Tech Talk

Nicely done Jabra Elite 3 $80 at Amazon $80 at Best Buy Pros Good sound quality Solid bass with crisp highs Lightweight build and comfy fit Decent durability OK battery life Nice colors Cons No noise cancelation No access to Sound+ EQ Jabra made a name for itself by making quality earbuds for years, and the Elite 3 are an affordable pair influenced by the premium ones the company continues to produce. You have to accept not getting all the bells and whistles, but at least you can trust the quality you get out of them every time. Back again Creative Outlier Air V3 $60 at Creative Pros Great audio quality Ambient mode works well Excellent battery life Comfortable fit Improved touch controls Wireless charging support Cons Super X-Fi too limited Not fully noise-canceling Bulky case Creative often delivers more for every buck spent, and the Outlier V3 are among the best earbuds in their price range. It's not just the sound quality. It's als

Unmatched performance Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus From $730 at Amazon From $730 at Best Buy Pros Snappy Snapdragon 865+ speeds More colorful AMOLED screen with twice-as-fast refresh Twice the speakers for powerful audio Better selfie cam for video calls Higher standard RAM and max storage Includes S Pen Cons Costs much more (especially for 5G) Keyboard cover is more expensive Only two more years of software updates The Galaxy Tab S7 Plus is truly only rivaled by the new iPad Pro for its power, gorgeous display, and laptop-replacing tools. Its 865+ chip is still robust by today's standards, especially if you shell out for 8GB of RAM. While incredibly thin and lightweight for its size, it's still best used with two hands or a desk stand. If you can afford it, this is the Android tablet for you. A massive, mid-range slate Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE From $600 at Samsung $530 at Amazon $530 at Best Buy $530 at B&H Photo Pros More affordably priced,

Cheap and flexible Tello From $5/mo. at Tello Pros Great coverage with the T-Mobile network Flexible plans can save you money Great phone support Very cheap for light users Cons Unlimited plan limited to 25GB Tello makes phone service simple by ditching traditional plans and sticking with a completely custom plan so users don't need to waste money on data they won't use. Hotspot comes with any plan with data and also international calls to more than 60 countries. It also uses the T-Mobile network for great LTE and 5G coverage. International options Google Fi From $20/mo. at Google Fi Pros Great international roaming options Family plan savings Good phone support Multiple networks with approved devices Cons Expensive for one line Unlimited plan limited to 22GB Google Fi has earned an excellent reputation among tech enthusiasts thanks to its flexibility and international roaming capabilities. Fi lets you roam in more than 200 countries for no e

A clear favorite Nothing ear (1) $99 at Nothing Pros Unique design Amazing sound Lightweight design is great for all-day use Two modes of ANC Auto play/pause and Qi wireless charging Cons No Google Assistant or Alexa ANC is unreliable at times Availability issues Case scratches easily No AptX audio codecs If you're looking for $100 wireless earbuds, the Nothing ear (1) tick all the right boxes: they sound fantastic, have a great design that makes them stand out, and they have wireless charging. They're light enough for all-day use, and you even get decent noise isolation. They have average battery life and miss out on AptX, but if you care about sound quality, these are a great option. The obvious upgrade OnePlus Buds Pro $150 at OnePlus Pros Standout sound quality with reliable ANC Even lighter than the ear (1) Qi wireless charging and fast charge Lasts up to 7 hours on a charge Buds and case are water resistant Zen Mode Air is a great addit

Doing it again Google Pixel Buds A-Series $100 at Best Buy $99 at B&H Pros Same sound quality for less Integration with Android and Google Assistant Lightweight build and comfy fit Same size case Fast charging Cons No swipe gestures No wireless charging case No change in battery life Still no active noise cancelation For an encore, Google didn't overhaul its Pixel Buds. It just tweaked them, gave them new coats of paint, and made them more affordable. To get there, the A-Series cut out a few things, but so much of the originals stay where they are, and that's why they're an intriguing choice among other earbuds. Back again Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 $150 at Amazon $150 at Best Buy $150 at B&H Pros Bolder sound Effective ANC Very comfortable fit Good battery life Nice color options Cons IPX2 rating isn't very durable Microphones are so-so Finicky controls Samsung gave the Galaxy Buds 2 a slimmer profile, making them even mo