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Home / News / 5 of the best – retro gadgets

5 of the best – retro gadgets

Step back in time with these offerings from ye olde gadgette shoppe

Old gadgets look cool, but don’t always work. That’s why you want new gadgets that look old. Like these…

Leica X1

£1,395, en.leica-camera.com

It’s not cheap, but if you’re the sort of lensman who demands to feel like he’s in a John Le Carré spy novel, the X1’s frank design is your best bet. Luckily, there’s no need to load 35mm film in a dark corner – Leica’s latest has a 12.2MP digital sensor, 24mm lens and pop-up flash. [Read our review here]

 

Stylophone

£15, iwantoneofthose.com

The stylophone comes from a rich history of children’s musical toys that became bona fide instruments. The harmonica was widely used by early American bluesmen in the Deep South, while Augustus Pablo championed the use of melodica in his trippy Jamaican dub. Stylophone had Rolf Harris, but if anyone asks cite Kraftwerk instead, okay?

 

Skullcandy Double Agent Brown SD headphones

£57, iheadphones.co.uk

More spy gadgetry? Yep, though we recommend pumping your favourite tunes through these stylish cans, rather than listening to Morse code for hours on end. There’s an SD card for wirelesss music playback on the go, or you can plug in your ‘Pod.

 

Specktone iPod dock

£120, iworld.co.uk

In the evil lair, the baddie always had something that looked like this on the desk. He used it to call his henchmen to investigate the disturbance on the other side of the island. We recommend you park your iPod in the top and sit back to enjoy the 28W stereo emanating from that retro grille.

 

Pure Evoke-1S Marshall

£120, hmv.com

In the ‘60s, everyone had long hair, a floral shirt and a Marshall guitar amp. Well, not everyone – Marshall amps were expensive bits of kit. Now you can pick up this Marshall cab for a psychedelic song. And it’s got a Pure DAB radio inside. Turn on, tune in, drop out.

More 5 of the bests from Stuff.tv:

Holiday apps

Flip-flops

Holiday gadgets

Apple alternatives

Ebook readers

Sports watches

Sunglasses

Barbecues

Designer fans

Waterproof gadgets

In-flight gadgets

Karaoke gadgets

Funky chairs

iPod docks

iPad apps

Running shoes

Alarm clocks

Fashion headphones

 

Profile image of Dan Grabham Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home