I hope another Sinclair can ignite a gaming revolution with the Pi-powered GamerCard
Like the ZX Spectrum, Grant Sinclair's creation is built for tinkerers who crave something a bit different from the norm. Its guts are typical enough. The brains are a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W with 128GB storage. There's a 1600 mAh battery that'll keep the unit going for hours on a single charge. And you get HDMI and USB-C connectors. However, Qwiic connectivity aligns GamerCard with the geek sensibilities of the Sinclair name. And the lush 4in 254ppi 1:1 IPS display stands out from the competition and should make your eyes happy while gawping at games.
Speaking of, GamerCard doesn't ship with a library of dubiously sourced titles. But it does preload two game that began life on the Switch (platformer Bloo Kid 2 and shooter AstroBlaze DX). A launcher then provides fast access to additional games through emulation or Pico-8 – the faux-9-bit console that'll set you back $15 and unlock hundreds of tiny indie gems.
Design of the times
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Just like the ZX Spectrum stood out among the boxy, beige monstrosities of its day, GamerCard is a svelte number in a sea of chunky handhelds. It's a ridiculous 6.5mm thin – about a third of the depth of most portables in this space – and weighs just 100g. This is achieved thanks to a 'next-gen PCB sandwich construction that replaces traditional body cases and eliminates wasteful manufacturing processes'.
The controls are even weirder. No Speccy rubber keys here, but you do get two control pad discs for navigation and play. It's impossible to say how they'll fare when confronted with a game designed for a traditional D-pad. Sinclair told Stuff the discs 'have snap domes underneath that are super-tactile and were tested by gamers over several months'. He added this was one of the 'hardest details to get right' but said it is 'now perfect'.
Perfect is a high bar, but I'm intrigued. I'm a fan of 1:1 handhelds – they're ideal for Pico-8, vertical arcade games and a bunch of other classic systems. And GamerCard should cope with anything up to the (original) PlayStation. But I'm a mite concerned how a super-skinny unit with oddball controls will feel to play.
There's also the small matter of the price. The GamerCard will set you back £125 (about $170), which isn't cheap, especially when you stack it up against something like the TrumUI Brick – a chunkier beast at 20mm, but more powerful and half the price. Still, if you're into stylish oddballs or want to help the Sinclair name on its next adventure, grab a GamerCard right now from grantsinclair.com.
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5 days ago
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The Porsche 911 GTS taught me hybrids can be a riot when they want to be
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That said, in coupe form the GTS can be had with a rear spoiler that looks particularly menacing. There's also the small matter of the price: the most powerful non-Turbo 911 will set you back £154,400 before options, or £168,145 as tested here. On the other hand, you're getting faster acceleration than either a McLaren GTS or Ferrari Roma, with quite a bit of change to boot. If you're in the market for a junior supercar, this looks like an excellent addition to your shortlist. Stuff Says… Score: 5/5 Keeps Porsche's iconic sports car in the conversation without adding a plug socket. The 911 GTS T-Hybrid is a confident first step towards electrification that's just as dynamic an experience as you'd expect from the badge. Pros Astounding performance only aided by hybrid system Rides and handles superbly, as a 911 should Luxury cabin feel with plenty of tech Cons Only available with a PDK transmission Porsche 911 GTS T-Hybrid technical specifications Powertrain 3.6-litre turbocharged flat six petrol engine Battery 1.9kW Power 534bhp Torque 450lb ft 0-60mph 3.1sec Top speed 194mph Fuel economy 25.7-26.4mpg Cargo volume 135 litres
Stuff.tv
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The blingy Huawei Freebuds 6 blend an open fit with convincing noise cancelling – does it work?
