May 1, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Best Noise-Cancelling Headphones UK 2026: Honest Picks

Last updated: 1 May 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

Noise-cancelling headphones are one of those purchases where the difference between "good" and "life-changing" is roughly £100. Fortunately, even budget options in 2026 are genuinely impressive. More importantly, between us we've worn every pair below for long enough to know which ones are worth your money, and which ones will start hurting your ears after an hour. This is our honest guide to the best noise-cancelling headphones UK shoppers can buy right now.

This guide contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you buy through our links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. All picks are based on genuine use and independent assessment.

Published by Stiv in Audiophiles, Consumer Tech, Reviews, Tech News, Technology lover

Tags: AirPods Max 2, AirPods Pro 3, ANC, best headphones, Bose QuietComfort Ultra, headphones review, noise cancelling headphones, Nothing Ear, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, Sennheiser Momentum 4, Sonos Ace, Sony WF-1000XM6, Sony WH-1000XM6, Soundcore Space One

April 30, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Ruba Nadar at Pipeline: ‘I Saw Myself Playing on The National Team’ Review

Last updated: 30 April 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Cool Factor

★★★★☆

4 out of 5 – Stone cold

The best reason to climb several flights of stairs on a weekday afternoon is the possibility of a genuine discovery. Ruba Nadar's first solo exhibition at Pipeline Contemporary is exactly that. Running until 23 May 2026, I Saw Myself Playing on The National Team is a debut that announces an artist with real conviction, curated by someone who, show by show, is becoming one of the more interesting voices on London's emerging art scene.

Published by Tristan in Arts & Culture, Exhibitions, London, Reviews

Tags: art review, collage, Contemporary art, emerging artists, Fitzrovia galleries, London exhibitions 2026, mixed media painting, Pipeline Contemporary, Ruba Nadar

April 30, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Best Audiobooks May 2026: 14 Listens You Can’t Miss

Last updated: 30 April 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

Welcome back to the monthly audiobook roundup. The best audiobooks May 2026 has to offer span thrillers, memoirs, romance, queer apocalyptic road trips, and one absolute wildcard that's basically Hamilton crossed with a forgotten chapter of American history. Fourteen picks, one month, plenty of reasons to plug in.

Some of these will keep you up till 2am. Some will make you cry on the bus. One is full-cast theatre brilliance you can listen to in a single sitting. Here's everything we're queueing up this month.

This post contains affiliate links to Audible and Amazon. If you sign up or buy through our links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. All picks are chosen independently.

Published by Tristan in Arts & Culture, Audiobooks, Audiophiles, Bookworms, Reviews

Tags: Audible UK, audiobook reviews, audiobooks May 2026, best audiobooks, Beth O'Leary, fiction audiobooks, Lena Dunham, new audiobooks, Patrick Radden Keefe, TJ Klune

April 27, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Amalia Pica: Daisy Chain at Herald St Review

Last updated: 27 April 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Cool Factor

★★☆☆☆

2 out of 5 · Lukewarm

Amalia Pica: Daisy Chain arrives at Herald St as the Argentine-British artist's fourth solo show with the Bethnal Green gallery. On paper, it sounds genuinely promising. Community, memory, coded language, and a monumental installation of interconnected watercolour paintings winding around the main space. In practice, though, the Amalia Pica Daisy Chain exhibition is a quietly pretty experience that leans more heavily on sentiment than on substance.

Published by Tristan in Arts & Culture, Exhibitions, London, Reviews

Tags: Amalia Pica, Bethnal Green, Contemporary art, Daisy Chain, Exhibition review, Herald St, London galleries

April 27, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Analogue Pocket Review UK 2026: Is It Worth Importing?

Last updated: 28 April 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Cool Factor: 4/5

This Analogue Pocket review comes after three months of daily use, dozens of cartridges, and one surprisingly hefty import bill. The short version? It is genuinely the best way to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games in 2026. The screen alone justifies the hype. But the price, especially for UK buyers, takes some of the shine off. Here is what it is actually like to live with.

Published by Stiv in Kids and big kids, Reviews, Technology lover

Tags: Analogue Pocket, Analogue Pocket review, FPGA, Game Boy, gaming, handheld console, retro gaming, retro handheld UK, reviews

April 26, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Chip App Review UK 2026: 3 Years Tested, Rates, Prize Saver, Fees

Last updated: 6 September 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This Chip app review UK draws on three and a half years of my personal daily use, starting 3 November 2022, across auto-save, the Instant Access Saver, Prize Savings, ChipX (briefly) and a Chip Stocks and Shares ISA.

