Gadgets I bought in 2018: Which one is worth buying?

This blog post is the list of electronic gadgets I bought in 2018. I will give brief pros and cons in my opinion (you can consider it as a quick review), and whether it is worth buying from 5 (worth it) to 0 (not worth it). Note that everything here is from the consumer’s point of view. Every gadget is bought with my own saving.

NEXSTAND K2 Adjustable Folding Laptop Desk Stand

Worth It: 5 / 5

Pros:

  • Strong enough to hold Macbook Pro 15″
  • Lightweight
  • Comes with carrying bag
  • Cheap (A$25 = 600 Baht)

Bose QC35 II Quiet Comfort Noise Cancelling Headphone


Worth It: 100 / 5

I used this headphone almost every day. It gives me the focus I needed for coding, and also for listening to podcasts on the busy train every morning and night in weekdays.

Pros:

  • Very comfortable to wear. Soft and lightweight. I can wear it for hours
  • Superb sound (for someone who loves pop music)
  • Extremely wonderful noise canceling (tested on many flights). It is like being in another world when the noise cancelling is on.

Cons

  • A bit bulky in the bag due to the carrying case
  • Not suitable for hot weather. It made my ears sweat

Beats X Wireless Earphone

Worth It: 3 / 5

Pros:

  • Easy to connect to the phone or laptop via Bluetooth
  • Easy to carry around especially with its magnetic earbuds
  • Chargeable using iPhone cable. So iPhone users will not require extra charging cable.
  • Good for exercising. There is no need to worry about losing it because it has the wire
  • Excellent for rock music since it produces good bass

Cons:

  • The wire can be annoying when running
  • The design is confusing since it looks almost symmetrical. Difficult to spot the controller and on/off switch
  • I am a big fan of pop music, so I prefer Bose over this earphone

Dyson V6 Absolute Cordless Handheld Vacuum

Worth It: 4 / 5

Pros:

  • Convenience to vacuum around the house. No need to unplug and plug the vacuum cleaner many times
  • This is not the newest version, but it lasted long enough to clean my 1-bedroom apartment. I have never ran out of battery
  • Great design

Cons:

  • My V6 battery failed after 2 months of usage. However, I contacted call center and received a new battery for free

Universal world travel adapter

Worth it: 5 / 5

Pros:

  • Only need one for any country. Support every plug in the world
  • Includes 4 USB ports. Combined with the main plug, it can charge 5 devices at the same time
  • Good for using aboard (to convert the plug) & at home (to charge multiple USB devices)
  • Small size

Cons:

  • Not very cheap (got it for A$20 = 500 Baht)

Xiaomi Mi Pro 10,000mAh Power Bank

Worth It: 4 / 5

Pros:

  • Fast charging in both direction
  • Good shape, slim and light enough to carry around
  • Great design

Cons:

  • Only one output port – I normally charge one device at a time anyway, so this is not a problem for me

iPhone XS

Worth It: 6 / 5

Pros:

  • The screen is so detailed that makes me enjoy using this phone
  • Camera is excellent. The colors and details are great, and the portrait mode is splendid. Taking photo at night is also not a problem
  • Good speaker. The lack of headphone jack does not bother me that much, since I am using wireless headphones.
  • ApplePay is too convenience. I once forgot the wallet at home, thanks to ApplePay, I did my grocery without any problem

Cons:

  • A bit expensive. Not recommend for anyone who already has iPhone X or does not use their phones to take a lot of photo. I decided to buy it because my previous iPhone was 4 years old, and I want good camera I can carry everywhere.
  • FaceID works 99% of the time. This sounds great, but 1% of the time can be really frustrating when it does not work
  • The screen is too vivid that makes me addicted to the phone

Samson Meteor USB Studio Microphone

Worth It: 3 / 5

Pros:

  • Very compact. Really easy to carry around especially with its carrying pouch
  • Easy to setup. Just plug and play in less than a minute
  • Its Cardioid pickup pattern is great for recording music
  • Good price for high quality product (less than A$100 = 2,500 Baht)

Cons:

  • My use case is to record my voice, so the Cardioid pickup pattern is picking up too much background noise

Razer Seiren X Microphone

Worth It: 5 / 5

Pros:

  • This is my favorite USB microphone in 2018
  • Super lightweight and small enough to be carried in a small pouch. However, this does not come with carrying bag
  • It has “Supercardioid” pickup pattern, which pick up a lot less background noise from Cardioid. Result in a clearer voice than Samson Meteor.
  • Good price for the quality (I got it at Best Buy on Black Friday for $69 = 2,300 Baht)
  • Great for recording podcast or video alone. Samson Meteor might be better for recording with many people due to its pickup pattern.
  • Excellent design

Cons:

  • The microphone jack is hidden under the microphone. This makes it a bit difficult to plug in.

Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Generation)

Worth It: 2 / 5

Pros:

  • Good speaker. The bass is excellent
  • Good for asking for the weather
  • Great in terms of custom programming. It is connected to Alexa Skills
  • Simple control
  • Great design. Looks nice on the table

Cons:

  • Not so smart when we asked complicated questions
  • Music from Spotify stopped after playing few songs. We have to keep saying “Alexa, continue”
  • Due to 2 reasons above, we are considering to sell it or trade it with Google Home

Netgear Nighthawk M1 4G WiFi Modem

We need to use 4G WiFi modem at home due to excessive internet that comes with my new phone plan. I have 200 GB per month and I can rarely spend 10% on my phone.

Worth It: 4 / 5

Pros:

  • This is the fastest 4G WiFi modem (that’s what they said)
  • A lot faster internet than the older 4G modem we were using (Huawei E5573). We got around 30 MB per second download, which is plenty for home use
  • Compact enough that we can carry it when we are travelling and needs portable internet

Cons:

  • A bit expensive. I saw the full price to be around A$400 (9,500 Baht). But we got the second hand for half of the price

Logitech Spotlight – Remote Presenter

Worth It: 2 / 5

Pros:

  • Great design and comfortable to use
  • Many cool features for the presentation e.g. Spotlight, Zoom, Mouse click
  • Can be used via bluetooth if the USB port is not available

Cons:

  • A bit expensive for the full price (A$150 = 3,500 Baht). I got the unused second hand for 1/3 of the price, otherwise I would not buy it.
  • Needs USB for all the cool features. For the new Macbooks with USB-C port, this will require dongle :/

Hope these quick reviews will help you make your mind easier whether to spend the money on these gadgets. Before buying anything, make sure you read and watch multiple online reviews. Be aware at some reviews are paid by the brand, so it could sounds too good to be true.

Keep buying and happy new year everyone! 🙂


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