It’s a gift at under £100
With prices this low, Santa can afford to be generous to the gadget geeks in your life
SO here we are, the last of our three great tech gift guides. And this week we’re focusing on inexpensive gadgets under the £100-mark.
I say inexpensive on purpose, because there’s nothing about this lot that’s ‘cheap’. It’s all top-quality stuff that’ll make life easier and a little bit more joyful for anyone who finds any of them under their tree this year.
AMAZON ECHO DOT
The Echo Dot is now on its fourth generation, which brings better audio and a new globe-shaped design. The catch is that you have to pay a penny shy of £45 for one, even when Amazon is running a decent sale.
The third generation, which is of the flat, ice hockey puck-style, design, is normally £39.99… but as I write Amazon has it on offer for £17.99. It does all the stuff the more expensive version does, and sounds decent enough – it’s no audiophile’s dream, but it’s a lot louder than it looks. It’s the most inexpensive way to get started with Alexa in your home.
£17.99 from amazon.co.uk
APPLE HOMEPOD MINI
If you want a great sounding smartspeaker and not just a decent one, Apple’s HomePod mini is certainly an option to consider. It’s just hit a new lowest-ever price, and features stunning Apple design as well as built-in access to Siri for voice commands.
The Apple smart-home world is not quite as rounded as support for other networks (there are fewer accessories that work with Siri than with Alexa for example), but if you already have several Apple drives the integration of the system means HomePod mini will fit right in.
£89 from apple.com/uk
NOKIA 6310
Sick of the distractions your smartphone brings and wish there was another, simpler way of keeping in touch with friends
and family… well, you are not alone. That’s perhaps why there’s a trend towards a more disconnected lowfi way of doing things.
Nokia’s reimagining of one of its classics from the pre-smartphone days – the 6310 – fits right into that world. And it comes at a bargain price. So if all you want to do is call and text, this could be the way forward. It has a battery that can last for weeks, can withstand a fair old beating, and comes at a knockdown price.
£59.99 from nokia.com/phones
APPLE MAGSAFE BATTERY PACK
If you are rocking an iPhone 12 of any variety that you’ve had for a while, you might be finding that the battery doesn’t quite have the stamina it once had. And if you have an iPhone 12 or 13 mini you’ve probably had battery anxiety while out and about a couple of times in the last week.
That’s why it’s always handy to have a battery pack in your back pocket.
With this one from
Apple itself, you get magnetic attachment so you don’t need to slot your phone into a case, although it still works if you do. With a mini you’ll get an extra 70% of battery life, and with a Pro Max you’ll see 40% more charge, so you’ll never have to worry about running out of juice again.
£99 from apple.com/uk
AMAZON KINDLE
When you give someone a Kindle, the device is not the gift. The gift is a whole new world of ebooks and audiobooks that can fit into a device that you can take anywhere. I love paper books, but ebooks are the way to go for three reasons.
You can fit a lot of books in there without the bulk and weight (great for travelling), you can adjust the size of the text (great for old people like me), and you’re saving paper. It’s a win, win, and another win.
The cheapest Kindle these days has a lot of the features you only used to find on more expensive models – particularly useful is the built-in light.
You can now also pair with bluetooth headphones to listen to audiobooks from Audible’s vast library. It’s a complete reading machine.
£79.99 from amazon.co.uk
APPLE AIRTAGS
Since attaching AirTags to almost everything I own, I have not lost a single thing. Especially useful is the feature that tells you if you’ve left a space without something you have a tag on – you can go back and get your bag before it’s too late. There are other tags available, of course, but if you’re in Apple’s world, these are a dream to set up and then get out of the way…
until you need them. £29 for one, £99 for a four pack, apple.com/uk