[Open Discussion] What’s the best bit of tech you’ve bought recently?

[George]

I’m a huge tech fan. So thought I’d start a thread to see if anyone has bought anything cool recently! 

I’ll kick things off. 

I know a lot of people buy super expensive wireless headphones. But I bought this pair of these JLab Sports Go (Headphones) for £30, and I have to say I’m chuffed! 

Why do I think they’re great: 

• Well, they were £30 not hundreds like some other options 
• They stay in my ears when I exercise thanks to the comfortable hook design 
• The audio is good enough - Not Apple Air Pods quality, but good enough 
• The mic for calls is surprisingly useable 
• The battery life is crazy good - I’m talking almost 2 days of heavy use 

I’ve attached some pic’s below in case anyone's interested. 

Look forward to hearing about everyone’s recommendations 😃! 

[Lawrenc_2661529]

My most recent big tech purchase was a steam deck. It's allowed me to get back into a few gashes and it's an incredibly portable computer. Well worth the money. 

[EthanielUK]

Smarty is the best but of mobile tech I purchased recently, so far better than the other providers.

 my download speeds are fantastic and in a 5g area as shown in the image above.  Using a Samsung a54 5g great.  Really happy with it and smarty allowing me to interface with the rest of the world with no restrictions.  Happy times.

[Munnychoudhury-]

The best tech that I've recently got is my new Samsung 14 mobile phone. Its a brilliant cost effective phone for a really reasonable price. 

[Michael_2408837]

I bought my first pad several months ago. It was the first OnePlus Pad and well worth the investment. Great specs and very fast. Looks wonderful too and performs really well. 

[Lorrain_1025468]

Enjoying my Alexa auto 

[GrahamBl_296767]

Best buy a Wavlink USB Dual Bay SATA HDD/SSD docking station at £23.19. This device allowed me to copy Windows 11 from my Toshiba HDD in my laptop to a Crucial SSD, thus speeding up startup on my HD laptop.

[fi_holli]

Echo dot is the best. It answers all of my stupid questions and you can even ask it to make continuous fart sounds on other people's devices.

[Hristin_1853347]

My latest phone 1+ on Amazon. Great deal and amazing specs for a budget smart phone. 

[DamienG_2195313]

When it comes to my most valued and most used item that's made the biggest possitive change in both my day to day and gaming time and being more productive while using my phone has to be my new upgrade well I say new but its been a few months since I got my 512gb version of the s23ultra this fone is one capable beast and has changed hoe and what I use on and for my mobile a real upgrade that makes everything else smoother and more manageable both in entertainment and in productivity value it's changed my whole relationship I have with my mobile love it so much

 

[JeanO]

Thanks for sharing this information. I have a pair of Apple Air Pods Pro and one of them isn’t working properly so I’ll invest in the JLabs instead. 

[Bidi]

I've been using my Netgear Nighthawk M1 mobile router for a few months and can't fault it. 

• Mobile broadband at home and while out and about. 
• Internet access without a landline. 
• Runs my laptop, tablet and other wifi gear. 
• Fast Gigabit download speed. 
• Stable. 
• Easy to set up and use. 

I use it with a Smarty data only SIM. 

There are cheaper Mifi routers but I don't mind paying for quality kit. Money well spent. 

 

[YulianK]

Looks like a great piece of kit, thanks for sharing @Bidi 

[Matthew_2235958]

It's very low tech but we purchased a Rapid Cool bottle which cools the babies bottle down from boiling to drinkable in about 2mins. Would highly recommend one to all new parents. 

[AmandaB_2130865]

Thanks for the info! I’ve been thinking of getting some that won’t break the bank. 

[MaDO13]

I have bought similar very cheap they are clip on on the outside ear really good unfortunately they are 5.1 notcomoatible with some bluetooth devices so i purchased some very small corded ones 4.1 

expensive not always thebest 

Sadly I can’t add photos!

[MrAye]

I bought a ZTE801A 5G modem, it was great. 

Then Smarty forced a firmware upgrade on behalf of Three, now it can’t hold onto 5G on any other network. 

[jonnyphone]

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1188581?clickSR=slp:term:jlab%20pop%20air:3:4:1

Got these couple of weeks back, when they were £17.99, sound awesome and the bluetooth (BT5.1 AAC) works well on iPhone, can't believe they're so cheap really.

[PeterWh_1550878]

Hi I have recently gone kinda the other way - I have some way cheap h/phones, but recently bought a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones - 30 hours battery life - Over Ear style, so not too bad passive NC if the battery does run out. The Active Noise Cancelling is very effective at say getting rid of most road noise - You know on motorways mainly it makes a big difference. I can actually practice some Meditation - as well as listening to music etc. Not used them much for calls, but when I have the quality was great! 

