Tech gifts for techies: Although Cyber Monday and Black Friday Deals have passed, many brands are still honoring their pricing throughout the entire holiday season. So, I’ve put together seven gift ideas for tech lovers in your life.
Here Are the best tech gift gadgets.
Aulumu A16 iPhone Case
With price categories or even categories of types of products, this is more so for those techies in your life that you’re looking to get some gifts. I wanted to start with one case in particular called the A16 by a company called Aulumu, new for your iPhones. They make this for an abundance of different iPhones, not just the iPhone 16 lineup.
What I like about this, and what the angle is with this one, is that you do have some perforations on the rear of it that act as some sort of passive cooling. But the cherry on top here is that there is a silicone plate on the back that uses the same tech you might remember from those mood rings back in the day. There’s a small section on the rear that changes color based on the temperature of your phone.
The warmer it gets, that little sliver of color will change; and the same thing happens when it cools down—it’ll change again. Now, this isn’t a perfect science. It’s more of a cool “wow factor” than something super accurate, but it does tend to work and is fairly reliable. The warmer it gets, you’ll notice the color change.
This is the A16 vegan leather case, though they do offer other materials to choose from. I just prefer this vegan leather one. Again, the A16 by Aulumu—I do recommend it for those techies in your life.
Analogue Pocket
Be all about nostalgia and going down memory lane—this is for those people who like to have their Game Boy emulators ready. This is by a company called Analogue, and it’s their Analogue Pocket.
This is the 2024 version of the Game Boy Color. Everything you’d want from a Game Boy back in the day has been modernized for 2024. From a much larger screen to a resolution that’s ten times the original Game Boy Color, to having USB-C charging, endless battery life, and even the ability to play physical Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games, this device is a game-changer.
While we’ve seen emulators on iPhones, like the Delta emulator, or dedicated emulators you can buy off Amazon, this one stands out because it can play your old-school Game Boy games. For example, I have Pokémon Crystal already installed, and I’m playing the actual game with the original save file stored on the cartridge.
Additionally, this can be used as an emulator thanks to a microSD card slot, if you prefer to use it that way. However, it’s a bit on the expensive side. As of now, the only color available is the black colorway. The red version, which dropped earlier this year, is now worth almost $400 on the secondary market. The black version, which I also own and use often, works amazingly well.
The buttons are clicky, the directional pad is responsive, and everything works as intended. It brings everything back from a nostalgic standpoint while meeting today’s standards.
If you know someone who still enjoys their Game Boy, loves playing Pokémon or just wants a trip down memory lane, I highly recommend this as a nostalgic gift. While you can download the Delta emulator for free on your iPhone and access those games for free, the Analogue Pocket is for those who want a dedicated device to play their cherished Game Boy games.
Sonos Ace Review: The Affordable, Premium Headphones for Songs Lovers.
When it comes to practical accessories or tech gift ideas, a great option for headphones has to be the Sonos Ace. These were released earlier this year, and I’m absolutely in love with them.
Now, I know the Sonos app has gotten some criticism due to recent changes, but for the most part, once I set these headphones up (and you don’t even need the app to do so), I updated them and haven’t used the app since.
What stands out about the Sonos Ace is how lightweight and premium they feel. They’re incredibly comfortable and more affordable than the AirPods Max. Despite the lower price, you still get features like multi-point connectivity. As a Sonos Arc user, I appreciate the ability to seamlessly listen to audio from my Sonos Arc and transfer it to the Sonos Ace headphones.
If you’re in the Sonos ecosystem, these headphones are worth considering. The ear cups are super comfortable and removable. While they’re not specifically designed for workouts, I’ve used them during exercise, and they work fine if needed.
Overall, I love the package: the sound quality, the awareness mode, and the active noise cancellation are all top-tier at this price point. If you’re looking to gift a pair of premium over-ear headphones, the Sonos Ace is the way to go.
Satechi SM1 Mechanical Keyboard: Slim, Stylish, and Satisfying
The Satechi Mechanical Keyboard I want to bring up is a mechanical keyboard by Satechi. This is the SM1, and it is a very low-profile mechanical keyboard that still gives you all the oomph and clickiness of a mechanical keyboard while trying to keep it as slim as possible.
