Selena Li

A robotic gift for holidays may be a great gift for a family member or friend.

With the holiday season coming to a conclusion, here are some tech essentials that made the holiday season all the better.

Starting off the list, the more affordable items: the Tile mate and the Voltrx Electric Protein Shaker Bottle. The former weighs in at $17 while the latter costs $26. 

The Tile trackers work on both Apple and Android devices, coming in all sorts of shapes and sizes to fit your tracking needs. 

The Voltrx Electric Protein Shaker Bottle is a steal for those looking for a consistent shake, mixing them evenly but offering roughly a month of battery on a single short charge. “It automatically does the shaking so it saves time, giving me less stress and more time at the gym,” junior Johnny Sheng said.

Other gifts that are a bit costlier include the Anker Nano Power Bank and the HP Sprocket Portable Instant Photo Printer. The former costs around $50 while the latter costs around $100. Both are perfect to help you with daily tasks. 

The Anker Power Bank offers 30W fast charging in both directions, helping bring your phone and the power bank to full charge fast. In addition, the Power Bank is also made with 80 percent recyclable waste to deliberately reduce carbon emissions. 

The HP Instant Photo Printer is great for flicks-on-the-go. It prints high-quality photos on water-resistant, smudge-proof, and sticky-backed Zink paper with no ink or toner needed. Just connect via Bluetooth and use the HP Sprocket app to customize your photos. “I like this product because it’s compact and portable. They serve as a reliable emergency backup, especially in situations when you don’t have electrical outlets,” junior Jessica Wang said. Both gifts are essentials this holiday season. 

Now a pricey gift to splurge on this season to spoil yourself is the Samsung Freestyle 2nd Gen Projector. This projector costs around $800 but is worth every penny. The Samsung Projector turns your room into a movie. Its cradle stand gives you floor-to-ceiling flexibility with a rotation of 180 degrees and its Auto Leveling, Auto Focus and Auto Keystone technology adjusts your picture for the best view possible. This portable projector is the perfect gift to get this season. “It makes it more convenient to watch movies with my friends in high quality with great sound. It’s also so fun that I can watch it anywhere I want,” Sheng said.