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Top 10 tech essentials for the festival season
Gadgets for Glasto and other grubby gatherings
GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition action camera
You can record your festival hijinks with your smartphone but for that truly immersive and hands-free “I was there” feeling, you can’t beat bolting one of these bad boys to your noggin. Luckily, it only weighs 74g so you might forget its there and moments lost to heavy duty hedonism can be restored to an addled memory.
The Hero3+ can record video at various resolutions including 4K at 15fps and 4K ‘Cinema’ (with a 1.9:1 aspect resolution of 4,096 x 2,160) at 12fps. Then there are 2.7K and 2.7K Cinema options at 30fps, 1440p at up to 48fps and 1080p at up to 60fps as well as 12Mp stills.
The Hero3+ also comes with built-in Wi-Fi, is waterproof to 40m and has something called wide angle SuperView – to get that stadium atmos – and Auto Low Light so you can keep recording when the sun goes down. There’s also a clever wind noise reduction tech built-in so the sound level won’t take a stage dive if a gale starts to blow.
Arguably, the GoPro is overkill for just concert going, and the battery life isn’t stellar either, 2 hours at best, but it is the best activity camera on the market and consequently, it’s not what you’d call cheap.
More info GoPro
Mpowerd Luci inflatable solar-powered lantern
If you’ve ever tried to skin up in a dark tent or tripped over a tired and emotional member of the crowd en route to the toilet for a late night pee, you’ll know the value of a good lantern. Luci’s take on the theme is solar powered, inflatable, water proof and it actually works too.
The ten LED lights in the base chuck out 65 lumens for a couple of hours though you can dial down the brightness and eke that out to nearly eight. In even half-arsed British sunlight, it takes a similar amount of time - 8 hours - to fully recharge. Easily bright enough to read by, the clever bit is that it compresses flat for transport. To use it you just blow it up like a beach ball and switch it on.
More info Mpowerd
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