The festive season is almost upon us, and with Black Friday and Cyber Monday on the way, it’s the perfect time to get started on your gift shopping early. As far as shopping ‘holidays’ go, Cyber Monday is the day for big savings on gadgets and gizmos. It’s a tech lover’s dream shopping day. If there’s a tech lover on your list this festive season, and you’re struggling to think of the ideal gift for them this festive season, then this techie shopping guide is filled with gadgets and gizmos to look out for this Cyber Monday.
PriceCheck tip: Find your new TV by checking out PriceCheck’s roundup of best TVs for under R5,999.
Here are our picks for 5 of the best tech buys to look out for when shopping this Cyber Monday:
Sony LinkBuds
Sony’s latest truly wireless earbuds offer the ideal way to listen to your favourite tracks while staying connected and aware of what’s happening around you. Whether you’re listening at home, outdoors, or while travelling, the stylish wireless earbuds make it easy to enjoy hours of uninterrupted playback.
The Sony LinkBuds feature an open ring design with audio transparency, crystal-clear sound, and call quality, so you will never want to turn them off.
Xiaomi Mi TV Stick
A simple plug-and-play solution for anyone who loves streaming TV shows and movies; the Mi TV Stick media player turns almost any regular TV with an HDMI port into a smart TV that can connect directly to the internet. Powered by Android TV 9.0, the little gadget comes with Built-in Chromecast and supports over 5,000 apps from the Play Store, including Netflix, DStv Now, YouTube, Spotify, Prime Video and more.
The Xiaomi Mi TV Stick has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of built-in storage and in terms of connectivity has HDMI 2.0, Micro USB, Bluetooth 4.2 and dual-band WiFi. For audio, it supports Dolby Audio and DTS-HD. It’s also Google-certified and offers the convenience of Google Assistant. Plus, it comes packaged with a Bluetooth remote that makes controlling the device a breeze.
Can’t afford a new smart TV? Media players and streaming devices are the best way to upgrade your TV without breaking the bank. There are sure to be loads of great deals on streaming devices and media boxes this Black Friday so make sure you keep an eye out!
Huawei Band 7
Measuring just 9.99mm in thickness, Huawei says the Band 7 is its thinnest smart band to date. The lightweight smart band weighs only 16g without the strap. It also features a curved design for a comfortable fit, as well as a 1.47-inch AMOLED fullview display with a screen-to-body ratio of 64.88%.
The Band 7 also promises impressive battery life and top-grade health monitoring. The band’s health management features can monitor blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and allows you to set automatic low blood oxygen level reminders while providing intelligent monitoring of SpO2 levels. The fitness tracker offers several convenient features such as music controls, remote shutter, notifications for text messages, emails and social apps.
If you’re after an inexpensive activity tracker for daily use, then this new smart wearable may be just what you’re after.
Sonos Ray Soundbar
Upgrade your TV, music, and gaming experiences with this impressively compact and easy-to-use soundbar. The Sonos Ray soundbar offers consumers a more compact and affordable option from the Sonos range when upgrading their home theatre system. The Ray joins the Sonos soundbar collection alongside the premium Arc soundbar and the compact, Beam (Gen 2), the Ray will be an even more affordable option.
Despite its compact size, the Ray can deliver room-filling sound. With the Ray, Sonos aims to bring great sound for TV, movies, and more to a wider audience by expanding its home theatre range with a more accessible price point. The Ray offers fantastic voice clarity and crisp sound, for an easy listening experience.
Jackery Explorer 250 Portable Power Station
Loadshedding doesn’t seem to be going anywhere so now is the time to invest in smart loadshedding solutions that will last. A portable power station is a great way to go if you’re looking to keep a few appliances going. These power solutions are sure to come down in price for Cyber Monday so if you can wait until then you should be able to score a great deal. The Jackery Explorer 250 Portable Power Station (priced at R6,950) is sure to be a good option for those looking for an affordable loadshedding solution.
The device isn’t purely designed for load shedding, but is a well-established device built by US company Jackery for outdoor excursions and emergency situations. Of course, this makes it a perfect product to solve some load-shedding woes too. The Explorer 250 is a 250Wh lithium battery cased in a compact housing, featuring a handful of input options, such as two USB ports, an AC outlet (included is a South African 2-prong to 3-prong outlet adapter), and 12V car output. This essentially allows you to charge and power anything using USB, AC, or 12V power.
