Our pick of the month’s smartest tech
…a powerbank capable of 97 phone charges
Anker’s latest powerbank can be described in one word: overkill. The PowerHouse looks like it could… well, power a house. Anker claims this device can charge your phone 97 times, a laptop 16 times or keep a light running for 82 hours.
In other words, this is more what you use in a power cut, a long camping trip or a post-apocalyptic zombie world, rather than for quickly adding 10 per cent more battery to your phone. It has a plug, USB and car sockets, a digital display, LED light and a massive price tag to match its beefy size.
Anker 757 PowerHouse
$1,399 (£TBC), anker.com
…a good-looking amplifier
Looking at the Hi-Fi Rose RA180, we can’t help but feel like the brand took inspiration from a toaster, throwing in a few cogs, switches and dials for a stylish steampunk take on the kitchen appliance. But these dials and switches aren’t just for show. Hi-Fi Rose is going old school, allowing customisation across a range of audio settings. The RA180 uses Class AD amplification which results in a high-speed, accurate amplification stage, offering a more natural sound. Is it affordable? Absolutely not!
Hi-Fi Rose RA180
£5,499, eng.hifirose.com
…intelligent wearable tech for the blind
There are plenty of smart glasses out there. Ray-Ban, Snapchat, and even the gaming company Razer have all made a pair! But in this crowded market, Envision’s smart glasses easily stand out.
That’s because they have been designed for blind people. The glasses can scan the environment, reading signs, texts, recipes and other visual stimuli, before speaking them out loud. The glasses can also warn the individual of obstacles, and call friends and family for a video chat.
Envision Glasses
€3,268 (£2,760 approx), letsenvision.com
…a worthy rival to the MacBook Pro
The Dell XPS 13 Plus could well be the new go-to laptop for Windows users, offering a stylish and powerful experience… albeit at a somewhat hefty price. The 13-inch laptop offers a clean layout which, we’ll be honest, looks suspiciously like Apple’s latest MacBook Pro model. With the XPS, you get a light-up touchbar for volume, brightness and other key controls, a Full HD+ display, a powerful Intel Core processor and a hidden trackpad.
Dell XPS 13 Plus
£1,298, dell.com
IDEAS WE DON’T LIKE…
…BUYING LAND THAT DOESN’T EXIST
Feeling crushed by the price of housing these days? Well don’t worry, you can still be a homeowner… just not in the physical world. No, we’re not talking about buying up property in Sim City, we’re thinking about the desperate lunge for land currently underway in the metaverse.
These digital worlds experienced through VR could soon be our future, and early fans are already making their purchases, spending millions on digital property, land and virtual consumer goods. Just like NFTs and cryptocurrencies, you likely won’t hear the end of this ‘innovation’ for a while.
…A DRONE FOR THE SELFIE OBSESSED
There was a time in the very recent past when we, as a society, came together to mock selfie sticks. Well, now things seem to be stepping up a level with the selfie stick’s tech-heavy brother – aselfie drone. Snapchat’s latest device is a $250 drone that’s dedicated to the world of social media, helping you capture short videos and photos. The drone has some genuinely impressive flight navigation and features, tracking and following the subject, which makes its role as a flying selfie camera feel like wasted potential.
Pixy
$249.99 (£TBC), pixy.com