Homes: Gadgets
Blow the budget BEFORE you go on holiday.Buy a travel companion you never knew you needed,but will use and love for years!
DURONIC LUGGAGE SCALE LS1013
Duronic’s LS1013 travel scale offers a compact design with an attractive, stainless-steel finish. We like how straightforward it is to operate, with a single button to activate it and switch between units of measurement, and any keen holidaymaker would certainly appreciate that it’s petite and a convenient size for travelling. We also found that it offers accurate readings for both light and heavy luggage, and will lock the measurement on the display for 28 seconds, giving the user sufficient time to read and record the results. 80/100
AMAZON ALL-NEW KINDLE OASIS E-READER
There’s no doubt this is an expensive e-reader! That’s in part thanks to the built-in 3G (the WiFi-only version is cheaper) but it really is the best money can buy. Simple to use and waterproof to boot, this new Kindle offers features that others don’t, such as parental controls and the ability to share the books you’ve bought with another family member. 93/100
GHD FLIGHT SAHARAN GOLD TRAVEL HAIRDRYER
This GHD travel hairdryer is style and elegance on the go. With a slim handle that fits comfortably in your hand and an easy-to-access setting changer, the dryer has been designed to be the ultimate travel companion. It has a compact folding handle and a matching travel case, so you can protect your dryer in transit and carry it in style. There are three heat settings (including a cool shot setting) for the ultimate in styling flexibility. 79/100
URBANISTA SEATTLE HEADPHONES
These wired, on-ear headphones fuse fantastic sound quality with a price tag that won’t break the bank. Offering a balanced sound and excellent detail across both highand low-end frequencies, there’s no sound leakage, either. Comfortable to wear for long periods of time, there is also an easy-to-use remote that allows you control music playback and take calls without removing the headphones. 80/100
JUICE POOLSIDE SPEAKER
The ultimate Bluetooth speaker for teens and young adults, the Juice Poolside is a compact, brightly coloured speaker that offers 10W of sound and is even splash-proof. You get a clear sound out of the speaker, no matter what sort of music you’re listening to, although it did tend to lack a powerful bass on some tracks. Even better, the speaker lets you take any calls that come to your smartphone through it, thanks to the microphone. And if you’ve got the music you want to play stored on a device without Bluetooth, that’s no problem, either. Just use the 3.5mm auxiliary cable that comes bundled with the speaker to connect it to your MP3 player or another gadget. 70/100
FUJIFILM INSTAX MINI 9 CAMERA
Fujifilm’s instant analogue camera provides a fun and inexpensive alternative to a digital compact. The bulbous design is lightweight at just over 300g and robust enough to be thrown into a travel bag, or given to a child. The headline feature here, though, is the integrated printer that pushes out a credit card-sized colour photo every time. Just pop in two AA batteries and a pack of 10 Instax papers for pics, and away you go! 64/100
MOTOROLA FOCUS 88 HOME SECURITY CAMERA
This easy-to-use WiFi security camera will suit those with a limited budget who aren’t interested in bells and whistles. There may not be integration with various voice assistants, but you can put it in any room, and you get a two-way mic and the ability to zoom in. However, if you want to watch footage captured when motion is detected, you’ll need to subscribe to one of Motorola’s monthly plans. 74/100
POLAROID ZIP INSTANT PRINT
Looking for a fun, instant way to print photos from your phone? The Polaroid Zip is smaller than the average 5in smartphone, and it produces 2in x 3in photos with a sticky backing so you can attach them anywhere you like. As well as producing individual photos, you can create collages or zoom in and out and rotate images to any angle before printing. You can add borders and stickers to prints, too. 74/100