If May proved anything, it’s that gadgets are getting more premium and pricey by the day. As just one example, major gaming consoles like the Nintendo Switch 2 and Steam Deck OLED suffered price hikes this month due in large part to the ongoing RAM price apocalypse. We’ll likely see laptops, phones, and other tech get more expensive in the months ahead.
Outside of pricing news, Google’s big I/O developer conference came and went, featuring wall-to-wall Gemini stuffed into everything. There was little room for gadgets when Google was too busy finding ways to reinvent Search, though the company did offer more enticing details about the upcoming Android XR smart glasses—sorry, I meant “intelligent eyewear”—as well as AR spectacles.
When looking back at May, there sure was a heap of expensive gear. At least, a lot of them were really strong contenders in all their respective categories.
The U.S. power grid isn’t looking too hot these days. And with natural disasters becoming more prevalent due to climate change, you’re probably investigating what you’d need should you lose power. Anker’s Solix E10 is one of the most modular backup home battery systems we’ve seen yet. You can stack up to five batteries in a single power module, and you can connect up to three of these power banks in one unit. The Solix E10 is not cheap, but it is more affordable than some of the competition, such as Tesla’s 13.5kWh Powerwall 3 all-in-one system.
Bose’s new Wi-Fi speakers are so good, they should make Sonos sweat bullets. The company’s new Lifestyle Ultra Speaker produces impeccable sound quality when paired up with your Wi-Fi network. They’re wired speakers, meaning you’ll need to keep them at home, but we found they had room-filling, quality audio enough that you may even want two to create a stereo pair for some head-banging spatial audio.
See Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker at Amazon
The company that brought us the reMarkable Paper Pro and Paper Pro Move keeps racking up wins in E Ink tablets. The Paper Pure is the reMarkable’s black-and-white entry-level tablet, though despite its plastic design, the screen is a real pleasure. The Paper Pure features a faster refresh rate than the company’s color E Ink tablets. It’s a small bundle of note-taking joy that may be the best e-reader or E Ink notetaking device for students who can’t lug around any more textbooks.
Google is going after Whoop’s popular fitness tracker with a wearable you can actually own without needing to constantly pay for a subscription. The $100 Fitbit Air sticks a slew of health-based sensors, like a heart rate monitor, inside a slim, flexible band you can wear all day and night—up to around a week on a single charge. Like last year’s Polar Loop band, you can access the majority of its health and sports tracking features without needing to pay extra for an annual subscription. It’s meant to work with Google’s revamped Fitbit app, named Google Health, though you may want to wait for the company to remedy all the complaints users have had with the recent redesign.
See Google Fitbit Air at Amazon
For laptops that can replace your desktop gaming PC, none feel more responsive or pretty to behold than Alienware’s revamped 16-inch Area-51. Unlike the 2025 model, this new version comes with an OLED display as well as an anti-glare filter to make it legible even in daylight. Not to put too fine a point on it, the laptop has one of the best gaming laptop keyboards we’ve used. With the top-end specs and a new Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus CPU, it’s also one of the best-performing laptops today. It’s so large and so expensive, you shouldn’t leave home with it, but we still enjoyed the hell out of it just sitting on our desk.
Do you really need a screen on your wireless earbuds case? Maybe not, but the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max still has enough features to make it worthwhile. Anker’s Thus chip built inside these buds enables some of the best active noise-canceling capabilities we’ve heard in a pair of wireless earbuds. You can practically tune out an entire rattling subway car just with these two buds sitting comfortably in your ears. Otherwise, the case features a unique recording and AI transcription ability that, as journalists, we found especially appealing.
See Soundcore Anker Liberty 5 Pro Max at Amazon
If you’ve ever wanted to try esports-ready analog switches without needing to buy an entire magnetic keyboard, Logitech has the equivalent of a “pro” keyboard tasting menu with the G512 X. The Logitech G keyboard comes with nine built-in analog switches, making it all too easy to swap your switches and keycaps on the fly. The keyboard also has several wholly unique features, like “SAPP” rings that let you create more than one input by putting more pressure on individual keys.
See Logitech G512 X 75 at Amazon
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