Another year has just whizzed past us. And it’s time to do an annual account of the major tech purchases this year, and how they fared. We actually picked up a fair number of gadgets in 2022, but just a few of them were for personal use; a number were for the family – specifically, a Microsoft Surface Pro 7 for the daughter’s school work, a HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14-dy1008TU to replace the wife’s Acer laptop whose screen stopped work, and finally a Thermomix TM6 for the wife’s birthday present.
Yoga Slim 7 Pro – win: I love this laptop! This has been easily my best tech purchase of 2022, and among the best ever. It was primarily intended to replace the Dell XPS 13 9380 that I’d been using as my personal work machine. The Yoga has a beautiful OLED display, is built solidly and ozzes quality, and is an all round quick device. The only minor annoyances of this device: that it came out of factory with a 512GB SSD storage, has a fairly shallow spacebar key that I still can’t fully adjust to, and the total absence of a USB-A port. The SSD storage isn’t baked into the laptop, so it’s possible for one to disassemble the backplate of the laptop and replace it with a higher capacity one – like what I did with the Dell XPS 13. I haven’t quite got round to it yet though, on account that the laptop is just a mite too big and heavy for me to carry on trips. The Dell XPS 13 is just that bit lighter and compact for that purpose, so it accompanied us on the recent Japan trip. The Dell XPS 13 is a little sluggish now though since I installed Windows 11 on it, so for this coming 2023’s overseas trips, I might just decide to bring the Yoga Slim 7 Pro out.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 – win: I didn’t write about this phone on this blog. But it was picked up largely because I was at a point where there was little exciting for me in smartphones. The pre-order for the Fold 4 was pretty generous with Samsung offering large discounts for warranty packages, and also another fairly substantial voucher that I used to pick up the Samsung Buds2 Pro (marvellous audio from this pair). The device itself doesn’t disappoint: it’s sturdily built, and that complex over-engineered hinge doesn’t look like it’s going to give over the expected lifetime use of this foldable. Both the external and internal screens are gorgeous, and I’ve really enjoyed using this foldable.
There are some bits about the Z Fold 4 that aren’t as stellar though: the external screen still needs to be a little wider – in this regard, 2022’s foldables from the Chinese phone manufacturers are better than Samsung’s Fold 4 – and I wished the battery life of it isn’t as middling as it is now. But that seems to be an endemic problem with foldables altogether, but the tech will certainly improve with future generations of these devices. The Z Fold 4 didn’t come along during the Japan trip though: as useful as the large unfolded screen would had been in helping us read maps, find directions and train timings, the risk of damage from accidental drops in cold winter was just too much for my stomach! I brought the S21Ultra instead, and am glad I did: the older Samsung flagship from 2021 worked like a champ, was super convenient, and survived the numerous days of inclement weather we experienced during the trip.
DJI Osmo Action 3 – regret: My one wrong purchase of 2022. It was picked up a month before the Japan trip to take underwater footage of koi at Gujo Hachiman… which we ended up not visiting. I might sell this away soon.
Triple-Fold BOW Bluetooth keyboard – win: a fairly inexpensive gadget I picked up primarily for the iPad Mini 6. I previously had the Logitech Keys-To-Go Bluetooth keyboard, but was pretty unimpressed with it. The keyboard was light in weight and very slim, but keys on the Logitech keyboard were too mushy for my taste. This Triple-Fold from an unknown Chinese manufacturer is heavier but also more compact when it’s in its folded state. More importantly, it’s mechanical key action makes for a far more pleasant experience. This keyboard was in my sling and backpacks throughout the Japan trip, and wherever were at a cafe zoning out, it’d come out for me to write blog entries!
That’s a wrap for 2022. It’s been a fairly low-key year for toys: but in 2023, I’d be at least seriously looking into a replacement for the Canon G7X II, and if the Samsung S23 Ultra has significant improvements, I might also look into getting that too.