Editors' Favorites: The Best Tech We Bought This Year

I blame 3D printing for enabling my latest nerdy obsession: Warhammer: The Old World. This AnkerMake M5C is only my second FDM 3D printer, and it halved my print times at the same level of PLA quality. At this boosted printing speed, I can experiment with new Warhammer units and squads far more quickly between weekly matches while saving hundreds on fantasy dwarf and elf toy soldiers. – Joe Osborne, Deputy Managing Editor, Hardware

This year, after absentmindedly walking away from my desk with my wired headphones still on (and therefore ripping them out of the socket for the 10,000th time), I decided it was time to pick up a proper set of Bluetooth cans. These ones from Urbanista have been a godsend. They constantly recharge themselves via a solar cell on the headband, and as a result, I never need to plug them in—or worry about being tethered to my desk. — Drew Prindle, Executive Editor, Features

With this inexpensive and portable smart telescope, I can take stunning pictures of the Sun, Moon, comets, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, supernovae, and incredibly distant quasars with ease—even from my light-polluted New York City neighborhood. It's all controlled from Seestar's accompanying mobile app, so everything is super easy to set up and use. Simply select the object you want to photograph, and the telescope will swivel to it and start imaging. It’s a good choice for beginners and experienced users alike. — Tony Hoffman, Senior Analyst, Hardware

This year I finally decided to pull the plug on my personal Google Drive and switch over to Proton’s privacy-focused alternative, which includes an end-to-end encrypted email service, cloud storage, and VPN. The email service is easy to use, and the VPN is fast with plenty of connection options. You can have it on your computer and phone with one subscription. Proton still needs to improve its importing and document-converting functions, but outside of that, it's an excellent software suite. — Kate Irwin, News Reporter

The best thing I bought this year was peace of mind. I upgraded from an old-school gas generator to this 64-pound 3024Wh beast, which holds enough juice to run everything from phones to major appliances when the grid goes down. Plenty of ports let me plug in pretty much anything, while four solid wheels and a telescoping handle make it easy to move around the house or take on the road. The SolarSaga 200W Solar Panel tops it off in 3-4 hours. — Wendy Sheehan Donnell, Editor-in-Chief

I've resisted smart speakers for a long time because I don't like the lack of privacy that inherently goes along with them. Still, earlier this year, I found myself in need of a speaker that would fill up the living area of my new apartment with sound, and I really wanted the ability to summon songs and podcasts via voice commands. This little speaker lets me access both Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and even has an off button for the mic, which is a nice compromise when it comes to balancing privacy and convenience. — Chandra Steele, Senior Features Writer

As the owner of a new iPhone 15, I wanted to experience the glory of iOS Standby mode, where the phone screen becomes a subtly lit alarm clock display. It only comes to life at night when you move, all while wirelessly powering up on a MagSafe charger. Anker makes many such fast-charging magnetic options, but this $50 2-in-1 is future-proofed, as it’ll also charge the AirPods I’m asking Santa for this year. — Eric Griffith, Senior Features Editor

I’ve worn smartwatches for years, but this watch is a great reminder that modern tech isn’t everything. It’s a completely mechanical timepiece that stays wound thanks to a spring, a tiny weight, and tiny gears precisely working together. No battery, no electricity, and you don’t even need to hand-wind it if you wear it regularly. Keeping this pre-digital marvel on my wrist is a subtle reminder of how functional, useful, and clever technology can be without algorithms and screens. — Will Greenwald, Lead Analyst, Home Entertainment 

I've longed for a black-and-white digital camera for years. I got pretty close to buying a Leica Monochrom a few times, but it didn't happen. This year, I stopped fence-sitting and picked up the Pentax K-3 Mark III Monochrome. I'm wowed by the rich tones it captures: it's as close as you'll get to B&W film without a darkroom. I started my photo journey with Pentax, and already had a set of vintage lenses, so it brings me back home, and back to using yellow filters. — Jim Fisher, Lead Analyst, Cameras

Having recently purchased an LG OLED TV that whet my appetite for surround sound and Dolby Atomos, I finally bought a soundbar with rear satellite speakers for a fuller experience. I was not disappointed with this Vizio model, which sounds extremely pleasing despite its low price tag. If you want to hear spaceships whirring past your head, or NFL fans hollering behind you in the stands, or the orchestra spread out before you, but without breaking the bank, I highly recommend this soundbar set. — Michael Muchmore, Lead Software Analyst.

