It’s Cyber Monday tomorrow and it’s one of my favorite days of the year! I wanted to share with you my top tech picks for holidays. Most of the products below are on sale, so keep that in mind if looking for a special gift for someone or just yourself to get the best deal possible!
1) Tile Bluetooth Tracker, starting at $25
Tile makes my list every year as the product, just works! There are a lot of “tracking” devices on the market for your belongings and after personally testing a handful, I keep coming back to Tile. They have a basic one, “Slim” that you can put in your wallet as well as ones that you attach onto your belongings; the “Mate” that is smaller/thinner and the “PRO” that is louder and has farther range.
What makes Tile all that much better this year is now that the Mate and Pro both have replaceable batteries, just like all their competition that doesn’t perform as well and you can use Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to help you find your Tiles!
Click here to buy it now
2) Amazon Echo Dot 3rd Generation, $49.99
Amazon has upgraded the sound quality on all of its new Echo devices that just came out but, the improvements are most noticeable on the Dot simply because of how deficient the prior model was. It’s not often that there’s this much of a leap from one generation of a product to the next, as most improvements are incremental but, the new Echo Dot sounds like a completely different speaker than its predecessor. It’s not perfect, but it’s easily the best, inexpensive smart speaker you can buy right now. (Especially with the Black Friday deal of $24.99)
So for such a low cost for a smart speaker/controller, you are getting a great speaker for this cost as well as they have done a nice redesigning of it including adding fabric to it.
Click here to buy it now
3) Apple AirPods, $159
Apple AirPods provide a good sound quality for both music and talking on the phone in these wireless earbuds. With superb sound quality and seamless device pairing, all you have to worry about is if they fit your ears and if you can deal with the lack of an in-line remote to control your music (you can program what feature “double tapping” on the AirPod will do). The battery life is great the case acts as a charger when it’s in it.
If you can deal with wearing the Apple white earbuds, these are a great purchase and the size is perfect.
Click here to buy it now
4) ecobee SWITCH+, $99
ecobee, who I think is one of the best makers of smart thermostats came out with the SWITCH+. It’s a smart light switch that replaces an existing switch in the wall. What makes this so special and more than your average light switch is, it has Amazon Alexa built in! The SWITCH+ operates as any other Echo device would with the same commands. (the built-in speaker even is decent for low levels of listing to music) You can also set up the SWITCH+ through the ecobee app to have a white LED light glow at night from the bottom as a night light as well as using motion, turn on the light when you walk in the room as well as automatically turn off the light after a specified amount of time with no motion. ecobee is also going to be adding a room sensor into it as well so when the SWITCH+ is connected to one of ecobee’s smart thermostats, it can monitor the temperature in the room.
I have several and think this is a GREAT addition to any room!
Click here to buy it now
5) Samsung Galaxy Watch, $349.99
Samsung’s newest smart watch, the Galaxy Watch, is a great improvement over the older models. It’s available in 46mm (shown above) and 42mm. The screen and it’s colors look very realistic when looking at watch faces on it and the watch also does a great job as a fitness tracker, getting your emails/messages, phone calls and many other features. Through the app, you can download tons of watch faces (or create your own) as well as various apps to use. What makes this watch even better is it work for both Android and Apple devices!
I use this with my iPhone X and the few limitations it has for iOS still has me wear this more than my Apple Watch!
Click here to buy it now
6) JBL BAR 5.1, $699.95
JBL’s biggest soundbar, the BAR 5.1, is probably one of my most favorite products I have gotten in 2018! This is a very slim and compact soundbar but it packs a whopping 510 watts of total system power and includes four HDMI inputs to connect 4K devices, Bluetooth and a 10” wireless subwoofer, the JBL Bar 5.1 is the most advanced soundbar today. The JBL Bar 5.1 features two battery-powered, wireless speakers that detach from the soundbar for a true wireless surround sound experience (a full charge for these speakers gives you 10 hours of use)
Not only does the BAR 5.1 make watching any TV show/event or movie MUCH more enjoyable and life like, you can also stream music to it that sounds AMAZING!
Click here to buy it now
7) Hitcase, starting at $29.99
Hitcase has been around for several years now and they are known for protecting your one of your most valuable devices, your iPhone, while adding additional features to make using your device even better. The Hitcase Pro (that is in the picture above) is their top and most protective model they sell. All their other cases add great protection but the Pro model, goes a step above. The Pro is waterproof for up to 33ft/10m and drop-proof up to 16ft. If that wasn’t enough, there is a protective touch screen cover that is scratch resistant (and yes, you can still access your screen by touch with it on), has a built-in magnet in the case if you have a magnet mount and a Railslide mount system (you can easily attach it to several different type of mounts they sell as well as GoPro mounts. With all these features the last thing to mention is you can attach 3X TrueLux wide, macro or super wide lens to the case for even better pics while still keeping it air-tight and waterproof!
Click below to see all the cases and accessories available to truly transform and protect your iPhone!
Click here to buy it now
8) Ring Stick Up Cam, starting at $179.99
I feel at this point most people know of Ring by now from their TV commercials, videos showing up on news from people submitting to law enforcement as well as being sold in many stores these days besides maybe on your neighbor’s home.
Ring’s newest camera is their fully updated and refreshed Stick Up Cam. This new version comes in three (3) different power options (wired, battery powered and solar powered). It comes with a built-in stand that can be turned to become a perfect wall or ceiling mount that is adjustable. It also uses the same set-up for motion as the Doorbell Pro and Flood/Spot light cams that allow you to see what the camera sees real-time to be able to perfectly choose your perimeter when setting up motion zones. The camera is 1080p HD video, so you get a very nice clean and clear view and has the built-in siren like the Flood/Spot light cams do besides the usual two-way talk feature.
