Crafting with confidence
Crafting at home has always been popular in certain circles, but with the introduction of purpose-built machinery and software, a whole new audience has jumped onto the endless possibilities that crafting presents. Metropol’s gadget guy Ian Knott puts the new Cricut Maker 4 through its paces. The Cricut Maker 4 feels more like […]
The carpet cleaner that pulls its weight
Carpet cleaning often sounds easier than it really is. In theory, you fill a tank, add some solution, push a machine around, and admire the results. In practice, it can mean dealing with a heavy machine, questioning the instructions, and wondering if all that noise and effort actually leads to much. Metropol’s gadget […]
Welcome Honor into the fold
Foldable mobile phones have spent the last few years hovering between novelty and necessity. Impressive, yes. Practical, sometimes. The Honor Magic V5 feels like one of the first to stop asking for patience and start offering confidence instead. Metropol’s gadget guy Ian Knott discovers there’s more to Android life than Samsung and co […]
A clean approach
There are product updates, and then there are course corrections. Metropol’s Gadget Guy Ian Knott finds that the ECOVACS X11 Omnicyclone robot vacuum feels very much like the latter. It is still worth looking back a little, because there was a period where ECOVACS experimented with a square-bodied design. On paper, the idea […]
Face it, it’s light work
LED face masks tend to sit in one of two camps: serious, science-backed skincare tools, or something that looks like it escaped from a sci-fi costume department. Metropol’s gadget guy Ian Knott discovers the Nanoleaf LED Facemask feels reassuringly grounded, even if wearing it gets a sideways glance from anyone else in the […]
The ultimate kitchen companion
Two of the best kitchen purchases I’ve made in recent years have been a slow cooker and a pressure cooker. Those two appliances, perhaps along with an airfryer, facilitate the creation of virtually any meal you can imagine. However such appliances need to be stored, and if cupboard space is at a premium, […]








