What is your favourite piece of technology that you bought in the last 5 years?

My smart home set up, between smart speakers, screens, lightbulbs, door bell, cameras around the side and back of house they are the business.

I've a few, because tech can be so vastly different but all the same amazing.

Galaxy S10: Only got it late last year, and to replace my S7 which was the best phone I've ever had. Until the S10. Super fast, sleek, lightweight, amazing battery for my usage. I went flagship years ago with the HTC One M8 and can't go back now. But good to know that flagship can last years if looked after. Like my S7, the S10 has taken so many falls so far and not even a scratch. It took over 2 years for the S7 to get a small edge crack after nearly nightly falling off the side locker onto the wood floor, among other larger drops.

PSVR: While not at the high end of VR experiences, it's simple and hassle free set up compared to the PC versions makes it worth it. Unlike 3D, VR is vastly more immersive, even in these still early days. The experience is mostly inexplicable, and has to be experienced. If you ever get a chance to try it, do. It's not for everyone, and it can take a while to get your VR legs, but it's worth it. The likes of Beat Saber shows the future of gaming, where you're in the world, just in the future there'll be no headsets. And keeps you fit! Games like AstroBot and Moss showing how to really utilise VR, and while it probably won't be on PSVR, the upcoming Half Life: Alyx looks like it will take VR to the next level.

Wireless Car Charger: The cheapest one yet, for about €30 delivered I got a wireless car charger for the phone. It detects when you're near and opens up, you place the phone in and it grabs it and starts charging. Stupid handy and can't see myself ever going without one again. Extra awesome that wireless charging on the S10 doesn't require NFC to be enabled. I got the R1 Smart Automatic Clamping charger if anyone else is interested. Cheap, but does the job. I'm sure there are vastly more expensive and sturdier ones if you wanted.

My digital weighing machine because its accurate enough to track day to day weight difference .
Cryptocurrencies.

I was late to the game in buying it at the beginning of 2017, but my favourite is the Yotaphone 2. It was great to see people stare at the back of it, then change the back wallpaper to something rude in front of their eyes.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I've a few, because tech can be so vastly different but all the same amazing.

Galaxy S10: Only got it late last year, and to replace my S7 which was the best phone I've ever had. Until the S10. Super fast, sleek, lightweight, amazing battery for my usage. I went flagship years ago with the HTC One M8 and can't go back now. But good to know that flagship can last years if looked after. Like my S7, the S10 has taken so many falls so far and not even a scratch. It took over 2 years for the S7 to get a small edge crack after nearly nightly falling off the side locker onto the wood floor, among other larger drops.

PSVR: While not at the high end of VR experiences, it's simple and hassle free set up compared to the PC versions makes it worth it. Unlike 3D, VR is vastly more immersive, even in these still early days. The experience is mostly inexplicable, and has to be experienced. If you ever get a chance to try it, do. It's not for everyone, and it can take a while to get your VR legs, but it's worth it. The likes of Beat Saber shows the future of gaming, where you're in the world, just in the future there'll be no headsets. And keeps you fit! Games like AstroBot and Moss showing how to really utilise VR, and while it probably won't be on PSVR, the upcoming Half Life: Alyx looks like it will take VR to the next level.

Wireless Car Charger: The cheapest one yet, for about €30 delivered I got a wireless car charger for the phone. It detects when you're near and opens up, you place the phone in and it grabs it and starts charging. Stupid handy and can't see myself ever going without one again. Extra awesome that wireless charging on the S10 doesn't require NFC to be enabled. I got the R1 Smart Automatic Clamping charger if anyone else is interested. Cheap, but does the job. I'm sure there are vastly more expensive and sturdier ones if you wanted.

I have a wireless car charger that is very similar to yours and i dont know how i lived without it. Also my Samsung Note10+ which is the dogs danglies and has been dropped multiple times with no issues.

Did a kitchen renovation a few months back and when the new extractor fan arrived it came with a remote control. I kind of laughed and thought who would ever need a remote control for an extractor but now find it dead handy in a lazy way that you let it clear the kitchen of smoke for a few minutes after cooking and then turn it off remotely without having to get back up to do it.

The other bit of new tech in the kitchen that impressed me a lot was the new oven has a temperature probe which communicates with the oven. So it completely takes any guess work out of calculating the cooking time of joints by weight. It cooks joints perfectly every time, you just shove the probe into the meat and then set it on the digital screen for rare, medium rare, etc When it reaches the correct internal temperature the oven bleeps and knocks itself off. Its great for cooking chickens too, it hits the perfect sweet spot of 70 degrees internally so the chicken comes out not too dry and not too moist.

standing desk my back is in so much better shape

Xiaomi Mi Band 4. Much brighter than previous Mi Band. Looking forward to Mi Band 5 which is roumered to come with Google Pay.

sbsquarepants wrote: »

I feel like Jean Luc Picard - i need to find a home enabled tea maker. I like a nice cup of Earl Grey so i do!

Let me introduce you to the Qi Aerista, the self coined IoTEA Brewer!

UI_Paddy wrote: »

My region free Blu-Ray player.

Same here. Worth paying the extra to have it modified.

My line6 Helix.

Anesthetize wrote: »

I'd definitely avoid bluetooth when it comes to speakers and headphones. Bluetooth compresses the audio even further and gives you worse sound quality than wired.

Never knew but is there an alternative besides woefully unreliable Airplay?

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

If we could put a man on the moon using a computer that was programmed by threading tiny wires though magnets, by hand, why do we still have Bluetooth lag ?

There is no Bluetooth lag, do you have any incontrovertible proof of this? :pac:
Mine would be ring cams, smart lights and Spotify all hooked up to Alexa