Some months go by with the talented reviewers at Android Police turning consumers on to various lesser-known brands that offer some niche, interesting products. Not November, though. A solid contingent of big-name products that a wide range of users would love graced the review desk last month. That includes a new midrange pair of excellent earbuds from Bose to round out its QuietComfort family, a fine Chrome OS clamshell, and one of the best standalone streaming devices ever from longtime entertainment mainstay Roku.
We also got to evaluate some top-notch products from once-upstart companies that have since solidified their positions at the top of their fields. DJI, the world-renowned drone manufacturer, now gives GoPro’s premium action cameras a run for their money with the Osmo Action 5 Pro. Enthusiast-centric brand RedMagic’s Nova tablet, a unique gaming slate like none before, makes the cut as well. Here are the eight most interesting devices we got our hands on in November, just in time for holiday gift-giving.
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1 Bose QuietComfort earbuds
Reasonably priced, premium, in-ear audio
Bose regularly competes for the title of best active noise-canceling, but its headphones can be pretty expensive. Thankfully, it has now released a moderately priced pair of earbuds that perform on the same level as its high-end models, and make only a few sacrifices to fit into a more palatable price range.
The Bose QuietComfort earbuds (the long-awaited, non-ultra model) sound fantastic, sport all the user-friendly convenience the brand is known for, and sport a friendlier price tag than their more expensive siblings — and most listeners won’t even notice the difference.
Read our review
Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds sound better than anything else under $200
Bose sound without the Bose budget
They produce every part of the audio spectrum with exceptional clarity and zero noticeable latency, and deliver the hassle-free experience consumers have come to love from the premium audio leader. No in-ear speakers employ active noise-canceling as effectively, and that’s on top of their inherently great passive isolation.
While this kind of performance does come with trade-offs like a relatively bulky design, these nearly top-of-the-line earbuds still balance perfectly in the ear, and their battery life can’t be beat, either.
2 Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus
Samsung’s first foray into the newest premium Chrome OS field
The latest Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus exemplifies how Chrome OS laptops continue to blur the line between ultra-portable, cloud-based devices and full-on Windows. Android Police editor Matt Sholtz was hooked on this svelte, well-made device from the start —two qualities that don’t apply to most Chromebooks — and his extensive testing revealed it lives up to the billing.
Read our review
Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook Plus is the best I’ve used in years
A thin and performant stunner
The low-overhead operating system allowed engineers to focus on what’s important in a portable PC: portability, battery life, and all-around effective performance. It definitely slots into the high-end Chromebook category, but while that doesn’t perfectly align with the field’s ethos, Samsung’s is the most worthy high-dollar Chrome OS laptop yet.
Unless you’re constantly performing resource-intensive photo- and video editing tasks, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus can easily replace your Windows clamshell, and in some cases even your desktop, with minimal effort.
3 Polar Vantage M3 smartwatch
Giving Wear OS a run for its money
Few fields have exploded over the last year or two like smartwatches, and the Polar Vantage M3 is evidence of that. It tackles the most effective wearable use case (that is, exercise) like no other, combining raw functionality with impeccable battery life, extensive map compatibility, and a premium display — at a considerably more agreeable price than competitors from more familiar brands.
Read our review
The Polar Vantage M3 is a premium fitness watch that nails the landing
Built for athletes of all types
The Vantage M3 is compact, lightweight, durable, and premium to the touch. A stainless steel body might lead you to wonder if it’s really a novel smartwatch, or just an exceptionally well-made timekeeping device, but make no mistake: this is one of the best fitness trackers you can buy, and a fantastic rebuttal to more popular platforms — as great as Wear OS smartwatches are.
4 RedMagic Nova gaming tablet
Something that’s never really been done before
As expert Android Police reviewer Nathan Drescher points out, mobile gamers simply don’t have much to choose from these days. Impressively, the RedMagic Nova offers a more-than-capable alternative to gaming-only portable handhelds (as great as some of them are), and premium Android tablets that coincidentally do well with some games.
Read our review
The Redmagic Nova gaming tablet can almost replace your console and PC
Let’s talk about that internal fan
Its combination of resolution, performance, battery capacity, and charging speed simply can’t be approached by anything else. With the Android emulation scene as weird and flourishing as ever, a Linux-adjacent-based slate like this touts more potential than ever before.
If mobile gaming is your thing, and you don’t want to cart around a supposedly portable, pseduo-PC that costs twice as much, the RedMagic Nova is worth a look. It could be the new, best thing in mobile gaming.
