London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Travel tech: the best gadgets to pack on your holiday this summer

Travel tech: the best gadgets to pack on your holiday this summer

Technology can help make your trip more fun. Here’s a guide to the most useful gear

Summer is rapidly approaching and with it the possibility of getting away, whether within the UK or to one of the countries on the green list.

It’s 2021 and holidays no longer mean leaving all your worldly possessions behind but your phone, tablet, e-reader, headphones and even your smartwatch all need to be kept ticking. To keep them charged, organised and ready to go, here’s a quick guide to the best tech gear.

Noise-cancelling headphones
Bose QC35 II
Robust, long-lasting and with great sound, the Bose QC35 II are the tried-and-trusted noise-cancelling headphones for travelling.


RRP: £250 – deals from £195


Travelling is stressful enough without having to listen to the drone of engines or fellow passengers. The tried and tested Bose QC35 II noise-cancelling headphones can at least give you a bit of peace and quiet. They have reliable Bluetooth or cable, last at least 20 hours on a charge, are super comfortable, fold up for travel and are built to last.

Anker Soundcore Life Q30
The Life Q30 offer long battery and noise-cancelling on a budget.


RRP: £80 – deals from £60


For a budget version, Anker’s Soundcore Q30 offer Bluetooth, good noise reduction, reasonable sound quality and a battery life that takes some beating, and costs as little as £60 in black, blue or pink.

Portable speakers
Sonos Roam

The Sonos Roam is so good you’ll want to use it at home as well as on the road.

RRP: £159


For group-listening a Bluetooth speaker is the answer. There are hundreds of cheap, crappy ones available but if you want something that looks and sounds good and works so well that you’ll want to use it at home, too, the Sonos Roam is fantastic. It has wifi for the home, Bluetooth for the road, water resistance and a durable construction, plus 10-hour battery life, and is only about the size of a 500ml bottle.

UE Wonderboom 2

The small but mighty UE Wonderboom 2 offers big sound for a bit less.

RRP: £90 – deals from £70


If you want something a little cheaper but just as durable with big sound, the UE Wonderboom 2 can be had for about £70. The compact Bluetooth speaker is drop-proof, has 13 hours of battery life and water resistance.

Chargers and adapters
Hyleton Worldwide Travel Adapter
This all-in-one travel adapter will charge your gadgets and handle the hairdryer.


RRP: £21


Power adapters are a modern travel essential. If you want something you can plug your hairdryer into that’ll charge your phone, too, the well-reviewed Hyleton Worldwide Travel Adapter does the double. It will take a UK plug with slide-out adapters for US, EU, UK and Australian sockets, and has five USB ports for your gadgets.

RAVPower 65W PD Charger 4-Port Desktop
With enough power to charge a laptop, this compact adapter can handle all your gadget-charging needs.


RRP: $54 (£38.50) – UK deals from £46 [Only RRP I could find was in USD]


For more powerful gadgets, a multicharger supporting 110-240V with a detachable figure-8 lead is the way to go – just swap the lead with the right plug on the end for as little as £4. The compact, high-powered RAVPower 65W PD four-port charger is my pick, with USB-A and USB-C ports capable of charging most modern gadgets from smartphones to laptops.

Backup batteries
Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 PD
The PowerCore Slim 10000 has enough power to fast-charge your phone twice or a tablet once.


RRP: £30


If a plug isn’t in reach, portable battery chargers are the next best thing. The Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 PD is compact, weighs about the same as a large phone and has enough power to fast charge most smartphones twice and even tablets about once, with its USB-A and USB-C ports.

Anker PowerCore 5000

RRP: £20 – deals from £16


Only the size of a fat lipstick, the PowerCore 5000 has enough juice to charge a phone and is compact enough to fit in a handbag or pocket.

TV
Google Chromecast

The Chromecast is the simple phone-to-TV streaming gadget you can take on the road.

RRP: £30 – deals from £25


Chances are you might have to deal with the great British weather on holiday this year. If you’re stuck indoors, a £25 Chromecast can put your Netflix, iPlayer and others on practically any TV. Just plug it into the back, connect to the wifi and command it from your phone. Note Chromecasts can struggle with hotel wifi that has login pages.

USB-C to HDMI cable

From £10

If a Chromecast is a no-go and you have a modern Android phone or tablet, or a PC laptop or tablet, a USB-C to HDMI cable can hook it up to a TV like an external monitor. All PCs and Macs with USB-C ports will work, while many higher-end Android tablets and smartphones will, too, but not Apple’s iPhone and most iPads.

Also useful
Windscreen mount
Stick your phone to the windshield for use as a satnav and take some of the stress out of holiday drives.


From £6

If your travel plans involve a hire car, packing a suction-cup windscreen mount can take the hassle out of navigating by turning your smartphone into a satnav. Costing from about £6, mounts range in strength and size, with Ugreen’s well-reviewed model fitting most smartphones for £13. Note most employ sticky pads with suction to stay in place, so need cleaning if they get dusty.

Alternatively, if your hire car is modern it should have Android Auto or Apple Carplay. Just plug in your phone with a USB cable to put Google or Apple Maps on the built-in display.

Cable tidy
Keep the clutter of cables neat and tidy on the road with these zip-up bags.


From £10

Modern life is inescapably plagued with cables for phones, tablets, game consoles or even just headphones. A cable organiser can make wrangling them on holiday a bit easier. They come in a variety of sizes, from rollup tool bags to hard-case boxes, with elastic loops to keep individual cables out the way. My pick are the zippered wallets that are small enough to shove in your hand luggage, such as the £13 Bagsmart.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
×