Wireless earbuds have become increasingly popular over the last few years. They offer an easy way to listen to music or make calls without dealing with tangled cords. However, wireless earbuds also come with some downsides that are worth considering before you make a purchase.

Wireless earbuds are extremely convenient. You can easily pop them in and out without having to plug them in. They make it simple to listen to music, audiobooks or podcasts while exercising, commuting or doing chores. The lack of cords means you have more freedom of movement without cables bouncing around or getting caught on things. Many wireless earbuds also offer useful features like built-in microphones for calls, touch controls and noise cancellation.

On the downside, wireless earbuds tend to be more expensive than wired earbuds. They require built-in batteries to power the Bluetooth connectivity and audio, which adds to the overall cost. Battery life can also be an issue, with some models only lasting 3 to 5 hours per charge. Recharging the earbuds can take up to 2 hours. Some people also complain that wireless earbuds don’t sound as good as wired models, although audio quality has improved a lot in recent years.

Wireless earbuds may not stay in place as well for some people. Although many models come with different sized ear tips to help ensure a snug fit, the lack of cables means the earbuds can more easily fall out or get misplaced. Some wireless earbuds address this with around-the-neck bands or other design features to help keep them in place during activity. However, these extra fittings may not work for everyone.

Like any electronic device, wireless earbuds can malfunction or break down over time. Batteries lose capacity, Bluetooth connections can become unstable and components fail. Most wireless earbuds only come with a 1-year warranty, so longevity and build quality are other factors to consider. Replacement earbuds may cost 50-100% of the initial purchase price.

In the end, whether or not wireless earbuds are worth it comes down to your needs, budget and how well they fit your ears. For many people, the convenience and portability of wireless earbuds outweigh the downsides. But for others, wired earbuds may still be a simpler and more affordable choice. If you do opt for wireless earbuds, be sure to choose a high-quality pair that offers good battery life, fit, connectivity and sound quality for the best overall experience.

There are many smartwatches to choose from these days, with a range of features and at a variety of price points. The first thing to consider is what you want to use a smartwatch for. Do you primarily want to receive notifications, track your fitness, listen to music or a combination of these? Establishing your needs will help determine other factors like display size, connectivity, and battery life.

If fitness tracking is a priority, look for a watch with built-in GPS, heart rate monitoring and multi-sport tracking. Water resistance is also useful for swimmers. Watches like the Fitbit Versa 2, Samsung Galaxy Watch Active and Garmin Vivoactive 4 all offer comprehensive fitness tracking features. For basic activity tracking and notifications, an affordable watch like the Amazfit Bip will work great.

For maximum connectivity, choose a watch that pairs with both Android and iOS devices. Watches with speakers and microphones also allow you to make and receive calls right from your wrist. The Apple Watch Series 5 and Samsung Galaxy Watch both have calling capabilities.

Consider the watch’s display size and quality. A larger high-resolution display is better for quickly glancing at notifications and utilizing apps. But for smaller wrists, a more compact watch may be more comfortable. An always-on display allows you to see the time without raising your wrist.

Think about the style of the watch and how well it will complement your personal fashion sense. Smartwatches now come in a range of styles from sporty to formal. The Fossil Gen 5 Carlyle has a stylish stainless steel design perfect for work or casual wear.

Finally, examine the watch’s battery life to ensure it will last as long as you need it to. Most smartwatches offer at least a day of average use on a single charge, but look for longer if you want to track sleep or use power-hungry features. With the right considerations taken, you can find a smartwatch well-suited to your needs and budget.

Having a good laptop is essential for both students and professionals to be productive. Here are 5 budget-friendly options to consider:

The Acer Aspire E 15 is a solid, affordable option for basic tasks. It features an 8th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, 6GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. The 15.6-inch display and over 6 hours of battery life make it suitable for work and entertainment on the go. At under $350, it’s a great value for the performance.

For under $500, the Lenovo IdeaPad 330S offers an 8th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB solid-state drive for fast performance and boot times. The narrow-bezel 15.6-inch display provides an immersive viewing experience. A built-in fingerprint reader allows for easy logins via Windows Hello. With a metal chassis, it has a premium look and feel at an affordable price.

