Attention is the currency of the realm. Studios are chasing it with better movies. Streamers are chasing it with better TV (and Netflix dating shows). Music streamers are chasing it with playlists that never end. Game makers are building worlds. It’s too much to ignore and why would you want to? Distraction is the indulgence of the age.
And, as our elders have noted, anything worth doing is worth doing well. Watching. Listening. Playing. Great smart entertainment tech makes every one of these activities more rewarding and more profound.
Sonos Era 300
Bose and Sony are strong incumbents in the audio space. They have brand recognition and massive commercial footprints courtesy of agreements with Best Buy and Target. But when execs from those companies wake up on a Tuesday, they worry about Sonos, the Santa Barbara upstart making .wavs by delivering great audio and superlative design at a lower price point (and without convoluted directions).
Design is no small part of what makes the Sonos Era 300 stand out. The corseted tube shape isn’t just a departure from the typical droplet shapes of smart speakers; the shape allows the Era 300 to offer spatial audio. The music (or podcast) sounds like it’s coming from everywhere. And that’s true more or less wherever you place the Era 300. Even in rooms with poor acoustics, the Era 300 sings for its supper.
Why the Era 300 Stood Out in Testing: Spatial audio is only cool if it works so the focus of testing was trying to find situations in which the Era 300 lost its not-so-secret sauce. Didn’t happen. The Era 300 filled every space it occupied.
Twinkly Squares
Twinkly is a seasonal favorite among Christmas light guys. Their lights boast dazzling color saturation and produce eye-catching effects. Now, the company that put the más in Christmas has created a Lite Brite style pixel artwork setup worthy of a year-round showcase.
Twinkly Squares look like a disco floor on the wall, but the are remarkably flexible and can be used to make all kinds of striking art, combining the easy of a chalkboard with the visual variability of a Time Square digital billboards. Mood ring animations? No problem. Gifs? Absolutely. Pixelated self-portraiture? Weird, but you do you.
Why Twinkly Squares Stood Out in Testing: The sizing options make Twinkly Squares particularly appealing. Scaled up, they can dominate a room. Scaled down, they can function as a playful nightlight. And installation is incredibly easy.
Govee AI Gaming Sync Box Kit
Ask anyone who had sex in the 1970s and they’ll tell you: Mood lighting creates immersive experiences. Gamers know this. Smart lighting companies know it too. But it’s hard to create a solution that isn’t more of a problem than its worth. With the AI Gaming Sync Box Kit, Govee has done precisely that.
Like other similar products, the AI Gaming Sync Box illuminates the wall behind the screen. Unlike other similar products, the AI Gaming Sync Box throws deep colors and can be used to similar effect when watching shows or movies on a smart TV. Unlike other camera based systems, the Govee AI Gaming Sync Box Kit uses a direct HDMI connection to a source — ensuring that there’s minimal delay with its lighting effects.
Best of all, Govee’s robust lineup of smart lights consisting of smart LED light bulbs, strip lights, and wall lights can all be combined to work in conjunction with the Box.
Why the AI Gaming Sync Box Stood Out in Testing: There are plenty of lighting solutions aimed at gamers. What separates the good from the bad (green lights from red lights) is latency. The effect is only awesome if its real time. Govee is as close as it gets.
Bird Buddy
The Bird Buddy, a smart bird feeder that provides users with an up close and personal view of their avian visitors, is an if-you-know-you-know product among not just serious birders, but crunchy people generally. It pairs perfectly with a pair of Birkenstocks.
The camera is incredible. The detail is wild. The footage captured – all those little dinosaurs pecking away – is Attenborough-worthy. Also, the set up is ingenuous. The Bird Buddy is solar powered, rarely needs to be manually charged and catalogs birds. It’s awesome.
Why the Bird Buddy Stood Out in Testing: Tweet tweet. Peck peck. Flap flap.
Hisense L9G Projector
TVs are no different than apartments; pricing is all about square footage. But there’s a hack with TVs that allows for mega-big picture at not so mega-big prices. Projectors. With an image size up to 100-inches, the Hisense LG9 laser projector is the best of the bunch.
