Rackhams relaunch: Our tech expert seeks out savings on home gadgets and kitchen must-haves

Rackhams has been reborn, and the historic department store's digital renaissance was introduced with a promise of designer brands, and everyday essentials with plenty of customer perks.

And a quick look around the vast directory of products on offer suggests bosses are making a concerted effort to win back loyal shoppers, with aggressive pricing across all the departments.

Pricing on the new website varies, but there are some hefty discounts if you dig deep enough. In this article we'll look at some of the biggest bargains in the consumer technology departments. There's a lot to go at, from photographic equipment, to audio/visual, and plenty of kitchen tech on offer.

Here are some of the best discounts we can find on the new Rackhams website.

Oral-B electric toothbrushes

Save more than £200

If you've ever shopped around for electric toothbrushes, you'll probably be aware that some of the big retailers offer apparently massive discounts from the supposed recommended retail prices, particularly in the case of Oral B's products.

And while Rackhams is certainly leaping on a bandwagon here, the savings are still impressive, with one of the best offers on this cutting-edge Oral-B Genius X Electric Toothbrush. Its original price (not that anyone should ever pay it) is £300, but you can get one for £64.99.

And if that's still a bit rich for your blood, the trusty Oral-B Pro 3 3500 is priced at a thoroughly reasonable £35. It's available in black and pink, and it's quite a bargain.

Smeg KLF05 Retro 50s-Style Mini Kettle

Save £50

It's great to see Smeg back at Rackhams, and this iconic brand certainly isn't cheap, but a £50 saving on this retro mini kettle is one of many Smeg discounts we've spotted on the site.

This one's only 0.8 litres, so it's quite compact, but it has a 1,400w boiling power and it looks gorgeous.

Air fryers

Plenty of savings to be had

There's no shortage of air fryers on the new Rackhams website, and the prices range from bargain basement to posh and pricey. This one though, by Homcom, looks like great value at £38.99 - down from £50.

If you need something a bit bigger, but still want to save a few quid, take a look at this 10L Air Fryer Oven, also by Homcom, which is only £48.99, down from £63. Ten litres is enough to feed a family, and the oven-style design means you can roast, bake, grill, and air fry all in one unit.

Homcom Ice Maker

Save £20

There are a few ice makers on the Rackhams website, and they're perfect for the forthcoming party season.

Rackhams suggests this 12kg version is ideal for a home office - and that sounds like my idea of a perfect home office - but it's a decent saving for a quality bit of kit.

Robot vacuum cleaner

Save over £250

If you spend long enough trawling the vast selection of lines on the Rackhams website, you eventually strike gold. Possibly.

One of the biggest discounts in the consumer tech departments is on this Living and Home Robot Vacuum Cleaner, which has seen its price slashed from an original RRP of £422, to just £168.88.

I'm not convinced anyone bought one at over £400, but at just shy of £170, it looks like a tempting prospect.

It has a motion-sensing mapping system, a remote control, an accompanying app, and voice control through your smart speaker. It even has a mop pad. It's surely worth a punt at that price.

Living and Home Dehumidifier

Save over £130

Dehumidifiers are a popular purchase in the autumn months, because they help keep damp out of your house, and they're a great way to lighten the load when it comes to drying laundry on the cheap.

There are dozens of them on the Rackhams website, but this one really caught my eye because of the apparent saving. Usually £224, allegedly, it's dropped to £89.99.

It's also got a hefty 12-litre-per-day drying capacity and it can hold 2.5-litres of water. It looks like a great bit of kit.

Electric projector screen

Save over £100

There is a mountain of audio/visual tech to pick through on the Rackhams site, and some of the prices are pretty fair, but some are very impressive.

Here's a bit of a wild card. A projector screen that electrically glides down from your wall or ceiling at the touch of a button.

Oddly, Rackhams aren't selling any projectors at the moment, but pop on to Amazon, grab yourself a reasonable one for less than £100 (like this one) and curl up for some decadent movie nights in your own front room.

Oh, and if you're going to be really decadent, Rackhams will sell you a popcorn maker on a cute trolley too. A snip at just £374.99. Now, that's more like the Rackhams we remember.