The Best Gaming Accessories Released This Year

Of all the tech sectors, gaming is one of the most competitive. This corner of the industry never sleeps. In addition to the staggering number of new games released each year, warehouses of new gaming technology hit the market.

Modern online gaming is a massive industry with a global market valued at over $200 billion, and the last few decades have seen an influx of players. World of Warcraft began paving the way in the early 2000s, introducing MMO gaming to the masses, inviting players to the land of Azeroth to fight an ancient battle between humans and orcs. Since then, many genres have emerged to satisfy the needs of gamers with competitive FPS, MOBA, and even sandbox experiences.

iGaming is often overlooked, but it is worth mentioning as part of the larger online gaming sphere. The iGaming industry has seen an increase in player numbers over the past few years, with demand for online casino games reaching record levels. This is due to the adoption of mobile gaming, improved technology, and live gaming.

Modern online gaming can take its toll on your hardware. Even if you’re a slots player, you’ll need reliable hardware. As we approach the midway point of the year, here are the five best pieces of gaming gear released so far in 2024:

SteelSeries Apex Pro

Professional gamers take their keyboards seriously, and if you want to elevate your game, you should too.

Of the many gaming keyboards released this year, the SteelSeries Apex Pro is probably the most interesting. First, while it has everything you’d expect from a full-size mechanical keyboard, it doesn’t take up as much space as you might think.

It’s also one of the highest quality keyboards on the market, with an incredibly comfortable wristwatch and a ton of gamer-friendly tools and features. There’s an OLED that works with a large key and clickable dial as a media control, and it offers useful feedback on your profile and settings so you can change things in-game.

Its best feature is probably the OmniPoint switches. Not only are they more responsive than standard switches, but they are also customizable, allowing you to choose the sensitivity level for individual keys. For users who take the time to set up individual profiles for general typing and gaming, this can significantly increase their level of productivity.

You can also configure per-key RGB lighting, and the setup process offers a variety of options, including color effects and primary and meta key binding. Finally, there are three cable routing options and a pass-through USB port, making this the most customizable keyboard for gamers and general use on the market in 2024.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14

Asus’ ROG Zephyrus G14 could rightly be described as the best gaming laptop out there. Every aspect of this laptop boasts impressive features, starting with the fact that Asus has crammed a 14-inch, 2800 x 1800 OLED panel into a lightweight aluminum chassis that feels more like a 13-inch laptop.

Weighing in at just 3.3 pounds and offering 12 hours of battery life, the G14 is neither overly expensive nor lightweight in terms of performance. The main model has an AMD Ryzen 9 processor, along with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and Nvidia RTX 4046 or 4070 graphics, which outperforms all of its rivals.

If you opt for the top-of-the-range version with an RTX 4070 graphics card and 32GB of RAM, you’ll pay around $2,000, while the standard model is typically priced between $1,350 and $1,600, making it one of the best value-for-money performance gaming laptops out there.

Acer ZB253Q GW

This gaming monitor from Acer may not seem impressive at first, but it offers some of the best monitor technology on the market. With excellent image quality and high-end motion performance, this 24.5-inch 1080p monitor offers state-of-the-art gaming performance, with colors that rival professional graphics monitors and brightness levels that make it ideal for gaming in low light.

The refresh rate is an impressive 240Hz, although it can be overclocked to 280Hz, which provides crisp, clear graphics even in the most demanding games. The performance levels of this monitor can rival some of the newer Asus and Alienware devices that are much more expensive.

This monitor also offers a thoughtful design, and while the stand is small, it’s well-balanced and easy to adjust. There’s even a two-year warranty, which is an improvement over the standard one-year warranty typically offered on gaming monitors.

Audeze Maxwell

The Audeze Maxwell delivers top-of-the-line audiophile performance with a range of gamer-friendly features, including a low-latency 2.4GHz wireless connection that works well with a range of gaming platforms. You’ll also find support for a variety of Bluetooth connections, including LDAC, AAC, and Bluetooth LE, while wired connectivity is also available via AUX and USB.

In terms of performance, the sound is produced by planar magnetic drivers that combine power and precision, ensuring that every sound is clear. There are even built-in pinhole microphones so you can talk on the go, making these headphones suitable as a regular set of headphones.

The downside is the lack of active noise cancellation, but overall the impressive sound quality and comfort of the Audeze Maxwell headphones make them ideal headphones for gamers.

Gulikit KK3 Max

Price is a big factor when choosing a gamepad, which is what makes the GuliKit KK3 Max such a competitive option. It can hold its own against some of the highest-end controllers, but comes in at around $75, making it a much more affordable choice.

If you’re looking for high-end features, you’ll find them all here, from magnetic thumbsticks and Hall-effect triggers to macro support, adjustable rear paddles, and trigger locks. It’s rare to find a gamepad at this price that offers all of these extras.

In addition to these essential features, it also does the basics well. The design is comfortable, with a responsive layout that is semi-customizable, including floating face buttons and a choice of an 8-way or 4-way D-pad. The downside is that the KK3 Max is only compatible with Nintendo Switch and PC, and doesn’t work with PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S/X.

If that’s not an issue, you won’t find a better gamepad offering this variety of features at this price on the market in 2024.