Carrie Marshall

Carrie Marshall

Contributor

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than twenty books. Her latest, a love letter to music titled Small Town Joy, is on sale now. She is the singer in spectacularly obscure Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.

Articles by: Carrie Marshall

Samsung Music Studio 7 speakers on a shelf

2026 is the year wireless home theater Dolby Atmos speakers replace soundbars — here’s why it’s a game changer

By Carrie Marshall published

Sponsored

Cutting the cables doesn't mean compromising your immersive Dolby Atmos audio. Here's why

Image showing the Peacock TV app displaying a match via Telemundo's World Cup 2026 coverage.

The World Cup will be broadcast in Dolby Vision HDR and higher-quality Dolby Atmos using the new AC-4 streaming format for the first time — but only Peacock subscribers will be celebrating this victory

By Carrie Marshall published

Peacock will be the first major streamer to deploy Dolby's AC-4 audio codec in Telemundo's coverage of the 2026 World Cup

Yamaha NX-70A in a hi-fi suite at High End Vienna

Yamaha's high-end wireless hi-fi speakers could give KEF conniptions, boasting luxury listening (and they look stunning too)

By Carrie Marshall published

The new Yamaha NX-70As wireless hi-fi speakers feature materials from grand pianos and Yamaha's flagship speakers; room correction; and wide streaming support

C Seed Bugatti N1

Hey, remember that bonkers folding micro-LED TV? It’s back! And now it's a Bugatti

By Carrie Marshall, Leon Poultney published

Recently found yourself in a Brewster's Millions-style situation? Then I've got the TV for you…

The WiiM Bar in a living room on the left, a headshot of Dr Lifeng Zhao, WiiM's CEO, on the right

'We don't want to make a legacy AVR': WiiM's first soundbar is the same price as the Sonos Beam, but it's bigger, beefier and has real upfiring drivers for Dolby Atmos — and we talked to WiiM's CEO about it

By Carrie Marshall published

WiiM's first soundbar is a 3.0.2 system that can be expanded to 5.1.2 — and possibly more.

SMEG Under Counter Wine Cooler product photo

Smeg's new wine coolers are perfect for storing your Sauvignon, chilling your Chablis and cooling your Chenin Blanc — and they look seriously cool, too

By Carrie Marshall published

Smeg has launched two new under-counter wine coolers with 38-bottle capacity and dual temperature zones

Buttons on the Majority Bowfell Halo Atmos

'Almost every mixer, without being told to, instinctively did the same thing': Dolby exec explains the subtle changes in movie soundtracks brought by the arrival of Dolby Atmos — and it really makes the case for proper surround setups over soundbars

By Carrie Marshall published

'Almost every mixer, without being told to, instinctively did the same thing'

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Lifestyle image of the AeroPress Manual Coffee Grinder being used by a person in a dark green coat in front of a vintage white car

AeroPress just launched a stylish new manual coffee grinder with titanium burrs that you can crank by hand — or with an electric drill

By Carrie Marshall published

The latest iteration of the AeroPress Manual Coffee Grinder is tougher than ever, and even has an electric drill attachment in case your hands get tired.

Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool promotional image showing two women working out and the air being directed at both

Dyson's latest purifier uses AI tech to track your movements so the cool air goes wherever you do

By Carrie Marshall published

The new Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool uses intelligent tracking to direct air and save energy too

The Canvas L sound floating above a white surface, the uncovered panel of the bar shows its 8 speaker drivers

The best of both worlds for soundbars and loudspeakers? Canvas hi-fi's new bar is pushing the definition, by packing huge 8-inch drivers into a frame that fits below your TV — and the company boldly says it's 'the world's first audiophile soundbar'

By Carrie Marshall published

Canvas has announced its second hi-fi soundbar, the Canvas L, promising audiophile-grade sound

The LG C6 OLED TV with a sunset over a lake taken from a hillside. The shot shows the C6's contrast, detail and color accuracy, with the colors of the sunset looking authentic

'These reports are groundless': A report claimed LG wanted to exit the TV business and offload it to a Chinese brand, following similar moves from Sony and Panasonic — but LG says the story is 'entirely speculative and misleading'

By Carrie Marshall published

LG hits back at 'baseless' reports that it was looking to partner up with Hisense for the future — and the original report has disappeared.

sonos arc

The latest Sonos app update just added a new option that might be the magic bullet you need to fix problems on 'more complex home network setups' — though consider it a last resort

By Carrie Marshall published

Sonos has released an iOS and Android app update that enables you to turn off SonosNet mesh networking

Sony TVs next to each other on a very long bench

Sony's TV line-up is now both clearer and also confusingly named after launching its latest sets: here are all the official models and sizes it sells in 2026

By Carrie Marshall published

Sony's full 2026 TV line-up is here, and it involves a lot of 'Mark II' TVs, but also several 'Mark I' TVs, and all their names are numbers anyway…

A screenshot showing the new text size feature on Apple TV. An Apple TV and remote sit below the screen.

