The festive season is when many of us search for deals to buy the gadgets we have been eyeing for a while. Here are our top eight picks of the coolest and liveliest tech stuff you can buy.
HP Sprocket
Rs8,999
The compact printer is easy to carry in your handbag or backpack. It prints photographs from your phone, Google Photos, Instagram and Facebook. It relies on Zink technology, which uses a thermal print head inside the Sprocket to activate heat-sensitive and initially transparent colour dyes (cyan, magenta and yellow) on special sheets of paper. The photographs are 2×3 inches in size, larger than passport-size photographs but smaller than postcard-size ones. The Sprocket app (free for Android and iOS) is easy to use. Available in red, black and white with a dash of gold.
Sony H.ear in MDR-EX750AP
Rs6,990
These attractive earphones are available in red, pink, lime yellow, blue and black colours, with an aluminium casing. You get 9mm audio drivers in each ear and great bass too, something most similarly priced earphones are unable to match. In other words, very powerful sound, with the old-world comfort of wired earphones. The snug fit also blocks out quite a bit of ambient noise. There is also an in-line remote to control music and calls.
WD My Passport
Rs3,899 onwards
It is not often that a portable hard drive tries to make a fashion statement. That is exactly what the 2017 edition of the My Passport drive from Western Digital is attempting to do. This is available in multiple colours, including blue, white, orange, red, yellow, and a combination of white and gold. This comes in 1 TB, 2 TB, 3 TB and 4 TB storage-space options. It’s handy for backing up files, photographs and music, as well as for backing up data from your computer.
Honeywell Air Touch I8
Rs19,990
Who would have thought that air purifiers could also look good? Honeywell’s latest addition to the home air purifier line-up looks classy in white, but genuinely impresses in the Champagne Gold variant. This powerful device has a rated 300 m3/h CADR (clean air delivery rate) and is ideal for room sizes of up to 387 sq. ft, which should cover even larger halls in most homes. The HiSiv and HEPA filters are extremely efficient—this is perhaps the top performer in this price bracket.
Dell Inspiron 11 2-IN-1
Rs44,190
The Inspiron 11 2-in-1 is, as the name suggests, a laptop that can also be folded over for use as a tablet. Among the colour options are red and blue. This runs the Intel seventh generation Core m3-7Y30 processor with 4 GB RAM and a 1 TB hard drive—you are well covered on this front. The 11.6-inch display (1,366×768 resolution) means the machine is compact enough to carry around.
Marshall Stanmore
Rs26,599
The British audio company has a wide range of retro-looking wireless speakers, and the Stanmore hits the sweet spot in more ways than one. The compact speaker packs in rather powerful sound, and you get connectivity via Bluetooth for your phone, as well as the RCA and 3.5mm jack inputs for other sources. There are dial controls for volume, bass and treble. It packs in one 50-watt woofer and two 15-watt tweeters.
Apple Watch Series 3
Rs29,900 onwards
The updated Apple Watch Series 3 is available in the same 38mm and 42mm sizes as earlier, which means the existing Apple Watch straps and bands will also work with this. The Gold and Silver options have been tweaked to match the shades on the iPhone 8 line-up, while the space-grey colour retains its charm. The insides of the Watch Series 3 are significantly more powerful than earlier, and the inclusion of the barometric altimeter makes this even more accurate at tracking activity, particularly on surface elevations.
OPPO F3 Diwali Limited Edition
Rs18,990
The F3 Diwali Limited Edition is a spin-off from the very competent F3 range of smartphones. It has, however, been tweaked for the festive season, and comes dressed in a rather eye-catching red. It runs a MediaTek octa-core processor, has 4 GB RAM, a 5.5-inch display, 64 GB storage, dual selfie cameras and a large 3,200 mAh battery. The build quality is good, and the phone does well enough on most fronts to match performance with looks.
*Prices may vary