If you’ve been out enjoying the summer this month there’s a good chance you’ve not been able to keep on top of your gadget news in the way you normally would – but help is at hand.
Here at Stuff it’s literally our job to keep you up-to-date with all the latest headlines. All the biggest stories can be found in our news section, but this is the home of those other stories we haven’t been able to cover.
That doesn’t mean this is second-rate stuff, though. Below you’ll find the very best new gadgets from the past month, starting with an electric bike that has a very familiar name…
Volkswagen Sport eBike
Whether it’s the original Beetle, classic Golf or hippie-tastic Type 2 camper van, VW has contributed quite a bit to what’s seen on our roads over the past 75 years. And while its two-wheelers are a much rarer sight, the new Volkswagen Sport eBike (from $3999/£3999) will be very difficult to miss.
The top tube is basically one long LED light, which illuminates to make you stand out more, and also changes colour to do the same job as the brake lights and indicators on a car.
The bike can also help you to keep an eye on the stuff you can’t see in front of you, with an optional rear-facing camera that’s activated by radar and sends a real-time video feed to a 3.5in screen integrated into the handlebars. Without the camera the display still shows you stuff like which of the power modes you’re in and how much of the 490Wh battery’s 162km range is left.
Want to go further between charges? You can extend the range by up to 269km by adding a larger second battery to a rack on the back but it will also bump the price up. Worried it’ll get nicked? You can add a motion-activated 85 decibel alarm that should put off would-be thieves. Apple’s Find My system is supported too.
If you want to go the whole hog you can even add a Smart Helmet, which has its own active lighting synced to the bike’s, and Smart Glasses that include a head-up display for blind spot alerts and Google Maps-powered navigation, turning you into a sort of cycling cyborg.
Hyperkin SupaBoy
Sony might be making PlayStation game discs extinct in 2028 but Hyperkin’s SupaBoy ($129.99/£119.99) wants ‘90s SNES cartridges to live forever.
With a slot on top for your old copies of Super Mario Kart, Starwing, F-Zero et al, you can either play them clasped in your hands using its 4.3in screen, or connect it to a TV and plug in a couple of original controllers for the full SNES experience.
If you want it to be as authentic as possible there’s a switch that lets you choose between widescreen and the original 4:3 format, and the built-in rechargeable battery should last up to 10 hours between charges – plenty for even the most mammoth Donkey Kong Country session.
The SupaBoy has been available in the US for a while already, but it’s now coming to the UK and Europe in two colours: crimson and prime.
Roberts Revival Uno Solar
Roberts has been churning out radios that look a lot like this one for 70 years now, but this is the first time one in its Revival range has had a built-in solar panel. It sits on the back, so plonk it on your window sill and the sun should keep the rechargeable batteries inside topped up nicely.
Roberts says the Uno Solar (£200) doesn’t rely on direct sunlight, so even if you live in the darkest, dampest corner of Wales it should still give your listening time a boost. If you find yourself having to retreat into some sort of emergency bunker to survive the world becoming a giant sauna you can always just plug it into the mains; a full charge gives you 20 hours of untethered playback. It even comes with four rechargeable AA batteries in the box.
You won’t have much luck using the DAB+ or FM tuners if you’ve had to retreat underground, so the 40 station presets won’t be much use either, but it’s also got Bluetooth so you can stream stuff from your phone. Unless your bunker’s got Wi-Fi, though, make sure to download your favourite albums before shutting the door.
Dual alarms should ensure you’re up in time for your all-day breakfast in a can, and it comes in a choice of two colours – midnight blue or duck egg – so you can pick one to match your heatproof hazmat suit.
BMX Solidsafe Air 5K
Most portable MagSafe chargers temporarily turn your phone from a slither of pocket-sized silicon into a cumbersome wedge that feels like it could choke a basking shark. Snap a BMX Solidsafe Air 5K ($59.99/£59.99) on, though, and you’ll be able to slip it back into your pocket without anyone assuming that you’re trying to smuggle root vegetables.
At just 6.8mm the Solidsafe Air 5K is almost two millimetres thinner than an iPhone 17 Pro, and its 5000mAh battery can wirelessly charge one up to 75% (or up to 84% if you use a USB-C cable). The titanium shell comes in three colours – gold, black or silver – and the charger uses semi-solid-state tech, which means it shouldn’t get too hot and accidentally burn your parsnip.
Lego Super Mario Donkey Kong Arcade
It’s hard to imagine Lego recreating many modern games with its famous colourful bricks – you’d need a room the size of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 to squeeze in all of Lego GTA 6 – but the original Donkey Kong looks like the perfect source material for its latest Nintendo model.
Once you’ve put all 1371 pieces together you’ll have an analogue version of the 1981 classic, which introduced Mario to the world and pretty much invented 2D platform games as we know them. At 15.5 in tall, 10.5in wide, and 5.5in deep it’s much more compact than a real arcade cabinet, but it’s still a decent size – a touch bigger than a cereal box.
You move everyone’s favourite plumber (known simply as Jumpman back then) with the joystick and use the button on the right to jump over the barrels, which are released with the lever on the left.
Our hirsute hero can only move back and forth a very limited distance, so actually getting to the top to rescue Pauline from DK’s clutches is impossible, but Donkey Kong games have always been notoriously difficult.
Assembling it should be somewhat easier, but those moving parts will at least give you something to test your building skills. You get 21 barrels to jump over, but the mechanism cleverly feeds them back to the top so you can keep playing on an endless loop, making this a game that’ll keep you busy much longer than even GTA 6.
You can pick one up now for $199.99/£149.99.
Light Flip
It can be hard to leave your phone alone when it lights up like a supercharged Christmas tree for even the most minor events, but the Light Flip ($299) is much easier to ignore.
Not only does it run a minimalist OS that shuns social media, web browsers and app stores (meaning you can’t download distractions in a moment of weakness), its classic clamshell design hides the 2.8inch OLED screen inside, with just a small light for notifications.
You still get stuff like maps, music and podcast playback (there’s even a 3.5mm headphone socket), 5G, Wi-Fi, and basic calls and texts, so it won’t turn you into a total digital hermit, but you won’t be able use it to scroll away so much of your spare time either.
