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THE BEST PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR

Zen at 60 mph. THE ALL-NEW ELECTRIC LIVEWIRE™ Here comes Harley’s first step into the electric future—one that goes 0 to 60 in 3 seconds with a twist of the throttle. No clutch, no shifting, just pure exhilaration. Discover the most connected rider experience with H-D ™ Connect technology that helps you stay in touch with your joyride.

L E A R N M O R E A B O U T T H E L I V E W I R E ™ AT H - D . C O M

© 2019 H-D or its affiliates. Harley-Davidson, Harley, H-D and the bar and shield logo are among the trademarks of H-D U.S.A., LLC. Third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The H-D™ Connect service is not available in all markets. See dealer for details.

LEICA M10 THE ART OF THE DECISIVE MOMENT

www.leicacamerausa.com

LEICA M-LENSES A TRADITION OF OPTICAL EXCELLENCE

PHOTO: EXPOSURE ISO APERTURE

LOCATION: SOMEWHERE Follow us:

@LeicacameraUSA | #LeicaCameraUSA

N E W YO R K CH ICAGO ASPEN SAN FRANCISCO LO S A N G E L E S A E T H E R A P PA R E L .C O M

#DiscoverYour Planet “Satan’s Palace” Miyakojima, Japan

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT SEIKOWATCHESUSA.COM

Coiling darkly through the coral reef, a narrow shaft ends in an illuminated cavern unlike any place on earth. It’s known as Satan’s Palace.For those with the passion to challenge and explore the unknown.

OXO POP Containers www.oxo.com/pop

Organize your gear.

Home Technology for the Holidays The Dyson Demo Store has something for everyone on your list. Our most intelligent vacuum that automatically adapts suction between floor types, a purifier that removes gases, allergens and pollutants from the air, a light that is designed to help reduce eye strain and a fast drying hair dryer that protects your hair from extreme heat damage. Discover all of our latest technology and enjoy exclusive offers and colors when you visit a store for your holiday shopping today.

Dyson Demo Store 5th Avenue, New York City Union Square, San Francisco Westfield Century City, Los Angeles Tysons Corner Center, Virginia

Contents

Tech

All good tech is innovative, but not as an end unto itself. Great gadgets excel at giving game-changing ideas the fit and finish they deserve.

Audio

Killer audio equipment will always treat your ears, but that’s just table stakes. The most notable hi-fi gear ups the ante by taking on jobs you didn’t know you wanted it to.

Outdoors

Lightest. Smallest. Quickest. These sorts of superlatives typically describe the best outdoor products. This year’s class, however, redefines the category’s priorities.

GEAR PATRO L TH E 100 BEST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9

CL E R MON T K . Y.

U. S .

THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE ON OUR GIFT LIST. WE’VE GOT BOTH COVERED.

EVERY BIT EARNED

CONTENTS

Fitness

The finest fitness gear removes friction to make sweatcentric pursuits as pleasant as possible. Nimble gym shoes, ultralight gravel bikes and perfect ear buds do just that.

Motoring

101

Every vehicle has to compromise, but the best show off their strengths and downplay weaknesses. The year’s best rides don’t just make that look easy. They make it look fun.

Style

119

A Western shirt that’s fully recyclable. A boot that looks like a sneaker. Affordable workwear with premium details. Who said menswear classics had to be static?

Home

135

What does a $1,600 chef’s knife have in common with bespoke fertilizer? Like the rest of our favorite home products, both make everyday life every bit less mundane.

GEAR PATRO L TH E 100 BEST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9

CONTENTS

151

Drinks

From a bourbon that celebrates blending to a spiked seltzer you’ll drink for taste — no, really — the best drinks of the year stir up something the competition can’t quite match.

165

Travel

Whether it’s a luxurious new trailer just a versatile pair of kicks, the year’s finest travel drops make it easy to embrace the open road.

179

Watches

Affordable reissues of quartz classics. Timepieces inspired by cockpit instruments. The year’s best watches draw from disparate sources but each is uniquely worthy of your time.

The Standards A collection of the products we never tire of recommending, regardless of when they first came out.

