The Hot Press Guide to must-have gadgets ahead of Christmas

Aerodrums

One of the most brilliant musical products Hot Press has happened upon in quite some time, Aerodrums allow the user to play virtual drums courtesy of motion capture technology. Perfect for both aspiring and established musicians, Aerodrums have all of the features of a normal drum kit, but without the issues surrounding space, noise and inconvenience.

Conceived by the duo of Richard Lee and Yann Morvan while they were students in Trinity, the company – which has offices in Dublin and Liverpool – has enjoyed international coverage on the likes of the Discovery Channel and Sky News, with the partners even presenting the product on the UK version of Dragons’ Den. And it’s not just home users who are enamoured of Aerodrums, as Lee explains.

“AR Rahman, who won an Oscar for his soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire, has just used them on an American tour,” he says. “They had three drummers playing Aerodrums, which is a pretty big deal for us. There are quite a few customers who use it for live shows, because it’s so much easier to set up and transport.”

Richard is also looking ahead to possible future iterations of the product.

“It’s still very early days, but we think that Aerodrums would be a killer application on augmented reality devices, being able to see a virtual drum kit in front of you, but also being able to see the real world at the same time. So you’d be able to play Aerodrums, but you’d also be able to see the musicians you’re playing with as well. The technology is still in its infancy, but we think this is going to be a big deal in the future.”

Richard also emphasises Aerodrums’ advantages over standard electronic drum kits.

“The biggest one is that it’s practically silent if you wear headphones,” he says. “You can play it in the middle of the night and it won’t disturb anyone. Portability is a big factor as well. Even for people who are able to play their kit whenever they want, there’s still occasions when you’d like to be able to go to a friend’s house and bring it. Or you can go on holidays and pack it in your suitcase. There are a lot of benefits.” Available for the great value price of €185, Aerodrums are a truly exceptional and exciting product.

For a 20% discount valid until December 14, visit aerodrums.com and enter the code HOTPRESS18.

Sony’s Xperia XZ3

For a company that tinkers in audio, television, imaging and gaming, it’s not surprising that Sony’s mobile phones encompass the best of most worlds. Mighty visuals are pumped through the XZ3’s 6-inch 18:9 display, and the speakers are 20% louder than last year’s model. The phone can upscale tinny, compressed music into high-res audio.

The 19MP camera is equipped for 4K HDR Movie recording, and there is romantic drama in full HD slow motion. XZ3 is smarter than the average bear. The camera instantly launches when you lift the camera horizontally in landscape mode. This clever cookie presents your favourite apps when you double tap anywhere (including either side) on the device.

Sony’s 1000X range

When you want the world to shut up, Sony’s WH-1000XM3 headphones jump to attention. The noise cancelling processor on these cans cancels background sound, such as street noise and human voices. If you need to let the outside world back in, hold your hand to the side of the headphones. Hey presto: you can hear the environment around you.

Sony’s 1000X also has a wireless option: the WF-1000X model includes a feature that analyses the atmospheric pressure of your surroundings and optimises your headphones’ noise cancelling performance. Perfect for long flights, we reckon.

HyperX: Cloud Alpha Pro Gaming Headset

Believe the hype. Explosions in Call Of Duty, the roar of engines in Forza 4, and the whinnying of your horse in Red Dead Redemption II, will lift you off your stool with HyperX Cloud Alpha. This gaming headset is comfy – all foam and leather – and built for durability (a necessity for goggle-eyed gamers). There’s a detachable microphone, with team communication and noise-cancellation skills (so the world doesn’t have to listen in when you’re asking your mum for a cup of tea). The HyperX headset is on the shelves at GameStop for a cheerful €99.99

Microsoft Surface series

Microsoft’s Surface laptop-tablet hybrids are back in business. Surface Pro 6, armed with an Intel 8th Gen Quad Core, is supposedly 67% faster than its predecessor. Surface Studio 2 has a 28” display and Surface Pen stylus. Surface Laptop 2, meanwhile, has improved speakers. And Microsoft is adding headphones to the series. Surface Headphones feature adjustable noise cancellation, and automatic pause and play. Cortana, a hands-free digital assistant, is along for the ride.

Google’s new Pixel smartphones

Any phone that tells a telemarketer to piss off is fine in my books. Google’s new Pixel smartphones can pick up a suspected spam call, transcribe the caller’s response, and then let you answer, reject or block. “Summarily execute” is not an option, sadly.

Google Pixel 3, the Google Pixel 3 XL and Google Pixel Stand are available in Ireland from November 1. The Pixel 3, with a 5.5” screen, is €899 for the 64GB version and €959 for the 128GB version. Pixel 3 XL (6.3” screen) costs €999 for the 64 GB version and €1,099 for the 128GB version. Elsewhere, Pixel Stand – priced at €79 – charges your phone and moonlights as a smart speaker.

Dublin Games Festival

Dublin Games Festival is Ireland’s newest gaming event, bringing e-sports and more under one roof at Dublin’s RDS on November 24. Offering a jam-packed line-up of events, the festival will feature a two-floor Mario Kart Racecourse, the first live Fortnite tournament in Ireland (with 100 servers), escape rooms, VR experiences, Lego play areas and much more. Additionally, world-renowned Northern Irish group The Japanese Popstars will make their long-awaited official comeback at Club M. With a retro zone of classic games and tech, and special guests such as legendary game designer and director John Romero (Doom), the festival offers a fully inclusive, interactive experience like no other.

