st247

CONTENTS

ISSUE 247 MAY 2025

TECH 6 Geek Speak/Editor’s Choice 8-9 How to set up an awesome home theatre 10 What’s new in TV tech 12 Mega-sized TVs to suit all budgets 16-17 2025 TVs: What’s new from LG 20-21 2025 TVs: What’s new from Samsung 24-25 2025 TVs: What’s new from Hisense 26 2025 TVs: What’s new from Philips 30 2025 TVs: What’s new from TCL 31 Top devices for streamlined streaming 32 What’s new in TV gaming tech 34 TV installation made easy 36-38 Top soundbars for your new TV 40-42 Beauty tools for looking and feeling good 44 Fitness insights galore with the Oura Ring 4 46-48 Desktop PC buying guide 50 Bluetooth explained 52 Ray-Ban Meta: The smart glasses 54 New tech at JB this month GAMING FLIP MAG AND READ FROM BACK 3 Take 5/Chart/Q5/ Wham, bam, game exam! 4-5 What’s new with Nintendo Switch 2? 6 Doom: The Dark Ages preview 8 Elden Ring Nightreign Q+A 10 AFL 26 Q+A 12 Razer x Minecraft 18 Intro/Take 5/Filmmaker’s Signature/In Development/ Bob J’s Film Buff Bafflers 19 Merch of the month/Charts/This month 10 years ago 20 Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy / Terror live to air: September 5 22 Go with the Flow /Spice World: Dune Prophecy 23 Mission: Improbably - Spy x Family Code: White 24 In the Lost Lands /Taking the Mickey: Screamboat 26 New to 4K 28 Reel Classics: New from Imprint 30 What’s out this month? 32 Ani-May: Celebrating anime month MUSIC 34 My first album/ STACK Exchange 36 New music from Sleep Token and Dope Lemon 38 Third albums for Perth’s Spacy Jane and Iceland’s Kaleo 39 Miley Cyrus talks her ninth album and Ian Moss goes live 42-43 What new music is landing in-store at JB this month? 44 The excellent Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes: Live at the Greek is this month’s Vital Vinyl focus 14 Meta Quest 3 and 3S 16 What’s out this month? MOVIES & TV

WELCOME

Last year, Aussies spent an average of eight hours and twenty minutes per week parked in front of their TVs watching free-to-air and streaming content. That’s why a quality smart TV is an essential addition to every home, and this year we may be spending even more time watching movies and bingeing episodes, as 2025’s TVs are smarter, brighter, and bigger. Major brands have not only added AI-powered features to help us decide what to watch, and optimise picture and sound quality on the fly, they’ve also added more mega screen size options across their ranges. A massive 85-, 98- or 100-inch TV might seem like a luxury item, but at the rate Australians are embracing the “bigger is better” TV principle, massive screens could soon become commonplace, having now become a lot more affordable than you might think. So if you’re ready to upgrade – and even supersize – your TV, the time is now. This month’s annual visual spectacular selects the latest, mega-sized TVs to suit all budgets, as well as unpacking the 2025 TV line-up across the major brands – and the cutting edge tech that’s under the hood. We also check out the cool new features that will benefit gamers, and if you’ve always wanted to set up the ultimate home theatre, our handy guide has everything you need to get cracking. Paul Jones, Editor-in-Chief

jbhifi.com.au/stack

Founder Nic Short Editor-in-Chief Paul Jones Tech Editor Scott Hocking

Music Consultant Mike Glynn Marketing Manager Fleur Parker Chief Contributors Gill Pringle, Bob Jones Contributors Jeff Jenkins, Billy Pinnell, Bec Summer, Dan Nicholson, Stuart Coupe, Trista McConville, James O’Connor, Michael Caverzan

Social Media Manager Glenn Cochrane Production Manager Craig Patterson

Games & Online Editor Amy Flower Movie & TV Editor Glenn Cochrane Creative Director Gary Siewert Movies Consultant Kerrie Taylor Games Consultant Sachi Fernando

Correspondence STACK editor@stack.com.au

RATINGS GUIDE

Parental guidance recommended

Recommended for mature audiences

Not suitable for people under 15. Under 15s must be accommpanied by a parent or adult guardian

Restricted to 18 and over

General

Disclaimer STACK is published by Scribal Custom Pty Ltd (ACN 092 362 135). © Copyright Scribal Custom Pty Ltd, 2025 All rights reserved. All material appearing in this publication is copyright unless otherwise stated or it may rest with the provider of the supplied material or advertisement. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of Scribal Custom Pty Ltd. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy of advertisements or information. Whilst care has been taken in the research and preparation of this publication, the publishers, writers or anyone else associated cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, injury or hardship arising from the content contained herein or reliance therefrom, howsoever caused, and it remains your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any such content. Views expressed are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher or the editor. By the very nature of this publication, things change daily and we cannot take responsibility for any changes or inaccuracies that occur subsequent to going to press.

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