Tech
Earbuds, keyboards, monitors, and the accessories around them. Spec-sheet numbers matter less here than how a thing feels after four hours.
Axes used in this category
- Performance
- How well it does the core job
- Value
- What the same money buys elsewhere
- Durability
- Failure and fade reports past the one-year mark
- Ease of use
- Setup, daily operation, cleaning, maintenance
- Design
- Build quality and how it sits in a room
Rankings
- Wireless earbuds, scored on five axesAugust 3, 2026
Can the phone you own really swing the value of the same earbuds this far?
- Noise cancelling without paying flagship moneyAugust 2, 2026
What does spending less on noise-cancelling headphones actually cost you?
- Noise-cancelling headphones, scored on five axesAugust 1, 2026
How much of a flagship headphone are you actually paying for?
- Keyboards built to outlast the desk they sit onJuly 29, 2026
Which of these keyboards will still be worth using in ten years?
- Mechanical keyboards, scored on five axesJuly 28, 2026
Is an enthusiast keyboard better to work on, or just better to own?
- Mice to try when your wrist already hurtsJuly 27, 2026
Which of these mice actually changes the position your hand sits in?
- Wireless mice for a full working dayJuly 26, 2026
Which wireless mouse still feels right at five in the afternoon?
- Portable SSDs for work that leaves the officeJuly 25, 2026
Which portable drive would you trust in a camera bag for a week?
- Portable SSDs, scored on five axesJuly 24, 2026
Does a faster portable SSD do anything if your laptop cannot feed it?
Tech products 25
Apple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C)
If you live on Apple hardware, the convenience gap outweighs any sound-quality argument.
8.5
Keychron Q1
A gasket-mounted aluminium board with QMK firmware, sold assembled instead of as a kit.
8.4
Logitech MX Master 3S
The default productivity mouse, and the quiet-click revision fixed its most-cited flaw.
8.4
Samsung T7 Shield
The rubber-armoured T7, and the one to buy if the drive leaves the desk.
8.3
Keychron K2
The default recommendation for a first mechanical keyboard, and it has held that spot for years.
8.2
Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro
Paired with a Galaxy phone, this is where the money goes furthest in this list.
8.2
Sony WH-1000XM5
The all-round reference: strongest cancellation on the list with app control nobody else matches.
8.2
Apple AirPods Max
Built like nothing else in the category, priced like nothing else, and only fully useful on Apple hardware.
8.1
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
The most convincing low-frequency isolation here, wrapped in the most comfortable clamp.
8.1
Crucial X9 Pro
First-party Micron flash in a plain aluminium slab, priced below the names people recognise.
8.1
Logitech Lift
A 57-degree vertical mouse sized for small and medium hands, which the category usually ignores.
8.1
Samsung T9
Twice the interface bandwidth of the T7, which only pays off if your machine can take it.
8.1
Sony WF-1000XM5
The reference pick on Android when you want noise cancelling and sound quality in one shot.
8.1
Logitech MX Mechanical
Mechanical switches inside an office keyboard, with Logitech's multi-device pairing intact.
8.0
Logitech MX Vertical
The full-size vertical option, and the one large hands can actually rest on.
7.9
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless
The listening pick, with battery life that makes everything else here look short.
7.9
Corsair K70 RGB PRO
An aluminium-topped board built to outlive the software that drives it.
7.8
SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD
Rugged, pocketable, and carrying a reliability history buyers should read before ordering.
7.8
WD My Passport SSD
A well-finished everyday drive whose real selling point is the software that ships with it.
7.8
Anker Soundcore Space Q45
Roughly eighty percent of a flagship for a fraction of the outlay, and that gap is in the details.
7.7
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds
The strongest sense of low-frequency noise disappearing here, and the steepest asking price.
7.7
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro
Every extra Razer could fit onto a keyboard, at the price you would expect for that.
7.7
Razer Pro Click
Razer's gaming sensor in a workplace shell, co-designed with Humanscale.
7.7
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4
The pick when sound comes first. Noise cancelling is deliberately the conservative part.
7.7
Apple Magic Mouse
Beautiful, gesture-rich, and shaped in a way that most hands stop tolerating after an hour.
6.8