117

Apple iPad

Ultimate Ears Boom

Patagonia Black Hole

Nike Training Club App

Subaru Outback

133

149

163

177

191

Dickies Chore Coat

Lodge Cast-Iron Skillet

Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

Zero Halliburton Aluminum Carry-On

Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional

GEAR PATRO L TH E 100 BEST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9

Visit & shop Montblanc.com

AVAILABLE AT MACYâ€™S, MACYS.COM & MONTBLANC BOUTIQUES

LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER

The 101 Product st

Here’s some quick inside baseball about the GP100, Gear Patrol’s annual index of the best products of the year: the picks that follow are those of our writers and editors, who have spent the last twelve months rigorously testing all the gear in these pages. And while I agree with most of their selections, there is one I don’t — Google’s Pixel 3a (page 30). Which is to say, when our Deputy Editor, Jack Seemer, asked me to speak about my favorite product of 2019 as the subject for this column, I relished the privilege of asserting my own opinion into the mix: The best smartphone of the year is the new iPhone. It’s easy to gloss over the fact that the iPhone 11 is nothing like the one Steve Jobs first revealed to the world. The 2007 iPhone was an iPod with cellular service that could surf the internet, sort of. Thirteen generations later, we have a full-on pocket-size supercomputer that can run countless apps and take photos capable of challenging most dedicated DSLRs for mainstream users, both of which it does reliably for hours on end. When you think about it, Apple’s annual iPhone reveals have become much more than product releases. They’re cultural advents. Each September, society receives a masterfully presented look into next year’s promises — a glimpse of silicon and hope as seen through irresistibly named capabilities: Visual Voicemail, iMessage, Live Photos, FaceTime, TouchID, FaceID … The new 11 is packed with so many new features that Apple appears to have introduced new presentation and website designs just to accommodate the endless list of capabilities. I’ve always found it interesting that Apple has continued numbering the iPhones (8, X, 11) while the rest of its products simply evolve through functional variation; I don’t use a MacBook Pro 10, I just use a MacBook. (The 13-inch, Pro version, for those

GEAR PATRO L TH E 100 BEST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9

wondering.) My theory here is that it isn’t just for marketing purposes, but that Apple is on its own journey to finalize what the ultimate iPhone should be. But this year, we were also introduced to a larger phenomenon surrounding the iPhone, one that may change its course in 2020 and beyond: an erosion of curiosity. Many reviewers of the iPhone 11, while simultaneously praising its new features, saw Apple’s September release as an opportunity to argue that, for everyday consumers, marginal improvements in smartphones are not always worth the effort or cost to upgrade. Like many people, I’ve stopped purchasing a new iPhone each year. But that doesn’t change my perspective. No other release spawns as many questions and messages for my opinion. People I rarely speak with use the iPhone launch as reasons to ping me with with a tinge of bemused hope, “Eric, is it worth it?” To that I say, “Yup, if you need it. And, by the way, the kids are doing great.” When we review products at Gear Patrol, an underlying principle of “value” tends to be one of the most important results we try to attain. What do I use most? What brings me the most lift in my life? What is going to really impact me without having it? For me, it continues to be the unrelenting truth that the most important consumer products in the world — whether you buy the latest one or not — is the iPhone. That is, until next September.

Eric Yang FOUNDER, CEO @hashtagyang | eyang@gearpatrol.com

ARCTIC 600

Step into winter with confidence. With Vibram Arctic Grip outsole technology and PrimaLoft Gold insulation, the all-new Arctic 600 is ready to conquer the icy-cold. Weatherized for life outside. DANNER.COM/WEATHERIZED ®

