The excellent Bose SoundLink Flex Bluetooth speaker sells for around $150 and sometimes goes on sale for less. The Soundcore Motion 300 is Anker’s answer to that speaker. Around the same size as the Bose, it doesn’t sound as good, but it’s impressive for its compact size and much cheaper at an $80 list price. It’s a great tech gift for under $100 that anyone can enjoy.
UE used to make a discus-like speaker called the Roll that floated in water. That model was discontinued but the new Miniroll is even more compact and delivers impressive sound for its size, putting out a little more bass than you’d expect. With up to 12 hours of battery at moderate volume levels, the speaker has a built-in strap that allows you to hook it onto anything from a branch to your bike’s handlebars to the shoulder strap on your backpack.
It’s fully waterproof with an IP67 rating and has a Bluetooth range of up to 40 meters. It’s also dust-resistant. While you can link up multiple Minirolls in PartyUp mode, I think most people would be happy with just one. It’s one of the best-sounding micro Bluetooth speakers out there, and an excellent tech gift under $100 for anyone.
Earfun is one of our go-to brands for value earbuds. The Air 4 Pro are lightweight and comfortable, similar to their predecessor. I got a good fit using the largest ear tip. They offer improved noise canceling and sound quality. Battery life is also better, with up to 11 hours of use with noise canceling off, and 7.5 hours with it on, according to Earfun. While the default sound leans warm with a touch of bass push, you can tweak the sound in Earfun’s companion app for iOS and Android. In my experience, the sound quality holds up well against earbuds that are twice the price.
Sony’s CH-720N noise-canceling headphones list for $150, but sometimes you can find them for less than $100. They have a plasticky budget vibe, but are lightweight and comfortable. Part of me was expecting them to sound mediocre, but I was pleasantly surprised. No, they don’t sound as good as Sony’s flagship WH-1000XM5s, but their overall performance is a step up from their predecessor, the CH-710Ns.
Solo Stove makes some of the best smokeless fire pits, including the Ranger 2.0 (small), Bonfire 2.0 (medium) and Yukon 2.0 (large) fire pits. But if you’re looking for something a little smaller, it also makes two mini fire pits: the Mesa and Mesa XL. Both come in several colors, including traditional stainless steel.
I started off using the smaller Mesa, but when the Mesa XL was released, I found myself gravitating to the larger version of the mini fire pit (pictured on the left) because it looks and feels a little more substantial while remaining compact. (As you might expect, it does produce a bigger fire with a heat radius of 2 to 3 feet compared with the Mesa’s 1 to 2 feet.)
As its name implies, the Mesa XL is designed to sit on a tabletop and is portable. Naturally, you could also set it on the ground, but when you put it on a table, it’s at a good height for roasting marshmallows. It has the same 360-degree Signature Airflow system as Solo Stove’s larger fire pits.
BioLite has several portable lighting options, and the Alpenglow 500 is one of its more recent additions. It’s a portable lantern that has multiple modes and color options. As its name implies, it delivers 500 lumens, and it is indeed pretty bright.
The step-down Alpenglow 250 offers 250 lumens for $15 less. Both are rated for 5 hours of battery life on the high setting and up to 200 hours on the low setting.
BioLite makes several different headlamps, with the BioLite HeadLamp 800 being its brightest model at 800 lumens. It’s equipped with front and back lights (the front light swivels) that offer eight different lighting modes. It’s good for a variety of settings, whether you’re working in a dark environment or just walking your dog or riding a bike at night. The battery is rechargeable via a Micro-USB connection (I do wish it were USB-C).
Note that the step-down HeadLamp 425 costs $60, while the HeadLamp 325 is $40.
There are more affordable portable blenders, like the Blendjet 2 and the Hamilton Beach Single-Serve, but the Ninja Blast, which lists for $60, is a step up from those models. It looks and feels more premium, and though it isn’t super powerful, it’s a good option for making smoothies and protein shakes on the go or at home when you don’t want to deal with a full-size blender. Additionally, you can drink right from the blender, as it has a leakproof sip lid. Available in multiple colors and easy to operate, it has an 18-ounce capacity and recharges via USB-C.
NutriBullet keeps it simple with three power levels, a pulse setting and 1,200 watts of power. It performed well in all of our tests. Smooth batters, finely crushed ice, green smoothies, hot soup and good grated cheese (our torture test) were all easy to achieve. A reasonable price tag means you won’t have to break the bank to get a good blender.
The 64-ounce blending jar is plenty big enough for most recipes. The personal blender comes with a handy recipe book and a tamper to make sure all your ingredients contact the blades. The NutriBullet blender jar is also dishwasher-safe and comes with a one-year warranty.
Simple, powerful and consistent, the NutriBullet is one of the best moderately priced blenders on the market right now.
