Help the early adopters in your life stay ahead of the curve with gifts that offer the latest and greatest in technology.
Focal Elear headphones
The dedicated audiophile on your list will appreciate these headphones designed and manufactured in France. Boasting supreme performance, they are designed with maximum comfort from the memory foam ear cushions to the fine leather headband. Priced at $999 and available through musicdirect.com.
TomTom Adventurer GPS watch
TomTom Adventurer ups the wearables game with its new GPS watch that tracks outdoor activities from trail running and hiking to skiing and snowboarding. And there's no need for a cumbersome strap to keep an eye on your heart rate; the Adventurer is designed with a built-in heart rate monitor. The watch can store up to 500 tunes, allowing for music playback through wireless headphones. The winter sport tracking feature touts a lift detection mode that recognizes when you're going up a ski lift and produces a summary of your past run. It measures distance, elevation, ascent and descent. Adventurer costs $349.99 and is available through tomtom.com.
Handcrafted watch
Had Mad Max settled down to designing watches rather than following a path as a maniacal nomad cruising through a dystopian desert, his watches might have resembled those created by artists Jose Paternoster and Kaisa Manninen of Kapa Designs. Fashioned from copper, brass and sterling, these hand-forged timepieces are one-of-a-kind. Some boast dials of oxidized copper, and others utilize unusual design elements like bits from a six-shooter barrel. Most are made with Japanese quartz movements by Seiko. The watches are priced from $155 and are available from kapadesigns.com.
Scosche BoomBottle H20+
As part of the Scosche Optimized for Outdoors family of rugged gear, BoomBottle H2O+ Bluetooth speaker is particularly durable. It has an IP67 waterproof and dust proof rating, which means that you can drop it, kick it in the sand, then dip it in water to wash it off without damage. The wireless speaker is ideal for the beach, biking, lounging poolside and boating. And don't worry about dropping it in the pool, lake or river — it floats. BoomBottle H20+ is designed to fit in most cup holders. Priced at $129.99 through scosche.com.
Caseta Wireless lamp dimmer kit
Lutron’s Caseta Wireless lamp dimmer kit with Smart Bridge will allow the geek on your list to wield total control over his environment. The kit is compatible with Nest, Logitech Harmony remotes and Apple HomeKit. Control lights, window shades, temperature and myriad third-party devices using the remote or a phone or tablet. Caseta also works with Amazon’s Alexa and Siri. The kit is priced at $99.99 and is available at major retailers, including Home Depot and Best Buy.
Roku Ultra
You’ll find it easy to please videophiles who already own a 4K Ultra HDTV with the new Roku Ultra media streamer, which comes with a powerful quad core processor and high dynamic range for brilliant, eye-popping pictures in 4K. As easy to use as previous Roku streamers, the Ultra features voice search capability. Priced at $129.99 at major retailers, including Best Buy.
Hydra water bottle and Bluetooth speaker
It's an outdoor techie's dream — a 20-ounce water bottle that's also a Bluetooth speaker with speakerphone capabilities and an FM radio. That's not all. The Hydra SmartBottle is BPA-free, features a multicolor light and a power bank charger. The Nighttime Sleeper app can lull you to sleep with the sounds of the ocean, a rain shower or chirping crickets. It's available in a variety of colors. Priced at $59.99 through amazon.com.
Oral-B Genius Pro 8000
Braun Oral-B Genius offers an intuitive power brush that alerts you if you're brushing too hard, and automatically adjusts the brush head speed. The advanced position detection feature guides your brushing through an app that uses facial recognition technology. It comes with a travel case that not only charges your brush, but your phone, too. Priced at $179 through oralb.com.
Foreo Luna mini vibrating face cleaner
The Luna mini facial-cleansing device combines T-Sonic pulsations with a soft silicone brush that’s designed for gentle, deep cleansing. Because the nubby cleanser is nonporous, it’s bacteria resistant. Luna mini fits neatly in your hand and features two adjustable speeds — neither of which are abrasive. With up to 300 uses per charge, Luna mini is ideal for travel. Priced at $99, it is available at Sephora and Nordstrom.
Ringly smart bracelet
The Aries Collection from Ringly offers stylish jewelry that does double duty as activity trackers. The slim bracelets are made with semi-precious stones set in stainless steel, and come with gold plating or a polished steel finish. More than 40 components inside the bracelet allow the high-tech piece of jewelry to connect with your phone and track steps, distance and calories burned. The bracelet sends discreet mobile alerts through vibrations and subtle light patterns. Prices start at $245 through ringly.com.
