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

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

Pinguino GentleJet Inverter in the foreground. it's in a neutrally decorated living room

De’Longhi's new Pinguino air conditioner will keep you cool in any room, and it's launched just in time for the UK's early summer heat

By Carrie Marshall published

De’Longhi has unveiled a new model in its range of Pinguino portable air conditioners with 13,300 BTU output and more efficient energy use

Smeg coffee maker and milk frother on wooden table with coffee and glass cups

Smeg's stylish new espresso bundle makes cafe-style coffee much more affordable

By Carrie Marshall published

Smeg has launched a bundle combining its ECF12 espresso machine and its Mini Milk Frother for around £100 less than you'd pay separately

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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Dreame L50s Pro Ultra in a rendering of an expensive space-age apartment

Powerful vacuuming, mopping, and self-cleaning — Dreame's latest robovacs are packed with premium features, cost a lot less than you might expect, and are available in the UK right now

By Carrie Marshall published

Dreame has unveiled two new robot vaccums with built-in mopping. They're significantly more powerful than before but come with competitive price tags

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

Samsung S90H OLED TV with Tizen home page on screen

Samsung has revealed the prices of its 2026 OLED TVs, and it's clearly gunning for LG

By Carrie Marshall published

Samsung's 2026 OLED TV range is priced very aggressively in the UK, with prices starting at £1,299

Wharfedale Denton 1S speakers in blue on either side of a hifi. They are atop a dark wooden sideboard, in front of a white brick wall with a brightly coloured painting on it

Two hi-fi greats just announced cool, curved new stereo speakers — one's passive, one's active, take your pick

By Carrie Marshall published

Wharfedale's Denton 1S and Fyne Audio's Cubit 5 speakers are compact, powerful and promise superb sound

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.

The TCL C8L TV at a launch event, showing a strikingly blue image of a large and the sky behind it

TCL’s new SQD mini-LED TVs finally have a UK price, and I’d be very tempted to pick one over an LG OLED when the value is this good — we’ve already tested the tech, and it’s impressive

By Carrie Marshall published

TCL's new-gen TVs got a strong review from us in the US — and now the UK version has a price, and it's very tempting, even compared to the best of OLED.

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

Ninja Slushi Twist on a light colored countertop with a red drink in one chamber and a yellow in the second. There are four brightly colored drinks in cocktail glasses in front.

I love my Ninja Slushi drinks machine, but this new version is twice as ice — how can you resist cool twisted multi-colored slushies at home?

By Carrie Marshall published

Ninja doubles the freezing fun with the new Ninja Slushi Twist and its two drinks compartments

iFi GO Link 2 shot on a grey surface

I spent 10 days testing the iFi GO Link 2 — and this little DAC delivers an enormous audio upgrade for your phone or laptop audio at a great price

By Carrie Marshall published

iFi's tiny DAC is smaller and lighter than the first generation and delivers an excellent audio upgrade to phones in particular

Woman listening to music on laptop

I tried the lossless audio test and couldn't believe my ears. Can you really tell the difference between lossless audio and plain old MP3 versions of your favorite tunes?

By Carrie Marshall published

At higher bitrates it's hard to tell the difference between lossy and lossless

TCL QM7K Google TV home screen with hand holding remote in front

Google TV is getting the exact home screen update you don’t want: more clutter — vertical social videos from YouTube will be piped right to your eyes along with the TV and movie recommendations

By Carrie Marshall published

Because there's nothing better than Tik-Tok-style vertical video on a widescreen landscape TV…

TCL's first inkjet-printed OLED monitor

A new report says inkjet-printed OLED could be 30% cheaper to produce than current methods, which I'm hoping is great news for laptops and monitors soon, and OLED TVs in the future — and it's on top of the other big advantages of IJP tech

By Carrie Marshall published

Inkjet-printed OLED panels could reduce manufacturing costs by as much as 35%, according to a new report. But there are still challenges to overcome

An Amazon Fire TV Stick 2nd Generation next to the HBO Max logo

Older Amazon Fire TV devices are set to lose support for HBO Max, due to a lack of software updates as Amazon switches to its new 'Vega' operating system, and it could affect 'millions' — I hope you already caught up with The Pitt…

By Carrie Marshall published

HBO Max is no longer supported on older Fire TV devices that run version 5 of the Fire OS

Steam library with Steam Machine

Looks like Valve's Steam Machine might finally be on its way after a huge importing effort — and despite our fears, it might actually support full-fat 4K 120Hz and VRR in the end, making it a full PS5 and Xbox replacement

By Carrie Marshall published

Valve's Steam Machine may be close to launch – and a post-launch firmware update may deliver HDMI 2.1

Bose Lifestyle Ultra soundbar in white below a TV with purple ambient lighting

Bose releases new 'Ultra' Dolby Atmos soundbar and wireless speaker range, with a serious subwoofer option — and this lineup has Sonos right in its crosshairs

By Carrie Marshall published

Bose's Lifestyle Collection features a new flagship soundbar and multi-room compatibility — including with other firms' speakers

An old CRT TV with Amazon's Fire TV interface on it

Someone found a Chinese retailer selling super-cheap CRT TVs, but don't get too excited, retro gaming fans — every new piece of information about them seems to reveal more mysteries

By Carrie Marshall published

A Chinese company is offering newly made CRT TVs — but with some debate over exactly what's being sold

Image of a woman looking at records in a record store

Be careful buying hard-to-get vinyl: UK police just seized thousands of 'counterfeit' records, which were being sold for as much as £1,000 each — and there are more 'secret underground record factories' where that came from

By Carrie Marshall published

Fake vinyl is big business: the latest UK raid seized over £250,000 of counterfeit records. Be careful out there!

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