The one to get, and why
Each of our thirteen guides puts five side by side and tells you which one to buy. Prices checked .
The guides
Jump to a sectionAfter dark
Bike lights
Most are made to get you seen, not to light the road past the streetlights.
See the Top 5Head torches
The heavy ones tip forward with every step, so you keep pushing them back up.
See the Top 5Flashlights
Walking the dog with the brightest of the five is like carrying a searchlight.
See the Top 5
Out there
Monoculars
A bigger zoom number on the box only buys you a shakier look at the bird.
See the Top 5Metal detectors
One you have to study first usually ends up gathering dust in the garage.
See the Top 5Radiation detectors
Checking an old plate’s glaze for radiation should take seconds, right there at the market stall.
See the Top 5Camping showers
The heated kind takes some setting up while the family waits with sandy feet.
See the Top 5
On camera
Smartphone gimbals
Much of the extra kit on these is for filming yourself with nobody behind the camera.
See the Top 5Selfie stick tripods
Most get you into the holiday photo, then wobble or leave your face in the dark.
See the Top 5
At play
RC speed boats
If your last boat stopped working within a weekend, the hull probably let water in.
See the Top 5Karaoke machines
On a lot of party speakers, the bass drowns out whoever’s singing.
See the Top 53D pens
Starter sets with two or three colours run out after one small project.
See the Top 5Music boxing machines
Halfway through a round, nearly all of these just count your punches, no score to beat.
See the Top 5
How we rank
We read the makers’ own pages line by line and check the price on the day. We count what else you’d have to buy before it works. The one that does the job best comes first, and something dearer has to do more for the money. Then we say which one we’d buy, what settled it, and where it falls short. Tell us if a price or a claim is wrong.