It’s the time of year when stockings are in need of stuffing and trees are laden with boxes. So, why not make the season merry and bright with the twinkling of LED screens and smart tech. Paste has some high-tech ideas for gifts sure to bring joy to all the special people in your life.
Google Pixel Watch (From $299)
Google finally released their own smart watch and the mix of FitBit functionality with their already excellent Google Wear OS makes it a superb and useful timepiece. The LTE version can even let you stay in contact without your phone. The sleek design, smart interface, and varied functionality all make it one of the best smart watches out there.
Google Pixel 7 Pro (From $750)
Google’s latest flagship phone continues to impress with a superb screen and camera. Running the latest Android OS, Pixels get the updates first, which is a nice perk, and while it’s not the most exciting yearly update for the line, we’ve found it to be more reliable over all than last year’s and a fast, reliable powerhouse phone overall.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 (From $999.99)
Samsung’s best entry in its flip phone revival hits all the marks, and Samsung is offering some great Black Friday deals on it and many other devices, including a $150 instant rebate and up to a $600 value for enhanced trade-in towards the phone.
Soundforce Liberty Air 2 Pro ($60)
Surprisingly good sound and battery life for less. These noise-canceling earbuds offer high-end options for a lot less than the Apple AirPods they are clearly modeled after. With a handy wireless charging case, Bluetooth connectivity, and several different noise canceling modes, the Liberty Air 2 Pro is a fully featured pair of buds that won’t break the bank.
Diesel Gen 6 Griffed Smartwatch ($350)
This rugged Diesel smartwatch runs the latest Wear OS 3.0 and has all the bells and whistles we’d want from a modern high tech watch. Fitness and heart rate tracking, Alexa onboard, and waterproof the three meters, it’s a great choice for a distinctive men’s watch with plenty of style and functionality.
Acer Chromebook Spin 514 ($699)
Acer has released quite a few topnotch Chromebooks, but the Spin 514 boasts the new AMD Ryzen 5000 C-series processors giving it the power to really game. One of the few Chromebooks that currently supports Steam on Chrome, it’s a well-rounded machine for both work and play.
Acer Swift 3 OLED (From $899)
A perfect choice for those in need of a powerful, yet compact Windows laptop with a focus on a gorgeous screen.The 14-in 2.8K OLED screen offers superb colors and deep blacks. The 12th Gen Intel Core H-series processor keeps things speedy and it wakes up in a second. At just around three pounds, this is an ideal laptop for those on the go.
Amazon eero Pro 6E Tri-band mesh Wi-Fi 6E system ($179, $419 three-pack)
Easy set-up, app-based controls, parental controls, large coverage, and fast Wi-fi 6E for gigabit speeds makes this mesh system ideal for anyone in need of a wi-fi upgrade. It’s especially perfect for those lucky enough to have fiber connections and, since it’s from Amazon, integrates well with both Alexa and the bulk of smart home devices.
Amazon Echo Dot with Clock ($60)
There’s an array of Amazon Echo devices, both with screens and without, but we’re partial to this particular Dot as an ideal bedside helper. Decent sound and a soft glowing LED clock display make it a remarkably useful alarm clock that can also sing to you, give you the weather report, and tell you you’re pretty.
Sinope Smart Thermostat ($104.99)
Smart thermostats are great for energy saving and controlling your house from anywhere, but most of them are only for traditional HVAC systems. Sinope has a line of high-voltage smart thermostats for electric heaters that lets users easily smarten up their room heaters. It makes a difference too, if you’re using baseboard or other electricity-heavy heating, since you can make detailed schedules about when to use it and how much, and control it all through the app or other smart home assistant devices.
Sensibo Elements ($169)
If you’re worried about the air quality in your house, a room-based air quality sensor is a smart purchase. The Sensibo Element provides an in depth report about the air quality of whatever room its plugged into and allows you to monitor anytime and anywhere through the mobile app. If you have the Sensibo Pur air filter, it can even activate it automatically to help clean the air.
Ecobee Smart Thermostat ($150-$220)
Smart, connected thermostats just make sense and the best of them is the Ecobee Smart Thermostat. Available in a Premium, Enhanced, and Lite models, the high-end Premium offers air quality monitoring and even Alexa built-in, but all of these work essentially the same as actual thermostats. A sleek, stylish design, intuitive touchscreen interface, and exceptionally smart and user-friendly functionality all add up to the best gift you can give to increase a home’s comfort level and save on energy costs.
XGIMI Horizon Pro Projector ($1699)
Intelligent auto-focus, Android TV builtin, and a surprisingly bright and sharp 4K picture all help make XGIMI’s latest projector well worth considering. The solid box even houses surprisingly good Harmon Kardon speakers for that on-the-go movie experience. Capable of projecting up to a 300 inch (25’) screen, it’s a versatile entertainment machine with a great picture.
DJI Mavic 3 Classic ($1600)
As a general rule of thumb, there’s DJI drones and then pretty much every other drone. Superb controls, an array of high-tech safety and AI features to keep it from plowing into obstacles, and just an absurd level of refinement makes DJI consistently the cream of the crop. The DJI Mavic 3 Classic is full to the brim with features like auto-homing, object avoidance, exceptional range, great camera, and on and on to the point where it will spoil you for anything else. If you have someone on your list who wishes to get flying,this is the way to go.
AnkerMake M5 3D Printer ($799)
3D printing is getting so close to being consumer-friendly and offerings like the M5 are a great example. Easy, two-piece assembly and intelligent features make this one of the most user-friendly 3D printers we’ve ever seen. The sleek design makes it look great on any desk as well. It’s fast in comparison to other similarly and lowered price printers with surprisingly consistent levels of quality prints.
Mycroft AI Mark II ($349)
If you have a coder or techie maker on your list, Mycroft AI’s Mark II might be the desk buddy for them. The Mark II is an open-sourced virtual assistant with a custom security-focused AI assistant that keeps all your data locally. Security is a prime selling point. You have to press a button to even query the Mycroft, so the machine isn’t always listening. The custom software can do all the general things we usually ask of Alexa-set timers amd alarms, give us the weather, look up things online, and a myriad of other useful tasks. It’s certainly not as user-friendly as the mainstream choices, but a fascinating gadget for the right person.