(Pocket-lint) – The cars coming out right now, on the bleeding edge, are full to the brim with tech, from integrated displays and Bluetooth to chargers and sophisticated audio systems, but that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to add.

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Whether you’re driving a motor fresh off the line, or have a much older vehicle that could do with some sprucing up, there are a huge ranges of gadgets out there that can help to make your car feel more modern, or to add some amazing features you might need. We’ve brought together some of the very best for you, right here. 

The best car/auto gadgets to buy today

Amazon

Amazon Echo Auto

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There’s nothing like going hands-free to make your life easier on the road – it lets you get things done on the move without any risk of undue distraction. Amazon’s Echo Auto has been a mainstay in the US for years and is now available in the UK and EU at long last, letting you take advantage of Alexa’s help on the go. 

It makes controlling the radio, setting reminders or timers and doing anything else you’d use Alexa for an absolute doddle, and is super useful on school runs or during commutes to make sure you can still be productive. 

Anker

Anker Roav SmartCharge T1

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Another way of going hands-free is presented by Anker, if you’re not embedded in the Alexa ecosystem, or just fancy a great alternative. It’s got some great tricks up its sleeve, too, in the form of a radio transmission system that your car can interpret – this means that you can use it to beam audio from your phone, including phone calls, without needing any ports at all.

That’s great already, but the fact that it just slots into your cigarette lighter makes it even easier to use. This is a great way to get your car feeling smarter without spending much at all. 

Pure

Pure Highway 600

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If you’re looking for a car gadget that’s all about the music, Pure’s a great device to help in the Highway 600. Its Bluetooth connection to your phone will let you access radio stations via DAB+, while this version also has the benefit of super-easy Spotify Connect integration, to make playing your tunes a matter of just a tap. 

That’s really convenient, but if you’re happy to forego it, the more affordable Highway 400 offers most of the same benefits minus the Spotify hook-up.

asrvita

arsvitaBluetooth Cassette adapter

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As we said at the start, though, we know many people are driving cars where a USB port or even a modern cigarette lighter might be wishful thinking – for many, tape decks are still the norm. That’s where a superb adapter like this one from arsvita comes in – plug it into your deck and just like that you’ll have a Bluetooth device to connect to.

It’ll translate your tunes into a signal that the deck can read, and meld together old tech and new to let you pump out your tunes through a system built long before Bluetooth – that’s like magic, that is. 

Tile

Tile Mate

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Tile’s trackers are one of those little innovations that are so useful, in so many different walks of life, that we find ourselves putting them on a bunch of different lists, and no wonder. In this case, slap a Tile tracker on your car keys and you can basically forget about losing them – avoiding that terrible rush where you misplace the keys just as you need to get going. 

A finding range of a good distance means that you’ll have plenty of range to play with, while the tracker’s also nice and small to make it totally convenient to have on your keyring. Best of all, it works backwards too, letting you use the tracker to make your phone ring if you’ve actually lost the phone not the keys. 

Writing by Max Freeman-Mills.