The Best and Coolest New Gadgets of July 2022

2022-08-08 04:50:40 By : Ms. Eileen Bai

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July 2022 is in the books. We look back on all the coolest gadgets that dropped this month.

For more of the latest and greatest product releases, check out our full collection of the best new gear.

July really flew by. Looking back, it was a month that introduced some really cool new gadgets. We got a new Apple MacBook Air, Beyerdynamic's first pair of wireless earbuds and Sony's next-generation portable Bluetooth speakers.

But that's just the start. Below, we've rounded up all the cool new gadgets that were announced this month.

(For the best announcements of last month, June 2022, click here.)

Beyerdynamic, the German hi-fi company, has just announced its first-ever pair of wireless earbuds. The company's Free Byrd cost $249 and promise excellent sound quality. Uniquely, the work with a companion app that can give you a hearing test and then adjust the sound quality depending on your hearing profile. The Free Byrd support other premium features such as active noise-cancellation and transparency modes, as well as a case that supports wireless charging. They are available now in two finishes: black or gray.

Amazon announced its next-generation Fire tablets, the Fire 7 ($60) and Fire 7 Kids ($110), in mid-May, but they finally started shipping this week. The new tablets are great affordable options just like their predecessors, the Fire 6 and Fire 6 Kids, but the new models have double the RAM and around 40-percent longer battery life.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, PSB has announced the Passif 50. They are passive stand-mounted loudspeakers look similar and pay homage to the company's Passif II loudspeakers that were first released in 1974. However, PSB completely updated the guts of the Passif 50 — new tweeter, new woofer and passive radiator — so that they meet the acoustics standards of PSB's modern high-end speakers. You'll be able to preorder these vintage-inspired speakers this August.

Hydrow has announced lighter, smaller and more affordable version of its original Hydrow rowing workout machine. The all-new Wave is $1,000 cheaper, roughly 40 pounds lighter and comes with a smaller display (22" vs 43") — it's designed for people with tighter budgets or have tighter space constraints. Other than that, the Wave has basically all the same capabilities.

The Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 are the company's new flagship noise-canceling headphones (and the follow-up to its 2019-released PX7). Despite looking similar, the new models have been slimmed down to make them lighter and more comfortable. Their sound quality and active noise-cancelation have been vastly upgraded. And they are B&W's first pair of over-ear headphones that allow you to tweak their EQ settings (via a companion app). You can buy them in three different finishes: black, blue or light gray.

Sony announced three new portable Bluetooth speakers in its new X-Series. From biggest to smallest, there's the Sony XG300 ($350), Sony XE300 ($200) and Sony XE200 ($130). All are ruggedly designed (with an IP67 rating) so they're fit for outdoor adventures. They get their name because each speaker is decked out with Sony’s X-Balanced driver, as well as dual passive radiators, so they're supposedly deliver punchy sound with little distortion. Each speaker comes in a couple different colored finishes, too. Available now.

Admittedly, the M2 MacBook Air was announced several weeks ago at Apple's big WWDC event, but it only just hit shelves this week — and you can read our review, which dropped this week, here. The new Air has Apple's newest chipset, but it also has a new gorgeous look and a host of new features like MagSafe charging an edge-to-edge display. It's a stunner.

If you're a vlogger who uses one of Sony's super popular Alpha cameras, here's a shotgun microphone for you. It connects to the camera's mic jack and can supposedly capture high-quality forward-facing sound (such as conversations/interviews that are directly in front of the camera). And its small size ensures that it won't sneak out into your frame. It'll be available in August.

The Speedport 45 is Mophie's new 45-watt wall adapter with dual USB-C ports. It's essentially a more powerful and more capable version of the 35-watt dual wall adapter that Apple includes with its M2 MacBook Air. The kicker is that it's cheaper ($50 vs Apple's $59) and comes with 2-meter charging cable. You can buy it directly from Apple right now.

If you have one of Apple's newest laptops — specifically the brand-new M2 MacBook Air or the 2021-released 14"- or 16" MacBook Pro — then you can buy a MagSafe 3 charging cable in one of four colors: space gray, silver, midnight (blue) or starlight (cream). It's a big deal because, well, it's the first time in recent memory that Apple is making its own charging cables in colors other than white (or black).

The Nikon Z30 is a new mirrorless camera that designed for vloggers and YouTubers — it's smallest of any of the company's Z-series cameras. It's decked out with a 20.9-megapixel APS-C sensor and a touchscreen display that fully articulates around (so you can yourself as you film). And it can also shoot 4K video at 30fps. The kicker? You'll be able to buy it with a Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 lens for just $850.

