Better Sound, Charged Phones, and Cleaner Paws | Vol. 8

Most home speakers are expected to disappear: a modest black rectangle, a cable, and a vague apology for being on the sideboard. The Harman Kardon Aura Studio 4 has chosen a different career. Its transparent dome and animated lighting turn the act of putting music on while making dinner into a small, slightly unnecessary event. We approve of that ambition. This is a proper home speaker rather than a pocketable little chirper. It measures 284 x 233 x 233 mm and weighs 3.6 kg, so it is built for claiming a deliberate patch of furniture, not bouncing around an overpacked tote bag. That makes sense: the design asks to be seen, and hiding it behind a houseplant would feel like inviting a disco ball over and making it face the wall. The useful substance beneath the glass is a six-driver mid/high array paired with a 130 mm subwoofer. Harman Kardon lists a 45 Hz–20 kHz dynamic frequency response at -6 dB. We would not treat a spec sheet as poetry, but it does establish that this is not merely an illuminated ornament with a Bluetooth button stapled on. Its five themes—Cloud, Polar Light, Galaxy, Fireplace, and Rainy Night—can synchronise with music, which is exactly the sort of feature that sounds ridiculous until a grey Tuesday needs rescuing. Add connection for up to two devices and the Aura Studio 4 becomes an unusually persuasive communal speaker: less negotiation over whose phone is paired, more soundtrack for whatever minor domestic chaos is underway.

A phone at low battery is a tiny modern hostage situation: the boarding pass is on it, the address is on it, and somebody has sent a voice note with a frankly irresponsible runtime. We picked the Anker MagGo Power Bank (10K), model A1654, because it gathers the usual loose ends of emergency charging into one fairly civilised object. Its 10,000mAh capacity is the main reason it belongs here, but the details are what stop it becoming another anonymous battery slab. Qi2-certified wireless charging can reach up to 15W, USB-C is available for wired charging, and the smart display means the remaining charge is not communicated through four cryptic dots and a prayer. The built-in stand is a particularly sensible bit of faff reduction. A phone can stay upright while charging rather than being balanced against a water bottle during a video call or abandoned face-down beside a café socket. Pass-through charging also lets the power bank charge while supplying power, which is the sort of domestic logistics feature nobody celebrates until there are only two outlets in a hotel room. There is a clear boundary, though: the Canadian product page explicitly lists the iPhone 12, 13, 14, and 15 series. We would treat that as a product for those listed iPhones, not as a universal answer to every depleted phone in the room. At 250g and 19.8mm thick, it is also a deliberate carry item rather than invisible pocket garnish. For the right iPhone owner, that is a reasonable trade for fewer battery-related negotiations.

Dog walks have a remarkable way of becoming an unsolicited interior-design project. One cheerful detour through a wet patch and the entryway is suddenly decorated in what can only be called “aggressive earth tones.” Towels help, but they also turn one muddy paw into a small wrestling event. The Dexas MudBuster Medium Dog Paw Cleaner takes a far less dramatic approach: water goes into the tumbler, a paw goes in, the tumbler twists, and the paw is dabbed dry. Then there are three more paws, because dogs have refused to evolve toward convenience. We like this because it does not pretend to solve every aspect of dog ownership. It tackles one repetitive, annoyingly timed job: cleaning paws at the threshold, when everyone is tired, damp, and keen to avoid a floor-cleaning sequel. This medium version is a particularly sensible fit where paw size lands between 2.5 and 3.5 inches wide. The appeal is its narrow focus and easy-grip form; the catch is equally narrow. Get the sizing wrong and this clever little mud tribunal has no jurisdiction.

Airplane entertainment systems have spent years offering a tiny headphone socket as though wireless headphones never happened. The result is a familiar bit of modern travel theatre: perfectly good earbuds, a perfectly functional film, and a wire dangling from the seat that appears to have survived several previous passengers’ snacks. We think the Twelve South AirFly Pro 2 earns its place by ending that nonsense with a very small intermediary. This Bluetooth adapter plugs into a standard headphone jack and transmits its audio to wireless headphones. That makes it useful on flights, at gym equipment, with gaming devices and at TVs that still provide a 3.5 mm output. More interestingly, it can pair two sets of Bluetooth headphones to one source, which makes shared listening possible without one person pretending they can hear through somebody else’s earbud. The Pro 2 is not limited to sending audio outward. Its receive mode takes Bluetooth audio and outputs it to wired speakers or an AUX-IN port. That gives an older speaker, car stereo or boat setup a route into the wireless present, without forcing an otherwise decent bit of kit into a drawer marked “cables, mysterious.” We see this as an unusually sensible travel accessory with a useful domestic afterlife. It supports all Bluetooth wireless headphone brands according to Twelve South, recharges by USB-C, and lists more than 25 hours of battery life. The catch is refreshingly literal: it needs a standard headphone jack. No jack, no tidy little audio miracle.

A cassette player in 2025 is either a sincere commitment to a music collection or a very specific refusal to throw out a shoebox. We respect both impulses. The FiiO CP13 is built for playback, not tape archaeology: put in the album, connect wired headphones through the standard 3.5 mm output, and let the cassette do its slightly inconvenient little ritual. That ritual is exactly the point. A tape makes listening oddly finite. You choose one thing, it plays in order, and nobody is quietly sliding in another algorithmic recommendation before the first chorus has finished. The CP13 keeps the experience purposefully straightforward, with a physical volume knob and two-track stereo playback rather than a feature list attempting to re-invent the Walkman as a small office computer. FiiO specifies support for Type I, II, III, and IV tapes, which makes this a sensible landing place for a mixed old collection rather than a fussy novelty reserved for one kind of cassette. Its rechargeable 1800 mAh battery is rated for at least 13 hours of playback through headphones under FiiO’s test conditions, so it is not asking you to hoard disposable batteries alongside your ABBA singles. We think the transparent CP13 is the especially charming version in this listing. It admits that cassette listening is partly about the object, the choice, and the faintly ridiculous satisfaction of carrying an album-sized commitment in a coat pocket. Still, this is not a Swiss Army player: there is no recording and no auto-reverse. That is either disciplined simplicity or a deal-breaker, depending on how allergic you are to flipping a tape.