If you need a laptop for graphics or video editing, the Dell G5 15 Gaming Laptop is a solid option at around $700. It features a 9th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. The 15.6-inch display has a fast 120Hz refresh rate and anti-glare coating for reduced eye strain. Despite the “Gaming” name, its all-black design is suitable for any setting.

For Mac users, the 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $999. It sports a vibrant Retina display, Touch ID, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. The latest model features Apple’s new Magic Keyboard and longer battery life. While the processor is slightly underpowered compared to Windows laptops in this price range, MacOS is optimized to run smoothly. The unibody aluminum design is also ultra-thin and portable.

If portability is most important, the Microsoft Surface Go 2 starts at $399. It features a 10.5-inch touchscreen, an 8th-gen Intel Core m3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 64GB eMMC drive. At just 1.2 pounds, it’s extremely light yet provides good performance for everyday tasks. The built-in kickstand supports multiple angles. Add a Type Cover keyboard for a full laptop-like experience. The Surface Go 2 offers a good blend of affordability, portability and productivity.

Wearable technology has come a long way in the past few years, evolving from simple fitness trackers and smartwatches into advanced augmented reality glasses, smart clothing, and more. The wearables market is poised for significant growth over the next decade as companies continue innovating and developing new use cases.

Advances in sensors, batteries, and connectivity are enabling a new generation of wearables with enhanced capabilities. Smart glasses and augmented reality headsets are becoming more compact and seamless, with some models featuring built-in speakers, microphones, and cameras. These devices can overlay digital information onto the real world, from mapping directions to displaying workout stats.

Smart clothing and fabrics are incorporating biometric sensors to monitor health metrics with a high degree of accuracy. Companies are developing shirts that can track heart rate, respiration, and body temperature during workouts or all day long. Smart shoes are also on the horizon, with self-lacing mechanisms and pressure sensors. These technologies aim to provide customized health insights and a perfect, tailored fit for each user.

Powering the next wave of wearables are flexible, stretchable batteries that can bend, twist, and stretch along with the device. Temporary tattoos and stickers with embedded electronics are also an emerging trend, adhering directly to the skin to measure health markers like blood oxygen levels, blood pressure, and muscle activity during physical therapy or training.

While still a few years away from mainstream, brain-computer interfaces are an exciting area of research in wearable tech. Non-invasive BCIs use EEG sensors in headbands or caps to detect brain signals, allowing wearers to control devices with their mind or gain insights into cognitive states like focus and relaxation.

In the coming years, wearable technology will become increasingly integrated into clothing and accessories. As more data is gathered, artificial intelligence systems will provide personalized insights and recommendations to help users optimize their health, productivity, and daily lives. The future of wearable tech looks to seamlessly augment human capabilities through a combination of sensors, AI, and connectivity. Overall, the next decade will be defined by the quest to create truly intelligent wearable devices that feel natural and intuitive.

There are many apps out there that can help boost your productivity and streamline your workflow. Here are 10 must-have productivity apps to consider:

Evernote is a popular note-taking app that lets you capture and organize everything from thoughts and lists to web articles and photos. You can sync Evernote across all your devices and access your notes even when offline. Asana is a project management app that helps teams organize, track, and manage their work. It lets you create projects, assign tasks, set due dates, and get updates on the overall progress.

Trello is a visual collaboration tool that lets you organize projects into boards. On each board, you can create lists of cards that represent tasks. It’s a simple but effective way to manage projects and coordinate with others. RescueTime is time management software that shows you how you spend your time on your devices so you can gain insights into your productivity and make better use of your time.

Todoist is a task management app that lets you organize your tasks, set reminders, and track your progress. You can create projects, subtasks, and recurring tasks as well as get an overview of what you have due each day. Slack is a popular workplace communication tool that brings all your conversations, tools, files, and services together in one place. It helps reduce internal emails and keeps your team’s conversations organized by topic or project.

Dropbox is a file hosting service that lets you store and share files, photos, videos, audio, and documents in the cloud. It syncs your files across all your devices so you can access them from anywhere. Google Drive works similarly but also lets you create and edit documents, spreadsheets, forms, drawings, and slideshows. Both services are must-haves for file management and productivity.

