Coolest Gadgets of Winter 2020/2021

It’s been a tough year, 2020. So why not take comfort during the chilly northern winter season thanks to new technology and cool devices that’ll keep you warm and fuzzy? Let’s take a quick look at some we wholeheartedly recommend to you, as you plan your holiday season purchases and look beyond to the upcoming winter months.

Important trends that present even more so at the end of 2020 are the desire to make up for lost time and intimacy, as people wish to return to a normal life where it’s OK to be close together. Of course, we encourage everyone to be safe and responsible to the best of their understanding, but it’s only natural for people to want to socialize, and so it’s no wonder quite a few of the following devices have a big communal aspect to them. For example, portable projectors are popular at shopping sites and retailers because a lot of folks want a big screen, shared viewing experience as opposed to watching stuff on their small smartphone screen yet again.

Health and warmth are also trending, again to no one’s surprise. A challenging year followed by a cold winter will inevitably prompt people to seek shelter and comfort by spoiling themselves a little bit. On the health front, the global health crisis we’ve experienced has made many much more sanitation-conscious and thus device and gadget culture reflects that. Let’s take a look, and no matter what the season brings, we hope you’ll get the technology that best makes you happy and content.

In no particular order…

Highly compact and portable air purifiers prove very useful during the holiday season when families and friends come together. They remove contaminants like smoke, dust, volatile organic compounds, and possibly even microbes, though efficacy in that regard is hardly proven. Don’t count on air purifiers to protect you against possible infections, but do look to them for a fresher, more pleasant indoor environment, whether at home, a hotel, or a family member’s house. 

These come in all shapes and sizes, from hand warmers to devices that heat up entire rooms and even double as air purifiers. Regardless, all aim to keep you warm on a personal level without having to rely exclusively on central heating or bulky heaters at home. Likewise, many personal heaters offer great portability so they’re easy to take with you out into the cold, providing hours of close quarters warmth so you don’t need to bundle up like a big, ungainly bear. 

Give humans enough time and they’ll think of everything. We now live in the age of smart mugs that keep your coffee, tea, or other beverage of choice at just the right temperature based on your preference. No more disappointing, cold drinks if you leave mugs unattended for ten minutes. Smart mugs often include Bluetooth and Wi-Fi so you can control them via app from your phone. Now that’s progress. Almost too much progress! 

For many of us, remote controls require an entire section of our living space. We live in an age when fridges and microwave ovens have remotes, not to mention the TV, a couple of streaming boxes, air con, and who knows what else. We’re gradually drowning in remotes. Enter universal remote controls, 2020 style. These standalone Bluetooth, NFC, and Wi-Fi enabled compact pillars pair with your phone to turn it into a remote for virtually every device in your home. Sure, there may be exceptions, but this new generation of smart control is very sleek and you should look into it.

The latest smart speakers should more accurately be referred to as smart speaker-listeners, because they all work with Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, so you can talk to them. And they’ll talk back. Of course, all of them play music and other audio wirelessly or in wired mode, and pair with devices through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. They’re small but provide pretty powerful audio (make sure you don’t bother anyone, the holidays are a time for rest), and most offer long battery life.

As a side note, keep in mind good portable projectors double as Bluetooth speakers, although typically without support for voice input. 

Ultraviolet light exposure has been used to sanitize stuff on an industrial scale for decades or more. Thanks to the march of technology, we now have compact UV sanitation chambers the size of a small cable box or modem that open up so you can put your phone or any other device that’ll fit inside. That includes smart watches, earbuds, and various cards, among others. Once your device goes in, you close the hatch, hit start, and the sanitizer destroys up to 99.9% of all microbes that previously lived on your phone or other object. Very helpful in this day and age.

Even better, engineers in this trending gadget category have figured out ways to make sanitizers double as wireless chargers. So you place your phone into the UV chamber to clean it, then leave it inside until it’s fully charged. Again, this is definitely progress.

Happy holidays and a very safe winter season to everyone!