best buys… Curated picks of third-party kit
monitor Philips 328P6AU BREB £396 philips.co.uk
Getting a colour-accurate display used to cost a pretty penny, but this monitor is both impressive and affordable. It hits 99% of the Adobe RGB gamut – great for colour-critical work – and supports 10-bit colour. Throw in a host of ports (including USB-C), an IPS display and a great price, and you have a seriously good screen.
network storage Drobo 5D3 £601 drobo.co.uk
With two blazing fast Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 5Gbps USB-C port to boot, the Drobo 5D3 can provide you with rapid file transfers to and from your Mac. You can load it up with up to five HDDs or SSDs of differing capacities, giving you plenty of flexibility for storage options. It’s pricey, but a worthy investment.
pri nter Epson EcoTank ET-2600 £179 epson.co.uk
The Eco-Tank ET-2600 has a fairly high cost, but its innovative cartridge-free design will save you a ton of money in the long run. It’s got a scanner and copier, plus Wi-Fi and USB connectivity. Replacement inks are cheap, working out at a mere 0.2p per page for mono text, and just 0.35p per page for colour.
ultra hd mo nitor Philips 328P6VJEB £551 philips.co.uk
We love this display. At 32 inches diagonally it’s big enough to make its 4K resolution worthwhile, and its colour rendering is excellent – 100% of sRGB, 93% of Adobe RGB and 97% of the P3 gamut that Apple’s new MacBook Pro uses. It’s big, bold, beautiful and superb for productivity and colour work alike.
wireles router Asus DSL-AC 88U AC 3100 £210 asus.com/uk
This router has an awful lot going for it. The winner of issue 321’s group test, the Asus scored an impressive five stars in three out of four categories. It performed brilliantly in our tests, has excellent connectivity (with both Ethernet and ADSL options), and it looks great too. It will keep your network powered for years.
ip camera Netatmo Presence £190 netatmo.com
The Netatmo Presence is an impressive outdoor security camera. Set in a sturdy housing, it’s built to defy the elements. It has a built-in floodlight to deter intruders, and a 100° field of view recorded in 1080p. There’s also an SD card included, making it easy to store and access your footage.
Exter nal SSD Freecom mSS D MAXX 512GB £247 freecom.com
This drive is the fastest portable SSD we’ve ever tested. Freecom claims its write speeds can reach 700MB/sec, but in our tests it blazed past that to reach 713.8MB/sec write speeds and 907.3MB/ sec read speeds, thanks to its USB 3.1 Gen 2 capability. It’s costly, but worth it if you feel the need for speed.
thu nderbolt dock CalDigit TS3 Plus £349 caldigit.com/uk
The original TS3 gave Macs a new level of connectivity. Now the TS3 Plus offers an incredible 14 ports. The TS3 Plus is quite pricey, but its 10Gbps USB-C port and four USB-A ports (among others), make it our Thunderbolt dock of choice. The Thunderbolt 3 port supplies up to 85W, so it can even charge a 15in MacBook Pro.
macbok bag STM Kings £98 stmgoods.com
Your MacBook needs protection, and the STM Kings backpack is the best way to guarantee that. Winner of MF316’s group test, it cleverly suspends your MacBook away from the floor to prevent bumps. With loads of storage, comfortable straps and a snazzy design, it’s a great all-rounder.
Desktop speaker Kef Egg £350 kef.com
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.
in-ear headpho nes Pioneer Rayz Plus £149 pioneerrayz.com
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.
Dash cam Transcend DrivePro 230 £150 transcend-info.com
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.
portable speaker Libratone Zipp £224 libratone.com
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.
portable batter y pack Apple iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case £99 apple.com/uk
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 your phone against scratches. The built-in battery isn’t the largest capacity around, yet it has more than enough juice for busy days, and the bump is surprisingly comfy.
MICROPHONE Blue Microphones Raspberry £164 bluemic.com
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.
High -res audio pla yer Pioneer XDP-30R £348 pioneer-audiovisual.eu
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.
Actio n camera GoPro Hero6 Black £500 gopro.com
GoPro’s latest action cam is a stunner, with 4K video at 60fps and 1080p video at a whopping 240fps for fantastic slow-motion 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.
Fit ness smartwatch Garmin Vivoactive HR £240 garmin.com
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.