I bought the iPhone 13 Mini in January, shortly before stock ran out following its discontinuation in late 2023, because even after all these years, I'm a firm believer that the steadily expanding size of phones is a scourge. I find smaller phones to be less addictive, and in addition to just fitting better in my pocket, they're also easier to use in one hand. I'm perplexed that the iPhone 13 Mini is the last of its kind, and I plan to hold onto mine as long as I can. — Tom Brant, Deputy Managing Editor

I’m a huge fan of keyboard shortcuts, but sometimes you don’t want to reach up and hold down a bunch of keys to get what you want. That’s why the Tourbox Neo has been a massive upgrade to how I create digital art and animation. It’s a left-hand controller with a variety of different inputs—a dial, a scroll wheel, a directional pad and more—that you can use with dozens of different programs. I love it because it lets me zoom in and out of images, change brush sizes, undo and redo, select tools, and more, all without ever touching my keyboard. — K. Thor Jensen, Contributing Writer

I bought the HiBy Digital M300 because I wanted a dedicated digital audio player I could take anywhere. It sounds clean, is perfectly compact, supports expandable storage, and easily powers all of my wired in-ear monitors and headphones. The affordable M300 also runs Android 13 and has up-to-date hardware, so I can easily download and use my favorite launcher and music apps. It's the closest thing I've found to a modern, hi-res Zune HD. — Ben Moore, Managing Editor, Software

TextSniper has saved me so much time and so many keystrokes this year. It’s an optical character recognition (OCR) app that lets me extract text from images, videos, PDFs, and anything else on my screen in seconds. Once installed, a quick keyboard shortcut gives me a crosshair to click and drag over the text I want, no matter what format it might be in. I’ve used it to pull text from memes, charts, live streams, and video calls, and every time I use it, it feels like money well spent. — Craig Wilson, Deputy Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

Full disclosure: I haven’t used it yet, but I just bought a Peloton Bike. Yes, Peloton has experienced its share of issues over the last couple of years, but it’s still the name you’re most likely to hear when talking about home exercise bikes with friends. And it’s that sense of community I’m hoping will motivate me to use the Peloton Bike on a regular basis. Peloton is famous for its Leaderboard, where you can see how you’re performing relative to other riders in the class, and I’m not against a little peer pressure when it’s in the name of good health. — Alex Colon, Executive Editor, Reviews

I picked up Sony’s big zoom lens so I could take photos of my daughter’s field hockey team during the Fall season. It’s huge and weighty, but there's no better way to get closer to the action. The zoom range is particularly useful for shooting sports from the sidelines, and it’s bright and fast enough to get clean, sharp photos. It also works well for wildlife and helped me capture some amazing shots of birds. As long as you don’t mind lugging it around, it’s a great option to have in your camera bag. — Eric Zeman, Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

Earlier this year, I needed a way to watch the Olympics without cable, and after consulting Google (and a helpful PCMag article), I landed on Peacock. My colleagues have long praised the streaming service, so I felt confident signing up. From the phenomenal Opening Ceremony to Simone Biles' inspirational comeback, the service made it easy to find all the Olympic events I wanted to watch and catch the replays of live broadcasts I missed. Now that the games are over, I use my subscription to binge Love Island USA. — Angela Moscaritolo, Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

Though my Apple Watch Series 4 was still chugging along just fine, I decided to trade up for the Apple Watch Series 10 in October. It's not a huge departure from previous generations, but I'm definitely a big fan of the wide-angle OLED display, which is noticeably bigger and clearer without feeling bulky. I'm particularly excited to try out the device's new watchOS 11 features like Training Load and Notification Summaries, which weren't available on the Series 4. — Chloe Albanesius, Executive Editor, News