- Cheryl Tan
The Christmas Gift Guide for Tech Lovers in Your Life
Updated: Aug 20, 2021
Christmas is almost here, and it feels like this year has gone by in a blink. If you’re still fretting over what gifts to buy for your family and loved ones, here’s a list of some of our favourite tech products that we’ve tried out this year as well as some great deals being offered by brands.
Playstation 4 Pro
Credit: Sony
The new Playstation 5 might be released, but it’s still incredibly low in stock and purchasing it can be a difficult task right now. Furthermore, not everybody might want the newest and best console. The Playstation 4 Pro is still plenty powerful and even better, Sony is now offering discounts.
For just S$499, you’ll be able to get a PS4 Pro, two DualShock controllers as well as Marvel’s Spider-Man Game Of The Year Edition and Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition.
With this, you might even be able to wait for a possible PS5 Pro before upgrading!
For fitness enthusiasts, the Jabra Elite Active 75t are some of the best earbuds for sports and exercise (and they’ve been nominated in our Best of 2020 – Earbuds awards!). Lightweight and durable with ANC, these true wireless earbuds are a great companion for runs, gym sessions and more.
Starting at S$318 for the non-wireless charging variant and S$338 for wireless charging compatibility, it’s an excellent gift and good motivation to get moving.
Moving right along with the exercise theme, a fitness tracker is also a great gift. With the Circuit Breaker period, many of us might have found ourselves being more inactive cooped up at home. A fitness tracker like the Fitbit Charge 4 not only reminds you to get in the recommended steps everyday but also tracks metrics like calories burnt and sleep data.
With a discount dropping the price to S$218, it might be on the pricey side, but if you make full use of the features included, it’s definitely a valuable source of insight to the wearer’s health.
For the avid photographer in your life, it can be pretty difficult to find gear if you’re not knowledgeable about cameras yourself. That being said, if you’re looking for a gear upgrade for yourself or someone else, why not consider the Canon R5? It’s a photographer’s camera first and foremost, but it manages to handle video pretty well at the same time.
With 8K capability, 12fps mechanical shutter and 20fps electronic shutter, it’s a game-changer in a lot of ways and it impressed us enough to make it into not one, but two categories in our Best of 2020 – Cameras!
While there’s no discount on the list price of S$6,199 for the R5 body, Canon will be throwing in a free Sandisk Extreme 1TB portable SSD (S$245) for you to store all those photos for purchases made on Canon’s eShop!
How about an all-round laptop that’s great for editing and creative work, but holds up decently for gaming too? Well, the Asus Zephyrus G14 made it into our list of nominations for the Best of 2020 – Editing/Creative Laptop, and for good reason.
With the AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS inside powering its excellent video editing performance and paired with an NVIDIA RTX 2060 Max-Q, eSports titles play nicely with the Zephyrus G14. All in all, if you’re looking to treat yourself or someone else to a sleek laptop that can handle whatever is thrown at it, this is a great option.
More and more folks have been moving away from contracts with telcos, opting instead of contract-free phone plans and purchasing mobile phones separately. If you’re one of them and looking for a premium smartphone that won’t burn too big a hole in your wallet, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro (also a nominee in our Best of 2020 – Flagship Smartphone award!) is an option that should be considered.
Packed with features like 50W fast charging, 8K video capabilities, 108MP main camera and more, the S$1,399 price tag is definitely easier to accept than a S$2,000 one.
With Phase 3 in Singapore starting soon, you might want to have your extended family members over for New Year’s Eve or other upcoming holidays. What better way to build the mood than with a speaker that’s portable enough to be thrown into a bag and brought around while still sounding great?
The Marshall Emberton is one of the lightest Marshall speakers at just 700 grams, but the bass on the speaker is excellent and you’ll definitely have a great time at gatherings with this speaker. Distributor TC Acoustic is having a S$20 discount on the Emberton, meaning it’s available at S$229 from now until 31 December.
Sharp Air Purifier FP-JM40E
Credit: Sharp
Of course, just because we’re going to Phase 3 doesn’t mean we can afford to let down our guard against the virus. Hygiene is still very important, and it’s definitely a good idea to have an air purifier in the home, even if it’s just to filter out dust and other particles.
We previously reported on a study done by Sharp Corporation that indicated their Plasmacluster Technology could actually reduce the infectious viral titer of the COVID-19 virus by up to 91.3% by using ion generators in an enclosed space. The Sharp Air Purifier FP-JM40E has this technology incorporated and even has a mosquito catcher feature, which is definitely a plus in Singapore!
There are various discounts on the air purifier, with the cheapest price at Sharp’s Lazada and Shopee stores, at just S$499.
Dyson Airwrap Styler
Credit: Dyson
Tech isn’t just for men, there are definitely cool products for ladies as well, and Dyson’s Airwrap Styler is one such item. Instead of applying extreme heat directly to hair to curl it, Dyson came up with the idea of using heated air to style hair through the Coanda effect, which occurs when a high-speed jet of air flows across a surface, and as a result of the difference in pressure, the airflow attaches itself to the surface.
This year, Dyson is launching a limited edition Copper colourway (S$699) for the Airwrap Styler with a matching Presentation Case and copper-trimmed storage bag when buying from Dyson’s website or Dyson Demo Stores and Zones in Westgate, Capitol Piazza and Funan.
If you’re looking for something to gift a person still working from home, why not a pair of headphones with active noise cancellation? These will block out external noise so that the wearer won’t be distracted by noisy environments. Not only is it a great gift for working from home, but once international travel finally begins, it’s one of the best ANC headphones around and will definitely be a valuable gadget for long plane rides.
There’s currently a S$50 discount on these, dropping the price down to S$499 on Sony’s web store. They might be a bit pricey, but you definitely get what you pay for.
Not a big fan of over-ear headphones but still want ANC? Well, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro offers pretty decent performance at a more affordable price point. Sound quality is good and the ANC on these, while not the absolute best, is definitely strong enough to cancel out most noise.
At S$238, it’s also cheaper than other comparable ANC earbuds, and the silver model does look quite gorgeous! There’s no discount on them unfortunately, but every purchase of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro from 5 to 31 December at Huawei’s authorised stores and flagship shops on Lazada and Shopee will come with a free silicone case to protect the charging case.
Gaming has been one of the major ways to destress during the pandemic, and if you’re looking to upgrade your rig by adding a gaming laptop for on-the-go gaming, our suggestion would be the Razer Blade Pro 17 for a pretty incredible experience.
You get a 17.3-inch full HD display that has a jaw-dropping 300Hz refresh rate, an RTX 2080 Max-Q that can handle pretty much every game without a problem and more.
It is pretty pricey, but there’s a S$280 discount on Razer’s website which brings it down to S$4,919. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re looking for one of the best gaming laptops out there and you don’t mind paying for it, the Blade Pro 17 is excellent.
More importantly, it’s the thought that counts. Hopefully, this list will have helped you with some ideas of what gifts to get this Christmas!