SUMMER GADGETS

Make your life that little bit easier with these tech essentials, travel multitaskers and staycation gizmos. You’ll wonder how you ever lived without them!

THE HAIR STRAIGHTENER

WINNER Remington Keratin Protect Straightener £79.99, Argos 83/100 This hair styler heats up quickly and has a good range of temperature settings. Testers agreed that it left their hair well styled, shiny and less frizzy. It comes in a luxury heat-resistant pouch with a hinge lock for easy storage.

THE TRAVEL PILLOW

Trtl Travel Pillow £24.95, Amazon This is the Rolls-royce of travel pillows. The Trtl wraps around your neck like a scarf, which keeps it secure and holds your head in an ergonomic position. It weighs just 148g, so is easy to carry with your luggage.

THE CABIN LUGGAGE

WINNER Away The Carry-on £225, awaytravel.com/uk 89/100 With a case so full of features, it’s hard to find fault! It’s easy to move around, is durable and has a built-in battery, so you can charge your phone on the go (and it can be removed if the airline requires you to do so).

THE WATERPROOF PHONE CASE

Swimcell £13.99, Amazon Want to keep your phone safe while you’re in the sea? This phone case is fully waterproof (it can withstand water up to a depth of 10m), letting you capture photos in the pool, too. When our tester used it in the sea, it kept her phone bone dry. It’s simple to use and comes with a handy neck strap.

THE BLUETOOTH SPEAKER

WINNER Bose Soundlink Micro £89.95, John Lewis & Partners 78/100 This compact portable speaker is the ideal gadget to play your favourite tunes, whether you’re entertaining in the garden or relaxing in your villa. It sounds great thanks to plenty of punch in the bass, and it’s waterproof, too, so will survive an accidental dip in the pool.

THE CHIMNEY STARTER

Rapidfire Chimney Starter £20.99, weber.com If you have a charcoal barbecue, a chimney starter is the easiest way of getting it going. Its cylindrical design heats coals evenly, without requiring any skill in how you arrange them. Leave it to do its thing and, once the coals have turned grey on top, you’re good to go.

THE SATNAV

WINNER Tomtom GO 5200 £299.99, Argos 91/100 This all-singing, all-dancing satnav may be expensive but it’s worth every penny. You get clear and easy-to-understand driving instructions with traffic avoidance and speed camera updates at no extra cost – even when driving in Europe. You can also set it to read out your texts and to enable you to take hands-free phone calls.

THE PHONE STORAGE

Sandisk ixpand Flash Drive 32GB £49.99, Argos Snap holiday photos to your heart’s content with this nifty gadget. Plug it in to the charging port on your iphone to easily transfer photos and videos to free up storage space on your mobile. When you want to view, move or share them, just plug it back in to your iphone, or an Apple tablet or laptop. If you have an Android smartphone, the Sandisk Dual Drive does the same job.

THE E-READER

WINNER Amazon Kindle Oasis £319.99, Amazon 93/100 This is waterproof, easy to use in sunlight and has free 3G internet access, so you can download books if you don’t have access to wi-fi, and is the best e-reader money can buy. It makes settling down on your sunlounger with a good book an absolute pleasure.

THE EARPLUGS

Senner Travelpro Earplugs £18.95, Amazon Comfortable to wear on the plane, in your hotel bed or just at home with the windows open when noise stops you from sleeping, these earplugs use sound-reduction filters and feature personal volume control.

THE DASH CAM

WINNER Garmin 55 Dash Cam

Plus £119.99, Halfords 93/100 Want to record your journeys when you’re driving in case the worst happens? The Garmin 55 Dash Cam Plus lets you do just this. It captures sharp, clear footage in ultra-high definition and even warns you if you drift out of your lane, or if you drive too close to the vehicle in front.

THE TABLET

BEST FOR CHILDREN Fire HD 8 Kids edition £129.99, Amazon 78/100 Whether it’s on the plane or in the car, keeping the kids occupied while travelling is a must. In our tablet tests, this came out top for children: they can play age-suitable games and read books, and you can download them to the Fire ahead of your trip for when you don’t have wi-fi.

THE PORTABLE HOT SPOT AND BATTERY

Smartech Skyroam Solis £135, Amazon This hot spot comes with 1GB of 4G data, which expires after one month, and you can use it in more than 130 countries. Up to five devices can connect at once. Once the data is used, you can add unlimited data for £7 per day, or you can buy another 1GB pass that lasts for a month and costs £7. It also acts as a portable battery.

THE GPS TRACKER

Away x Tile Luggage Tag £30, awaytravel.com/uk Keep tabs on your case with this tracking tile in a leather luggage tag. Simply attach it to your bag, and you’ll be able to look up its location on your phone; useful if it doesn’t appear on the carousel! You can also slip the tile into your bag or wallet to locate them if they go walkabout.

THE BLUETOOTH SPORTS HEADPHONES

WINNER Jabra Elite 65e £179.99, Currys 91/100 These in-ear headphones sound great, have a good balance of treble and bass, plus built-in noise-cancelling technology, which helps you to immerse yourself in the music, rather than being distracted by external sounds. The best bit? They clip together, so they stay in place around your neck when not in use.