What a week! Boris Johnson may have rocked the UK with his resignation, but that hasn’t stopped us from publishing a wide range of reviews of all the latest devices.
This week in Trusted Recuses, our weekly column where we collect all devices to have at least a 4-star rating in the past seven days, we’ve included two products that have earned a perfect 5-star rating: a Sony 4K TV and a Dyson vacuum cleaner.
There are plenty of other gadgets you can check out here too, from gaming phones to dual-screen laptops. Everything listed has been thoroughly tested by our team of experts, so you can be sure that every product deserves its place in this roundup. Let’s check it out.
OnePlus Nord 2T
OnePlus has been known for making affordable smartphones, and the new Nord 2T smartphone is a perfect example of that. At a great price, you will get a phone with an elegant glass design, fast performance, and a great camera capable of taking great pictures in low light.
It’s a little disappointing that there aren’t any groundbreaking upgrades compared to the standard OnePlus Nord 2, while the screen can run on a bit of brightness to beat sun glare, but that’s a small grip on an excellent mid-range smartphone.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Realme 9
If you are looking for a phone that does not increase your budget, and does not care about high-end features like 5G support, the Realme 9 is worth considering.
Battery life is excellent, often holding 20% of the juice at the end of a hard day’s work, while we also liked the OLED screen, which has the superior vividness and contrast of most competing phones in this price category. There is also a 90Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling and gaming.
The Realme 9’s biggest drawback is the mediocre performance of the Snapdragon chip, but that’s an easy compromise considering the budget-friendly price tag.
Score: 4/5
Sony XR-55A95K
In our review of the new Sony XR-55A95K, we called it “the best 55-inch TV out there.” Thanks mostly to the amazing QD-OLED screen technology, which results in a bright, detailed, and well-balanced picture to make the latest blockbusters even more exciting.
Even the sound quality is impressive here, which means you don’t necessarily have to invest in expensive speakers to enjoy immersive and immersive audio. And while this Sony TV is undoubtedly expensive, it makes up for the steep investment with its impressive specs.
Score: 5/5
YouTube TV
YouTube TV is a new US-only streaming service that hopes to replace cable. It provides access to more than 85 channels, you can watch them all on your TV, tablet or smartphone. And don’t worry if you don’t have time to watch your favorite show live, Google offers unlimited recording space via the cloud.
It’s unfortunate that you need to pay extra for 4K content, and you’ll also need a strong internet connection to ensure reliable performance, but these concerns don’t stop YouTube TV from being a great alternative to cable.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Asus ROG 6 Pro
The Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro is a smartphone built for gaming, with a high-performance chip, 165Hz refresh rate, and large capacity battery, all coming together to enhance your experience with the likes of Call of Duty Mobile.
Asus needed to make some sacrifices in order to improve gaming performance, with the camera quality being miles behind similarly priced smartphones. It also has a hefty price tag, making it a bigger investment than a Nintendo Switch or PS5. But if you are an avid mobile gamer and keen on owning one of the best gaming smartphones, we cannot recommend ROG Phone 6 Pro enough.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Razer Viper V2 Pro
The Razer Viper V2 Pro is designed to be the ultimate gaming mouse for competitive esports gamers, with an impressive 52g light to build an ultra-responsive 30,000 DPI capable optical sensor. You even get ultra-fast optical switches to ensure near-instant response time.
Razer had to make some sacrifices to achieve such professional performance, most notably the omission of RGB lighting. But this should not be a problem for players who care nothing more than improving the kill/death ratio in online multiplayer games.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16
Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 is a gaming laptop that doesn’t just feature two screens. There are multiple uses for such a design, whether you want to monitor your Discord conversation mid-game, or you’re a fan of Twitch streaming and great recording settings without having to pause.
Factor in the super-powerful Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti GPU, and there’s no doubt this is a gaming beast, capable of playing the likes of Horizon Zero Dawn at 100fps and beyond at 1080p. Of course, with so many powerful features and spaces, this laptop costs a staggering amount of money — but that might be a price worth paying if you can see the benefit of a dual-screen gaming laptop.
Score: 4/5
Razr Barracuda Pro
The Razer Barracuda Pro may be a gaming headset first and foremost, but its street-oriented design and support for active noise cancellation make it a great choice for listening to music on the go, too. The sound quality is excellent, capturing small details such as the footsteps of the main characters in Cuphead.
The headset is also comfortable to wear for long periods of time, has a long battery life and comes with a carrying case. But at an astonishingly high price, only those on a big budget should seriously consider this gaming headset.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Thrustmaster T248
Let’s be honest, a classic gamepad will never give you an immersive experience when playing driving games like F1 2022 or Forza. Instead, it’s worth considering the Thrustmaster T248, an entry-level racing wheel that can be assembled with pedals and a gearbox.
The most exciting feature here is the strong feedback, which simulates the feel of the road with intense vibrations. However, we were disappointed to see that the build quality isn’t quite as good as its Logitech competitors.
Score: 4/5
Creative Outlier Air v3.0
If you love the idea of Apple Airpods but can’t stand the high price tag, you’re in luck. The Creative Outlier Air v3 is – in our opinion – one of the best true wireless headphones available for under £100.
It has an ergonomic design and new features such as active noise reduction and is able to play music clearly and in detail. Admittedly, they have some minor connectivity issues, while the touch controls may be more responsive, but these are still some of the best value wireless headphones.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Sony XR-55A80J
Sony XR-55A80J is an excellent choice of 4K OLED TV for home cinema lovers. It’s capable of producing 4K HDR color images, as well as audio that’s heavier than most of its flat-screen competitors.
And for those who don’t like Android TV, you’ll be glad to know that this phone uses Google TV instead, which we found to be an accessible interface. However, the best aspect of this Sony TV is its price, which costs just over £1,000 which is great value.
Score: 4.5 / 5
+ Apple TV
At launch, Apple TV + didn’t have the most compelling story, but its narration is now getting stronger thanks to excellent audiovisual performance and a solid bank of original content.
While its library is diverse, it’s still not as large as other titles and lacks more of the great offerings that other services are talking about. However, as a storytelling platform, this is a high-quality effort.
Score: 4/5
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Dyson V12 Detect Slim Absolute Device
If you’re sick of your old vacuum cleaner struggling to get rid of the Malteser, it’s worth checking out the new Dyson V12 Detect Slim Absolute, which we gave a perfect 5-star rating.
This lightweight cordless vacuum cleaner features an intelligent auto mode that adjusts power to task. We’ve also impressed with the built-in laser that lights up dirt so you don’t miss any crumbs. The price is quite steep, but we still think the Dyson is a great value considering its quality.
Score: 5/5
Indesit IB 88B60 NE
The Indesit IB 88B60 NE may not be the type of induction cooktop that can start boiling pasta water right away, but what it lacks in speed and power it makes up for in flexibility. With four different cooking zones, you can heat multiple pots at the same time. Furthermore, you can combine two cooking zones together when using a larger pot which we found very handy.
We also found the Push & Go features to be incredibly useful, with improved settings that allow you to either boil water, keep food warm, or gently reduce the amount of liquid in the pan.
Score: 4/5