Author: Duncan Pike

While the Sonos Play borrows its name from the American audio company’s previous Play:1, Play:3, and Play:5 range, that’s about all they have in common. The Play is the portable middle child, fitting between the Toblerone-esque Roam 2 and the Move 2 in Sonos’ portable speaker range. That’s true on paper and in its execution. If you’re looking for a well-made, decent-sounding speaker that has the versatility and feature set to survive trips outdoors, the Sonos Play fits that role well. If you already have a few Sonos speakers around your house, the Play will slot right into your existing…

At its annual iPhone event last night, Apple introduced two new AirPods 5 models. The first bit of good news is that the cheaper model should cost the same as the AirPods 4 did when it launched in 2024. The bigger bit of good news is that the more expensive of the two will be slightly cheaper than its AirPods 4 counterpart. ANC for the masses With a starting price of $130 (R2,800 locally), we wouldn’t call the ‘entry-level’ AirPods 4 cheap. The more expensive model ($180, or R3,900 locally) only added active noise cancellation (ANC), which was a first…

We got our first in-person look at the new ZenBook Duo back in February, after it was shown off at CES this year. It impressed us immediately. We expected another boring, slightly updated iteration on the last one, with nothing but slightly faster silicon inside. We were happy to be proved wrong. Asus has not only paid generous attention to the dual 14in displays and how they fit together, but it has also managed to provide significant improvements to performance and battery life over the last one thanks to the new Intel Panther Lake chip inside. You can’t have the…

Sony has officially confirmed it is bringing back its 2020 flagship over-ear ANC headphones, this time with a ‘C’ tacked onto the end. The WH-1000XM4C will live alongside its current flagship WH-1000XM6 and 1000X THE COLLEXION models. Joining the XM4C are the WH-CH730N and WH-CH530N as wallet-friendly alternatives, presumably with a few concessions made. The WH-1000XM4C comeback arc Since the original XM4 launched in 2020, they have become the longest-running headphone in Sony’s 1000X series to date, remaining on sale until last year. The answer to the question ‘Why are they back now?’ is probably ‘Money’, but Sony has also…

During its global press conference at IFA 2026, Acer took the opportunity to celebrate Packard Bell’s 100th anniversary with a full brand relaunch and a host of new devices under the new slogan: ‘Tech it easy’. The brand relaunch signals a new era for Packard Bell, which Acer bought back in 2008. The sub-brand’s new focus is on “stripping away the ‘smart’ noise to focus on the simple, human act of staying in touch and getting things done.” That’s the marketing way of saying don’t expect huge performance or exceptional build quality from these devices. Big on colour, light on…

Spring means many things when it rolls around every year. Allergies for some people, and the IFA consumer tech conference for the tech-inclined. Held in Berlin, Acer kicked off the first media day with its global press conference, where its CEO and CHM (Chief Hype Man), Jason Chen, announced a boatload of new stuff. He also patted his team on the back for all the wonderful things the Acer Medical team are doing. Then, we heard the usual bits about sustainability and achieving net zero emissions by 2050 — probably a good thing. Another round of applause, everyone. This was…

If you woke up this morning without visiting this year’s Festival of Motoring over the weekend, you missed out. Held at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, it is the best place to see some of the new vehicles making their way to South Africa. You can even do a few laps on the track in anything from the average sedan to high-performance speed machines. Well, you can’t now; it’s over. But there’s always next year. If you’re still curious about the new vehicles heading our way, you’re in luck. Stuff had boots on the ground during the Festival’s media day to gather…

Today, Honor officially launched the Magic V6 in South Africa at an intimate event in Johannesburg. The device launched in China earlier this year, so there aren’t many things we don’t already know, except for local pricing and availability. Well, those are now official. The Magic V6 will be available from 1 September, but you’ll need R40,000 if you plan to walk out of the store with one and not have security chase you. Alternatively, if you enjoy paying more for your tech, you can get it from Vodacom or Cell C for R1,600/m over a 36-month period. Honor brings…

Fiio isn’t done harvesting your nostalgia. If you thought the Echo Nano was cool, but wished you could have something even older than an MP3 player modernised, you’ll probably get excited for the company’s upcoming CP11 and CP15. While other companies are changing the rules of what ownership means and turning their backs on supposed “shifting trends in consumer preference” with regards to physical media, Fiio is choosing to be different. What else were you going to do with those old audio cassettes, anyway? Did old-school ever stop being cool? As you could probably tell from the two different numbers,…

It’s tough to remember the last time something shook up the world of gaming mice quite like Logitech’s Pro X2 Superstrike did when it launched earlier this year. On the surface, it looks like a regular ‘ol gaming mouse, almost a carbon copy of Logitech’s already famous G Pro X Superlight. But under the hood (or the triggers in this case), it boasts new technology that makes this inarguably the fastest gaming mouse available. Mouse makers have been trying to make their clicks faster for years. Until now, this was done with improvements to click latency, or how things run…