searching for a little smart home inspiration? Need gadgets for your significant other? Just bored and want to ogle at some shiny new tech? If it’s cool gadgets you’re after, we’ve cast our expert eyes over the latest tech and picked out what we think are the best new gadgets for 2020.
Needless to say, we won’t waste your time with pointless trinkets and thingumajigs (in fact anything without a USB is going to be a hard sell), and what we do get our grubby paws on we’ll let you know with a hands-on test, just look for our initials.
1
Asus Chromebook Flip C436
Ok, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first, this is by no means a cheap Chromebook. If you’re looking for a budget laptop, Chromebooks are great, but not this one. If, on the other hand, you are looking for one of the best Chromebooks out there, well then that is a different story altogether.
To justify the thrifty appeal of most Chromebooks, corners are inevitably cut in the build quality, but for just under £1,000 of your hard-earned pennies, the Asus Flip is a beautifully crafted piece of kit that holds its own against the likes of Apple and other premium Windows machines. I’m not a huge fan of white devices as they tend to show up marks a little easier, but the one I tested had a subtle sheen to it that changes color when you look at it from a different angle. Very classy.
The Flip part of the name comes from the fact you can twist the 14-inch touchscreen over itself and use it as a tablet or in tent mode, which along with the tiny bezel and four Harman/Kardon powered speakers make it an excellent multimedia device.
Under the hood is 10th-generation i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD, which are pretty ludicrous specs for a Chromebook, possibly too much if you don’t intend to do much more than a bit of web browsing, watching videos and getting past the first chapter of that novel you’ve been working on. However, as one of the first Chromebooks on Google and Intel’s program, it should be optimized enough to handle whatever you throw at it well into the future.
At 1.1kg, magnesium alloy body keeps things exceptionally light, the keys are backlit for nighttime typing, and another cool feature is the fingerprint reader, which works remarkably well, despite the fact that at first, I thought it was the power button.
Of course, being a Chromebook you’re limited to what apps are available on Android and not all of them are compatible, but that is more of a problem with ChromeOS than the laptop itself, and everything I did boot up worked like a charm. – AM
2
Skullcandy true wireless earbuds
True wireless earbuds have come a long way since we first featured them. However, one thing that hasn’t changed is the fear of dropping one of these little musical nuggets and losing it forever.
To circumvent this ever-present fear, the new earbuds from Skullcandy have Tile technology built-in, so you’ll be able to see where you left it on a map, or connect to the Tile network to help locate it if one does go awry.
There are four new models available, ranging from the budget Sesh Evo at £59.99, the £89.99 Indy Evos, to the sporty Push Ultras, which for £119.99 give you water, sweat, and dustproof earbuds, rapid charging and a range of funky colors.
Our pick of the bunch though would be the Indy Fuel true wireless earbuds, which not only look snazzy but also come with a wireless charging case.
3
Logitech G915 TKL gaming keyboard
Clickety-clack – that’s the unmistakable sound of a mechanical keyboard when someone is indulging in a little online gaming. The new Logitech G915 TKL is a smaller version of their popular G915 gaming keyboard, so expect plenty of satisfying clunks while playing.
Ditching the number keys to the right (known as the tenkeyless form factor) means the wireless keyboard has a much more compact profile on your desk and thus more space to swing your mouse around, while individual RGB lighting under each key means you can pick one of 16.8 million colors to glow beneath them for nighttime gaming.
The keys’ low-profile combined with LIGHTSPEED wireless technology, promising a blisteringly-fast 1-millisecond response, means this should be one quick-playing keyboard, so don’t go trying to blame lag for missing out on that crucial headshot.
4
Sunstroke Bluetooth electric drumkit
Just imagine you’re at home (probably alone) blasting out some epic rock and air drumming. Wouldn’t it be more fun if your flailing limbs could actually be put to some use and lay down some heavy beats?
If you don’t have space for a full drumkit, the Sunstroke virtual drumkit is a set of Bluetooth sensors that clip onto a pair of drumsticks and strap to your feet, which through the app or compatible recording software, lets you tap out a beat wherever you can find somewhere to tap it out on. This could be the kitchen table, some pillows, pots, and pans, or something more sensible like a practice pad.
Once you have calibrated the sensors in the app, through some sort of rhythmic voodoo (read: gyroscope and magnetometer) it works out where you are in relation to the virtual kit and plays the appropriate cymbal or snare. It’ll also work out how you hit it depending on the angle, so there is plenty of dynamics you can throw around while playing, and although it takes a bit of getting used to, once you have the hang of it you’ll be able to lay down a decent beat.
OK, it’s not really the same as having a proper kit in front of you. There is a small but noticeable lag but otherwise, the Sunstroke is a handy way to practice playing the drums if you’re just starting out (or locked in the house for 10 weeks) and is a neat way to release your inner Phil Collins with just a pair of drumsticks.
