The best tech products

YOUR READY RECKONER TO THE BEST TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS

The TechLife team finds the best budget, value and performance products, and the latest releases in the top technology categories. If you believe there are other products that deserve the title in any of the tech categories, let us know and give us your reasons why in 50 words or less. Equally, if there’s a hot new product that’s worthy of attention, we want to know. Send your email to techlife@futurenet.com. [ BEST BUDGET ] D-Link DSL-G225

$80 | www.dlink.com.au A basic, NBN-ready 300Mbps Wi-Fi ADSL router with four LAN ports. Good wireless range and coverage.

[ BEST MESH-NETWORKING KIT ] Netgear Orbi RBK50

$549 | www.netgear.com.au Mesh-networking has arrived with this fantastic, great-performing router and extender kit.

[ BEST WIRELESS EXTENDER ] ASUS RP-AC68U

$240 | www.asus.com/au With 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, this AC1900 Wi-Fi extender’s built-in LEDs help you figure out the best placement.

[ BEST 2-BAY ] Synology DS218j

$270 (diskless) | www.synology.com The J series of drives from Synology denote that they’re more affordable products – exactly what you want.

[ BEST BUDGET ] TP-Link Archer VR600

$180 | www.tp-link.com.au This AC1600 Wi-Fi model provides steady wireless connectivity and all the essential features that most users need.

[ BEST VALUE ] Synology RT1900ac

$180 | www.synology.com this 802.11ac router is our current pick if you need a robust device that won’t break the bank.

[ BEST WIRELESS BRIDGE ] ASUS EA-AC87

$159 | www.asus.com/au This bridge is a great way of linking up to four wired Gigabit devices to a 1,300Mbps AC network.

[ BEST 4-BAY ] Synology DS918+

$760 (diskless) | www.synology.com If you need extreme storage performance, it also supports M.2 NVMe SSDs, with two dedicated slots.

[ BEST PERFORMANCE ] Netgear Nighthawk X8 D8500

$649 | www.netgear.com.au The price is eye-watering, but this tri-band 802.11ac modem-router truly has it all.

[ BEST PERFORMANCE ] Netgear Nighthawk XR500

$400 | www.netgear.com.au Netgear reckons this a ‘gaming’ router, it’s great at just about everything and has all the high-end features you could want.

[ BEST POWERLINE ADAPTER (BUDGET) ] TP-Link TL-PA8010P

$139 | www.tp-link.com.au A pair of 1,200Mbps adapters that proved to be both fast and affordable in our most-recent roundup.

[ BEST 5-BAY OR LARGER ] Synology DS1618+

$1,290 (diskless) | www.synology.com A 6-bay expandable NAS with optional SSD or 10 GbE support, this one’s for demanding SMBs and enthusiasts.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] ASUS DSL‑AC3100

$469 | www.asus.com/au It’s very similar to the RT-AC88U below, but this tri-band 802.11ac model also has ADSL/VDSL modem.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] TP-Link Archer AX6000

$499 | www.tp-link.com.au At $499 it’s not cheap, but it’s got all the important features, looks good.

[ BEST POWERLINE ADAPTER WITH WI-FI EXTENSION ] TP-Link TL-WPA4220KIT

$125 | www.tp-link.com.au This versatile and fast kit offers an 802.11n Wi-Fi access point for both wired and wireless connections.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] QNAP TS 351

$579 (diskless) | www.qnap.com This NAS features dual NVMe M.2 SSD slots, multimedia streaming, and efficient tiered storage.

[ BEST BUDGET ] UE Wonderboom

$99 | www.ultimateears.com This new Bluetooth portable gets you great ‘UE quality’ sound at a neat price.

[ BEST VALUE ] Jabra Move Wireless

$160 | www.jabra.com.au Exciting design and strong performance, and an excellent budget option for couch potatoes and fitness buffs alike.

[ BEST BUDGET ] Google Chromecast Ultra

$99 | play.google.com Google’s 4K wireless HDMI dongle makes it easy to stream media content to your TV and has high-speed Wi-Fi.

[ BEST BUDGET ] BenQ TH670

$899 | www.benq.com This 1080p DLP unit can do double-duty for home cinema or business use, with a 3,000 lumens brightness.

[ BEST BUDGET TV ] TCL QUHD P6 Series (55-inch)

$999 | www.tcl.com/au Boasting great picture quality and vivid, lifelike colours, the 55-inch P6 Series panel also supports HDR Premium.

