These Tech Accessories Make Traveling So Much Easier
From sunglasses with earbuds in them, to all-star portable chargers, these products were designed to be on the move.
By Sal Vaglica January 13, 2022
1. The aware eyewear.
From bustling city streets to airport terminals, there are plenty of instances where you shouldn’t drown out your surroundings, even as you listen to music or take a call. Unlike earbuds that can muffle environmental noise, the Bluetooth Frames by Soundcore ($200; amazon.com) tuck four speakers and two microphones into sunglass temples. The batteries in the temples run about five hours per charge and, because they’re removable, you can swap scratch- and shatter-resistant frames for a new look ($50 each).
2. Big screen, tiny package.
Slightly larger than an iPad mini, the Solar Portable by Nebula ($600; amazon.com) beams three hours of content — from Paramount to presentations — in 1080p using a built-in battery and speakers. Sync it to a network, then binge-watch Netflix, play saved movies off its 8GB storage, or cast to it from a smartphone. An HDMI input lets you pipe in presentations from laptops or run a plug-in streamer like Roku — all without a tripod (because its fold-down foot helps adjust the placement).
3. One charger to rule them all.
The last thing you need is another adapter. But the USB-C Nano II 65W by Anker ($60; us.anker.com) will recharge everything faster than the power bricks that came with your devices. Anker’s engineers swapped in more efficient gallium nitride for standard-issue silicone parts. But all you’ll care about is the Nano’s small size — about a quarter of Apple’s 61-watt cube — and the speed. It recharges a MacBook in about two hours and an iPhone up to three times faster than normal.
4. The clever case.
A phone case with legs is nothing new, but the Mobile Tripod by Peak Design ($80; peakdesign.com) might be the most useful one around. About the thickness of three quarters, the aluminum mount magnetically docks to the brand’s case ($40; or $30 for an adapter for a third-party case) with a ball head design for nearly full articulation. Splay the legs to dial in the perfect angle for photos or video, gather them to hold the phone with a mini selfie stick, or set the tripod on your desk for the perfect viewing angle.
5. Power in the pocket.
There is a direct correlation between a phone charger’s usefulness and how easy it is to carry. The ChargeCard by AquaVault ($60; theaquavault.com) has the same footprint as an Amex, so it slips into a wallet sleeve, but its internal battery has enough guts to nearly fully charge a smartphone in a pinch. About the weight of two AA batteries, the card’s swappable cables let you juice up iOS and Android phones with a compact design that’s easy to hold against the device.
