Top 10 tech of 2024: Our reviewer’s favourite gadgets of this year

During 2024 we've seen a change of government, the northern lights, and the return of Oasis. It's been a big year in the news, then, but it's also been a huge year for new tech.

The relentless surge of AI has dominated the smartphone market, with Google, Apple and Samsung all upping their game.

Augmented reality technology has hit the headlines, and computing power in laptops, smartphones, and tablets has taken another massive leap forward.

But in this list, you won't hear me talk about my favourite smartphone of 2024 (It's the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, by the way) and I won't start discussing my favourite piece of AI tech (it's a self-driving system for cars, by the way) because this is a list of household tech that normal folk can buy and own.

This is good old consumer tech we can use in our own houses and cars. Devices that genuinely enrich our lives, entertain us, make things easier, and solve problems.

I've listed the 10 gadgets that have wowed me the most, out of the dozens I've tested in the last 12 months, in no particular order, and I've also picked out my absolute favourite tech item of 2024, which is at the end of the list.

Eufy Omni S1 Pro Robot Vacuum

Best price currently £999, from Eufy

I have honestly lost count of the number of robot vacuums I've tested this year. It's been the biggest year ever for new launches, and the technology they're packing in now is phenomenal.

But the one I'm still using in my own home is the Eufy Omni S1 Pro.

There have been times when it has come close to being knocked off its throne in the corner of my living room. So many flagship robot vacuums perform incredibly well now, and they each come with their unique quirks and features. but the S1 Pro Omni just combines all the functions so well. From the unique shape of the robot, to the positively theatrical ozone generator in its backlit water tank - it is all the robot vacuum I'll ever need. Until the next one comes along, I guess.

SwitchBot K10+ Pro Robot Vacuum

Best price currently £399 from SwitchBot

I know, I know, I did say the Eufy S1 Pro Omni was the only vacuum that's stayed set up in my house, but for all its talents, it can't climb stairs. So I use a second robot vacuum on my first floor. And, even after testing so many, the one that's currently awaiting its next command in my office is the SwitchBot K10+ Pro.

I'd been using its predecessor, the K10 for many months, and I loved the fact it's so small and compact, It can reach nooks and crannies in my cluttered bedrooms that the bigger robots just can't get to.

Its mopping feature works well in my bathroom and it has never once fallen down the stairs. Others have.

It's by no means the best robot vacuum I've tested, but it suits my space so well, and it just works reliably and competently every time. I love it.

Nextbase Piqo dash cam

Best price currently £79 (1K version) from Nextbase

I've certainly tested my fair share of dash cams this year. And while I'd give honourable mentions to the latest launches from Miofive and Viofo, my absolute favourite dash cam has been the Nextbase Piqo.

After living with the much larger Nextbase iQ for a while, it was refreshing to go back to something so compact. And while the Piqo is an incredibly simple dash cam to use, it really does have some features it shouldn't be able to fit into such a compact shape.

Nextbase has the best app, it's fair to say, and the footage from the 2K version of the Piqo is just superb. It's just a great all-rounder, and the fact it's so discreet is the icing on the cake.

Carpuride W103 Pro in-car display

Best price currently £175.99, on Ebay

Another piece of car tech that really caught me by surprise is the Carpuride W103 dashboard display. I can't believe how much I've come to depend on it.

My eight-year-old Mitsubishi has a very dated infotainment unit, but this display screen has saved me having to dig it out and change it. I can now run Android Auto or Apple CarPlay wirelessly on a beautiful 10" display that is, remarkably, still stuck to my textured dashboard with a suction mount. It hasn't budged.

The display connects wirelessly to my car's speaker system, so I can play music and podcasts all through voice commands, and I can even take calls through it.

If you're lucky enough to have a new car, you won't need one of these but if your car doesn't have smartphone mirroring tech, you really don't know what you're missing. Buy one, you won't regret it.

Jackery Explorer 100 Plus portable power station

Best price currently £139.99 at Jackery

Portable power stations were another incredibly popular product in 2024, with lots of launches to keep me busy. I tested them in all shapes and sizes, but the smallest one I tested was actually one of the best.

Jackery is one of the biggest brands in this space, and its distinctive shapes and colour schemes are instantly recognisable, and they're distilled down into this unapologetically cute little power station.