I really didn't I'd like the Huawei Freebuds 6. I've been increasingly favouring headphones over wireless earbuds lately, and have never been a big fan of the semi-open fit; they rarely stay secure in my ears, and can't match in-ears or IEMS for noise reduction, active or otherwise. Sound quality usually takes a hit, too. After trying them, though, I'm a convert. At £120 (like all Huawei kit you can't officially buy these in the US) they're priced to challenge the AirPods 4 with noise cancellation and the Galaxy Buds 3, with an equally extensive feature list including active ANC. Dual drivers and high quality Bluetooth codecs bode well for audio, while the streamlined design aims for maximum comfort. How we test headphones Every pair of earphones and headphones reviewed on Stuff is used for a minimum of a week's worth of daily listening. We use a playlist of test tracks made up of multiple genres to assess sound, and use our years of experience to compare to other models. Manufacturers have no visibility on reviews before they appear online, and we never accept payment to feature products. Find out more about how we test and rate products. The buds use a tweaked version of the unique teardrop shape seen on the last-gen Freebuds 5, being a little smaller and a bit curvier to rest more naturally in your ears. The difference is dramatic; I didn't need the rubber covers Huawei includes in the box to add extra grip, as they stayed in place just fine while sat at a desk or walking around the house. The semi-open design has given my ear canals a welcome break from testing multiple IEM-style earphones, too. Still, I wouldn't work out in them – running bumped them loose fairly quickly. They're light enough I could leave them in all day, only having to take them out to charge. Battery life is merely OK, managing around four hours with ANC enabled or six hours without, but the egg-shaped charging case has almost enough juice for five full charges. A ten minute top-up would usually add another two or so hours; leaving them stowed during my lunch break was easily enough to get me through the rest of the working day. Noise cancelling is definitely worth using. The semi-open fit means it can't block exterior noise to anywhere near the same extent as a pair of in-ears, and there was a noticeable hiss when listening to spoken word podcasts, but it was harder to notice when I swapped to music. It was able to block out low-frequency drones like computers, cooling fans or my robot vacuum pretty effectively. Just don't expect to ride the subway in silence with these in your ears. I'm not sure I can pull off the eye-catching metallic purple colour in public, either. The pearl-like finish manages to avoid collecting fingerprints, and the double-tap gesture to play or pause your tunes mean adjusting the fit won't accidentally stop playback. I'd rather have the black or white versions, which are a lot less shouty on the styling front. As ever with Huawei headphones, if you're not rocking one of the firm's own smartphones (and let's be honest, why would you in 2025 unless you live in China) installing the AI Life companion app requires a few more steps than usual. Most Android phones flash up a scary looking warning when installing third-party APKs, which can be off-putting if you aren't tech-savvy. Once you're up and running it all works as expected, at least, with customisable gesture controls, plenty of EQ presets to play with, and handy extras like find my earbuds. A few more advanced features, like head-tracking spatial sound, are off limits unless you're paired to a Huawei phone; personally I don't miss it, as I'm not a fan of the artificially expanded soundstage. What truly impressed me was the way the Freebuds 6 sounded. I was expecting a thin, treble-heavy tone on account of the semi-open design, but you're actually getting the opposite. The 11mm dynamic driver and planar diaphragm work together to deliver a surprising amount of bass, resulting in a great overall balance. OK, you're missing out on the sub-bass punch found from in-ears, but DEADLIFE's Deviant still had a satisfying low-end. You don't have to crank the volume to achieve this, and there's a good amount of instrumental separation on more delicate tracks. This was all on the default EQ preset, too; there's room to push things in either direction if you want a sharper treble or more dominant low-end. They're comfortably on par with other semi-open earphones. There's still a gap to the best in-ear alternatives, on both sound quality and noise cancelling. That makes these more suited to a second set, rather than your only earbuds – but it's a role they fill very well. Stuff Says… Comfortable, punchy-sounding open fit earbuds with decent noise cancelling and high quality codecs. Huawei's familiar app caveats supply, but the Freebuds 6 otherwise deliver plenty for the price. Pros Energetic audio that doesn't skimp on bass Noise cancelling is decent for open-fit earbuds Cons The usual app hurdles to navigate Semi-open fit won't be for everyone Huawei Freebuds 6 technical specifications Drivers 11mm dynamic + planar diaphragm ANC Yes Bluetooth version Bluetooth 5.2 Codecs supported SBC, AAC, L2HC, LDAC Durability IP54 (buds) Battery life 4hrs/24hrs (ANC on, buds/case, sound quality priority) 6hrs/36hrs (ANC off, buds/case, connection priority) Dimensions 31x19x24mm, 4.9g (buds, each) 66x50x27mm, 40.3g (case)
Stuff.tv
24-07-2025
- Stuff.tv
The Commodore Amiga turns 40 – here are its 10 best games ever
If you ever used an Amiga back in the day, prepare to feel old, because Commodore's masterpiece just turned 40. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s it was a beast of a computer, with its 16-bit processor, custom chips for graphics and audio, colour mouse-based UI (take that, Mac Plus!), and enough RAM to make all the 8-bit micros green with envy. Advertising at the time suggested the Amiga was the ideal business machine, or perfect for creative endeavours. But of course everyone just wanted it as a gaming computer. Here's Stuff's definitive guide to the ten best Commodore Amiga games ever made that are still worth playing today. (If you disagree, yell at us on socials. But the first person to mention the risible Shadow of the Beast will be forced to play Rise of the Robots for a solid week as punishment. You have been warned.) 