[ BEST BUDGET ] HP 250 G6 2FG10PA

$670 | www.hp.com/au A 15.6-incher with adequate 1,366 x 768p LCD, Core i5, 4GB RAM and 500GB HDD – it will cover the basics.

[ BEST VALUE] JBL Pulse 3

$269 | www.jbl.com.au The lightshow sets it apart, but it’s the great soundscape of this waterproof speaker that will keep your attention.

[ BEST NOISE-CANCELLING ] Bose QC35 II

$449 | www.bose.com.au Not a huge upgrade, but still the best noise-cancelling cans, with wellbalanced audio and superb comfort.

[ BEST ALL-IN-ONE MEDIA PLAYER ] Nvidia Shield TV

From $249 | www.nvidia.com/en-au 4K and HDR TV and movie streams are no problem, but the special bit is it will stream your PC games in 4K too.

[ BEST PORTABLE ] Sony MP-CL1A

$749 | www.sony.com.au Enjoy a smooth 720p image from a unit not much larger than a phablet. A remarkable achievement.

[ BEST MAINSTREAM TV ] Sony X9000F (55-inch)

$1,998 | www.sony.com.au This TV is significantly less expensive than most OLED TVs – you get top-end performance on a more sensible budget.

[ BEST ULTRABOOK ] Dell XPS 13 (2018)

From $2,099 | www.dell.com.au Dell isn’t messing with the formula. A barely-there bezel around a 4K screen, ultra-light and ultra-slick – at a price.

[ BEST MULTIROOM SYSTEM ] Sonos One

From $299 | www.sonos.com Turn it on and hear to the sound that fills your room – you won’t want anything else. Expandable, with Alexa support.

[ BEST WIRELESS IN-EARS ] Jabra Elite 65t

$299 | jabra.com.au The Jabra Elite 65t is a perfect balance of usability, features, and sound quality.

[ BEST 4K BLU-RAY PLAYER ] Xbox One X

From $649 | www.xbox.com This has support for 4K Blu-ray and Netflix streaming, boasts HDR, and has a compact design, plus power.

[ BEST HOME THEATRE ] BenQ W1120

$1,339 | www.benq.com The W1120 is a DLP model that’s superbly bright at 2,200 lumens and has a glass lens for crisp images.

[ BEST PREMIUM TV ] LG OLED55C8PTA

$2795 | www.lg.com/au LG’s midrange 55-inch OLED for 2018 still delivers superb picture quality and now has AI-powered voice-control.

[ BEST GAMING ] Aorus X7

$4,199 | www.aorus.com An an overclockable Intel Core i7-8850H CPU, a 17.3-inch FHD 144Hz display with G-Sync, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] Sonos Beam

$599 | www.sonos.com This remarkably small soundbar produces great sound. Alexa integration will be joined by Google and Siri soon.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] Microsoft Surface Headphones

$499 | www.microsoft.com Microsoft is branching its Surface range into a complete mobile solution.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] Xiaomi Mi Box S

From $99 | www.i.com It gets the job done, and is mentioned here out of completeness, but there are better units on the market.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] Optoma HD39Darbee

$2,099 | www.ambertech.com.au This slim 1080p DLP beamer is super-bright at 3,500 lumens and can throw up to a 300-inch image.

[ BEST LUXURY TV ] LG C9

$6,399 | www.lg.com/au LG’s C9 will be incredibly hard to beat in the world of 2019 TVs.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] ASUS TUF FX504GE

$1,799 | www.gigabyte.com.au Designed to outlast other laptops thanks to clever venting. Its GPU hits the sweet spot for budget gaming.

[ BEST BUDGET IPHONE ] Apple iPhone 6 (16GB)

$369 | www.apple.com/au The iPhone 6 can still be purchased at many online retailers for a reasonable price.

[ BEST BIG SCREEN ] LG G7 ThinQ

$1,099 | lg.com.au The QHD, 6.1” 18.9:5 ratio screen is truly vibrant. Plus, the camera is intelligent, and sound processing top-notch.

[ BEST BUDGET ] Galaxy Tab A 10.5-inch (2018)

From $359 | www.samsung.com/au Sharing the same size display & battery as the Galaxy Tab S4, Samsung’s 10.5-inch Galaxy Tab A is terrific value.

[ BEST BUDGET ] Apple iPad Air 2 (Refurbished)

$519 (128GB) | www.apple.com/au If the budget doesn’t extend to an iPad Pro, get this 2014 unit instead. Check the refurbished store if it’s sold out.

