Rene Ritchie’s Best Tech Gifts of 2018
- dec
- 20
You can't escape holiday gift giving — and receiving — and you shouldn't have to. When I shop for others and myself, I try really hard to only buy only a few, well-made things. Things that give value. Things that will last. Navigating all the Holiday Sales can be tricky. But, if you have a strategy and a list, you can save some money and make a lot of people really happy. These are the actual gifts I'm giving this year. And I can't think of a higher personal recommendation than that.
Getting a Grip
Spigen Style Ring
Cheap on Amazon and it lets you game, walk-and-talk, prop up, mount, and otherwise just handle your phone better than fingers alone ever will. Shoutout to CrackBerry Kevin for going all Louis Vuitton with it though. Oh, Kevin.
Charging It
Mophie Wirless Charge Pad
With AirPower still MIA, Mophie is my go to, Usually just over $50 bucks, sometimes on sale for much less. Walk in, drop your phone, it charges. It's not as efficient but it's convenient.
Coffee in Time
AeroPress
I just don't have the patience for pour-over so I'm all-in on AeroPress. For single cups, it's the best way to make coffee today.
Philter Your Soul
Philz Coffee
If you just want the coffee, Philz Philtered Soul is my current obsession.
Soothing Sips
David's Tea 24 Days of Tea
Everyone loves coffee except for the people that don't. For them, new, unusual, flavorful, energizing, calming, and just plain delightful teas aren't just the next best thing. They're the only thing.
Super Support
VECTOR Pins
I kind of love the way these turned out. It's the VECTOR logo, the same one from my YouTube Channel, with vibrant orange, deep black, and bright white, and it'll absolutely make you the cool kid in cool school.
Chewie is my co-pilot
CMD Buy!
Diesel Sweeties has some of the best geek pins in the geek industry, including Chewie is my co-pilot, pixel hearts, and command keys, starting at around 10 bucks.
Computer Comfort
Throwboy Pillows
If pillows are more your thing, Throwboy has all the classics, starting at 25 bucks.
Hey, Siri!
Apple HomePod
Persistent ambient computing is a life-changer. And, yeah, HomePod still isn't as feature-filled as Google Home, but after all the scandals this year, there's no damn way I'm giving a Google — much less Facebook, and probably not even Amazon — mic and/or camera to anyone. There are also some really good deals right now where you can save up to $100, and as a speaker, it's still best in class.
Colorful phone fun
iPhone XR
With a half-dozen colors to choose from, and the lowest price for an iPhone with Face ID, the iPhone XR is on everyone in my family's wish list and I'm not one to disappoint. The hardest part about gifting an iPhone XR is figuring out which color to choose!
Half Pro for half price
9.7-inch iPad (2018)
For all the talk of Apple getting more and more expensive, the company also keeps pushing its technology to the lower end. The iPad nothing is around $300 and supports Apple Pencil, which is tied with AirPods as my favorite computational object ever.
Life saver
Apple Watch Series 4
$400 bucks with just GPS, $500 with LTE. The new edged-to-edge display is nice but I'm giving it to my mom because of fall detection. Very few products are literally life savers, but this is one of them.
Form the head!
LEGO Voltron
Sure, Star Wars, Marvel, DC, all of that is great. But LEGO ideas are truly cool. There's been Ghost Busters, Doctor Who, Big Bang, Disney, Tron, in the past. This year, there's Voltron. Yeah, fucking Voltron. Form the head out of that.
Sound of freedom
Apple AirPods
If someone on your list doesn't already have AirPods or Apple Pencil, those are great too. Apple has sneakily invented this whole new category of computational objects and tools. Tiny computers that use bits to far exceed the atoms.
Game on
Nintendo Switch
Yeah, you might think I'm late to this particular party but I'm just in time for Pokémon Let's Go. It crosses over with the iOS and Android Go game, which I've crushed, so this'll be my guilty pleasure over the holidays. If Amazon would just hurry up and deliver it already… It'll run you around $500 with the console, controllers, and game.
Catch 'em all
Pokémon Let's Go Bundle
If you play Go, Let's Go will take you to the next level. If you don't, Let's Go will take you back to the original. Either way, it's serious Pokémon fun for the holidays, Pikachu and Eevee style.
Big & fast
Samsung X5 Portable SSD
Every season should be back up season. I have cheaper platter disks, currently Lacie 4TB, for all my videos. But, when I'm on the go, I need something faster. So, Samsung X5 Portable SSD it is. Yeah, wicked expensive, starting at around 300 bucks for 500GB and I went for 2TB, but it's Thunderbolt 3, and while it can run hot, it also doesn't run out on the road.
Camera escalation
Moment Lenses
Even with my increasingly fancy YouTube gear, my iPhone is still the best camera I have with me most of the time and Moment's new lenses make the best better. The case is under 30 bucks, the lenses between 70 and 100.
No, YOU wipe.
TOTO Washlet C200
Everyone I know has gotten these. Even in their offices. And, as a result, when they come to my place, they look at my bathroom like… it's for… I don't know. Even animals apparently know better. I was waiting and hoping for a HomeKit model but I've caved and ordered the C200.
Color TV
Philips Hue Play
Last year I got the LG C7P OLED TV, which is still phenomenal, and I set it off with some Hue Blooms. But they were always better suited to shelves. So, this year, when the Play came out, I snapped it up. You can get 1, 2, or 3, but I went for the two pack. Just over 60 bucks each.
Save Smart
Thrifter Daily Deals
Same company as iMore, but they always have the best deals, all day, every day, so just pick something they'll love and click, click, click.
Basically cash
iTunes Gift Cards
Especially if you can get them on discount. Even at the last minute. And extra especially if you can use them to buy discounted movies, TV shows, music, apps, and games. Always keep a few handy.
Cool brew
Blue Bottle Coffee Subscription
If all your fam already have Netflix, look into something like Blue Bottle that'll deliver a new, single origin coffee to them every couple off weeks or month.
That's what I'm giving — and getting — this year. Or at least that's what I'm planning, even though no holiday plan survives impact with Blackvember Fest intact. None. So, let me know what you're giving — and getting — so we can crowd source an even bigger, better list together.