Pocket lets you save articles, videos, and web pages to read and view later even when you’re offline. It’s a convenient way to bookmark content for reading without wasting time searching the web. LastPass is a password manager app that generates, stores, and remembers complex passwords for you. It helps keep your accounts secure while reducing the hassle of managing multiple passwords.

The smartphone industry has come a long way in the past decade. What used to be a luxury device only affordable to a select few is now an essential tool for most of us. Smartphone technology has also advanced rapidly, with new models boasting features that were considered science fiction just a few years ago.

This year has seen another crop of amazing new smartphones hit the market. After testing many of the latest and greatest models, we’ve rounded up the best smartphones of 2024 to help you choose a new device. Whether you’re looking for the best camera, the longest battery life or the most powerful performance, there’s a perfect phone for you on this list.

The New Pixel Pro is Google’s latest flagship smartphone and the best Android phone of 2024. It features a stunning 6.7-inch display, the powerful new Snapdragon 865 processor and an advanced triple camera system that takes amazing photos, especially in low light. The Pixel Pro also offers the best software experience of any Android phone thanks to Google’s smart AI features and clean interface. If you want a big, premium phone that just works, the Pixel Pro is for you.

For the best camera in a smartphone, look no further than the latest iPhone. The iPhone 15 Pro Max features an unparalleled triple camera system with massive 48MP wide, telephoto and ultra-wide lenses. An advanced LiDAR scanner also provides night mode portraits and improved autofocus. The A15 Bionic chip delivers incredible performance for gaming, editing video and more. And the new iOS 14 software is the most advanced mobile OS, with features like home screen widgets, an app library and picture in picture multitasking. If photography and videography are your passions, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the best smartphone for the job.

Active noise cancelling headphones have revolutionized the way we listen to music and podcasts. By electronically detecting and cancelling out ambient noise, they allow us to immerse ourselves in audio without distraction. Here are some of the best options for a peaceful listening experience.

The Bose QuietComfort 35 II are widely considered the gold standard for noise-cancelling headphones. They offer three levels of noise cancellation so you can choose your preferred level of awareness of the outside world. They are also supremely comfortable, with plush earpads that make them easy to wear for long periods. The sound quality is balanced and natural, perfect for listening to a wide range of audio content.

Sony’s WH-1000XM3 are top-rated wireless noise-cancelling headphones that rival the Bose. They provide an incredibly effective level of noise cancellation and high-resolution audio quality with a punchy, dynamic sound. They offer touch controls, a dedicated app for customizing the audio and enabling special features like optimizing the noise cancellation for your environment.

The Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless headphones have a more affordable price point while still providing very good noise cancellation and audio quality. They have a minimalist foldable design, intuitive touch controls and support high-quality Bluetooth codecs for a strong wireless connection. The sound has a warm, smooth quality that makes them well-suited for jazz, acoustic and vocal music.

For those on a tighter budget, the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 provide solid noise cancellation and sound quality at a lower cost. They are wireless, comfortable and foldable, with 40 hours of battery life and a bass-forward sound. The noise cancellation is quite effective for the price, though not on par with the Bose or Sony models. Still, they offer great value if you’re looking for noise-cancelling on a budget.

In the over-ear category, it’s hard to beat the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT. They offer high-fidelity audio with rich, detailed sound and natural noise cancellation at an affordable price. The earpads are very comfortable, the build quality is rugged yet lightweight, and the battery lasts up to 25 hours per charge. For audiophiles who want minimal coloration of the sound, these are a fantastic choice.

For those who prefer earbud-style headphones, the Libratone Track Air+ are a great pick. They provide adjustable noise cancellation, wireless connectivity and up to 6 hours of battery life. The fit is comfortable yet secure, and the sound has punchy bass, clear mids and crisp highs. They offer a minimalist design and a companion app to tweak the sound to your liking.

The Jabra Elite 85h are a compelling new entry with outstanding battery life. They last up to 36 hours with noise cancellation on, and provide a comfortable over-ear fit, intuitive controls, and a balanced sound with punchy bass. They offer multiple levels of noise cancellation to suit your needs, and a 2-year warranty for peace of mind. For frequent travellers, these are a fantastic choice.

Overall, while Bose and Sony still dominate, there are many high-quality noise-cancelling headphones at a range of price points. With the right pair, you can enjoy your audio content in peace wherever you go.