What is Hi‑Fi? turning 50: celebrating fifty years of expert reviews, trusted advice and smart products
In 1976, when the first issue of What is Hi-Fi? sat on the shelves, the world of home entertainment looked very different.
Vinyl ruled, cassette tapes were on the rise and the idea of carrying your music collection in your pocket, let alone building your own home cinema, was strictly science fiction.
What hasn’t changed in the 50 years since is our goal: to help you get the best products for your money, so you can enjoy your music and movies in the best possible quality.
Now, as What is Hi-Fi? turns 50, we’re launching a year-long celebration at What Hi-Fi? website and magazine, across all our social media channels, and finally at our annual Awards ceremony.
Over the coming months, we’ll be delving deeper into our history to revisit the products, technologies and moments that shaped the hi-fi and home cinema landscape. We’ll also look ahead, and think about how the world of consumer electronics might change over the next 50 years.
And it won’t be endless navel-gazing – we’ll be spending a lot of time looking at how the wider hi-fi and home cinema industry has changed, from technology to products and brands, and taking time to reflect on some of our favourites.
The first edition of the magazine sought an unbiased and reliable guide to the best way to get value for your hi-fi. Sound was later joined by Vision, as What is Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision divided into surround sound and screens.
The popular five-star rating system and annual Awards have become globally recognized benchmarks of excellence, helping millions of readers make confident purchasing decisions.
Over five decades, we’ve reviewed thousands of products – from turntables, speakers and CD players to Dolby Atmos sound systems, wireless headphones and multi-room broadcast setups.
Our experienced reviewers have seen – and critically criticized – all the big changes in home entertainment technology. And while many of those experiences are still there and okay What is Hi-Fi? every day, we’ll be hearing more voices this year that have helped shape the brand over the past 50 years.
Certainly reaching our 50th birthday – which will coincide with this fall – would not be possible without our students.
Generations of football fans have been trusted What is Hi-Fi? to guide their purchases, deepen their passion and help them get more out of music and movies.
Without them – you – we would not be here today. So before we do anything, thank you all for your support. And we’ll be looking for your help for our 50th anniversary, later in the year.
As technology continues to evolve, our promise remains the same as it was in 1976 – to deliver expert buying advice based on independent reviews you can trust.
So stay tuned What is Hi-Fi? in 2026 with special anniversary features, archive highlights and exclusive content to celebrate this milestone year.
