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It’s that time of the year again. Those weeks before the silly season when our thoughts turn to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, sharing holiday cheer, and buying stuff. It’s an entire season dedicated to the philosophy of “Such a deal.” But what to buy?
In this guide, which I warn you is going to be random AF, I’ve selected 11 interesting gifts that you might want to give (or buy for yourself). About half are items I personally use and couldn’t live without. The others are items I’ve selected, from the many I’ve been sent to look at, that show some promise and that you might find interesting.
Also: Best Cyber Monday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter’s guide
So, without further ado and in no particular order, let’s kick this list off.
SimpleHuman automatic voice-operated sensor trash can
It’s not nearly as silly as we thought it would be. Pricy, though. Quite pricy.
simplehuman
The video at the top of this story shows this can in action. If you want to be able to open your can by simply saying “Open can,” then this product is for you (or someone you really like).
When simplehuman reached out to me about reviewing this thing, I started off just completely amused by the idea of a trash can that responds to voice (not to mention all the tech, from voice processing to motors that has to be built inside). But after a few weeks’ use, we grew to like it. Quite a lot, actually.
Now, here’s the gotcha: This is a $200 trash can. Seriously. On the other hand, it works, it’s well constructed and thought out, and the trash can liners sold by the company fit perfectly. Is it worth two hundred bucks? Only you can answer that for yourself.
Amazon Echo Dot or Google Home Mini
They’re both small, inexpensive, and backed by the largest clouds on the planet.
Amazon and Google
If you or your gift recipient don’t yet have a smart home assistant, this is the time to buy. Both Amazon and Google are offering deals, either through their own stores or through retail establishments. You can enter the smart assistant market for under $30 if you shop around.
As for which to get, I like the Echo, but I’ll probably get one or two Google Home Minis, just for the ability to directly query Google by voice. We have a bunch of Echos around the house, and while having them can be sometimes just a bit creepy, their benefits as alarms, timers, calculators, home controllers, and music players has really grown on us over time.
See also:
Best Google Store Black Friday 2018 deals: Home Hub, Pixel 3, and Pixelbook all on saleBest Amazon Black Friday 2018 deals: See early sales on Echo, Fire HD, and more
Embr: wrist-based personal thermostat
Have a hot time or take a chill pill — on your wrist.
EmbrLabs
At first glance, this $300 device seems ridiculous. You wear it on your wrist, and it will either warm you up or cool you down, at the push of a button. Or so the vendor claims. It’s not something that will replace a jacket in the winter, nor is it something that can make taking the dog out at the crack of dawn seem less miserable.
Where Embr appeals is for people who are in shared environments where they don’t control the thermostat. Is work too warm or too cold? Embr might help. It straps to your wrist, so it won’t warm you like a cup of hot coffee or cool you down like a delicious iced cold lemonade. But what it claims to do is control temperature at the skin level, like when you wrap your hands around a hot cup or put a cold towel around your neck.
Also: Best Sam’s Club Black Friday 2018 deals: Buy a 75-inch 4K TV and get a free Xbox One S
We’ve got one in to test, and we’ll subject it to a full review soon. But in the meantime, if you or your giftee can’t tolerate the temperature in your office because your own Dwight Schrute refuses to make it comfortable, the Embr might have your back (or, at least, your wrist).
Stream Deck
I’ve wanted a device like this for years.
Elgato
This $129 USB device has a place of honor on my deck. Its primary use case is as a custom set of keys for game streamers who use Twitch and OBS to live stream video game play. Live streaming often requires switching modes on the fly, and doing so using a regular keyboard can be challenging.
The Stream Deck consists of 15 little keys, each of which has its own LCD display. You can customize the look and behavior of each key. This allows you to create a totally customized keyboard for your specific use.
Also: CNET Best Black Friday deals 2018
I don’t use it to manage game streaming, but I’ve customized it for Final Cut Pro X video editing. I can hit specific keys and automate some of my process. By mixing the Stream Deck with Keyboard Maestro, I can hit one custom key and make my machine do just about everything I want.
It’s not for everyone, but for some folks, it’s invaluable. There’s also a cheaper, six-key version.
Meural Canvas digital frame
Lots of art, on demand.
Meural
Last year, I wrote about the Meural Canvas, a new-generation digital picture frame. This is a wonderful gift, either for your own family or for someone you really, really like. It’s way not cheap, at $695 (but there are Black Friday deals).
That said, the key things we like about Meural is that you can subscribe to the Meural service (most of which is free) and get an ongoing stream of gorgeous art that just shows up on your wall. You can also upload your own pictures to the Meural, so if you want a 32-inch by 21-inch picture frame that shows picture after picture of the puppy or the grandkids, this is perfect.
Meural also works with Alexa as an Alexa skill, so you can ask Alexa to change the picture, turn on, off, or change brightness.
ScanSnap S1300i
It’s not exciting, but it’s proven to be incredibly useful.
Fujitsu
When my wife suggested I get a ScanSnap for my desk, I was understandably reluctant. I don’t use paper anymore. I’m not planning on doing any bulk scanning. And I don’t want another gadget on my desktop. As usual, she was right and I was about to learn something.