Like its predecessor, the 2nd-gen Echo Spot has a touchscreen and displays a variety of custom-designed clock faces. It’s also Alexa-enabled, allowing you to use your voice to set alarms, access the weather, play music tracks and issue commands to your Alexa smart home products. Along with improved audio quality (it has a 1.73-inch front-firing directional speaker that puts out more bass and clearer audio), the new Echo Spot has a bigger, bezel-less screen. But it’s closer to a semicircle than the fully circular screen on the original. Animations and clock faces are displayed crisply. It also displays album art when you listen to music on Spotify, but it’s not that sharp.
Unlike the original, there’s no integrated camera, so you can’t make video calls, which is probably a good thing if you’re concerned about privacy. You can also ask Alexa to call loved ones, make household announcements, audibly drop in on other Alexa-enabled devices in your household or get alerts and audio from your compatible smart doorbell. It’s a nice smart alarm clock that sounds decent for how small it is.
Amazon’s Smart Thermostat sets a new standard for the category. It has a clean, modern touchscreen design, and it’s easy to use, whether you’re adjusting the temperature at the thermostat, through the Alexa app or with Alexa voice commands with a compatible Alexa-enabled speaker or display. It is an affordable gift that earned a CNET Editors’ Choice Award for best value smart thermostat.
There are plenty of great Alexa-powered Echo products, but in this price range, we’re still fans of the Google Nest Hub (2nd gen), which has been around for a few years but is a good value when it gets discounted. The upgraded smart display delivers more bass along with a new Sleep Sensing feature. It also gives you instant access to a world of answers whenever you say, “Hey, Google,” and allows you to cast content directly to the screen from any Android device.
The Roku Ultra has always been a fine 4K HDR streamer. As the flagship in Roku’s extensive line of sticks and players, its bag of nifty tricks includes a remote finder and a remote with programmable remote buttons. This version adds better Wi-Fi, a faster processor and the ability to stream in Dolby Vision — a long-awaited feature that allows it to better compete with the best streamers from Amazon, Apple and Google.
Yes, the Roku Express 4K Plus, which costs around $40, is a better value, but the upgraded Ultra is often on sale these days for $70 (it lists for $100) and it has an Ethernet port for those who want to go with a wired connection.
What’s cool about Anker’s 622 magnetic battery is that it’s a wireless battery that has an integrated magnetic flap that converts into a stand. You won’t get fast wireless charging from this 5,000 mAh battery (it charges at up to 7.5 watts) but it’s slim and easy to carry around.
It charges via USB-C, and if you use a USB-C-to-Lightning cord to charge your iPhone, it will charge at a faster rate of 12 watts. That’s not as fast as what a 20-watt USB-C power adapter can deliver, but it’s faster than 7.5 watts.
Note that Anker has updated this model to move the charging port to the side (from the bottom), so you can charge it while using it as a stand. That’s a worthy upgrade worth the $5 premium versus the old version (which confusingly retains the same 622 model number).
Twelve South’s HoverBar Duo is a flexible stand for iPads and other tablets that has a weighted base and an articulating arm to adjust the angle and height of your device. You can also remove the HoverBar from its base and clip it to a bar or shelf using the shelf clip. The second-gen model has a quick-release design, but the first-gen model is about $20 cheaper at $60.
If you’re looking for a way to use your iPad in the kitchen, as a second monitor or as a videoconferencing display, the HoverBar Duo is a nice accessory and makes a great gift for all those iPad owners out there.
A couple of years ago Amazon released a baseline Kindle E Ink e-reader for $100 that no longer seems so entry-level. While its 6-inch screen makes it a smaller and lighter e-reader than the step-up Kindle Paperwhite ($130), its display has the same 300 ppi resolution as the Paperwhite. That step-up model adds waterproofing and incorporates a more sophisticated front lighting scheme, with 17 LEDs compared with the Kindle 2022’s four.
In the past, we’ve recommended stepping up to the Paperwhite if you could afford it, mainly because it had a higher resolution display than the entry-level Kindle, which allowed text to appear more crisp. With both models now featuring similar displays (at least as far as resolution goes), we may have to revise that recommendation.
Anker’s upgraded compact charger can charge a MacBook Pro 13 at full speed. Not only is it small for how much power it can deliver (it has foldable prongs), but it also has three ports (two USB-C and one USB-A) that allow you to charge multiple devices at the same time. Be aware that power is split between the ports if you charge more than one device. It uses the next-generation GaN 3 technology.
I previously had the RiotPWR Mobile Cloud Gaming Controller for iOS, but it had one flaw. Because it had an integrated Lightning cable that allows for lag-free gaming — at least when it comes to button presses — you couldn’t use it with newer iPads or iPhones that have a USB-C connection. The new RiotPWR RP1950 controller solves that problem by allowing you to swap out the Lightning cable module for a USB-C cable module.
Like RiotPWR’s earlier iOS controller, which is white, the black RP1950 is a more traditionally shaped Xbox-like controller that includes a mount for your phone. While there’s no built-in battery that keeps your phone charged while playing, like the Backbone and Razer Kishi V2, this model has a pass-through charging option if you want to hook up a separate Lightning cable to a battery pack or wall charger.
