Hey,
I review tech for a living. So I’m surrounded by newer, shinier stuff all the time.
And yet some of the gear in my house has been there for five years or more.
By the end, you’ll know which home tech is worth buying once and keeping for years, and what I’d actually spend money on.
🏠 The Home Tech I’ve Used for 5 Years
Most of it is pretty boring. That’s kind of the point.
🔌 Desk and nightstand chargers: ESR
Chargers are the least exciting thing on this list. They’re also the best example of “buy once, forget about it.”
I’ve got ESR desk chargers for charging phones on nightstands and desks. Cheap, solid, invisible. Exactly what a charger should be.
📺 TV: LG C1 OLED
I only just got rid of my LG C1 OLED. It was fantastic.
Five years on, it was still a brilliant picture. If you’ve got a good OLED already, you probably don’t need to upgrade either.
The only reason it’s gone is that we review a lot of TVs, and we had spare, newer, better ones sitting around.
🔐 Smart lock: Nuki
I was using a Yale smart lock before. It broke, so we had to replace it. I replaced it with a Nuki, and it’s been solid.
Here’s the thing: I’ve since moved to a newer Nuki, but only because we worked with them and they wanted to make a video with us. Otherwise, I’d have had no reason to upgrade.
A lock isn’t something you want to be tinkering with. You want it to work every single time, and Nuki has.
Source: Yours Magazine
🎧 Headphones: buy a solid pair once
This is where people waste the most money, chasing every new release.
Here’s what I’d say: buy a good, solid pair and keep them. A few I’d happily recommend:
Sony WH-1000XM4, the old classic
Apple AirPods Max, the original design, including the USB-C version
Our current setup is a KEF surround sound speaker system with an AV receiver (basically an audio amp).
Speakers don’t have a yearly release cycle. Good ones just sound good for a very long time.
What I’d buy once and keep
If you want… | Buy this |
|---|---|
Chargers you never think about | |
A TV that lasts | A good OLED |
A smart lock that just works | |
Accessories that don’t need replacing | A decent keyboard and mouse |
Headphones to keep for years | |
Home audio you’ll never upgrade | A KEF speaker system + AV receiver |
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Is OLED still the benchmark? I just spent time living with the Hisense UR9, a 75-inch RGB Mini LED TV.
I put it up against the question everyone’s asking: is this a genuine alternative to OLED?
Whether the price is worth it
What RGB Mini LED actually is, and why it’s different
Whether it can genuinely stand up to OLED
Brightness (up to 6,000 nits) and how it handles blooming
How it looks with live sport: football and ice hockey
Built-in audio, and how good it really is
4K 180Hz gaming performance
and more…
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this newsletter are affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products or services I believe will add value to you.
