5 travel tech items I wish I’d bought before my last trip
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First and foremost, I love to travel, and I’ve been lucky enough to be able to do so quite extensively. But still, I always find myself thinking, “if only I had this…” when it comes to tech.
Whether it’s trying to fast-forward time on a long-haul flight, keep cool during the blistering heat, or turn a quiet gathering into something more special, these are some of the travel tech items I wish I’d bought before my last trip, and why I’d recommend them for your own travels in the future.
And, of course, I’ve found some of the best items, but also ensured they’re all on sale so you can get some savings in the process too.
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ASUS ROG Ally
ASUS ROG Ally Gaming Handheld 7″ Touchscreen FHD Display
As much as I love watching IMAX films on a 3-inch TV that’s been reclined mercilessly into my face, for me there’s no better way to lose track of time than gaming. The ASUS ROG Ally is one of the best handhelds on the market and gives you access to a tonne of games, anything from the latest AAA titles to more indie offerings.
Since sleeping on flights isn’t doable for everyone, this is the perfect way to kill time, and make it enjoyable too. 10 hours of The Witcher III? Pfft…I’ll spend that long in the inventory alone!
It’s also playable plugged in, and actually bypasses the battery to preserve its life span. Typically speaking, you can get around 3- 4 hours of usage out of this when not plugged in.
It doesn’t come in cheap, but it can be found on sale from time to time, and you can keep costs down by going for a slightly smaller internal SSD.
Portable mini fan
JISULIFE Handheld Fan with 4500 mAh Powerbank Max 37 Hours Runtime
This handheld fan and powerbank combo would have saved a whole lot of discomfort on my last trip. This super portable, ingenious device is exactly what you need when you’re traveling, especially to hotter countries.
The fan itself has three speeds, and a max run time of 37 hours – although you’ll likely not need to have it running that long. This is ideal for when you’re anywhere without aircon, and while you may think that’s the rarity, don’t forget that when you physically travel, temperature can fluctuate wildly. For instance, a bus trip down to an island in Thailand started well, but then turned into a sauna as the bus itself was getting smashed by the full fury of the sun for hours on the motorway…if only I had this fan then!
What’s more, this doubles up as a decent sized powerbank, coming in at 4500 mAh. That’s about the same size as most smartphones these days, and would get you up to around 90% from 0% in most cases. Not bad if you’re in a pinch, and don’t want to carry round a huge brick of a powerbank everywhere you go – I certainly didn’t.
Waterproof bluetooth speaker
Anker Soundcore 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker with IPX7 Waterproof
This Anker portable speaker would have been perfect for those nights where you hang out with new people in communal areas. As much as I like my, albeit slightly battered phone, its speakers are pretty tinny and just don’t sound great when the volume is turned up. This speaker is portable enough to sling in a bag and not add any extra weight, and its powerful enough for some decent volume too.
What’s great about this also is that it has a massive 24h battery life, thanks to 5,200 mAh Li-ion battery. That’s excellent if you can’t always find somewhere to charge it up.
Anker is a one the top brands when it comes to affordable portable tech, and this speaker has been around for a while and still remains super popular. On Amazon alone, it’s been bought over 10K times in the last month…
Fast-charging international travel adapter
EPICKA Universal Travel Adapter
Unlike my hastily selected adapter, this Epicka universal travel adapter would have been a complete game-changer, as it gives you everything you need, but super-charged.
What I’ve noticed with a number of travel adapaters is that they’re usually quite slow-charging, but this comes in at 30W. To put that into perspective, by my estimates, that would charge a 5000 mAh smartphone in around 1h – 1.5h (based on my experience of a 20W fast charger and my own 5000 mAh phone). That’s perfect if you’re dying to get out of where you’re staying and explore, but don’t want to hang about or drag a power-bank or charger with you.
It’s also got loads of ports, so you can charge items simultaneously. Earbuds, tablets, phones, Bluetooth speakers, portable fans – pretty much everything can be hooked to this without running out of space.
An excellent item to have, and something you can use at home when you’re not travelling.
Large portable power-bank
Portable Charger 38800mAh
This portable charger would have been my pick for traveling as it’s got a huge capacity of nearly 40,000 mAh. These really come into their own when you need to charge items, but don’t want to be tethered to an outlet or specific area for a while. Case in point, if you don’t fancy huddling around those airport charging zones for an hour, this is the item for you.
The good news is that many of these chargers have to be competitively priced to stand out from the crowd, so you can often find them for less than you’d think, and with decent discounts too. In general, they’re not going to be as fast-charging as a plug-in charger, but they’ll more than do the job and help you out in a pinch when you need it.
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