The Best Travel Gadgets for 2017

In this month’s travel tech column, Dave Dean, our resident travel tech guru, all around cool dude, and found of the tech website Too Many Adapters, rounds up the best travel gadgets for 2017.

I’ve been writing about technology for travelers since 2011, and have tested more useless gadgets than I care to remember. Occasionally, though, something stands out: a phone that’s particularly durable, a laptop that’s surprisingly good value, a little accessory that genuinely improves your trip.

Here, then, are my 2017 recommendations for quality tech gear that makes your trip simpler and easier, without destroying your bank balance or luggage allowance.

Smartphones

A smartphone is easily the single most useful piece of technology a traveler can buy. In fact, since it replaces everything from a flashlight to a camera, a guidebook to a music player and much more, many people can (and do) get away without packing any other gadgets.

You can spend under $250 for a good budget model, or close to $1000 for a top-of-the-range version. There are benefits to spending more, of course, but not everyone needs the extra features that come with the higher price tags. These are my top picks across the range:

Tablets and e-readers

Don’t want to do every tech task on your phone? While I’ve stopped recommending any of the smaller tablet computers — when your phone has a 5.5” display, there’s little point also carrying a 7” tablet — the larger models are a different story.

Laptops

With phones and tablets having more power and storage each year, there’s less need for most travelers to carry something else. If you’re planning to do more than light work from the road, though, there’s still no replacement for a good laptop.

• Windows: Asus Zenbook UX330UA. The best value for money by far is the Asus Zenbook UX330UA. The company has been making very good, lightweight, $700 laptops for a few years, and the latest model continues the tradition. It gets all the basics right — 8Gb of RAM, a 256Gb solid-state drive, excellent battery life — while having more than enough power, and weighing well under three pounds. It doesn’t make silly compromises like cutting out USB ports or SD card readers, and you can even hook it up to a TV in your Airbnb apartment to watch your favorite shows.
• Mac: MacBook Pro. The Air, which used to be the perfect travel laptop, hasn’t been updated in so long, it makes no sense to buy it. The 12” MacBook is also due for an update, and with a relatively slow processor and just a single USB-C port that’s also used for charging, you’re quite restricted in what you can do with it. If I were considering one of these, I’d likely choose to save a bunch of money, and just buy an iPad Pro and Bluetooth keyboard instead. That said the older version MacBook Pro has dropped in price and only weighs 3.5 pounds and comes with old fashioned USB and SD card slots. The new model, while sleek and light, is pretty expensive and doesn’t come with these features. I prefer non-Apple products but if you were looking for a powerful Apple computer, the older Macbook Pro is the best choice.

Accessories

There’s no need to fill your backpack with gadgets, but a few well-chosen accessories go a long way. Better Wi-Fi, easier charging, simple photo backup, and drowning out noisy kids (and noisier adults), improves any trip. Here are eight accessory recommendations to do exactly that:

***Whatever you decide to take, consider carefully how much you’ll really use it — less is more when it comes to travel, and tech gear is no exception. The less stuff you have to get damaged or stolen, the less time you’ll spend looking after it and worrying about it.

Once you’ve made your decision, protect anything fragile with a case (they’re a lot cheaper than buying replacements), and make sure anything you really care about is covered by your travel insurance. Test everything thoroughly before you leave home, so you know exactly how it works and can deal with any problems while you’ve still got time and a shipping address.

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