MASTHEAD

founder , chief executive officer

ERIC YANG @hashtagyang cofounder , chief content officer

BEN BOWERS @benbowersgp

deputy editor

staff writers

chief commercial officer

head of commerce

JACK SEEMER @jackseemer

GERALD ORTIZ @geraldortiz

ZACH MADER @z_mader

BRIAN LOUIE

business development director

content director , commerce

MIKE BAILEY

JACOB SOTAK @jacobsotak

senior account executive

store operations manager

ALYXANDER EFFRON @alyxeffron

CHRIS HEALY @cl_healy

TANNER BOWDEN @danger_bowden

editors

WILL SABEL COURTNEY @willsabelcourtney

TUCKER BOWE @j_tb3

ERIC LIMER @ericlimer

associate staff writer

STEVE MAZZUCCHI @motosandmore

ZEN LOVE @zlo_watches

associate editors

associate editor , editorial operations

OREN HARTOV @ohartov

J.D. DIGIOVANNI @jdedig

JOHN ZIENTEK @sieben_tagen

TIM MURRAY

project coordinator , editorial operations

RYAN BROWER @owen_brow

assistant editor

WILL PRICE

account executives

KEVIN O’BRIEN @_kevinobrien_

KYLE SNARR @kyality

client success manager

GENEVA AUDUONG @genevaa25

editorial associates

editorial coordinator

TYLER CHIN @tylerch.in

MEG LAPPE @meglappe

SCOTT ULRICH @scottkennethulrich

consumer marketing manager

CAITLYN SHAW @heyitscgs

sales planners

DOMINIQUE GAGEANT @dgag3ant NGHI HO @nghi.dy

sales marketing coordinator

AISHA LOPEZ @aishalyn

campaign manager

art director

deputy photo editor

JOE TORNATZKY @jtornatzky

HENRY PHILLIPS @henrysp

GREG TATE @thegregtate pacific northwest advertising director

senior designer

staff photographer

SHERRY WANG @sxw

CHANDLER BONDURANT @chandlerbondurant

cfo

BRANDON FRANK

SCOT BONDLOW @scotbondlow southwest advertising director

associate designer

HUNTER D. KELLEY @type_hunter

head of marketing

JUSTIN PARKHURST @justinparkhurst

design intern

JASMINE YU

head of gear patrol studios

MONICA HARE director of video

coordinating producer

ANDREW SICELOFF @andrewsice

NICK CARUSO @thenickcaruso

gearpatrol.com/subscribe

multimedia producer

CUSTOMER CARE

support@gearpatrol.com

BRENDEN CLARKE @brenden.jpeg

CAREERS gearpatrol.com/jobs issue 12 contributors

STORE

ERIC ADAMS @ericadams321

JAMES STOUT @jesstout

ANDREW CONNOR @andrew_m_connor

CHRIS WRIGHT @wrights_writing

gearpatrol.com/store

PATRICK LEGER @patrick.leger.art

CORRECTIONS & REPRINTS

ADAM HURLY @adamhurly

sayhello@gearpatrol.com

BRIAN MARK @brian__mark CORY SMITH @climbercory J. TRAVIS SMITH @jtravissmith

WHOLESALE REQUESTS wholesale@gearpatrol.com

NICOLAS STETCHER @nickstecher

director of content and strategy , gear patrol studios

MEGAN BILLINGS @meganblings project manager , gear patrol studios

AJ POWELL @allenjamespowell content producer , gear patrol studios

CHARLES MCFARLANE @charles_mcfarlane Gear Patrol Studios is the creative partnership arm of Gear Patrol. Select advertising in this magazine has been crafted by Gear Patrol Studios on behalf of brands to help tailor their message specifically for Gear Patrol readers. These sections are demarcated with GEAR PATROL STUDIOS. To learn more visit, studios.gearpatrol.com or reach out to us: advertising@gearpatrol.com

Club Sport. Made in Germany. This new sports version of the Club model is particularly robust, exceptionally water resistant, and equipped with a NOMOS bracelet. At work inside is the neomatik date caliber, DUW 6101, well protected by the stainless steel case. This automatic timepiece is available now at Bhindi, Blakemanâ€™s Fine Jewelry, Borsheims, Brinkerâ€™s, Brown & Co., Chatel, Diamond Cellar, Henne, Hyde Park Jewelers, JB Hudson, L. Majors, Lewis, London Jewelers, Reis-Nichols, Schwarzschild, Shreve & Co., Shreve, Crump & Low, Swiss Fine Timing, Timeless Luxury Watches, Tiny Jewel Box, Tourneau, Wempe, and Windsor. As well as here: nomos-glashuette.com

PRESENTED BY IWC

Best in Class

EDITOR’S PICKS

We tested thousands of products in 2019, a yearlong process driven by a single purpose: to tell you which stuff is worth your time — and your money. Our list of editor’s picks represents the gear we recommend the most.

