BEST BUYS… Curated picks of third-party kit
MONITOR Dell P2219HC £170 dell.com
Dell’s monitor offers great colour accuracy and impressive performance at a very affordable price. The monitor packs four USB-A ports, one USB-C, two DisplayPorts and an HDMI input, all with a 21.5-inch 1920x1080 resolution screen. It’s also lightweight and easy to move.
IN-EAR EARPHONES M&D MW07 Plus £299 masterdynamic.com
Master & Dynamic’s MW07 Plus offer 10 hours of listening time, and the charging case holds an additional three charges (so you get 40 hours in total). These greatsounding earbuds are IPX5 rated, so they’re excellent for workouts and commuting. The marble-effect finish gives them a premium aesthetic, as does the stainless steel charging case.
PRINTER Canon Pixma G6050 £319.99 canon.co.uk
With a refillable ink tank, the Canon Pixma is both economical and environmental friendly. With four large tanks and a 250-sheet main paper tray, the printer comes in a surprisingly compact design. It also integrates a scanner, Ethernet port and USB and Wi-Fi Direct printing, but lacks NFC.
MICROPHONE Blue Designs Yeti X £159.99 bluedesigns.com
Podcasting and streaming are what all the cool kids are doing these days and you can grab a piece of the action with this brilliant four-capsule microphone. Its recording quality is superb and we love the LED sound level indicators at the front, which gives you at-a-glance guide to how loud (or quiet) you are when you’re chatting away.
HEADPHONES Beats Solo Pro £269.95 beatsbydre.com
The latest Beats headphones pack an impressive 40-hour battery life and Active Noise Cancellation. We love the unfold to power design and sound reproduction is excellent. Powered by Apple’s H1 processor, the Solo Pro also offer simple pairing, Hey Siri detection and audio sharing with iOS 13.
WI-FI ROUTER Zyxel Multi U WSR30 £199 zyxel.com/uk
Zyxel’s Multi 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.
MULTIROOM SPEAKER Libratone Zipp 2 £279 libratone.com/uk
The Zipp 2 is louder, smarter and better in every way than its predecessor. With a great 12-hour battery life, you can enjoy your music on the go for longer. The speaker also comes with Amazon Alexa built in, making it handy for dictating your shopping lists or notes, or controlling your smart home.
EXTERNAL SSD Samsung T7 Touch SSD 1TB £194 samsung.com/uk
This SSD from Samsung offers just the right balance between speed, security and portability. The sleek 58g device comes with a fingerprint sensor built in, offering an extra layer of security. With a transfer speed of 1.05GBps, moving files with this SSD is lightning quick. It also comes with USB-C connectivity and AES 256-bit encryption.
MACBOOK BAG STM Goods Myth £100 stmgoods.com
Winner of issue 336’s group test, this backpack has had every element of its build carefully considered. From the pocket that lifts your MacBook off the ground, to the little extras like supersoft pockets and the key clip, you’ll find this a functional and comfortable option for carrying your MacBook and more.