The Explorer 100 Plus has no AC sockets, there's no inverter, and it doesn't connect to an app, but for keeping USB-powered devices topped up, it's absolutely brilliant. As a portable power bank, it's just one of my favourite things.

EcoFlow River 3 portable power station

Best price currently £230 at EcoFlow

If you really do need something beefier to power your devices, then you can go very big, with something like the new Bluetti AC300, or you can go for a more compact unit, like EcoFlow's new River 3 series.

I've only tested one model in the series so far, but it's just so good at doing everything it's supposed to do.

It's very compact for its power output, it can hurl out up to 600w in surge mode, and it can recharge in an hour. The new design makes for a much more manageable shape than its predecessors, and it links up to EcoFlow's app, which I think is the best in the business.

This is a crowded sector with a lot of choice, and the truth is all its rivals are very good, but the EcoFlow River 3 just has the edge.

Anker Prime Charger

Best price currently £169.99 at Anker

Speaking of charging solutions, Anker launched a range of really clever charging tech this year. From trick charging stands, to multi-device charging plugs, their Prime range just gets better and better.

But it's their flagship product that really caught my eye earlier this year, and I just had to test it.

The 250w GaNPrime Anker Prime Charger has six USB outputs, four of which can put out 140w, and all of which share a load of up to 250w, so it's absolutely ideal for keeping tech powered on a desktop.

It even has a really clever display with configurable screensavers and configurable port priorities. Such a useful bit of kit.

Nebula Capsule 3 smart projector

Best price currently £369.99 at Nebula

Projectors were big in 2024, and it looks like they'll be big in 2025, too. I tested a lot of them, from big short-throw laser versions, to portable projectors you can take camping with you.

My favourite, by quite a margin, has been the Capsule 3 Pro. It's just such a clever shape and size, similar to a soda can, and not a lot bigger or heavier, it's easy to pack into a bag and it still has all the key features you could want from a smart projector.

I use it in my motorhome, projecting the image onto a window blind. It's incredibly easy to set up, a doddle to use, and the image quality is superb. For less than £400 there isn't a lot to beat it.

Boox Tab Ultra C Pro digital notepad

Best price currently £599.99 at Amazon

I'm a huge fan of digital notepads. And I reckon I've lived with them all. The best one I've used though, is the Ultra C Pro by Boox. It's just so lovely to use.

It has a handful of colours, which doesn't exactly make the e-ink screen a feast for the eyes, but it does give a new dimension to annotations, and once you've used colours, you just can't go back to monochrome.

The response from the stylus has been improved for this model, and it was pretty good before anyway, and the fact it has an Android operating system at its core makes it so versatile, because you have access to all the usual Google apps and you can log in with a Google profile.

As a productivity tool, it's hard to think of anything better for the money.

Salter Duowave Air Fryer

Best price currently £139 at Currys

We're a nation obsessed with air fryers. So it's quite inevitable I'd be testing a lot of them in 2024.

I dread to think how many portions of chips I've air-fried over the last 12 months, all in the pursuit of consumer journalism, but the air fryer that has stayed out of my loft and on my kitchen worktop for the longest is the Salter Duowave.

And that's because it's not just an air fryer. It's an air fryer and a microwave all in one. And that's such a unique and clever idea.

To be absolutely fair, it's not the best air fryer out there by any means (that crown goes to the Ninja Doublestack, in case you were wondering) and it's probably not the best microwave out there, but it performs both functions incredibly well. And it saves so much space, because there's no need to have both appliances. I can recommend it to anyone.

DJI Neo self-flying drone

Best price currently £119 at Argos

The absolutely brilliant little self-flying drone by DJI is hands down the best piece of tech I tested in 2024. Even if, like me, you have no interest in drones, it's just such a useful thing to have by your side.

At the touch of a button, it'll hover in front of you and take a selfie. Press the button a few more times and it will follow you automatically, keeping a set distance from you and recording a walk, hike, run, swim, or bike ride.

And if you connect it up to a controller or use a navigation pad in the accompanying app you can fly it around like a drone, soaring up to 120 metres high and capturing incredible photos and footage of the landscape around you.

With a launch price of £169 it absolutely annihilated what little competition it had, and then when the price dropped down to an incredible £119 in the run-up to Christmas it became not just the best tech product of 2024, but the best tech bargain of 2024, too. Well done DJI, it's an absolute triumph.