GEAR PATRO L TH E 100 BEST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9

TEC H

Google Pixel 3a 30

STYLE

Levi’s Wellthread × Outerknown Western Shirt 120

AU D I O

Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700

HOME

Sunday 137

48 OUT D O ORS

D RINKS

152

Specialized Turbo Kenevo Expert

Four Roses Small Batch Select

FI TNESS

TRAVEL

166

M OTO R I NG

WATCHES

Hoka One One Carbon X

Jeep Gladiator 102

Fujifilm X-T30

Blancpain Air Command 180

T H E 1 0 0 B EST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9 G E A R PATROL

G E A R PAT R O L S T U D I O S / C R O W N R O YA L

What’s so special about the LaSalle distillery? The LaSalle Distillery played an important role in the history of Crown Royal as one of a handful of distilleries that produced the individual component whiskies for our extraordinary blends. Even though the distillery closed in 1993, the Crown Royal blending team was based on-site until 2017. How does Crown Royal XR Blended Canadian Whisky differ from Crown Royal’s standard offering? We utilize the highest standards of corn, rye and barley to craft our individual component whiskies and allow them to mature in a combination of brand new and previously seasoned American oak barrels. What sets the LaSalle edition apart from the other blends in the Crown Royal family is that it focuses on the remaining whiskies of our famed LaSalle distillery.

Stephen Wilson Director of Whisky Engagement, Crown Royal Situated on the edge of Lake Winnipeg, Crown Royal has been producing Canadian whisky since 1939, with its first batch gifted to the Queen of England. Since then, from Manitoba and previously at its storied LaSalle Distillery in Waterloo, Crown Royal has been working with Canada’s natural resources to add distinction to its collection of blended whiskies. Located on the island of Montreal, it’s been said that the LaSalle distillery, in particular, can attribute some of its success to having made use of the waters surrounding it. Since it’s closure in 1993, a limited series of whiskies have been produced with the remaining barrels for an extra rare series. Below, industry veteran Stephen Wilson, Director of Whisky Engagement for Crown Royal, gives his take on the very last bottles of the Crown Royal Extra Rare Whisky Series, crafted in-part from the final batches produced at the LaSalle Distillery, all of which are expected to sell out this year.

What are some of the tasting notes & how was this whisky aged? Crown Royal’s LaSalle edition is the rarest in our whisky series and boasts an exceptionally full-bodied and smooth sipping experience. The sophisticated blend of dried fruits and honey harmoniously balance the spicy notes of Canadian rye for a round finish that tastes of raisins, cocoa and brown sugar. Crown Royal uses American Oak barrels — we bring the barrels in brand new to the distillery and then continue to re-use them several times. By using a combination of new wood and seasoned wood, we provide our blending team with all the building blocks they need for our Crown Royal blends. What’s your preferred way to drink the LaSalle edition? For the LaSalle edition, I prefer enjoying it neat. This is a whisky with a lot of depth of flavor and (responsibly) sipping on it neat is the best way to appreciate its history and personality.

Crown Royal XR Blended Canadian Whisky Distilled: LaSalle Distillery, Montreal Canada Tasting Notes: The LaSalle edition is rich and complex with a light sweetness and spicier notes reminiscent of Canadian Rye Suggested Retail Price: $140

The very last of the very best. Crown Royal XR Extra Rare is the last of an exceptional blend of whisky, crafted from one of the final batches produced at the renowned LaSalle Distillery. Any aficionado will appreciate the full-bodied, smooth sipping experience.

P L E A S E D R I N K R ES P O N S I B LY. C R O W N R O YA L X R B l e n d e d C a n a d i a n W h i s k y. 4 0 % A l c / Vo l . T h e C ro w n R o y a l C o m p a n y, N o r w a l k , C T.

