Your guide to buying home tech with confidence.
Buying new home tech is exciting but can be overwhelming if you’re not sure what to look for. The alternatives are endless, with powerful marketing campaigns each vying for your attention. It’s easy to be tempted by the most cost-effective option or the latest high-tech bandwagon. This guide aims to cut through the noise, empowering you to make well informed choices to meet your everyday needs, now and in future while tech develops at pace.
Get clear on what you need
Before you start reviewing the myriad of available options, it’s important to first assess your tech requirements. Who will be using the device? How often? Where will it be used in the house? And what specific demands does it need to meet? For example: will your existing TV support the high resolution of the new games console you are thinking of buying? Having clear search criteria is vital.
The other half of the picture is spotting the marketing tactics aimed aggressively at your wallet. My advice is to approach over-hyped claims with a healthy scepticism and stay focused on the actual benefits and features useful to you.
Decoding television specifications
Choosing a new television can be challenging in a number of ways. Manufacturers lure you with promises of extraordinary colour reproduction and unparalleled luminosity, yet TVs can fail to perform at home in the same way they did in-store. The technologies between models vary widely, ranging from LED to OLED and high-end processor-driven devices, with corresponding differences in performance. It is worth taking the time to understand these distinctions to make sure they align with the way you like to watch TV. You’ll also need to take the proportions of the room, and ambient light and sound conditions into account when thinking about the TV’s overall size and position in the room.
Choosing personal gadgets
We use personal gadgets like laptops and mobile phones every day, so practical considerations take centre stage: portability, screen dimensions, weight, and technical specs such as storage space, memory, and processing power are key. The choice between operating systems — Apple iOS or Microsoft Windows — often comes down to personal preference as well as compatibility with the existing tech you already have in your household.
Sound decisions
Headphones offer a huge range of possibilities, from in-ear buds to over the ear options. While some buyers might prioritise a discrete in-ear fit for on the move listening, others may prefer the enveloping, background-sound-cancelling experience of over-ear headphones. I’d recommend trying headphones on in a retail store before buying online. This gives you the opportunity to experience the fit and comfort as well as the quality of the sound. If you later decide the headphones you bought online aren’t right, you may not be able to get a refund because of hygiene policies - making a store visit worth the time investment.
There are a range of outstanding speakers now on the market, from established entities like Sonos to impressive competitors such as Bluesound which has high performance credentials. While Sonos is a leader in wireless speaker systems, don't be too quick to discount other manufacturers whose enriched sound may be more to your liking.
Assess the key features closely and prioritise them — be it easy operation, system compatibility, or acoustic performance. This is another area where I’d recommend visiting a store or speaking with an expert. They’ll be able to ask you questions about your home and set-up to guide you to sound systems best suited to the experience you’re looking for.
Is your broadband bandwidth compatible with the product?
As technology progressively advances, it’s clear that streaming, as a way to receive content, is here to stay for the foreseeable future. As time moves on, content providers stream increasingly rich, high-resolution audiovisual content. This brings an added focus on the quality of your home’s internet service and broadband bandwidth. With widespread adoption of high-speed fibre connectivity in the UK still a work in progress, it's critical your home network is primed to cope with the demands of the future, as well as the interim while the rollout of the UK’s fibre network catches up.
Understanding your present home network, both strengths and weaknesses is a key part of making informed decisions when choosing home tech devices.
Not having the time to fully research and understand the complexities behind the home technology landscape is completely understandable. Reach out to experts like Mike Hughes at Consider it Done to help you.
If you have a home tech project and you’re pressed for time, or you’re at the start of a home renovation and not sure what to do about cabling for the internet, or would just like to bounce a few tech questions with Mike around a purchase you are planning, he is offering a complimentary 15 consultation call during May. Book at a time to suit you.
About Mike:
With over 30 years of experience in AV, network, WiFi, and general tech, Mike enjoys simplifying complex technology for non-technical clients. He specialises in alleviating the stress associated with tech decisions by presenting solutions in easy-to-understand language. A speciality is resolving issues with Wi-Fi coverage and slow internet speeds. Mike’s expertise and experience helps clients achieve stress free tech solutions for their homes.