The best electronics & tech apps

Best Buy

Best Buy is the largest consumer electronics retailer in the United States, selling televisions, computers, phones, appliances, audio, and gaming through around a thousand stores and online. The chain pairs its range with the Geek Squad support and installation business, and runs the My Best Buy membership programme across both.

Newegg

Newegg is the largest electronics e-retailer in North America, selling computer components, peripherals, consumer electronics, and gaming hardware across some fifty countries including the US, Canada, and much of Asia and Europe. The business built its following among PC builders and still leans toward components — processors, graphics cards, motherboards, cooling — alongside finished laptops, monitors, and smart home products, with a marketplace of third-party sellers extending the range further.

Reverb

Reverb is a marketplace for musical instruments and audio gear, where players buy and sell new, used, and vintage guitars, synthesisers, drums, effects, and studio equipment. The platform is built specifically for musicians rather than general resale, with price guides drawn from actual sale data and a community of shops and individual sellers.

Back Market

Back Market is a marketplace for refurbished technology — smartphones, laptops, games consoles, and tablets — sold at up to 70% below new prices by vetted professional refurbishers. The French company vets every seller and grades devices by cosmetic condition, backing purchases with a warranty, and frames refurbishment as the environmentally sound alternative to buying new.

B&H Photo Video

B&H Photo Video is a New York retailer of photography, video, audio, and computing equipment, operating one of the largest single-store operations in the US alongside a major online business. The company is a reference point for professional buyers, stocking hundreds of thousands of products with unusually detailed specifications and comparison tools.

GameStop

GameStop is the largest specialist video game retailer in the world, selling new and pre-owned games, consoles, accessories, and collectibles across thousands of stores. The business trades in used games as well as new, and has expanded into toys and pop-culture merchandise alongside its core gaming range.

Woot

Woot is the original daily deals site, selling a rotating selection of electronics, home goods, tools, and oddities at steep discounts, including its long-running Bag of Crap promotion. Now owned by Amazon, the brand has kept its irreverent voice and its one-deal-at-a-time format, refreshing the offer each day.

CeX

CeX is a British second-hand technology retailer buying, selling, and exchanging games, phones, computers, electronics, and DVDs through hundreds of stores across the UK and internationally. The business runs a straightforward three-way model — every item can be bought, sold back, or exchanged — with published prices for each, and tested goods carrying a warranty.

Sweetwater

Sweetwater is an American music equipment retailer selling guitars, drums, keyboards, orchestral instruments, and professional audio gear, based around a single large campus in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The company is known for assigning every customer a dedicated sales engineer and for photographing individual guitars so buyers can choose the exact instrument they receive.

Plug

Plug buys pre-owned phones and other devices and resells them as certified refurbished, focusing on iPhones. Every device is fully tested, backed by a one-year warranty, and priced well below new. The company frames refurbishment as an environmental play — keeping working hardware out of landfill — and offers instalment payments through Klarna along with free two-day shipping in the US.

Thomann

Thomann is Europe's largest music retailer, selling instruments, studio equipment, live sound, lighting, and DJ gear from a single vast site in Treppendorf, Germany. The family business is trusted by more than ten million musicians, and is known for long warranties, a generous return period, and stock depth no local music shop can match.

DJI

DJI is the dominant maker of consumer and professional drones, and also produces gimbals, action cameras, and stabilisation equipment for filmmakers. The Chinese company sells direct through its own online store, pairing hardware with the DJI Academy tutorial programme, the SkyPixel creator community, and its DJI Care support plans.

Samsung

Samsung is a South Korean electronics manufacturer and one of the world's largest producers of smartphones, televisions, appliances, and semiconductors. Its Shop Samsung app is the company's direct retail channel in Western markets, selling Galaxy devices, home appliances, and accessories with trade-in and financing options.

Wildflower Cases

Wildflower Cases designs limited-edition, fashion-forward phone cases for iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices, created by sisters Devon and Sydney Carlson. Collections feature bold, playful prints, frequent artist and brand collaborations, and coverage across many current and recent phone models. Positioned as unique, one-of-a-kind accessories, the brand treats phone cases as a personal style statement with regularly dropping designs.

RPM Tesla

RPM Tesla makes and sells aftermarket accessories for Tesla vehicles, spanning interior upgrades, exterior trim, and lighting, with a catalogue of well over a thousand parts covering the current Tesla line-up. Based in Rancho Santa Margarita, California and trading since 2013, the company has shipped hundreds of thousands of orders worldwide and pairs its products with detailed DIY installation videos, lifetime warranties on selected parts, and no restocking fees.

DC Audio

DC Audio makes high-end car audio equipment — subwoofers, amplifiers, and speakers — aimed at the competitive sound-off and custom install scene rather than at casual upgrades. The brand designs and builds its own products in the US and sells direct to enthusiasts assembling complete systems.

MagBak

MagBak makes magnetic phone cases, mounts, chargers, and accessories for iPhone, built around a low-profile magnetic system that attaches to walls, cars, and desks. The American brand designs its own hardware and sells direct, competing on the strength of the magnetic hold rather than on case styling.

Pela

Pela makes eco-friendly phone accessories, best known for what it bills as the world's first 100% compostable phone case. Its cases fit Apple, Google, and Samsung devices, and the brand extends into accessories like mini wallets. Pela's positioning centers on sustainability and reducing plastic waste, appealing to environmentally conscious consumers who want protective, everyday tech accessories made from compostable, plant-based materials.

Chicago Music Exchange

Chicago Music Exchange is an American guitar shop known internationally for its vintage and rare instrument inventory. The store buys, sells, and trades vintage guitars and amplifiers alongside new instruments, and photographs every used instrument individually because no two vintage guitars are alike — the wear, the finish checking, and the hardware all differ.

Skinnydip London

Skinnydip London designs phone cases, tech accessories, bags, and gifts with a bold, playful aesthetic, built around frequent drops and licensed collaborations with entertainment and pop-culture properties. The London-based brand sells direct online and through retail partners, with a young audience that follows it for collection launches as much as for everyday accessories.

FLAUNT Cases

FLAUNT Cases makes square-edged phone cases designed for both protection and appearance, built with cushioned corners and grippy edges. Produced under Case-Mate, the brand targets a fashion-led audience and has built its visibility through celebrity and influencer use rather than carrier retail, releasing colourways and finishes in the way an accessories label would rather than a phone accessory maker.

refurbed

refurbed is an Austrian marketplace for refurbished technology, selling smartphones, laptops, tablets, and increasingly sports and household equipment across Europe. Every device is professionally refurbished by vetted partners, graded for cosmetic condition, and sold with a warranty, and the company frames the whole model around sustainability — keeping working hardware in use — as much as around the price saving.

Rokform

Rokform makes rugged, mountable phone cases and mounting systems for iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices, with magnetic and twist-lock mounts for cars, motorcycles, and bicycles, plus magnetic wallets, sport rings, and charging stands. The company is based in Southern California with a showroom in Irvine, and builds for people who need a phone secured on the move — riders, cyclists, and drivers — rather than for fashion-led case buyers.

Caseteroid

Caseteroid designs and sells phone cases, adding new styles to its collection regularly. The brand sells direct online across the major handset models from both Apple and Android manufacturers, competing on design variety and frequency of new releases rather than on protective specification or rugged construction.