RECOMMENDED
FIND OUT WHAT’S CAUGHT OUR
AT TENTION THIS MONTHRADARJABRA ELITE 85H
£279, JABRA.CO.UK
I don’t like earphones. They tire my
ears out a er a while, so over-ear
headphones tend to be easier on my
hearing. In the confines of my at,
this means I listen to music via a pair
of hi-fi quality headphones with an
open-back, that lets some of the
noise and air pressure escape.
They’re also lightweight and the
earcups are lined with a breathable
material which makes them
comfortable to wear for a whole
evening. This isn’t a humble brag; my
point is I’m yet to find a pair of
wireless headphones that come
close in terms of comfort, let
alone sound.
That’s the first thing that’s stood
out about this new pair of Jabras. At
275g, they don’t seem particularly
light, and the cans come lined in faux
leather which usually isn’t a great
combo for comfort. And yet the
ergonomic design, and perhaps how
the weight is spread out through the
frame, make for a supremely
comfortable pair of headphones for
your commute, which is exactly what
they were designed for. The Elite 85h
is built with Jabra’s ‘Digital Hybrid
Active Noise Cancellation’, which is
their way of saying the headphones
can listen to the world around you
and filter out the noises you don’t
want, like the ra le of a train, while
allowing through the noises you doDaniel Bennett
EDITORWHAT I’MTESTING
FRANKISSSTEIN
BY JEANETTE WINTERSON
(£16.99, JONATHAN CAPE)
Jeane e Winterson’s latest book is a
shape-shi ing, time-hopping gem of
a novel that takes the latest thinking
around artificial intelligence (AI) and
weaves it into a compelling love
story involving sexbots, cryonics,
and 19th Century romanticism.
Frankisssteinis inspired by Mary
Shelley’s classic 1818 novel, and
whisks us back in time to the
now-famous holiday on the banks of
Lake Geneva, where Shelley first
conceived of the artificial life form
that would make her famous.
Meanwhile, in the present day, we
follow the story of a young doctor
called Ry, who is falling in love with
Victor Stein, an expert in all things AI.
Reading one of Winterson’s books
is like going on a magic carpet ride
through her subconscious. Best
known for her debut 1985 novel
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, her
stories are creative, over owing with
ideas, and shot through with her
wicked sense of humour. The most
memorable character inFrankissstein
is Ron Lord, a divorced man who’s
masterminding a new generation of
sex dolls. He’s brash, bawdy and
un-PC, but also emblematic of the
questions that run through this book:
how is technology changing the way
we love? And at what point can the
artificial become human?James Lloyd
STAFF WRITERWHAT I’ MREADING
ELVIE BREAST PUMP
£249, ELVIE.COM
Breastfeeding is hard: fact! So
anything that gives a mother a
break from the relentlessness is a
winner. My friend, Lae, has tried
standard pumps, but being strapped
to a noisy machine with wires and
tubes is not what she would call a
break. That’s where this pump
comes into its own, and she found it
to be a gamechanger (if you want to
call it a game).
The Elvie pump is small, and fits
neatly inside a nursing mother’s bra,
where it gently expresses milk via
seven di erent intensity se ings.
Lae washed up, drove, and even
enjoyed her dad’s 70th birthday
party while discreetly using the
pump. She loves that it has given her
a li le bit of freedom and taken the
edge o her breastfeeding journey.
While it’s possible to pump
without using the accompanying
app, the app allows you to control
the pump from your phone, and
track things like milk volume over
time. The ba ery charges quickly
via micro-USB and holds its charge
well. The only thing she found was
that it is be er to stay upright while
you are using it. Although you can
wander around, the stiller you are
the greater the yield.
It’s a brilliant piece of tech,
designed to help mothers through
what can be a tough time.WHAT I’ MTESTING
Alice Lipscombe-
Southwell
(with the help of a new mum)
PRODUCTION EDITOR