Super Sea Wolf 53 Bolder and more elegant than ever before, this edition of the classic Super Sea Wolf 53 features a black plated case and bracelet. The white lume hands glow blue in the dark for a pop of bright color. Movement: STP 3-13 AUTOMATIC Water resistant: 200 METERS Case size: 40 mm

Tech

Like a shark, technology always moves forward, but who said anything about a straight line? This year has been full of twists and turns that illustrate how true innovation sprouts in unexpected directions. From Google’s $400 phone that redefines the category on price as much as features to Apple’s triumphant resurrection of the long-lost rectangular desktop computer, the year has been replete with refinement and revitalization. Inventing the future is only half the battle. After that, you’ve got to get it right. Top 10

Credits

Google Pixel 3a

Words

Kindle Oasis

Alienware Area-51m Laptop

ERIC ADAMS TUCKER BOWE ERIC LIMER HENRY PHILLIPS

Fujifilm GFX100

Photos

Oculus Quest

CHANDLER BONDURANT

Disney+

Illustration

DJI Ronin-SC

P AT R I C K L E G E R

Sony a7R IV

Samsung Space Monitor

Apple Mac Pro

The Standard 43

TECH

Apple iPad

T H E 1 0 0 B EST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9 G E A R PATROL

EDITOR’S PICK

Google Pixel 3a People now use their smartphones to take more photos than calls. It’s about time someone treated a killer camera like a baseline necessity, rather than a premium feature.

Each year, the telephones relentlessly improve. Their microchip brains increase in computing horsepower. Their physical forms get slimmer, more refined and more jewel-like. Their screens stretch outward towards their bodies’ very edges. But as the leading flagships converge towards a single expensive full-screen black-slab ideal, they avoid addressing a crucial question: What is improvement? Google’s Pixel 3a, a pointed departure from its competition’s assumptions, is not just a great little phone — it represents a different idea of what a great little phone is. Announced by Google earlier this year with little run-up or fanfare, Google’s plastic Pixel 3a has an offbeat combination of features compared to its contemporaries. In many ways, it’s gleefully adequate. Its polycarbonate body is not fancy, but it is functional. Its mid-range processor is fine with being just fast enough. Its screen is as good as you’ll reasonably need for browsing the web and drinking from social media’s firehose. It skimps on features like wireless charging and waterproofing, as you might expect from a $400 phone. But unexpectedly, its camera is top-tier — a superb feature it shares with its high-end sibling,

TECH

the Pixel 3, which cost twice as much at launch. It’s this unusual inclusion of a premium feature in a seemingly budget phone that makes the Pixel 3a feel impossible — or worse, almost like a con. But in fact, it’s a more fundamental innovation than any face-scanning technology or gyroscopic stylus: it’s a reordering and redefining of what features matter in a phone. Here in 2019, where phones look like minature versions of the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, it’s easy to forget that the collection of features a phone requires was not always agreed upon. (During and shortly after the dominion of the BlackBerry, for example, a physical keyboard was arguably a must.) What the Pixel 3a’s marriage of plastic and photography prowess argues is that a great camera — not just any smudgy shooter — is as integral to a phone as a 4G radio and onboard storage and more integral than premium materials and luxury fit-and-finish. It’s an argument that, if it proves persuasive to buyers, could shift the direction of phone development. But the combination of features found in the Pixel 3a could not have crystallized without all the tech that paved the way for it. Google has spent years developing its photography chops via software

T H E 1 0 0 B EST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9 G E A R PATROL

Specs Display: 5.6-inch, OLED, 1080 x 2220 pixels Body: Plastic Headphone Jack: Yessir $399+

instead of hardware. Instead of using multiple (and expensive) camera sensors and lenses to attempt to simulate the depth-of-field effects of fancy lenses on full-fledged DSLRs, the company decided from the jump to put its algorithmic expertise to work to recreate the same effect with artificial intelligence. That decision came with an initial — but now rapidly diminishing — cost. Early versions of the tech produced images that could look ever so slightly off (and sometimes still do) compared to their impeccable analog competition. But the software is ever improving. More importantly, it is extremely cost effective to scale and even possible to implement retroactively. When Google released its “Night Sight” feature that algorithmically combines multiple low-light images taken at different exposures into a single image that appears almost magically bright, it was released not only for the brand new Pixel 3, but for the Pixel 2 and original Pixel as well — a camera upgrade, years after the

