5 New Tech Products Worth Showing Off to Houseguests From a chic standing desk to a vacuum that looks like it belongs in the future.
By Mario Armstrong Edited by Frances Dodds
This story appears in the May 2025 issue of BIZ Experiences. Subscribe »
Nothing goes as far as beautiful, functional design. Whether you're doing some last minute tidying ahead of a dinner party, making a grand entrance to a meeting on Zoom, or sitting next to a stranger on an airplane, these products have the style and substance to win you some kudos.
1. Streamlined sound.
Imagine sitting down on a flight, looking at the screen on the seatback, and thinking: I wish I could hear that movie through my wireless earbuds. The Twelve South AirFly Pro 2 [$60; twelvesouth.com] makes it possible. Plug the device into any headphone jack and stream wireless audio to any brand of Bluetooth headphones. The 25 hours of playback will outlast even the longest flight, and its buttons adjust sound quickly. Traveling with kids? You can pair two headsets to one device to share the movie.
2. A civilized standing desk.
Most standing desks look like simple platforms on stilts. The Room & Board Lincoln [from $4,500; roomandboard.com], created in partnership with Gensler, is a significant upgrade — a traditional-looking desk, complete with side drawers, with a pair of arms that raise the top to 49 inches off the floor. It comes with a solid wood top, is available in five varieties and seven colors, and has a built-in wire management area — ensuring that you can stand or sit without sacrifice.
Related: Do You Get Overwhelmed While Traveling? These Tech Products Can Make It Stress-Free.
3. A vacuum you can unveil.
Vacuums are designed to be useful, not to look nice. But the handsome Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra [$1,100; samsung.com] does both — which is especially useful for someone with no closet space to tuck the vacuum away. It comes packaged with three cleaning tools, and the base pulls debris out of the vacuum for fewer trips to the trash can. Clean for up to 100 minutes per charge while the LCD screen, through SmartThings, displays calls or messages from your smartphone — so you never miss hearing a call as your vacuum whirs.
4. A clatter-free carry-on.
Your carry-on luggage just got sturdier. The engineers of Peak Design Roller Pro Carry-On [$600; peakdesign.com] replaced a carry-on's usual architecture with single pieces of carbon fiber, resulting in a smooth, satisfying extension and retraction that also occupies less space inside the bag. The weatherproof, soft-sided exterior covers a bombproof polycarbonate shell that expands and contracts, so you can squeeze it into a regional jet's tiny overhead bins. In your hotel room, the bag opens 90 degrees, like a trunk, so you need half as much room on the luggage rack.
Related: 20 Time-Saving Tech Tools for Solopreneurs that Boost Efficiency, Productivity and Business Growth
5. A tougher action camera.
Creating content on the go? The Insta360 X5 [from $550; insta360.com] is an action camera built for bumps. The two 8K lenses have tough optical glass that you can replace if they get scratched. Its new AI chip makes nighttime footage clearer and more vibrant, and its wind guard filters unwanted noise from helmet or handlebar videos. The sealed housing is waterproof down to 49 feet without a case.