[ BEST ROBOT VACUUM ] iRobot Roomba 980

$1,499 | www.irobot.com.au Strong suction, brushless extractors, clever navigation: this Wi-Fi-connected vac leaves your home spotless.

[ BEST POINT-AND-SHOOT ] Canon IXUS 185

$130 | www.canon.com.au This super-slim budget compact is very easy to use and packs a 20MP sensor and 8x optical zoom lense.

[ BEST BUDGET ANDROID ] Motorola Moto G6

$399 | www.motorola.com.au The G6 deftly balances its price with the features and performance you’d expect from a modern handset.

[ BEST PREMIUM — TIED ] Samsung Galaxy S9+

From $1,349 | www.samsung.com/au The S9+ is a big phone with a fantastic camera, microSD slot, waterproofing and a tough chassis.

[ BEST COMPACT ] Apple iPad mini 3 (refurbished)

$359 (16GB) | www.apple.com/au The iPad mini 4’s too expensive, so hold out until one of the 7.8-inch 3’s pops up on Apple’s AU refurb store.

[ BEST VERSATILITY ] ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX370UA

From $1,699 | www.asus.com/au This slim and sleek 13-inch 2-in-1 offers solid specs and won’t break the bank.

[ BEST SMART PLUG ] D-Link DSP-W215

$49.95 | www.dlink.com.au Smartly monitors your energy usage, producing daily and monthly reports, and turn things on and off remotely.

[ BEST MIRRORLESS ] Fujifilm X-T20

$1,500 with lens | www.fujifilm.com.au Fujifilm has done wonders with the X-T20 by packing an excellent 24.3MP sensor and an advanced autofocus system.

[ BEST PERFORMANCE ] Huawei Nova 3e

$350 (16GB) | www.motorola.com.au A capable budget workhorse that doesn’t sacrifce power for its sleek, flagship aesthetic.

[ BEST PREMIUM — TIED ] Apple iPhone XS Max

From $1,799 | www.apple.com/au If you can get past the massive asking price, there is no doubt that this is one of the best phones Apple has ever produced.

[ BEST PERFORMANCE ] Apple iPad 9.7 (2018)

From $469 (32GB) | www.apple.com/au That gorgeous Retina IPS display is alluring, battery life is great. Still the best pick for a basic all-rounder tablet.

[ BEST PERFORMANCE ] Microsoft Surface Pro 6

From $1548.95 (With Type Cover) | www. microsoft.com Microsoft has added quad core processors to the Surface Pro 6 range.

[ BEST WIRELESS SECURITY CAMERA ] Netgear Arlo Pro

From $499 | www.netgear.com.au Waterproof, weatherproof, and offers a week’s worth of cloud storage. Great value in the long run.

[ BEST CONSUMER DIGITAL SLR ] Canon EOS 800D

$1,199 with 18-55mm STM kit | store. canon.com.au It may be an entry-level DSLR, but Canon has housed a sensor that impresses.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] Nokia 6 (2018)

$399 (32GB) | www.nokia.com/au A refresh of last year’s design, this polished and durable unit has great battery life.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] Samsung Galaxy Note 9

From $1,499 | www.samsung.com/au Takes all the current and best phone features, and puts them together to create unparallelled performance.

[ BEST VERSATILITY ] Acer Switch 3

From $499 | www.acer.com.au This detachable 2-in-1 has a stylus to work with Windows excellent pen input capabilities. A great all-rounder.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] Lenovo Yoga 920

$2,999 | www.lenovo.com.au Intel’s latest i7 CPU married with 16GB RAM and a vivid, 13.9-inch 4K screen comprise this superb convertible.

[ BEST AI SPEAKER ] Panasonic SC-GA10

$379 | www.panasonic.com.au Give your streamed music room to soar, and ask Google to tell you the weather, all in the same device.

[ BEST ACTION CAM ] GoPro Hero7 Black

$599 | www.gopro.com It may share much of the same headline video specs as the Hero6 Black, the Hero7 Black offers a number of big improvements.

[ BEST POWER BANK ] Belkin Pocket Power 15K

$79.95 | www.belkin.com This bank offers a mammoth 15,000mAh of power. Dual USB ports, and you can charge an iPhone up to five times over.

[ BEST BUDGET ] WD My Passport 1TB

$80 | www.wd.com WD’s My Passport ranges come with security and backup software bundled in and good speeds for the price.

