Best Gadgets of October 2024

This year’s Techtober did not disappoint. We’ve been bombarded with new Mac products, including the new iPad mini. Towards the end of the month, Apple released new Mac products with M4 chips that will launch in November, including the new iMac, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. We’ll be getting our hands on those soon, but the spooky season 2024 has really surprised us with some great offerings for VR headsets, PCs, and more headphones.

While the big brands are all making their case for expensive stocking stuffers this holiday season, we’ve also seen a lot of great stuff from small companies and DIYers. You have to Put Analogue 3D on your radar if you’re still standing there are N64 cartridges lying around. The DIYer community was also involved, particularly one designer who modified the original Xbox to fit inside a handheld shell. We’ll see how November goes, but beating October at this rate will be tough.

Security cameras may not sound like the most exciting technology, but Reolink’s Atlas Pt Ultra does such a good job of monitoring your home with incredible night vision, and it’s what got us noticed. It also packs the claimed year-long battery life in “Startup Mode”, but paired with a $200 6W solar panel you can set it and forget it. The camera automatically tracks movement in front of it with its gimbal-mounted camera, and for connectivity, you have a choice of 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. In fact, its biggest security issue is the easily accessible microSD card slot.

The $300 Meta Quest 3 was already a great headset for its price, but Meta wants to get VR into as many homes as possible. That’s tough when most people don’t see the need for a VR headset, even with the awesome potential of AR, which is why the Quest 3S is so appealing. It’s as powerful as the Meta’s $500 headset and has the same manual tracking capabilities. The main thing you’re missing out on for $200 less is better lenses and FOV. I think this headset offers the best option for those who want to play in VR. In addition, thanks to Meta’s Steam Link connection, you can access many VR games that are not available in the Quest game store.

The 2024 iPad mini is pretty much the same device from 2021, but is that such a bad thing? The smaller iPad packs an A17 Pro chip, similar to the iPhone 15 Pro. Is it bad enough to pack the last mobile CPU? No. It can also use the excellent Apple Pencil Pro and access all the planned features of Apple Intelligence that the Cupertino, California company has cooked up below. For $500, it also handles iPadOS better than older, larger-screen versions.

JBL brought our partner Dua Rashid down to test their MA AV Receiver and Stage 2 Loudspeaker. The Stage 2 is a surprisingly affordable setup considering the $3,500 cost of a five-point setup, especially since JBL isn’t known for being cheap.

The $200 DJI is terrible. It’s scary partly because of its loud buzzing sound when it takes off but also because of how it can handle low prices. It’s only let down by the limited battery life of 15 minutes at 4K. Also, you’ll want one of DJI’s controllers to push the range and speed to their limits. Despite all that, it is a fast and manageable plane for its price. The Neo is probably enough for high-end shooting for most novice filmmakers or dabblers. Then, when you’re done flying the DJI Neo, it’s so light that you can fit it in the palm of your hand.

The second generation of QuietComfort Earbuds get a lot of things right, especially for their price. Bose icons have good, detailed sound and excellent ANC. It’s a solid overall bud for $180, even if its size and shape let you down. They are also heavy and tend to come out of the ear more easily than others. A lot of solid-state headphones in this price range look and feel better than the $180 QuietComfort, but they’re certainly some of the best available in terms of pure sound quality.

Alienware’s Pro Wireless headset replaces the old “beam me up, Scotty” aesthetic with a design similar to every other headset that has come out in the last two decades. That’s not really bad, especially since the headset supports solid audio and microphone quality. It’s also so comfortable that I can wear it for hours and forget I’m wearing these noisemakers. What makes Alienware’s new headset drop a notch is that you’ll have a much harder time transporting these than other headsets. The microphone is removable, but the earcups don’t move.

Pre-built PCs can sometimes feel like you’re giving up the best part of desktop PC gaming: the feeling that you’re building a machine from the ground up to fit your needs. Maingear’s MG-1 is a simple yet effective PC build that’s hard not to like. The machine is very sturdy, with excellent cable management. I didn’t encounter a single issue after launching Windows. The only downside to the design is the RGB LED strip on the top, which makes it look very DIY.

Audiophiles will do anything to get the purest sound setup possible, but they may not agree with the Diva Utopia’s $40,000 price tag. No, this isn’t the type of product for most of us consumers, but it’s easily the best sounding setup we’ve ever listened to, luxury or not. Diva Utopia includes three speakers: one for bass, midrange, and treble. Another advantage of this design is the UWB connection between the left and right speakers, which helps the sound to fill the room. Just remember that there are ways to get great home audio from far, far away.

I wasn’t completely sold on the SteelSeries Arctis 5 Wireless headset, although I did enjoy the sound and feel in them well enough. That was due to the unusual shape of the dongle. SteelSeries knocked it out of the park with its Arctis Gamebuds. It includes Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz connectivity that allows you to switch between your consoles, PC, and mobile devices. It has great sound and an amazing amount of EQ options with the Arctis app for game-specific audio. Better yet, its dongle fits inside the case making it my preferred choice for listening to my Steam Deck or other portable gaming device on the go.