I’ve been TechRadar’s reviews editor for 18 months now. During that time, I’ve gotten to test some truly fantastic gadgets across a wide range of product categories. This year in particular, I’ve tried out some really exciting tech, which is why I wanted to share my personal highlights with you.
From the best wireless speakers you can hear, the best coffee machines for apprentice Americano brewers and cappuccino connoisseurs alike, to the best drawing tablets for sketching up a storm, I’ve thoroughly tested a real range of tech this year. Now I want to share some of that experience with you all.
If you’re curious about some of the greatest gadgets from the past year, I’ve got the hands-on experience to make personal recommendations. So if you want to know what the top five gadgets I tested in 2025 are, read on below.
Gaggia Classic E24 Evo Pro
As an inveterate caffeine addict, the one thing I care about more than anything when I’m using a coffee machine is reliable, repeatable results. And that’s why I loved using this machine.
When testing for my Gaggia Classic E24 Evo Pro review, I found it easy to produce shot after shot of consistent, polished espresso. While other machines require a heap of variable tweaking to ensure the coffee expresses correctly, it was super simple to hit the right grind size and tamping pressure to get great results out of the Gaggia. As a result, I was rewarded with delicious espresso topped with a light yet enduring crema.
If you prefer a machine that holds your hand every step of the way, though, this isn’t it. There are no automatic, bean-to-cup buttons or personalizable profiles here. And the milk steamer is anything but high-tech, requiring a bit of a knack to get consistently frothy results. But if what you’re looking for is a workman-like espresso machine that will help you bash out brilliant brews, this will definitely get you there.
TCL C8K
OK, hands up: I’ll admit I’m cheating a bit here. I didn’t technically test this TV; the actual TCL C8K review was carried out by my colleague James Davidson. But I do own it, which effectively means I’ve been testing it in real-world conditions for the past five weeks now.
I’ve never owned a TCL TV before this – previously, I would have gone straight for a big brand like Samsung or LG. But I’ll definitely always consider them in the future. This mini-LED marvel is just flat-out gorgeous. It’s seriously bright and offers very competent contrast, thanks to its 1,680 local dimming zones.
However, my favorite thing about it is the color reproduction. Honestly, feed it a movie or nature documentary, and the hues it produces are so vibrant they make the real world seem like a pale imitation. It can happily rival more premium TVs for richness, making it a pretty tempting purchase at a list price that runs from £1,599 / AU$2,495 for the 65-inch version.
That’s not to say I don’t have any reservations about it. The version of the Google TV OS it runs is missing at least one streaming service, while my phone is utterly unable to connect to it in AirPlay mode, which is a touch irritating. However, if you’re mostly worried about using the big streaming services and your main priority is getting the best picture performance for your buck, this definitely gets my thumbs up.
Oh and if you’re based in the US, don’t worry: the equivalent where you are, the TCL QM8K, is just as stellar and at the time of writing is available at Best Buy from just $1,499.99 (was $2,449.99).
Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch
A more unusual product category I’ve been testing out over the last year is the best digital photo frames. The Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch is certainly one of my top photo frame picks, following on from the similarly stellar – if you’ll excuse the pun – Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame that I tested back in November 2024.
My photos always looked great on the Pexar Starlight. While its pixel density is a little lower than its predecessor, the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame – 141 PPI compared to the latter’s 212 PPI – it still made my monochrome shots look crisp and detailed. Colors are perhaps a bit more muted here than on the smaller frame, but they’re still pretty faithful, all things considered.
So it’s a strong performer, with a couple of caveats. Then why am I including it on this list of my best items I’ve reviewed this year? Well, what lifts it into the top-tier category for me is the design.
It has gorgeous, textured bevels that look like mounting board and a wood-grain effect frame. But the most innovative element is its rear-facing light, which lights up the wall behind it like it’s a painting in a gallery. I love how this makes the frame feel much more integrated into your home decor, especially in the evenings. All in all, it’s a seriously stunning frame with some groundbreaking features.
We Are Rewind GB-001
While the We Are Rewind GB-001 is a great speaker, the main reason I’m including it here is that it’s unlike almost anything else on the market. Combining retro-styling, old-school tape playback, and modern features, it sits at the apex of a category of one.
First off, that tape deck. It offers great-quality playback of both Type-1 and Type-2 cassettes. I tried it with an old tape that had been knocking around since the early 1990s and I was honestly impressed with how little wow or flutter there is, which is those pitch fluctuations you might remember from listening to some older tapes. Recording also offers very creditable quality – when I recorded an impromptu mixtape, I liked how there was just the right amount of old-school tape hiss without much degradation to the overall sound.
It’s a pretty nifty speaker in its own right, too. It offers both Bluetooth and Aux connectivity, a suitably epic 15-hour max battery life and VU meters that pump in time with the signal level of your music. Moreover, even though its mid-range is less expressive, it’ll submerge you in buckets of bass – perfect for breakers and skaters who want to relive their glory days or younger people falling in love with that tape hiss for the first time.
XPPen Artist Pro 19 Gen 2
On top of being a tech nerd during my professional life, I’m also a bit of an amateur artist in my free time. Given that they combine two of my biggest passions, you won’t be surprised to hear that I’m a fan of graphics tablets. And probably the best I’ve tested this past year has been the XPPen Artist Pro 19 Gen 2.
First off, it comes with an extremely expansive 18.4-inch screen that makes sketching large-scale artworks a breeze. On top of this, the display is impressively bright, at an average of 250 nits, while simultaneously capable of serving up beautifully rich hues, offering 1.07 billion colors across its 99.8% sRGB, 96% Adobe RGB and 98% Display P3 color gamut.
The drawing experience is first-rate. I found both its more premium X3 Pro Roller Stylus and X3 Pro Slim Stylus to be wonderfully well-weighted, easy to pivot and spin as I drew strokes across the screen. And while their 16K pressure levels are probably overkill – being way more than most people can realistically detect – the styluses are remarkably responsive.
Finally, despite its enormous size and impressive performance, the XPPen is actually surprisingly affordable. Its original list price of $899.99 / £899.99 / AU$1,499.99 was already pretty impressive, but at the time of writing this piece, it was available for $629.99 / £674.99 from Amazon, so it’s worth looking out for bargains.
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josh.russell@futurenet.com (Josh Russell)
