Affordable, Tested Tech Actually Worth Buying

Our experts review more than 2,000 products each year: laptops, TVs, phones, routers, you name it. Here are some of the very best budget buys.

- Illustration by Ian Moore

At PCMag, testing technology products is our whole schtick. We do it at least 2,000 times a year, striving for the unbiased, lab-based results that make us the independent guide to technology. And we love the latest $5,750 mobile workstation, $3,000 OLED TV, or the loaded $7,999 Apple Mac Studio. Why shouldn’t we? Car magazines review Ferraris, after all.

Most folks don’t drive them, though. And most of us don’t buy cost-is-no-object technology, especially in an age of inflation and supply-chain shortages. That’s why we’re particularly pleased when we find products that deliver performance as well as value, elegance as well as affordability, and features as well as frugality. Telling you about our favorite bargains is the best part of our job. And now we’re doing it in a nifty new way.

Presenting The PCMag Cheap 100: Our recommendations of outstanding values in 100-odd product categories, both hardware and software, from home-entertainment and health products to PCs and smartphones. Our editors scoured our vast field of reviews to assemble this mega-guide of picks. And we’ll be updating it online monthly, as a cut-to-the-chase supplement to our many bargain-conscious online buying guides. We hope this timely, curated list helps you keep a little more money in your wallet.

In this issue of the Digital Edition, we’re sharing 25 of the top picks from May’s list. You can always find more at PCMag.com, of course (at https://www.pcmag.com/ picks/the-pcmag-cheap-100-affordable-tested-tech actually-worth-buying). Value hunters, unite!

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