best buys… Curated picks of third-party kit

Kef Egg

With rich, warm sound that works with pretty much any genre, the KEF Egg speakers are ideal partners for your Mac. They support high-quality aptX Bluetooth too, making them perfect for wireless playback. Quirky design, solid build quality and support for external subwoofers makes them a great choice.

Pioneer Rayz Plus

If you own an iPhone 7, you’ll know the struggle of trying to listen to music and charge your phone at the same time. These in-ear Lightning headphones solve that, thanks to their built-in charging port. They’ve also got great audio quality, excellent noise cancellation and will pause your tunes when removed from your ears.

Transcend DrivePro 230

Dash cams help record what happens when you drive – useful if you’re in an RTC. If you’re in the market for one, this cam is one of the best. Packed with Wi-Fi, GPS logging, Full HD video and a night view as well, you get an awful lot for your money. There’s even a free 16GB memory card included in the box.

Libratone Zipp

Want a multiroom audio system in your home? This little speaker is your best option, hands down. It cleaned up in MF309’s group test, scoring five stars in every test category. From top-notch sound to tons of great features, the Zipp is a superb choice. It even boasts AirPlay for great integration with Macs and iOS devices.

Apple iPhone 7 Smart

Despite that sillylooking hump on its back, the official battery case for the iPhone 7 is rather impressive. It’s easy to fit, the buttons feel great, and the soft inner lining protects against scratches. It isn’t the largest capacity case, yet it has more than enough juice for busy days, and the bump is surprisingly comfy.

Blue Microphones Raspberry

Don’t be fooled by this mic’s small form factor; it punches hugely above its weight. Its close-up sound is intimate and bassy, and brings out the best in any voice. No matter whether you’re recording an interview, creating a podcast or just jamming with your band, its clarity and depth makes it easy to recommend.

Pioneer XDP-30R

Love music as much as we do? Then you’ll want to get your mitts on one of these. It plays high-res audio files, and absolutely blows MP3 files out of the water. One listen will change the way you hear your audio tracks and, unlike other high-res audio players, it’s reasonably priced. It really will rock your world.

GoPro Hero6 Black

GoPro’s latest action cam is a stunner, with 4K video at 60fps and 1080p video at a whopping 240fps for fantastic slowmotion footage. It’s waterproof to 10 metres, has improved image stabilisation, wider dynamic range and better performance in low light than its Hero5 Black predecessor, too.

Garmin Vivoactive HR

Packed full of tracking features for a host of sports, and filled with genuinely insightful metrics, this is a fitness smartwatch for nearly any occasion. Its battery will last you days, perfect for the odd weekend hiking trip. With all this, it’s not hard to see why it won MF308’s group test.