5 ways tech can help you with your new year's resolutions

Whether you're looking to save on pay-monthly services or aiming to lose weight without heading to a gym, our product reviews can help.

Our expert pricing research can help you snag a brilliant broadband or mobile phone deal this year, potentially saving money on your current deal. We've also tested smart speakers to help you manage your schedule, plus PC monitors that can help you to juggle work tasks.

In the five tips below, we've also included links to popular products based on visits to our reviews over the past six months. Popular doesn't mean flawless, though, so you'll have to check our full reviews to see how each model scores.

Whether you're searching for a security system or an exercise-tracking wearable, our independent and unbiased tech reviews help you choose wisely

1. Keep fit with a wearable

A fitness tracker or smartwatch can encourage you to move more throughout the day. You can even get them to measure your activity when playing specific sports, helping to better understand your fitness.

All smartwatches and fitness trackers monitor the basics (such as step and distance tracking, and a lot have heart-rate monitoring. Some include pulse oximetry, ECG measurements and a barometer.

However, to achieve your new year goals, you need to know you can rely on the accuracy of these tracking elements. Our rigorous tests have uncovered fitness trackers and smartwatches that provide inconsistent data or vastly under or overestimate the stats. One of the worst products miscalculated step count by a huge 66%.

You don’t need to spend a lot to get a brilliant device, but be careful about going too cheap – you could end up with a device that's unreliable and frustrating to use. You also run the risk of your data not being protected.

For every wearable that we test, we check how easy it is to use and run a range of privacy and security tests to check for vulnerabilities. We've found impressive devices for around £100, plus several Which? Best Buys that cost less than £200.

Find out which models we recommend with our guides to the best fitness trackers and best smartwatches.

Popular fitness tracker: Fitbit Luxe

This fitness tracker has a colour AMOLED display and automatically adjusts its brightness based on your environment. The tracker is water-resistant down to 50 metres and Fitbit claims you can wear it for pool and sea swimming. It works with Android 8.0 or later, and iOS 13 or later.

The Fitbit Luxe costs around £100 at the moment, but we've previously seen it drop as low as £79.

See if this fitness tracker is a Which? Best Buy with our Fitbit Luxe review.

2. Organise your life with a smart speaker

Smart speakers have become an essential household companion for many people, simplifying everything from the mundane to the genuinely helpful.

If you haven't yet tried one for yourself, note that you can use them in lots of different ways. Here's an overview:

• Stay in touch with loved ones You can have Amazon's own-brand speakers place calls with friends and family using the Alexa app. You can also ‘send an announcement’ to a different room in your home (to call somebody downstairs, perhaps) or have Alexa ‘send a hug’ (yes, that’s a real thing).
• Sort your sleep schedule Whether you drift off to the sound of crashing waves or your favourite radio station, a smart speaker can help you to relax. You can also set a sleep timer to switch the audio off automatically.
• Streamline your lifestyle Arguably a voice assistant’s most useful yet basic task is as a virtual PA. Tell it to add items to a shopping list, set recurring reminders and track deliveries. Everything, including reminders, is accessible from your phone, so you won’t miss a trick even if you’re not within earshot of your speaker.

Most smart speakers are powered by Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant or both. If you're tempted by an Alexa model, we've tested the Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) and Amazon Echo Studio (2nd Gen). Those who already own other Google-powered products might want to consider the Google Nest Hub (2nd gen) or Sonos Era 100.

Read our complete guide to Alexa for more tips on how to buy a great voice assistant for your home, and what to do with it.

Popular smart speaker: Amazon Echo (4th Gen)

This newest generation of Amazon’s Echo speakers swaps the classic cylindrical shape for a sleek spherical look, and includes upgrades such as a more powerful maximum volume and a built-in smart home hub.

Amazon Alexa speakers are heavily discounted multiple times a year, so we advise against paying full price. This particular model dropped to just £49.99 in the sales last year.

See how this smart speaker scores with our Amazon Echo (4th Gen) review.

3. Make your home more secure

Smart tech can offer you peace of mind while you’re out and about, making it easy to ‘drop in’ on your home to check on pets, see if a delivery has arrived, or simply for reassurance. With the help of our expert reviews, you'll spend less time worrying about your home.

