11

Imagine the stories Marshall’s amps could
tell if they could talk. Having spent over
50 years on the road with bands such
as AC/DC, Aerosmith and Iron Maiden,
those iconic black boxes must have seen
some serious stuff.
While Marshall’s cute little Uxbridge Voice
is too new to have seen Slash singe his
eyebrows lighting another cigarette, or
J Mascis knock over his White Russian
during a particularly epic solo, the fact that
it has a choice of either Alexa or Google
Assistant on board means it’s halfway
there. It might be the smallest in Marshall’s
Voice range but the Uxbridge still comes
with a 30W class-D amplifier, plus you can
pair it with others in the range to make a
rock’n’roll multiroom system.
That means you should be able to get it to
go pretty loud, if not Dinosaur Jr loud, but
a far-field mic array with built-in noise
cancellation means the Uxbridge will still
be able to hear you over any scorching rock
classic. Disclaimer: it also works with other
types of music, but doesn’t like blasting
them as much.
As hot as... a 24-hour guitar solo
£170 / marshallheadphones.com

BIJOU SHOOK ME

ALL NIGHT LONG

Marshall Uxbridge Voice

HOT

FIVE

You used to be able to tell a lot about

somebody by their choice of wearable

tech. Clock a whopper of a fitness watch

on their wrist and you could be fairly sure

there was some serious triathlon training

going on, while a slimmer tracking trinket

would suggest somebody content with

counting steps. Not any more.

Fitbit’s new Charge 4 is its first tracker to

have GPS on board, so you can use it to

track runs without needing to take your

phone. And if you do have it on you, built-in

Spotify support will mean your favourite

running tunes can propel you along the

pavement. The other new feature is Active

Zone Minutes, a personalised standard

based on your resting heart rate and age

that tracks any workout that gets your

ticker tocking, measuring the time you

spend in each heart-rate zone towards

a weekly goal.

It’ll also track your sleep and deliver

notifications, while Fitbit Pay is no longer

reserved for special editions. Battery life

is a decent seven days (or five with GPS

turned on). Of course, you don’t have to

use it to help you train for a marathon, but

nobody else has to know that, do they?

As hot as... your new sofa-to-fridge PB

£130 / fitbit.com

STEALTH KICK

Fitbit Charge 4

HOT

FIVE

Flick of

the switch

There are gold rocker

switches on top so you can

fine-tune the bass and treble

to your liking, or you can use

the EQ presets found in the

free Marshall Voice

mobile app.