Based on the ever-churning rumor mill, it sounds like 2026 is going to be a banner year for tech fans. That said, I still found a bunch of great gear in 2025 to tide me over from Apple Home devices to chargers.
2025 didn’t end up being “Year of the Smart Home” as I initially hoped it would be. Apple punted its next-generation version of Siri till 2026, along with its much-discussed phantom smart display.
Accessory makers weren’t held back though, with a ton of new smart home devices launching. Despite a growing list of favorites, I managed to try to winnow things down to a few mass-appeal items that I think stood above the rest.
Aqara G5 Pro
A few years ago, I didn’t have a single Aqara item in my home. I had tried a few, but I wasn’t a fan of requiring a hub to do everything.
Jump forward to 2025 and I can’t think of a smart home company pushing boundaries more than Aqara is. I’ve purchased probably a dozen G100 cameras for family members and its FP2 presence sensor is incredible with little competition.
The one that I wanted to highlight though is the Aqara G5 Pro camera that comes in both USB-C and POE-powered versions. This Apple Home-enabled camera supports HomeKit Secure Video, Aqara’s cloud platform, or even a local NAS for video recording.
The Aqara G5 Pro is so fast, it’s the best Apple Home camera out there
It has a durable design that works both indoors and outdoors, even with the USB-C version, to withstand the elements. It has a built-in spotlight that can be independently controlled with excellent night vision and 2K video capture.
With an onboard Thread radio, it can act as a Thread router, extending your Thread mesh network to the outdoors. This is great for remote sensors, like the ones I have on my mailbox to let me know when it is opened and closed.
Best of all though, it’s fast. Shockingly so compared to every other Apple Home camera I have tested. When you access the camera, it goes live almost instantly and never goes offline.
That is with the Wi-Fi version, and I have to assume the hardwired POE version is even faster. Simply put, this is the best camera for Apple Home users right now.
If you’d like to try one, they have them on Amazon for $119 right now. The G100 are much simpler, but I can also attest that they are equally as fast and reliable if you don’t need all the bells and whistles.
25W Qi2.2 standard
My second favorite launch of 2025 wasn’t necessarily a single product, but rather a new spec. Qi2.2 was made official, which is the wireless charging spec based on Apple’s MagSafe.
The Qi2.2 version ups the supported wireless speed to 25W, from only 15W. It supports magnetic wireless charging all the way back to iPhone 12, but on the latest devices — like iPhone 17 — it supports the maximum 25W.
The Anker Prime Wireless Charger is sleek, fast, and customizable
I appreciate these faster speeds, which go hand-in-hand with the new larger batteries, as I use my phone for work frequently. I want to set it down, get some fast juice, and keep moving.
Qi2.2 gives you the convenience of MagSafe with nearly the speed of a cable. Since Apple adopted it, we’ve seen several chargers launch from all the major players like Nomad, Belkin, Anker, Aukey, and more.
Of those out, I have three favorites. They are the Anker Prime Wireless Charger, the Belkin UltraCharge Pro 3-in-1, and the Kuxiu X40 Turbo.
Belkin was the first to release an actively-cooled 25W Qi2.2 charger
The UltraCharge Pro from Belkin was the very first to hit the market and has a nice compact design with a soft-touch finish to the body. I like the chrome look, and it has active cooling to keep the temperatures down.
Anker’s solution is impressive as it not only has fantastic speeds but several other nice touches. The power supply is a tiny 65W GaN charger, it has an NFC tag to run automations, and Bluetooth support to customize the display or charging performance.
Kuxiu is solid because the X40 Turbo folds down into a tiny little puck that is great to take with you. It is the most compact by far and even comes with its own travel case.
All three are currently listed on Amazon. The Anker Prime Wireless Charger is $160, the Belkin Ultra Charge Pro is $129, and the Kuxiu X40 Turbo is $79.
Anker 165W laptop battery pack
Rounding out my list is another power product, the Anker laptop battery pack. It has a massive airline-friendly 25,000mAh capacity, three 100W USB-C ports, and a total of 165W of power output across all four outputs.
It even has both a retractable cable built-in and a second cable to act as a lanyard. There’s a useful display that shows all current input and output speeds, battery health, and temperature.
Anker’s 25mAh battery pack has been my go-to battery for travel
This originally launched at CES 2025, and I have been using it almost constantly ever since for travel. It’s the perfect size to slip into the side pocket of a backpack while also packing enough juice to charge even my 16-inch MacBook Pro.
I love the retractable cable too because I don’t need to always have a Type-C cable handy. If I do want to plug in something like a MagSafe puck or legacy USB-A device, the two female ports are there if I need them.
You can buy it on Amazon for $87 at the moment.