Jon Lamont’s Top Tech from 2025

At the end of every year, we here at MobileSyrup like to put together some retrospectives on the year in tech. From lists of top phones and games to individual writers’ favourite tech, we spend a lot of time looking back and celebrating.

It’s an important exercise, especially in a year like this. I gotta be honest, 2025 was not the easiest year for myself, or for the MobileSyrup team as a whole. We had a lot of challenges, we lost a core member of our team, but we also did some fantastic work and told some important stories this year.

With all that in mind, I want to share some of the things that have brought me joy this year. Who knows, maybe some of these things can bring some joy to you too.

Path of Exile 2

First and foremost, I gotta shout out Path of Exile 2 (PoE2). This game has been my go-to game all year and I have been having an absolute blast with it. Developer Grinding Gear Gamesshould be commended for its impressive work. PoE2 is a gorgeous ARPG with an astonishing breadth of classes, skills, abilities, gear, and more, allowing players to create some truly insane builds. I am very much a casual PoE2 enjoyer, but I’ve seen some people pull off insane combos with the right gear and set-up. Sure, the game has some roughness — it is in early access, after all — but it gets so much right that I’ve been willing to overlook the issues.

I would highly recommend PoE2 to anyone who loves ARPGs, or anyone who enjoys deep, complex games with a ton of room for progression and improvement. It’s truly something to sink your teeth into over time. Currently, PoE2 is priced at around $42 for early access, though it’s planned to be free-to-play at launch. The game also had occasional free-to-play weekends this year, giving people a chance to try before they buy. (Understandable if you want to wait to try it before buying, but I’d also say I’ve gotten way more content out of the $42 early access than I’ve gotten from most $90+ AAA titles in recent years, so I think the price is more than fair.)

You could also give its predecessor, Path of Exile, a try. It’s free to play and still receives regular content updates, though I find it can be a bit overwhelming for new players, given the decade-plus of content in the game now.

12-inch Surface Pro (2025)

While I unfortunately haven’t gotten around to reviewing it yet, I wanted to shout out Microsoft’s 2025 12-inch Surface Pro 2-in-1 laptop. I’ve had mixed feelings about the 2-in-1 category in the past, and I’ve never quite jived with the Surface Pro line, but this year’s model has totally turned me around. Honestly, it’s become one of my favourite laptops overall. But to fully explain why, I need to share some context.

I’ve always enjoyed writing, and for a long time, I’ve had a hobby of creative writing. However, I’ve increasingly had difficulty sitting down to write creatively when I also do a lot of writing in my 9-to-5. Frankly, it feels too much like work, which kinda kills the creative flow for me. So this year, I experimented with ways to shake up creative writing to make it feel less like work — one of the ways I tried doing that was by experimenting with different writing devices. I hoped that having a different environment for creative projects might help kickstart those creative juices and, to an extent, it has helped. I tried a bunch of different options before ultimately choosing the Surface Pro.

The main pros for me include the small size, making it conveniently portable, versatility with the 2-in-1 form factor, and the overall lovely typing experience. It’s a bit on the pricey side, starting at $1,199.99 (though on sale at the moment for $999), not including the keyboard attachment. That makes it tough to recommend, but if you have the money to splurge and want a smaller tablet-like device that’s also a fully capable Windows laptop, the Surface Pro (2025) is a solid choice.

Warframe 🍁

Coming in at number three for me was Warframe. This made-in-Canada game has been on my radar, but aside from a very brief stint nearly a decade ago, I haven’t really played it at all. After reading the extensive coverage of Warframe this year by MobileSyrup’s excellent gaming editor Brad Shankar, I decided to take the plunge and dive into the game. Now it’s one of my top games of the year.

I’ve honestly barely scratched the surface of Warframe. Over the last few months I’ve been slowly chipping away at story content and completing the star chart — a navigational map of various planets in the solar system, each containing tons of missions to run. There are so many things to do, it’s honestly quite overwhelming, but the moment-to-moment gameplay is immensely satisfying and keeps me coming back for more.

I was a big Destiny 2 fan for many years, so in a lot of ways Warframe is scratching a similar itch (though the games are also very, very different). And between this and PoE, you may have noticed a trend — I’m increasingly drawn to long-running, free-to-play titles.

The business model really fascinates me, where these companies offer fantastic, deep, complex games with hours and hours of free content, and make their money off assorted microtransaction purchases, the vast majority of which are cosmetic and aren’t necessary to play the game at all. Granted, there are some convenience items available for purchase too, like expanded inventory slots for example, but there are also ways to earn these things in-game, so you don’t need to buy anything unless you really want to. I could write a lot more about this, but I’ll stop here to save time. Point is, go try Warframe — it’s free, it’s Canadian, and it’s a really cool game.

Keychron Q16 HE 8K Magnetic Switch Ceramic keyboard

Okay, time for my ultra nerd moment. Yes, I am putting a keyboard on my top five tech list. Yes, it is that good.

I wanted to write about this keyboard earlier (and I still plan to write a full story about it), but it came in just before the Black Friday rush started and I’ve been too swamped to work on it since. But, from the moment I first saw the words “ceramic keyboard” in my inbox, I knew I had to try it.

Keychron’s Q16 HE 8K is a fantastic little keyboard. As someone who spends most of their day typing, having a good keyboard can make a huge difference — typing on this board every day brings a smile to my face.

It’s quite unique. The ceramic keycaps (as opposed to plastic on most keyboards) feel very premium. The compact size is a delight. The magnetic switches are buttery smooth and feel great for both typing and gaming (plus they open up a ton of customization options if you really want to fine-tune your keyboard). Oh, and the keyboard produces the most delectable ‘thock‘ sound when typing.

At $229.99, it’s pricey but not insane for a high-end mechanical keyboard. But if you want a similar feel, you can get other Keychron boards with magnetic switches for as low as $100. Nice as the ceramic is, I don’t think it’s a must-have.

A library card

I can already hear people angrily typing that a library card doesn’t count as technology — stop it, you’re wrong. There is, in fact, a tech angle — multiple, actually — so please sit tight and read on.

A library card is probably the single-best thing you can get, and if you don’t already have one, you should go and get one and start using it. I’ve significantly increased my library use over the last year, to the point that visiting the library is a weekly family ritual. It’s a great way to get tons of books — my wife and I are big readers, and reading is something we prioritize with our daughter too — but it’s also way more.

Our library has tons of movies, TV shows, and even games available to borrow — with streaming prices climbing yearly and games getting more expensive, it’s a great way to save some money. Many libraries also offer ebooks now, allowing people to borrow books right from their e-reader without needing to step inside the building. Our library also has access to lots of tech, including computers, 3D printers, and more. For the fellow parents out there, libraries have tons of things for kids, including books, old-school educational computer games, and even toys and puzzles. Tons of weekly events and activities — we recently brought our daughter to one where there were kits to make simple circuits.

Granted, not every library will have all of the above, but even still, the value you can get out of a library card is crazy. Do yourself a favour and get one, then maybe unplug for a bit and read a book. It’s nice not to use a screen for something once in a while.