[ BEST SMARTWATCH FOR ANDROID ] Samsung Galaxy Watch

From $499 | www.samsung.com/au Samsung have dabbled in the dark arts to get the 46mm Galaxy Watch battery to last for a day.

[ BEST BUDGET ] AOC Q3279VWFD8

$299 | www.aoc.com A mammoth 31.5 inches in size, all of it a quality IPS panel at a game-friendly 2560x1440 resolution.

[ BEST BUDGET ] Tt eSports Poseidon ZX

$99 | www.au.ttesports.com This basic compact board still has it where it counts, with solid performance and comfortable keys.

[ BEST BUDGET ] Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000

$35 | www.microsoft.com.au/hardware A cheap basic USB headset with noise-cancelling tech.

[ BEST WIRELESS HARD DRIVE ] WD My Passport Wireless SSD

$429 | www.wd.com Share and back up your files anywhere with serious SSD speed that leaves every portable HDD behind.

[ BEST VALUE ] Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Slim 2TB

$149 | www.seagate.com As slim as portable HDDs come, but still fairly priced, this fast and sleek 2TB unit ticks all the boxes.

[ BEST SMARTWATCH FOR IOS ] Apple Watch Series 4

From $599 | www.apple.com/au With a new efficient S4 chipset, a bigger screen, a haptic crown dial, messaging, and 16GB of music storage.

[ BEST VALUE ] ViewSonic VX2757-mhd

$250 | www.viewsonic.com.au This 27-inch 1080p display is the top of the budget tree with a 75Hz refresh rate and FreeSync. Buttery smooth.

[ BEST VALUE ] Logitech G610 Orion

$120 | www.logitech.com Available in red, blue or brown switches, it’s sedate enough for offices but still has gaming features.

[ BEST VALUE ] Cougar Immersa Pro

$99 | cougargaming.com A fine approximation of 7.1 surround sound from a very comfortable set of headphones.

[ SMARTPHONE VR HEADSET ] Google Daydream View (2017)

$149 | store.google.com With support for two controllers this is the finest mobile VR headset going. Comfortable, too.

[ BEST PREMIUM ] Seagate Backup Plus Portable 5TB

$260 | www.seagate.com It’s a little bulkier than the Ultra Slim, left, but if you need lots of storage on the go, this 5TB drive is a neat option.

[ BEST FITNESS BAND ] Fitbit Charge 3

From $250 | www.fitbit.com/au The Charge 3 adds 5ATM water resistance for water based exercise and it now includes the useful Fitbit Pay hardware.

[ BEST PROFESSIONAL ] DELL U3415W

$1,200 | www.dell.com The U3415W offers quality and accuracy that easily justify its price; the ultra-wide aspect and curved screen to be bonuses.

[ BEST PREMIUM ] Corsair K70 RGB Rapidfire

$190 | www.corsair.com This Cherry MX Silver-switched ‘board feels great under the fingers and has bright-as-hell RGB lighting.

[ BEST PERFORMANCE ] Audio-Technica ATH-AG1

$299 | www.audio-technica.com.au A super-comfy headset with massive drivers and fantastic sound.

[ BEST MOBILE GAMEPAD ] iPega PG-9025

$25 | www.dx.com You'll need to buy it online, but this gamepad is nice and responsive, and works with both iOS and Android.

[ BEST HIGH-SPEED ] Samsung Portable SSD T5

From $199 (256GB) | www.samsung.com/au With transfer speeds of up to 500MB/s, these portable USB 3.1 SSDs will move your data around supremely fast.

[ BEST EXERCISE HEADPHONES ] Plantronics Backbeat Fit

$99 | www.plantronics.com The Backbeat Fit are in-ear Bluetooth sports headphones that allow you to hear your surroundings.

[ BEST GAMING ] ViewSonic XG2703-GS

$899 | www.viewsonic.com.au A 27-inch 1440p IPS display with great gaming chops and 144Hz refresh rate. It even has G-Sync support.

[ BEST LAPBOARD FOR LOUNGE-ROOM USE ] Razer Turret

$220 | www.razerzone.com This lapboard is sleeker than most, with a magnetised mousepad to help keep the included mouse grounded.

[ NEW ON SHELF ] HyperX Cloud Alpha

$169 | www.hyperxgaming.com Lightweight and with soft cups, the Cloud Alpha’s promise respectable bass and mids, and can be used anywhere.

