Best expensive gadgets: treat yourself to premium tech

published 15 March 2020

The usual way to research an expensive tech buy: decide how much you want to spend, hunt online for approximately 57 hours and then splash out a bit more than your probably should have anyway.

But what happens if you throw off the shackles of a tight budget and let your purse fly open, spilling the contents all over the internet?

We’ve have a dig around, donning the eyes of someone with loads of cash and an urge to spend it on tasty tech. Sense has not been dropped off at daycare, though. We’re out for the high-price gadgets we’d actually like no own. No gold-plated talking toilets allowed.

Keep it phone-y with the best cameras phones.

Best expensive gadgets

Are these the best headphones ever? The £54,000 Sennheiser HE 1 Oprheus “headphone system” (basically a pair of headphones with a fancy amplifier with mototrised knobs) might have a word to say about that. But these headphones are incredibly special.The Focal Utopia have 40mm beryllium drivers, open backs and are handmade in France.You won’t wear these wandering around town or on the train. They leak sound, aren’t wireless and won’t block outside noise either. But they sure do sound fantastic, renowned for their detail, finesse and poise.

There’s no end of ridiculously expensive hifi speakers. But few of us can fit the Bowers and Wilkins Nautilus (£35k, used) in our living rooms. How about a couple of the Linn Series 3 wireless speakers instead?A single unit costs £2950, add-ons £2500, and are quite possibly the best sounding standalone wireless speaker ever made.They have a 19mm silk tweeter and a 160mm long-throw driver for deep bass. And as well as wireless, you can plug the main Linn Series 3 into your TV directly via HDMI for a truly sophisticated living room setup. These speakers are extravagant, but also as practical as a can of tinned tomatoes.

The latest TAG Heuer Connected us a stunning smartwatch. It has been designed just like the analog TAGs, but this one has an OLED screen, accompanying app, heart-rate monitoring and is waterproof. It is powered by Wear OS and is a beautifully constructed watch for those who want tech on their wrists, with a big slice of style. Steel and rubber straps are available on there's a number of different watch faces to choose from. It will also sync up to help you with whatever sport you are into - with golf, running and swimming modes

Andrew Williams has written about tech for a decade. He has written for a stack of magazines and websites including Wired, TrustedReviews, TechRadar and Stuff.