4 must-have devices I'll never go on a long flight without

The iPad Pro (or any iPad)

There's no need to be picky

The absolute best way of spending a long flight tends to be movies or TV shows. If they're any good, they can draw me in for the entire ride, to the point that I'm actually annoyed my plane is touching down. I finished the entirety of Masters of the Air during a trip to the southern US. More commonly, I'll alternate between movies and shows, which suits my attention span.

I could watch video on my iPhone, but that's less than ideal for a few reasons. One of them is battery life -- three hours of video can take a massive toll unless I keep my phone plugged in the entire time. Conversely, my iPad handles that with ease, leaving my phone ready for the most important tasks, like Google Maps navigation or hailing an Uber.

If I'm honest, the main things that matter are storage and display size. An 11- or 13-inch screen is far more immersive than a 6-inch one, and most of us probably have more free storage on our iPads than we do on our phones. That's crucial, I've found, because you not only need to cache enough video for the entire trip, but a little extra in case things go long or your mood changes. Rewatching Fire Walk With Me might sound like a great idea when you're on the ground, but you might want something a little more upbeat by the time you're on your third hour from Alberta to Texas.

I happen to own an iPad Pro, but really, just about any recent iPad will do. In fact I've been surprised at how vibrant the LCDs on entry-level models look, so don't feel like you need to splurge on an OLED-equipped Pro just to enjoy yourself.

Jabra Elite 7 Active earbuds

Please keep making earbuds, Jabra

I've had the Elite 7 Actives for a few years now, and they're easily the best earbuds I've ever owned. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how valuable noise-canceling buds can be on a plane -- when I'm watching a movie, they can mean the difference between total immersion or struggling to understand dialogue over the whine of jet engines.

The buds' noise cancellation isn't the best I've ever heard, so what really makes them stand out for me is customization, fit, and build quality. With the right EQ settings, they can deliver as much bass as a pair of Beats headphones, while still delivering reasonably crisp highs and mids. As for fit and build, they're effectively sweatproof with an IP57 rating, and their grippy texture makes them almost impossible to knock out of your ears. I've done that a grand total of once, despite engaging in some heavy-duty weightlifting activities.

Another important feature in a flying context is their support for multi-point Bluetooth pairing. That means I can switch between multiple devices without constantly re-pairing, or relying on Apple or Google's platform-exclusive switching technologies.

I'm actually genuinely upset that Jabra is out of the consumer earbuds market. I may just buy the AirPods Pro 3 the next time I need a replacement, but I'd much rather buy some hypothetical Elite 9 Actives, if my experiences are anything to go by.

The Steam Deck OLED

PC gaming with no muss, no fuss

While the Steam Deck's age is beginning to show a little, it still feels like a minor miracle. It's not only possible to play many PC games in handheld form, it makes the whole process ridiculously simple, no harder than running a game on a Switch 2. The only real drawbacks are that to achieve that convenience, you have to buy your games from Steam (or figure out a way of importing them into Steam), and make sure they're Steam Deck Verified if you're not prepared to tweak control layouts.

The original LCD Steam Deck is fine if you're looking to save money, but the Steam Deck OLED is preferable for travel, mostly because of its battery life. The combination of OLED, a bigger battery, and a more efficient processor means that it gets between 3 to 12 hours between charges, versus just 2 to 8 for the LCD model. It's also better built overall, and even runs cooler, which can impact comfort if you're stuck in a tin can 10,000 feet in the air.

When I say that the Deck's age is showing, I'm referring to processor power. A game like Hades II or Dispatch is going to play brilliantly, but it can't keep up with the most graphically intensive games. Also, Valve has yet to figure out how to make SteamOS work nicely with anti-cheat technology, so you can forget about playing something like PUBG.

The Boox Note Air4 C

Reading's not quite dead yet

Admittedly, I don't read much on flights. Much of my day job involves reading, and my attention span is pretty low. I have a tendency to get distracted or drift off to sleep if I read for more than 30 minutes straight. Sometimes, though, drifting off is perfectly acceptable, or even my goal. Back in 2012, I would've done anything to nap on my eight-hour flight from Austin to Amsterdam.

The Note Air4 C is a considerable step up from my previous e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite, mostly because of its larger, full-color e-ink display. That opens up the possibility of reading graphic novels, not just conventional novels and non-fiction books, although I'll still read those when I can find one that grabs me. And being an Android device, the tablet isn't limited to a single store -- I can access titles from every library except Apple Books.

Why use an e-reader when I've got an iPad? Battery life is one reason -- many readers can last for days or weeks -- but e-ink is also friendlier on the eyes, which can be a welcome relief if you've already been staring at screens for several hours.