[ BEST BUDGET ] Logitech G402 Hyperion Fury

$49 | www.logitech.com A hybrid-sensor gaming mouse with optical, gyro and accelerometer tracking, this one doesn’t skip a beat.

[ BEST BUDGET ] Canon Pixma MG2960

$36 | www.canon.com.au An inkjet that can print, scan and copy in colour, send faxes, has Wi-Fi and can AirPrint and Google Cloud Print.

[ BEST BUDGET ] Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 3GB

$244 | www.nvidia.com Better frame rates mean we’re willing to spend a bit more money for the GeForce GTX 1050 3GB card.

[ BEST BUDGET ] Asrock H370M Pro4

$139 | www.asrock.com Brings Intel’s more-advanced H370 feature set to buyers who thought they could only afford a lesser B360 model.

[ BEST BUDGET ] Intel Pentium G4560

$79 | www.intel.com This 7th-gen (aka Kaby Lake) CPU is great for those looking to build a quality budget rig.

[ BEST BUDGET ] Crucial MX300 250GB

$105 | www.crucial.com The affordable MX300 drives are great value and fast-enough to max out the SATA interface. Can’t go wrong here.

Cooler Master MasterMouse MM520

$59 | coolermaster.com A claw-grip number for right handers. Clunky switches aside it’s very ergonmic and feels premium.

[ BEST VALUE ] HP Envy Photo 7120

$131 | www.hp.com/au This inkjet with a tri-colour tank produces excellent photos, connecting wirelessly with your phone and laptop.

[ BEST VALUE ] Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Ti

$620 | www.nvidia.com Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1070 Ti gives us very little gripe about.

[ BEST VALUE ] ASUS RoG Strix Z370-G Gaming

$289 | www.asus.com/au Micro ATX done right, with enough space for two M.2 PCIe SSDs and support for 64GB of DDR4.

[ BEST VALUE ] AMD Ryzen 5 2600

$269 | www.amd.com Retailers have dropped pricing on the Ryzen 5 2600, which means you can pick up six cores and twelve threads cheaply.

[ BEST VALUE ] Samsung 860 EVO 500GB

$185 | www.samsung.com/au 500GB is the ideal spot for costper-gig. This updated drive from Samsung is a great choice.

[ BEST AMBIDEXTEROUS ] SteelSeries Sensei RAW

$80 | www.steelseries.com Ditching unneeded features, this is a lean, mean headshotting machine that’s good for lefties and righties.

[ BEST PHOTO PRINTER ] Epson Expression Premium XP-15000

$499 | www.epson.com.au Incomparable photo prints at up to A3 size. A remarkable inkjet printer.

[ BEST PREMIUM ] Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti

$1,150 | www.nvidia.com Pick one up for a bargain now that the 2080 is out and enjoy enough power to run almost anything on high detail.

[ BEST PREMIUM ] Gigabyte Aorus X470 Gaming Ultra

$279 | www.gigabyte.com.au This second-gen AM4 board goes great with Ryzen 2000 CPUs, packing heaps of features for a nice price.

[ BEST PREMIUM ] AMD Ryzen 7 2700X

$469 | www.amd.com This second-gen, 8-core Ryzen chip is a great all-rounder for multimedia work, gaming and more.

[ BEST PREMIUM ] Crucial MX500 1TB

$350 | www.crucial.com A five-year warranty is the icing on a super-fast SATA SSD cake that offers great bang for buck.

[ BEST WIRELESS ] Logitech G703 [ BEST SMALL-BUSINESS LASER ] HP Colour LaserJet Pro M477fnw

$500 | www.hp.com/au Built-in wireless, duplex print and scan, cloud and mobile print, and great print quality at a fair price.

[ BEST EXTREME ] ASUS GeForce RTX 2080 Dual OC 8GB

$1479 | www.asus.com/au Stependously expensive, but packed with truly groundbreaking features, especially its real time ray-tracing.

[ BEST EXTREME ] Asus Maximus XI Formula

$729 | www.asus.com/au A really refined board that’s tailor made for watercoolers and modders.

[ BEST EXTREME ] AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X

$1,415 | www.amd.com This well-balanced processor, AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper 2950X does not disappoint.

[ BEST EXTREME ] Adata XPG SX8200 (480GB, NVMe)

$189 | www.adata.com For its price point, the 480GB Adata XPG SX8200 is impressively fast during normal applications and game loading.