Apple is introducing useful accessibility features in tvOS 27 for Apple TV 4K that will appeal to everyone, including larger text and auto-generated subtitles — but some major streaming apps don't use Apple's own app tech that enables them

By Carrie Marshall published

Apple is introducing useful accessibility features in tvOS 27, but some streaming apps don't use Apple's app tech

close-up of soundbar mesh with Sonos branding

The Sonos app for iPhone and iPad mysteriously disappeared from the App Store — but it's back now

By Carrie Marshall last updated

Updated I hope you didn't just buy a new product you're eager to set up…

LG magic remote 2024

Looks like Google TV could get Wii-style pointy controls, just like my LG TV's Magic Remote that drives me and my kids mad

By Carrie Marshall published

Google has told app developers that Google TV will be adding support for "pointing remotes" that sound very similar to LG's Magic Remote

Dolby screening room in London

Dolby Atmos on streaming will finally sound as good as 4K Blu-ray, based on these blind test results of audio engineers — but this still won’t cause collectors to switch from physical media

By Carrie Marshall published

In double-blind listening tests, multiple audio experts preferred Dolby AC-4 to existing Dolby Digital+JOC audio streams

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TCL QM8K showing image of fantastic landscape

Loads of TCL Google TVs are getting a great free upgrade that adds Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode for super-accurate movie viewing — and a few other nice changes are on board too

By Carrie Marshall published

TCL is rolling out a firmware update to many TVs from 2023 onwards to deliver Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode, upgraded FlexConnect and a fix for audio in Disney+

Two adults and a child are very happy that they have a Lepro STV1 lightstrip on their TV. The adult man and woman are waving their arms in the air

This TV backlight promises simple setup and AI extras for a lot less than Philips Hue — and without an HDMI box

By Carrie Marshall published

Lepro's STV1 lightstrip promises more immersive entertainment without expensive hardware thanks to its camera-based setup and AI enhancements

Yamaha RX300A AV receiver on top of a wooden sideboard

Yamaha's new budget AV receivers mean you can build a Dolby Atmos system with 4K 120Hz passthrough for the price of a decent soundbar setup — and it's even offering a bundle with a 5.1 surround setup to prove it

By Carrie Marshall published

Yamaha has announced two new AV receivers, the RX300A and RX500A, and they start from just $399

A man sits on a sofa, playing the TemPolor Melo-D guitar

A lot of musicians will be infuriated by this 'world's first generative AI guitar', but I think its automatic tabulation and learning features sound genuinely smart — but only if the AI's ethical

By Carrie Marshall published

The Melo-D is a smart guitar that comes with useful AI features. It looks particularly good for beginners but I have a few concerns.

A room lit in multiple colors from various Philips Smart Lighting products, with the TV lightstrip mirroring the on-screen colors

There's a new alternative to the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K for immersive smart lighting synced to your TV — it's way cheaper, it still supports 4K 120Hz passthrough, it works with WiZ bulbs, and it comes from… Philips

By Carrie Marshall published

The new Philips Smart Lighting sync box works with your TV to mirror the on-screen colors in your smart lights, and it's a lot less than you'd pay for the Hue version.

Govee Outdoor Solar String Lights on a fence and on a pergola in a very nice and expensive looking back yard

Don't settle for supermarket solar lights: Govee's made smart strings that look great outdoors

By Carrie Marshall published

Govee's first solar lighting product is a smart string light designed to be great outdoors

A smart display and smart speaker with the Google gemini glyph in the center of the display

Gemini on Google Home just got way faster for common tasks in its latest update, and can now answer more useful questions without pushing you to the Home app — oh, and it'll finally tell you how to mix cocktails

By Carrie Marshall published

The Google Home app has been updated with significantly faster Gemini performance when you're using voice commands or asking questions

Samsung's 140-inch micro-LED at CES 2026. showing the screen on the side of the TV panel as well as the front TV panel. A night-time image of a city is shown, with brightly lit buildings spilling from the front onto the side screen

Will micro-LED ever really replace OLED? The next-gen TV tech takes a blow as Samsung's TV boss pulls back from investing in making it — it's a bad sign, but will TCL and Hisense keep the flag flying?

By Carrie Marshall published

Micro-LED TV looks amazing, but it's seriously expensive – so much so that Samsung appears to be scaling back its plans

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