Huawei: Mate 20 Pro

A few years ago, most people probably thought Huawei was a surfing destination in the Pacific. Despite its pronunciation challenges, the Chinese manufacturer has raced to the top of the tech league. The business has invested $600m in 5G investment, listed 2,348 new ideas in the EU patent office, and shipped 95m devices in the first half of 2018. Trump banned Huawei tech from US government agencies, yet it ranks as the fourth biggest wearables company in the world. The new Huawei Mate phone will inevitably speed up this ascent.

Hot Press recently had a peek at the Pro and left reeling from the phone’s adventures in AI. Artificial intelligence weaves through the phone’s eco-system, from facial recognition to videography effects. AI Portrait Colour recognises the human form to create vibrant colour in black and white video (imagine the movie Sin City rendered in real-time). Within 30 minutes you can charge 70% of the battery. One of the best innovations is the ability to reverse charge the phone with another Mate 20. Hold the devices back-to-back and one sucks energy from the other like Dracula at a dinner party.

Huawei’s love affair with Leica also continues. Alongside a wide angle lens and telephoto lens, there’s an ultra wide angle lens that absorbs your surroundings. It’s a great way to capture the bigger picture. AI Cinema Mode – traditional 21:9 format – indulges widescreen film-making fantasies. Tapping between apps takes place in the blink of an eye. You can also wirelessly project content from the phone to a PC (whereas previous Mates required a cable).

Some models feature a rivet-like pattern on the back of the device for extra grip. But we reckon you won’t want to drop a Mate 20 Pro any time soon.

Skullcandy Hesh 3

For anyone who finds themselves using Bluetooth headphones for upwards of eight hours a day, three things are essential: good sound quality, high battery life, and comfort. Skullcandy’s newest Hesh 3 model has the first two in droves. The sound quality is vastly upgraded compared to the Hesh 2 model – with a sleeker, more suitable design – while the ‘Rapid Charge’ feature means that you can plug it in for just 10 minutes and the battery life will last for upwards of four hours. Comfort-wise, these headphones are light, compact and boast sizeable memory foam pads, but they can still become somewhat tight and inconvenient after extended use. There’s also no noise-cancellation option for these headphones, so that might turn a few people off.

Overall, though, this is a superior product at an enviable price. Other similar headphones are significantly more expensive, but feature most of the same kinds of issues to do with comfort and battery life. So if you’re looking to not pay through the nose and still get the real thing, the Hesh 3 is the pair to get.

Samsung Galaxy A9

There are four lenses on the back of Samsung’s latest smartphone. The Galaxy A9’s all-seeing eyes include a 2x Optical Zoom for detailed close-ups. There’s a 24MP lens for high res shots. Ultra Wide Lens takes in big vistas and the Depth Lens creates the illusion of DSLR-style photography. Galaxy A9 is available in Ireland from November for €619.

THE PIONEER SPIRIT

Pioneer DJ have upgraded their popular HDJ-X5 DJ headphones, adding Bluetooth wireless technology to create the HDJ-X5BT.

One of the most consistently popular pairs of headphones on the market, this new piece of kit has gained the approval of both professional DJs and music lovers who insist on a high-quality product.

The HDJ-X5BT features include: wireless technology for monitoring music anywhere you go; a well-balanced, dynamic sound thanks to bass reflex chambers; lasting durability with Pioneer’s rigorous in-house testing to make sure they can handle heavy use; flexible functionality to make sure they’re comfortable; and a 1.2m coiled cable if you don’t fancy using the Bluetooth features.

The HDJ-X5BT headphones – which come in metallic black, metallic red or gloss white – will be available from mid-October at an SRP of €159 including VAT. Find out more about the new Bluetooth headphones at pioneerdj.com

HP Sprocket New Edition

First launched in 2016, HP’s Sprocket is an instant printer that links Polaroid photos from the past with smartphone technology of the present. Now HP has released another pocket-sized printer. The device, which comes in a range of colours, proves that digital photographs have nothing on dog-eared, finger-friendly, physical snapshots.

New Edition turns these hot Sprockets into social affairs. A number of people can simultaneously print to the same device through three steps: connect, select and print. An LED light flashes different colours when printing from each phone and you can create shared photo albums through the Sprocket app.

Limited Edition gift boxes are available from mid-November, with prices starting from €159 in Curry’s PC World and Harvey Norman stores.

DYSON CYCLONE V10 ABSOLUTE

It might shock you to learn that I’m not the sort of person who usually goes home of a night with ‘vacuum the gaff’ top of my to-do list. That’s all changed since I got my hands on the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute, a futuristic piece of kit that looks like it’s beamed in from the USS Enterprise.

Being the most impractical person in Ireland and possibly Europe, I was first of all delighted by how easy it is to assemble and charge, with up to 60 minutes’ run time if you’re using one of the non-motorised tools. I immediately surrendered to my inner Jeremy Clarkson, though, and took the soft roller cleaner head, engineered for hard floors, out for a test drive. This bad boy takes all the hard graft out of vacumming, as it glides across the floor removing alarming amounts of dirt and debris as it goes. It’s a real stealth fighter, with vibration and sound dampening technology that means you don’t have to turn the sound on the telly up to Metallica levels as you go about your domestic business.

Add in the three power modes, ‘point and shoot’ hygienic bin emptying and the little brush that you can run along skirting boards and curtain pelmets, and the Cyclone V10 is as cherished a member of the Clarkian household as my fiancé and the dog.

SV12 with V10 Brushless/Torque Head Drive, sucking up pet hair, leaving a clean sweep of carpet