The second month of 'Tech-tober' quickly came and went, unveiling Google's newest flagship and Pro model with the Pixel 8 series, debuting OnePlus's first foldable phone, and introducing a new ANC standard with Bose's QuietComfort Ultra headset.
Having tested all these gadgets and more, and even re-visiting one of our favorite portable tablets, here are the top products we'd recommend going into the holiday savings season (and beyond).
Google Pixel 8 Pro
Google establishes a new 'Pro' handset benchmark
If you spend your entire time taking a tweaking photos on your phone, then the Pixel 8 Pro is the phone for you. With 7-years of software updates, it's an investment worth making.
- Great camera performance
- Stunning display quality
- Innovative photo experiences
- Battery life perhaps isn't the best
The Pixel 8 Pro is a game-changer when it comes to mobile photography, blurring the lines between real and AI. The new Magic Editor is great fun, but also a powerful tool, allowing AI creativity in the palm of your hand. The phone also has loads of power and a great display, so it's the complete package.
Review: Google PIxel 8 Pro: Google just went and reinvented smartphone photography
And while its design might be iterative, the imaging is revolutionary as well as imaginative, promising budding photographers a real treat.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
Bass-y Bose that brilliantly block out the world
These are undoubtedly the noise-canceling kings and also provide great, full sound. Pricey, they're an investment for sure, but they'll last you for years with thwir durable build.
- Top tier noise cancelation
- Confident, detailed sound
- Great features and control app
- Undoubtedly pricey
- Build can feel a bit cheap for price tag
- Immersion mode won't be for everyone
If you want a pair of noise-canceling headphones that truly block out the world, then you won't find better than the QuietComfort Ultra. They also serve up a punchy, detailed performance that works brilliantly with all genres of music, and an impressive take on spatial audio that betters the experience of any other headphones I've heard.
Review: Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones: Moving in silence
For commuters and frequent travelers - especially as we head into crazy holiday travel season- they're pricey, but excellent investment.
Meta Quest 3
Reality re-imagined
If you're in the market for a VR headset, the Quest 3 is the obvious choice thanks to its class-leading software and excellent value for money. It might be pricier than its predecessor, but it's still a great deal considering the rich features.
- Improved visuals
- Better comfort and audio
- Mixed reality capabilities
- More expensive than its predecessor
- Passthrough cameras struggle in low-light
The Meta Quest 2 brought VR gaming to the masses, and its successor improves on it in almost every possible way. The image is much clearer, thanks to the new lenses and higher-resolution display, and there's lots more horsepower for running the latest games.
Review: Meta Quest 3: Taking standalone VR to the next level
It's also smaller and more comfortable, with much better speakers than the last time. More exciting than that, though, is the inclusion of high quality passthrough cameras which enable mixed reality game play.
Sennheiser Accentum
A mid-range market leader
The Accentum ear-cans look incredibly similar to the latest Momentum headphones, so you don't miss out from a tasteful design point of view. Its sound is also excellent, making it more than worth the money.
- Comfortable fit
- Great sound
- Solid ANC
- A little plasticky
The Accentum is a really smart play from Sennheiser, offering balanced, impressive sound at a lower price than its top-of-the-line Momentum headphones.
Review: Sennheiser Accentum: Hitting the mid-range
You get solid ANC, but it's the great sound quality that see the Accentum headphones arrive as a real contender at their price.
OnePlus Open
OnePlus's first foldable was worth the wait
The first foldable from the OnePlus brand is a brilliant all-round device with strong displays, battery life, great software and a powerful and versatile camera system. And while our test unit unfortunately came with a faulty fingerprint sensor (stay tuned for our update and final verdict), the overall experience was still seamless and enjoyable.
- Great front and internal displays
- Generally strong camera performance
- Fast-charging battery
- Multitasking Open Canvas software is wonderful
- Promises 4 years of software updates and 5 years of patches
- Big camera hump
- Lacks wireless charging
- Pricey
Looking at the entire package here on offer from OnePlus - and assuming the fingerprint sensor is just an unlucky experience with a faulty unit - the OnePlus Open is the foldable phone to beat right now. At least when it comes to the larger book-style models.
Review: OnePlus Open: A no-compromise foldable phone
The outer display is simple, but useful and the internal display is probably the best large folding display on any phone at the time of writing. Additionally, the Open Canvas solution to multitasking is a game-changer. Plus, we finally have excellent cameras and great battery life in a foldable that also has (mostly) bloat-free software AND long-term update support.
Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (2022)
Not new, but still the best 11-inch tablet
For design, power and portability, the iPad Pro 11-inch is an exceptional tablet and if you want a Pro model at this size, you won't be disappointed. There's no better tablet out there at this size and with this performance.
- Premium design
- Crisp display
- Seamless UX
- Great portability
- No mini-LED display,
- Pricey
- Battery life could be better
- Front camera should have moved
This month, we revisited Apple's 2022 11-inch iPad Pro, and came back to our initial conclusion a year later, that it's an excellent tablet. It offers a wonderfully premium design, a lovely display, more power than many will know what to do with and there is very little to complain about on the whole.
Review: Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M2, 2022): Exceptional tablet, but a hard sell
Running on the M2 chip, the tablet offers great power, and with an 8-core CPU, plenty of memory bandwidth as well.
In our carts:
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up and Apple's surprise product drop, these are the items our cursor is waiting to click and add to our cart.
Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M3, 2023)
Powerful, compact, and relatively cheap, the new MacBook is a commerce editor's dream
The latest MacBook Pro features the Apple M3 chip with an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine. Making its debut during Apple's surprise 'Scary Fast' event along with three new chipsets (M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max), the 14-inch M3 laptop is just the lightweight laptop upgrade I need. Promising clear graphics and a powerful performance, I think this slim machine would make the perfect companion as I edit commerce content and hunt for Black Friday deals. And for $1599, the price-tag is surprisingly reasonable, especially for the 'Apple tax.'
SAMSUNG 85-Inch Class Neo QLED 4K QN90C Series TV
A bright new TV in time to watch the ball drop
Black Friday and Cyber Monday boast great TV sales, which is a perfect time to invest in this gorgeous 85-inch TV, which supports crisp 4K graphics and Dolby Atmos sound.