To make it even better, you can mount this indoors or outdoors!
Click here to buy it now
9) August Smart Lock Pro + Connect, starting at $229
August has been around for a couple years now in making products to make your home smarter and safer. Their top of the line deadbolt lock, the Smart Lock Pro, keeps getting smarter.
What’s nice with the Smart Lock Pro is that you can use your existing lock on the outside of the door and only have to change out the inside part. Through the app, it allows you to lock and unlock your door from anywhere, grant secure access to friends and family, and track who is coming and going, as well as automatically unlocks when you arrive and locks when you leave. August Smart Lock Pro works with all three voice assistants – Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant.
They also sell a Connect WiFi Bridge that can be sold separately or included if you get the Smart Lock Pro + Connect package. This palm size plug-in module allows you to connect all your August devices to it and gives you the ability to unlock/lock your locks anywhere you have WiFi/Data connection rather than having to be within Bluetooth range of your locks.
So if you have visitors come over frequently, this is a great add-on for your home so you know you don’t have to be there to give access to your home.
Click here to buy it now
10) myCharge AdventureUltra, $129.99
Now a days, most people have a portable charger in their bag just in-case you are out and about and your mobile device, mostly your smartphone is running low or the battery was completely drained.
myCharge, one of the more popular and better quality charger companies in the market has a newer device that is truly a most have for the person or family on the go. The AdventureUltra, might be larger than your average USB phone charger but the reason for that is, it has a 13,400 mAh battery tucked inside its rugged case. What makes the AdventureUltra so amazing and a power horse is that is not only includes two (2) USB-A ports, there is one (1) USB-C port as well, as more devices are being built with that connection and to take it a step further that is pretty rare, it also has one (1) AC power port you can use to charge a laptop (as well as other products such as a TV or fan, etc).
To me, this is truly the traveler/business person’s ultimate companion! It’s nice to know when I am traveling that I don’t need to worry about my smart phone, tablet and/or laptop ever running out of power, especially if I am not near any outlets to plug into. The AdventureUltra also has a digital screen that allows you to see how much battery has been used and gauge how much longer it can be your lifesaver!
This comes with a 2 year warranty and I can personally say that the few myCharge chargers I have, ALWAYS have outlasted my other chargers with the quality design and build.
Click here to buy it now
11) Whistler D28RS Dash Camera w/GPS & WiFi, $149.44
Whistler, who has been around for years in the automotive industry offers a variety of products from radar detectors, backup cameras, power inverters, radio scanners, dash cameras and MUCH more!
I am always a fan of having a dash camera in my vehicle for safety as well as just recording the views when I am driving in case I see something really cool. Whistler’s D28RS dash camera is what I currently use as I love the fact that it’s a nice small size and the camera (which is a shape of a ball), easily disconnects from the base that is mounted, so you can easily store it out of sight when not driving. The D28RS also has built-in GPS and WiFi. What’s nice about this is that using the GPS, it can record exactly where you are driving and with the WiFi connection, I have Whistler’s app installed on my smartphone, so I can easily see what my dash camera is seeing and take any of the pictures or videos that it records and store it directly to my smartphone for easy review as well as making sharing the footage easier.
So if you are looking for a dash camera that shoots in HD (1920x1080p), has built-in GPS and WiFi and can detect when your vehicle gets hit (and marks that moment on the memory card), I highly recommend this model from Whistler and the great thing is that it’s not very expensive for what you get!
12) NETGEAR Orbi Voice, $429.99
I am a huge fan of NETGEAR, more specifically their Orbi mesh network line of products, simply because Orbi WORKS! I recently reviewed the Orbi Voice which is pictured above. Mesh networks are becoming more and more popular these days as they out perform the standard WiFi routers with tri-band technology. I have seen first hand how the Orbi system has taken dead spots in my home and gave those areas life again with WiFi. NETGEAR has a handful of configurations when you are looking at the Orbi system, mainly based on how much square footage you need to cover. Besides showing you on their website what configuration to get, they even make an outdoor, weatherproof model to make sure even if you are not inside the house, you can still get the WiFi you are paying for if you are in your front/back yard, pool, etc. They also have the Orbi Voice (seen here). This is a compilation with harman/kardon in which they integrate a high powered speaker into one of the satellites, giving you that great sound from harman/kardon and Amazon Alexa is built-in as well.
So if you are looking to improve your WiFi signal, I ONLY recommend Orbi as I know it does the job and delivers even more!
Click here to buy it now
13) JBL Everest 310GA, $199.95
The JBL Everest 310GA are a perfect pair of wireless headphones for someone who’s not looking to break the bank but also not skimp on quality sound when it comes to listening to music. The Everest 310GA definitely deliver! They are on-ear headphones with a built-in mic. These are high-performance on-ear headphones that look as fine as they sound, made with premium materials and finished with a metallic sheen. With 20 hours of battery life, listen comfortably for hours wearing the ergonomically designed ear cups.
The convenient, multi-function controls are at your fingertips letting you control your audio and hands-free calls. You will sound clear and natural to your callers thanks to the built-in microphone with echo cancellation technology. When you meet up with friends, share your music or game with JBL’s ShareMe 2.0 technology, which allows you to connect via Bluetooth. Recharge in two hours (s) with the USB port and get moving again.
This pair is also optimized for Google Assistant and you can take full control of your music experience using your voice and receive notifications without glancing at your phone. Simply get help from your Google Assistant using the touch sensors on the ear cup.
The Everest 310GA is also available in four (4) colors, purple, brown, gun metal and silver. This allows you to express yourself how you like with a more fun looking pair than traditional black or white headphones.
Click here to buy now