The trouble with digital projectors is that they tend to be underpowered. When there are strong sources of light around, things get real squinty real fast. Not so with the LG9, which puts out 3,000 lumens, enough to put on a show on a sunny day. The contrast and color saturation are superb, which is particularly impressive given the size of the projector, which also boasts 40W Dolby Atmos sound.
And lastly, it takes up minimal footprint, unlike today’s sets that can be a pain trying to wall mount. Separated by a few feet from the wall, we loved its space saving design.
Why the L9G Stood Out in Testing: The LG9 impresses doesn’t just project sharp images, it projects sharp images at an even sharper angle. It doesn’t have to be several paces back from the wall or sheet or screen to work, which makes a massive difference in a smaller space.
Victrola Stream Onyx
Victrola isn’t exactly the new kid on the block. The Victor Talking Machine Company started turning out phonographs in 1901 and ran one of the most successful advertising campaigns of the early 20th century – the dog listening intently to a recording of his master’s voice. But everything old is new again and Victrola’s latest record player feels as modern as a record player can feel.
The Onyx streams to wireless speakers and works best with Sonos products. But that’s not the only reason people buy the thing. Record people (who can be a bit precious TBH) buy it because it looks awesome. With its Jony Ive-meets-Philippe Starck vibe, it’s the perfect centerpiece in our entertainment center.
Why the Onyx stood out in Testing: The sounds is terrific, but that’s true of a lot of record players (smart or not). The real difference maker here is the design. It gets comments. It deserves comments.
Samsung QN90C Neo QLED 4K Smart TV
OLED TVs have the highest quality picture available, but QLED TVs are making up ground incredibly quickly. (The difference, for those keeping track: TK.) The best of the new QLEDs is the Samsung Neo QLED 4K, which boasts Quantum Matrix Technology designed to deepen black and whiten white, building the kind of contrast that has OLED loyalists paying out the nose.
In addition to offering superlative picture, the Neo QLED, saves space with its ultra-slim design. It also integrates beautifully with Alexa, which means that it can show images from video doorbells and other sources.
GE CYNC Dynamic Effects Neon Shape Smart Light
By encasing LEDs in a flexible plastic tube, GE has created a light strip that is less strip than malleable neon sign. The Cync can be adjusted – sculpted really – to create custom lighting setups that make great conversation pieces or visual anchors.
The best thing about the Cync is that it’s not one thing. Hang up a shape. Get bored. Hang up another shape. Flexibility begets flexibility.
Why the Cync stood out in Testing: There are other smart lights that form interesting shapes, but none that can be manipulated so easily. The Cync feels like a toy in the best way possible.
Dyson Zone
We know, it looks a bit obnoxious. But seriously, you’ll need to overlook that because the Dyson Zone is simply one of those fashionable gadgets with a purpose. In this case, you’re knocking two birds with one stone because it’s part noise-canceling headphones, part personal air purifier. After testing it out, we were actually impressed by how well it did at tuning out the noisiness of New York City while walking the streets.
Given how air quality is problematic in large metropolitan cities like New York, it was a relief that it supplied purified air when the contact-free visor was attached to the headphones. We definitely got several glances wearing it, but that’s part of the allure wearing the Dyson Zone.
Why the Dyson Zone Stood Out in Testing: You’ll never have to breathe in the stinky subway air again thanks to its face mask that supplies fresh air to you.
Garmin Forerunner 265S
You might already own the equipment for your fitness goals, but there’s a companion worthy enough to track your workouts. The Garmin Forerunner 265S isn’t just another fitness tracker, it’s a fitness tracker on steroids.
That’s because of its ability to track various exercises. Whether you’re out on a run through the hills, or simply on a bike burning calories indoors, we found the Garmin Forerunner 265S to accurately track our movements and heart rate. Most notably, we found it most ideal for outdoor running and cycling — where its multi-band GPS held a solid lock onto our location. It’s an important quality because it helps with delivering accurate measurements.
Even more astounding was the battery life of the Garmin Forerunner 265S. For something with a rugged design and smartwatch-esque features, we were delighted by its excellent battery life. In fact, it’s rated for upwards of two weeks when it’s in smartwatch mode. Ask any fitness buff, they’ll probably tell you that Garmin’s one to trust.
The multi-band GPS delivers precise location each and every time for even more accurate fitness tracking.