[RonnieMa_777889]

My Smarty Sim whiche allows data connectivity from anywhere , especially from my car as I have digital radio enabled and connect my laptop from work on the go should I need to. It also is a useful backup should my home network be unavailable for any reason. My other is my Meta Quest 2 headset which is so good for so many things including exercise apps and of course untethered gaming as it connects to my desktop via a streaming app 

[Mathemagic]

My best "buy" (it was a requested Christmas present) was a toolset - see below. 
OK, so not exactly tech, but I've been volunteering to refurbish and set up some old laptops and desktops for people recently and getting by with just two or three tools and often having to adapt. Now, I shoud, hopefully, have a tool for even the smallest and most unusual screws!

[jonnyphone]

that looks really good, have a full set of all the main computer screws there!

[LKD70]

I recently picked up some new speakers for my PC. I've always been passionate for sound, sadly last year my old KEF coda 7 bookshelf speakers finally gave out. I looked around for a bit and found a reasonably cheap alternative to sticking to the amplified option I grew used to.

Picked up a set of Edifier r1280T's. It's a more obscure brand, not exactly high street - but given the amazing price, the great IO and the constant good reviews I decided to give it a go. They are just about perfect for my PC setup so I'm very pleased so far!

[HannahW_17]

I had a pair of jlab headphones and yes they are really good especially for the price. I have to say though I recently took the plunge and got the Samsung earbuds pro and they are just amazing. The sound quality, the fit, the noise cancelling is serious impressive. I complete advocate for both however if you have the money and spend a fair bit of time in the gym I'd say get the pros you will not be disappointed. On that note they are definitely my fave bit of tech kit at the moment. 

[KRISTINA_390086]

These look Great would love those and will put them on my Birthday list...

[RobSmit_1387071]

A 4G+ WiFi router with the Smarty unlimited data to replace my BT broadband 😁

[Mathemagic]

I'm keeping an eye on that. My in-laws already use a 4G wifi router as their broadband is slower than a snail (2Mb on a good day). Even though I am rural, I'm about 1 mile away from being able to receive 5G - grrr - so close and yet so far! 

[leedorney]

I've had a Mi Band 6 NFC for a while and was interested in something bigger ie the screen, 1stly tried a Garmin vivoactive 3 not bad but screen was much, then tried an Oppo 46mm watch better screen size tho software clunky, and lastly which I feel ill keep is the Xiaomi S1 active and the screens fantastic + has a barometer & altitude guage built in too, good deal as well @ £112 👌

[AriBole_1018761]

I literally just bought the Asus ZenFone 9, and I've got to say it's amazing. 

I tried the s22, but screen refresh rate was nowhere near 120, and it didn't feel great. This phone, though, is something. It's snappy, has amazing battery life, and is small...

[LammyTs1-230]

My wife has just very generously treated me to the new Galaxy watch 5 pro, i had the original galaxy watch since they 1st came out and I have to say what an amazing upgrade. I loved my original watch so i am shocked at how much better this one is, from the build quality to the apps and things the watch can do. Which is far too much to list here but as you can possibly tell I really like my new gift. I have all the health apps etc but if anyone can suggest an app that they like for their own smartwatch please do not be shy and let me know. 

[ChrisGi_1537052]

Love the strava app on mine for ease of use whilst running with the breakdown of distance and speed with route options.

[vista]

Steam deck. It's brilliant being able to play pc games on a handheld device.

[ChrisGi_1537052]

Bought some Philips Hue lights for my daughter, they are brilliant so far, so many options and possibilities for addons around the house.

[YulianK]

Had to Google them but they look super cool, thanks for sharing👍

[Wardysays]

Mine is my upgrade to an Apple Watch Ultra. As a keen long distance runner I only take my watch to stream music, track the run and other bits alongside my AirPods. Only reason I never took them on a half or full marathon is due to the battery. The Ultra beats that hands down! 

I’ve had 70 hours of battery with my phone near and around 17 on its own. Plenty of battery!!!! 

[YulianK]

Yes, I have one of the Galaxy Watches (2 or 3) gathering dust somewhere. Really enjoyed it initially but battery life and the need to recharge constantly just killed it for me. 

[DelDeeSmartE]

I bought a BOSE soundbar for my TV from Amazon, it was a bargain at £149 as it's normally £230. Great sound quality and nice and compact too. 

[Pwfcomp]

Love the way you can program the bose hand control too use on your tv as well.   

[YulianK]

Great buy! І have purchased a JBL Bar 2.0 soundbar from Currys for £79 just a few days ago. It's an entry level in the world of soundbars but the experience is life changing 🎶 

Huge upgrade from the standard TV speakers.

[Bubblesthefish6]

My Galaxy buds Pro and nothing phone 1. Was very supprised my nothing 1 works with Smarty wifi call ans 4G calling, but it does and i’m still very happy with it. My galaxy buds pro are amazing, and have got to be better than any airpods - since they have lossless bluetooth.