There are plenty of gadgets that can save you time, money or even life. We’ve compiled the best gadgets that can improve your daily lifestyle.
Smart-home technology continues to get more sophisticated. Meet the Amazon Echo, which acts as your digital butler. You can ask it to start up Spotify, order an Uber, control your lights and more—and it gets better with each software update.
1. eMeet Meeting Capsule
The eMeet Meeting Capsule is an all-in-one videoconferencing solution that eliminates the need for a separate webcam, speakers and microphone. It features an all-new hardware and software technology that provides a supreme conference experience on any online video call platform.
Its omnidirectional 8-microphone array with voice AI DSP delivers noise reduction, echo cancellation and human voice strengthening to ensure full duplex communication. It also has five operating modes that meet various scenarios – Collaboration Mode shows an immersive panorama of all the participants, Speech mode zooms in on the speaker and Spotlight Mode automatically focuses on a single person.
For moments when privacy is crucial, the InPrivate button disables the camera and microphones to prevent anyone from viewing your image and listening to your conversation.
2. Ticktime
In an era where our phones can do everything from play games to be our alarm clocks and even be our Rolodex, it may be time for another device that does one thing – and one thing very well. Enter Ticktime, the coolest little timer you’ll ever see.
This kinetic gadget simply works by turning the sides of the cube to start counting down or up. There are a few additional buttons on the cube including pause, power/reset, and two to set custom timer functions (one for minutes and one for seconds). It also has built-in Pomodoro technique functionality. It can even be mounted on a fridge or white board for easy access.
3. eDuster Robotic Floor Cleaner
Unlike vacuum cleaners, robot floor cleaning devices roam around your home with dusting pads and sweep up bits of pet hair, food, dirt and other debris that tend to settle on smooth-surface floors. They’re especially useful if you have a shedding dog, as they help keep up with stray fur that the vacuum can’t reach.
Advanced floor robots use gyro, camera, radar and laser distance sensors to create an accurate map of your home’s layout. They often include boundary strips to prevent them from going into areas you don’t want them to and have fall-detection technology to stop them from tumbling down stairs.
4. Philips Hue
The first smart lighting platform to hit the trifecta, Philips Hue now syncs up with Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant (and IFTTT). It also supports a wide range of other devices through HomeKit support and simple “routines” like setting the lights to turn on and off at the same time each day.
You can control your lights via the app or physical switches and dimmers, but a Bridge is required to unlock the full suite of features. These include Mimic Presence, where your lights ‘come on’ when you’re away and ‘go off’ at bedtime, as well as music, movie and gaming syncs. There are also a few new hardware additions like the Hue Tap and Light Recipe Kit.
5. Apple Watch
The Apple Watch is an amazing tool for tracking fitness, staying on top of call and text notifications, and even providing haptic feedback for turn-by-turn navigation. It can also be used to control smart home devices like lighting, switches, and thermostats.
This year, Apple’s watchOS 9 added a lot of new features. There’s a cool new Metropolitan face that has simple fonts and convenient complications; a Playtime face that turns numbers into playful characters; and a new Astronomy face that shows cloud coverage around the world.
For those who want an Apple Watch without the extra cost, the second-generation Apple Watch SE is a great choice. It doesn’t include the always-on display, temperature sensors for retrospective ovulation estimates or crash detection but it tracks fitness just as well and has an impressive battery life.
6. Bluetooth earphones
Wireless headphones make it easy to enjoy your favorite music and podcasts without the hassle of tangled cords or accidental yanks. And with the advent of Bluetooth 5.0, audio quality is better than ever before.
These little gadgets have become a staple of sci-fi shows where characters pop them in their ears to summon holograms and use voice commands. But you don’t have to wait until the not-so-distant future to get one.
The TaoTronics TT-BA07 (link to check price on Amazon) works as both a transmitter and receiver with RCA, optical and 3.5mm connections. It also supports aptX low-latency Bluetooth codecs. It pairs with two devices at once, too.