Tech I use in the big 26
As someone who spends nearly every waking moment on some kind of device or gadget, here’s the tech that I use day-to-day. This really is just a snapshot of how one early 20s guy (“digital native”, blegh) uses tech, and my attitudes towards technology in general.
Hardware
Computer-adjacent devices
- Phone — OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G
- Pretty decent mid-range, good battery life. It does the job.
- Has a headphone jack!!
- A shame that OnePlus doesn’t prioritize OS updates — I’m stuck on Android 13 unless I decide to install a custom ROM, which I don’t see myself doing anytime soon.
- Side note: I am hoping to spend less time on my damn phone. At one point I have considered outright ditching it for a dumbphone. But I realized that I can’t do without Google Maps, that stupid 2FA app Duo for my school logins, apps for government services etc.
- I also figured that I’m literally too good at procrastinating even in the absence of social media. Like fine, I’ll stare at the fucking wall if I have to.
- Laptop — Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 4
- It’s not the iconic T480 or in the most premium P series, but it’s solidly built and it just works...
- It’s “only” a mid-range device that I got on sale with wholly plastic casing etc., and it looks a bit chunky next to my classmates’ ultrabooks. I sure as hell prefer not having to treat it like it’s gonna break at the slightest bump or scrape, though.
- E-reader — Meebook M6
- Pretty solid Android 6-inch e-reader! Fits in my pocket too.
- I love being able to sideload books and read comfortably whenever and wherever I want. It’s very comfy, especially in my (poorly-lit) bed.
- (I plan to write on my experience using it in the future.)
- Tablet — iPad 6th generation
- 3rd hand at this point; it was first used by my dad, then my sister, and then it got passed on to me.
- This thing is nearly 8 years old and still trucking along, so I have to admit it is a solid device despite my general disdain for Apple.
- I use it to annotate lecture notes (with Apple Pencil), read PDFs, and occasionally draw or watch YouTube and stuff.
- So it’s not like I need it to be absurdly powerful or have all the latest bells and whistles.
Audio
- Wired earphones — Moondrop Aria
- They just work and they sound great!
- On my laptop, I use an Apple dongle as a DAC.
- Wireless earphones — Moondrop Space Travel 2 Ultra
- Again, they just work and they sound awesome, especially for the budget.
- The case is open and a bit finicky, so I got a little leather case to hopefully protect the buds better.
- Minor gripe: the gestures aren’t customizable — I would love to be able to change the volume (instead of play/pause) by tapping on them.
- USB microphone — Blue Snowball iCE
- It just works, man…
Peripherals
- Mystery wired USB RGB gaming mouse — secondhand
- It’s too heavy for my liking, but I don’t game that much anymore so it’s fine.
- Mystery Acer 24 inch office monitor — secondhand
- It’s not really a mystery. In truth, I can’t be bothered to lift it up to peek at the model number right now. It’s some budget 1080p IPS panel with a 75hz refresh rate.
- Wireless controller — IINE Athena
- I don’t actually use it for gaming, I use it for Anki reviews (with the Contanki extension) and it’s very comfortable.
Software (mostly web apps tbh)
Social
- Instagram
- I use MyInsta, a mod that has ad-blocking and distraction-free settings, among other features. I have all distraction-free settings on except for DMs.
- Look, I’m a young guy and Insta is the social media. Where I live we exchange Insta handles instead of phone numbers. It is the main messaging app I use with my IRL peers. There's no avoiding it entirely, but my profile is nearly blank and I hardly post or scroll.
- I do not like Reels (and all short-form media for that matter) and refuse to get hooked on that stuff.
- Discord
- My main messaging app for a handful of IRLs and mostly online randoms.
- I would consider this my main vice rather than “conventional” algorithmic social media like the aforementioned Insta, or Twitter, etc. :(
- Debatable whether this really is healthier than normal algo software. Despite everything being chronological, I don’t enjoy the way it demands my attention still.
- I do spend too much time on it regardless, so I have already left a few high-activity (and high-drama) servers that I realized were worsening my mental state.
- StoryGraph
- A Goodreads alternative for tracking books. Has other features like book lists, clubs, challenges etc., although I don’t really use them.
Utility & productivity
- Firefox
- Strikes a good balance between privacy, usability, and add-on availability to me. I use a lot of add-ons!
- I haven’t used Chrome in many, many years.
- DuckDuckGo
- Thank God I can turn off the AI features.
- I am a heavy user of Bangs, which is the main reason I don’t see myself switching to StartPage, etc.
- Google’s office suite
- As much as I dislike Google (and especially their recent gen AI push), I do like the convenience of being able to open up an online document or spreadsheet, have it across all my devices, and collaborate instantly.
- Anki
- Spaced repetition! Essential for my studies.
- Cross-platform and free everywhere except iOS, where I did pay for the iPad app. I figured the dev more than deserved my support for carrying me for, no joke, 6+ years of school.
- I’m not as consistent as I ought to be, and I burn out sometimes, but it does work to keep facts in my head.
- KOReader
- I use it on my e-reader, instead of the default pre-installed reader. It is optimized for e-ink devices, and I believe you can install it on Kindle and Kobo as well.
- Super flexible, customizable, and feature-rich! I just adore this app.
- Bonus: my default reading fonts are NV Palatium (a tweaked version of Palatino) for English, and Chiron Sung HK for Chinese.
- Obsidian
- I use this like a regular notes app to capture ideas on the fly and occasionally develop them… not much to say about it. I enjoy that it is customizable and expandable with plugins.
- My vault is basically hierarchical, with notes filed under headings on a master page, but I don’t really care to finagle with a fancy schmancy personal knowledge management (PKM) system when all I need is just a digital notebook, you know?
- Maybe there are better, more open, etc. Markdown apps out there, but it is what I found years ago and what I have stuck with.
- I use FolderSync to sync between OneDrive (where my vault lives on my laptop) and my phone storage.
- I use this like a regular notes app to capture ideas on the fly and occasionally develop them… not much to say about it. I enjoy that it is customizable and expandable with plugins.
That's all; if you read all the way 'til here, thank you so much and I hope you're having a decent 2026 so far :)