The OnePlus 5, Nintendo 2DS XL and Amazon Echo Dot are this year’s best tech bargains

Keep up to date the latest gadgets without breaking the bank
Bargain gadgets: cut price doesn't have to mean low quality
OnePlus / Nintendo / Amazon
Ben Travis11 August 2017

All’s fair in love and new tech, and there is a sure-fire way to get the competitive edge on your rivals — undercut them by price.

The latest gadgets to enter the spotlight are fast, smart and significantly cheaper than previous mainstream models. Big companies like Nintendo, Nokia and Amazon are even making cheaper versions of their own products to maximise appeal — take the Nokia 3310, which at just £55.99 is the ultimate summer phone. You don’t have to worry about losing it at the beach or festivals because you can just buy a new one.

Another contender for the phone of the moment is the OnePlus 5, a phone which will leave you with money spare to spend on a better contract.

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has packed its latest handset with the same top-of-the-range features as its major rivals, but at a fraction of the cost. It’s £449 sim-free (an iPhone 7 plus is £590).

OnePlus

Like the iPhone 7 Plus it boasts a dual-lens camera, shooting in 20MP with instant-focus. Inside it has a speedy 8GB of RAM and a minimum of 64GB storage space, and it runs on Android so it’s well-supported for apps and software. Best of all, it has “Dash Charge” capabilities, meaning you’ll get a whole day’s battery life from a 30-minute charge.

It’s a bargain compared with all other high-powered smartphones. Apple, Samsung and Google might have to up their game, or drop their prices, to compete.

OnePlus

If your summer plans involve sinking hours into an addictive video game, Nintendo has just released the perfect device — no, not the Switch (although that flagship console is a genuine marvel). The Japanese games manufacturer has released yet another version of the 3DS, confirming its intention to continue supporting its handheld range.

The 2DS XL is set to go down as the definitive version of the 3DS range, removing all the non-essential features from previous models with a lower price tag.

Nintendo

Stripping away the impressive but battery-draining 3D functionality from the full-fat console, this diet version still plays every game in the expansive 3DS and DS catalogues. Once you factor in the classic Game Boy and SNES titles downloadable for the “Virtual Console” on the Nintendo eShop, there’s a stupendous amount of incredible games just waiting to be played on screens that are 82 per cent bigger than the ones found on the original 2DS.

For £129.99, it’s less than half the cost of the Switch, and lets you play incredible titles like The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Mario Kart 7, Super Smash Bros 3DS and Pokémon Sun & Moon on the go. Its plastic shell might look a tad cheap, but you’ll be too engrossed in whatever you’re playing to care too much.

Amazon

Meanwhile, if you like your tech to boom out loudly, one of 2017’s must-have products is the Amazon Echo, the internet-connected smart speaker that does whatever you ask it to. The main unit isn’t exactly expensive, selling at £149, but you can kick-start your smart-home set-up for a third of that cost with the Echo Dot.

The smaller version of Amazon’s Alexa device does all the same things as its bigger sibling, from streaming music, podcasts and audiobooks, reading out news briefings, booking Uber cars, and ordering takeaways from JustEat. Unlike the Dot, the full Echo boasts a huge tower speaker for cranking up tunes — but if you already own a Bluetooth speaker, you can pair the Dot to play music through that instead. At £49 it’s a snip, and cheap enough to buy more than one. Clever.

Follow Ben Travis on Twitter: @BenSTravis

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