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The Last Word with Matt Cooper

Latest In Travel & Adventure Tech

21 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.571 - 23.558 Matt Cooper

And so Tech Thursday, Andy O'Donoghue is with us and we're going to talk about travel tech. And Andy, you've got something for, well, this isn't for neither you nor me, but a lot of women like bringing things like hair dryers and hair straighteners, cordless ones. Tell us about one you've got here from GHD.

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23.538 - 36.895 Andy O'Donoghue

And this is ingenious, Matt. And it's true. You know, you get somewhere, you're going out to dinner. There's been an attack of the frizz on the plane from, you know, cold air or, you know, all the dry air and all that. The GHD unplugged cordless hair straightener.

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Chapter 2: What travel gadgets does Andy O'Donoghue recommend for women?

37.316 - 59.28 Andy O'Donoghue

Seen it working. I'm taken by the fact that it's cordless. So this is battery powered. And there's a huge reduction in it. It's down to 234 euros worldwide. which is still expensive, however, ingenious. So 20 minutes of continuous styling it gives you, charges via USB-C from your laptop or a power bank, believe it or not. And it is a hair straightener.

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59.54 - 73.474 Andy O'Donoghue

And it's also designed specifically to be flight safe. So you can put it in your carry-on luggage. So if you're just bringing a rucksack or even a big bag, tote bag on board, ideal. And the reviews for these, women absolutely adore them.

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73.454 - 76.739 Matt Cooper

You're allowed to bring on board. I mean, you could use it as a weapon, couldn't you?

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76.759 - 97.252 Andy O'Donoghue

You heated it up to that. I'm going to hold you hostage until you straighten your hair. Yeah. But, you know, it's really and it's very neat, Matt. And I love the fact the USB charging is brilliant. So wherever you go in the world, you're not going to be worried about plugs and all those bits and pieces. So 20 minutes, it's going to get you set up for going out when you arrive even.

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97.272 - 98.955 Andy O'Donoghue

So really nice addition to the bag.

98.935 - 118.513 Matt Cooper

Yeah, I'll just briefly tell a little travel story related to... Alien had one of these products, a Dyson of some kind, expensive device. And in our luggage, one year coming home from holidays in a Dublin airport, only one of the two bags arrived on the carousel. And when Alien said, well, it's your bag, I'm sure you can get it delivered tomorrow...

118.493 - 127.168 Matt Cooper

But when I informed her that the Dyson was actually in my bag rather than hers, suddenly we had to hunt it down in the airport before leaving the airport.

Chapter 3: How does the GHD cordless hair straightener work for travel?

127.569 - 133.399 Matt Cooper

Yeah, go on. You have other things for us as well. You love our Sony noise cancelling headphones, don't you?

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133.72 - 157.332 Andy O'Donoghue

I do. There's a new pair of these out. So many of your listeners are interested in these. They often text you when we talk about them. the 1000 XM6s are out. And they're 399, they're expensive, really kind of anticipated launch. And they're better than the last version, but the XM5s are still brilliant. However, they are kind of the ultimate escape hatch for using on planes.

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157.793 - 179.761 Andy O'Donoghue

And you can pretty effectively delete the drone of jet engines and crying babies and whatever else might stop you from having a snooze as you fly. And I would say 30 hours of battery life. So you're going to get, you know, if you're going to Australia, you'll get there. And really lightweight, foldable, lovely travel case. And there's a multipoint connection, which is clever.

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179.781 - 194.4 Andy O'Donoghue

So you can connect them to multiple devices. So a phone and a laptop at the same time. They also, for flying, Matt, if you're transiting or you forget to charge them, there's a really great feature, this fast charge. You'll get three minutes of charge. We'll give you a couple of hours of listening time.

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194.617 - 207.198 Matt Cooper

Only thing drawback I will say with them is I found them fiddly and confusing to use with my phone. And I now actually use a pair of earbuds instead, much easier for phone connections and conversations.

207.418 - 223.707 Andy O'Donoghue

I think I've had the same experience with bigger headphones on ear. And so I agree, whereas buds, you can just tap and you can manage them very easily. But if you're watching a movie or you're listening to a playlist, that's not going to bother you on the flight. But I would say if anyone's thinking of buying before you go away, check out the shops at the airport.

223.727 - 229.397 Andy O'Donoghue

If they have the XM5s, they've been reduced by well over 100 euros most places, and they're a great buy also.

229.577 - 233.905 Matt Cooper

Okay. A power bank is also something I think you should bring on holidays.

233.885 - 258.443 Andy O'Donoghue

Absolutely, because you're never sure about whether you've packed the adapter for the phone charger or the laptop charger. So Anker, we often mention them. They've got a really big one. Yes, it's a dear one. It's about €170, €180. But the Anker Prime 27,000 milliamp one is tremendous and it'll give you 250 watt multi-device fast charging.

Chapter 4: What are the features of the new Sony noise cancelling headphones?

503.142 - 520.619 Andy O'Donoghue

And they're very clever. And so, you know, if you're a chronic overpacker, very useful. And basically you drop your clothes into the provided vacuum bag, you attach the device and it sucks all the excess air out in about a minute, 90 seconds. And you can increase the capacity of your suitcase by about 50 percent.

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520.679 - 523.665 Matt Cooper

Yeah, but then are you going to overpack it as in it'll weigh too much?

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523.645 - 538.06 Andy O'Donoghue

Well, if it's clothes, not too much, you know, because your clothes won't weigh much. It's not like you're filling up with, you know, heavy goods. So, you know, you're well inside your 10 or 15 kilo bag. For 50 euros, Matt, it's a really good idea. It would cost you that to check in a bag with many airlines now.

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538.411 - 550.245 Matt Cooper

Okay. Also, and this is an expensive one, but this is for people who go hiking. A Garmin inReach Messenger plus satellite communicator. Bring in your own satellite on your hikes.

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550.365 - 565.043 Andy O'Donoghue

I'm an advocate for it, given the world we live in. The inReach Messenger, they've actually been around for years. And there's a couple of these devices. But, you know, if you're looking at these, have a look at the Garmin because Garmin do satellites better than anyone really at the moment.

565.023 - 587.837 Andy O'Donoghue

So whether you're hiking in Iceland or you're driving through Morocco or skiing or you've lost a mobile signal when you're in the Alps or something, this little device will still send messages and emergency SOS signals via satellite. And it works completely off-grid. It uses the Iridium satellite network, which will get you pretty much a signal anywhere on Earth.

588.478 - 604.98 Andy O'Donoghue

And you can also share your live GPS location. So you can check in every day if you're trekking or you're in South America or, you know, a young person in South America. You know, your mother or your parents get a text every day, shows you where... I wish I'd known that last summer. Shows them where you are.

605.26 - 615.634 Andy O'Donoghue

So whether you're a hiker or a camper or a solo traveller or whatever you're doing, yes, it's expensive, but they're very clever. And if you're going to be out of touch for a long time, I think it's a great idea.

615.833 - 617.916 Matt Cooper

And then finally, solar panels.

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