Stuff - UK (2020-11)

AUDIO GUIDE

DAC and chill
You can turn the
Quad-DAC feature on
and off, to let you hear
the difference between
sound for plebs and
for pros.

ALL THE CASH

Samsung Galaxy

Note20 Ultra

The latest Samsung Note

has so many features, audio

barely gets a look in... but

there are some real sonic

highlights. Its slot-in S-Pen

stylus has Bluetooth, letting

it work as a magic wand for

music: one press of its button

pauses the track, two presses

skip to the next song. It could

be the only thing you actually

use the S-Pen for when not

doodling away during Zoom

meetings (unless you read

Instant Upgrades on p72).

The speakers are excellent

too: there’s real weight to the

mids, which lends vocals a

more convincing texture than

you’ll hear from most phones.

£1179 / samsung.com

SOME CASH

Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro

Most phones with good

audio have a couple of

ordinary speakers, on the

front and bottom. Xiaomi

goes further in the Mi 10 Pro...

a lot further. Its drivers sit on

the top and bottom edges, so

there’s no weak little treble

unit squeezed in above the

screen. They’re positioned

symmetrically for a better

stereo image too. Each

speaker diaphragm is

controlled by seven magnets,

to get them well and truly

buzzing for greater volume

and bass power, and Xiaomi

has worked optimisation into

the software to tweak the

sound as you switch between

music, games and movies.

£999 / mi.com

LESS CASH

Moto G8 Power

The Moto G series is known

for its great all-round budget

phones – but the G8 Power,

a snip at around £200, also

has one of the best speaker

arrays in a sub-£300 phone.

We put it up against rivals

from Samsung, Xiaomi, TCL,

Oppo and Sony – the G8

Power, and its pricier sister

the Moto G Pro, came out on

top. You get more volume and

beefier mids than the rest,

and the G8 Power has stereo

speakers – rare at this price.

There’s a headphone port,

while its 5000mAh battery

life won’t leave you wanting

to snap it like a Gay Dad CD.

We don’t miss everything

from 20 years ago.

£199 / motorola.co.uk

NOW ADD THIS

Bose QuietComfort

Earbuds

Employing proprietary

noise-cancelling tech and

StayHear Max tips to block

out any undesirable racket,

Bose’s new true wireless

buds are said to offer a

faithful audio reproduction

without ‘manufactured

boosts’. And for when you

do need to let a bit of real

life in, there are 11 levels of

noise control.

£250 / bose.co.uk

THE BLUE

NILE A WALK

ACROSS THE

ROOFTOPS

A precious little

album that appeared

out of nowhere (well,

Scotland) in 1984,

this is sophisto-pop

floating in electrically

charged space.

Note: the ‘critically

acclaimed’ follow-up,

Hats, is ghastly.

JONI MITCHELL

BLUE

Joni’s masterpiece,

Blue is a beautifully

sparse record

showcasing the

Canadian singer’s

pure, stripped-down

songwriting skills.

It’s a revealing listen

with good cans,

where you’ll hear

piano pedals moving

in the title track.

FLEETWOOD

MAC RUMOURS

Recorded against

the backdrop of two

in-band breakups

and rampant cocaine

consumption, and

spurred by the

songcraft of Stevie

Nicks and Lindsey

Buckingham, the

sonics of Rumours

are as noteworthy

as the hooks.

R.E.M.

AUTOMATIC

FOR THE

PEOPLE

The album that

cemented REM as

the mainstream’s

fave alt-rock band

is irresistible thanks

to its darkly lush

arrangements. The

25th anniversary

edition adds fancy

Dolby remastering.

ALTERNATIVELY

NOW HEAR THIS CLASSIC POP