Needless to say, you’ll need headphones, preferably wired, to get the best out of it, otherwise, you’ll just hear the sound of your thwacking pillows. – AM
5
Fitbit Charge 4
As well as a new touchscreen, GPS, and NFC as standard, the new Fitbit Charge 4 comes with a special trick up its sleeve (or yours gave it’s a wrist-mounted wearable).
By tweaking its software, Fitbit now uses its pulse monitoring hardware to keep an eye on the volume of oxygen in your blood. There’s not a lot of use in this in the gym – unless you train at the top of a mountain where the air’s a bit thinner – but the reading can be useful in diagnosing sleep apnoea, a condition where people stop breathing in the middle of the night.
Sleep apnoea is estimated to affect some 1.5 million people in the UK, many of those undiagnosed, so by tracking your oxygen variability (what’s called ‘pulse oximetry’) during the night, the Charge 4 can help you find out if you have a high number of episodes where your oxygen is low. If that is the case, it might be worth talking to your doctor.
In other Fitbit news, the company has also started investigating whether.
ShiftCam Multilens iPhone 11 case
It’s no secret that the iPhone 11 comes with one of the best smartphone cameras, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a little improvement.
As far as iPhone cases go, the ShiftCam Multilens is definitely on the expensive end, but as well as two-meter drop protection, it comes with four lenses that slot over your current camera to add a telephoto, 10x and 20x macro lens, and a 180-degree fisheye lens to your arsenal. They also feature polarisers to filter out any unwanted glare and reflections.
Of course, you now have no excuses for sharing dodgy holiday snaps on.
7
MiniBrew CRAFT home brewing kit
Anyone who has ever tried making homebrew beer will know that it’s one heck of a messy job, so anything that can take out the graft and cut straight to the tasty bit will be sweet nectar to any budding brewmaster’s ear.
The MiniBrew CRAFT is an all-in-one worktop home brewing machine, which takes you from raw ingredients to a keg of around five liters of freshly poured beer in around 10 days. Ok, that’s not a quick as popping down to the local off-license, but in these strange times, anything that’ll keep you safely out of the open is welcome.
Beginners can pick the type of beer they want to make using brew kits, which cost between £17 and £30, but more experienced brewers can use the app to create their own liquid masterpieces. We’ll cheer to that!
8
Allbirds Dasher
Get your kicks, without costing the planet. That’s the idea behind these new trainers from Allbirds.
The design follows the trends in running shoes over the last few years: a mesh upper provides lightness, the flared heel adds stability and a mixed density sole adds springiness. Where it differs is in its materials and manufacturing.
The shoe is constructed out of materials made from wool, eucalyptus tree fiber, and sugarcane rather than the usual plastics and rubbers derived from fossil fuels. And the manufacturing process minimizes the carbon footprint and water use.
These Dashers have a footprint of 8kg of CO2 – 30 percent less than an average trainer.
9
Gadget Discovery Club tech subscription box
Subscription boxes are becoming increasingly popular, and if you’re the sort of person who likes cool gadgets – and we know you are because you’ve found your way here – you’re probably not too fussed about what new tech turns up at your doorstep, so long as it tickles your technological tastebuds.
The Gadget Discovery Club promises to send you smart home devices, music tech, wearable tech, smartphone gadgets and other delightful gizmos much cheaper than you could buy them in the shops, the only caveat being you don’t know what you’re going to get (hence the discovery part of the Gadget Discovery Club).
Without giving too much away, in my first box I received an alarmingly powerful little Bluetooth speaker that costs nearly £40 new, so quite the bargain even on the one month plan. If only I knew what next month had in store…? – AM
10
Trust GXT 258 Fyre streaming microphone
A good microphone is not something most laptops come shipped with, so if you are going to be shouting at your screen mid frag or recording your latest acoustic jams, you need to invest in a better mic.
The Fryu is primarily aimed at streamers and gamers, and as all good gaming peripherals should be, it is sturdy and black, with LEDs that you can change color depending on your mood with the push of a button.
Inside the cylindrical unit are three microphones pointing in different directions, so you can pick between cardioid for recording your own voice sans background noise, stereo, face-to-face, or omnidirectional, which will pick up 360 degrees of sound.
Streamers (or people like me who spend most of their time on Zoom calls these days) will appreciate the zero-latency monitoring, and anyone who does podcasting (also like me) will be thankful for the multi-directional recording for all potential interviewing situations. It also has a universal screw mount so you can easily adapt it to any kit you already have.
Of course, what you really want to know is how good it sounds. Well, the proof is in the pudding really, as since the coronavirus lockdown I’ve been using it to record the Science
At this price point, it’s a really good mic for streaming and recording audio. The sound quality is clear, with the internal pop filter clearing out any annoying P and F sounds, and the mic is sensitive enough to pick up the scampering other people in the house if you have it to the right settings. – AM
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