Widgets for the winter

Unwrap the wonders of technology with our selection of stocking-sized high-tech gifts perfect for the holiday season

For story-loving kids

Automate your story time with SuperBuddy Curio. The device is similar to a Carvaan, but instead of retro Hindi songs, you get children’s stories, nursery rhymes and educational content. Each Curio comes with 900+ pieces of content. You can get the device in various colours and shapes. It has a 20-hour battery life, headphone jack and Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless playback. You can also record your voice for a bit of fun. It is a bit expensive, but it’s a good way to wean children off their screen addiction.
SuperBuddy Curio, Rs 2,999

For movie buffs

This may rip the stocking a bit thanks to its size and weight, but if you want to get a good projector experience from a small form factor, a few sacrifices have to be made. The device comes with Android TV 11, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It has two 8W speakers and can beam out 400 ISO lumens. This means it’s too bright, but in a dark enough room, it should be able to project a decent 200-inch picture. Android TV means this thing comes with Chromecast and Google Assistant built-in.
Xgimi MoGo 2, Rs 34,999

For those VR connoisseurs

Xreal Air is a pair of VR and AR glasses that are essentially a TV you can carry around disguised as spectacles. They are no match for the upcoming Apple device or the latest Oculus Quest 3 from Meta. However, they are great for watching TV and gaming on the go. Note that they don’t sit flush against your face, unlike like real glasses. 
Xreal Air Glasses, Rs 46,999

For phone photography enthusiasts

The iQOO 12 is a Snapdragon Gen 3-based flagship phone. It has a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1260x2800 pixels and up to 144Hz refresh rate. The rear camera combines a 50MP primary camera with optical image stabilisation, a 64MP Telephoto 3X periscope and a 50MP ultrawide. For selfies, it has a 16MP camera on the front. The iQOO 12 also has a 5000mAh battery and a 120W fast charger. A large vapour chamber cooling system aerates the entire phone. 
iQOO 12, Rs 52,999

For memory-capturers

Digital photos captured by your phone miss that tactile feel you get from a real printed picture. The Kodak Mini Shot 2 is a digital camera with a built-in photo printer. You can use it to take pictures and immediately print, or you can send pictures to it via Bluetooth to print a picture instantly. The printer/camera is small and super portable. You get a cute 2.1x3.4-inch picture, and the camera comes bundled with 68 sheets for your first few pictures. Unlike inkjet printers, these use a 4-pass tech to print CYMK (Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and Black) colours with every pass. The result is a crisp photo that feels like it was developed in a professional photo studio. 
Kodak Mini Shot 2, Rs 12,199

For high-level audiophiles

Audiophiles will love this one. It combines the holy grail of analogue sound, Vacuum Tubes, with modern conveniences such as  Bluetooth. This tiny amplifier can power two 100W RMS speakers and has many inputs, including one for PC-USB, optical, coaxial, RCA and Bluetooth. It has output from 2-channel audio. Speakers are not included. 
AIYIMA T9 Bluetooth, Rs 10,188

For people always on-the-go

Who doesn’t love a good power bank, especially if it can charge not only your phone but your tablet and, in some cases, even your laptop.  The power brick has two ports one USB-C and two USB-A, you can simultaneously charge from all ports. It supports 22.5W fast charging, so you can get your drained devices up and running quickly. It offers a two-year warranty, and the Duracell colour scheme doesn’t look too bad.
Duracell 20,000mAh power bank, Rs 3,099

For car lovers

This neat little car has a solar panel on its top, and you only have to place it on a flat surface and watch it run. It must be noted that this car is tiny, as small as a regular Hot Wheel. It’s just 3.3 cm long and around 2.2 cm wide. If you are looking for a cheap tech trinket, this is the most fun one .
Tiny Solar Car, Rs 299

For tech-savvy writers

Huion Note is one of the main competitors to Wacom tablets, and in the last few years, their drawing devices have been widely adopted. The Huion Note is a paper and pen notebook that doubles as a digital tablet. It instantly digitises anything you write. Notes can be transferred using Bluetooth on a phone or by connecting it to a PC using a wire. However, you don’t need to connect it to any device; you can save several pages’ worth of data offline. It has an incredible 18-hour battery life with up to 30 days of standby.
Huion Note, Rs 7,490

For fitness freaks

You will love this device if you are as irritated about the screens on smartwatches as we are. It’s a screenless ring that will do all the tracking you traditionally get from a smartwatch but from a device that sits on your finger. It can track sleep patterns, heart rate, stress levels, SPO2 and general activities. The ring is available in various sizes; you must measure and get the correct size for your finger. It comes with a custom charger, and a single charge lasts up to five days, which is incredible for such a small device. 
Bonatra Smart Ring X1, Rs 11,999

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