From pocket photo printers to vintage-style digital music players, there’s no dearth of gifting ideas for your tech-obsessed friends and relatives.
In-ear headphones
Wireless headphones are all the rage these days. Whether someone is hitting the treadmill or out for a jog, these headphones make for the perfect companion—hassle-free and easy to use. You could consider the CX 7.00BT In-Ear Wireless Headphones from Sennheiser, one of the best in the category, to gift to your loved ones. It has an ergonomic around-the-neck design: the controls are on the left and there is a flap at the end from where the unit can be charged with a micro USB cable. It offers great clarity and ambient sound, and is perfect for those who enjoy hi-definition audio
Price: Rs 9,592
Availability: Online & retail stores
Mood-based music
Saregama’s Carvaan is one of the best gifts you can give your parents this Diwali. Mind you, it’s no ordinary speaker. Built like a vintage transistor, the speaker boasts of an iconic retro look. The X factor? Around 5,000 pre-loaded Hindi songs from the golden era of Indian music that can be filtered as per your mood. It also has the entire collection of Geetmala, once hosted by the famous Ameen Sayani. Besides all this, it can also work as a Bluetooth speaker and can be connected using a micro SD card or USB cable
Price: Rs 5,990 (for electric blue and porcelain white variants) & Rs 6,490 (for oakwood brown and charcoal black variants)
Availability: Online & retail stores
Fitness-first earbuds
This one’s for all the fitness freaks. The Jabra Elite Sport wireless earbuds can be easily connected to any Android or iOS device and offer exceptional stereo sound for calls and music, as well as full sports functionality. The in-ear precision heart rate monitor works with the integrated Jabra Sport Life app to track and analyse a user’s fitness, as well as provide personalised audio coaching. The box comes with an array of ear gels, ear wings and foam tips for passive noise-cancellation and enhanced bass. Users can also be more aware of their surroundings using these earbuds. At the touch of a button, it conveniently filters the surrounding sounds
Price: Rs 18,990
Availability: Online
Cellular watch
This is a must for all Apple fans. The latest Watch series 3 from Apple might look identical to its predecessor, but it sports a faster dual-core S3 processor, Bluetooth 4.2 (vs 4.0 in older models), an altimeter for measuring elevation, increased RAM and—the killer feature—optional cellular connectivity. Oh, and Siri is able to speak due to this increased processing speed. The red buttons on the sides are indicative of the calling feature
Price: Rs 29,900
Availability: Online
Pocket printer
Have a photographer friend? Gift them the HP Sprocket-Pocket Printer. With it, users can print photos from their smartphone or tablet as easily as they post them online. It connects to mobile devices via Bluetooth and prints photographs sized 2×3 inches using ZINK (zero-ink) technology. The pictures are smudge-proof, water-resistant and tear-resistant, courtesy the quality of paper used. The pictures can also be used as stickers. Plus, the Sprocket app enables users to customise pictures with borders, emojis, etc
Price: Rs 8,999
Availability: Online & retail stores
Insta-style instant photos
Digital cameras have become a thing of past with the advent of high-powered smartphone cameras. But what if a camera allows one to click pictures with Instagram-styles filters and print them as polaroids? The Fujifilm Instax Square SQ10 does exactly that. It combines digital imaging capabilities and has the ability to print photos instantly. The battery lasts for three-four hours, so users can take up to 160 photographs on a full charge. Each pack of film cartridge comes for `690. Users can also transfer pictures using a SD card
Price: Rs 22,999
Availability: Online
Home DJ
Have friends who love hosting parties and playing DJ? With the Sony MHC-V50D audio system, they can play their favourite music all night long just the way they want. Apart from the DJ rig on the top, the audio system also works as a radio tuner and an MP3 player. It has in-built party lights, which can be adjusted, using the Fiestable app. The isolation (singles out a specific frequency band), flanger (creates a deep roaring effect) and PAN (sweeps the sound across speakers) functions can be used to rev it up as the party hits a crescendo
Price: Rs 33,990
Availability: Online
Photo gallery
Want to gift something to your shutterbug friend or that cousin who likes to pose? Buy them the Nikon D580, Nikon’s latest offering in the DSLR range. Featuring a 45.7 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, a first in any Nikon DSLR, the camera delivers versatility and uncompromised performance across stills and video shooting
Price: Starting Rs 2.54 lakh
Availability: Online & retail stores
Ringing in Diwali
There’s no better gift than a limited-edition phone. The Oppo F3 Diwali Limited Edition phone shares similar specifications with the original Oppo F3 (which was launched in May this year), but it comes in a new red colour. The front-facing dual camera set-up is the biggest highlight here
Price: Rs 18,990
Availability: Online & retail
Phone fun
If you are thinking of gifting somebody a phone, look no further than the recently-launched iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy 8. While the former boasts of a body made entirely of glass, wireless charging and 4.7-inch (iPhone 8) and 5.5-inch (iPhone 8 Plus) Retina HD display, the latter comes with a 3,000 mAh battery, 4 GB RAM and a 5.8-inch screen with a 12 MP front shooter
Price: Starting Rs 53,900 (Samsung Galaxy S8) and Rs 64,000 (iPhone 8)
Availability: Online & retail stores
Speaker-cum-power bank
Know a music lover who can jam anywhere, anytime? Then you could gift them the Samsung Level Box Slim BT speaker. A combination of audio speaker and power bank, it can fit in one’s palm. But don’t go by its size. With a 2,600-mAh battery, it provides up to 30 hours of music playback. There are integrated microphones in the speaker, which reduce noise and cancel echo. What more? The speaker has IPX 7 water resistance. So users can even jump into a pool party with this
Price: Rs 6,699
Availability: Online & retail stores
Health band
Gift this to all your health-conscious friends. The Honor Band 3 is a fitness band that can accurately monitor heart rate, track sleep quality, etc, and also lets users take calls. Plus, it has 50-m water resistance capability. With a 0.9-inch P-OLED display and 100-mAh battery, the band takes 90 minutes to get fully charged and can last around 30 days on a single charge
Price: Rs 2,799
Availability: Online
