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40<br />
Brand New Retro<br />
Classic devices<br />
given a high-tech<br />
reboot<br />
We love our digital devices, our smart bulbs and<br />
our personal digital assistants. But sometimes<br />
we wish our various gadgets and gizmos had a<br />
bit more personality. In the future, few of us are<br />
likely to look back on our Amazon Echos with the<br />
nostalgia we have for the Sony Walkman, and<br />
digital timekeeping is never going to be as exciting<br />
as watching something pop out of a cuckoo clock.<br />
So we’re delighted to see some firms embracing<br />
modern technology with a distinctly retro twist.<br />
Roberts is a great example of that. The £229<br />
Revival iStream 3 looks like a proper old-school<br />
AM radio, complete with faux-leather covering<br />
and a distinctive golden grille. It’s beautiful and<br />
wonderfully old-fashioned, but it’s packed with the<br />
latest digital radio tech: it can play DAB radio and<br />
stream from the likes of Spotify and TIDAL. It even<br />
works with Alexa.<br />
Vinyl has been making a comeback for some<br />
years now and there are some very retro-looking<br />
turntables available, but it might be sensible to stick<br />
with something less tacky, such as the Sony PS-<br />
LX310BT Bluetooth Turntable. This £194 turntable<br />
has proper hi-fi heritage, looks like it was made in<br />
1970 and streams wirelessly to compatible audio<br />
systems and smart speakers.<br />
Cassette tapes are back too, and you can pick up<br />
Bluetooth tape players for as little as £24. Some<br />
include USB drives you can copy your music<br />
onto; others simply connect to your Bluetooth<br />
headphones.<br />
If you would like a rotary phone, Amazon’s virtual<br />
shelves include classic rotary models such as the GPO<br />
746, which is a homage to the enormous phones of<br />
the pre-digital era. Expect to pay around £40.<br />
If you miss the warm glow of filament bulbs,<br />
technology can help: Philips’ Hue smart bulb range<br />
now includes long-life, low-energy LED filaments<br />
that look ancient. And as for the cuckoo clock<br />
mentioned earlier? John Lewis currently sells a<br />
‘Tweeting’ cuckoo clock for £74. Don’t worry, the<br />
tweeting refers to its sound: it doesn’t post things to<br />
your Twitter account.<br />
Philips Hue Filament light bulb<br />
Old-fashioned lighting meets modern<br />
LED technology. Like the rest of the Hue<br />
range these bulbs are controllable via<br />
phone, tablet or smart speaker if you<br />
have a Hue Bridge.<br />
£20, meethue.com<br />
GPO 746 retro<br />
phone<br />
Phones like this are<br />
widely available and tick<br />
all the boxes: curly cords,<br />
just the right amount of finger<br />
resistance and, of course, a range<br />
of eye-popping colours.<br />
£40, Amazon.co.uk<br />
Roberts Revival iStream 3<br />
It looks like it should only play<br />
you the shipping forecast but<br />
Roberts’ digital radio can stream<br />
from Spotify and play tunes<br />
from TIDAL.<br />
£229, Roberts.com<br />
RED5 Retro mini arcade<br />
machine<br />
We hate to break it to you, but the<br />
arcade cabinets this little console<br />
looks like are over 50 years old. It<br />
comes pre-installed with over 200<br />
arcade games.<br />
£20, Argos.co.uk<br />
Sony PS-LX310bt Bluetooth Turntable<br />
Classic looks meet cutting-edge technology in this<br />
very clever turntable for vinyl records old or new.<br />
£194, sony.co.uk
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