1 week ago
3
The new year is around the corner, but before we start thinking about all the technology that will emerge in 2025, let's take a look back and remember this year's greatest hits.
I spend 40 hours a week testing products, writing reviews, and curating best lists (like the one you're about to read). To compile a list of the best products released in 2024, I considered a few things. The first is my pure enjoyment of the product; that is, how badly did I want to continue using it -- even after testing ended?
Also: Everything you need to host a holiday party
The second is how transformative or innovative the product is in its respective space -- like sleep tech, health tech, or audio tech. The third is how value-packed the product is for its price. Sure, a few of these products might be expensive, but I'm including them because this product is the crème de la crème for its price point.
This was a big year for wearable health tech, from sleep earbuds that actually put me to sleep to smart rings that track my activity. But other products, like a great pair of earbuds for working out and a stellar portable speaker, also made the list.
Oura Ring 4
When the Oura Ring 4 came out this fall, the only smart ring it needed to beat was its predecessor, the Oura Ring 3. It did so with a flatter and more comfortable form factor, an additional day of battery life, and software upgrades that continued to demonstrate the Finnish smart ring brand is steps ahead of every competitor.
The smart ring is around your finger all day as you exercise, work, and sleep, and provides a complete picture of your data on a daily, weekly, and longitudinal basis. You get scores for sleep, readiness, and activity, but also information about your cardio capacity, cardiovascular age, daytime stress, and historical resilience (how well your body bounces back from stress and activity).
Also: Oura Ring 3 vs. Oura Ring 4
I've covered Oura all year long, and have yet to find a smart ring competitor that delivers such an accurate reading on overall health and churns out new features around the clock.
Wearable health tech made major strides in 2024. Oura rolled out a Symptom Radar feature this month that notifies ring wearers ahead of illness. Because the smart ring monitors your vitals, it can detect data fluctuations in body temperature, heart rate, heart rate variability, and breathing rate, often before the ring-wearer begins experiencing symptoms of illness. This personalized approach to healthcare puts the ring-wearer and all of that data front and center, to provide health insights that cater specifically to them.
Even before the feature rolled out, Oura's smart ring had a tendency to wave the red flag ahead of strain or illness. It warned Oura's VP of science that something was off and to take it easy, as his heart rate was 10 beats per minute higher than his baseline; that warning came two days before he went in for emergency dental surgery. I've read stories on Reddit of Oura providing users with the data they take to the doctor to receive diagnoses for autoimmune diseases.
Also: The Oura Ring 4 is one of the best smart rings I've tested
This use case -- employing wearable tech to get a medical professional's diagnosis -- seems to be the future of healthcare and health technology. Just this year, the FDA approved Apple's AirPods Pro 2 to be used as hearing aids that can not only help listeners hear their surroundings more clearly but also provide users with a hearing test, with results they can take to the doctor for a hearing loss diagnosis. Apple also developed a new sleep apnea detection feature on the Apple Watch Series 10 that monitors a user's breathing disturbances throughout the night and brings that data to a doctor for a diagnosis.
Ozlo Sleepbuds
I've tested a few sleep earbuds for my job, but none have impressed me as much as the Ozlo Sleepbuds. Made by ex-Bose engineers, the Sleepbuds take some notes from the discontinued Bose Sleepbuds and implement them in a comfortable form factor that I had no problem wearing night after night. Perhaps the greatest hallmark of a product I have to test for my job is whether I'll continue using it after the testing period is over. That was the case, indeed, with these earbuds that have helped me fall asleep during the noisiest nights.
Also: These are the best sleep earbuds you can buy
My bedroom overlooks a busy street in Brooklyn. Throughout the summer, my neighbors would throw loud parties outside, or I'd be woken up by the sound of ambulances, police sirens, or firetrucks. One noisy weekend, I decided to test out the Sleepbuds, The earbuds' audio strength impressed me – and put me to sleep immediately. In my review, I wrote that it was "somehow loud enough to completely mask external sounds outside my bedroom window while also being quiet and neutral enough to send me to sleep."
The Sleepbuds prioritize comfort. The wingtip stabilizes the bud in your ear throughout the night, and the earbud itself is flat—great for side sleepers like me.
At $300, they aren't a cheap buy. But if you need to fall asleep and mask the noises around you, the Ozlo Sleepbuds get the job done.
Nothing Ear (a)
Sure, AirPods are nice. But I'd rather use the Nothing Ear (a) earbuds a cooler alternative to Apple's buds -- for a few reasons. The first reason is the earbuds' clear and powerful sound. The audio comes out balanced and wonderful, and the noise cancellation is strong without completely taking you out of your environment or building up pressure in your ear.
I can't hear myself type or people talk around me when I've got these earbuds playing music in my ears. The second reason is that they are $100 – $150 less than the AirPods Pro 2 -- and they have the same pinch controls for controlling audio, one of my favorite features that make using the Ear (a) ideal for exercising and moving around.
Also: Ditch AirPods: These Nothing earbuds pack far more value
The battery life in the buds is 10 hours long when the ANC is turned off. I used these to run my first half marathon and was happy with my choice. They kept the music loud, stayed put in my ears with their tactile ear tips, and made phone-free listening and song-skipping a reality thanks to the responsive pinch controls. After trying the Nothing Ear (a) out, I can't think of one reason to buy a pair of AirPods.
Bose Ultra Open
One 2024 trend I welcomed with open arms (pun intended) is the rise in popularity of open earbuds. It all started with these Bose Ultra Open earbuds, released earlier this year, that clip onto your ears, almost like clip-on earrings. The earbuds hang on the rims of your ears and offer up a wide, immersive, and loud soundstage while also keeping you aware of your surroundings. I had not seen a design this smart and functional before, with a button on the anchor for pausing, playing, and skipping music.
Also: These are the best earbuds I've run in
Shortly after the debut of the Ultra Open, other brands released open earbuds of their own. Sony improved on its LinkBuds Open, though the Ultra Open beat them by a mile. Nothing Ear (Open) came in a close second – and are a fraction of the Ultra Open's price. Plus, JLab debuted a kind of dupe to the Ultra Open, which I tested out for myself.
Open earbuds' growth this year offers up an alternative to the noise-canceling-ification of headphone and audio technology. Some people are realizing that they don't want to be alienated from their environment with silence, and instead want to be out, about, and aware with open earbuds.
Ultrahuman Ring Air
Yes, Oura gets all the hype. But the top dog smart ring has a $6-a-month subscription, a notorious deterrent for many potential customers. If you don't want to pay that extra subscription to have access to your health data, I'd suggest the Ultrahuman Ring Air instead.
Also: I tested a subscription-free smart ring that rivals Oura
I was impressed with its many new feature rollouts. Plus, when I tested the smart ring, the data it gathered offered up similar scores to Oura's.
The Ultrahuman Ring Air takes a more hardcore, tech bro approach to health-tracking, compared to Oura. The Ring Air is the type of smart ring I imagine fitness enthusiasts, who are deadset on optimizing everything from their waking time and diet, to their exercise and sleep, to wear. But, as someone who isn't a fitness junkie, I still enjoyed the data it captured and illustrated.
English (US) ·