Now, I’m someone who doesn’t like mechanical keyboards to begin with because they’re usually a little taller and more tedious to use, especially when typing for extended periods. So, this keyboard is perfect for people like me who want to get into mechanical keyboards because they look great and are satisfying to use, but still prefer the feel of chiclet-style keyboards. This is that perfect middle ground.
I’ve been using this keyboard exclusively for about two months now because I wanted to teach myself how to use a mechanical keyboard and get comfortable with it. This one has been amazing.
It can connect to up to three different devices, charges via USB-C, and even includes a 2.4 GHz connector that you can plug directly into your computer for reduced latency—although there isn’t much latency to begin with. It also offers various illumination options and customizable backlighting settings.
This Satechi mechanical keyboard is one I’m going to recommend over and over, especially for those who aren’t ready to take the full plunge into the mechanical keyboard world.
Dockase USB-C Hub
The next item I’m going to recommend has this cool wow factor because it has a translucent design, and it’s going to be the Dockase Explorer by Dockase. This is a 10-in-1 USB-C Hub. I think they also make an 8-in-1 and a 6-in-1 in the same kind of style and form factor.
This one has everything you would need out of a portable USB-C Hub. You have:
A PD port that supports up to 100 watts of power pass-through,
An HDMI 2.1 port,
A DisplayPort,
A USB-A port that transfers at up to 480 Mbps,
A Gigabit Ethernet port for hardwiring your internet,
A USB 3.2 Gen 2 port in the USB-C form,
Another USB-A port,
A slower USB-A port (mostly for charging instead of data transfer speeds), and
SD and microSD card slots for all of your data transfer needs.
What makes this great for tech lovers is twofold: one is the translucent design, and two is the 1-inch by 1-inch LCD. The display lets you get real-time diagnostics of what is being plugged in, what is connected, and what type of data transfer speeds you’re dealing with—which I think is awesome to consider.
You can see how fast things are charging, how fast data is transferring, and even the type of monitor that you have plugged in via the HDMI or USB-C ports.
Espresso Portable Display
Two more items I wanted to bring up—the first one is a portable display. I’ve talked about this one before, so I’m not going to harp on it too much, but it’s going to be Espresso’s brand-new 15-inch portable display. They’ve had it around for a little while now, but they made two significant upgrades:
They created a brand-new stand that allows you not only to position the stand side by side with your laptop but also to raise the dual monitor to sit on top of your laptop in a portable fashion. If you ever need to work on the go—out of a WeWork or a coffee shop—and you want the convenience of a secondary display above your laptop, this stand is perfect for that.
They drastically reduced the price. For $299, you get the display, which features a great 1080p resolution. In terms of design language, thinness, and build quality, there’s nothing else like it on the market.
Additionally, the $299 price includes the stand and a USB-C cable, making it a one-plug solution. What’s even better is that it doesn’t require a secondary power source, as it draws power directly from your laptop—a fantastic feature to see.
Kuxiu Lamp
I want to bring up Kuku’s lamp, the Kuxiu Lamp. It comes in two different versions: the large one and then also the smaller one. What I like about this is that I like to have it as a backdrop because it’s also an LED strip that you can move around and change the shape of, and it’s magnetic.
It charges via USB-C, so you can have it hardwired in, or you can move it on the go and have it lit for a few hours at a time. So that one is going to be a nice little kind of stocking stuffer, if anything, especially for the smaller one, and something to add a little bit of ambiance and some nice, high-quality aesthetic to whatever space you’re putting this light in.
conclusion
But those final thoughts are some of my favorite tech items that I wanted to recommend. Again, there are no real categories for this because I just wanted to put together my top seven list of some of the best accessories and gift ideas that are still out there, especially at certain price points. And, in my favorite, if I were to pick one of these, especially as a nostalgic gift, that Analog Pocket is something that I’ve been using over and over again.
I know it’s been out for a little while now, but they continue to do drops in different colorways. There’s this exclusivity to it, and they’re very expensive in the secondary market. So, if you’re able to pick one up directly from Analog, I recommend it, because I believe it’s $220 directly from them, but they do go a little bit higher, especially if you’re able to get some of those special colorway drops.