GEAR PATRO L TH E 100 BEST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9

fact, for free. Google isn’t the only company to upgrade its cameras via software, but with the Pixel 3a, it has taken an enormous step toward making its camera capabilities revolve primarily around software — and, as a result, universal across its phones, regardless of age or price. While the Pixel 3a is certainly laudable for how much it offers in a $400 package, it’s also exciting for where it indicates this road might lead. The lion’s share of flagship phones have become obsessed with offering additional luxuries to justify their growing prices, but the prevailing trends have left a whole host of assumptions completely unchallenged: The best cameras are unique to only the most expensive phones. Thinner is always better. One thousand dollars is a reasonable price for a phone that will be obsolete in three years at best. Perhaps the Pixel line itself has no appetite for challenging more of these assumptions, but it has at least revealed one of them as false. And that’s about as exciting of a feature as you can get.

TECH

Its camera is top-tier â€” a superb feature it shares with its high-end sibling, the Pixel 3, which cost twice as much at launch.

Kindle Oasis The Kindle has been the reigning king of e-readers for more than 10 years, but Amazon isn’t resting on its laurels. The 2019 model of its flagship Oasis reader is the latest — and maybe final — step in the brand’s quest to perfectly emulate paper. Its ability to delicately change the color temperature of the screen to easy-on-the-eyes shades of yellow is a small tweak to a winning formula, but one that may represent the end of a very ambitious journey. Specs Screen: 7-inch Paperwhite display Shades of Gray: 16 Waterproofing: IPX8 (3 feet of water) $250+

Alienware Area-51m Laptop Laptops are growing thinner by the minute, which is great for throwing them in your backpack, but has effectively set their specs in stone. Alienware’s beefy Area-51m laptop valiantly swims against the current with its 17-inch screen and 1.2-inch-thick body that provides a unique superpower: this eminently upgradable beast lets you swap out your RAM, CPU and even GPU with ease. Yes, it’s more suitable for a suitcase than a briefcase, but this is the rare laptop you’ll be able to use for a decade.

Specs Maximum Processor: 9th Generation Intel Core i9-9900K (8-Core, 16 MB Cache) Maximum Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB GDDR6 Maximum RAM: 64 GB, 4x16 GB, DDR4 2400MHz $2,000+

GEAR PATRO L TH E 100 BEST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9

TECH

Fujifilm GFX100

Specs Viewfinder: OLED, 0.5-inch, 5.76 million dots Number of Effective Pixels: 102 million Video: 4K video at 30 fps $10,000+

Photographers know that the sensor is king: the bigger the better. Larger landing pads for incoming light mean greater sensitivity and more data to work with as you shape your final product in editing. The Fujifilm GFX100 is capitalizing on how much sensor technology has improved while simultaneously becoming (relatively) more affordable. The end result? The first truly mainstream mirrorless medium-format rig, ready for wielding on weekend walks through town, opening the possibility of lush medium-format imaging to a new range of photographers. Big-picture, medium-format cameras have largely been the purview of studio and landscape photographers — who typically have the luxury of taking their time to carefully set up shots — but Fuji has made sure the GFX100 appeals to run-andgun action shooters, street photographers, and travel and adventure aficionados as well. You may not see a GFX100 on the Super Bowl sidelines anytime soon, but it’s got a quick boot time when you fire it up, a fast autofocus, weather-sealing, built-in

5-axis image stabilization to ensure the staggering 102 megapixels are used to their fullest and continuous shooting at up to 5 frames per second. Unlike the many medium-format rigs that have come before, the GFX100 is meant to be brandished by hand in the field. With grips on both the side and bottom, it allows users to quickly pivot from shooting horizontally to vertically and back without contorting their arms in all directions. The GFX100 is also mirrorless, bringing along all the advantages and creature comforts that were once confined to much less capable cameras. For instance, it sports a high-resolution electronic viewfinder, which shows the image as it will actually be captured (rather than as it looks through the glass), with a tilting touchscreen in the back. It’s not a new feature by any stretch, but paired with a gargantuan medium-format sensor, it creates a combination of astonishing image quality and ease of use that is as novel as it is enticing, and which is destined to earn the GFX100 a place among the legends of Fuji’s past and present.