Considering shopping for the following if you want to beef up your home security:

• A smart doorbell These double as a security camera and use motion-detection alerts to ping your phone if there's a knock at the door. They're not all expensive, either – plenty cost less than £50.
• A wireless security camera We’ve tested reasonably priced indoor security cameras and outdoor security cameras that are genuinely impressive. Aside from the obvious security benefits, indoor cameras can also keep an eye on pets, while outdoor alternatives can watch over your car.
• A smart burglar alarm system This is comprised of several internet-connected gadgets, typically including a hub, siren, motion detectors and contact sensors that detect when an intruder is trying to get into your property. You can monitor your home and receive alerts from your smartphone or tablet.

Popular smart doorbell: Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2

This doorbell has a quick-reply feature that lets you respond to visitors with pre-set messages. It also offers HD video, infrared night vision and two-way talk. The gadget needs to be hardwired into your power supply, but all the installation kit is included in the box. Motion detection doesn’t require a subscription, but storing video clips does.

The Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 is currently available for around £220, but we've seen it on offer for much less – it was on Amazon at £159.99 in December, so you might want to hold off purchasing for now.

For more details, see our Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 review.

4. Boost your productivity with a new monitor

If you use a computer for work and want to power through your to-do list, we’ve got an easy solution for you – get a second computer screen. An additional monitor can boost your productivity by up to 42%, according to industry body Jon Peddie Research.

Our reviews cover monitors at a range of sizes and you don’t necessarily have to splash out. The 21-inch Dell SE2222H costs less than £100, while the 27-inch Dell S2721H is around £150.

Expensive models come with ultra-high-quality displays and audio systems that most of us don’t need. But don’t simply buy the cheapest you can find – you won’t work more productively if you’re having to squint at a poor screen or can’t get it adjusted the way you want it.

Instead, use our expert computer monitor reviews to pick a Great Value model. You might also be interested in our guide to the best office chairs.

Popular monitor: Philips 243B9

This monitor offers full height adjustment, along with tilt and swivel. It has HDMI, VGA and full-sized USB ports on the side, plus two more full-sized USBs on the bottom.

If your laptop is compatible, you can plug in the USB-C cable to duplicate or extend your picture while also receiving inputs from other kit you have plugged into the monitor, such as a keyboard and mouse.

For more on this PC monitor, explore our Philips 243B9 review.

5. Save money on broadband, mobile and more

Although energy costs are set to ease in 2024, getting into the habit of saving on household bills where you can is as good a resolution as any. When dealing with broadband and mobile, we suggest you take action as soon as your current contract ends.

• Switchers can save up to £187 a year on TV and broadband packages, with even broadband-only customers able to save just shy of £100.
• Hagglers save less on broadband – an average of £111 for TV and broadband customers. But out-of-contract mobile customers saved an average of £70 by haggling, with EE customers saving £105.

If you're looking to move away from your current deal, be wary of mid-contract price rises as they can add a significant amount to your bill. You might find that reading the small print before you part with your money makes the offer far less appealing.

Use our Which? Compare service to check broadband deals and mobile deals to see how much you could save – we’ll tell you if a provider you’re interested in will hike prices annually.

If you want to save even more in 2024, read our advice on cutting your subscription costs.

Our pick for best broadband-only deal: Now Super Fibre

This fibre broadband deal comes with a 12-month contract, allowing you the freedom to explore other options after a year.

We've seen that Now Broadband occasionally raises its prices, though. In July, products increased by £3.50 (social tariffs were exempt from this price adjustment).

Explore our Now Broadband review to see how it performed in our survey.

Our pick for best medium-data Sim-only deal: iD Mobile (Three network) 50GB of data

With this deal, you get the added benefit of 30GB of EU roaming. Plus, the network's Sim-only contracts remain unaffected by mid-contract price hikes based on inflation. 

You can check the renewal price before the end of each month, which means you can switch seamlessly to a better deal without any penalties. 

For an in-depth analysis, explore our iD Mobile review to see how it performed in our survey.

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