Home tech upgrades to splash your tax refund on

9 hours ago 4

It’s tax time, and if you’re very lucky, you may have a refund headed your way that’s not earmarked for anything other than “me stuff”.

I don’t think I’ll be that lucky, but fortunately for both of us there’s a constant stream of new gadgets and electronics moving through my home, and here are some suggestions that could help you make that long-awaited and well-deserved upgrade splurge.

The perfect companion for public transport commutes, or noisy work-from-home set-ups.

Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones – $700

After three years, Sony has finally released a new set of headphones in its celebrated commuter-class series, and they’re an improvement in every respect. It’s debatable whether the 1000XM6 represents an extra $200 value over the 1000XM5 that Sony still sells, but the headphones are top of the class for design, sound and noise cancellation whether you’re training or playing.

The XM6 are comfier to wear, the buttons are easier to find at a touch, and hinges have returned, so the headset can fold or be worn around your neck without looking and feeling awful.

Sound-wise they’re fantastic and full, though I would have said the same about the XM5. Listening to both back-to-back, the XM6 is noticeably crisper on the highs and deeper on the bass, with a broader sound stage.

The most significant change I noticed in use is the noise-cancelling, which is even better on the XM6. Plane and tram noise is essentially eliminated, and at home it does a better job with uneven noises such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners. The transparency mode remains stellar, and can optionally activate when the device hears you speak.

Of course, headphones are for more than just listening to music on the train, and the XM6 impresses with excellent call quality, great performance in movies and games, and Bluetooth Multipoint so you can connect to your phone and computer at the same time while working.

Where other mixers and my weak kneading skills fail, the Ooni delivers.

Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer – $1100

I have mixers at home and have never felt the need to invest in an overly fancy or expensive model. When I heard that a mixer from Ooni — maker of home pizza ovens — had sold out in Australia within six hours, I wasn’t sure what the fuss was about. But after trying it, I see it’s a simple but novel concept; this is a massive professional-style spiral mixer, just shrunk down for your bench.

I don’t use many $1000+ mixers, but all the mixers I have used simply will not handle bread or pizza dough. It will get clagged up on the hook, or won’t mix properly, or get too hot, or just literally stop the mixer from turning. But the spiral hook and breaker bar on this machine do a consistently excellent (and hypnotic) job, and since nobody has to knead the dough we’ve been making a lot more yeast bread, sourdough and pizza at home, with great results.

The mixer has a dial and a simple display on the top so you can set the speed, and there’s also a timer for both mixing and proving so you don’t have to babysit the machine; it will turn off when the mixing’s done and play a sound when it’s ready. I also like the included splash guard that has a little funnel and a door for adding liquid or ingredients mid-mix.

The Halo Pro is explicitly designed for dough, but it can work as a more general stand mixer as well. The head tilts up, and you can remove the breaker bar and spiral to insert another attachment for whisking or beating.

The new model is the lightest ever Surface Laptop.

Surface Laptop 13-inch – $1360+

Microsoft’s latest portable computers are a little smaller than usual, and a little less expensive, so as expected they also have some light compromises. But unlike the often-hard-to-recommend Surface Laptop Go, the new 13-inch Surface Laptop feels intentionally and thoughtfully small.

Of course, that’s not to say it’s exactly like full-fat 7th Edition Surface Laptop – its screen is limited to the standard 60Hz, it has a mechanical trackpad rather than a haptic one, and it doesn’t have any high-speed Thunderbolt 4 ports – but the new model carries over the most important elements of its siblings.

The keyboard feels great, the metal construction is solid and satisfying, there’s a nice bright touchscreen, and you get a clean version of Windows 11 with all the Copilot+ PC AI-powered trimmings.

Overall the laptop stands up really well as Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s MacBook Air, and that’s especially true in the battery department. I was able to get through an entire day of work without charging, even with some heavy Photoshop involved, and the device happily went for two days if I was just writing.

It’s powered by a Snapdragon X Plus chip, which is plenty fast enough for productivity tasks and packs a powerful AI processor, and it’s generally a joy to work on. I had no issue with any of my work apps, and I even lent it to a less-technical person to work on, and they loved it. But I am compelled to mention that since this is an ARM chip there are apps designed for Intel x86 chips that do not work. So if there’s a less-common program you vitally need, it’s worth checking that there’s an ARM version available, or that it works with Windows’ compatibility layer.

It’s becoming difficult to clock the incremental improvements LG makes to the C-series each year, but it’s still one of the best on the market.

LG C5 OLED TV – $2200+

LG’s C4 was my favourite all-rounder TV of last year and, as expected, the C5 is just a little bit better. The C-series has frequently been my go-to recommendation for OLEDs because it hits every high-end feature you need, without any gimmicks or esoteric features that demand a higher price tag. Plus, you don’t lose any features if you go for a smaller size; the 42-inch model has the same processor, the same full-speed HDMI ports, the same 144Hz refresh, the same low-latency gaming mode and the same accuracy-focused film modes as the 83-inch.

So what’s new with the C5? It’s brighter, which is great if your loungeroom has a lot of glare from windows during the day, but also makes for more impactful scenes in HDR content. Upscaling of older low-resolution content is also improved, so while you won’t magically get more detail from a 25-year-old DVD, it will be sharp and artefact-free.

Otherwise, things haven’t changed too much. You still get a fantastic experience out of the box just by changing to one of the pre-calibrated or filmmaker picture modes, and you won’t find a better screen for watching movies in the C5’s price class.

The 55- and 65-inch models are sold for $1000 less than some models that provide a very similar core experience. The C5 is also one of the best on the market for gaming, with support for all kinds of variable refresh rate, and 4K at up to 165Hz through all four HDMI ports.

There are only two areas where the C5 has arguably taken a step backwards; it has dropped support for passing through DTS sound (which will impact few people since the large majority of movies have Dolby mixes, but it seems a pointless removal), and I don’t like the new smaller remote.

The numbers were useful for shortcuts, and there is now no dedicated input button, despite buttons being given to the TV guide, help, and voice search.

The Area-51 looks great, runs relatively quietly, uses mostly off-the-shelf parts for upgradability, and easily ran all the new games I tested at their most ridiculous settings.

Alienware Area-51 PC Desktop – $5520+

If you’re looking for the most graphically powerful Windows machine you can get, you want it to be built for you, and you don’t mind that it’s several times more expensive than the priciest games console, this is the machine for you.

The Area-51 that I tested was configured with Nvidia’s latest RTX 5090 graphics card, which on its own can cost you $5000 or more if you’re building your own rig. It has enough raw power to brute force just about any game to high performance and high resolution, but it also has the smarts to support Nvidia’s latest AI features for upscaling and frame generation, so even if you have a 4K 240Hz monitor and want to play graphically intensive games on it, this card can handle it coolly and efficiently.

An Area-51 with a 5090 will cost you at least $8000, and that’s before you look at adding a faster processor or more RAM. The lowest cost option is $5520, which has an RTX 5070; not bad at all if you don’t necessarily need 4K and high frame rates.

The main reason to go for something like the Area-51 is that it looks great and runs as expected out of the box, no building required, and it has more than enough juice to play modern games for many years to come. It’s worth noting that it is absolutely massive at around 35 kilograms – I was too scared to put it on my desk – and it’s not exactly subtle given its big fans and LEDs.

Get news and reviews on technology, gadgets and gaming in our Technology newsletter every Friday. Sign up here.