GEAR PATRO L TH E 100 BEST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9

TECH

Oculus Quest

Specs Screen: OLED, 1600 x 1440 pixels per eye Connectivity: Wireless PC: Not required $399+

By the standards of its technological ancestors, the Oculus Quest feels like a pipe dream. In 2013, as the first Oculus Development Kit shipped out to backers of a Kickstarter project that beat its goal by an order of magnitude, the bar was as low as could be: to eventually build a virtual-reality headset that did not immediately make you lose your lunch the way that first $300 prototype often did. Of course, it’s not just by that metric that the Oculus Quest succeeds. The all-in-one headset, a product of Facebook’s five years of attention and investment after purchasing the company, is a perfect storm of features that first cropped up in interesting but flawed predecessors and competitors. It has the all-in-one, wireless design of gimmicky but prescient smartphone-based headsets like Samsung’s Gear VR and Google’s DayDream. It has deeply immersive hand-tracking controllers and head-tracking capabilities, developed in the early days of its arms race with

the HTC Vive virtual-reality system. But crucially, almost magically, the Quest does its tracking with no external cameras or wires required. The Quest is by no means perfect. Its all-important wireless design leaves it limited in computational horsepower compared to competitors like the Valve Index that explore a different evolutionary path, offering perks like higher-resolution screens, a wider field of vision and more computational horsepower — but at a $1,000 price, plus the cost of a beastly PC to do the heavy lifting. The Quest’s rejection of that path, a path the earlier Oculus Rift seemed primed to race down, is what makes it such a crucial landmark in the still-developing field of virtual reality. Its mix of essential features, an all-in-one form factor and a reasonable $400 price point make it the first headset actually prepared to bring virtual reality into the mainstream the way earlier VR headsets were hyped to do, but ultimately failed to.

Disney+ It’s been more than a decade since Netflix kicked off the streaming age in earnest, and in that time, innumerable competitors have popped up to lay claim to your eyeballs. It’s into this crowded space that Disney+ is making its monumental landing. With an unparalleled archive including everything from all 30 seasons of The Simpsons to the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbusters, the promise of new content from juggernaut franchises like Star Wars, and a low $7-per-month price tag, it’s destined to be a game-changer the likes of which only a behemoth like Disney could deliver this late in the streaming wars. Specs Iconic Properties: Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Walt Disney Classics Upcoming Series: The Mandalorian, She-Hulk, Loki and more Supported Devices: iOS, Android, Chromecast, Apple TV, Roku, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and more $7/month

TECH

T H E 1 0 0 B EST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9 G E A R PATROL

DJI Ronin-SC The Ronin-SC, DJI’s latest stabilizing gimbal — born out of camera-mount tech used on its drones — is designed with the masses in mind. Made specifically to stabilize popular mirrorless cameras, it’s smaller and lighter than DJI’s older two-handed models, making it a better buy for photographers of all stripes. Add to that the ability to physically track a subject and remote control from your smartphone, and what you get is a pro-photography tool that’s more accessible to hobbyists than ever before.

Specs Gimbal Weight: 2.4 pounds Maximum Payload: 4.4 pounds Battery Life: 11 hours $439+

FEELS LIKE N O T H I N G. A N D

T H A T

M E A N S

E V E R Y T H I N G.

Our new Intraknit™ Merino wool baselayers have less seams, an articulated performance fit, and body-mapped ventilation to cut down on bulk while allowing for better movement. They’re breathable, flexible, and perfect for helping keep you warm in variable conditions and high-intensity activities.

smartwool

Sony a7R IV Resolution or speed? Once, photographers were forced to choose between cameras with maximum autofocusing power and high frame-per-second shooting and ones with huge megapixel counts. The Sony a7R IV blows that dividing wall to pieces. With a 61-megapixel back-side-illuminated sensor, autofocus points covering 99.7 percent of the frame and 10 frame-per-second shooting, it’s the best of both worlds. Sure, the menus are clunky and the video isn’t perfect, but the a7R series continues to redefine expectations as to what a camera can do. Specs Maximum Resolution: 9504 x 6336 pixels Sensor Type: Full frame Autofocus points: 567 $3,500

