Crave
THE GEAR WE’RE LUSTING AFTER
The gear we’re lusting after this month.
1 Bowers & Wilkins Formation bowers-wilkins.com From $699
>>> This suite of wireless speakers from B&W is like Sonos taken to a whole new level. They’re all equipped with Wi–Fi and work with AirPlay 2, so they’re ideal for Apple devices. Cleverly, they all have mesh networking built–in to talk to each other, so when you’re playing music on multiple speakers, they stream it directly between themselves rather than over your network, ensuring high quality. There’s a soundbar, a pair of active stereo speakers, a mid–sized tabletop speaker, a sub, and an adapter for plugging in any audio source to stream among them all.
2 De’Longhi Maestosa delonghi.com $TBC
>>> De’Longhi’s new super–luxe coffee machine is all about personalization. Using the touchscreen, you can get the exact coffee you’re in the mood for. Not only can it hold two types of bean (with separate grinders for getting each blend ground perfectly), you can set how large your coffee is, how aromatic, the ratio of coffee to milk, and consistency of milk foam (there’s an extremely fancy frothing system). There are presets, of course, but you can tweak until you have the perfect coffee saved.
3 Boosted Rev boostedboards.com $1,599
>>> Hireable e–scooters are a contentious topic in cities, but having one of your own is a good idea. The Rev can take you up to 22 miles on a charge, at a zippy 24mph, and it also adds some extra smarts. It can connect wirelessly to an iPhone app to track range, mileage, and number of rides, and there are more features promised in the future. It’s got a wheel throttle for precise speed control, can tackle 25 degree hills, has regenerative braking to help extend its range (along with three ride modes for the same purpose) and wide, stable wheels.
4 Ekster 3.0 ekster.com From $49
>>> There are lots of gadgets out there to help you avoid losing your wallet, but they don’t usually look this good. Ekster’s whole thing is that it’s a super– slim wallet with smart tracking built in. The tracker unit is solar powered — leave it out for three hours and it’ll be powered for two months — and barely any thicker than a credit card. You can use the app (or Alexa and Google Home functions) to tell the wallet to make a noise. The wallet itself is pretty smart, too: it has a trigger button you can press to pop your six most–used cards instantly out, ready to grab with no unfolding required. It also blocks RFID.