Best for most people
LG
LG C5 77" OLED
If you want the best television most normal humans should actually buy, this is it.
$2,196$1,000+
Category 014 guides · 12 live recommendations
Technology
The stuff worth plugging in, charging, carrying, or arguing about.
Screens, sound, and computers. The category where the spec sheet lies most often and matters least.
Technology
Current winners
The short answers
If you only came here for one line, these are the lines.
- Best TVLG C5 77" OLEDIf you want the best television most normal humans should actually buy, this is it.Verdict stands
- Best headphonesSony WH-1000XM6The default answer for the sixth time running, which is either boring or useful depending on your mood.Verdict stands
- Best laptopMacBook Air M5 13"The laptop to buy unless you have a specific, articulable reason not to.Verdict stands
Recommendations
Everything we recommend in Technology
Including the value pick, the specialist and the one we'd only buy if money were no object.
Best for most people
Apple
MacBook Air M5 13"
The laptop to buy unless you have a specific, articulable reason not to.
$1,099$1,000+
Best for most people
Sony
Sony WH-1000XM6
The default answer for the sixth time running, which is either boring or useful depending on your mood.
$429$400–$1,000
Best value
Asus
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED
An OLED screen at a price that suggests someone made a mistake.
$849$400–$1,000
Best cheap big screen
Hisense
Hisense U7Q 75"
A 75-inch television for the price of a decent mattress, and it's fine. Truly fine.
$798$400–$1,000
Best value
LG
LG C4 77" OLED
Last year's winner, still excellent, and now the smartest money in the room.
$1,596$1,000+
Best value
Soundcore
Soundcore Space One Pro
Two hundred dollars cheaper and nobody on the train can tell.
$199$150–$400
Money is no object
Beyerdynamic
Beyerdynamic Aventho 300
For the person who cares more about music than about airports.
$599$400–$1,000
Money is no object
Sony
Sony Bravia 9 75"
The best picture processing in the business, attached to the worst price in the comparison.
$3,498$1,000+
Best pure noise cancelling
Bose
Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd gen)
Quieter than the Sony in raw cancellation, and less pleasant to listen to for four hours.
$449$400–$1,000
Best for bright rooms
Samsung
Samsung S90F 77" QD-OLED
Brighter and punchier than the LG, and more annoying to live with.
$2,397$1,000+
Best Windows laptop
Lenovo
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14
The one to buy if your job runs on Windows and your hands have opinions.
$1,649$1,000+
Latest guides
Read the working
The full argument, the competitors we considered, and what would change our mind.
Technology
The Best TV
WinnerLG C5 77" OLED
If you want the best television most normal humans should actually buy, this is it.
Verdict standsUPD Aug 28, 2026
Technology
Hisense U7Q 75": The Cheap Big Television, Assessed Honestly
WinnerHisense U7Q 75"
It is not a good television. It is an astonishing amount of television, which is a different and occasionally more useful thing.
Verdict standsUPD Aug 28, 2026
Technology
The Best Noise Cancelling Headphones
WinnerSony WH-1000XM6
Sony has won this category so many times it has become slightly embarrassing for everyone else. Buy them.
Verdict standsUPD Aug 27, 2026
Technology
The Best Laptop
WinnerMacBook Air M5 13"
Buy the MacBook Air unless you have a specific, articulable reason not to. 'I don't like Apple' is a reason. It is just not a technical one.
Verdict standsUPD Aug 25, 2026
Recently changed
Nothing in this category is currently being re-tested. Every verdict here stands as published.
In the works
- Best phone
- Best smartwatch
- Best soundbar
- Best home printer
Committed, not published. We list these so you can see what is missing rather than assume it doesn’t exist.
Tucker's Rules
More megapixels do not automatically mean a better camera.
You probably do not need the Pro model.
Never buy a television based on how it looks under retail fluorescent lighting.
If the review says 'future-proof', the reviewer is guessing.
The other half of the job
What not to buy in Technology
Stuff You Don't Need
Extended warranties on televisions
SkipThe extended warranty is a product sold to the anxious
Panel failures in modern televisions cluster in the first ninety days, which the manufacturer already covers, or after year seven, which the extended plan does not. The middle years — the ones you are being sold insurance for — are the years almost nothing happens. The margin on these plans is the reason the salesperson's demeanour changes when you decline.
We Changed Our Mind
Bose QuietComfort Ultra
We optimised for a measurement instead of for wearing them
We recommended the Bose outright on the strength of its cancellation figures. Two weeks of side-by-side listening changed our view: the Sony is more pleasant for the four-hour stretches that are the actual use case, and cancellation depth past a certain point stops being the thing you notice. The Bose remains the pick if silence is the only goal. We should have said that the first time.
Don't Buy This Yet
8K televisions
Not yetThere is nothing to watch, and there won't be for a while
There is effectively no 8K content available to a normal household, upscaling from 4K produces a difference you cannot see at domestic viewing distances, and the panels cost multiples of a very good 4K set. This will change. It has not changed yet, and buying early does not reserve you a place in the queue.