Samsung Space Monitor Monitors may be getting thinner, brighter and crisper, but they’ll always take up space on your desk, whether you’re using them or not. Samsung wants to change that with its Space Monitor, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the beginning of the year. With its adjustable built-in arm stand, it can do more than be a beautiful 4K display — it can also get out of the way and give you back your precious desktop real estate when you need it. Specs Screen Size: 27-inch or 31.5-inch Resolution: 4K UHD Refresh Rate: 60 Hz $400+

GEAR PATRO L TH E 100 BEST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9

TECH

REVOLUTION

VISUAL

EXPERIENCE

Experience a Visual Revolution

We set out on a journey to pioneer a new perspective. BirdsEye Vision™ featuring ChromaPop™ lens technology increases your field of view by 25%.

INTRODUCING 4D MAG™

Apple Mac Pro

Apple’s 2013 Mac Pro redesign that turned the classic metal box into a black cylinder casually known as the “trash can” was a daring failure. It proved to be a case of divisive form over lackluster function as it became clear the unconventional design made the Mac Pro next to impossible to upgrade. The 2019 model, on the other hand, is an explicit and resounding reversal of course. Its traditional tower form isn’t just retro-chic, but makes modular upgrades easy — at least, it will in some distant future when its powerhouse specs don’t cut it anymore. Configurable with up to 28 CPU cores, 1.5 TB of RAM and a mess of GPUs, the Mac Pro can be tricked out well beyond the needs of the average user (and even some professionals). It will cost you, of course. The base model — without even a screen — will run you almost $6,000, with overkill combinations climbing well into the double digits. But despite being chock full of bleeding-edge guts, what actually makes the Mac Pro

GEAR PATRO L TH E 100 BEST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9

so notable is its restraint. Its design is obvious and straightforward, devoid of the counterproductive flourishes that doomed its predecessor. It doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel because, well, the wheel is already pretty great. It’s a lesson any tech behemoth would do well to learn, but especially one whose flagship pocket supercomputer, which practically invented an all-new breed of gadget, is already over a decade old. It’s great to change the world, but you don’t have to do it every day. Specs Maximum Storage Capacity: 4 TB Shape: Rectangular Maximum GPU Setup: 2x Radeon Pro Vega II Duo + Afterburner accelerator card $5,999+

TECH

THE STANDARD

Apple iPad

When Steve Jobs announced the first iPad in 2010, people joked that it was needless and doomed to fail. In the ensuing nine years, Apple has sold some 360 million of the devices. In contrast to the clunky failures that preceded it, it’s become the most well-known tablet of all time, so much so that the words “iPad” and “tablet” are often used interchangeably. Apple has not rested on its laurels, instead

TECH

pushing forward with the 10.5-inch iPad Air, two models of iPad Pro for creative professionals, and the new iPad Mini, updated by popular demand last spring after almost four years untouched. This year, Apple’s returned to its roots, issuing a seventh generation, 10.2inch version of its original and most popular iPad model. The tablet’s story is clearly far from over.

SINCE

2010 NEXT ITEM

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T H E 1 0 0 B EST P RO DUCTS O F 20 1 9 G E A R PATROL

Drinks

It’s easy to get into overly meta discussions around what the best drinks in the world are. Well, it has little to do with taste; quality is important, of course, but it will only get brands so far. The best drink products go beyond by offering up something the competition doesn’t — such as well-aged whiskey that’s shockingly affordable or spiked seltzer that’s both fun and serious. Of course, it doesn’t hurt when they go down easy. Top 10

Credits

152

Four Roses Small Batch Select

Words

156

Shacksbury Shorts

156

Old Forester Rye Whisky

R YA N B R O W E R ANDREW CONNOR JACK SEEMER J . T R AV I S S M I T H WILL PRICE

157

Allagash River Trip

158

Legent

160

George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond

161

The Finnish Long Drink

161

Riedel Drink Specific Glassware

162

Dims. Barbican Trolley

162

Haus Citrus Flower

Photos CHANDLER BONDURANT

Illustration P AT R I C K L E G E R

The Standard 163

DRINKS

Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

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Gear Patrol Magazine, Issue Twelve: The GP 100