BEST BUYS… Curated picks of third-party kit

DESKTOP SPEAKER Ruark MR1

£329.99 ruarkaudio.com

Winner of MF357’s head to head, the MR1 speaker set looks and sounds the business. The dome tweeter and longthrow woofer can handle a variety of audio styles with aplomb. You get a good variety of connectivity options, and we love the chunky function/volume dial too.

IN-EAR WIRLESS EARPHONES Sony WF-1000XM4

£250 sony.co.uk

The WF-1000XM4 are slightly smaller than their predecessor and the case is 40% smaller – and more ecofriendly. The true wireless earbuds have a good audio ability, support voice-assistant control and the Headphones Connect app provides lots of customisation and ease of use. As well as LDAC, the WF-1000XM4 are compatible with SBC and AAC codecs.

KEYBOARD (MAC/iOS) Logitech MX Keys For Mac £99.99 logitech.com

If you spend a lot of time at your desk, you’ll know how imperative the right keyboard is. The MX Keys is full size with spherically dished, smooth-touch keys. The keyboard can pair with up to three Mac or iOS devices, and you can switch between them without having to re-pair. Battery life is good and the backlight is cleverly triggered by a proximity sensor.

QHD DISPLAY

ViewSonic VP2768a ColorPro £379 viewsonic.com

If you’re looking for a screen for creative colour work, the 100% sRGB VP2768a ColorPro should be a definite contender. The frameless 27in 2K QHD display offers a 2560x1440 resolution, and a 14-bit 3D lookup table that generates 4.39 trillion colours. In terms of connectivity, there’s an integrated gigabit Ethernet port, USBC, USB3.2 Gen 1, HDMI, and a DisplayPort.

PRINTER

Epson Workforce WF-110W £199.99 epson.co.uk

Epson’s Workforce WF-110W is supremely portable with an integrated rechargeable battery that has good longevity, plus there are flexible connectivity options and a nicely designed iOS app. The onboard screen and controls make setup and operation easy, and black-and-white print quality is excellent, with colour certainly acceptable.

WI-FI ROUTER

Zyxel Multy U WSR30 £199 zyxel.com/uk

Zyxel’s Multy U mesh router hits the sweet spot, offering great performance at a competitive price, making it ideal for homes and small offices. The AC2100 router offers up to 280Mbps with a range of 6,000sq ft, and the nodes are easy on the eye, too. The companion app comes with helpful speed tests and diagnostic tools, as well as parental controls.

PORTABLE SPEAKER Sonos Roam

£159 sonos.com

According to Sonos, this is its smartest speaker yet. You get Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, and Alexa and Google Assistant AI. The lightweight but rugged speaker’s extensive feature list includes Sound Swap, throwing sound to the nearest Sonos speaker, and Auto TruePlay, where it automatically tunes itself to the environment. It also sounds great!

EXTERNAL SSD

OWC Envoy Pro FX SSD £365.99 (1TB) owcdigital.com

Don’t let the size of this neat little SSD fool you – it’s both tough and efficient. Not only is it dustand waterproof (IP67), and drop tested to military standards, it boasts blisteringly fast read and write speeds, and the supplied cable is capable of transferring data at 5,000MB/sec over Thunderbolt. Storage capacities range from 240GB to 2TB.

MACBOOK BAG

Hex Technical backpack $149.95 (about £110) hexbrand.com

Looking for a bag that hits the sweet spot for generous storage and stylish looks? Look no further. The Hex Technical’s 17.5-litre capacity is made up of device-hugging padded pockets for a MacBook (up to 16in), iPad, power bank and more. The bag is waterproof and has a 1680D Cordura ballistic bottom so it’s also reassuringly rugged.