80 November/December 2021
BEST PHONE CONTROLLER
Backbone One $99The Backbone One is a sleeper
hit. Backbone’s app creates a
console-like gaming experience
on your phone—complete with
content creation, a friends list,
and a snappy dashboard. It takes
Call of Duty Mobile and Fortnite
to console highs but most impor-
tantly turns your phone into a
gaming system that can rival the
upcoming Steam Deck. You can
use Xbox Game Pass for cloud
streaming or play your next-gen-
eration console remotely. Even
when not on 5G, 4G LTE offered
smooth gameplay without arti-
facts, whether we were waiting
on line at a local deli or riding the
LIRR toward Manhattan. Each
button has the right amount of
clickiness, and there’s minimal
lag time since it plugs into your
iPhone’s lightning port. (Sadly,
there’s no version for Android
users yet.) We wish the triggers
had a bit more resistance and
the matte body had some sort
of textured grip, but we played
for three hours without any
discomfort.BEST VR HEADSET
Oculus Quest 2 $299
Improving upon every point of
its predecessor, the Quest 2 is a
light, powerful VR headset that
uses 6 Degrees of Freedom to
track your body, hands, and head
in a virtual space. You can walk
around virtual environments at
up to a 120-Hz refresh rate, a
powerful Snapdragon XR2 pro-
cessor makes for better graphics
and performance, and a three-
hour battery life ensures you can
binge games with friends.
BEST SMART DISPLAY
Amazon Echo
Show 10 $250Combining the smarts of Alexa
and a motorized moving base,
the Echo Show 10 follows you
during tasks or video chats to
make sure you’re always in the
picture. Its follow feature is espe-
cially helpful in the kitchen, like
when we spent nights watching
Hulu as we shifted around the
room to cook or wash dishes.
The Echo Show 10 rotates with-
out making a squeak and packs a
13-megapixel camera.BEST ALL-IN-ONE CONTROLLER
Elgato Stream Deck $150Whether you’re a streamer
who needs a quick camera or
mic toggle for video production
or a professional who wants
to disable your camera with a
quick press during a work call,
Stream Deck makes automating
your daily actions easy. The keys
provide visual feedback and con-
firmation when you press them.
You can even customize each
LCD button with its own design.BEST LIGHT BARS
Govee Immersion Wi-Fi TV Backlights $80If you want to immerse yourself in your games or movies, Govee’s LED
light bars help the action jump off the screen. Mounting on the back
of your TV or standing on the side of it, they receive color direction
from a camera that faces your screen. They’re unobtrusive and update
the backlighting in real time, enhancing scenes with fire with a bright
orange or the ocean with a deep blue backlight.LAKOTA GAMBILL (OCULUS, GOVEE, AMAZON); COURTESY ELGATO (STREAM); COURTESY BLACKBONE (ONE)