Price: $710 (body only); $850+ (with lens kit)

Nura is an audio company based out of Australia and its upcoming wireless earbuds, the NuraTrue Pro, promise to be the first to support the aptX Lossless codec. This would allow them to stream lossless audio (CD-quality) over Bluetooth, which no wireless earbuds have been able to achieve yet. Additionally, the NuraTrue Pro are poised to support other premium features, such as noise-cancellation and spatial audio. You can back the NuraTrue Pro on Kickstarter now.

Sony has announced one of its first gaming monitors in years. The Inzone M9 is a 27-inch 4K HDR monitor that's optimized for PC and next-gen console gamers. It has a 600-nit brightness and a super smooth 144Hz refresh rate. It'll be available later this summer. As a more affordable option, Sony also announced the Inzone M3, a 27-inch HD monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate. It is expected to be released later this year.

Ultimate Ears announced its second pair of wireless earbuds, the UE Drops, and they are significantly higher-end than the company's 2020-released UE Fits. Like before, the UE Drops are custom molded to your ears to they provide a very secure fit. But the new wireless earbuds promise far superior sound quality thanks to their 9.2mm drivers (which are more on par with the company's line of IEMs). And they have more premium features, such as a transparency mode (but no active noise-cancellation) and a wireless charging case.

Alienware announced two next-generation gaming laptops, the Alienware m17 R5 and the Alienware x17 R2, and they are significant because they are the first that can be configured with 480Hz displays. The ridiculously high refresh rates promise to deliver extremely smooth graphics — whether you'll be able to see those differences from, say, 120Hz or 240Hz displays, is a very debatable matter — on their 1080p displays. Additionally, both 17" laptops can be configured with AMD’s highest-end CPUs (Ryzen 7 and 9) and GPUs (Radeon RX 6-series).

The TP-Link AX5400 is a new router that supports Wi-Fi 6E and can deliver speeds of upwards of 5,400 Mbps. It's packed with a good amount of high-end features, such as tri-band technology (more bandwidth for more devices) and the latest Wi-Fi security protocol (called WPA3). The kicker is that it costs well under $200, making it one of the more affordable routers that supports Wi-Fi 6E you'll find.

Twelve South announced a new-and-improved version of its height-adjustable iPad stand, the HoverBar Duo. The refreshed model has a new "QuickSwitch Tab" that allows you to quickly switch out bases so you can use either a desk clamp or a more desktop-style base. The idea is that you can more easily use your iPad as mounted desktop (with a wireless keyboard or mouse) or as a secondary display. Or you can use it to mount your iPad so that it's easier to record selfie-style videos. Additionally, the new model is now available in a matte white.

Eve has introduced an updated version of its HomeKit-supported motion sensor, the Eve Motion. The big thing with this second-generation model is that it's the first of its kind to support Thread, which is low-power mesh networking standard (similar to Zigbee or Z-Wave) that's designed to make smart home devices work better with each other. It's also compatible with Matter, an upcoming smart home standard that will unify gadgets that work with Apple's, Google's, Samsung's and Amazon's smart home ecosystems.

Anker has introduced its first power adapters that combine Gallium Nitride (GaN), a material that's significantly more energy-efficient and space-efficient than silicon, and PowerIQ (Gen 4.0) technology, which enables it to allocate different wattages to different devices based on how much charge they can accept and their current battery levels. Basically, they're smaller, smarter and more powerful than most other chargers out there.

Samsung announced that its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S22, will be available in a new "Bora Purple" finish. Other than the color, it's the same exact smartphone that Samsung announced in February 2022. It costs the exact same as well. You'll be able to order it on August 10.

The company best known for its rugged smartphone cases has released a 2-in-1 charging station for your iPhone and Apple Watch. It fully supports MagSafe, meaning it can charge an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 at its fastest possible speeds. And the stand is weighted (0.81 pounds) so it won't jump off your desk when you go to grab your device. It comes a 36-watt wall charger and the necessary USB-C to USB-C charging cable. You can buy it directly from Apple's website.

Logitech's new Aurora collection of PC gaming accessories are meant to be "gender-inclusive," designed for women in the gaming community. The collection includes the company's existing G735 wireless headset, the G715 (wireless) and G713 (wired) mechanical keyboards, and the G705 wireless mouse — but all come a soft white finish with RGB lighting with a distinctly pink hue. The downside is that each of these accessories is just a bit more expensive than their non-Aurora counterparts.

The Backbone One is one of the best handheld controllers for mobile gamers on iPhone. This week, the company announced it has teamed up with PlayStation to create a special version of its well-loved controller — and it looks just like the PS5’s DualSense controller. It's the ideal solution for those who play PlayStation games (via the PS Remote Play app) on their iPhone.