The Christmas gift guide for tech gadgets

A game-changing console

One of the most anticipated releases of 2020 has landed on our shores. Without going too deeply into its mad specs, suffice to say that the new Sony Playstation 5 offers faster, smoother gameplay, more vibrant visuals, and impressive DualSense controllers that shake and vibrate to closely mimic real-world contact with objects and surfaces. This new release also comes with a slew of exclusive games, including Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Demon’s Souls. Don’t blame us if your giftee disappears into a gaming hole.

Get it at Sony 

Lightweight gaming in shades of bubblegum

Got a friend that’s always on the move? The Nintendo Switch Lite is small, light and perfectly designed for handheld play, so your giftee can get their gaming fix wherever they may be. The system is compatible with hundreds of Nintendo Switch exclusive games, with a multiplayer mode that can link up to eight Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite systems. It doesn’t hurt that the gadgets come in cute shades of yellow, gray, turquoise and coral either.

Get it at Courts, iShopChangi

A library at your fingertips

For the bookworm who’s running out of shelf space, the Kindle Paperwhite puts the 2019 Kindle’s to shame when it comes to storage. It starts at 8GB and tops out at a whopping 32GB, spelling especially good news for voracious audiobook listeners. Compared to the entry-level Kindle, the Paperwhite 4 also has a higher resolution screen, responsive capacitive touch, waterproof design and more sophisticated looks. The price of the Paperwhite matches its premium build, but you’d want to pamper your loved one for the festive season, won’t you?

Get it at Amazon, GeekBite

True wireless earbuds for the gym 

Help your giftee achieve their fitness goals in sound and style with the Jabra Elite Active 75t. These true wireless earbuds are smaller and sleeker than their predecessors, with a secure grip coating and comfy silicone tips to keep them in place through the most vigorous workouts. They’re sweat and dust resistant too, so you don’t have to worry about damaging your earpieces while firing up those burpees or scaling an indoor rock climbing wall. The Jabra Elite Active 75t also has better-than-average microphone performance, making it perfect for multi-taskers who want to clear some work calls while in the gym.

Get it at Harvey Norman

Smart head cans for work-from-home bliss

Work-from-home is comfy and all, but it can be hard to do deep focus work when relatives are making a ruckus in the background. Gift a long-suffering partner or friend with the WH-1000XM4, Sony’s latest noise cancelling headphones that promise to drown out all that unwanted noise. These intelligent cans also come with hands-free features like Speak-to-Chat and proximity sensors so you can pause music and carry on a conversation without lifting a finger. You’re going to want to be comfortable if you’re working all day – well, Sony’s got that covered with super soft, pressure-relieving ear pads so you don’t get a headache on top of what work’s already giving you.

Get it at Sony

A smart speaker with impressive sound

There’s no need to trade sound for smarts with the Sonos One smart speaker. First and foremost an audio company, Sonos’s first smart speaker has rich, expansive sound that will please any hi-fi fan. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are built-in and supported by a far-field microphone array, so that you can control your usual smart home appliances from any room even while blasting your favourite tunes. The impressive Sonos app and Apple Airplay 2 give yet another layer of useability and control.

Get it at Sonos, Courts, Harvey Norman

A fun and affordable instant camera

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 makes a great gift for anyone keen on photography but relatively new to the medium. Besides the range of fun colours – blush pink, lilac purple and charcoal gray, among others – it’s also delightfully easy to use. An improved auto-exposure function produces well-lighted photographs with little effort, with few advanced modes and controls to fiddle around with. The new selfie mode is also simple to operate – just pop out the lens barrel, check your framing in the front mirror, and take a shot.

Get it at Amazon 

Effortless, tangle-free charging

Do a friend a favour and help them eliminate tangled wires from their life, starting with the Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Stand. The gadget makes charging a breeze: simply place your smartphone in the holder in portrait or landscape mode for automatic charging, no fumbling with wires or plug-ins required. The charging stand can charge iPhones at 7.5W and Samsung phones at 9W, and you can even keep that cute case on – as long as it’s no thicker than 3mm.

Get it at Belkin, Harvey Norman, Lazada, Apple