6 must-have travel gadgets, according to industry experts

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

Summer is hanging on, which means there's still time to travel and make the most of your PTO, especially with the long Labor Day weekend quickly approaching. And to make the most out of your travel experience, you're going to need some helpful gadgets.

Also: The 7 tech travel hacks I swear by - after years of learning the hard way

I reached out to several experts in the travel industry to ask what their go-to devices are that make the long, sometimes unpredictable days of travel a little easier.

Andrés Serra is an experienced trip planner who has been to over 40 countries. He says the best travel gadgets should fix problems you run into often, without adding extra weight or making packing harder. His personal favorite gadget is the Twelve South AirFly Pro 2, which is also highly recommended by ZDNET audio editor Jada Jones.

"It plugs into the headphone socket on a plane and sends the audio to my wireless headphones," Serra told ZDNET. "This way, I can use the headphones I already like instead of bringing a wired pair or using the ones from the airline."

Review: This viral wireless dongle lets you share your audio on a flight - how it works

The battery lasts over 25 hours, charges with USB-C, and can connect up to two pairs of headphones at the same time if you're traveling with someone.