Believe it or not it’s that time of year again, it’s dark when you leave work, freezing cold in the mornings and everyone is talking about Christmas which is only 1 month away. The tech industry can be such a minefield to navigate with retailers offering all sorts of different deals, but sometimes the offers are only on the older model of said product. So we’ve put together this handy guide of our top 10 tech Christmas gifts, everything from the top of the range tech to the best budget tech gifts.
1. Google Nest Mini
The older version featured in our list last year, but the new Nest Home Mini speaker is still a great product with a few additional features to keep it up to date. Although, it still looks the same it now has updated internals with 2x louder sound and the fabric speaker cover is now made out of 100% recycled plastic bottles.
2. Apple AirPods Pro
(Image credit: Apple)
The first version of Apple AirPods were good but slightly lacked on sound quality. That’s where AirPods Pro comes in with a lot more premium features including noise cancelling technology, transparent audio to hear your surroundings and customisable fit for comfort. The noise cancelling works by using a microphone to listen to outside noise and cancels it in your ear, it also reads the shape of your ear to make sure your music or podcasts are playing in the highest quality for your ears. It does all this 200 times per second to ensure high quality audio all of the time. Transparent audio works by simply clicking the button on the side of the earphones and you will then be able to hear your surroundings.
3. Microsoft Surface Pro 6
(Image credit: Microsoft)
The Surface Pro 6 is a perfect Christmas gift for students or people who need to take their work with them on the move. The device can be used in tablet mode, laptop mode and the screen also has a stand built in which is perfect for watching movies. As well as the keyboard you can also get an interactive pen to draw and make designs on the screen. It has a 13.5 hour battery life, runs on Windows 10 and has an Intel Core for fast browsing and productivity.
4. Ring video doorbell
(Image credit: Ring)
The Ring video doorbell is designed to help keep your home safe. It works by using motion detection to tell when someone is at your door and it will trigger a video call to your smartphone allowing you to talk to the person at your door wherever you are, even if you’re halfway round the world. It also records video like a security camera, so if (god forbid) someone tries to break into your home it will record what is going on. The camera is also HD so you can see the whole area at the front of your home with peace of mind that if something were to happen it will be recorded on the camera.
5. Bose SoundLink Micro Bluetooth Speaker
(Image credit: Bose)
The Bose SoundLink Micro Bluetooth speaker is perfect for playing your music on the go. Even though it is a small device it has sound quality and bass on par with much larger speakers. It’s fully waterproof, made from hard-wearing materials so you can use the speaker outdoors and it also comes with a strap to attach it to things like bikes so it’s perfect for indoor or outdoor use with peace of mind that it won’t break. It also has Siri and Google Assistant built-in and a 6 hour battery life. Perfect for blasting out your favourite Christmas tunes.
6. Tile trackers
(Image credit: Tile)
This also featured on our list last year but, again, it is too good not to miss off. Tile is one of the most simple, but useful pieces of tech you could ever buy for a clumsy loved one who is always losing things. Tile is a tiny Bluetooth tracker and easy-to-use app that finds your phone, keys, and anything you don’t want to lose-in seconds. Simply attach to an item and locate it by seeing its last known location on your smartphone using an app. It works round the other way too, simply press a button on Tile to make your lost phone ring even when it’s on silent. They now offer waterproof tracking stickers which can stick on to pretty much any surface to track anything from bikes to bags, with a 46m range and built-in 3-year battery. Another new product is a credit card shaped tracker for wallets and they also sell family packs with all of the different types of trackers included.
7. Google WiFi
Make sure you stay connected this Christmas with Google WiFi. Most WiFi routers just offer coverage around the area where you place the router but Google WiFi is different. You get one main router device and then depending on which package you buy, multiple WiFi points. So you can have one point in the kitchen and one in each room upstairs for example which ensures you have a strong WiFi connection throughout your whole home. One Nest WiFi router with one WiFi point is strong enough to handle up to 200 connected devices streaming multiple 4K videos at the same time. It also has the Google Voice Assistant built in for hands free help around the home.
8. Bose Frames
(Image credit: Bose)
People love to listen to music when on the move and most people use earphones to do so. However, Bose have had another idea to fill a niche with these Bose frame sunglasses. They have built in speakers directing music to you and away from others so you hear rich high quality audio while others around you can hardly hear your music. They connect through Bluetooth to your smartphone so you can listen to your music through the glasses when on the move. They use state-of-the-art technology to integrate speakers into the glasses frame maintaining a stylish design.
9. Philips Hue Smart Lighting
(Image credit: Signify)
Philips Hue smart lighting is a really cool piece of tech to transform your home into a smart home. It connects to an app on your phone where you can turn lights on and off, change the light colour and set timers for the lights to come on at a certain time. The most impressive thing is they are compatible with Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri so you can just say “OK Google turn the lights on in the kitchen” which is a really good feature if you get home and have your hands full with shopping. Guaranteed to give you hours of fun this Christmas turning the lights on and off with your voice.
10. inCharge Keyring Charging Cable
(Image credit: inCharge)
The inCharge keyring charging cable is the worlds smallest keyring charger currently available and is great for when you are on the move and need to charge your smartphone or tablet. It is waterproof, portable, tangle free, colourful and works with sync if you need to transfer files from your smartphone to PC or vice versa. This is a perfect stocking filler this Christmas.
Thanks for reading our latest blog post, we hope that you find the best presents for your loved ones and have a great Christmas!
