Top tech gifts and tips for the 2022 holiday season - USA TODAY

A record-breaking astir 8-in-every-10 people program to bargain gadgets and tech tools arsenic gifts this vacation season. Top picks see laptops, smartphones, headphones, streaming services, and toys. Lots and tons of toys. But wherever bash you start, and however bash you cognize you’re getting the champion terms available for that blistery device? 

These are questions radical inquire maine each the clip passim the full year, but they ramp up by the hundreds during the period starring up to Christmas. Here are a fewer hard and accelerated “rules” for buying large gadget gifts for different people, on with a fewer of my apical picks for this year. 

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What bash they already own? 

If idiosyncratic has a new-ish Samsung Galaxy phone, don’t unreserved retired to bargain them an Apple Watch, and visa-versa. Instead, take a instrumentality that "plays bully successful the sandbox" with the gadgets they already use. If they’re utilized to Macs, there’s a bigger learning curve switching to Windows. Or if they person a bevy of Amazon Echo astute speakers, an Apple HomePod Mini could wholly miss the mark. 

Another constituent to marque present includes uncovering the “just right” accessories for gadgets they already own. This is simply a large tip, particularly erstwhile it comes to gamers. For instance, if you’re buying for idiosyncratic who owns a Nintendo Switch, cheque retired the caller Fortnite SanDisk microSD card (which starts astatine $24 for 128 GB). It solves a immense occupation – people’s instrumentality retention fills up with conscionable a fewer games. This small techy instrumentality lets radical store much games truthful that radical tin play anytime, anywhere, and it works with each Nintendo Switch Systems. 

Good gaming headsets – I’m partial to the LucidSound LS100X wireless headphones – are different large go-to for gamers. I similar this acceptable due to the fact that for little than $100, you get up to 130 hours connected a azygous charge. That’s much than 5 days of continuous play! Can you ideate getting that from your existent earbuds? No, not adjacent close. 

Know wherever the pros go

Fashion experts cognize however and wherever to store to get the champion items astatine the champion price, and we tech-obsessed are nary different. When it comes to buying photograph and video gear, I ever commencement astatine MPB. It’s the largest planetary level to buy, sell, oregon commercialized utilized photograph and video gear. What I admit astir them is that they bargain cogwheel directly, and their squad of adept merchandise specialists evaluates the prime of each items earlier reselling them. Everything you bargain comes with a six-month warranty, and they’re incredibly adjuvant if you person immoderate problems oregon questions. 

I, and a batch of radical I know, besides look to refurbished tech to people large products astatine bargain-basement prices. I chiefly usage eBay for this, due to the fact that they besides inspect everything earlier they resell it, and it comes with an eBay Money Back Guarantee. 

When it comes to large vacation sales, it’s hard to find immoderate amended than Lenovo’s laptops and hybrid devices close now, too. Just astir each electronics shaper is having immoderate benignant of deal, but we haven’t seen immoderate amended than Lenovo’s Cyber Monday offerings of caller devices up to 65% off. 

I conscionable picked up an IdeaPad Duet 5 touch-screen 2-in-1 tablet. It’s ultra-portable, ace versatile, and wholly coagulated for enactment oregon streaming your favourite content. I besides admit the 11-hour+ artillery beingness and consciousness similar it’s a large find astatine a coagulated mid-range price. 

Tech artifact trends

I’ve gone hands-on with hundreds of the apical tech toys this year, and 1 of the biggest trends is for toys to person a carnal and integer presence. This gives kids hands-on play successful existent beingness and online enactment successful the signifier of an app oregon video game. 

One of my favorites successful this abstraction is Pixicade Pets ($20). It comes with peculiar markers and a booklet that teaches kids however to gully assorted animals, from dogs and cats to much fantastical options similar unicorns and dragons. Kids tin gully thing they tin ideate connected paper, past drawback a photograph and ticker their artwork magically travel to beingness successful a video crippled done the Pixicade app connected a mobile device. Kids tin besides gully eggs for them to hatch retired of, toys and food, and make endless gameplay. 

I person a acquisition for picking retired the hottest products earlier they deed the market, and this adjacent artifact is 1 of those. I archetypal covered My Avastars earlier this year, and present they’re 1 of the hottest toys of the play and a 2022 TTPM Most Wanted Toys winner. (Nailed it!) 

Like Pixicade Pets, kids tin play with the My Avastars ($25) successful existent beingness and connected screen. Each carnal doll comes with a signifier that looks similar an avatar and a fistful of outfits, reusable stickers and covering decals. It’s benignant of similar a modern mentation of insubstantial dolls. Kids formal the dolls up with their signature look, past scan an included code, and tin physique the aforesaid doll online and past play My Avastars Fashion Game. This artifact has particularly taken TikTok by storm, with millions of views and affirmative reviews. 

For erstwhile the screens request to crook off, but kids inactive request immoderate interactive entertainment, Toniebox remains 1 of my favourite finds. The Peppa Pig Toniebox Starter Set ($100) is simply a screen-free amusement system. Kids request a “Tonie,” a small figurine they spot connected apical of a box-like speaker, and distant they go. The Toniebox plays kids' favourite songs, stories and different activities. They tin cod and usage each kinds of different Tonies-figures with each Toniebox, including caller Plush Tonies that conscionable came retired past week. 

Also trending this twelvemonth is the word “Social Emotional Learning,” oregon SEL, and 1 of my apical tech artifact picks is each astir it. Pawz The Calming Pup by hand2mind is simply a toy, a nightlight, and mode to thatch kids ages 3 and older SEL skills. Touch Pawz's small ft and auto-adjusting lights usher children done breathing exercises. “Inhale erstwhile the airy gets brighter and exhale arsenic the airy fades” is however a institution spokesperson explained it to me. It’s a large mode to assistance preschoolers negociate their ain emotions, which is simply a accomplishment that’s becoming much important each day! 

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Game-changing gadgets

There are truthful galore awesome gadgets retired these days, it’s casual to snag a fewer that are definite to marque everyone connected your database really, truly happy. This includes not-too-expensive drones, instant cameras, gadget chargers, astute location gadgets, favored gadgets and truthful overmuch more. USA Today and Reviewed wholly person america each covered with extensive acquisition guides, but these are the 2 astir life-changing gadgets I picked up this year. 

The Husqvarna Automower 450XH ($4,000) successfully mowed much than 3 acres of tract for 2 consecutive months implicit the summertime without america having to interaction a azygous leaf of grass. This is simply a large splurge, but it’s a akin terms to the riding lawnmower that our property's erstwhile proprietor utilized – and that riding lawnmower was perpetually successful request of immoderate repair and regular maintenance, too. Considering that likewise featured riding lawnmowers are successful the $3,000 scope and that some riding and push-mowers typically necessitate a just magnitude of upkeep, robot lawnmowers mightiness beryllium adjacent connected your database of smart-home indispensable haves.

The aforesaid goes for Hunter Douglas astute blinds with PowerView automation. I wrote astir these earlier this year, successful a communicative astir astute location gadgets that tin prevention wealth connected heating and cooling costs. These fto you property a azygous fastener and usage a voice-enabled helper specified arsenic Alexa oregon app to acceptable a docket to support your location lukewarm erstwhile wintertime upwind blows in. The terms varies depending connected the materials you take and the specifics of your peculiar windows. We’ve lowered our vigor measure by much than 50% since putting these in. 

What are your astir life-changing (in a bully way) gadgets of the year? Be definite to stock successful the comments conception crossed our social media channels!

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