The controller is nicely designed and doesn’t feel cheap (the dock can accommodate a variety of iPhones, including larger iPhone Max models). Remove the dock and you can use this with any iPad that has a Lightning or USB-C port. To swap cables, you have to stick a paper clip in a hole in the bottom of the controller, which releases the cable module. It’s a little tricky the first time you do it, but once you figure out how it’s done, it’s pretty straightforward.
It’s also worth noting that even though this is called an “iOS controller,” it will work with Android smartphones and tablets that have USB-C ports.
We liked this Lightning-connected controller from startup Backbone when it first came out in its original black version. You can still get that model, but it now comes in a white PlayStation version for use with the PS Remote Play app.
Like the Razer Kishi, it turns any iPhone 6S or later into a Nintendo Switch-style gaming experience, with added smarts for social and chatty gamers. Like the Kishi, it connects via Lightning with pass-through charging but has no built-in battery. While the Kishi V2 is now more Backbone-like in its design (with better ergonomics) the Backbone controller still holds an advantage in the software department with a superior companion app.
As is typical for a Logitech “S” product update, the compact MX Anywhere 3S wireless “mobile” mouse doesn’t look any different from its predecessor. It offers some performance upgrades, notably quieter operation and an upgraded 8,000 DPI optical sensor that Logitech says tracks on most surfaces including glass and offers faster workflow with high-resolution monitors. While those with larger hands may prefer something a little bigger, the MX Anywhere 3S is an excellent mouse for both at-home and travel use. It comes in three colors.
Huano’s Magno Module Magentic Laptop Stand folds flat into a slim package that you can slip into a backpack or laptop bag. There are four pieces to it: a wrist rest, magnetic iPhone stand, laptop stand and the base itself, which everything else sticks to thanks to the various integrated magnets. To get the stand to sit at various angles, it’s a bit of an origami puzzle, but I eventually settled on a set-up I liked. You can also configure the stand to accommodate a tablet. A carry pouch is included.
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The lighting elements are integrated into both the left and right sides of each speaker.
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Creative Labs’ Pebble speakers have long been a top budget pick for PC speakers. The entry-level model is on its third generation, aka V3 (see below), and costs $35, while earlier versions can be had for even less. They aren’t the greatest-sounding PC speakers, but people like them because their sound is bigger than their price.
Creative stepped up its game with the new-for-2024 Pebble X USB-C speakers ($90). They also offer a Pebble X Plus version, which includes a mini subwoofer for $130. These speakers are larger than previous Pebble models but still compact enough to fit in a backpack. The sound quality is surprisingly good, making them possibly the best PC speakers available for under $100.
Logitech’s MX Keys is one of our favorite everyday Bluetooth keyboards, and now it comes in two smaller versions that leave off the number pad and some other keys: MX Keys Mini and MX Keys Mini for Mac. Both cost around the same price as the standard MX Keys. Colors include rose, pale gray and graphite.
This Oral-B electric toothbrush is similar to other Oral-B brushes, except the bristles on this brush felt softer than the step-up Oral-B Pro 1000. That’s a big bonus for anyone with sensitive gums, as is the real-time coaching that tells you if you’re brushing too hard. The Oral-B iO also has a quieter motor compared with the Pro 1000.
The display offers an impressive amount of information. Based on the lit-up icon, you can easily tell what mode you’re brushing in. The iO has five brush modes, whereas most electric toothbrushes have three or four. You can choose from daily clean, intense clean, whitening, sensitive and super sensitive. The Oral-B iO Series is also ADA-accepted.
A while back, I took my kid to the doctor because he had a bunch of earwax built up in his ear and was having trouble hearing (yes, gross). The doctor was able to dislodge it with a pressurized stream of water, which is exactly what devices like the Wush Pro by Black Wolf deliver.
Designed to be used in the shower, the Wush Pro does indeed work to remove earwax buildup. For people who have sensitive ears, it can be a little disconcerting to use at first, but read the instructions carefully and start at a lower setting before ramping things up (there are three pressure settings, and the Wush is equipped with a rechargeable battery). The pump inside does make some noise and is a little irritating, but it’s tolerable and beats a visit to the doctor.
The Philips Norelco Compact Travel Shaver isn’t the most powerful electric shaver but it fits in your pocket, is nicely designed, has floating heads, long battery life and can be used dry or wet — including in the shower. I wouldn’t use this as my everyday razor (electric razors aren’t great for those with sensitive skin), but as Philips says, it’s good for touch ups on the go. My only complaint is that I wish it recharged with a USB-C cable instead of Philips’ proprietary charging cable, but at least it doesn’t require frequent charging.
Whoever you’re getting this for may be a little embarrassed, but will most likely appreciate it in the end. Panasonic says this groomer has a unique V-shaped head that’s “built to go everywhere” — and with precision. It comes with two attachments, has almost 2 hours of battery life, and can be used wet or dry. A travel case is included. It’s an excellent manscaping device.
The list price recently crept above $100, but we left it on this list as a bonus pick because it costs just a little more than $100.
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