T3 - UK (2022-03)

MARCH 2022 T3 17

Top 10

COOLNESS

INNOVATION

FEATURES

TECH-O-METER

COOLNESS

INNOVATION

FEATURES

TECH-O-METER

COOLNESS

INNOVATION

FEATURES

TECH-O-METER

perfect sonic balance shouldn’t be

hard, and early indications suggest

Jabra’s claim of seven hours’ playback

on a charge (and 28 hours with the

case) are just about spot on. Jabra,

keep on doing what you’re doing,

because it seems to be working.

T3 SAYS: Not groundbreaking, but

potentially brilliant.

JABRA ELITE 4 ACTIVE

£120, jabra.co.uk

Jabra has gone from reliable business
Bluetooth stalwart to similarly reliable
consumer producer, and we’re here
for it. If the company’s more premium
Elite 7 Actives sit outside of your
price range, this more wallet-friendly
take on true wireless buds might
meet the mark. While they’re
definitely a downgrade from their
larger-numbered sibling, they’re not
without high-end features. There’s
active noise cancelling with Jabra’s
HearThrough transparency mode
(naturally) along with IP57 dust- and
water-resistance. You can tweak the
EQ in-app, meaning finding your

STARCASE

$150 (around £111), buystarcase.com

Now that socialisation is once again

based on the concept of ignoring

one’s phone rather than staring into

it seeking some kind of virtual

companionship, putting that handset

face-down on the table is the polite

thing to do. So just how polite is the

STARcase, which has now emerged

from Kickstarter purgatory to become

an actual product you can buy? It

shines discrete LEDs through its rear

to highlight alerts, notifications and

potentially even rude scrolling

messages when you can’t look at

your screen. This newly bumperised

design for iPhones 12 and 13 (both

regular and Pro) offers better drop

protection, there’s a 3,000 mAh

battery in there to gift your phone

some extra juice on the go, and it’s

bright enough to use as a flashlight.

It may be impolite, but there’s no

arguing that it isn’t eye-catching.

T3 SAYS: Expensive for a case – but

for one with a battery? Not so much.

STRONG LEAP-S

£60, strong.tv

Strong – the excellently-named and
apparently 140-year-old imprint of
budget-kit purveyor Skyworth – has
impressed us here. Mainly with its
attitude: “Here is an Android TV box,”
it seems to say. “It’s basically just an
Android TV box. It does Android TV.
Use it how you want.” And that’s
fantastic, given that most of the
major players like to offer half-screen
advertisements and inflexible
interfaces as their USP. This is hefty
enough to sling around 4K UHD
content and decode H.265. It has
ports, including a pair of USBs,
Ethernet and a microSD slot, so you

can drop your own content in with

ease. For many people, a super-

affordable gets-out-of-the-way

streaming box is the ultimate option

• and if you want to sling on some
  emulators or sideload some apps,
  you’re free to do your own thing.

T3 SAYS: Not a huge leap forward,

but a strong option for streaming.

IMAGE SOURCE: JABRA

IMAGE SOURCE: STARCASE

IMAGE SOURCE: STRONG