5 tech products that seriously impressed our experts - and are up to 50% off

ZDNET's Lab Awards series combines the rigorous testing done in our Louisville, Kentucky-based lab and our decades of hands-on testing expertise. Our lab has tested everything from robot vacuums to phones to VPNs -- in each product category, we award a winner that outperforms the others in a given test, like battery life.

Also: Prime Day ends soon: We hand-picked the 95+ best deals still live, before they disappear

Many of the products we've tested in the lab are flagship devices from big-name brands, so they don't come cheap. But during Amazon's Prime Day sales event, a few of our Lab Award winners are on sale, so you can save on the best of the best.

The best Lab Award winner deals for Prime Day

The M5 iPad Pro won our very first lab award for longest battery life in a tablet. In our testing, this iPad lasted a little over 15 hours at maximum brightness before needing to be charged.

Also: We ran battery tests on 9 popular tablets - this model lasted the longest (and other surprise results)

We tested each tablet's battery life a total of 12 times: three times with maximum brightness/audio, three times with minimum brightness/audio, three times with maximum brightness/audio on Airplane Mode, and three times on minimum brightness/audio on Airplane Mode.

Show more

The OnePlus 15 came out as the winner in both of our testing methods, with the highest battery life percentage after one (98%), two (94%), and three hours (89%) of running video playback. Our two testing methods focused on measuring battery life after video playback and during general use.

Also: We battery-tested 17 popular phones in the lab - this model beat Apple and Samsung

This phone isn't available on Amazon, but if you buy directly at OnePlus' website and use the code EXTRA100, you'll get $100 off the OnePlus 15.

Show more

The Oupes Mega 1 was awarded the title of the fastest-charging small-sized portable power station (devices with 600-1,100 Wh). In our lab testing, the power stations with higher watt-hours per time charged were the top performers. The Oupes Mega 1 took only 21 minutes to charge to 100% in its group, while still retaining 1024 watts per hour.

Also: We tested 10 portable power stations in our lab - these two models were the most efficient

It beat other small-sized power stations from brands like Anker, EcoFlow, and Bluetti.

Show more

Our latest Lab Award went to the Cuktech 15 Air as the fastest-charging power bank. It charged to 100% in only 54 minutes. It also took only about 26 minutes to charge to 50%, which is great for those who want a quick top-up.

Also: We tested 10 power banks in our lab - and this one provided the fastest charge

We used a data-driven comparison process of how quickly each unit reached charge milestones of 50%, 80%, and 100% when power banks were charged using a 70W USB-C power adapter.

Show more

When is Amazon Prime Day?

This year, Amazon Prime Day runs from Tuesday, June 23, through Friday, June 26. In the past, Prime Day was held in July.

Editorial standards