The Fujitsu ScanSnap line has been around for years, and the S1300i is also not a new product. But it’s small enough not to take too much space, and big enough to be able to scan in a small stack of papers. Here’s the thing: over the past few years, I’ve had to scan in quite a few items, often in a hurry. ScanSnap has been invaluable.
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If you’re #Adulting, you probably have contracts to sign, real estate agreements to review, medical documents that require signatures, and more. When I had to manage the end-of-life care for my parents, having a faxing solution combined with a scanner was incredibly important. It’s not the most fun gift. But useful? Yeah. Fujitsu lists it at $300, but I’ve found it online (ahem, Amazon) for less.
Cateck USB hub
It’s not only attractive, but does the job. The one I have is in black.
Cateck
Last July, I reviewed a sweet little $36.99 USB hub that’s still providing me with value. Even with all the ports on the back of my new Mac mini, I’m still using this hub. There are a few things I specifically like about this hub, which is why I still use and and recommend it.
First, it’s independently powered. That means that my USB devices aren’t starved for power. It has a wall wart that provides power to the hub, so it’s not tapping into the Mac mini for power and sharing that power across all six USB ports.
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Second, it has a full sized card slot and microSD card slot. I use full-sized SD cards in both my DSLR camera and in 3D printers, and use microSD cards in other 3D printers. Rather than trying to fit the microSD card into an SD card adapter, I can just insert the microSD card into its own slot. At first, I thought I’d be annoyed that the new 2018 Mac mini didn’t include a card reader, but using this hub is a lot easier, since there’s no reach-around required to load and unload the card.
Nightingale Smart Home Sleep System
It’s not sold as a smart plug with extra features, but maybe it should be.
The Nightingale is, essentially, a smart white noise generator. Some people find white noise can help them sleep, while others don’t. Personally, I’m not convinced it helped me sleep, but the $129 device does have some features that take it beyond the various white noise skills you can enable with your Alexa device.
First, the designers were smart enough to not hijack one of your precious wall sockets. It plugs in, but also allows other devices to plug into it. The way they did this is pretty smart design. The plugs become smart plugs, so you can have something like IFTTT turn on a device plugged into the Nightingale based on various inputs. The Nightingale also lights up, and you can change the color of the light, again depending on external situations. Finally, the sound emitted by Nightingale (which the company says is tuned to fit your room) can also be remotely controlled by the app or IFTTT.
All this means that Nightingale is a lot more than an app-based white noise generator. It’s a full smart home device that controls plugs, generates a colored light, and sound. For instance, I have mine set up to turn blue first thing in the morning if there’s rain outside, and play rain sounds. That way, when I wake up, I can immediately tell if it’s a rainy day (and therefore roll back over for ten minutes more precious sleep).
You can go beyond use in the bedroom. You can use it as a quiet alert system for any external event, playing sounds and displaying light that’s not disturbing, but still informative. It’s a surprising win.
Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina mic
The mic is a lot prettier than the guy in the picture.
I am often asked about the microphone I use in my video interviews and roundtables. As you can see from the image, it’s a beautiful mic. What you can’t tell, just from my spoken word discussions, is it also records beautiful sound and is ideal for live performances.
It’s called the Edwina, and it’s hand-crafted by a local Portland master craftsman and his team. Ear Trumpet Labs makes a variety of mic styles, all of which are gorgeous and have incredible sound. In addition to being a great piece of studio gear, I love the fact that Ear Trumpet Labs was founded by a former software engineer. Yes, there is life in meatspace for those who live in code!
At $599, the Edwina is a bit of an investment. But if you’re looking for a gorgeous sound that makes a statement, the Edwina can’t be beat.
Feiyutech SPG C 3-axis stabilized gimbal for smartphones
When I was a kid, we did some of our holiday shopping at Gimbels. Now, I’m recommending a gimbal as a gift.
GearBest sent this to me last year and I’ve used it a number of times in my walking and talking videos. If you’re shooting video using a smartphone and you don’t like the bouncing that shows up in your video when you’re walking and filming, this $123.54 device might be right for you.
My primary filming smartphone is a cherished iPhone 6s Plus. I love this phone because it’s the last one that has both image stabilization and a headphone jack for recording audio from an external mic. But even with the built-in external stabilization, walking can still be bouncy on film.
The Feiyutech SPG C helps that by using a powered gyroscope to compensate for movement. It works well as either a balanced selfie stick or as a point-and-shoot in walking direction. It charges with USB and holds its charge for, well, to be honest, longer than I’ve ever needed. As an inexpensive device that can vastly improve your movement-based videos, it’s well worth the cost.
Wiz connected lights
Light up your holidays!
WIZconnected
I’ve talked a lot about Hue lights over the years, particularly about how they connect to Alexa. I’m a huge fan of the Hue lights and, in fact, own about 20 of them. But recently, the folks at WIZconnected Co., Ltd sent me a couple of Wiz connected white and color lights, and I’m pretty impressed.