Fill your stocking for less than £100
Hue need good lighting – and Phillips has the answer
APPLE PENCIL (FIRST GENERATION) THIS Christmas lots of people will be waking up on Christmas morning to the new iPad – Apple’s entry-level tablet is more powerful and yet more affordable than ever before at £350.
One of its new features is compatibility with this, the first generation Apple Pencil. Complete the set by adding this powerful game-changing accessory – it adds more functionality and opens up a whole new world of creativity.
Price: £89 at apple.com/uk
BELKIN POCKET POWER 5K
THERE’S nothing more frustrating than being out and about when your
Kindle your interest in reading with these Amazon Kindle Fire 7 tablets phone’s battery dips into the red zone.
It’s true that you shouldn’t have to worry about that, and yet as phones get ever-more complicated, battery technology is hardly keeping up with the pace. That’s why you need to carry a spare battery pack with you wherever you go, so you no longer have to worry about running on empty.
There aren’t many makers with a better reputation than Belkin, and there aren’t many packs they make that are better value than this – you should be able to recharge the average phone one-and-a-half times. Price: £25 at vodafone.co.uk
KODAK SMILE INSTANT CAMERA
THE Kodak Smile camera brings the best of the digital and analogue worlds together in a single device – it is both a camera and a printer. OK, so the camera bit of it won’t be giving Leica nightmares, but as a fun point and shoot, it’s a bit of take-anywhere joy.
It prints your photos instantly using an inkless process, so you never have to worry about running out of ink (the colour is in the special photo paper you have to use with it), but if you stick an SD card in it, it’ll also store your digital photos for use online
Price: £59 at centresdirect. co.uk
SKULLCANDY INDY WIRELESS EARBUDS
IF you’re looking for some more discreet on-the-go sound machines, and you’re not going to splash out for Apple’s excellent AirPods Pro at £250, Skillcandy’s Indy earbuds, above left, are a decent compromise.
They’re water resistant, offer up to 16 hours of battery life via the included charging case, and have on-device touch controls. They do everything you want them to, and nothing you don’t – and they sound pretty good, too.
Price: £69.99 at skullcandy.co.uk
GOOGLE CHROMECAST ULTRA
THE simplest way of getting video off your phone or tablet and onto the big screen is Chromecast, Google’s plug-in dongle that provides video streaming from devices to TVs.
More or less any video app on Android and iOS will stream to this device, at quality up to 4K (some exceptions do apply, so check the app you want will work with the Chromecast before buying).
There’s a cheaper Chromecast available, but this is the one to go for if you have a 4K TV or are planning to get one... it’s future proof.
Price: £69 at store.google.com