.’

The technical specification includes speakers from Shivas Howard Brown’s Friendly Pressure studio, along with Friendly Pressure’s FP 401 turntable and a Soulnote A2 amplifier and Node Icon Reference quality music streamer. The whole space was developed in collaboration with Martin Meyer Nielsen of Danish cabinet-makers Ocular, a long-term collaborator with O'Neill Rose Architects.

Stylus bills itself as a ‘sanctuary dedicated to the ephemeral arts.’ Scheduled to open later this year, this ‘acoustic salon’ wants to reinvigorate the member’s club model by operating as a ‘hybrid for-profit/nonprofit’, the idea being that members support commissioning and programming in the new spaces.

These two listening rooms might be diametrically different in approach, but they’re unified by the Stylus ethos, a place where people come together to shape the conversation around sound, music, audio and performance.

More information on Stylus at Stylus.nyc, @Stylusnyc

ONeillRoseArchitects.com, @Oneill_Rose_Architects

OJAS.nyc, @DevonOJAS

Ocular.dk, @Ocular_wood

If you believe the hype, we are on the cusp of a robotic revolution. If you don’t, then the undeniable busy world of humanoid robots offers alternate visions of stumbling and stuttering social media pratfalls and utterly terrifying presentations of steely, synchronised corporate drones in thrall to their corporate masters (and they are, almost without exception, all men).

Up until now, the only robot that has made any measurable impact on the home is the vacuum cleaner, practical, personality-free devices that need space, time and near-perfect conditions in order to make themselves more useful than a human equivalent. Granted, there are some prototype robo-butlers in the offing, but these still feel like physical tech demos for early adopters, not practical problem-solving machines.

Instead, market growth will most likely come from compact, playful droids like those made by Chinese manufacturer Enabot. The Shenzhen-based manufacturer offers a veritable mechanical menagerie of ‘FamilyBots’, including devices designed to entertain (and feed and water pets) and patrol the home.

The range tops out with the EBO X FamilyBot, which is billed as an ‘Intelligent Guardian Homebot’, complete with Alexa-driven intelligence and night vision cameras. Now the company has launched a companion device, the EBO Max. The football-sized machine is also aimed at the home security market, but the personality component appears to be even more important, with over-sized Kawaii ‘eyes’ that offer up a permanently pleading, watery expression.

EBO Max is designed to potter about and interact with family members and pets, a sort of mobile aide-memoire that can take voice and video notes whilst also popping up to reel off reminders or recipes. In essence, it’s an AI assistant on wheels, fully capable of autonomously seeking out its charge base to keep itself topped up, whilst also tagging along so it’s always there when you need it.

One of the most practical applications for Max is to serve as a companion to vulnerable people living alone. Functions like Fall Detection can be tied into the alert system, allowing you speak through the little robot via a two-way video call to ascertain if help is needed. This splicing together of several extant AI-powered services – vision, voice, and environmental awareness – create a potentially invaluable service, given the right use case.

The elephant in the room is mobility. EBO Max is designed to be on the move at all times but as with the robotic vacuum cleaner community, mobility demands a single flat-plane surface with no way of broaching large steps, let alone staircases. Right now, Max is restrained by architectural space. Head upstairs, and all it can do is blink at you with its big, sorrowful eyes.

As with robo-vacs, arms and legs will surely follow, as will the integration of even more sophisticated AI agents. Just as we’re seeing with the latter, people can – and will – find themselves in unhealthy co-dependent relationships with their robotic helpers. Whatever you think of this future scenario, it’ll surely be better than having heart to hearts with the vacuum cleaner or fridge.

EBO Max from Enabot, £499.99, UK.Enabot.com, @Enabot_official

For many householders, the biggest obstacle to consigning cleaning duties to a robot subordinate is not the idea of introducing an android to the household, but the need to keep the floorspace permanently decluttered. Even as the puck-shaped robots got better at navigating obstacles – with stubby little legs to hoist them over chunky rugs and shallow steps – household detritus and spills were still a no-go area.

Over the years, vacuum makers have attempted to address the issue of sock-strewn floors with the addition of elements like arms. Whilst robotic arms are still few and far between, true stair climbing is probably just a few generations away. We’ve rounded up three new entrants into the arena of autonomous home cleaning.

Mova Z60 Ultra Roller Complete

Mova is a new brand in the UK market. The company is starting off with three models, with a flagship due to arrive later in the year. Right now, the top tier model is the Z60 Ultra Roller Complete, a wet-and-dry system that is explicitly pitched at ‘high-traffic spaces.’ In practice, this means a high-pressure roller mop system that automatically detects and avoids carpets, as well as an integral extendable brush and roller for hard-to-reach spots.

Like many modern devices, the Z60 has AI-powered 3D-mapping, with an onboard catalogue of object types to avoid, while the company’s StepMaster technology allows the puck to lift itself over three-inch thresholds. All maintenance is automated on return to the base station, including washing and drying the roller system.

Mova Z60 Ultra Roller Complete, £1,249, UK.Mova.tech, Amazon.co.uk

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal

The USP of Shark’s new PowerDetect UV Reveal is in the name; an ultraviolet sensor that is tuned to detect and banish stains invisible to the naked eye. Combining the sensor with the use of an ultra-thorough scrubbing motion, the device will double-check to see if everything is clean and tidy before moving in.

The UV Reveal can vacuum as well as mop and like the Z60, it bills itself as hands-off, with a ‘NeverTouch Pro’ base that strongly implies all self-cleaning and refuse dumping takes place entirely automatically. In truth, you still have to check the dock every couple of months. Other innovations include the ability to lift itself over shallow obstacles and enough on-board battery for three hours of non-stop cleaning.

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal, £999.99, SharkNinja.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk

iRobot Roomba Mini

The Roomba Mini builds on over two decades of automated vacuum tech but shrinks the proposition down to a daintier size that can thread its way through chair legs and under sofas. The Roomba Mini also eschews the white and black favoured by the rest of the industry in favour of more interiors-friendly hues (pink, mint, white and black), complete with matching docking station.

Originating in Japan and now available in Europe, the Mini is designed for apartment living and smaller homes, with the same functionality (wet cleaning and maintenance, with auto emptying that promises up to three months of hands-free operation) as the company’s larger models.

Roomba Mini, £379, iRobot.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk