- Hey guys this is Austin.
and this is some of my favorite tech of the year,
and this video is sponsored by LG.
This is the massive 77 inch C9 OLED TV,
as well as the SL9Y soundbar
that we did an entire setup around earlier this year.
This is used as our video reference monitor
here at the office, and it's perfect for that.
Not only do we get excellent OLED quality,
but we also get the perfect blacks.
It supports HDR, and the nice thing is that
when we watch our videos back on this,
we can make sure they are just as sharp,
just as crispy as we want them to be,
before we upload them to you.
It also runs webOS, which means that
you've got lots of great streaming apps built right in.
It also supports AirPlay 2,
and on top of all of all of that,
it actually has surprisingly good speakers.
But that is where we use the SL10Y soundbar.
Now the full 570 watts of power as well
as support for Dolby Atmos,
that plus the subwoofer means that
this properly fills the room,
and you can fully control the entire setup
using the magic remote and Google Assistant.
Then there's the LG UltraGear 27GL850.
Now this has tech from the TV side
in that it's a nice looking IPS display,
so much would you get on the NanoCell TVs,
but it actually has proper gaming cred.
It has a one millisecond response time
which is incredibly good for IPS.
It has a full 144 hertz refresh rate.
It's supports not only G-Sync, but also FreeSync
and it's a full 1440p resolution.
So if you're interested, definitely be sure to check out
all these things in the description of this video.
We've actually done videos earlier in the year
on all of them if you wanna know more, but for now,
let's get into the tech.
First of all, we've gotta talk about the Switch.
So it has been a big year for Nintendo.
Not only have they released some major new games
and there's a ton of new stuff
that's coming out for the Switch pretty much every week,
but on top of that, there are two brand new Switch models.
The first is subtle.
It's the Red Box Switch.
Now while this might not be the Switch Pro
that's likely coming at some point in the future,
what this is, is a actually properly upgraded version
of the standard Switch.
And the only way to tell, is to buy one with the red box
or well, look for the zero one
at the end of the model number,
but the red box is a little easier to find.
The real upgrade with the Red Box Switch
is that this is powered by an upgraded version
of the Tegra X1 processor.
Now it doesn't mean that this Switch is any more powerful,
but what it does mean
is that you get significantly better battery life.
So we did an entire video all about this,
and in our testing, we got nearly double the battery life
from the Red Box Switch, compared to the launch model.
That is well, I mean, that's a big deal,
especially considering that obviously
not only is this a handheld console,
but the Red Box Switch doesn't cost any more,
and in fact there are still a lot of the old school
non Red Box Switches still in stores,
so for the exact same price,
you could very easily pick up the old Switch
or the new one with better battery life.
So, look for the red box.
Now I probably don't need to tell you all of the reasons
why the Switch is easily the best handheld console
of this generation,
partially because it's the only handheld of this generation,
but oh wait, there's one more.
It's the Switch Lite.
Mmm.
This is actually my real pick.
Now don't get me wrong,
there are certainly sacrifices with the Switch Lite,
but for the way that I use the Switch,
it's handheld mode 95% of the time.
And in that scenario, the Switch Lite is not perfect,
but it's really good.
At first you might be tempted
to just write the Switch Lite off.
Not only does it lose the Switch part of the name,
so this is a pure handheld, you can't plug it into a dock,
there's no HDMI out, and on top of that,
there are no Joy-Cons.
So even though you can pair Joy-Cons that are of course,
sold separately, but the actual controls on the Switch Lite
are all one unit.
But if you can look past those issues,
there's so much to like here.
First of all, it's a slightly smaller and lighter console,
which means that it feels, to me,
more comfortable for handheld play,
and while yeah you don't have the removable Joy-Cons,
that's actually an advantage as far as handheld play for me,
because it is actually built in.
It's one sold unit.
A thicc boi, some wouldn't say.
But it's a tank, so.
It's an absolute unit.
So no, you don't have to get the Switch Lite.
The Red Box Switch does have better battery life,
the ability to do all the Switch-y things,
but as far as I'm concerned,
the Switch Lite is absolutely become my console of choice
and because it's so tiny,
it just lives in my bag all the time.
Like I absolutely love this thing.
And at $200, not a lot to go complain about.
Speaking of gaming, something that's a little bit
under the radar this year
is the Xbox One Elite Series 2 Controller.
Now, I will admit, at $180 this is shall we say, expensive,
but in a recent comparison we did with this
and a bunch of other pro customizable controllers,
this actually was not even close
to being the most expensive one here,
and as far as the customizability goes,
as far as the extra features,
it's more expensive but you get a lot for your money here.
Of course, it's built on a great controller already,
the Xbox One, but they've added a ton of customization
and tweaks.
So all of the sticks can be replaced,
you have a few different options,
and even the sticks themselves can be adjusted
based on how much tension you want,
and then you can even further go into the software
and adjust the curves and stuff.
You have swappable D-Pads.
