What the Tech: What the tech is this? - WILX

techsooper.blogspot.com

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - If you look back on your childhood, some of the best Christmas gifts you remember were probably things you didn’t expect - those ‘surprise gifts’ you didn’t ask for and didn’t know you were getting.

Consumer reporter Jamey Tucker has rounded up some gadget gifts that fit in that category. In fact, the people on your list may not even know they exist.

When it comes to Christmas morning surprises, sometimes it’s the little things that matter most. Even though these gadgets are small enough to hold in your hand, they’ll make for a very big surprise.

If you’ve ever tried to match the paint without a barcode or paint lid, you know it’s nearly impossible to get it right. The Nix mini color sensor is for the DIY-er on your list.

It has its own light so no matter how much or how little light is in the room, it captures what color is on the wall. at least, it’s really close. After you scan the original paint, the nix app searches the color palettes of most major paint brands for possible matches. The app shows the color code which I took to a local hardware store for a sample and, voila - it’s close enough to not be noticed. The Nix 2 color sensor is $65 right now.

Smartphone glass protectors are often hard to put on, but now there are liquid glass protectors on the market. Just clean your phone, apply the liquid glass, set it for a few minutes, and then buff it off. These are under $15.

Anyone who owns or maintains a car should have an OBD reader on hand. This device plugs into the OBD2 port in most vehicles to scan any error codes. If your check engine light is on, the reader tells you what’s causing it, and turns it off. These are $40 and up.

Even if they don’t have a so-called ‘smart home,’ they can use these smart plugs to turn lights or anything else on and off by asking Alexa or Google. I have one for porch lights that turn off at a certain time if I forget to do it.

If you really want to blow their mind, check out sunglasses with built-in speakers and microphones. SoundCore frames have dozens of styles. The mic and speakers are in the stems to play music and podcasts and take phone calls. They’re on sale for about $70.

All of these things are small enough to fit in a stocking so you don’t even have to wrap them.

Subscribe to our News 10 newsletter and receive the latest local news and weather straight to your email every morning.

Adblock test (Why?)