1. The Secret of Monkey Island Play While Lucasfilm's point-and-click SCUMM engine appealed to audiences upon Maniac Mansion's release, it was the near-perfect Secret of Monkey Island that consigned the traditional text-based adventure to oblivion. Ron Gilbert's superb writing infuses this cartoonish pirate adventure with energy and life. It also eradicated the typical dead-ends seen before in so many adventures, by making it impossible for protagonist Guybrush Threepwood to die. Fall off a cliff and you're hurled back into the air by bouncing on a rubber tree! It's not surprising the adventure keeps getting remade and reimagined on modern kit, but the original Amiga outing remains especially joyful to play. 2. Cannon Fodder Play Command & Conquer usually gets kudos for kickstarting the modern RTS, but Cannon Fodder got there first, adding an injection of dark satire that sailed over the heads of every do-gooder censorship-happy miseryguts and tabloid hack of the day. The premise was to lead your little squad around battlefields, stealthily taking out enemies and completing missions. Controversy came through the juxtaposition of humour and war, and the roll calls at the end of each level, which listed the names of the fallen against a poppy backdrop; your squad was then refreshed from an endless queue of oblivious recruits awaiting their turn, next to a hill that amassed an increasing number of graves. Brilliant, poignant and playable, it's a title ripe for remake. 3. SWOS Play Forget FIFA and PES – in the 1990s, SWOS was where footie games were at. Sensible Software (quite sensibly) decided 'realism' was a waste of time if you only had 16 bits to play with, and instead presented football as you imagined it to be in your head as a kid, winning the World Cup on a barren patch of grass behind your gran's house. The result ended up more like pinball, with fast and furious overhead matches that were endlessly frenetic and exciting. Its spirit somewhat lives on in Sociable Soccer, which is spearheaded by a SWOS co-creator. But, much like Manchester United, it can't quite capture those glory days. 4. Stunt Car Racer Play If you're into thoroughly modern racers, you might balk at Stunt Car Racer's jerky framerate and simple graphics. To do so would be to sniffily avoid a fantastic racer that asked the question: how cool would it be to mash-up drag racing and roller-coasters? The answer: very. With perfect, solid-feeling physics, it's one of very few racers from the Commodore Amiga era to properly leave your stomach in your mouth as you zoom about on vertigo-inducing tracks, slam into banked corners, and try very hard not to nitro your eyebrows off in a mad dash for the chequered flag. 5. Lemmings Play With all the sequels, remakes and clones, Lemmings for a while almost became part of gaming's wallpaper, and so it's hard to remember how fresh the concept was back in 1991. The aim was simple: guide a bunch of tiny bipedal lemmings home, helping them navigate hazards along the way. The lemmings automatically doddled along, and you could assign individuals special powers, such as digging, blocking, or building a ramp. Initially an enjoyable and sweet-natured game, later levels could have you tearing your hair out as you screamed DON'T GO THAT WAY, YOU STUPID IDIOT at the screen, watching forlornly as the lemming you needed to make up your quota nose-dived to oblivion. Fortunately, catharsis came via the 'Nuke' command, which blew up all the remaining little buggers at once. Oh no! 6. Syndicate Play The first in Bullfrog's long-running real-time tactics series has you order a bunch of cyborg goons about an isometric landscape of corporate dystopia, intent on killing off executives from rival firms. Hostile takeover doesn't really cover it. And there's more than a hint of satire in the manner you can 'persuade' civilians and scientists to join your company's cause (their other choice being 'death'). At the time, the scope and living world in this Commodore Amiga game made it compelling, unique and ahead of its time; the rest of the gaming world's long caught up, but Syndicate still manages to hold its own, especially if you're looking for 'alternate' means to get ahead in the boardroom. 7. Speedball 2 Play We don't know about you, but the future of sport looks pretty exciting, as armoured lunks dash about arenas, smashing metal balls into rivals' faces, while refreshments are hawked in the distance by someone yelling ICE CREAM! ICE CREAM! over and over. At least, that's how Speedball 2 has it, borrowing heavily from Rollerball and early 2000 AD future-sports strips. For such an old game, there's surprising depth, too, as you attempt to somehow transform the Luton FC of this future world (the appallingly named Brutal Deluxe) into champions. 8. Populous Play Considered the earliest 'god game', Populous has you scroll about hilltops populated by uncivilised rabble. Your powers initially make you wonder whether the game should have been by Codemasters and entitled Advanced Landscaping Simulator, since you can only raise and lower land. The larger the flat areas, the bigger structures your little folks can construct, until they're all living in houses and castles. Your followers breed like rabbits, gain you 'mana', train up knights, and want to keep spreading. You can then send knights on to duff up the opposition and take over their land, providing a helping god-like hand by using mana to fling firestorms, earthquakes and volcanos at anyone you want rid of. 9. Turrican 2 Play There's a smattering of Metroid in the DNA of Turrican 2, with you bounding about huge side-on platform-filled worlds, blowing up anything that goes for you. But Turrican 2 is very much an Amiga game, from its urgent Chris Huelsbeck soundtrack through to the rich and diverse level design that keeps hurling new challenges at you. Perhaps the best bit is never really knowing what's coming next. More traditional level design gradually ramps up the difficulty level over the course of a game. But in Turrican 2, you can be ambling down a corridor and suddenly find yourself desperately fending off a screens-high adversary, or discover the entire game's suddenly transformed into a breakneck horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up. Top stuff. 10. Datastorm Play Every era of videogames is transformative and in some way leaves the past behind. With the 16-bit computers, there was a desire to provide deeper and more complex experiences, but Datastorm had no truck with that. Instead, it harked back to classic arcade blasters, merging Defender and Dropzone into a lightning-fast feat of horizontal blasting action. Making use of the host hardware, it also had you face bloody great big foes like the terrifying screen-high space squid and intergalactic space skull, the latter of which still makes us think its pilots had a pretty major insecurity problem. Now read: The next ZX Spectrum will also be a Commodore 64