5 Amazfit T-Rex 3 smartwatch
Supposedly a fitness tracker, but notably more comprehensive
Amazfit has always positioned its watches a half-step below the contemporaneous premium smartwatch options, but never skimped on integrations or user experience. That’s more true than ever with its T-Rex 3, a sub-$300 smartwatch that provides exactly what users want, with none of the fluff.
Physically, its 2,000-nit display and dive certification are nothing short of impressive, and the map compatibility, long battery life, and offline navigation help it compete with models twice its price, or more.
Read our review
Amazfit’s T-Rex 3 rugged watch is an apex predator that won’t eat your entire wallet
There are some compromises but no deal-breakers
It’s not perfect, notably lacking Spotify and YouTube Music support, while also periodically interfering in long-distance exercises and sleep routines — all issues that could, theoretically, get worked out post-release. Regardless, we were thoroughly impressed by its real-world performance, and as long as you’re aware of its minor drawbacks, you’ll have a hard time finding anything remotely as competitive at this price.
6 Roku Ultra (2024) streaming stick
The reason you might actually want a standalone streamer
Source: Roku
The fact is, most operating systems built into TVs stink, and people who rely on cloud streaming don’t always have access to familiar interfaces. The latest Roku Ultra offers the perfect solution. It’s faster, easier to use, more consistent, and packed with more features than any competitor.
Wi-Fi 6 connectivity ensures peak performance on today’s most advanced networks, wide-ranging HDR support means you’ll get the best from every video, and the included voice remote is as convenient as it gets.
Read our review
The updated Roku Ultra is still the best jack-of-all-trades streaming device
Speed bump and new voice remote? Yes, please.
You might not think you need a dedicated streaming device, but what’s more deflating than struggling with your TV’s integrated software while friends and family look on, eagerly awaiting the big game or blockbuster show? The 2024 Roku Ultra keeps that from happening, with an easily navigated interface that lays all the most important entertainment at your fingertips.
7 DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro
GoPro’s complacency opens the door to true competitors
While GoPro defined the category, various upstart companies have nipped at its supremacy ever since. Recently, high-end action cameras like the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro have not only met, but exceeded the standards GoPro taught us all to accept. DJI’s latest action camera goes far beyond the drones it made its name on, and the Osmo 5 Pro does raw video quality and video stabilization as well as anything we’ve used.
Read our review
The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro made me ditch my GoPro and never look back
Ready for primetime action, literally
You will need to take a couple steps to get the best from it, mainly adjusting the color correction and audio on your own, but neither’s a difficult proposition. It’s waterproof to 20 meters (and 60 meters with the optional underwater case), and produces a better resolution than most amateur filmmakers could ever make use of.
If you’ve always assumed one flagship company makes the best action cameras on the market, now’s the time to consider switching brands.
8 Rolling Square Tau 2 emergency power bank
Like no gadget that’s ever saved your life before
Here, seen charging my Unihertz Jelly Star daily driver
We review a lot of great power banks, but nothing like the Rolling Square Tau 2. You won’t find yourself using it on a regular basis, and that’s not what it’s meant for. It’s designed to withstand heavy use and deliver somewhere around 10-20% charge to your smartphone when disaster strikes, and your battery is dead.
It’s hardly any bigger than the average keychain, but that doesn’t mean it’s without interesting features. You can charge it on its own, charge it while charging another device, use it to charge two devices at once, or just leave it on the included magnetic hanger with your keys attached so you always know where they are.
Read our review
The Tau 2 keychain power bank can avert disaster in battery emergencies
Surprisingly full-featured for the form factor
Your best bet with the Tau 2 is to always have it and never need it. I’ve needed it, not had it, and relied on travelers shouting directions from car windows. I’ve also needed it, had it, and squeezed out enough additional minutes of 4G connectivity from my phone to figure out where I’m going. In the event of a true dead-battery emergency, the Tau 2 could literally save your life.
What’s on the table for December
Holiday months are extremely slow for new releases, but that’s no reason to take your eyes off Android Police’s incessant feed of news and deals. We won’t be attending any tech conferences or unveiling any industry-secret smartphones this month, but we’re already outlining the best holiday deals available.
Naturally, the best way to save money during the holidays is to simply not buy anything, but that’s no fun. Instead of looking for the cheapest off-brand Amazon sales you can find, consider some of our top headphone deals, Android tablet deals, or smart home device deals — we love these gadgets as much as you all do, so you can trust we won’t lead you astray.
Case in point: my dog Ralfi is getting an action camera for Christmas, as recommended by Android Police, so we can see exactly what he sees when he runs off to hunt in the woods for an hour at a time.