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Some features of Chip involve investing, which carries risk including the possible loss of capital. Savings rates can change. Always do your own research or consult a qualified financial adviser. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Fancy trying Chip yourself?

New customers can pick up a £50 bonus with a qualifying £1,000 deposit held for 90 days; the current code and full terms are on our Chip referral page.

Get the Chip referral bonus

Cool Factor

★★★★☆

4 out of 5 · Stone cold

My Chip app review UK is grounded in the actual ledger: £174.41 in interest earned, £180 in tax-free prize wins, £0.80 in investment returns, and three and a half years of daily use since November 2022. That is the unvarnished record of what I have personally taken out of Chip across four different account types. Below is what I kept, what I binned, what works, and the one quirk that still mildly irritates me.

Published by Stiv in Apps, Finance, Personal finance, Reviews

Tags: auto-saving, cash ISA, chip app, Chip review, ClearBank, fintech UK, personal finance, Prize Savings Account, reviews, savings apps

April 25, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

UK Made Clothing: Why Where Your Clothes Come From Matters

Last updated: 25 April 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

When Alan Carr wore a Wax London overshirt on Celebrity Traitors, it caught our eye. Stylish, well-cut, and effortlessly cool. So we bought a few pieces. The clothes? Great. The experience of actually being a Wax London customer? Not so much. Here is why UK made clothing matters more than a nice label, and why Community Clothing deserves your money instead.

This is a tale of two brands, one that looks the part and one that lives it. If you care about where your clothes come from and how you are treated when something goes wrong, read on.

Published by Stiv in Fashionista, Lifestyle, Reviews, UK Made

Tags: Celebrity Traitors, Community Clothing, consumer rights, ethical fashion, Patrick Grant, UK made clothing, Wax London

April 24, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Plum App Review UK 2026: Honest Verdict After 3 Months

Last updated: 9 June 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Some features of Plum involve investing, which carries risk including the possible loss of capital. Always do your own research or consult a qualified financial adviser. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Keen to give Plum a go?

Our Plum referral page shows any current new-user offer and walks through the sign-up, and using it supports the site at no cost to you.

Try Plum via our link

Cool Factor

★★★☆☆

3 out of 5 · Cool

This Plum app review is based on three months of hands-on use. We set up Plum to run alongside our existing auto-saver to see whether it would earn a permanent place on our home screen. Plum is one of those apps that does a lot and wants you to know it. Auto-saving, round-ups, investing, bills management, cashback offers, interest-earning pockets. After three months of testing, here's whether all that activity translates into actually saving more money.

Published by Stiv in Apps, Finance, Reviews

Tags: auto-saving, Finance Apps, money apps, Plum, Plum app, reviews, Round-Ups, Saving Apps

April 24, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Cecily Brown Serpentine Review: Picture Making Is a Belated Homecoming Worth Your Afternoon

Last updated: 24 April 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Cool Factor

★★★★☆

4 out of 5

Cecily Brown is one of the most successful British painters alive. She's shown at the Met in New York, toured retrospectives across the United States, and regularly sells paintings for millions. Yet somehow, until now, she'd never had a museum show in the city where she was born and raised. Cecily Brown Serpentine South's Picture Making is that belated homecoming. It's free, it's in Kensington Gardens, and it's worth your afternoon. Mostly.

Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Artists, Arts & Culture, Reviews

Tags: art, Cecily Brown, Exhibitions, Free London, Kensington Gardens, london, Painting, reviews, Serpentine

April 23, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Best Black British Music Audiobooks on Audible 2026

Best Black British Music Audiobooks on Audible

Last updated: 23 April 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

If you have just been to The Music is Black at V&A East Museum, or you are planning to, there is a good chance you will want to keep listening once you leave. Luckily for you, the best Black British music audiobooks on Audible UK are genuinely brilliant. We have rounded up six standouts, from grime histories to Windrush epics, for the commute home, the canal walk or a proper evening on the sofa.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Every pick below is live on Audible UK, with narrator and running time noted. Three are read by the author, which always adds something. Start an Audible free trial and your first listen is on the house.

Start your Audible free trial

Prefer print? Browse the full list on Bookshop.org UK, the independent bookshop alternative to Amazon, or pick up any of the titles below on Amazon UK.

Published by Tristan in Arts & Culture, Audiophiles, Bookworms, Exhibitions, Reviews

Tags: Afua Hirsch, Akala, Audible free trial, Audible UK, audiobooks, Black British history, Black British music, David Olusoga, grime, V&A East