You have adjustable triggers as well as back paddles.
I mean, there's a lot going for this guy.
And on top of all of that,
they finally rectified one of the biggest issues
I've had with the Xbox controllers since, oh I don't know,
the DualShock 3 came out,
in that it has a rechargeable battery.
But to top it off, it has not only USB-C, but it even comes,
if I can find it here, with this dope carrying case,
which not only comes with all of your accessories,
you can actually take out the little brick
and just literally just wirelessly charge it.
So you can just attach it like
(calm music)
There you go.
Okay.
(clears throat)
Like this.
Eh, look at that.
Now it's time to switch gears, and switch gears hard,
as this is the latest iPad.
And while it might not look exciting, it actually is well,
it's probably my favorite iPad, no, scratch that.
This is my favorite Apple device that could buy right now.
Considering that this is routinely on sale for $300 or less,
it's hard to argue with the value proposition.
I mean, straight up,
I can't really recommend any other tablet.
I mean, maybe like a Fire HD 7 for a few bucks
for like a kids tablet or something,
but the nice thing about this iPad
is that you can actually get
(clears throat)
sorry
real work done on it.
Now this year,
the base iPad does have a sightly larger 10.2 inch display
as well as an extra gig of RAM compared to last year,
but the big advantages here really come down to the fact
that of course, it does support the Apple Pencil,
but also does support the Smart Keyboard.
Now, this is obscenely overpriced, I will definitely say,
but a keyboard on an iPad does go a long way
in making it much more of a laptop replacement.
And that combined with the various different advantages
of iPadOS this year mean that this little guy
for less than $500,
even if you wanna grab some of the accessories
can honestly do a lot of laptop-y kind of tasks
for most people.
And even if you don't wanna use it as a laptop replacement,
if you just want a laptop, or sorry,
if you just want an iPad to just watch video
and kinda do basic tasks on, this is totally fine.
Like, real talk.
This base iPad, two thumbs up from me.
I absolutely love it.
Speaking of things I love, it's the OnePlus 7T.
I feel like I've talked a lot about this phone this year,
but for good reason.
I absolutely love a phone which has so few compromises.
Especially considering the price.
First of all for me is absolutely the performance.
This is one of the fastest, most smooth, fluid experiences
on a phone that you can buy right now.
So it's backed up with solid specs.
So it's got the Snapdragon 855+, eight gigs of RAM,
but the real kicker here is the 90 hertz display,
and the optimization that OnePlus has done
to really make sure that everything absolutely flies
in this guy.
It really keeps me coming back,
as there are a lot of other phones that are out,
a lot of other phones I get to play with,
but the OnePlus 7T,
there's something about just the way
that they've designed this thing.
It absolutely flies.
I do prefer the 7T over the Pro,
mostly because I like this form factor.
It's a little bit narrower and it also has the flat glass,
which just personally I prefer.
But beyond that they are very similar devices.
Now that does mean that there are some downsides.
So while the cameras are fine,
and considering the price
it's not really something I can complain about,
but it is not quite in the same league
of something like the iPhone or the Pixel or the Galaxy,
and on top of that,
there are also a couple of sort of minor issues,
so it doesn't have any official water resistance,
so I don't know how much I would trust it,
but it does have some water sealing,
but the bigger thing is, there's no wireless charging.
Now that's something I actually really like.
It's just so convenient,
and while it does have solid battery life,
and an incredibly fast Warp charger,
it's something I would like to see in the next generation.
With all that being said,
these are some fairly minor compromises
for what is otherwise an absolutely excellent device.
Now if you're on the iOS side of the fence,
the iPhone 11 is incredibly easy to recommend.
So especially if you're upgrading from an earlier device,
there's a lot of advantages.
One of my favorite parts about the iPhone 11
is it's really kind of like the no compromises phone.
I mean, okay, so it doesn't have some features
from the iPhone 11 Pro.
You do lose one of the cameras.
The screen's not quite as nice, but beyond that,
you're saving $300 or more compared to the Pro
and the Pro Max.
And getting almost the exact same phone.
The performance is absolutely excellent on this guy.
You also get the water resistance and the wireless charging.
On top of all of that, the cameras are absolutely top notch.
Notch.
Sorry, sorry, I need to stop doing that.
Look, next year there won't be a notch,
and we'll all be fine.
But no, but seriously,
even though it doesn't have the telephoto camera,
the wide is excellent
and the ultra wide's still pretty solid.
But when you put this whole package together
with the great battery life, the really durable build,
at $700 while it's certainly not a cheap phone by any means,
if you're looking for a new iPhone,
it is very, very easy to go with the 11.
And with that, those are all of my picks
for the best and coolest tech that I really like in 2019.
There are a lot of other things
that would get honorable mentions
but, instead of doing that, I'll let you guys pick.
What did I miss in this video
and what do you really like that came out this year?
Let me know in the comments.
I'm sure you will,
regardless of whether I ask you to or not, but.
(quiet music)