Author: Brett Venter

Amazon dropped details about its latest crop of smart home products last night but one of the most impressive items announced was, more or less, a software update. The online retail giant is bringing new accessibility features to its Fire Max 11 tablet and its Echo Show devices. Of these, the Fire Max 11 update is the most impressive. Fire Max? What did he do? That’s because Amazon intends to launch eye-based navigation on the latest slate in its roster. The feature is called Eye Gaze and is designed to help those with mobility or speech issues navigate the tablet…

On the list of ‘Worst things you can do while driving a car’, watching the latest overpriced fantasy series or catching up on your favourite YouTube channels is right up there. But sometimes you’re inside your car and not driving it. In that case, it’s probably fine. At least, that’s what Volvo reckons. The Swedish automaker has launched in-car support for Amazon’s Prime Video app for South Africa. Oh, okay, and the rest of the world (except for China, South Korea, and Vietnam) are also getting the app-based upgrade. In addition, YouTube support is also coming to Google-based Volvo models…

There have been rumours for some time that Samsung has a smart ring in the works. The obvious name for such a device would be the Galaxy Ring but, until very recently, that title wasn’t very official. You’ll notice that we said ‘until very recently’. The folks over at 9to5Google spotted explicit reference to a device called the Galaxy Ring in Samsung’s Galaxy Wearable app. That doesn’t tell us all that much about the actual device but there are some details about how the app will work. It’ll function the same way as every other Samsung wearable, where the main…

As you might guess from the number ‘five’ in the Galaxy Z Fold 5’s full title, Samsung has been doing this for a while now. If you’re a Stuff reader, you’re probably more familiar with the folding smartphone phenomenon than the average person but Samsung’s got a lot of money to buy advertising. So why don’t you know more than one (perhaps two) human being who actually owns one of these things? The price is probably a significant factor. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 12GB/256GB review unit Stuff had to play with will set you back R42,000. If you opt…

We here at Stuff sometimes encounter a bit of tech we’re expecting to be okay that turns out to be worth far more than the price of admission. The Mi Portable Bluetooth Speaker, a new edition of the little puck-shaped speaker from Xiaomi, is just one such device. If you trust us you can close the review now, head out, and drop around R600 on one of these delightful little pucks. If you’re after budget-friendly portable sound that will literally fit in a pocket (while giving you quite a bulge) while also filling a room, this is exactly what you’re after.…

Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max might well be the brand’s most metal phones yet. We don’t mean that in a George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher kind of way either, even though George really is a delightful human being. We’re talking literally. Apple’s headliners for the next twelve months are fashioned from titanium rather than the aluminium we’ve all come to expect. What that means is that these handsets are both lighter and tougher, yet are somehow not more expensive. In America, at least, where launch prices for the Pro and Pro Max remain unchanged compared to last year. Here at…

When it comes to high-end fitness watches, there’s only really one name on the roster. Or is there? The Coros Apex 2 Pro is a pricy wearable designed to go head-to-head with Garmin’s Fenix lineup. Stuff recently got an introduction to the brand and if first impressions really do count, we’re expecting some impressive things from them in future. Impressive things right now are also good. That’s just what the Apex 2 Pro supplies. It bloody better, at its R13,000 price point. This wearable is a multidisciplinary gadget but we… are not. This review is mostly based on its run…

You’d think that working for Stuff would lead to us becoming awfully snobby about the tech hardware that we use. It’s certainly a risk. When everything is always awesome, it’s easy to look down on more affordable tech. But stick around long enough and you start to appreciate what’s possible when you don’t spend the maximum amount of money. The Nokia C32, which properly fits into the ‘budget’ category, is an almost perfect example of this. The Nokia C32 costs a relatively tiny R2,500 while managing to a) look like it’s more expensive and b) offer features you really wouldn’t…

You might recall a few weeks ago that we took a trip to Bash, The Foschini Group’s one-stop online website for everything under its various rooftops. At the time, we mentioned that the products from that store were acquired with a very specific purpose in mind. That purpose was to help get ready for summer, in that whole ‘we’d like to wander around the beach without feeling self-conscious’ sort of way. The key thing about making a summer body is that you can’t wait until summer to start making it. It takes time for winter food to get out of…

Xiaomi hasn’t made any secrets about the fact that it’s planning to take on the world’s auto manufacturers by building EVs. It first announced its plans back in 2021, explaining that any vehicles it makes won’t be launched under the Xiaomi brand. But the new marque would be a subdivision of the company. It’s easy to say that you’re going to build electric vehicles. It’s even simpler to repeat it. The tricky bit is actually pulling that off. There are things like investment, facilities, expertise, and other essentials to acquire first, followed by regulatory approval. The Chinese tech-maker has most…