5 must-have gadgets for your 2014 Christmas wishlist

Only a couple of weeks remain till 2015, and boy was this year more maddening than the one before, especially when you look at product launches. The marketing machine is spinning faster than ever, making us drool over and instantly own every new piece of consumer technology launched. 

The year end is also a time of relaxation, a time to splurge on all those leaves that you’ve accumulated in the last 12 months. As you sit back and get into the holiday mood, here are a few kickass devices that are worth spending your diligently-saved money on (there’s always EMI if you’ve been a bad boy all year). 

A Good Smartphone

Mobile phones have become the primary computing device for most of us today. For some it’s an essential element, something they can’t do without. Putting a mobile phone on top of the wishlist wasn’t hard. The Nexus 6 has literally been the biggest launch of the year from the Android camp. The device sports a 5.96 inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels (QHD). It’s got a 2.7GHz Quad Core Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB of RAM under the hood powering the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop. The phone houses a 13 megapixel camera with a diffused dual LED flash setup. To power all of this, it has a big 3220mAh battery and comes with a ‘Turbo Charger’ in the box. With this charger the phone can go on for 6 hours with only 15 minutes of charge. The Nexus 6 is a Flipkart exclusive in India and retails for around Rs. 43,999 for the 32GB variant and Rs. 48,999 for the 64GB variant. 

If you find the Nexus 6 a bit too steep in pricing, you can consider the Motorola Moto X (2014). The Moto X looks like a mini version of the Nexus 6 and comes with good enough specifications. There are also a couple of funky back cover options to chose from. The X also supports Turbo Charging but you’ll need to buy the charger separately. 

A Fun Tablet

While tablets have still not grown in market shares as much as mobile phones, they still are a sought after product category. Tablets are the third wheel to the computing devices that we use. It might not be a must-have for everyone but it’s definitely something most of us want. The Apple iPad has been the undisputed king of this particular segment. The best iPad available today is the Apple iPad Air 2. The device now comes with Touch ID, which is brilliant in function and makes authentication wildly simple. If the Rs. 35,900 price tag of the Air 2 is too much on the pocket, then pick up the iPad Mini 2, which now sells for a sweet Rs. 21,900. If you are used to the Android Ecosystem then you might want to look at the Nexus 9. The Nexus 9 is a 8.9 inch table,t manufactured by HTC, running on Android Lollipop. The tablet also showcases a 64-bit dual core processor clocked at 2.3GHz with 2GB of RAM. If you like gaming, this tablet houses a 192 core Nvidia graphics chip. The tablet also utilizes the 64 bit support that Android Lollipop has to offer. 

The Nexus 9 is priced slightly higher when compared to the pricing of older Nexus Tablets. If you are not comfortable putting down close to 30 thousand rupees, the Nexus 7 is an alternative. The Nexus 7 2013 is still good value for money even a year after its launch. The processor might be ageing, but with 2GB of RAM it still delivers a good experience. The display is crisp and it has backfiring stereo speakers. The Nexus 7 price was recently hovering at around Rs. 16,000 for the 32GB Wi-Fi only model. 

A Chromecast

The Chromecast is an HDMI dongle that converts your TV into a smart TV. It transforms the TV watching experience by streaming YouTube videos onto your TV directly from the web. These videos are played at the highest resolution possible (depending on your network speed). The Chromecast isn't restricted to YouTube videos only, you can also stream movies, photos and songs from the PC using apps like Plex, Dayframe and Localcast. No need to copy files onto a pen drive and connect it to the TV, praying that it supports the video format. The app can stream content in any video format on the TV.  If you have an Android Phone that supports the cast screen function you can mirror your mobile display onto the television. Basically whatever you do on your phone is seen on the big screen in real time. With the latest Chromecast updates you can also play games on the TV with up to 10 players. When the Chromecast is idle it shows stunning images it fetches from the net. You can also select images clicked from your phone converting the TV into a huge photo frame. Its an excellent device and I think you can’t go wrong with this purchase for just about Rs 2,999. 

A Smartwatch 

I believe that wearables are the next big thing. With the introduction of Android Wear and the Apple Watch, it looks like major OS makers are slowly shifting their attention to wearable devices. These wearables are OS specific, hence Android Wear won’t work with an iPhone and vice versa. If you’re on Android, the Moto 360 is the best looking smartwatch out there. It looks like a watch but does a lot more than a regular watch ever can. The Moto 360 displays notifications from your phone directly on your wrist, completely eliminating the need to pull the phone out of your pocket. It also has a heart rate sensor that can measure your pulse when you want it to. You can disconnect calls, do a Google Search, send and reply to messages right from the watch. The 360 isn’t flawless though, it has an outdated processor and a 320 mAh battery which needs charging every day. Charging is convenient thanks to the included wireless charger and takes a little over an hour to fully charge. The Moto 360 retails for Rs. 17,999 and is a Flipkart exclusive. The watch needs to be pre ordered and its not available for direct purchase most of the time. A good alternative to the Moto 360 is the LG G Watch. The G Watch has a better processor than the Moto 360 and a bigger battery, rated at 400mAh. The downside is that it is square shaped and not as classy looking, making it appear like a tiny display strapped to the wrist. It also misses out on the heart rate sensor of the Moto 360. The LG G watch is currently selling for around 6,000 rupees on a couple of online sites. For that price there is nothing more value for money in the wearable segment. If you’re using an iPhone, the Apple Watch still has some time to launch, but you can consider the Pebble or the Pebble Steel, both of which have now dropped in price. Know that this watch isn’t officially available in India though, so you’ll have to ask for a favour from a returning visitor (or pay import duties if you’re shipping it here directly).  

A Bluetooth Speaker

After suggesting some stuff that were restricted to one OS, here is something that'll work with  any phone that has bluetooth. Good quality loudspeakers on phones is a rare thing. Even though HTC’s BoomSound speakers on the One E8 may be the best sounding speakers, there’s no replacing a dedicated speaker to give you that required oomph. 

Motorola Sound Deck is a Bluetooth speaker jointly produced by Motorola and Sol Republic that delivers the best of both worlds -- designed by the former coupled with the audio expertise from the latter. This is known to be among the best Bluetooth speakers and is on sale exclusively on Flipkart. The Rs. 8,990 price tag may seem a bit steep but the speaker delivers up to 16 hours of Audio playback on a single charge.  For those looking for other options the JBL Flip II and the JBL Charge are the next choices. The JBL Flip delivers crisp sound with an audio playback time of around 8 hours. The JBL Charge serves more than one purpose, it is a Bluetooth speaker with a power bank built in. So you can charge your phone while blasting tunes on the go. The JBL Flip II and the JBL Charge are priced at Rs. 5,600 and Rs. 6,600 respectively.

For those looking for cheaper options, there is the Sony SRS-BVT5 and the JBL Micro Wireless speaker. These are single speaker units when compared to Motorola Deck and the JBL Twins. You probably can’t use them for a house party but should be sufficient for a personal listening session. These speakers have a battery life of 4-5 hours and can also be connected via a 3.5mm headphone jack if you don’t prefer Bluetooth. Sony has NFC capabilities which makes Bluetooth pairing easier if you have an NFC enabled smartphone.

These are the 5 kickass gadget categories that you must have on your Christmas wish list. What do you have on your wish list? Let us know in the comment section below. 

Aditya Shenoy is the Associate Editor and the in-house car guy at Pricebaba.com